Wildrose: 1984 film shot on the Iron Range
https://ok.ru/video/3790211713702
It’s been 40 years since Wildrose, a feature film shot on Minnesota’s Iron Range, premiered in theaters. The full movie is available to stream in the video section of the Russian social media website Odnoklassniki, or ok.ru, and is embedded above. (more…)
Stunning footage of a lynx in northern Minnesota
Trail cameras from the Voyageurs Wolf Project will occasionally capture footage of lynx, but the University of Minnesota researchers say “this is definitely the coolest.”
Postcard of Duluth’s $5,000,000 Water Power
This postcard, circa perhaps 1910, shows the western side of Downtown Duluth and the city’s hillside, with the caption “$5,000,000 Water Power.” Though the card doesn’t make it clear what that means, the logical guess is it refers to Duluth’s investment in hydraulic power at the start of the 20th century. (more…)
Charlie Parr – “Ten Watt”
“Ten Watt” is from Charlie Parr‘s 18th album, Little Sun, released earlier this year. The video was directed by Adam Jones of Polecat Productions.
North Shorror! 2024: Immersive Space Call for Proposals
Attention all artists! Submissions are being sought to create immersive art experiences to celebrate October, Halloween and all things creepy.
North Shorror! 2024 will take place in October at the St. Louis County Depot in Downtown Duluth. And with support from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, North Shorror! 2024 will offer stipends to a select group of participating artists to create immersive art experiences. Musicians, visual artists, storytellers, performance and other artists will have the chance to create unique, compelling and (somewhat) terrifying spaces where they can showcase their talents. (more…)
Duluth 2024 Primary Election Sample Ballot
Perhaps the most important thing to note about the Aug. 13 primary ballot is what isn’t on it. There are no city of Duluth or Duluth School Board races in this election cycle. There are several state, county and judicial offices that have no primary, so those candidates go straight to the general election on Nov. 5. And there is nothing on the primary ballot related to the U.S. Presidency because that is up to party delegates to determine. (more…)
Historic record store building gets new life downtown
Peter Pascente stands outside the former Young at Heart record store building at 22 W. First St. Pascente is rehabilitating the 1893 structure. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske).
The Young at Heart record store was a Downtown Duluth musical mainstay for some 40 years when it closed in 1999. After its colorful store fixtures were claimed by the Minnesota Historical Society and massive inventory moved to Superior, the building sat unused for two decades and fell into disrepair.
Now the property at 22 W. First St. has a new life and big plans that include more music in the historic space. (more…)
PDD Shop Talk: Inflation Edition
You’ve probably noticed most things are more expensive these days. But reading Perfect Duluth Day is just as free as it has always been.
Keeping Duluth’s Duluthiest website running with new content every day, however, comes with a price tag. That’s why we occasionally toss up a post like this one to remind everyone that PDD can always be better or worse based on cash flow, so donations are a big help. (more…)
PDD Quiz: July 2024
Test your memory of July 2024 headlines with this edition of the PDD Quiz.
A quiz on sports mascots comes your way on Aug. 11. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by Aug. 8. (more…)
The Wreck of the Ophelia
Testimony of Mary Nettleton, from the 1898 Annual Report of the United States Life-Saving Service, chapter heading “Log of the Park Point, Duluth Station” (Lake Superior Maritime Museum archives):
I sailed for a year aboard a sunken ship, the wooden schooner-barge Ophelia. She sank on October 15, 1897 in Canadian waters, downbound for Duluth from Thunder Bay. I was finally rescued from the air pocket in her drowned saloon on October 12, 1898, having drifted 150 miles underwater to Duluth. The Ophelia arrived a year behind schedule, crossing the open border between the living and the dead. As to my miraculous survival, doctors and scientists set upon me to solve it. I have become an object of curiosity; fear also.
