Balls
Article from the DNT today that I found somewhat unusual:
Duluth police say fetish exercise-ball slasher has been at it again
Article from the DNT today that I found somewhat unusual:
Duluth police say fetish exercise-ball slasher has been at it again
Damn, and the commenting is turned off on that article! Could have had a blast with that one.
Well, better than fucking dead deer I guess…
Correction, comments are enabled. Should be an interesting day at the DNT site.
Now we know why so many people pay so much for so many sessions of “physical therapy” at SMDC.
Ha Ha,
My dog could relate to this one. We purchase oversized balls that we nickname “Big Ball.” She is obsessed with playing “Big Ball”. She begs and cries to play. We try to hide the ball up high, but on numerous occasions she has figured out a way to get at the ball down. When we do play, we only play for about 5 minutes because it is exhausting for both of us. We kick the ball keeping it moving because if we stop, the ball we stop and she will pop it. The whole goal of the game according to her is to pop the ball.
When she does pop it she stand over it with a very satisfied look.
When I am driving the car she just about goes nuts if she sees children playing with a ball.
Hmmm. I wonder if DNTV is going to “showcase” photos of some slashed balls. And I wonder if BC is going to then freak out about those photos.
My first thought when I saw this big honking headline in this morning’s paper was, “NOW the DNT has sunk to a new low.” But give ’em credit, I read the article.
New data shows 2/3 of mining workers are now drawing unemployment, and the region has lost 5,400 jobs. This — actual news — gets a miniscule corner on the front page while EXERCISE BALL FETISH gets a screaming headline.
Does the DNT have more balls than the Clinic, or fewer?
hide your balls, people! we’ve got a slasher on the loose! thank goodness the DNT sensationalized this story, now I can lock my children up tight and continue living in fear!
The closing of Yoshiko’s Sauna has affected some people in most peculiar ways.
I’m extremely curious about this fetish. What is it that is so titillating about these balls? Why not medicine balls or bowling balls? Is the thrill experienced when the trapped air inside is let loose after slicing? Is it the texture of the plastic? What happened in this guy’s past that caused this oddity? Is there a large segment of the population with similar fetishes?
And I also wonder why I don’t have any “interesting” eccentricities.
Everyone is someone else’s weirdo.
This is just further evidence that Duluth needs a new daily paper of record. They should leave this nonsense to the consistently absurd television ‘news.’
It’s been a pretty crappy paper for a long time, but since Forum took over the decline has accelerated.
It’s time to start a new daily paper. How hard could it be? There’s no real competition, there’s a wide selection of good and currently unemployed reporters, and obviously people here care enough about knowing what’s going on in their community to filter through DNT’s sludge on a daily basis.
So the newspaper industry is in trouble, no kidding. But the demand for real community news has only increased. Perhaps if there was a paper owned by the community that didn’t assault the reader’s intellect, a viable business model could be forged.
Viable business model. Keep us posted.
I shook my head when I saw that screaming headline — now I’ll have to read it, so when Letterman makes jokes about it, I’ll know what he is talking about. God almighty, they should re-name the paper the Duluth Enquirer or something, or the Duluth Star, or something. What a tabloid.
OMG, that report is hilarious! How could Mark Stodgill even cover that story with a straight face? I’m just wondering if the guy would masturbate after popping all those balls, or if popping balls was enough to give him sexual satisfaction.
The ball slasher hit West Duluth Clinic’s therapy room a few weeks ago and SMDC security sent out a house-wide description of him- including a photo of him driving off on his getaway bicycle!
I shit you not.
How hard could it be to start a new daily paper? Not hard at all if you got a few million bucks and a lot of advertisers lined up whose budgets aren’t squeezed by the recession.
We already got a numerous local alternative publications- Zenith City Weekly, Transistor, Reader, Hillsider, BusinessNorth. If you want to improve local journalism, contribute to them.
Who reads a print newspaper?
Soon enough the question will be “Who reads?” Fahrenheit 451 was not so far-fetched.
“We already got a numerous local alternative publications- Zenith City Weekly, Transistor, Reader, Hillsider, BusinessNorth. If you want to improve local journalism, contribute to them…”
Let’s break this down.
– Zenith City Weekly is an (honorable-but-doomed) 4 to 6-pager that I see, occasionally, here and there.
– The reader is utterly worthless as far as local content (except, of course, for Barb’s City Council reports). I have no idea why that paper still exists…
– Transistor is not journalism. It’s a bar-listing sheet with some comics and columns thrown in.
– Hillsider is awesome, but exists to serve a small segment of the city.
– Business North has a very narrow focus, and probably not going to investigate A and L Properties.
So, Duluth, in fact, has a major lack of competition for the DNT. Which is one reason they can be so godawful bad without it mattering much.
farglebargle,
I’m definitely thankful for the alternative weeklies. They are a vital resource and could benefit from more community input. I rely on these publications (and pdd) to stay up on what’s going on in Duluth, particularly with arts and culture. But as a former newspaperman and ‘The Wire’ creator David Simon said, “You don’t run into bloggers at the courthouse.” In other words the combination of tabloid style daily paper and an active alternative scene still leaves gaping holes in the ability of a responsible citizen to stay informed enough to hold business and governmental leaders to task. There certainly were a few renegade investigative reporters at the Ripsaw, which I miss dearly, but many of these stories require full time and experienced reporters. I can’t recall the last time I read a Duluth News Tribune story that was well-researched challenge to the powers that be.
