JP Rennquist
Tiny Bird Living in a Big Box
This bird is living in the Home Dept Store in Duluth. Or it was a few days ago anyway.
At first I just caught it out of the corner of my eye, thinking it was a figment of my imagination, then I discovered it was real. Then, and this is the best part, a lovely clerk in a bright orange smock caught me and my daughter looking for the bird and she started to tell us its remarkable story.
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Posted: No Wolf Hunting
Passing along this photo from Ivy Vainio; click the image to see it in context.
Fond du Lac Band passed an ordinance banning the wolf hunt a few days ago.
Dan Kraker provided some fairly decent balanced coverage that explains some of the legal and cultural implications of the wolf hunt in this MPR News story.
Boy with Red Balloon in Downtown Duluth
Here’s a short video (plus a few snapshots) that I took last spring following one of the Saturday Morning Film showings outside of Zinema 2 in Old Downtown Duluth. Hopefully they continue the series again this coming winter and spring. It was cheap, family friendly, and pretty dang engaging for the parents, grandparents and hipsters in the crowd, too. You don’t often get that combination from the megacineplex fare.
Do I get some kind of prize if I am the first person to use the “sappy stuff” tag? Bragging rights and/or swag would be acceptable.
Virgin Mobile claws back TBT hashtag
Twitter nerds will understand this. Hashtag humor. It’s a niche category.
Click the image to go to the referenced Instagram pic of Trampled by Turtles playing at a Virgin Mobile event. Our boys are growing up. *sigh*
UMD Grad Dr. Brian Kobilka Wins Nobel Prize for Chemistry
Brian Kobilka, a 1977 UMD Chemistry graduate, has won a share in the 2012 Nobel Prize for chemistry. Dr. Kobilka can be heard in an interview with a representative from the Nobel Organization at nobelprize.org. (more…)
Fond du Lac young people march for kids
I was on my way into work this morning and I saw some young people from the Take Back Our Rez Facebook group walking along Big Lake Road on Fond du Lac Reservation. That’s like the equivalent of rush hour as it is the main artery to and from Highway 33 and I-35, lots of cars headed up and down the road on the way to work or school. (more…)
Is that the lift bridge?
Is that the lift bridge at 2:56? I also thought the fireworks scene looked vaguely Duluthy at first but on second and third glance I don’t see how it could be, the bridge is in the wrong position related to the fireworks unless they are coming from Superior. Anyone else care to take a stab at it? (more…)
Minnesota Chippewa could cease to exist by 2080
I’m not sure if that headline is sufficiently dramatic, or maybe overly dramatic, but I am just having trouble wrapping my head around this chart from the September 2012 (PDF link) Fond du Lac Tribal Newspaper (Nahgahchiwanong Dibahjimowinnan).
It shows the Fond du Lac people falling into a demographic abyss. Disappearing as a people by 2080. (more…)
Chief Osaugie Gathering on Wisconsin Point
Interview with Donna Ennis Chief Osaugie Descendant
httpv://youtu.be/5Orqd6S1i6g
This has come up on PDD before, but I did this interview with Donna Ennis today and I thought it was something to share. Romance, intrigue, ancient ceremonies, and even a shameful grave desecration make an appearance in just 8 short minutes of community radio.
I haven’t posted in awhile, it’s been a busy summer this gives you a little idea of where I’ve been, I guess.
Dibiki Giizis – The Moon – Seeking local music
Usually I work in early childhood family education but for the summer I am returning to one of my first great loves, radio. I actually wrote about WGZS-FM Dibiki Giizis in this post from several months ago. For the summer anyway I will be hosting and producing some music and public affairs programming on the station mainly during the weekends. Right now the station is still in ramp-up mode, broadcasting at about 70% power and in FM Mono. The schedule is 9-4 pm on weekdays and 9-2 on weekends. Eventually it will be in 100,000 watt FM Stereo and 24 hours a day. (more…)
Indian Country Today: Girls and Women in Duluth Sexually Exploited for Generations
Earlier this month Indian Country Today, a national daily newspaper, featured an historical analysis of the sexual exploitation of Native American girls and women. The story, and the pattern, is chilling enough as it is, but the story is framed in and around Duluth, making it all the more compelling. This is an excellent piece of advocacy journalism by Mary Annette Pember. (more…)
A & Dubs
It’s back. First day I’ve seen A and Dubs open this year.
