Looking for an affordable plaster repair and ceiling painter
We need an affordable plaster repair and ceiling painter for the first week of August. We have done this job before, but with three small kiddos we need to seek help (although my 14-month-old is totally willing to assist!). It’s pretty straight forward and a quick moving job, other than one area over the staircase that is more tricky. I’d love to pay someone by the day. I think it’d be two days max if you’re motivated.
Perfect Outdoor Concert Venue: Bayfront Festival Park
Duluthians aren’t shy about loving Bayfront Park. Asked in PDD’s poll to name the best outdoor concert venue, 71.5 percent gave their nod to the 10-acre harbor-side multi-purpose park that has hosted Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Trampled by Turtles, Wilco, the Monkees, the Doobie Brothers, Willie Nelson, Steve Martin, nearly three decades of Bayfront Blues Festivals and a long list of others.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune also named Bayfront the state’s “Best Outdoor Music Venue” in 2014, noting: “It has the Aerial Lift Bridge, hilly city skyline and occasional passing ore boat for a backdrop, the cool breeze off Lake Superior for natural air-conditioning and a huge grassy lawn for stretching out. … Coolest of all: Families can bring kids under 12 to shows for free, as is dictated by the city.” (more…)
Heiko has a party
An artistic collaboration between Jeremiah Brown, Brian Barber and Banksy. T-shirts go on sale never.
Lucie Amundsen – Drifts
Awesome creative writing from local creative type Lucie Amundsen.
Check it out!
Excerpt:
Drifts (from Portland Review)
It’s just past midnight and my 13-year-old is not back from her babysitting gig. Abbie’s a couple of hours late now and the parents’ cell rolls directly to voice mail. Likely it’s just drained of charge from the weather. It’s that cold. Days of Arctic fronts have animated our newscasters, who brandish their arms over the Minnesota map as they issue dire warnings. The air is more than raw, it’s dangerous. …
R.I.P. Edgewood Joshua Smith
Photo by Paul Van Antwerp
We are crushed at Perfect Duluth Day to learn our great friend Edgewood Smith died on July 15. (more…)
This Week: lions and Temperance and brews, oh my
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
The Gentlemen’s Anti-Temperance League brings its Prohibition swing to Chester Bowl, kids can make a racket at the West Duluth Branch Library, Tippi Hedren shows us why having lions for roommates is a bad idea in Roar, Take it With You does their 12th show (complete with tailgate party) and a heat-beating opportunity presents itself in the form of a free open-skate.
The Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra joins forces with Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe and Lake Superior Youth Chorus to present a Persian fable, farmers peddle their wares in West Duluth, the Minneapolis radio station The Current comes to Duluth to show Duluth some Duluth bands at a couple of events, the Free Range Film Festival fills a Wrenshall barn with indie films, the Duluth Huskies play the St. Cloud Rox and the All Points North Summer Brew Fest hits Bayfront Park.
Web Woods Trail
New hiking paths pop up in Duluth faster than I can keep track of them. Web Woods Trail was in the news when it opened in 2012, but I didn’t check it out back then, and soon I’d forgotten about it. So when my wife asked if I’d ever been on the trail off Oak Bend Drive in Duluth Heights all I could respond with is: “What trail?” (more…)
Poll: What is the best outdoor concert venue in the Duluth area?
What is the best outdoor concert venue in the Duluth area? It’s is an all-things-considered poll — acoustics, aesthetics, parking, lavatories, etc.
Note: This is PDD’s first runoff poll, which means instead of having an elimination round and a final round of voting, the options with the fewest votes will simply start dropping off of this poll. So check back, because if you vote for something and it drops off the list, you can vote again for one of the remaining options until we have a winner.
This poll is now closed. The results were:
Bayfront Festival Park — 71.5 percent
Big Top Chautauqua — 19 percent
Leif Erikson Park — 9.5 percent
Eliminated during run-off vote: Barker’s Island Pavilion, Billings Park, Chester Bowl, DeWitt-Seitz parking lot, First Street, Glensheen Mansion Pier, Lake Place Park, Lake Superior Plaza, Lincoln Park Pavilion, Lucius Woods Performing Arts Center, Northwest Iron parking lot and Wade Municipal Stadium.
Plein Air: Painting and Chalk Drawing under Open Sky
I saw my friends Dana and Michelle yesterday, and they reminded me that this is one heckova week for art outdoors. (more…)
Internet Service Providers in Duluth
It seems like it’s been a while, so I’m going to hit it again. The Boy has moved to Duluth for college, and we’re looking to set him up with internet.
What is good and cheap in these days of streaming?
Selective Focus: Silence
Bente Soderlind, untitled
As a Catholic in exile, I am grateful to have found a far less-dogmatic refuge in Quaker meetings, where silence is a central tenet. These suited the syncretic nature of my beliefs, and afforded somewhere to weekly “center;” to hear that inner voice, or to just mutely chant the Meow Mix jingle (“I want tuna, I want chicken, Meow Mix flavors keep me lickin…”). But as is evident this week, there are many ways to calm the din, and places to find quiet. (more…)
Gauging interest in a community clay studio in the Duluth area
Duluth needs a community ceramics studio, and we need your input to start making this happen. You can help by filling out this seven-question survey. It will take less than three minutes and will provide invaluable information to get our pelotes rolling. We know nobody gets that reference but it stays. You can totally look it up.
