Interview with the Richardson Brothers
Ryan Welles interviewed the Richardson brothers today on his “True Stories and Other Damage” podcast. In it, we detail the history of how we got to Duluth 20 years ago, and provide an overview of the creative projects we have been involved with here, from Gonzo Science to Mr. Nice to Lake Superior Aquaman. Other topics include our perennial concerns of psychedelics, UFOs, Dadaism, and several things in between.
Glen’s Neighbor – “Explore, Dream, Believe, Imagine”
Duluth-based bluegrass band Glen’s Neighbor recently released its third album, Ice Cream. The video for the single “Explore, Dream, Believe, Imagine” is directed and animated by Shane Nelson.
Postcard from the Canal Park Marine Museum
The Lake Superior Marine Museum & Maritime Visitor Center doesn’t look much different today than it did in this postcard, probably from the 1970s. (more…)
Smokehaus Scavenger Hunt
Northern Waters Smokehaus has been selling smoked fish, meats, salumi, and sandwiches out of its little DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace location for so long that some regulars call it an institution.
To celebrate 20 years of smoking, slinging sandwiches and stumbling through the seasons with various levels of success, Northern Waters is offering discounts, sales and giveaways all year long. For the month of July the business is conducting a Duluth-wide (within its delivery range) Scavenger Hunt. (more…)
Dubz – “Livin'”
Duluth rapper Bryan Wick, aka Dubz, once again enlists the services of Arizona-based Priceless Video Productions on this video for a track from his 2017 release Throw it on My Tab.
Associative Agnosia and a Writer Born in Duluth
Michael Fedo on Associative Agnosia:
During my 1940s and 50s elementary school years in Duluth, Minnesota, I was the only boy in my class who could not identify automobiles by make. Chevrolets, Fords, Plymouths—all appeared indistinct to me. I couldn’t recognize one from another, unless I happened to spot the name on its hood or trunk.
Fascinating read by one of Duluth’s most prominent exports, in the new issue of You & Me.
WDSE-TV Documentary: “Fires of 1918”
The date October 12, 1918 will forever be remembered in this part of the world as a date that didn’t just make history, but erased history. Now, a century later, WDSE-TV presents a new documentary on the greatest catastrophe ever in northern Minnesota.
I. Was. Running.
On a mellow midsummer evening in 1992 — back when the Whole Foods Co-op was still next door to the Chester Park Laundromat at Fourth Street and Fifteenth Avenue East — I emptied a big mesh bag full of dirty laundry into three or four front-loading washers, tied my apartment key (for the basement of 1516 East Fourth Street, a little more than a block away ) to the hockey-skate lace holding up my cutoff UMD sweats, and started jogging up the east side of the Chester Creek trail. My plan was to take that side up to Chester Bowl, follow the pavement back to the soccer field, then reverse the process down the west side of creek and return just as the wash cycle ended. The laundromat wasn’t crowded, but I still didn’t want to be the guy who takes up a bunch of machines then disappears. I also don’t like people touching my stuff, even if it’s just to move my wet clothes into a rolling basket with a janky wheel or two so they can use the washer.
I wasn’t taking classes that summer, so I’d probably thrown a small stack of unread Sports Illustrated issues on top of the dirty clothes along with a jug of Tide. I assume my plan for after the jog was to transfer all the clothes into one or two of the laundromat’s huge, nuclear-heat dryers, grab some chocolate-covered almonds and a fizzy drink at the Co-op, and settle in to read about sports things that were starting to seem a lot less important than they had seemed since I was a little boy.
Good sports writing about more than sports is the stuff that had drawn my attention since elementary school, when Grandma Eva started giving me an annual SI subscription every Christmas. I really liked the long stories that focused more on people and culture and ideas than on stats and player trades and the stuff blowhards now shout about on TV and the radio. I should probably start reading the Best American Sports Writing anthology series again. Or maybe re-buy and re-read (if for no other reason than the story “Popper”) the George Plimpton anthology I once owned when I thought I was preparing for a career as a newspaper or magazine sports columnist. (more…)
“Where in Duluth?” PDD 15th Anniversary Challenge Recap
Here’s a storymap that sums up the “Where in Duluth?” PDD 15th Anniversary Challenge and the winners.
Selective Focus: Naomi Christenson
Naomi Christenson dances, paints, designs and more. On July 13th and 14th, she’s dancing in Dances on the Lakewalk in Lake Place Park at 7 pm, an event organized by Doris Acosta of Freshwater Dance Collective. This week in Selective Focus, she tells about the event, and how her visual art and dancing abilities work together.
I work in a variety of mediums, from painting to fabric design to dancing. At the moment, I’m all about tap dancing! I’m not 100% clear how I first knew I wanted to tap, but I suspect it had something to do with watching someone else do it and thinking “That looks SO fun, I want to do it too!”. I’ve taken all kinds of technique classes in tap over the years, but only in the last few years have I worked on my own choreography in it. I think the more you create in any art form, the more you’re able to see your unique voice and style develop. I would say my tap style is playful and rhythmic. (more…)
Perfect Duluth Day Outdoor Summer Concert Primer 2018
It’s officially summer, now, and the PDD Calendar is stuffed with every ding-dang concert from here to eternity (or at least, like, Tower or somewhere). Of course, the usual suspects like Bayfront Festival Park and Big Top Chautauqua are in there, as are smaller series like Bayside Sounds, Chester Creek Concert Series and Summer (Mostly) Thursdays. Here’s a peek at some of the upcoming sure-to-be outdoor-music highlights. (more…)
Ride Duluth
Minneapolis-based director Brendan Lauer put together this video featuring fat-tire cyclists Alex Rohde, Andy Kienitz and Evan Simula, with narrator Hansi Johnson.
Where in Duluth? PDD 15th Anniversary Challenge #15 of 15
If you’ve followed Perfect Duluth Day for long, you know how to play “Where in Duluth?” A photo from an undisclosed spot is posted, people guess the location in the comments, someone eventually gets it right and everyone else admires that person’s brilliance. But now, as part of PDD’s 15th anniversary celebration, there are prizes on the line. (more…)
Gaelynn Lea – “Lost in the Woods”
Official music video for Gaelynn Lea‘s “Lost in the Woods” from her forthcoming album, Learning How to Stay, which will be released on Sept. 7. Preorders available through GoFundMe.
Where in Duluth? PDD 15th Anniversary Challenge #14 of 15
If you’ve followed Perfect Duluth Day for long, you know how to play “Where in Duluth?” A photo from an undisclosed spot is posted, people guess the location in the comments, someone eventually gets it right and everyone else admires that person’s brilliance. But now, as part of PDD’s 15th anniversary celebration, there are prizes on the line. (more…)
Postcards from the Flame excursion boat
The undated postcard above, published by Gallagher’s Studio of Photography, shows the Flame excursion boat entering the Duluth Shipping Canal. (more…)
Where in Duluth? PDD 15th Anniversary Challenge #13 of 15
If you’ve followed Perfect Duluth Day for long, you know how to play “Where in Duluth?” A photo from an undisclosed spot is posted, people guess the location in the comments, someone eventually gets it right and everyone else admires that person’s brilliance. But now, as part of PDD’s 15th anniversary celebration, there are prizes on the line. (more…)
Keep a lap pool in Downtown Duluth!
There are rumors that Essentia Health’s downtown campus may no longer include a lap pool, after the planned remodel/reorganization. The aquatics center slated for Hermantown may be meant to replace the current pool. Hermantown is not a convenient location for many people who swim at Essentia’s Duluth facilities, including many medical staff, seniors, and those with special needs.
If Essentia is serious about improving and expanding its health and wellness services, it should continue to provide the health-promoting benefits of a pool, at a convenient, affordable downtown location, accessible by public transportation. Essentia got many swimmers hooked on fitness through swimming in its great adults-only, extended-hours lap pool!
To sign a petition in support of the lap pool, go to: petitions.moveon.org.
Where in Duluth? PDD 15th Anniversary Challenge #12 of 15
If you’ve followed Perfect Duluth Day for long, you know how to play “Where in Duluth?” A photo from an undisclosed spot is posted, people guess the location in the comments, someone eventually gets it right and everyone else admires that person’s brilliance. But now, as part of PDD’s 15th anniversary celebration, there are prizes on the line. (more…)
Duluth Screen Printing will celebrate Flagship store July 4
Anthony Rogentine, GM, chats with a group of customers as they enter the store. Photo by Alex Byom.
Duluth Screen Printing Co. recently opened a multi-purpose shop in Canal Park called Flagship. The new space is serving as a retail store and office for the company, which has its main production facility in Duluth’s East Hillside.
A launch party for the new Flagship store will be held on Wednesday, July 4. The location is 345 S. Lake Ave., between Adventure Zone and Old Chicago. (more…)
Where in Duluth? PDD 15th Anniversary Challenge #11 of 15
If you’ve followed Perfect Duluth Day for long, you know how to play “Where in Duluth?” A photo from an undisclosed spot is posted, people guess the location in the comments, someone eventually gets it right and everyone else admires that person’s brilliance. But now, as part of PDD’s 15th anniversary celebration, there are prizes on the line. (more…)
ViewMaster: Duluth and North Shore Drive
Here they are: “7 three-dimensional pictures in full-color Kodachrome” featuring “Duluth and North Shore Drive: Minnesota U.S.A.,” copyright 1950 by Sawyer’s Inc. of Portland, Ore.
(more…)Where in Duluth? PDD 15th Anniversary Challenge #10 of 15
If you’ve followed Perfect Duluth Day for long, you know how to play “Where in Duluth?” A photo from an undisclosed spot is posted, people guess the location in the comments, someone eventually gets it right and everyone else admires that person’s brilliance. But now, as part of PDD’s 15th anniversary celebration, there are prizes on the line. (more…)
Local Poet, Global Community, World Literature
Jayson Iwen has co-translated a significant poem by Salim Barakat, a Kurdish-Syrian poet.
It’s a love poem, and as co-translator Huda Fakhreddine says, “Dylana and Diram’s love infiltrates and overwhelms the landscape. Barakat does not use images of nature to draw analogies with their relationship. The spiritual and sensual bond between them consumes nature and natural scenery and transforms it into a mere manifestation of a surging emotional deluge.”
The poem can be read in the prestigious World Literature Today.