OVERRATED
From the Beatles to Justin Bieber, hair has been an essential ingredient for pop stardom. Whether it's the colorful wigs of Nicki Minaj, the dreadlocks of Michael Franti or the golden locks of Beyoncé, distinctive 'dos matter. Or do they really? James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, Darius Rucker, Michael Stipe, Jay-Z, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Moby and even Annie Lennox, Sinéad O'Connor and Pink have done just fine without much hair, because it's really about songs, skills and personality.
UNDERRATED
Some people go for the rides, some for food on a stick, some for all the free stuff they can cram into a free bag. My must-do at the Minnesota State Fair is the crop-art exhibit in the Horticulture Building. The late Lillian Colton's portraits captivated for decades, but don't miss Darlene Thorud, the new queen of crop art, who has won so many blue ribbons for her strikingly creative and resourceful crop art that Garrison Keillor just might pen a "State Fair Blue Ribbon Blues" for her. (Last year, she entered 10 categories and snared six blues; one year she swept first-place in all the categories.) Thorud and the other crop gluers are indeed true Minnesota artists.
JON BREAM
