Kip’s Memory Card Dump #14
Duluth photographer Kip Praslowicz‘s latest memory-card dump video covers April 2017 to April 2018, minus the Homegrown Music Festival.
Saving the Brays
This past weekend I met Kym Garvey, who has been rescuing donkeys for about 10 years, now as part of the larger mission of Save the Brays Donkey Rescue. (more…)
Mystery Photo #69: Tall Ship
Based on fashions of the spectators, this photo appears to be circa the 1990s. Throngs have gathered to watch a tall ship sail into the Duluth Harbor. What is the name of the vessel? When precisely did this happen? (more…)
Squirrels
There are squirrels near downtown Duluth sitting cross-legged on alleyway tree limbs, picking their teeth with plastic shards carved out of trash bins.
There are squirrels in my neighborhood, Chester Park, who sit atop my garage roof and blithely stare below. Then they climb to the peak and play patty-cake.
I am seeing distinct packs of squirrels in the city as I walk from pocket to pocket. Those downtown squirrels are nothing to mess with. I imagine them waiting to pounce on any passive east side brethren that get lost and wind up sniffing around trash bins clearly marked for toughs. Each one has a squirrel-sized hole gnawed out of it. You don’t see that in the less dense, leafier neighborhoods.
And it’s not just the squirrels in alleyways from Fourth on down to Superior Street. Crows dive-bomb. Chipmunks clatter with menace. Skunk smells waft. Pigeons cluck disapprovingly. Even the flies are stickier. (more…)
Duluthians visit “Art and Healing”
It was nearly three hours from the Twin Ports to the Minneapolis Institute of Art in South Minneapolis to visit the opening of “Art and Healing: In the Moment.” But Duluth is participating in a national dialogue on race; it has for decades, since we started to acknowledge our own history of racial violence and our current racial inequalities. Participating in a national conversation means listening to what others have to say, about their experiences, too. (more…)
Selective Focus: #perfectduluthday
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21 likes, 3 comments - hart0812 on July 15, 2018: "Beach, please. This is how we roll☕🌊💃
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#weekendstyle #perfectduluthday #beachbabes #javajunkie #norabean #lakesuperior #thislittleweirdo #thisis30 #energy #fmspad".
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It’s time for a midsummer check on what makes a #perfectduluthday.
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Looking for a French tutor in Duluth
A group of Duluth-area senior women is looking for a fluent French speaker to help with language sessions. Two-hour sessions; twice monthly. The six ladies have advanced-beginner to intermediate levels of French. Willing to pay tutor. Merci bien!
Bijou Noir – “Do This to Me”
Former Duluthian Gus Watkins has released this new video under his band name, Bijou Noir. He’s returning to Duluth Aug. 10 for an album release show at Blush.
The video was shot this summer in pre-World Cup Croatia, where Watkins has been living off and on since 2017. Joseph Hyrkas is the director.
Duluth 2018 Primary Election Sample Ballot
Primary Election polls open Aug. 14 at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. (more…)
Cancer battle pushes sale of iconic West Duluth store
Joel Russell stands outside Central Sales, a surplus store his family has owned for more than 30 years.
An iconic and ruggedly unique surplus store in the heart of West Duluth has been put up for sale as its longtime owner prepares to fight a serious health issue. (more…)
Music Man, on Three Levels
I sat in the balcony to watch a preview (or Sponsor Night) performance of The Music Man by the Duluth Playhouse at the Norshor Theatre. The performance was enjoyable, the text is enjoyable, if complicated for the 21st century, and as this was my first trip into the new Norshor, I have some thoughts about that. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Buffalo Bill and Duluth
This month’s quiz looks at Buffalo Bill Cody’s relationship with Duluth. For more information on this topic, check out this Perfect Duluth Day article, this Northland Wilds article, and this The Area Woman article.
The next PDD Quiz, on July happenings, will be published on July 29. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by July 26. (more…)
A Smiter Smote a Sinner While Smitten with Smiting
Smite is a funny word.
