Selective Focus: Black and White
Brian Barber, “Bandit”
Black and white photography is most often anything but. Degrees of tone exist in a broad spectrum within what we reductively deem either/or. I’ve argued before that its use as an aesthetic device is antiquarian, retrogressive- that the medium has grown past the limitation, yet there remains an appeal in seeing images pared to their essence, without the ersatz mediation of hdr and hyper-saturation. (more…)
Looking for local authors
The Duluth Public Library is looking for local authors for Author Day on Nov. 21. In order to participate, an author must have published at least one book and have copies of the book(s) available for sale. (Self-publishing qualifies.) Preference is given to Minnesota authors or to authors with books set in northeastern Minnesota, especially Duluth.
The library will provide table space: each 2.5′ x 6′ table will be shared by two authors. Tables will be located throughout the library, in the nonfiction/reference area, in the fiction area, and in Youth Services. The transport and arrangement of book promotional materials, displays, books to sell and payment options are the responsibility of the author.
If you are interested in participating please fill out an application on the Duluth Public Library website. Please submit this application form by Nov. 13 in order to participate. Space is limited so tables will be assigned on a first-come basis. Once all tables are reserved, applications will be placed on a waiting list.
The “Portrait of an Artist” Art Opening at the Duluth Art Institute
This is the Oct. 15 art opening of Sarah Brokke’s show, “Portrait of an Artist.”
PDD Video Lab: Halloween Edition
Happy Halloween, PDDers. Press play on the video above and select your favorite soundtrack below.
And don’t forget, we’re looking for your Halloween banners. Send them to banners@perfectduluthday.com
Artificial trailer
Some familiar locations in this preview clip by Lance Karasti.
Question 3: Method for setting fee paid to Duluth city councilors
After publishing the Duluth 2015 General Election Sample Ballot, a question arose. We’ve been hearing a lot about ranked-choice voting and Lakeside liquor sales, but what’s the deal with question #3? (more…)
Still curious?
What’s the deal with Curious Goods in Superior?
If you’ve driven by 1717-1/2 Winter St. and wondered if the store ever opens, well, it doesn’t … but in a way it’s always open, on the Internet. For the past decade or so Curious Goods has basically been a warehouse for eBay items from the seller Curious-g.
Project manager wanted for 10-month media collaboration
The journalism program at the University of Minnesota Duluth is looking for a part-time project manager to assist in coordinating the “One River, Many Stories” media collaboration project.
Funded through a Knight Foundation Fund grant from the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation, the project will test ways media collaboration can inspire innovation and nurture engagement among professional journalists, educators and citizen storytellers in the Duluth-Superior community. In April 2016, the media in northern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin will give special attention to one topic: The St. Louis River. Newspapers, television and radio stations, local bloggers, photographers, videographers, university, college and high school journalism programs, and citizen storytellers will produce news articles, documentaries, podcasts and other media about the historic St. Louis River corridor.
This Week: pumpkins, curling, Bach and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
Glensheen Mansion needs pumpkin carvers, Duluth Curling Club is giving a free lesson to curling newbs, the new Lake Superior Ojibwe Gallery is dedicated, the Twin Ports live radio soap opera continues, candidates for Duluth city offices discuss poverty and Bachmaster Angela Hewitt performs.
Duluth extreme metallers Vitamin Death release an album, DanceWorks hits Marshall Performing Arts Center, Glensheen’s pumpkin-carvers (see above) display their work, One Roof Community Housing throws a fundraiser, the Minnesota Ballet celebrates a half-century in operation and a fundraiser for violence victim Matthew Rewald is happening at Mr. D’s in West Duluth.
Perspectives on a Rainbow
After Mary Lou Williams’‘ rainbow photo was shared last Monday on the PDD Facebook page, three other perspectives emerged. From left to right below are photos by Paul Gudmundson, Laurie Newland and Tyler Day. (Click to view larger.)
Why are there so many photos of rainbows, and what’s on the other side? Well, according to reports from Kermit the Frog, rainbows are visions, but only illusions, and rainbows have nothing to hide.
Video Archive: Chainsaw Artist John Gage
Video produced by Margo Devich and Nathan Steigman for UWS Studio 2; shot in Two Harbors on Sept. 17, 1995.
Duluth’s Mark Sertich on CBS Evening News
Tonight Mark Sertich became the second Duluthian to be featured on the CBS Evening News in the past month. Just 18 days after St. Scholastica Saints kicking coach Sister Lisa Maurer was profiled on the program, Sertich was featured in a segment with “On the Road” correspondent Steve Hartman.