Sinking
I first encountered the Ophelia on a dock in Buffalo where I signed to be the ship’s cook. I was the only woman aboard. Originally a passenger ship, she couldn’t compete against steam power, so her owners ripped out the passenger suites in favor of three large cargo holds. The windjammer-turned-barge retained classy touches like her oversized saloon. We sailed three of the five Great Lakes in tow of the wooden steamer Harlow, who rode heavy before the gale that snapped the towline and drove us apart. The blow ripped away what rigging could be raised and then downed both our masts. But it wasn’t the mountainous seas that sank us. It was a spar snapped off the deck of the Harlow that staved a hole in our bow. The pumps couldn’t keep up. (more…)
Superior Siren – “Rattlesnake”
The single “Rattlesnake” is the first full-band release from Superior Siren since 2018. The song has been in the band’s repertoire for years, but was recently re-imagined with the addition of Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Erin Aldridge. The video is directed by Illy Killy with videography from Chris Linder of Lakedrop.
The Third Day of FinnFest
Every day at FinnFest the Saami Cultural Center is presenting “The Story of Akanidi, Daughter of the Sun.” I’m super-proud of my colleagues at UMD and around the region who work with the center.
Unrelated to this exhibit, this YouTube video tells the story — consider it my attempt to whet your appetite.
Nat Harvie featuring Alan Sparhawk – “Red”
Song from the Nat Harvie album New Virginity. Video shot and edited by Nik Nerburn.
Ian Alexy – “Little Lies”
Duluth’s Ian Alexy has a new EP of cover songs titled Campfire Extraordinary. “Little Lies” is the third video release from the EP. Alexy’s rendering of the Fleetwood Mac song is accompanied by visuals from two old D. W. Griffith films — What the Daisy Said (1910) and The Mender of Nets (1912).
Duluth lands new food truck with Bowlz n’ Thangz
Rachel Nielsen of Duluth gets served a mac bowl and Southwest eggrolls from Bowlz n’ Thangz food truck owner Sarah Hovis. (Photos by Melinda Lavine)
Bowlz n’ Thangz’s black food truck sat outside Wild State Cider in the Lincoln Park Craft District. Every seat in the cidery’s patio and tap room were filled with trivia players and spectators, sipping and snacking. (more…)
Preparing for FinnFest
Tomorrow, FinnFest starts in Duluth. It is an annual event that has been held all over the United States. According to the website, “FinnFest USA creates a broad national community involving all Finnish Americans, Finnish citizens living in America, and all Americans interested in Finland and/or Finnish America.” (more…)
Postcard from the Duluth Incline Railway in 1914
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — July 22, 1914. It shows Duluth’s Incline Railway, which operated from 1891 to 1939. The tram system carried passengers from a housing development at the top of the hillside into the downtown along Seventh Avenue West. (more…)
PDD Geoguessr #22: Signs of the Past
No gas of any sort, leaded or otherwise, is to be found here. (Photo by Matthew James)
Some small part of the business history of Duluth remains written in the landscape. Names painted on the sides of buildings and logos atop poles on the edges of vacant lots promote businesses that saw their last customer some years ago. (more…)
Ripped at Shotz Bar in 2004
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty years ago the Sultan of Sot paid a visit to Shotz Bar in Gary-New Duluth and composed this article for the July 2004 issue of the Ripsaw magazine. Shotz closed in April 2023.]
I refer to Commonwealth Avenue as the region’s Karaoke Belt not because there’s more karaoke in Gary than in the rest of Duluth and Superior, but rather because there’s the best karaoke there. If you want to hear people who can actually sing, go to the Alpine Bar. If you want to hear people who can’t sing well at all, but still bring a touch of art to their performance, go to Shotz.
There are a lot of pictures of bikers lining the walls of Shotz, which might make you think it’s a biker bar. A quick look around the room tonight, however, reveals only two patrons dressed like members of the Black Widows. The rest are wearing CSI Las Vegas caps, warm-up pants and various articles of clothing earned by collecting UPC symbols on cigarette cartons. (more…)
Wolves Howling in Winter in Northern Minnesota
The wolves of Voyageurs National Park have a new hit single, captured during a live performance last winter. The two segments of this video offer sights and sounds of the howlin’ Minnesota wolves.
This trail-camera footage is from the Voyageurs Wolf Project, which is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in the park.