Duluth is the best something or other of 2014 or ever
Remember back in 2014 when Outside magazine named Duluth the “Best Town Ever”? It’s referenced in a new story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
“How Duluth became the outdoor capital of the Midwest”
But what exactly was Duluth named by Outside magazine? The headline of the 2014 article calls Duluth the “Best Town in America.” But then the subhead calls it the “Best Town Ever.”
The online poll referred to the contest as ““Best Towns 2014.” Outside also published a countdown article of “The 16 Best Places to Live in the U.S.: 2014,” listing Duluth as #1.
Destination Duluth often referred to the online poll as “Best Outside City,” while at the same time using a graphic referring to it as the “Best Place to Live.” Both MPR News and the Star Tribune reported in 2014 that Duluth won the “Best Outdoors Town” poll.
The only conclusion one can draw from all this is that Duluth is the Best Outside or Outdoors City or Town to Live in or in General Throughout the Midwest and America or the World in 2014 and Forever.
The Large Hadron Collider, or, I Have Never Met Father John Misty, Irrespective of What This Essay Might Imply
I’ve had a rough couple of years. My dad got sick, then my husband got sick, and I became a lot more curious about the nature of being than I was before. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Large Hadron Collider. In case you are not also wedged firmly between a rock and a firm location, devouring particle physics literature like a Kardashian hoarding Us Weekly, the Large Hadron Collider is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. It’s the largest single machine in existence, built in collaboration with more than 10,000 scientists and engineers from around the world.
Maybe I have felt, over the past two years or so, a little sympathetic to the lead electron at the nose of that high-speed electron beam, roaring around an accelerator ring at nearly light speed, every lap incrementally nudging closer to a head-on collision with an opposing electron beam, traveling at equal speed. But, less dramatically, I’ve been thinking more about what scientists have found.
The intent of the Large Hadron Collider is to investigate the structure of the atomic nucleus. (I copied that from the LHC website). But it’s been doing more than that. Like any scientific investigation of the unknown, it has the potential to change everything by altering our perception of the nature of stuff. If, for example, the LHC reveals that energy becomes matter in describable and predictable circumstances, or becomes matter by describable and predictable mechanisms, it would radically change how we see the universe. It’s literally an infinitesimally tiny change, but it would be a boundless change, philosophically. (more…)
A double dose of the Little Black Books
Former Duluth rawk and/or roller Mark Lindquist has released two new videos — “They’re Never Wrong” and “Fading Captain” — to promote his band the Little Black Books‘ midnight gig on May 5 at Rex Bar during the Homegrown Music Festival. In recent years Lindquist has lived in Crow Wing County, near the geographical center of Minnesota, so Duluth gigs have been rare. He plans to reunite with drummer Jim Hagstrom and guitarist Bob Olson for this year’s Homegrown show.
Selective Focus: Dann Matthews
Dann Matthews is a designer and illustrator who blends pop-culture knowledge, humor and sharp skills into a mashed-up style for print, product design and more.
D.M.: Most of my work is digital. I’ll sketch and scan an illustration and finish the piece in either Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. I have done a ton of designs prepped for screen printing, so I’m most at home in Illustrator. I started designing tees for Threadless.com’s ongoing T-shirt design competition back in 2005. It became my hobby, then my obsession, then my side-hustle. I would usually create 4-6 designs a week and never use two of them for anything. (more…)
New short film shot in Duluth with a local cast, crew and musicians. Casting more films soon!
https://youtu.be/8S3is0hse-I
Creamy Stouts on the Brule
Creamy Stouts
Paddler: Clint Massey Video: Brian Robin, Jesse Credille Music: The Fire, Bishop Briggs Location: Brule River, Minnesota Date: April 22nd, 2017
vimeo.com
Clint Massey plunges down the Brule River in this short video by Brian Robin and Jesse Credille, shot April 22.
Duluth Band Profile: Dance Attic
Dance Attic dusts off the antiques from your grandparents’ house. Jimi Cooper and Suzi Ludwig explain how their ablum Cabin Fever creates its own type of magic. Click on the image above to hear the podcast.
Duluth Workforce Center Call for Artists
The Duluth Workforce Center has put out a call for art. (more…)
Paul McCartney booked to play Duluth … Georgia
Paul McCartney announced a set of U.S. summer tour dates yesterday. According to a City Pages story and comments on paulmccartney.com the press materials for the tour originally stated it “takes Paul to three cities and venues he’s never played before” including a July 13 show “at the Infinity Energy Arena in Duluth MN.” McCartney’s website has since fixed the error, clarifying that the Infinity Energy Arena is in Duluth, Ga. (more…)
Welty hints at seeking another term with “this shaky video”
At-large Duluth School Board member Harry Welty wrote on his Lincoln Democrat blog about digging into a box of thank yous last night and spreading them on his office floor “to make a little campaign video for a campaign webpage.” And then he posted “this shaky video.”
Welty’s term ends Jan. 8; Duluth candidates officially file to seek school board positions between July 5 and July 18.
“Years ago I attended some session during which a presenter made a good suggestion,” Welty wrote. “She warned her listeners that it was easy to get discouraged and she suggested that we all collect thank yous and such. She thought that when we got down we could look in the old thank yous and remind ourselves that we weren’t such bad folks.
