David Beard
TED at Teatro
Last night, I went to the TED at the Teatro. This regular event (on the third Wednesday of every month) has both a Facebook Page and a Youtube Channel. It’s the second time I attended, and it’s an event I’d like to return to, even if it had some complexities.
The event is structured with a chatty welcome, last night including an uncomfortable handshake (getting us to meet the people around us, like the handshake in a church). There is a Raymond Carver essay in which Carver reflects on something Tobias Wolff told him when Carver invited Wolff to an event, to meet some people. “I don’t want any new friends. I can’t do right by the ones I have now,” or something more or less like that. If, unlike me, you are into meeting strangers, sure, this was fun.
There was music from Medical Underground. Others, more into local pop/rock music, might chime in on their quality. I found them pleasant. One of the refrains of one of their songs appeared to be something like “We will be okay,” which maybe is reassuring. (more…)
Bowling
Ever since I tried curling a few months ago, I’ve hungered for bowling. It’s been ten years since I bowled, almost exactly, on the weekend my friends married (at the Incline Station). I’ve been to parties and for volleyball at Skyline Lanes. But I haven’t bowled in a while. (more…)
HF 41: Student Physical Privacy Act
Posted without comment:
1.1 A bill for an act
1.2 relating to education; establishing the Student Physical Privacy Act; proposing
1.3 coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 121A.
1.4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.5 Section 1. [121A.35] STUDENT PHYSICAL PRIVACY ACT. (more…)
R.I.P. Francine York
Aurora, the Iron Range city about an hour north of Duluth, was home to Francine York. “From the 60s and into the 70s, she was a guest-star on dozens of series, with some of her most remembered roles from Batman, Lost In Space, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Streets of San Francisco.”
Bleeding Cool has the obituary for this Northland celebrity.
(It’s all about that) Duluth Bass Player Adam Booker
Woot for the local artist, internationally recognized. In the Contrabass Conversations podcast from Prague, Duluth bassist Adam Booker is interviewed about …
- traditional jazz bass lines and what notes were really being played
- confessions from a former string neurotic
- what surprised Adam the most about academia
- Stefon Harris and his description of scales as a collection of emotions
- hanging up on Milt Hinton … and then watching Jeopardy! with him
- not just creating great bassists, but creating great people
The Lifespan of the Herring on My Sandwich
I had guests in from Ontario, from the part of Canada that is south by a long drive from Duluth. We talk often about that oddity, about how strange it feels to drive north to the United States from Waterloo.
They wanted to know what eateries had opened in Duluth since their last visit. I took them to Northern Waters Restaurant in the Mount Royal Shopping Center, where we enjoyed a two-hour lunch.
There are two joys about eating at Northern Waters. One is the unique pricing. Tax and tip are rolled in, so I never worry about whether my companions tip well enough, or whether I tip well enough. That is a greater relief than I expected.
The more substantive dimension is the food, of course. I had the sandwich with the catch of the day. It was a herring sandwich, and I ordered it with a sense of adventure. My whole life, my only experience of herring was pickled, typically stabbed with a toothpick and put on a cracker. I giggled nervously as I ordered it. It was so very tasty. (more…)
Thrift Store Finds: Last Ride on the Incline
I’m teaching a class that emphasizes writing about place next semester. So I’ve been scrounging thrift stores for examples. Here’s one to share. Is there a copyright-awesome way to secure these old magazines online?
Historical Trauma and Standing Rock
When I was young and more exciting than I am now, I started teaching Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus. One of the reasons Maus made its way into classrooms was that it was an immensely accessible introduction to the Holocaust.
But about halfway through the second time I taught the book, I realized that its special genius is not the way it tells the story of Vladek, a Holocaust survivor, but the way it tells the story of Artie, the son of a Holocaust survivor.
Perhaps this is clearest in the scene where Artie and his wife, Francoise, take Vladek to the grocery store so that Vladek can return a half-eaten box of cereal. (more…)
An Unexpected Arrival in Morgan Park
Does anyone have the story?
