Himalaya: An Appreciation

Here's an illustration I've got in this month's OXFORD AMERICAN, The "New South Journalism" Issue, for a story by Kevin Brockmeier. The 7th grade character in the story travels to the midway of his local state fair, eats fried pickles, and fantasizes about floating around the carnival rides. Sketch:

My favorite ride is and will always be the HIMALAYA. Something about the combination of an obnoxious carnie DJ blasting classic rock and the centrifugal simplicity of they physics makes it PERFECT. Then the DJ shatters your eardrums with air whistles and reverses the direction. WOOOO WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I love it aesthetically most of all though, especially at night. Its fluorescent neon glow, its arabesque lettering rendered in metal and light bulbs, its incongruous Bavarian sport-skier/Nepalese sherpa theme, its fluorescent glow, and shimmering metal-flake paint job on the cars make it outshine every other ride on the midway.

Here's another Himalaya drawing, from an unpublished comic strip:

And here's another, in the lower left-hand panel from another unpublished (state fair themed) comic:

C'mon people! The louder you scream the faster it goes!
ps. I also drew portraits of Dolly Parton & Bull Shannon for the Oxford American story. Check it out!