My husband Jesse and I were talking about Leviticus (the Quentin Tarantino chapter of the Bible) last night. We don’t spend much time musing about Leviticus (lest you think we are piouser than we are) but were discussing this letter from a gentleman sardonically applauding Dr. Laura’s use of Leviticus 18:22 to rebuke homosexuality. Naturally, we began inquiring into other modern applications of less referenced lines of the book.
After discussing our own Leviticus reflections (scariest band name, ever), we started re-imagining the Christian adage, “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” Jesse suggested, to comply with Leviticus, that we change it to, “Hate the sin, scorn the sinner?” We agreed this was too far from the spirit of the book. Leviticus is very specific (e.g., “How to Build an Altar in 1,347 Easy Steps”). And the truth is, it’s tough to read cubits allegorically, no matter how stoned you are.
I suggested, if we were going Full Monty, that we just go straight to “Love the sinner, hate the sin. Then smite the sinner. Usually to death.” Jesse piled on, “If a sinning sinner smites a loving sinner, that sinner should be smitten, also.”
The fuck? (more…)
Selective Focus: Derek Montgomery
Derek Montgomery has shown us the world through his lens as a photojournalist, and he also does portraits and weddings. He’s worked for the Duluth News Tribune and Minnesota Public Radio, and he tells us how shooting news is different from shooting a bride and groom.
DM: I’m a photographer who specializes in wedding, news and sports photography. That may seem like a lot, but it’s a pretty narrow scope. Weddings is pretty obvious what that is about. I do a lot of work in northern Minnesota with Minnesota Public Radio reporters and have been a part of many stories and projects over the years. And the sports side involves working with the athletic department at the College of St. Scholastica to document their sports teams. Along with my work at CSS, I do a ton of team and individual sports work for hockey, baseball, volleyball, lacrosse and other teams, clubs and programs in Duluth. I’ve been a professional photographer for 12 years now and have been wandering around with a camera for 16 years.
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Mystery Photo #68: Aerial Transfer Bridge
There’s no doubt the subject of this mystery photo is the gondola car on Duluth’s Aerial Bridge, but what year was the photo shot? (more…)
List of Bands that Have Played Head of the Lakes Fair in Superior
The Head of the Lakes Fair is an annual tradition in Superior. The weekend event usually features bands performing on a stage in the center of the Superior Speedway. Often the headliner is a major touring act that is a bit past its prime. Below is a scattered list of bands that have played the festival. Because … nostalgia. (more…)
The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities & Towns – “The Truth About Duluth”
Matt Farley of Danvers, Mass. has been producing slapped-together novelty songs under clumsy pseudonyms since roughly 2004. The emphasis is clearly on quantity over quality; his website notes he has released 19,000 songs. He purportedly made $23,000 off his music in 2013.
Silent hero of Boundary Waters blowdown subject of new movie
The heroic story of a man who led one of Minnesota’s largest disaster rescue efforts will be told in a motion picture planned for release in 2019. (more…)
Selective Focus: Trampled by Turtles at Bayfront Park 2018
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk8y-h6Ft2j/
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Postcard from Duluth Elks Lodge #133 in 1913
This postcard was mailed 105 years ago — June 8, 1913 — when E.J. Turnbo was “enjoying the cool breeze and having one big time.” (more…)
Mysterious Biz White Song about Duluth
We need to unearth some Duluth-based songwriter history. The current reference librarians at the Duluth Public Library are unable to track down the lyrics to a song about Duluth by Biz White, a female librarian during the 1980s and ’90s.
Here’s the conversation:
I was visiting with friends yesterday and one of them said he had been trying to find the lyrics to a song written about Duluth. It was written by Biz White, who used to work at DPL, and he thought it may have been for a Playhouse production. Some of the lyrics he remembered were, “Oh Duluth, your granite hills rise,” and “Oh Duluth, your heartless hills.” I was hoping you had some ideas.
Thanks,
Kim
Help! Does anyone have these lyrics recorded?