Paul Lundgren
Perfect Duluth Night
Soak it in, people.
Duluth 2011 Election Candidate Filings
Duluth citizens desiring to be a candidate for elected office must file before July 19. Candidates for city offices file with the city clerk; candidates for school board file at Historic Old Central High School in room 215.
(The list below is a final list of who filed. Updates were made to this post as filing was happening, so some comments to this post predate the completion of the list.)
Mayor of Duluth
Don Ness (incumbent) (more…)
Duluth Music and Maritime Festival 2011
US Brig Niagara, Pride of Baltimore II and Lynx
Additional entertainers announced in recent weeks for the Duluth Music and Maritime Festival include Mason Jennings, Chmielewski Funtime Band, Heiruspecs, Haley Bonar and Cantus.
That’s in addition to the Suburbs, Gear Daddies, Cracker, Retribution Gospel Choir, Tom Kastle, Ninety to the Dozen, AM Rubin, Bounding Main and family programming by the Duluth Playhouse.
It all happens July 15-18 on the waterfront behind Grandma’s Sports Garden, Bellisio’s and the Paulucci Building.
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Happy eighth birthday to us
Perfect Duluth Day is eight years old today – Wednesday, June 29. We’ll be celebrating tonight at Burrito Union around 8:30ish. Stop on by. There will be a weird cake and an array of door prizes. (We’ll probably be out on the deck — space and weather permitting — so look there first. Find the people with cake on their lips.)
Also, yours truly (Paul Lundgren) will be a guest today on “The Local” with Christine Dean the Radio Queen, celebrating PDD’s birthday by playing songs with “Duluth” in the lyrics or title. That’s at 5 p.m. on 103.3 FM KUMD.
Thanks to Barrett and Starfire for starting this thing and to all you bloggers, cloggers and corn doggers who keep it going. We’re on a pace to hit 10,000 posts before the end of the year. That’s kind of something.
PDD Gravatar Poll Championship
[poll id=”8″]
This poll is now closed. The results were:
Don Ness — 49.2 percent
Bev — 19.7 percent
TimK — 16.6 percent
Hot Shot — 14.4
Duluth’s Retro Antique Mall
You may have noticed a new antique store has opened at 118 E. First St. in Downtown Duluth. It’s a pretty crazy collection. In one corner is some of the remaining used book inventory from R. O. Carlson’s famous store, next to it is stuff from the old Molly’s Bar in Superior … and on and on. There are about 10 different people selling stuff in there, one of whom is Doug Moen, best known for his massive collection of retro clothing. (more…)
PDD Gravatar Poll, Fourth Bracket
[poll id=”7″]
This poll is now closed. The results were:
Hot Shot — 54.1 percent
Tamara — 15.3 percent
Ethan — 11.8 percent
Mary — 9.4 percent
Edgeways — 9.4 percent
Skyline: The Pride of Every Duluthian
The recent post “Lost Dog at Lakeside Super One,” which reunited Jessica with her sweet and crazy dog Marley, ended up spinning off into a discussion about the Lakeside neighborhood and it’s history/boundaries/etc.
While pondering that, PDD’s Fairy Research Spy unearthed this June 30, 1907 Duluth News Tribune article about the ongoing development of Skyline Parkway. (Of course, it wasn’t called “Skyline” until 1929.) (more…)
Eighth Birthday Party Announcement and Other PDD-related Matters
Next Wednesday, June 29, is Perfect Duluth Day’s eighth birthday. As usual, we are having a little get-together, and as usual we are inviting you all, as frightening as that might seem.
So swing on by the Burrito Union next Wednesday in the vague window of 8:30 to 10 p.m. or so. There will be no program or live music or plan to get people drunk and sell them condos; it’s just our annual opportunity to meet in person and shoot the breeze with the folks who put the P in our double-D.
In addition, yours truly will be a guest on “The Local” with Christine Dean next week, celebrating PDD’s birthday by playing songs with “Duluth” in the lyrics or title. That’s Wednesday, June 29, 5 p.m., on 103.3 FM KUMD.
By the way, we should probably let you all know what’s up with some of the technical weirdness PDD intermittently experienced in recent weeks. Here are the boring details:
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Bayfront Reggae – Save on tickets
If you’re going to both days of the Bayfront Reggae Festival, you can save some dough buying tickets online and using this discount code:
PDD1811
Just go to the Buy Tickets Now page and click on “Buy Tickets Now.” Select the number of tickets you want, enter the promotion code, and the price per two-day ticket will drop from $78.50 to $58.50.