I couldn’t find any reviews from burgerdogboy for some reason and he’s usually got Duluth hand food pretty well covered. However, I did find this little blurb on Jim Heffernan’s blog.
PDD reader-generated A & Dubs stories are most welcome in the comments.
Even trippier than Pink Floyd, “Comfortably Trematoda” wins Animal Diversity Idol
A couple of UMD Students won Animal Diversity Idol with this video. OK, it turns out that Animal Diversity Idol is not a “real” contest, although when I got started down this rabbit hole I thought maybe it was. It is something that a professor at UMD dreamed up to get students more interested in a variety of weird life forms. In this case the creatures are liver flukes. The video is one-part homage to Pink Floyd and two-parts CDC-style public service announcement.
Duluth to California $40.22
From the Duluth News Tribune; Sept. 10, 1914 via The Oregonian Blog (pdf).
Willie the Warlock
Yesterday I was out at The Princess Bride with a couple of goslings and other uberfans at the Zinema for their excellent Saturday-morning-movies-for-the-whole-family series. That would have been awesome enough, but they threw in free juice boxes for the kids, but it got even better. In the place where we expected the opening previews, or maybe a video short to roll we were treated to this 2006 video, by Duluth’s Willie the Warlock
Haley Bonar with a *free EP download on NoiseTrade.com
Haley Bonar is giving away a sampler EP from her “Golder” album which came out last year. Haley claims MSP as her home these days but she has deep roots here in Duluth, too. If you want you can share some of those roots in the comments, I always love hearing that stuff. Especially after some folks have been doing so well on a larger stage lately. In fact, this seems like a fantastic week for music and acknowledgement for Duluth artists. We just became Duluth, MN home of Bob Dylan, Low AND Trampled by Turtles. Haley is another candidate for high pop culture level consciousness and success. This noisetrade promotion is good exposure for her, and us.
* Yes, she’s giving the EP away, but you can give her a tip if you want, also NoiseTrade will add you to their email list and they send out a lot of offers and opportunities (at least one a week). I don’t mind so much as a music lover, but you should know that going in.
Kickstarter for Breanne Marie: “Music saved my life”
Duluth’s Breanne Marie seems like a very nice lady and I think she makes a nice addition to the local music scene. (more…)
Duluthish internet meme on the loose: “If Planet of the Apes Were Made in MN”
*Note: I couldn’t find the designer or provenance with any certainty. Here are the candidates. Please share if you know where to find and credit the designer and heck, maybe buy him a root beer!
Trampled by Turtles – “Alone”
The new Trampled by Turtles video premiered on the Country Music Channel. This was really a pleasure to see, both as a Duluthophile and a music lover. Our boys just keep getting bigger (and better). “World Premiere” music videos surely don’t have the same appointment television mystique that they did back in the early 80s on MTV, but still. This is cool.
Dave Simonett’s MN tattoo and various Duluth scenes and landscapes all have uncredited cameos. Feel free to do the “Where in Duluth?” game on them. I could only figure out a couple on my own.
Instagram spotlight on Tim Landis is spotlight on Twin Ports
Not sure why I missed this but my Twitter friend Tim Landis and his amazing Instagram pictures were featured a month or so ago on the Huffington Post (more…)
R.I.P. Charlotte Zacher of Charlotte’s Cafe
The Duluth News Tribune has a nice remembrance of Charlotte Zacher, of Charlotte’s Cafe fame in Carlton. (more…)
Cravaack New Hampshire Dodgeball
Of all the obvious jabs at Minnesota 8th District Congressman Raymond “Chip” Cravaack for moving to New Hampshire — which reached a fever pitch today for the New Hampshire primary — this is definitely the funniest. (Note to moderators, it’s blatantly partisan, certain to test the new commenting policy).
Not sure if the movie clips are fair-use or not so I suppose it could get yanked at any time.
Where in Duluth? Watercolor edition.
The Skyway, Brian Stewart from https://www.stew-art.com/pleinair.htm
I came across this water color image from Brian Stewart while engaging in my newest time trap, curating the “Duluth-o-Philia” board on Pinterest. This does evoke a location for me, but for the life of me, I can’t remember the place. Bonus question, is it still there even?
How much longer will these records stand?
Uncle Loui's Pancake and French toast eating records
It seems like it’s high time somebody broke the pancake and french toast records at Uncle Loui’s. But who could manage such a feat … without blowing a hole in his or her innards, I mean? Will they stand forever and have to be “retired” as I believe the previous, pre-fire, records were?