Selective Focus: Michelle Truax
Michelle Truax has worked at TV stations, for the Duluth News Tribune as a videographer and journalist, and is now on her own doing advertising and documentary work for her own clients. Her videos are filled with gorgeous camera work. This week in Selective Focus Michelle talks about how she started and how she got to where she is in her career.
MT: I’d consider myself a visual storyteller with an emphasis on video. Most recently, I’ve been producing promotional video content for clients in the Twin Ports area.
I really love working in a short documentary style. As a kid, Thanksgivings were spent following my mom around the kitchen with a big Sony camcorder. She wasn’t particularly fond of this tradition, but I figured the drama made for better TV. I’ve always loved capturing all the little, human moments.
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Snow-Fort City, day 4
#snowfortcity day 4. Come at me, bro. Found lots of damage this afternoon as I rolled up, so, much of the day was spent in repair mode. (more…)
Micro Adventures
Let’s get small. Explore the microscopic world through the scanning electron microscope in the UMD Research Instrumentation Lab.
Monthly Grovel: December 2019 Edition
In the past year — from December 2018 through November 2019 — the PDD Calendar published 8,022 Duluth-area events. Each one was edited by a human being before the “publish” button was pushed.
It’s a tremendous amount of work to keep up with all the submissions from the more than 1,000 organizations that have sent us info about their concerts, plays, book sales and lutefisk dinners. That’s why once a month we set our dignity aside and remind readers how much we appreciate their financial support. (more…)
Snow-Fort City, Day 3
#snowfortcity Day 3: it’s a thing now. There are 7 nodes of activity in various stages of completion, but we have successfully transformed Leif Erikson Park. (more…)
The Slice: Duluth Performing Arts Mural
“The History of Duluth’s Performing Arts” mural was unveiled Nov. 1. It’s on the wall of the Duluth Skywalk outside the third floor of the NorShor Theatre. Susan Prentice Martinsen is the artist.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
Snow Removal Teamwork
Videographer Paul Scinocca speeds up a half hour of community shoveling into two minutes, showing a team of Duluthians clearing a side road.
Snow-Fort City, Day 2
It was a great day to build a #snowfortcity with volunteers Stephen Bockhold, Sean MacManus, and others including an unnamed mom with two kids in tow who attested she was a #peoplesfreeskate participant last winter. One of the kids she was with, who I’ve never seen before, called me “Aquaman” unprompted on camera while KBJR-6/CBS-3 was filming: hope that makes the final cut. (more…)
Antics from Duluth’s Thanksgiving Weekend Snowout of 2019
Some video fun while you wait for the plows to clear the streets. Here’s a montage of snowy silliness. (more…)
Duluth Tap Exchange brings self-serve brews to Lincoln Park
The Duluth Beer Exchange will feature 40 self-serve taps offering beer, wine, cider and other beverages. The space is expected to open in December.
Beer and wine lovers will fill their own glass in a new, high-tech Lincoln Park drinking establishment scheduled to open this winter. (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #30: Winter Sports Edition
Another trivia card from a board game purchased at Savers. (more…)
Snow-fort City, Day 1
#snowfortcity
Day 1. Duluth’s Leif Erikson Park. Most of my time was taken up by Duluth News-Tribune reporters who showed up – oops got in the paper again. Otherwise slow going with cold powdery snow – spray bottles and water make the job easier so bring those. It’s sort of Day 2 since some folks built this formidable snow fort yesterday, and got the base of another one started. It’s sort of Day 3, since I built a proof-of-concept wall before the blizzard, but it blew down so I restarted it today. A huge help was Morgan Pirsig et al. who laid down a solid sled trail which helps define the space. It goes so fast we need to bank it by the stage now. Troy Rogers aka Robot Rickshaw showed up and we demonstrated proper wall-building technique for the media. A season-long project to turn the park into a citizen-led collective art installation and playground.
Steve’s Overpopulated One-Man Band – “Iron Ore”
Steve Solkela shares the musical story of his great-great grandfather’s journey from Finland to Minnesota in search of a better life. “It was backbreaking work down in those Minnesotan mines,” Sorkela writes on the YouTube description. “Many were injured, and many died; but of course, many were successful in feeding their families countless times and watching them grow to live beautiful lives.”
The video was shot over the summer at various locations across northern Minnesota, and edited using a free iPhone app.
