I hadn’t heard there was a boulevard scavenger hunt going on in West Duluth, but clearly I am the winner

Tim Conway is Dorf

Duluth Food Truck, Cart and Trailer Guide for 2015

PDD Food Truck Guide 2015

As Duluth residents and tourists head outdoors, it’s time for the food trucks, carts and trailers to hit the streets, offering up fast and easy food on the run. To keep up with these restaurants on wheels, we present PDD’s 2015 rundown of who’s cooking what and where.

Listed below are the mobile food services licensed to operate on the streets of Duluth. Not listed are the various vendors who serve exclusively at events or specific locations, such as the Green Mill pizza trailer or various purveyors of mini donuts. Also, we should note Duluth has at least one pop-up restaurant — Izakaya 218 — which recently resumed its weekly Taco Tuesdays at the Red Herring Lounge. (more…)

Charlie Parr – “Over the Red Cedar” (Live in MPR studios)

Great Lakes Trail

Trailblazing

If all the existing trails, trails under construction and trails in the planning phases in Duluth aren’t quite enough, here’s a rather ambitious plan that would upset a few local backyards. The Detroit Free Press reports of a plan for the “Great Lakes Trail” — a 10,900-mile trail spanning at least eight states and two Canadian provinces, following the shores of the five Great Lakes.

World’s longest marked trail proposed around Great Lakes

As the Great Lakes states were admitted into the Union, the federal government granted them the lake beds and waters of the Great Lakes up to the ordinary high-water mark — from the point on the bank or shore where continuous wave action has made a distinct mark, to the water.

This was affirmed by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1894, in the Shively v. Bowlby case. The justices found that lands below the high-water mark were “for the benefit of the whole people.” (This may come as news to owners of $750,000 lakefront homes whose deed tells them the shoreline is theirs.)

This Week: flicks, beer, the zoo and more

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Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:

The Tweed Museum’s offering up another of its Tweevenings, the Chester Creek Concert Series is back in action with the North Shore Big Band, the Duluth Superior Film Festival gets underway with its five days of free programming and the watercentric Reel Paddling Film Festival also joins the film fray.

The Duluth Playhouse opens the play Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Fitger’s Brewhouse serves up its 4000th (!) batch of beer, Duluth’s Parks and Rec department holds a public meeting on what the future might hold for the zoo, a shop is popping up at the Depot, Pete from Beaner’s is throwing his big ole music festival again and Rich Mattson is releasing a new album with his band the Northstars.

The Dark Web Movie

DeepWeb

This post is from a Texas friend:

Back in 2013 I posted [somewhere else, not on Perfect Duluth Day] about the arrest of my nephew Ross Ulbricht for allegedly running Silk Road. I remember many on this forum [another forum, not PDD] jumped to condemn him and still might hold the same view. FYI: He admitted to creating it as a free-market experiment, but that is all, as he left it to do other things (and I have reason to believe him). The murder-for-hire claim was a story to drive public opinion and he was never charged with it. (more…)

Video Archive: Making Beer with Barrett and Paul

Episode 1: Preparation

Ten years ago video blogs, or “vlogs” became the latest Internet trend, boosted by the launching of YouTube. Back then, the founders of Perfect Duluth Day each had their own separate websites where they showcased videos, which they often cross-posted on PDD. The “Making Beer with Barrett and Paul” series, featuring Barrett Chase and Paul Lundgren, is one example of those early, low-fi productions.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press wrote about the subject in a May 16, 2005 article. The excerpt below is the part that relates to Duluth: (more…)

The Farsights – “Heaven” (Live at Homegrown)

Duluth band The Farsights perform at Tycoons Alehouse during the 2015 Homegrown Music Festival in this clip from the May 21 episode of WDSE-TV’s The PlayList.

Rhubarbarism

rhubarbarism1

Once upon a time I would not have guessed that I’d ever witness somebody stealing rhubarb, but yeah, that’s what this guy did behind our neighbors’ garage this afternoon. (more…)

Selective Focus: Memorial

Brian Barber

Brian Barber, “Cat Portrait”

Some vivid reminders this week that memorials can take many forms- anything from the solemn to the absurd. It’s good to recall our histories, our milestones, and our experiences with due reverence at times, and at others with some humor and an ironic distance. (more…)

The Duluth Superior Film Festival needs wheels!

The Duluth Superior Film Festival needs a 12/15/18-passenger vehicle for use during the festival. Every year the fabulous Riki McManus of the Upper Minnesota Film Office takes filmmakers and guests around the area and shows them all the great locations the area has to offer in an effort to get them to come back and shoot their next film here. In the past, we rented the vehicles, or got great help from the Duluth Experience. TDE is booked this year, and some weird liability change has taken all the rentals out of the market. Do you have (I’m looking at you, local bands) or know of anyone who could let us use one of these types of vehicles? We have money! Dates of use would just be a few hours on Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6. Please contact richard @ ds-ff.com if you know of anyone who could help. Thank you! Come see some free films!