Sertich is a 1939 Denfeld graduate and World War II veteran who, at age 94, still plays hockey with a group of Duluth firefighters.
Unnur Andrea – “Walking on Nails”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcxcDfpsRBY
Back by popular demand, Unnur Andrea’s video shot at the Duluth Owls Club. It was originally posted on PDD on Jan. 15, 2013, but was mysteriously suspended by YouTube.
R.I.P. Mr. Richard H. Gastler
Longtime Denfeld High School economics teacher Dick Gastler died on Thursday, Oct. 15, at the age of 79. Among many great teachers at Denfeld, Mr. Gastler would have to be considered the most famous of his era. He was a ham. He broke into song all the time. He frequently digressed into stories about growing up in Chaska. He wore cheesy leisure suits, famously sporting the same one every day during a stretch of 1984 when he was raising money to fight hunger — a stunt that landed him on Good Morning America. The suit was burned when Mr. Gastler reached his fundraising goal. The ashes are still in a trophy case at the school. (more…)
Old Casino Signs
I noticed these in the alley behind Fond-du-Luth Casino yesterday. Anyone got a pickup truck and a nice loft space?
Selective Focus: Coming Home
Paul McIntyre, untitled
The idea of “coming home” propels nearly all our endeavors, knowing we are tethered to other people, to familiar, comforting things. For anyone lacking a stable, sane place, or those exiled by circumstance, the capacity to venture is stunted while the desire to find moorings never leaves us. Emily Norton’s “Family Motto” (below) states well this simple, not easily-attained aspiration. (more…)
North Country Trail nears connection to Superior Hiking Trail
A new 4-mile section of the North Country National Scenic Trail, located 17 miles southwest of Superior, opens Saturday, bringing the trail another step closer to connecting to Minnesota’s Superior Hiking Trail.
The new segment crosses the University of Wisconsin-Superior’s MacQuarrie Wetlands in western Douglas County and features scenic overlooks of the Nemadji River Valley and the basin of Glacial Lake Duluth. It also crosses a section of Douglas County Forest and Wisconsin DNR lands.
Art and Literature about the Environment
One more post about art and literature this week … some poetry readings and some paintings about the environment, in different ways.
I attended the Wolf/Flow art opening, hosted by Stephanie Johnson and Angie Arden, at the Zeitgeist Arts gallery.The work shimmers with the energy of collaboration, with passion for the natural world, and with exploration of a variety of media. And, if you contributed a line to the community poem at Wolf/Flow 2, you may be happily surprised to see what became of it. (more…)
Rink Relief: Episode 1
Video by Rawlin Kessler shot at Rip Williams Memorial Rink at Chester Park.
Lift Bridge Facelifts
Found on Tumblr, Lift Bridge Facelifts – “A study in removing Duluth’s iconic Aerial Lift Bridge out of the endless logos where it dwells.”
Duluth Arts in Perk Place and in the MIA
I got lucky today and stopped by Perk Place at the time that Naomi “Sundog” Yaeger-Bischoff was completing her exhibition of recent photographs. Naomi operates the Duluth Daily Photo blog), where some of these works first appeared. (She is also the guiding vision behind the Budgeteer.) The picture above is of the artist and the support staff (daughter) who made the exhibit possible. Swing by and take a look. (more…)
This Week: ranked-choice voting, mayoral debates and a bunch of spooky things
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find in this week’s PDD Calendar:
Get informed about ranked-choice voting, spit in Columbus’ eye and celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, take in a Halloween-themed Nerd Nite at Teatro Zuccone, take in a mayoral debate between Emily Larson and Chuck Horton and laff it up with podcaster and noted comic David Huntsberger.
Sarah Brokke opens two art shows at once, UMD Women’s Hockey starts off their season with a game against Mankato, the Buffalo House’s Haunted Shack opens for spooky business, Bethany Crisis Center holds their 7th annual Music & Dance Party, Disney’s Aladdin Jr. opens at the Duluth Playhouse, Boo at the Zoo 2015 continues at the Zoo and the Superior Spooktacular is a full day of Halloween activities.
RoofTop Fable featuring the Spin Collective – “Fighting the Current”
Duluth rockers RoofTop Fable team up the Spin Collective fire dancers to create this unique visual experience. “Fighting the Current” is off the band’s debut album, Chapter One, which will be released Nov. 21 at R.T. Quinlan’s, where the band holds a monthly residency rocking the downtown stage every third Saturday of the month. (more…)