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Scottish Gaelic Lessons

Learn Scottish Gaelic! Come to Gaelic Happy Hour at Carmody Irish Pub and learn conversational Scottish Gaelic over a glass of whisky. $35/month, Mondays, 6 p.m.

Duluth Air Quality Survey

Did any of you get surveyed in the past couple weeks about air quality in our area?  I was wondering if anyone could confirm that this was legit.  I got a weird feeling about it and when asked for personal info I declined.  The survey seemed very weak on content and I was handed a very unprofessionally printed raffle ticket ($500 shopping spree or something like that) after answering a few questions.

This may not be really appropriate for PDD, but I didn’t know where else to ask.  Does anyone have any information regarding this survey?  The recent home break-ins mentioned in the DNT article “Duluth police: Watch neighbors’ homes,” seem well targeted and a door to door survey would be a great way to get a look inside peoples’ homes.

This is probably just paranoia (I recently had some stuff stolen from a car), but I thought it was worth asking.

Creepy Crawlies

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Hundreds of these guys are gobbling up the leaves on our boulevard tree. Help! Do we spray? Do we put our heads between our knees and wait for the Russian bomb?

What are they and what should we do?

Stolen car stereo! $80 reward! Caution! graphic video on disc!

Not to laugh at other people’s misfortune … but … maybe posting it here will help them get their stereo back?

Stolen car stereo’s last night/this morning – $30 (Duluth)

Boys of Summer Comes to Life

Don Henley was right …

… Deadhead Sticker on a Cadillac. Downtown Duluth Thursday.

Park Point Questions

What is the longest freshwater sandbar in the world? Wikipedia’s Minnesota Point page says that Minnesota Point and Wisconsin Pont combined make the largest freshwater sandbar, and someone at UMD says Park Point alone is the longest. However, a Vista Fleet tour guide said that Minnesota Point was the second longest freshwater sandbar, and a Google search for “second longest freshwater sandbar” finds many references to Park Point. (more…)

Where in Superior?

Another opportunity for Amsoil

Superior-based Amsoil is paying $6 million for naming rights to the new arena at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. So, is $20,000 too much to ask to get the logo tattooed on a dude’s arm?

I mention this because a guy from Superior has taken out an ad on Craigslist offering his arm “to be tattooed for an advertisement.” Specifically, he notes it will go on his forearm and be approximately 2-1/2 inches by 7 inches.

St. Mary’s/Duluth Clinic double billing?

Have you ever been double billed by SMDC?

I received a bill from both St. Mary’s and the Duluth Clinic that didn’t go away after paying the clinic. My friend recently also ran into the same problem. Database glitch?

I should add the bill was exactly the same amount.

Stuff I Like – Father’s Day Edition

I like my Infantino baby carrier.

Originally we had gotten an infant sling carrier for Mrs. Goose to carry the baby around in but she didn’t like it, and it was a little too small for me to use, plus it seemed vaguely unsafe so it sat on a shelf and she got a another one that worked well for her and worked with breast feeding and nap time, etc. But we didn’t have one for dad. Then, sure enough, the other carrier WAS unsafe, we got a recall notice in the mail and I wouldn’t have even done it since, by then, he was over a year old and walking and we didn’t really need one, but hey … free stuff.

So this is what they sent me:

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Animals left in cars

Now that it quit raining and we have sun and heat, please help spread the word about dogs in cars. Twice already I’ve seen dogs locked in cars; one with windows barely cracked and another closed tightly. Next time, I’m calling the cops.

And while I’m on the animal rant, what is it with dogs in the backs of pick ups but not in a kennel? It outta be illegal!

Where’s Gwanto?

In case any of you have been wondering where the heck I disappeared to in the past couple of years (or have been relieved because of it), I’ve been helping develop a 155-acre organic farm in Randall, MN.

By the time our summer/fall season is done, we’ll have planted around a million and a half seeds (phew!) of pretty much everything you can think of. A lot more info is available at our website: farmofplenty.com.

We don’t have a pickup site in Duluth yet because we’re about to burst as it is this year with all the local shares we’ve received thus far, which has been nothing short of awesome. Anyhoo, take care everyone, check out the site if you have time and I hope to see you next time we’re in town!

-Christian McShane

Duluth a progressive city?

I was having a conversation with a young friend of mine today and I said Duluth is not a progressive city. But you have to look at what you have said. So I retract that and will clarify.

At the forefront of Duluth doing what I would call progressive thinking is the organic farm movement. There are good urban gardeners and also friends of ours that moved out into the country who are now raising and selling their produce. And we have an up-and-coming arts and music scene. Beyond that it slips away.

The question would be: What is a progressive city? Obviously something is lacking for me. I’d like to see a kick the jams hit on making Duluth sustainable. And what does that mean? The first thing to do when there is a big task is do the first thing right. And because I think this town lags in any sort of alternative energy program. This is a purely symbolic gesture with some overtures of functionality.

Let’s put a fund together, I pledge 50 dollars and we research and get the best solar with windturbine street light and put it on Lake and Superior. You make that intersection run under it’s own power and I’ll take off my hat to ya.

What would that do? If you could make it work it would prove you could do it. It would give a visible indication of what you could do. What is hardcore sustainability? Air, water, food. What is citywide sustainability? Much bigger deal, but it would make a progressive community.

I-35 Constructiageddon at Night

A few (unedited) night shots of the I-35 construction in West Duluth. Or is it Mars? Yeah, it might be Mars.

I really wanted to shoot these on a foggy night, but the one night I had time, it was relatively clear. I’ll have to go back again soon. The way I understand it, the construction will go on for a *wee* bit longer, as will the damp weather. (more…)

Noozelady’s New Shoes

Noozelady's new shoes

I have been hearing about Vibram fivefingers (R) shoes for about five months from Tim, one of my co-workers. He has worn his in the middle of winter, outside on news shoots and all around the station. Today I decided to go to Duluth Running and find a pair of my own.
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Congratulations, Shelly M. — You’re the NASCAR Fan of the Week at the Pit Stop Bar in beautiful Proctor, Minnesota

Don’t forget to bring a designated driver. And say hi to Dozzer on behalf of PDD.

Leif Erikson’s Latest Kill

Leif Erickson Conquers A Man in Rubber Boots

For those of you who didn’t drive past Leif Erikson about two weeks ago. Erikson appears to have put his viking hunting skills to use.

Where in Duluth?

Demented No More

Dr. Demento is ceasing on-air broadcasting. Shows will still be available online.

Carpets, Blankets and Linens

We want them!! We are reconstructing a small music studio in the area and are looking for any blankets, linens, and mostly carpet that we can use to cover the walls and dampen the sound. Any extra 1970s shag lying around? Let us know.

One more week to apply for PDD sales position

Don’t forget, the deadline for the Perfect Duluth Day sales position is Friday, June 4th.

See the job description here.

Naming Rights and Personal Bias

For some reason I have the following broad scope of opinions about the new stadium/arena names.

Amsoil Arena – Fine by me. Sounds OK.
Target Field – Kind of dumb, but I can deal with it.
Mall of America Field – Kill me now.

Am I the only one with these blatantly hypocritical feelings?

By the way, Mall of America Field is at the Metrodome, in case any of you are unaware. The name change happened kind of quietly last year, but apparently some Teflon fabric panels will soon be placed on top of the dome to make it painfully clear.

Water Hazard

With all the road construction this summer you can see orange cones everywhere in the Twin Ports.

Yep. Everywhere.

Kozy Crash

Apparently a car ran into the Kozy Bar. I am not making this up. I did not get the whole story.
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Where in Duluth?