Charlie Parr – “I Ain’t Dead Yet” (live on KUMD)
Charlie Parr performing in KUMD’s Studio A on Sept. 20.
What’s all the folio fuss?
Dr. Krista Twu, associate professor of Medieval literature at UMD, and Matt Rosendahl, director of UMD’s Kathryn A. Martin Library, chat with Almanac North hosts Julie Zenner and Dennis Anderson about the rare copy of the Bard’s “First Folio.”
When Spirit Mountain had a pool
Spirit Mountain did away with its swimming pool in 1984. It was probably a maintenance nightmare, and the notion of a pool on a hill overlooking the tributary to the world’s largest freshwater “pool” might be considered a little absurd in retrospect.
Trust me, though. It was fun while it lasted.
Entering the story, painting the dump gray, and the last chicken
This is why I think you should go see the production of One River, happening at UMD’s Marshall Performing Arts Center each night this week until Friday. My experience relayed here might be a bit self-centered, especially the comparison to another touching moment when our dog died in my arms recently, but this is how I was affected by these remarkable young actors. Now I can see the power theater has to really touch the heart. Read more at Ed’s Big Adventure.
Floating Dead Rabbit
As seen in “Diving the Condos” video, I found a dead rabbit in a Lake Superior tidepool. Three days later, 200 yards away, I stumbled upon what must have been the same rabbit, worse for wear…
Iff you vill come to Duluth ve vill lock up all de cops
Similar to the “Vilkome to our city of Duluth” version, this is another “Dutch Kid” pennant postcard, popular from about 1900 to 1920. The same cards were produced for various cities across the country. (more…)
Blacklist brewery aims for mid-November opening
Blacklist co-founder Jon Loss
Blacklist Artisan Ales, homeless since Sept. 1, is transitioning into its new and improved home at 120 E. Superior St. The revamped space is still under construction and is barely recognizable as the former site of the infamous Last Place on Earth head shop. If all goes well, the brewery will begin production in mid-October and the taproom will open in mid-November. (more…)
Bull Moose Party at Lester Park
The Duluth News Tribune reports the Eckels family picnic at Lester Park today “included a visit from a bull moose that gave a few snorts and, at one point, passed within 20 feet of the group.”
PDD Quiz: September 2016
[This post originally contained an embedded quiz created on the platform Qzzr. It is no longer available at its source.]
September 2016 is SO OVER. Donezo. What do you remember about it? Let’s find out.
Canoe Paddle to the Cave with Jeff’s Crazy Dog
Waning days of summer, early September
Minnesota Summer: A Drunken Retrospective
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
Cole Benson’s “Minnesota Summer” video features plenty of Duluth scenes, mostly involving craft beer consumption. Music by the4onthefloor and Bob Dylan.
Dark in the Daytime
Having populated the northern reaches of this place, atop an oily veneer of civilization, we once more ride our tilting Earth into the shady side of its orbit, where things get slippery. For millennia natives traveled well in winter. Nowadays, however, snow-tires or no, wheels and ice don’t jibe. You probably noticed this the first time your car twirled like the Tea Cup ride at the fair, while sliding through a stop sign. Most types of winter recreation — snowshoes and sleds, skates and skis — not only start with the swishing of the letter “S,” they’re also atavistic. No fancy-schmancy wheels. Recreational snowmobilers are an evolutionary dead-end, though, as one once told my friend, “dinks gotta have fun, too.”
The Norwegians say there’s no bad weather, just bad clothing. Then again, the Norwegians gave Henry Kissinger a Nobel Peace Prize. So take that with enough grains of salt to cure a barrel of cod.
Before the deep snow, or the deep cold, the darkness begins. Is it any wonder that people light up the Christmas season like some sort of Jesus-in-Vegas act? There are long shadows at lunch, and the afternoon light shines all day long. My friend Tim, who no longer orbits the sun, used to putter around his house in late December, muttering, “ dark … dark in the daytime.” (more…)
Jeff Morris – “The BPMs”
Steppenwolf meets Spinal Tap in this video for the greatest song since “Fighting for Duluth.”
According to bpmmc.com, the Minnesota Chapter of B.P.M. formed in the early 1960s and presently has chapters in Duluth, the Iron Range, St. Cloud, Anoka and New Prague. Although, as noted at the end of the video, this song does not “reflect any of the sentiments, attitudes or views of any of the members of the BPMs.”
Selective Focus: Joe Polecheck
Our area has provided plenty of stunning scenes for photographers, but Joe Polecheck’s photos go beyond typical landscapes as he has some fun with subjects, tricks and experiments.
J.P: I’ve always been involved in the arts, both painting and drawing ever since I was a child. I’ve always been able to identify things I liked or not when appreciating photography. About 2 years ago, I realized I’d better put up or shut up and try my hand at it. And as my wife has told me, “nothing can just be a hobby for you” which leads me here today! (more…)
Totally Employable
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
Here’s a little reminder to enjoy your work, via Choice Unlimited, a Duluth nonprofit dedicated to supporting adults with disabilities and individuals who are experiencing barriers to employment and community inclusion.
