Videos
Backyard LED Hockey Rink
The list of oddball Minnesota hockey rinks is growing. In December Liftoff Aerials showed off PDD’s pond hockey rink shaped like the North Star State. Now, Gopher Aerial presents Shawn Carlon’s backyard rink in Maple Grove, which uses LED lights for added nighttime fun.
Aqua Kids: Lake Superior Stormwater Management
Aqua Kids, a nationally syndicated television series created to educate young people about “ecology, wildlife, science and how it all relates to them,” shot several episodes in the Duluth area last summer. In this edition, the Aqua Kids get an up-close look at how Superior handles storm-water runoff. From retention ponds to engineered wetlands, the Aqua Kids don waders and headlamps to climb into the storm drains of Duluth to help divert toxic road runoff from entering a trout stream.
Brief Summer Swim Shot
Been waiting to post this for deep winter: a few seconds of crystal clear underwater summertime Lake Superior.
Paul Metsa – “Christmas at Molly’s”
This video slideshow, produced by Andy Watson of ANDVD Media, was released just before Christmas. It features a song written by Paul Metsa in 1990 as a loving tribute to Molly O’Kash Muench Spaun, proprietor of Molly’s Bar in Superior. Spaun died in 2013 at the age of 99. Molly’s Bar closed in 2005 and became Tower Avenue Tavern.
Perfect Duluth Day’s Best Videos of 2016
Among the 250+ videos that landed on PDD in 2016, we’ve chosen 17 to feature as “the best.” From music videos and aerial waterfall footage to everything in between, here’s how people amused themselves with cameras in Duluth this year. (more…)
Crows Attacking Snowy Owl at Sunrise
Shot this morning in the Duluth area by Richard Hoeg for 365daysofbirds.com.
Christmas Waves at Tetteguche
Gary Fiedler of Radiant Spirit Gallery captured the power Lake Superior’s waves at Tettegouche State Park on Christmas Day.
Video Archive: Star Wars closes in Duluth (R.I.P. Carrie Fisher)
Carrie Fisher, the actress best known for her role as Princess Leia in Star Wars movies, died today at age 60.
Destination Duluth recently found this WDIO-TV news report on YouTube. The clip is from Dec. 22, 1977, the day the original Star Wars closed in Duluth. Destination Duluth posted it to Facebook with a note that “Star Wars smashed box office records with 459 showings over 191 days in Duluth.”
Kalli Erickson Manion skates on her Superior driveway
Kalli Erickson Manion of Superior makes the best of nature’s ice sheet on Boxing Day.
Big Wave Dave and the Ripples – “Snow Pants”
Big Wave Dave and the Ripples are the subject of a WDSE-TV documentary titled Soul Brothers, which first aired in November. The video above is a clip from the documentary featuring the nine-piece funk-and-soul band in action.
Wall of Sea Smoke
Duluth photographer Levi Drevlow‘s video of the wall of sea smoke on Lake Superior last week blew up on Instagram and was shown nationally on both CBS and ABC network news programs. (more…)
Pond Hockey Rink in Shape of Minnesota
What says Minnesota more than pond hockey? How about a rink in the shape of Minnesota? I made this rink in the shape of Minnesota over the course of two days. The project took a total of a few hours and I had some help on the final shovel off.
Ingeborg von Agassiz – “Jolly Old St. Nick”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ0ut8AIkSE
A reharmonization and altered melody for the traditional holiday classic “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” by Duluth’s Ingeborg von Agassiz.
Video Archive: 1964 Great Lakes Adventure
This 16mm film documentary was produced by Detroit Public Schools and the Ford Motor Company. It chronicles a trip aboard the Ford Motor Company freighter as it voyages from the River Rouge Factory Complex to Duluth and back with a load of iron ore.
The program is sexy throughout, but since it’s an educational film you might want the cheat sheet or Cliff Notes. The Duluth segment of the adventure starts at the 13-minute mark and ends at the 17-minute mark.
Much appreciation to the Detroit Historical Society for making this gem available to the masses.
UMD Snack Exodus
During finals week, the UMD Student Association provides a 9 p.m. snack. This video, shot early last week, shows the mass migration of students as the library empties out.
Time Lapse Video: Lake Superior Sea Smoke
Photographer Travis Novitsky got up early on Dec. 15 to make the trek up Mt. Josephine to photograph sea smoke on Lake Superior. (more…)
Great Lakes Trader arrives coated in ice
The ice-coated Great Lakes Trader floated steamed into Duluth at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 13 to load iron pellets. Video by Dennis O’Hara.
Max Wolpoff thinks he’s Chad Salmela
Max Wolpoff, a Boston University student announcer working the Terriers women’s hockey game against the Gophers this past weekend, was almost as excitable as Duluthian Chad Salmela working the Sochi Olympics in 2014.
The parking meters in Hartford vs. Duluth
A few weeks back PDD reported a Duluth reference in a new episode of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, prompting vague assertions that Duluth had been mentioned in an episode of the original run of Gilmore Girls.
Well, a more specific tip finally came in.
Duluth was name dropped in season 2, episode 3, “Red Light on the Wedding Night.” Lorelai’s fiance Max has his bachelor party cut short because his brother leap frogged a parking meter and didn’t make it, resulting in a hospital visit. According to Max, his brother “claims he wasn’t drunk. He’s saying that the parking meters in Hartford are taller than the parking meters in Duluth, so he just miscalculated.”
The episode originally aired Oct. 16, 2001. The Duluth reference is just after the 18-minute mark of the full episode; the bootleg clip above isolates the reference.
Doomtree – “Fresh New Trash”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhR_cvLscJY
PDD alum Kahla Statema directs this unofficial video for “Fresh New Trash” from Doomtree’s 2011 album No Kings. Rapper Andrew Sims is currently on tour, with stops planned at Papa Charlie’s in Lutsen on Feb. 4 and the Red Herring Lounge in Duluth on March 10.
Duluth Nordic Center Stop-motion Workshop Video
A compilation of stop-motion animations done by children at the Nordic Center on Nov. 20. Video by Falyn Oja.
History of Itasca: Part 1
Lilah Crowe, executive director at Itasca County Historical Society, talks about the rich native history of Itasca County in the first of a four-part presentation.
This short-form documentary was produced by A Plus B Productions as part of the Itasca Conversations series.
Dance Attic – “Startin’ a Fire with You”
[arve url=”https://youtu.be/x-KIkeajnXs” thumbnail=”146333″]
Happy holidays! Jimi Cooper and Suzi Ludwig of Dance Attic bring the holiday cheer for this year’s PDD Christmas video. The song is from the band’s first album, tentatively scheduled for release in April.
A big thank you to the Homegrown Music Festival for sponsoring the video. Band registration is happening now, the Homegrown Winter Fiasco is Jan. 13, and the full-on eight-day extravaganza happens April 30 to May 7.
A big tip of the western hat also goes out to Darryn Wallace, who made Dance Attic’s snappy outfits.
Visit the PDD Holiday Video Showcase to view a collection of clips featuring the ghosts of Christmas’ past.
Video Archive: Le Parkour Duluth
This video, shot in the fall of 2006, was posted on Perfect Duluth Day ten years ago today. It made PDD’s list of Best Videos of 2006 and placed second at UMD’s Frozen Yeti Film Festival in 2007 in the Indie Film category. In the past decade it’s amassed more than 190,000 views. (more…)