(The only catch is you can’t choose the less expensive “advance” tickets and get the discount, even though you are buying in advance; so technically you’re saving $10, even though the discount is $20. Rastafarian math.)
Mary Plaster: Mixed Media Masks
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aeVdPVFeFk&feature=player_embedded
Most of these are still on display at Beaner’s Central. Green Man is gone, though. Must have trekked off into the woods.
Live Music Under the Tents in Canal Park
DeWitt-Seitz Marathon Nights events are in the DeWitt Seitz Marketplace lot, pictured above. Official Grandma’s Marathon live music is in the big parking lot by Grandma’s restaurants.
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Buskers Wanted for Sidewalk Days
Downtown Duluth’s annual Sidewalk Days Festival will be held July 6-8 on Superior Street between Lake Avenue and Fourth Avenue West.
The Greater Downtown Council is encouraging all buskers to open a case wherever it’s convenient — except, of course, where merchants and vendors have assigned spaces. (The GDC holds the permit for the street closure and with that can invite anyone to busk, so you don’t need a fancy busking permit.)
Contact Darlene if you have any questions — 218-428-2258 or dmarshall @ downtownduluth.com.
Duluth’s Providence Building, Wangenstein & Baillie projects
The Providence Building opened in 1895 on the corner of Superior Street and Fourth Avenue West in Downtown Duluth. Originally it was a more ornate five-story building. A Northern Pacific Railroad office was located on the first floor.
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Where the hell’s Cooper?
This article was originally published in the June 2006 issue of Minnesota Monthly magazine.
A corner of the Squirrel Cage Bar in Willow River still pays tribute to the town’s most infamous citizen. At the top of a collection of framed newspaper clippings is a computer printout asking a question that once appeared on hundreds of bumper stickers in the area: “Where the hell’s Cooper?”
U. S. Marshals are still trying to answer that question. (more…)
Final Trip Through Original Laura MacArthur Elementary School
An open house was held at MacArthur Elementary School yesterday as the last day of classes was wrapping up. I brought my camera on a final tour before the place is demolished and turned into a field. A new MacArthur is being built across the street from the original. (more…)
Hello, West Duluth. Is it Lionel Ritchie you’re looking for?
This poster was hanging on the pillar outside Insty-Prints at the Spirit Valley Shopping Center in West Duluth on Tuesday. Everyone at Insty denied involvement and seemed unaware of it. The tear-offs at the bottom are lyrics from the song. (more…)
Duluth FourthFest 2011 at Bayfront Park
Monday, July 4, 2011 | Bayfront Festival Park
Is it still free?
Yes, just like our country.
What bands are playing?
Shaunna Heckman, Sarah Krueger, Dirty Horse, 4onthefloor and Charlie Parr. Plus, the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, with its full company of 60 musicians, will perform an Independence Day program in the tradition of the Boston Pops and John Philip Sousa.
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“A Major Aurora Event”?
According to Science Buzz, astronomers are predicting some sexy Northern Lights tonight:
A major eruption on the Sun on June 7 sent high-energy particles spewing into space. They are expected to reach Earth on the night of Wednesday, June 8 (Minnesota time). Astronomers are predicting a major aurora event, with the Northern Lights visible overhead as far south as Milwaukee, and possibly visible on the northern horizon as far south a southern Indiana and Washington DC!
The most recent case of awesome Northern Lights in Duluth I remember was seven years ago. Tomasz Majewski captured the image above for Perfect Duluth Day from his home in the Piedmont neighborhood on Nov. 7, 2004.
Big Top Songwriting Competition 2011
The deadline is approaching for Big Top Chautauqua’s fourth annual songwriting competition. Interested local musicians have until June 17 to submit two original songs. Up to twelve finalists will be selected to perform in the competition finals on the Big Top stage August 19 for a chance at a cash prize of $100, a slot performing two songs as the opener for the Jessie Winchester/Johnsmith performance, and a chance to appear on the nationally broadcast Tent Show Radio program. Details here.
(Also, Big Top is celebrating its 25 years by giving away 25 prizes in 25 days. If you like Big Top Chautauqua on Facebook before July 5 you could win show tickets.)
Duluth’s Enger Tower, refurbished
Enger Tower reopened yesterday after three months of concrete patching, roof repairing, repainting, fancy new light installing, etc.
It looks great.
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PDD Disinfected. Resume blogging.
Sorry about the little Malware problem earlier today.
I’d tell you what happened, but then I’d have to ask the tech guy and he’d have to explain it to me and, well … it’s a nice day and the problem is solved.