Selective Focus: Thanksgiving Weekend Snowout 2019
Small Business Saturday was essentially snowed out. The snow stopped falling on Sunday around noon. According to the National Weather Service, Duluth received 21.7 inches — the ninth snowiest two-day storm in the city’s history. (more…)
Ripped at the Laundromat in 1999
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. In this essay the ol’ Sultan of Sot went out for a “soak and spin” at the Chalet Lounge, 4833 Miller Trunk Highway. The article originally appeared in the December 1999 issue of Duluth’s then-monthly Ripsaw newspaper.]
I hate doing laundry. It’s just one of those exceedingly practical things that isn’t any fun in the least and does nothing but stand in the way of gettin’ ripped and having a good time. Luckily, I found the Chalet Lounge — Duluth’s only Laundromat that is attached to a bar.
Actually, the place isn’t in Duluth, but Hermantown. “Laundromat Hermantown, MN” the sign outside boldly states. On the sidewalk beneath it lay two battered and broken washing machines.
I hauled my basket of dirty clothes inside, eager to get the wash going so I could start drinking. A big guy in a leather jacket leaned against a dryer reading a copy of Real Estate Viewer magazine. I tried really hard not to let him see my Snuggle fabric softener. The thought entered my mind that it might actually be more fun to have a few drinks and then do the wash, but I quickly dismissed this idea, imagining dire consequences. (more…)
Duluth News Tribune publishes article by white nationalist
On Nov. 25 the Duluth News Tribune published an opinion article, ostensibly about over-population, by a writer flagged by the Anti Defamation League for white nationalist comments, and for appearing on a notoriously anti-semitic website. (more…)
Selective Focus: Holiday Pop-ups
The Thanksgiving weekend blizzard wreaked havoc on Small Biz Saturday and some of the Pop-Ups in town, but we have tried to update this list with the rescheduled events.
These are the true “get ’em while you can” offerings, pop-up markets where a wide variety of art, food products, clothing products and more are on display. There are usually snacks, maybe some hot chocolate, and lots of other people milling about, so the atmosphere is a lot more fun that adding things to your online cart.
Some are small, some are huge. Each market has its own vibe, check the websites and event pages for special instructions on parking, hours etc.
Let us know what markets we’ve missed in the comments, or by sending an email.
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Snow-fort City proof of concept
I built this Snowhenge wall segment in Leif Erickson Park today in three hours with a bucket. Will it remain after a weekend of playing children, and snowstorms including 30-mph winds? Probably not. But rebuilding and rebirth are central to this season-long project where work and leisure are indistinguishable. The blizzard should die off Sunday and the upcoming week should be clear to terraform the gift of snow. (more…)
West Superior Street, Spalding Hotel, Lyceum Theatre circa 1904
This photo from Detroit Publishing Company shows Downtown Duluth at Superior Street and Fifth Avenue West circa 1904. At right is the Spalding Hotel, at left the Lyceum Theatre.
Due to the clarity of this particular image, it’s possible to zoom in for some pretty clear closeups, as illustrated below. (more…)
Selective Focus: Drinksgiving Storm of 2019
Instagram
193 likes, 1 comments - morganann987 on November 27, 2019: "It’s only 9am and he’s already been outside for two hours. I think it’s safe to say he loves the snow ❄️".
instagram.com
The city of Duluth is advising no unnecessary travel until further notice. “Plows are out in full force, but warm ground temperatures and rain have forced drivers to use chains to travel safely,” states a news release from the city’s communications office. “Please respect plow drivers and maintain a safe distance behind them.”
Meanwhile, here are a few of the sexier pics on Instagram. (more…)
Postcard of Foreign Ships in Duluth Harbor
Foreign Trade Zone #51 was approved by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 40 years ago today — Nov. 27, 1979. The first shipment arrived on April 12, 1983. This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography shows ships in the Duluth Harbor near the Foreign Trade Terminal. (more…)
Snow-Fort City: It’s Time [UPDATED BELOW FOLD]
Calling all guerrilla snow-fort builders, amateur igloo engineers, wintertime sculptors, snowmen whisperers, and anyone haunted by dreams of city-wide snowball fights: It’s time.
Climate>Duluth: Bret Pence
Climate>Duluth host Tone Lanzillo interviews Bret Pence from Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light. Recorded in the PACT-TV Studio, Duluth City Hall.
PDD Gift Guide 2019
Happy ho ho holidays. It’s time once again for the Perfect Duluth Day Gift Guide, a list of nifty gifty things made locally or with a connection to the area. We’ve highlighted 15 items; if you know of others, let us know by dropping us a note or add suggestions in the comments. (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #29
Another trivia card from a board game purchased at Savers. (more…)