My comment implying it would be easy to start a daily newspaper was partly in jest. Certainly the barriers to entry are immense. Historically speaking though, factors have collided to make a start up relatively low-hanging fruit.
Throw out the print edition: it’s too expensive and not sustainable. Get rid of advertising: it’s annoying, muddles the conversation, and questions the journalistic credibility. Discard the private owners and the profit motive: the point is to inform the community, not to make money. The result would be a paper that is owned by and accountable to the citizens it serves, and not compromised by staying in the good favor of its corporate advertisers. Could the paper fund serious reporting by selling annual cooperative shares?
I’ll let you know if I figure that out.
This news item just went Fark ( https://www.fark.com )
Top story on KBJR tonight too.
What do you mean, you don’t run into bloggers at the courthouse?
There were very few investigative journalists at the RipSaw. HBH and Maggie Nelson being the primaries. And they worked their tails off for scratch.
Ramos, on the other hand, is raising his kids not to mow the lawn, but to pester gate-keepers at the courthouse.
Ramos is awesome. Especially his Transistor columns…
Hyper-localized t-shirt idea?: “Ramos Rules”
Yeah, Ramos is totally awesome. Love his blog, love his Transistor columns. Don’t care if his lawn is mowed or not.
Newspapers, as we know them today, have always existed to make money for the owner. How can one throw out the for-profit motive and still have the same thing?
I have heard discussions on other blogs about the idea of creating an non-profit foundation to operate newspapers. Kind of like what NPR and PBS are modeled upon- you would get rid of the corporate mentality (at least I’d hope so) and maybe bring journalism back to its original mission: afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.
Again, the original mission of journalism was to make money and inform. How does it work to change that?
But even NPR has gone more corporate lately.
Maybe we should start a dialogue with Naomi about how to expand the reach of the Hillsider News, so that it is published more often and covers more of the city beyond the Hillside.
Hi,
We would have to get more funding. Right now we sell ads and don’t have any grants. We are trying to include Lincoln Park, but I was out of town yesterday so I didn’t cover the Mtn Bike Fest.
The funding is the key.
Naomi
“Afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted” Well said Tim.
As an NPR junky, I’m loath to criticize the most responsible news source available. But much of their funding comes from the government, some from corporations, and some from foundations controlled by those who control the corporations. It certainly represents the appearance of a conflict of interest. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about NPR is the degree of actual independence they’ve been able to maintain. It certainly took a tremendous amount of resolve among the rank-and-file and whistle-blowing on their own station to ward off Bush Administration attempts to water down content (and criticism).
I refuse to believe that journalism somehow relies on the profit motive. Certainly business relies on journalism’s profit motive to cow the journalist away from doing their job.
For David Simon’s explanation of the “No Blogger’s at the courthouse” comment
or for his related testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee.
Somehow local news can be intelligent, informative, and independent. Somehow.
Forgot the Senate testimony link.
https://www.reclaimthemedia.org/journalistic_practice/wire_creator_david_simon_testi0719
Returning to the original subject …
… all I’m saying is, don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.
Shit, Paul, that’s sick
The urge was too strong. I couldn’t fight it.
But seriously, I imagined that picture might be kind of funny. It’s actually pretty disturbing. I suppose life is like that.
That picture wins you my vote for Mr. West Duluth 2009.
HAH!
I already can’t wait for next year’s pageant.
He’s baaack!
Exercise ball fetishist strikes Duluth therapy room
Secure your balls!
Dude looks exactly like Dr. Venture from The Venture Brothers.
Here’s my question. Why not just buy some exercise balls? Why break into places to stab them? You’d think a person could order them in bulk and have a field day. No harm, no foul, no police asking embarrassing personal questions.
For all we know he manages his $500/day exercise ball habit just fine *most* of the time. Only slips up when he’s short and needs a fix.
Maybe we could pool our pennies and buy him a patch kit.
This is a documentary about the ball slasher put together by Eric Meyer and Johnny Watkins in May for their documentary film-making class at the University of Minnesota Duluth. It’s a weird video, but considering the subject matter that probably goes without saying.
According to the description on Vimeo, “the concept of this video was to make the first half highly sensationalized (a la videos about serial killers, etc…), then do a complete 180 and emphasize Bjerkness’s struggles with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and paint him as a victim of his environment.”
By the way, yours truly appears briefly in this video, at the 2:40 mark. Enjoy.
Well, that video was … interesting … to say the least.
BTW, Bad Cat! also has a cameo at the 2:17 mark, although it’s not quite as prominent as Paul’s role.
Ha! Good eye Tom, I never would have noticed myself in there. (Though I was worried when someone said I appeared in the ball-slasher documentary.)
Loved the ball-slashing ballet scene!
Eric Meyer has informed me that the Ball Slasher has agreed to an interview, so there will likely be a re-cut of this documentary.
Hello everyone. Thanks for watching!
So, I hate to tell you guys, but Bjerkness was relocated to Aitkin Prison due to overcrowding, and they pushed back his trial date, again! I sent him a couple letters but haven’t heard back, so a re-cut of the doc with an interview is seeming less likely.
I talked to him for almost two hours at the St. Louis County Jail though, and he would be great on camera. He told me all about how he developed a thing for ball slashing and what his “first time” was like. He also let me in on some specialized techniques for slashing: “The air went out too fast? That’s why you have to use push-pins!”