I Knew A Guy …
I knew a guy named Aman who had been a commander in the Mujahideen, the predecessors of the Taliban in Afghanistan, back in the ‘80s when Islamist militants were on our side in the Cold War effort to kick the Soviets out of their country. One of the things Aman did back home was defuse Soviet bombs and rewire them for later use — thus his Coke bottle glasses and missing digits. I met him when he was washing dishes in a Minneapolis restaurant with a couple of his cohorts, one of whom, being an example of the crossroads which is Afghanistan, looked like any Irishman you’ve ever met. In those innocent, pre-9/11 days, Aman came into the kitchen one morning, and a young jewish cook said, “Hey, Aman, how’s the jihad going? Have you killed the Great Satan yet?” Aman merely waved his hand, and groaned, “Ah, Jewish,” and from there, as usual, we all got along quite swimmingly. A controversy at the time began when the president, George H. W. Bush, for some reason told the press he didn’t like broccoli, and the local TV station came to the restaurant for some counterpoint. Aman was enlisted for some filming which, alas, didn’t make the final cut, but there he was, our Mujahideen commander, eyes bulging behind thick glasses, ascending the stairs from the cooler with a case of broccoli on his shoulder. Coming to get you, George! God is great! And broccoli. (more…)
Steve Earle was in Deluth
According to the back of the tour shirt, Steve Earle made a stop in Deluth recently. He must be friends with Christie Brinkley — when she visited Duluth in 2016 during John Mellencamp’s tour stop she Instagrammed photos from around town and noted that she loves “Deluth.”
The Slice: Robot Rickshaw
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. The pieces are created by WDSE-TV and submissions from viewers.
This video features Troy Rogers, the man behind Robot Rickshaw.
Selective Focus: Travis Novitsky
When you get away from city lights and can look at a clear night sky, it’s remarkable how much is up there. Travis Novitsky takes this experience even further with his photography, showing the amazing detail of stars, the milky way and auroras that shine down on our world every night.
TN: I have been making photographs for over 25 years, specializing in images of Lake Superior and the Minnesota North Woods with a passion for the night sky. A self-taught photographer, my knowledge about photography has come primarily from reading books on the subject and from countless hours of experimentation with the camera. I “got my start”, I guess you could say, early on in high school. My first camera was a very basic point-and-shoot Pentax film camera. After that I graduated to a Minolta X-700 SLR film camera which I used until purchasing my first digital camera in 2001. Since then I have used a variety of camera brands including Olympus, Canon, Nikon and Sony. All have helped me create unforgettable imagery. What’s more important than what camera you use, however, is your way of looking at the world around you. How you interact with that world and how you choose to photograph what is around you.
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Five-star Customer Review of Richardson Brothers Duluth-based Amazon Kindle Book
Thought you should know about this. We published a novella on Kindle a while back and this review just appeared. The novella is Menno Zwonk: Amish Outlaw, which we excerpted in the Transistor over the course of several years:
This hyperfantastic shitstorm of a story will make about as much sense as anything in 2018 without the frightening public policy implications. Filled like an overflowing park garbage can on Memorial Day weekend with biologic catastrophes, double and triple crossing henchmen, some forgivable juvenalia, ungodly sea mutants, Duluth references, and hope in the form of ecoterrorist lesbians, the Meatco minions can’t possibly know who really works for who as experiments become kill triggers plowing through law enforcement and launching giant lamprey. Can’t wait for Book Two.
Duluth Experience launches Lincoln Park Craft District tour
Lincoln Park Craft District Tour – Photo by Lissa Maki
The buzz around Duluth’s burgeoning Lincoln Park Craft District continues. Now the neighborhood has its own walking tour, where people can learn more about the area and some of the key entrepreneurs driving its growth.
The Duluth Experience developed the tour. The company, now in its fifth year, also provides including biking, brewery and kayak tours. Knowledgeable guides lead the Duluth-centric outings, which include interesting tidbits about the city as well as historical context. (more…)
Duluth 2018 Primary Election Primer
There are plenty of federal and state offices up for grabs in 2018, and a little bit of St. Louis County action, but no Duluth City Council or Duluth School Board races.
Remember: Aug. 14 is one of those Primary Elections in which voters must choose a party. One can’t, for example, vote for a Republican governor and a DFL congressman. On the partisan portion of the ballot citizens must vote for the same party in all races. Below are the contests that will be on that ballot, and some notes about what will be part of the Nov. 6 General Election.
