Paul Lundgren
A Few of Duluth’s 1911 Achievements
To read the story, click here for the PDF.
R.I.P. Mike Colalillo
Minnesota’s only living Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Duluth’s Mike Colalillo, died last night.
Drunk in the Midwest
From the Star Tribune: “Why are we more boozy?”
“Many residents in the Upper Midwest are descendants of northern Europeans, and that’s an area of heavy alcohol consumption,” said Peter Nathan, a professor at the University of Iowa who has been studying alcohol use patterns and effects for more than 40 years. “The long, cold winters keep people inside more than in other parts of the country, so that contributes, as well.”
Tycoons Alehouse open Dec. 31 … and other restaurant notes
- The sign is up at Tycoons Alehouse and Eatery and a New Year’s Eve opening is planned with Cry on Cue playing. (more…)
Duluth’s Ellis Harbor
Here’s an interesting read from the Sept. 25, 1921 Duluth News Tribune.
Winter Video Project
Twin-Cities based Seven & Sixty Productions is working on a video featuring contributed footage that captures “what is truly unique about winter in Minnesota.” If you like shooting snowflakes and pond hockey and whatnot and want to contribute, read the guidelines.
Carlson School of Management Flash Mob
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH8FvERQHtM&feature=player_embedded
The Duluth News Tribune reports that Duluth East graduate and former WDIO photojournalist Bryan Koop directed photography on this little project.
Hit YouTube video of Twin Cities flash mob was directed by Duluth East grad
Merry Christmas, Lake Superior
MPR: $300M initiative to clean up Great Lakes
Congress has approved $300 million to continue a multiyear program aimed at fixing some of the Great Lakes’ most severe environmental problems. Some of the money is expected to benefit Lake Superior and Duluth.
“This Christmas” by Rivulets
Check out the new Christmas song — performed/recorded/mastered in Duluth by Duluthians — available for free download at Bandcamp.
Chester Bowl open for skiing
Chester Bowl Park is open for its 2011 downhill skiing season. Daily lift tickets for all ages are $5.25. Details at chesterbowl.org.
Denfeld engraving still on MacArthur?
As most people know, the southern wing of the old MacArthur Elementary School was built in 1915 as Denfeld High School. (The modern Denfeld opened in 1926 and the old Denfeld became West Junior; MacArthur was built in 1957; West closed and became part of MacArthur in 1983; MacArthur was replaced with a new building this past fall). The photo above is of the 56th Avenue West entrance to the old MacArthur, which has always been considered the back door. (more…)
Azteca’s Mexican Grill Reviews
Duluth’s newest Mexican restaurant is in the Village Square Mall on Mountain Shadow Drive. Has anyone checked it out yet?
Duluth: a small city surrounded by forests, hills, streams and lakes … and bands
Members of the Duluth band Trampled by Turtles are spreading the word in San Francisco about the Zenith City:
“Per capita, there has to be more bands there than anywhere that I know of,” said Ryan Young, fiddler.
From the Bay Bridged, an indie-music website for the San Francisco Bay Area: Trampled by Turtles: an unconventional bluegrass band inspired by metal and Dylan
R.I.P. West Duluth ICO
The West Duluth ICO on Grand Avenue and 46th Avenue West has been torn down. A CVS pharmacy will be built in its place. I don’t have any ICO memories that are springing to mind, other than that one night in 2010 I decided to shoot a photo of it.
By the way, I think it might have technically been a Spur station, even though everyone called it ICO and there was an ICO sign on it. I’m not really sure how gas-station naming works.
PDD Ticket Giveaway Clearance
In preparation for the holidays, it’s time to clear the desks at PDD of any hot giveaway items. Mention in the comments how good you’ve been this past year, and which one of the shows below you deserve two free tickets to, and I’ll act like Santa and divvy up the goodies.
(UPDATE: This contest is over now, and Santa has given away all his goodies, but you can still brag about how good you’ve been in the comments if you want. Just be aware that bragging is not being good.)
The Running (Unopposed) Man
Dec. 9, 10, 16, 17, 30 and 31, 7 p.m., The Venue at Mohaupt Block
Dink Tank: Return of the Dinks
Dec. 9, 10, 16 and 17, 8 p.m., Teatro Zuccone
From Havana to Duluth
Dec. 12 and 13, 8 p.m., Teatro Zuccone
Old Knifey and the Cutthroats Holiday Variety Show
Dec. 17, 9 p.m., All American Club
Duluth’s a beautiful town, man
From last week’s City Pages, “Wilco’s John Stirratt talks about the band’s Minnesotan ties“:
Jeff Gage: Just last year, you guys became honorary citizens of Duluth. Have you been doing any house shopping up there yet?
John Stirratt: I don’t know if I want to move any further north — not that I want to sound wimpy to a Minnesotan. But that’s a beautiful town, man, it really is. I would totally hang out there during a summer.
Yee-eee-eee-haaaw!
Personally, I find it impossible to drive past a situation like this and not have a Dukes-of-Hazzard fantasy. And it always surprises me that no one goes for it. A trailer positioned like this is clearly a stunt-jumping invitation for any West Duluth dirtbag with a muscle car — and I don’t see how any judge could disagree.
Highly Controversial Marc Gartman Chocolate and Cheese Ween poster revealed!
I ran into Marc Gartman last night, who had this item hot off Miss Zoey Cohen’s drawing pad.
Although I audibly groaned to myself at every stage of the Ween cover art controversy (starting with “Ween … and you?,” continuing with “Sex and Rock and Roll,” and finally dragging to a temporary halt with “This is what a feminist looks like“) I now personally endorse as much disagreement and debate about this as possible.
Superbug fragment study in Duluth
Timothy LaPara and a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, testing water pouring from a modern water treatment facility in Duluth, found genes of drug-resistant bacteria in the discharge. Most American cities do not have facilities as good as Duluth’s, but no one knows for sure how much worse the situation may be at those facilities because it has not been measured.
Inside Science News Service: The best wastewater treatment plants can’t filter out superbug fragments
Thankful in Duluth — 2011 Edition
I’m thankful the server that hosts the PDD Calendar is back up and running, after a day of problems. (Ironically, in setting up the links below I noticed that last year my personal Internet service was down just before Thanksgiving, and I was thankful for it being restored. Ah, the joy of technical issues around the holidays!)
Anyway, what are you all thankful for this year, fellow Duluthians?
(Here’s what PDDers were thankful for in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003.)
House of Donuts
I recently recovered this photo from my attic. It’s dated July 18, 1992. That’s me on the left in my Minnesota Twins championship T-shirt, proudly raising a bag full of what have got to be bear claws. PDD co-founder Barrett Chase is on the right. In the middle, grabbing his junk, is Bob Schulte.
For most of its existence, and at the time of the photo above, House of Donuts was located just east of where the Whole Foods Co-op is now, at 624 E. Fourth St. Ronald and Michele Carter were the owners.
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WEBC — Where you’re hearing things
Another classic Duluth radio jingle from Bob Halverson’s collection:
Perfect Duluth Day’s 10,001st Post
Last night’s “Lost Grey Cat in Lincoln Park” post was the 10,000th post on Perfect Duluth Day. We didn’t realize it at the time, and forgot to drop balloons from the ceiling.
Quantity is no substitute for quality, so let’s celebrate by linking to favorite posts from the past. Dig into those archives and find your favorites. And find that lost grey cat, too.