Collecting Stories for a Community Forum on Police at UMD
I’m unofficially writing to ask for stories to share for the “Hands Up: Police/Community Relations in Duluth” on Election night, Tuesday, Nov. 8.
This event is a forum for conversation about police and community interactions in the city of Duluth. Duluth Mayor Emily Larson, Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken, Jeremy Nevilles-Sorrell (Mending the Sacred Hoop), and Civil Rights Activist Kym Young will kick off the event with brief statements. We invite UMD students, faculty and staff to share their experiences about police encounters with our guests. Our goal is to generate action steps to keep police/community relations healthy and proactive. (more…)
Curling and Possibility (A Reflection from Duluth Curling Club)
I went to the “learn to curl” night at Duluth Curling Club. The club has a storied history:
The Duluth Curling Club was organized in 1891… [The facility] can be expanded to provide up to 13 curling sheets for major events, and is the largest facility in the United States. With this facility, we have grown to the second largest club in the US; only the St Paul (MN) Curling Club, has more members.
We have hosted two World Championships, the US Olympic Trials, and numerous National events. Two DCC members have been inducted into the Curling Hall of Fame, for service to the sport. Numerous members have participated in and won State and National Championships over the years, and even a few World and Olympic Championships.
There are at least three curling clubs in the region, including one in Two Harbors and one in Superior, and I am thinking I will curl in Superior, if my friends out there will have me as I develop my skills.
Learning to curl taught me a lot. (more…)
Busy Week
I returned from a trip to Manitoulin Island to a busy week in Duluth. I visited the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, where I learned about traditional and contemporary first nations art. (more…)
Movies in the Park and a Hint of Rubber Duck
I passed through Movies in the Park on Friday while walking home from Suicide Squad at the Duluth Movie Theater at the DECC. On the way home, I conservatively passed seventy people playing Pokemon Go. I know this because I was playing, too. (more…)
Volleyball Leagues in Duluth
I’ve lived here for a decade. I don’t know why this surprises me so much, but I went to Skyline Lanes and saw more than 100 people playing volleyball on a Wednesday night. Are there other places for this kind of fun?
The Duluth Quantum Computing Project
So I attended the first meeting of the Duluth Quantum Computing Project designed and taught by Kathy McTavish, local cellist and multimedia artist. The series of workshops and mentored projects continues into the month of August. There, Kathy will bring what she described as a hybrid of fine arts, of high technology, and the ingenuity of the spirit of the MakerSpace in Duluth. As Kathy put it in last night’s class, “simple materials such as HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript, a text editor and a web browser will be our tools in creating new work.”
According to McTavish, “artists have been leveraging this space to explore new forms.” But the workshop is not only of value for creativity — McTavish believes using these tools will grow economic opportunity. “These technologies are of high value in the today’s market. In other regions of the country, coding classes provide artists with creative tools and career opportunities.” (more…)
Who in Duluth is doing the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen?
I have a few friends doing G.I.S.H.W.H.E.S., hosted by Misha Collins of I think the TV show “Supernatural.” From gishwhes.com:
We’re proud to have broken several Guinness World Records including: the most global hugs, 108,121; most pledges to commit charitable Acts of Kindness, 93,376, which we did in partnership with our friends at the non-profit Random Acts (www.therandomact.org); and of course, let’s not forget the prestigious Longest Safety Pin Chain – over a mile long! We’ve also: delivered thousands of items to the homeless; raised the money to completely furnish every room of a home for a wounded veteran and his family (we’ll be posting videos for this soon!); had a Mars rock named after us by NASA; made Christmas trees fly; and have been reported on by news organizations around the world, including Al Jazeera.
Who in Duluth is in? There is still time to join, I think.
Changes in Bookstores in the Duluth Region and Nationally
Local and national media are reflecting on the fate of the bookstore in Grand Rapids, Minn., about 70 miles from Duluth.
It’s small, smaller even than the Bookstore at Fitger’s, although it was crammed to the gills with books.
