Photos of the Great Whiteout of 2007
Above are photos from the PDD archives of the blizzard conditions in Duluth over March 1 and 2, 2007. (more…)
Lady Aurora at Boulder Lake in Winter
Lady Aurora danced at midnight last night, Rich Hoeg reports on his 365 Days of Birds blog. Hoeg was shooting from frozen Boulder Lake, about 20 miles north of Duluth.
“The Northern Lights display last night was not a ‘classic’ rays shooting skyward,” Hoeg wrote. “Instead bands of color turned on and off, sometimes blinking to appear only for a few seconds, followed by the lights flashing on in a totally different part of the sky. Totally cool … just different.”
Hydrologists say they’ve solved the Devil’s Kettle mystery
Where does the water go? That’s the question that has puzzled scientists and random hikers along the Brule River for decades.
Upstream from the Devil’s Kettle waterfall at Judge C.R. Magney State Park, the river splits in two at a rock outcropping. “The east side of the river plummets 50 feet into a pool, in typical waterfall fashion,” according to Minnesota Department of Natural Resources “Field Notes” in the March/April 2017 issue of Minnesota Conservation Volunteer magazine. “But on the west side, the water plunges into a cavernous hole in the rock and vanishes.”
Where does it go? (more…)
Old Tokens to Existing Duluth Establishments
Consider this a companion post to “Tokens to Long-gone Duluth Establishments.”
Camp Gecko
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
Keegan Burckhard directed this video, which took first place at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Yeti Film Festival.
Leaving Duluth: June 30, 1916
Another photo from the “Leaving Duluth” collection; Arcade Camera Shop/Studio, 110 West Superior St., Duluth.
Kip’s Memory Card Dump #11
Another collection of photos in rapid succession by Kip Praslowicz, covering the time span of September to November 2016, featuring the usual stuff — rock shows at the Red Herring Lounge, cribbage, canoeing, kitty cat sprawls, etc.
Breanne Marie & the Front Porch Sinners launch Kickstarter
Breanne Marie & the Front Porch Sinners have plans to record the full-length album Wildflowers & Tumbleweeds in 2017. A Kickstarter campaign is underway to raise $7,500 to cover the costs.
Brian Barber donated his videography skills for the Kickstarter video. Katlyn Kretzschmar donated her photography for updated band photos, shot at the Spirit Room. Bent Paddle has donated a $50 gift card. Back the Kickstarter campaign at $50 or more between now and Feb. 26 at midnight to be entered to win.
PDD Quiz: February 2017
[This post originally contained an embedded quiz created on the platform Qzzr. It is no longer available at its source.]
Despite being the shortest month, February was full of stuff and things. How much do you remember? Take the PDD Quiz to find out.
What’s in the box? A gift I’ll never open
Someday, hopefully years from now, someone will face the task of going through all the “stuff” in my office and will find a box.
It is postmarked April 2, 2010. It has an address label on the side:
From: John Hatcher
To: Sam Cook
Here’s my request: Don’t open it.
Here’s why.
If you simply have to know what’s in it, I can just tell you that part: It’s one of those sporty Nalgene water bottles. I can’t honestly remember what color or what style, but I do know it has a University of Minnesota Duluth logo on it. What the box contains isn’t why I’ve kept it unopened for nearly seven years now.
The water bottle was a gift, not to me but from me. The intended recipient was Sam Cook, longtime (that’s polite for old) journalist and columnist for the Duluth News Tribune. It was a way of thanking him for coming to my journalism class. (more…)
Veggies by Subscription: CSA signup season underway in Duluth
It might seem too early to be thinking about fresh local vegetables. The growing season around Lake Superior doesn’t generally start until May, but area farmers are already busy planning their crops and ordering seeds. The signup period has begun for most farms offering community supported agriculture subscriptions. The online CSA Signup Day is today, Feb. 24; Duluth’s CSA open house is March 19.
Farm shares offer a direct method for consumers to access fresh food from local growers. Members buy a seasonal “share” from the farm. During harvest time, which is generally mid-June to mid-December, members go to a designated spot each week to pick up a box of mixed seasonal produce. (more…)
Selective Focus: Stack Prints
Please tell us about the medium you work in, and how you came to work in your style.
Stack Prints is a pizza-eating boy band of four Duluth-based graphic designers, Cody, Taylor, Stephen, & Tyler. We run an online store, pull squeegees in our screen print shop, and advocate for art & design education. We’re kinda like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (more…)
Dong Dot Surgery – “Computing 4eva!”
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
More spoken word by John Holden with electronic weirdness by Matt Norby.