All candidates representing the Minnesota Green Party, Legal Marijuana Now Party, Independence Party, Libertarian Party or Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party are unopposed in the Primary Election and will appear on the General Election Ballot, as will any unaffiliated candidates. (more…)
Duluth native gears up for directorial debut on independent film
As much as I wish I was writing this about myself, I am glad my time has not yet come. No, I am not making my directorial debut, but I have been working as a production assistant for an independent feature film called Seed of Doubt. In fact, I like to believe it was my connection to Duluth that landed me said gig, and not the more likely scenario that I was the only one with free time that bothered to reach out. Although I do have video production experience, I have significant inexperience when it comes to independent feature films. And being a PA for a mere three months has taught me that indie film making, is completely nuts. What sits arguably at the top of the completely nuts castle, would be the film’s director. Producers certainly have no breezy time either, but when the cast and crew converge for production, even the producers are asking the director, “What’s next?”
Duluth Rudolph’s Furniture Store Fire of 1948
Duluth, Duluth, Duluth is on fire. On June 5, 1948, Downtown Duluth was recovering from the “worst commercial district blaze in history.” (more…)
Upset Duluth: The Ultimate Gallery
Young and old, rich and poor, Minnesota nice be damned, Duluthians can get just as upset as folks in the rest of the world. And their newspaper of record, the Duluth News Tribune, is there to document all the crossed arms and frowny faces. (more…)
Duluth’s Robot Rickshaw is the geekiest thing
Jeff Pesek of Tech{dot}MN celebrates Duluth’s Robot Rickshaw in the article “Robot Rickshaw is the geekiest thing in Minnesota’s tech scene.”
A rapidly-deployable, human-driven, two wheeled cart full of robots that play music. Piloted by a lunatic in a hazmat suit+teddy bear.
Rickshaw is Troy Rogers, and the article is cool.
Harbor Lookout: Duluth Port Ship Tracking
There’s a new website for those who like watching the ships roll in and then watching them roll away again. Saturn Systems, a Duluth-based software engineering firm, recently launched a shipping tracker at harborlookout.com. The site lists arrival and departure times and displays a map with icons showing ship locations.
Duluth News Tribune: New maritime website unveiled in Duluth
Harbor Square: Downtown Duluth’s shopping center on pillars
An important sidebar to the history of Sears, Roebuck & Company in Duluth is the fascinating tale of the shopping-center-on-pillars that wasn’t. A plan was hatched in the late 1970s for Harbor Square, a roughly $70-million, 574,000-sq.-ft. shopping plaza to be built on stilts over Interstate 35 in Downtown Duluth. Failure to lure Sears as an anchor store was a key element that led to the project’s downfall. (more…)
R.I.P. Sears, Roebuck and Company of Duluth
Sears, Roebuck and Company’s Downtown Duluth department store; 1963 photo from the Kathryn A. Martin Library’s Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections at UMD.
The news broke this week that Sears Holdings will close 15 Kmart stores and 48 Sears stores, including the Sears at Miller Hill Mall and the Kmart at the Spirit Valley Shopping Center in West Duluth.
Sears has been in business in Duluth since 1929, when Sears, Roebuck and Company opened a department store at 129 E. Superior St., the modern-day location of Fond-du-Luth Casino. (more…)
Hillside Breeders
“Ooohh, Poppy’s going to do it!”
Poppy is our seven year old’s Mini Rex doe rabbit. Poppy has a date with a buck named Frodo with velvet black fur and a dwarf gene. I hadn’t seen him in-person, but his owner up the hill texted me his photo. Electronic match-making extends to other species, too.
“Wait, Nibbit,” the ten-year-old asked her little sister, “Do you even know what ‘do it’ means?”
“Uh, well. Not exactly.”
I thought we had already gone over this, or I assumed the eldest would have filled her in. So much slides with a second child. It was time for dinner, so over tacos I described ovulation, intercourse, fertilization, implantation, etc. I couldn’t tell if the seven-year-old’s eyes were glazing over with boredom or embarrassment.
Her father Jeremy knows that if you want to get a kid’s attention you light up a screen. He found a video of rabbits mating. It is actually worth watching. Forgive me for the spoiler, but when the buck comes he actually goes into a momentary trance and falls over. (more…)
Selective Focus: Daniel Benoit
If you were out and about during Homegrown 2018 and saw the giant chicken on the front of the Blacklist Beer / Solve Entertainment building, you’ve seen some of Daniel Benoit’s work. He pulls together design, video, animation, projections, and all kinds of technology to create immersive art. He tells about how he started working with this relatively new and experimental medium.