(more…)Duluthian paints France
Duluth artist Kenneth Marunowski is in France, painting, and sends his regards to friends left behind, like me. (more…)
Two Harbors Chalk.a.Lot
Amongst these magnificent works of sidewalk art from the Two Harbors Chalk.a.Lot this weekend is a tribute to Cloud Cult. Visit Sunday if you can. The art will still be awesome. (more…)
Pokemon Go Duluth Update
Does anyone have any crazy Pokemon Go Duluth stories? I see tons of evidence that the Rose Garden is overrun with Pokemon. And I saw eight kids staring into their phones at Pizza Lucé, which is a Gym across the street from a PokeStop or whatever it is.
Mix 108 has a list of sites. So does Reddit. And so does Duluth.com.
Remember, injured and orphaned wildlife should be brought to Wildwoods. Even Pokemon.
Sidewalk Days: Parklets, Pies, Pops; Meatless Meatballs and Mermaids
View of Sidewalk Days after dinner time, looking toward Lake Avenue from Superior Street.
We stopped at the parklet in front of Lake Superior Bakehouse. Parklets take a few parking spots on the main drag and turn them into plywood green spaces. We (a group of nerds including Duluth’s own Nifty Nerd) were hunting for refreshment, and the Bakehouse had beverages and a blueberry cinnamon roll that was amazing. The woman staffing the table was kind enough to mention reading and liking an earlier essay I wrote. I blush to think that people read my work, but it was the tastiness of the treats that won our hearts. (more…)
Music Shopping in Duluth
I am drained; I just want to appreciate things today. It’s almost Sidewalk Days in Duluth. Makes me appreciate all I can walk to downtown. Today, I am gushing about music.
I was walking downtown enjoying the summer and stopped in to Electric Fetus. There, I picked up the new Jean Michel Jarre CD (a double-disc, actually), Electronica 1&2. On the set, Jarre collaborates with hip, exciting new artists I have never heard of, as well as Cyndi Lauper, Laurie Anderson, Edward Snowden, Edgar Froese, John Carpenter … an eclectic batch of voices. I look at the disc and see the Orb as a collaborator and realize the Orb is already “old school” to today’s music what my parents’ music was to me. The entire package is a reminder that I am (approaching) middle age. I said “approaching.”
But it also reminds me how lucky I am that the Electric Fetus is around. And it got me thinking hard about record stores in the Twin Ports. (more…)
Reflections on Race and Community-oriented Policing
This is going to begin in Milwaukee, pass through St. Paul, and end in Duluth.
When I was a kid, the Milwaukee Police Department gave away baseball cards. The cards were printed for the police with the Milwaukee Brewers as the celebrities. Each officer carried two, and you had to talk to more than one officer over the summer to collect a full set. It was a great strategy for bringing families and police together. My favorite Brewer was Rollie Fingers, because he had a handlebar moustache. I didn’t know anything, any damn thing at all, about baseball.
The baseball cards were part of a “community-oriented policing” initiative. I was a kid; I barely understood what that meant, but I understood the problem it was meant to address.
In 1981, when I was nine, Ernest Lacy was arrested on suspicion of rape in Milwaukee. According to an account in The New York Times, Lacy was taken into a police van, where “two of the officers then held his legs down by placing their feet on his legs, and a third officer placed his knee between Mr. Lacy’s shoulder blades, forcing him to lie face down with his left cheek pinned to the ground. … Then, one of the policemen pulled Mr. Lacy’s arms up beyond his shoulder blades and over his ears [with] one violent, convulsive seizure and then the black man was absolutely still. … [T]he extension of Mr. Lacy’s arms toward his head interfered with the flow of oxygen to his lungs. … [T]his was fatal.” Lacy was taken alive into a police van and was removed dead, a victim of police brutality.
(Another man was convicted of the rape, if that matters to anyone reading this. It shouldn’t for Ernest Lacy any more than it did for Clayton, Jackson and McGhie.) (more…)
Boat – People
I found this poem on my desk — you step away for a week, and everything you see when you come back is bright and new. These are just the last stanzas, because I want to honor copyright and because they move me:
