David Beard

I saw the Wise Fool Shakespeare production of A Christmas Carol this afternoon with Lucie Amundsen.

Lucie wrote:

Didn’t make it to the Wise Fool Shakespeare ‘s Christmas Carol? Dude, you missed out. Goosebumps, guffaws and a little case of the verklempts. Thanks cast for giving up your autumn to make my Solstice.

It’s true — community theater is hundreds of hours to produce a work as awesome as this one. I am grateful, as Lucie was, for all their efforts. Jodi Kujawa stole the show, for me, as the Ghost of Christmas Present doing a little fourth-wall breaking, too. But the whole afternoon was awesome, twice as awesome because Sunday was “pay what you can,” so the crowd was even more energetic than you might expect.

I ended today shopping at the Mall, where I saw Brian Rauvola shopping, too. Brian has done as much as any one man can to sustain a culture of photography in Duluth, and it’s good to see him take a breather from that work. I still miss the Duluth Photography Institute, which was his baby.

I have a lot of art experiences to relate this week, but I thought I should set aside two today, and a few more this weekend, when blog traffic is admittedly lower, I bet.

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I ended my weekend at the Lake Superior Youth Chorus… (more…)

I started tonight listening to Darin Bergsven play some jazz tunes. I was there with Darrin and another member of Tangier 57, a local band that has both talent and a sense of humor. They push the same buttons in me that Combustible Edison used to… but not all members of the band knew the reference. What can you do?

At the table was my friend Liz Wright, who recently published an essay about The Negro Motorist Green Book. The Book, “with its list of hotels, boarding houses, restaurants, beauty shops, barber shops and various other services, can most certainly help solve your travel problems. It was the idea of Victor H. Green, the publisher, in introducing the Green Book, to save the travelers of his race as many difficulties and embarrassments as possible.” Liz does fascinating work in the rhetoric of race and gender, and this project seems really exciting to me.

Also at the table was Elias Mokole, a local vocalist whose work I am only starting to understand and enjoy. (Classical music eludes me. And someone who works in as many languages as Elias is crazy rich and complex as an artist.)

When I left, I wandered downtown for a bit — a trip to Rogue Robot, for starters, and then to the Electric Fetus, where I bought the “She & Him” Christmas album for $6 in their 20% off Halloween sale. Oh, Zoey Deschanel… please visit me in Duluth.

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So I was at the Red Herring, watching the last episode of the first season of Dr. Who (with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor) and the first episode of the second season. The second season stars David Tennant. Tennant is, possibly, my favorite Doctor. So much so, I am watching Gracepoint.

Kristen Hylenski was there planning the November 9: Fall of the Wall Film and celebration, 3:30 – 8:00. The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures will show the film “Good Bye Lenin!,” then hold a 1989 dance party. There will also be opportunities to learn about the wall and the fall of the wall.

Paul Lundgren was there. Paul is my hero, in many ways: what I think a writer can be. While I was there, My friend Emily sent me her new song lyrics. She posts them here. The night was hopping for me. Thanks to Heikko for organizing a Tuesday night event that gets me out of the house and among my friends, and that gets me tasting the infused liquors of the Red Herring.

After that, I wandered over to the Zeitgeist. I had grading to do, and I needed some help. While I was ordering my liquid help, I saw Richard Hansen of the Duluth Superior Film Festival… That man never stops, never sleeps. Planning the next festival started the second the last one ended. I also saw Kathleen Roberts and Nick Monson of Prøve Collective get a snack.

Full, rich night.

A few weeks ago, a kind customer at a local store noticed a mouse caught in a glue trap (Wildwoods hates glue traps!), picked her and the trap up, and brought them both in to us. (more…)

I ended Thursday freezing to the death in the antarctic with Kurt Russell at the Zinema 2 Horror Movie Festival. It’s nice to see the theater packed to show a 30-year-old movie (The Thing), and maybe I will see you there in subsequent weeks.

Before that, viewing Danny Badhwa‘s photography exhibit! Moving, and worth viewing.

Before that, dinner at Tavern on the Hill. That place is too crowded for me, somedays, and I have yet to order at the bar such that my food and my companions’ food have arrived at the same time, but it’s tasty.

Before that, I met with a young MA student to talk Coleridge, my colleague Liz Wright to talk about the complexity of memory places, both at Starbucks at Bluestone. That was after lunch at Qdoba — yummy, tasty, but $10 for a burrito? A bit much for me.

Before that, a meeting with UMD’s Mindy Granley, of the office on sustainability, and four of my favorite artists (Peter Pestalozzi, Catherine Meier, Kathy McTavish, and Emily Jayne) to talk about a project covering art and sustainability.

I ended the day exhausted. After some of the other awesome stuff this week (game night at Rogue Robot, dinner at Oriental House, Dr. Whosday at Red Herring), I am tired.

But Friday night — a haircut by Andrea at Shear Katz, followed by excitement at Prove Gallery. What are you up to?

Photos by Dan Turner.

I spent the better part of the afternoon at Barnes and Noble, Miller Hill Mall, with Terrance Griep. Griep was signing hardcover editions of his comic books starring Scooby Doo.

Griep is both a comic artist and a professional wrestler, visiting Duluth today and tomorrow (Monday). (more…)