DB: I work in multiple digital mediums, but lately my focus has been projection design for theatre and immersive design for escape rooms. The path to getting here has been long and winding. The short version is that my love of filmmaking, theatre, and graphic design all happened to converge in 2012 when I created projections for my friend Davey T Steinman’s play Bagman at Pillsbury House Theatre in Minneapolis. Davey introduced me to the software I still use today, Isadora, and that was it, I was hooked. (more…)
Duluthian Joe Klander on “America’s Got Talent”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KHMqskWMTs
Joe Klander, aka Uncle Clutch, aka Kinderchomper was on the season premiere of America’s Got Talent on Tuesday. Mike Scholtz’s documentary about Klander’s wrestling career “Kinderchomper” will be at the Duluth Superior Film Festival with other shorts on Friday, June 1, 6 p.m., at Teatro Zuccone.
Pak’s Green Corner in Superior opens June 1
Pak Williams – Photo by Lissa Maki
The wait is nearly over for Twin Ports Thai food fanatics. After a three-year hiatus from the restaurant business, Kamolpak (Pak) Williams will reopen Pak’s Green Corner in a new Superior location on June 1. (more…)
“Gleahan and the Knaves of Industry” premieres tonight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbF0WsgJmAM
The Duluth-Superior Film Festival is upon us, and that means it’s time for another premiere from Duluth’s budding film community. Gleahan and the Knaves of Industry, by first-time writer/director Samuel T. Weston, makes its debut Thursday night at 9 p.m. at Teatro Zuccone. As with all of the DSFF screenings, tickets are free. (more…)
Mystery Photo #67: Duluth?
A few years ago I came across this photo, saved it on my computer with just the title “Duluth,” and then forgot about it. I probably didn’t know much about it then, or maybe wasn’t even certain it was a photo of Duluth.
So … that’s all we’ve got to go on with this Mystery Photo. It looks 1800s-ish. Could be Superior Street. Can anyone verify this as a Duluth photo?
Facing lynchings from Duluth to Montgomery
From MPR News: Two guys named Carl walked onto a bus last month in Duluth, one black, one white. One of them was Carl Crawford, the other was Carl Huber. Together, they traveled to Alabama to visit the new memorial to the victims of lynching, and they became friends on the journey. After they returned, they talked together about what the trip meant to them.
Video and photos by Evan Frost.
Morgan Park coffee shop returning as Letica’s Iron Mug
Morgan Park’s only restaurant and beverage purveyor closed on May 25 after nearly four years in business. On June 9 it will reopen under new ownership. The Duluth News Tribune reports Mike Letica is the new proprietor of the Iron Mug. Johnny Northfield will manage the business. Building owner Paul Johnson, who founded the coffee shop, is a silent partner.
The DNT notes Letica plans to steer away from the Iron Mug’s previous food focus, pizza, and is instead planning inexpensive options like Taco Tuesday and 99-cent ice cream cones.
Interior designer expands into historic Lake Avenue building
Isola Design and Mavis Furniture principal and owner Jill Isola Johnson, holding her dog Pepper, stands with Assistant Designer Mireille Kidd, left, and intern Kyla Schulte in the new office furniture showroom.
An interior designer responsible for cutting-edge urban commercial properties like the Whole Foods Co-op and Canal Park Brewery is opening a new office furniture showroom in a historic Downtown Duluth building. (more…)
Bob Dylan: Duluth Ski Bum?
A profile on Roger McGuinn in No Depression, a quarterly roots music journal, opens with an interesting Duluth-related tidbit.
McGuinn says he and Dylan went skiing in Minnesota — near Duluth or Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing — during a Christmas break in Dylan’s historic 1975-76 Rolling Thunder Revue tour.
“He’s fast,” McGuinn recalls. “I was a beginning skier on the intermediate slope going down cautiously. I look to my right, and Bob goes vroom right past me.”
So, was it Spirit Mountain? Chester Bowl? Mont du Lac? Giants Ridge? Lutsen Mountains? Let the speculation begin.
A Delightful Cruise on the Chicago Queen or the Streamliner
An old promotional flyer for excursions on the “world famous Twin Ports Harbor and Lake Superior.” (more…)