We encourage you to complete the survey regardless of your interest in ceramics. Thanks much!
Agassiz Oscillation Ensemble – Workplace Democracy
Workplace Democracy, the debut album by Duluth’s own Agassiz Oscillation Ensemble, is now available for pre-order from Chicago label 1980 Records.
Future of the old Northwestern Bell building
Does anyone know who owns or what the plans are for the old Northwestern Bell building at 1804 E. First St.? I saw some scrappers loading out the junk that’s ended up in there over the years. They were the only ones on property but seemed pretty leisurely, like they belonged. Just curious if something is finally happening with it. I’ve dreamt of owning that building for years.
I believe it’s zoned residential and is going to stay that way, so hopefully the owner develops it into some beautiful high-ceilinged studios and doesn’t tear it down.
What is the best place for outdoor concerts in the Duluth area?
It’s been a while since we’ve done a poll on PDD, and this post leads us into the next one. Before we publish a ballot on Saturday, we have to ask the question and make sure we aren’t missing any good nominees.
What is the best place for outdoor concerts in the Duluth area?
Barker’s Island Pavilion
Bayfront Festival Park
Big Top Chautauqua
Billings Park
Chester Bowl
Glensheen Mansion Pier
Lake Place Park
Leif Erikson Park
Lucius Woods Performing Arts Center
Anything else that should be on the ballot?
Exploring Ruins of Column at Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum
Ruins of the column that collapsed this winter at “Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum” off the Duluth Lakewalk. Water is really murky as its proximity to the shipping lanes stirs up a lot of silt this time of year. I intend to keep trying to get clearer shots but this is all I could manage during this initial foray. Water depth: 9 feet. Basically what you’re seeing here is a base of concrete sprouting metal bars and telephone-pole-like wooden posts that in some cases are splintered or splayed. The tops of some posts were sheared off and smoothed by ice sheet movement and lie just below the surface. The concrete top of the column lies on its side at the bottom, along with eroded steel jacketing that sheathed the base.
I was very cautious during these dives as the danger of getting snagged or nicked in the gloom was fearful to contemplate. I heard nearby swimmers claim a member of their party had scraped himself on the posts while swimming. Not to be a bringdown but this area has to be considered a hazard to swimmers and boaters alike. It is also the most interesting thing to look at in Lake Superior right now.
This Week: festivals aplenty and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
It’s a big week for art in the Northland, with the Plein Air Art Festival getting underway. Also taking place: an ARAC grant-writing workshop, a night of board games for grownups at Studio 15, the 48th annual Tour of Homes, the activity-packed Hermantown Summerfest and the Fractals play Fairlawn Mansion.
There’s a community bike ride on Wednesday, Guys & Dolls opens at the Duluth Playhouse, the Northern Hammer Fest swings into action in Lake Nebagamon (a heavy-metal town if there ever was one), there’s party-polka in Superior, Titanic: the Musical is, uh, going down at Fitger’s, the Bayfront Reggae Festival is happening on Saturday and Shannan Paul is bringing the funny to Dubh Linn.
Sarah Morris – “You Still Have Me”
Minneapolis’ Sarah Morris shares the bill with Duluth’s Rachael Kilgour at the Red Star Lounge on Friday, July 17, 10 p.m.
Antique-buyer Recommendation
I recently came into possession of some old items from my childhood, including about six or seven porcelain dolls that are in good condition. They’re somewhat sentimental, and I can’t force myself to simply drop them off at a Goodwill or Savers. Does anyone know of an antique shop or other business in the Duluth/Superior area that might be interested in purchasing them?
Selective Focus: Music
Aaron Reichow, untitled
Many very good submissions this week, and I’m especially happy with all the unusual vantages points: Brian’s empathetic portrait, or that lovely flower in Gaelynn’s hair. I was also moved by the shots of crowds, after all music is as much about how it is received as it is about how it is made. (more…)
What’s being built beside Mike’s Western Cafe?
I’m hoping that the construction site near 28th Avenue West and Superior Street, right beside Mike’s Western Cafe, isn’t for another gas station but I’m ready to be let down. Does anyone know for sure?
Don’t worry, the sandstone will be back
Lest anyone driving by the Central Administration Building, aka Old Central High School, fear the cool sandstone wall is being replaced with ugly concrete blocks, let it be noted that the 120-year-old brownstone blocks are being restored and will return.
Found Lake Paraphernalia
I was freediving Duluth’s amazing rock beach one afternoon, and started finding pot-smoking paraphernalia in a few feet of water just off shore. I realized I was reassembling some poor stoner’s fully stocked stash tray which he/she must have set too close to the waves. Within a relatively small radius I found pieces of two glass pipes (one largely intact), pokie tool, rolling tray, grinder, cigarette roller, and a broken glass jar. Archeological evidence of a beach culture of leisure.
Three Tunes for Five String Banjo by Kyle Ollah
Kyle Ollah plays at 10 p.m. every Wednesday night at Fitger’s Brewhouse.
Public Officials with Cool Names
Brainerd Police Chief
Corky McQuiston
Bass Lake Fire Department Chief Marvin Mullet
Superior City Attorney
Frog Prell
Itasca County District Court Judge Korey Wahwassuck