Welcome to the 2006 State Fair photos. I had little time to shoot this year, but managed to catch a rare sweet moment that makes this installment worth your while. I hope, anyway.

Above: dead trussed plush on the Midway, waiting for someone to win the right to lug them all around for the rest of the night. Sharks and Strawberry Shortcake. Batman was also in evidence. There doesn’t seem to be any new characters; Spongebob is as recent as it gets, which suggests that the national Character Production Facilities have hit a blank lately; there’s probably great pressure from Amalgamated Carny to come up with something new. And they can’t.