Duluth Album Releases in 2017
Matt Ray
Minnesota Moon
(Jan. 1)
Available on CDBaby
IW/M/DK
Ghostship
Xero Music (Jan. 12)
Available on Bandcamp
The Farsights
Traffic
(Jan. 17)
Available on Bandcamp
Video Archive: Umbrella ice sailing on Lake Superior
As the failing winter of 2016-’17 continues, we take another look back to a decade ago and the amazing freeze over Lake Superior. In this video from Feb. 22, 2007, “Duluthom” skates the big lake, accelerated by wind power and a simple umbrella.
Escape
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
Keegan Burckhard directed this video as a part of his senior exhibition as a digital art and photography student at the University of Minnesota Duluth. It was projected in the Tweed Museum of Art Feb. 14-19.
Overhaul of USS Duluth at Swan Island, 1985
Sept. 29, 1985 — Dawn Kee, with daughter Melissa, 4, and holding son, Jeremiah, 2, shouts to husband, Chief Signalman Rick Kee, who is among crew arriving at Swan Island for overhaul of USS Duluth. She said she was living in a motel until the family found housing but was “excited” about living in Portland.
Photo by Joel Davis of The Oregonian.
USS Duluth was a Navy ship named for the city of Duluth. It was launched in 1965 and was scrapped in 2014. Its anchor was salvaged and installed along Duluth’s Lakewalk.
Dong Dot Surgery – “Flo Juice”
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
Spoken word by John Holden with electronic weirdness by Matt Norby.
Duluth art scene finds place in Lincoln Park craft district
Duluth Pottery co-owners Tom Hollenhorst and Karin Kraemer pose in the loft of their new art studio with partner artist Luke Krisak. Duluth Pottery is remodeling the former P&J Paint building in the West End.
The art world is quickly carving out space for itself in an ambitious neighborhood revitalization project in Duluth’s West End neighborhood.
An established Twin Ports potter, a new gallery and retail store with studio space and an arts arm of an American Indian social service organization have all recently announced plans to renovate and open buildings on West Superior Street. All three projects fall within the boundaries of the Lincoln Park Craft District, a rebranding and redevelopment effort organized by neighborhood businesses last year. (more…)
Squelching local efforts toward earned sick and safe time
I’m watching the action at the Minnesota State Legislature with an eye toward what is happening in Duluth, too.
I look at these two initiatives. I wish I had some principle here, like “local control is always best” or something like that, but I don’t. I just prefer the results of the Duluth ordinance over the results of the state law. If I liked the results of the state law better, I would prefer that. (more…)
The Lincoln Tribune – Dec. 17, 1985
Oh, the random relics that land on the kitchen table at the Perfect Duluth Day Headquarters. We’ve also scanned all 15 interior pages of this issue of Lincoln Park School’s fancy old newsletter, which appear below, but take heed in the warning that it’s pretty dry stuff in general — everything from mazes and recipes to the school lunch menu. One thing of note is page 2, which is a ridiculously long list of items in the lost and found. (more…)
Big Jig Ice Fishing Contest 2017
Does anyone know why it’s not going on this year? I can’t find any info.
Pornography, or, “Worst First Dates”
In 1999, my ex-husband gave me a computer. I was pretty glad to get it. I had mastered emailing, and was ready to move on to the really exciting things, like AOL and internet porn.
Let’s get this clear right away: I’m not a huge porn fan. My porn experience at that point was limited to the following:
1. A couple of magazines unearthed by a 13-year-old me, in ~1985 in my mom’s friend’s attic. They were evidently from the 1970s. My suspicion was based largely on the unusual prevalence of mustaches and floppy boobies. (Throw in a headshot of Spiro Agnew and my argument is airtight.) They were disturbingly graphic and unaltered. Sans digital enhancement, the naked people all looked like slabs of pork tenderloin. With mustaches and floppy boobies.
2. A porn movie a boyfriend rented to watch with me. Everyone seemed really, really angry in it. With the volume down, their sexing faces all looked like they were watching Newt Gingrich pole dance in assless chaps and an American flag tank top. (He has bootstraps tattooed on his inner thighs, by the way. Interesting tidbit.)
3. My parents’ copy of The Joy of Sex, which was hidden under some sweaters in my dad’s closet. Finding that book in that spot was the single best abstinence education any parent could possibly provide. The idea of my disgusting parents contorting their old disgusting bodies into those disgusting and inexplicable configurations was enough to keep me from so much as holding hands until I was 16 years old. (more…)
Video Archive: Ice Cracking on Lake Superior
The 2016-’17 winter hasn’t been great for ice on Lake Superior, but ten years ago was one of the most magical freeze-overs in modern memory. In this video from Feb. 18, 2007, Zac Bentz captures the sounds of shifting and cracking ice off Park Point.