Spirit Mountain a finalist for $100K in online contest

Bell Helmets Gimmick

Duluth’s Spirit Mountain is one of three locations in the running for the $100,000 prize offered by Bell Helmets to fund a trail-building project. Voting in the nationwide contest is being conducted on bellhelmets.com and will continue through June 4.

Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores is the nonprofit organization leading Duluth’s effort. Spirit Mountain is competing for the 2015 Bell Built grand prize against projects in La Grange, Calif. and Knoxville, Tenn.

Participants needed for Duluth linguistics survey

I’m a linguist at UMD working on a project on Duluth English. I need to find four people from the Lakeside-Lester area to use in the study. I’m looking for participants between the ages of 18-35 who have lived the majority of their lives in the Lakeside-Lester area.

If you have an extra hour and would be willing to make a couple of short audio recordings for me, please give me a shout at:
wnsalmon[at]d[dot]umn[dot]edu.

The recordings will take less than an hour, and I will pay $15 for your time. Thank you!

Google updates satellite view, old things found in Duluth

Jay Cooke

In general I’m not too pleased with the new Google Maps, but the satellite view was very recently updated — with images from possibly just a few weeks ago — which is pleasing because there was no greenery, so you can more easily spot hidden gems that would normally be obscured from view in a more summer-like setting. Here are some of the things I’ve found and rediscovered:

Half an old railroad trestle in Jay Cooke State Park.
Ruins of old homes in Duluth.
An old abandoned road near Arrowhead Road.
A long abandoned logging railroad bed near the Duluth International Airport.

Note: on Internet Explorer, it activated some 3-D feature with the older satellite view and crude 3-D layout, not sure how to turn it off.

As far as having to clear a windshield in May goes, not so bad

Tree Car Mess

Getting to know Adam Swanson

Adam

My quest to network and develop friendships within our local community of artists continues. In advance of Adam Swanson’s upcoming opening reception at the Great Lakes Aquarium later this week, read more about this fascinating local artist here.

This Week: Baseball, bluesmen and more

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Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:

Lots of post-Memorial Day activities on tap, including Thunder of Freedom at Teatro Zuccone, Charlie Parr’s album-release show at the Red Herring, the Duluth Huskies’ home opener at the evolving Wade Stadium, Art Night Out 2015 at the Depot and an exploration of the Duluth Children’s Museum for adults.

There’s also the 2015 Berserkon gamestravaganza, the 2015 Arrowhead Arts Awards, the unlocking of a long-locked room at Glensheen Mansion, a fundraising tribute to the life and work of Eric Swanson at Sacred Heart, Bent Paddle’s Festiversary and the Spirit of the Times fundraiser at Zeitgeist Arts.

Feeding LeRoy – “Telluride Song” (Live on The PlayList)

Duluth band Feeding LeRoy performs a song from the Love is a Gamble EP on the May 21 episode of WDSE-TV’s The PlayList.

Happy tick season to all

Ticks are most active from mid-May through mid-July.

  • Walk in the center of trails.
  • Conduct frequent strip searches.
  • Tweeze ’em and torch ’em.

Perfect Duluth Day is now on Instagram

10704071_620211268098043_947566155109307061_nHello! My name is Kahla Statema, and if you can’t pronounce my name, it’s Kayla Stat-uh-mah. I’m the new intern at Perfect Duluth Day and also the face behind the PDD Instagram.

I am a journalism major with a minor in photography at UMD, and what some would call a “fourth-year sophomore.” I’ve always been a writer and used mediums such as poems and short stories to express myself when I was a kid. I enjoy writing stories on just about anything, but my number one dream is to become a freelance travel writer. If you would like to take a look at my personal work, check out my online portfolio.

Follow PDD on Instagram at @perfectduluthday and get ready for a great summer in Duluth!

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Duluth Apartment-seeking Advice

I’ll be moving to Duluth this summer to take a job at UMD, and I’m seeking advice about finding apartments to rent. I’m looking for a nice and well-kept one- or two-bedroom place, pet friendly. Any tips about which rental companies to avoid, which are reliable, average prices and what you get for it, neighborhoods, how to avoid bad apartments that look good online, or tips about good places coming available? Thanks!

Mary Bue – “Cheribum”

New video by Mary Bue from her recent album, Holy Bones.

Douglas County fawn emergency created and averted; raccoon adventures

Wildwoods received a call today from some individuals who had stumbled upon two brand new fawns, still wet from birth! They were concerned that the babies may have been abandoned. (more…)

Selective Focus: Permaculture

In an age of dire news the term “permaculture” may seem optimistic. Still, what might have been the province of raving hair-shirts not long ago now looks to be among our sanest alternatives to hegemony. Permaculture is an organizing principle of practices that assert systemic, creative approaches to the reuse of natural resources to sustain both people and native animals on a local scale. The Arrowhead is fortunate to have a concentration of people at the forefront of this movement, and the attached links are well-worth following. (more…)

Duluth Library Fine Coupon

fine foregiveness

Poking around the Duluth Public Library website and found this new Fine Forgiveness program. It’s a coupon worth up to 5 bucks off accrued fines. Get your library card out of hock!