Music: “Bills” by LunchMoney Lewis.
Duluth 2016 General Election Sample Ballot
This ballot shows races on the western side of Duluth. Depending on where you live you might see:
State Representative District 3B
Timothy Brandon, Republican
Mary Murphy, Democratic-Farmer-Labor
State Representative District 7A
Dylan C. Raddant, Republican
Jennifer Schultz, Democratic-Farmer-Labor
County Commissioner District 2
Patrick Boyle
Linda Ross Sellner
… and then of course the back side has the judicial races. (more…)
Rural Recording Studio Suggestions?
Musical artist Zola Jesus made this request on Twitter today. Any suggestions? Tweet back to @ZOLAJESUS.
I replied with Sacred Heart but there must be more.
League of Women Voters Duluth 2016 Voter Guide
With the election cycle now in full swing, the League of Women Voters Duluth has published an online Voter Guide — a tool for voters to know who their regional and local candidates are and where they stand on issues.
This is the first time the LWV of Duluth has offered its Voter Guide electronically. The 76-page PDF offers perspectives from candidates in 10 races on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot:
United States Representative District 8
State Senate District 7
State Representative District 3B
State Representative District 7A
State Representative District 7B
County Commissioner District 2
County Commissioner District 3
Minnesota Supreme Court Associate Justice
Sixth Judicial District Court 13
Sixth Judicial District Court 15
Postcard from the Boulevard Around Duluth, Minn.
It’s difficult to read the names on this postcard dated July 13, 1907, so the transcript will represent them with blanks.
____ and I are having a glorious time. Took a beautiful drive this a.m. and saw this very spot. Be good till we get home.
_____
New Duluth-area Restaurants: Fall 2016 Update
The opening date of a new eating or drinking establishment is often a moving target. A majority of enterprises planning to launch in the coming months required significant gutting and reconstruction of old buildings, a common recipe for delays. Here’s the scoop on four soon-to-launch food and beverage joints.
7 West Taphouse
Owner Rick Lampton has pushed back the anticipated opening date for Superior’s 7 West Taphouse to Oct. 3. The burger bar at 1319 N. Tower Ave. is modeled after the original Duluth location. It will feature burgers, tacos and 40 rotating taps of craft beer. Click here to read the full-length story from July.
(more…)The Little Black Books – “Buffalo Pit”
Former Duluthian Mark Lindquist has been busy in his basement in Baxter. A five-track EP by his one-man band the Little Black Books titled The Don’ts has been showing up in the mailboxes of some of Lindquist’s Duluth friends. It bears the famous Shaky Ray Records label, founded in 1995 on Duluth’s East Hillside. “Buffalo Pit” is the second track on the new EP.
Watch Spike the Lake Superior Zoo porcupine dance
Spike is an orphaned, hand-reared porcupine who, due to his close relationship to humans, was deemed unreleasable. Lake Superior Zoo gave him a forever home. Jessica Shold, Spike’s keeper at the zoo, says he has exhibited this “dancing” behavior his entire life — the result of being raised by humans instead of porcupines.
“We have a daily enrichment and natural feeding program in place as well as positive reinforcement training to ensure he has the best possible welfare and is content for his entire life,” Shold says.
Music: ZZ Top vs. Pink.
Sixteen Years on the Superior Hiking Trail: Preparations
At some point in the 1990s, I started hearing about the Superior Hiking Trail, a new footpath designed for hikers to see the sexiest peaks and rivers in the wilderness along the North Shore of Lake Superior. It didn’t come up very often in conversation until the year 2000, which is when it began to annoy me that I had never hiked a speck of it — other than maybe wandering away from the waterfalls at Gooseberry and noticing markings that told me I was on the not-yet famous trail I’d been hearing about.
It was April 2000 when an upstart Duluth newspaper called the Ripsaw began publishing weekly and I stepped up to be its managing editor. The paper had a weekly “Adventure” article and I suddenly found myself around people who had taken on parts of the SHT and heard stories about a handful of souls who had through-hiked the whole thing, which at the time meant trekking from Two Harbors to the Canadian border.
There was a rumor going around that Dusty Olson ran the whole trail in two days, which I found almost but not quite believable. The notion that such a feat could be close to true at least led me to think I could do it in fewer than two weeks. Then I heard the first documented person to conquer the trail had a fused spine and partially paralyzed legs, and hiked with forearm crutches. That made it hard for me to make any excuse that I wasn’t physically up to the task. (more…)
Selective Focus: Hemlocks Leatherworks
This week, a little bit of fashion in Selective Focus. We hear from Candace Lacosse who operates Hemlocks Leatherworks.
C.L.: I am primarily a shoemaker (which is a cordwainer, not a cobbler), but I love designing and making just about anything out of leather and waxed canvas: bags, purses, wallets, leather-bound journals, really just about anything. (more…)