“Until I got on the School Board in 1996 my little sunshine folder wasn’t very big. Then I started reading to classrooms.”
Now/Here: Poetry and Music
A few snapshots from Sunday’s event at Peace United Church. Jim Perlman of Holy Cow Press organized the poetry reading, which featured Crystal Gibbins, author of Now/Here, and Gary Boelhower, author of Naming Rites. The event included musical interludes by Sara Thomsen.
Old Central chimes will return in a few weeks
The chimes of the 125-year-old Central High School clock tower fell silent last week when one of the clock’s gears failed. A new gear is being made and should be in place within about six weeks, according to Dave Spooner, manager of facilities for Duluth Public Schools.
“We’ve got the clock apart and we’re in the process of having another gear made,” Spooner said. “It’s not something you can buy, you have to have them made. … It’s just a failure of an old part.”
Central High School opened in 1892, built with a clock tower that rises 230 feet. A new Central High School opened in 1971, and the original building was converted into the school district’s administrative offices. The building has since been known as the Central Administration Building or “Historic Old Central.”
Duluth Band Profile: Reflectivore
Allen Cragin and Ryan Rusch of Reflectivore walk the line between life and death. After the loss of Cragin’s wife, their self-titled album doesn’t shy away from the joy and desperation of the healing process. Click on the image above to hear the podcast.
Lake Superior Surfing at Stoney Point
Yes, this is the third time in two weeks that Perfect Duluth Day has featured a Lake Superior surfing video. It just happens to be what people are making good videos about these days. This one is the second surf video by Jasper Meddock Productions, shot on April 20 at Stoney Point, about seven miles north of Duluth in Duluth Township. The music is “Quick Musical Doodles” by Two Feet.
Postcard from Grandma’s Saloon & Deli
Founded by Andy Borg and Mick Paulucci, Grandma’s Saloon opened at 522 S. Lake Ave. on Feb. 8, 1976. The undated postcard shown above depicts the restaurant’s early days, when it went by the name Grandma’s Saloon & Deli. The moniker eventually was changed to Grandma’s Saloon & Grill. (more…)
Duluth Book Releases in 2017
The Forever Girl: A Love Story
David Pagel
amazon.com
(Jan. 12)
The Release
Tom Isbell
harpercollins.com
Harper Collins (Feb. 14)
Hiking the North Shore, Second Edition
Andrew Slade
amazon.com
There and Back Books (March 14)
Language opens one to understanding the self and the world: The Minnesota Undergraduate Linguistics Symposium
The Minnesota Undergraduate Linguistics Symposium was a reminder of the ways today’s young people are preparing for the world. Undergraduates from all over the state came together to share their research and learn about the research of faculty at UMD and CSS.
Video Archive: Duluth Speech with Found Sound Animation
Ten years ago Scott Bateman found an audio clip online “of a really fascinating speech about Duluth” and turned it into this animation.
Small Problems
Remember when the Sex and the City ladies accompanied Carrie on her non-honeymoon? In one scene, Charlotte (the cute one) swallows water while showering and suffers some not-so-cute Montezuma’s Revenge in her loungewear. Later, while consoling Carrie, Charlotte admits to feeling guilty about her relatively carefree life. She has no real problems, while Carrie was left at the altar and their other friend faced cancer. Even Charlotte’s divorce was not so painful since she fell in love with her divorce lawyer.
Carrie forgives her friend the guilt. She offers some perspective when she reminds Charlotte of a problem she did face: “Sweetie, you shit your pants.”
This point stuck with me because I am a Charlotte. Not in the cute sense, but in the small problem sense. I have a lot of small problems. While I am not here to compare them with illness or death or divorce or anything significant, I do want to tell you about them. Consider a year in the life of a Charlotte:
It’s Winter Break, and the kids are playing in the snow. When I bring a forgotten mitten outside, I pull the front door hard behind me by habit. We’re locked out. The extra keys are inside. We can’t get in through the garage, the side door, or the basement. It takes an hour or so for a network of friends to get a key to us. The kids make a snowman while I huddle on the porch in my T-shirt and PJ pants. (more…)
Selective Focus: Jon Hinkel
Jon Hinkel operates the Tight Squeek Press, an artistic step back in time on the second floor of a studio building on First Street. The space is filled with old presses, stacks of paper and the odds and ends that help Jon and the machines crank out his artwork.
J. H.: I’m called an artist-printmaker, creating relief prints on paper using letterpress equipment. For me anyway, my initial artist-end is pretty inseparable from my printmaking. I draw, but I can’t remember ever finishing a drawing. When a sketch I’m working on has gained a fair measure of strength and coherence, that stage of things is done weather it likes it or not. If it’s a worthy image, I’ll carve it into linoleum or engrave it into hard maple. Then to the pressroom! (more…)
Trails, trails, trails.
Let me open with: I’m an overweight man who wonders whether he’s being dishonest when he clicks “stocky” on dating websites. I’m not a hiker. I’m an occasional walker-off-pavement.
A story about paving the Minnesota River Bottoms trail in the Twin Cities makes me think about trails in Duluth and about trails in general. Apparently, paving a trail is very expensive, and for that reason, people don’t want to do it. (more…)