This Week: ukuleles, fundraisers and some old-fashioned parading, dancing and crawling
Why should you not throw a ukulele off the top of the Medical Arts Building? Because the Alworth Building is taller. Feel free to share your favorite ukulele joke in the comments. Get that out of your system, then check out Big Mama Lele at Red Mug on Tuesday and Savannah Smith at the Brewhouse on Friday.
There is never a shortage of organizations and individuals in need of a helping hand, and this week offers a tetralogy of options: On Thursday, the St. Louis County Historical Society holds its Culture & Cuisine fundraising event at the Depot while Clyde Iron Works hosts a benefit for Zeidan Zeidan, the former owner of Z’s Deli who has been diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. On Saturday, the Duluth Art Institute’s annual fine art auction will be held at the Kitchi Gammi Club and Mr. D’s hosts a spaghetti dinner and silent auction to benefit Mary Rogers as she battles angiosarcoma.
As for general hoopla, Champ the Bulldog will truly be in his element on Thursday, the Minnesota Ballet begins its season Friday night, and there will be another zombie pub crawl on Saturday.
A bit of PDD shop talk to wrap things up: Lawrence Lee has exited as calendar editor and we’ll be announcing soon the identity of his successor. Cheers once again to Lawrence on two-and-a-half years of keeping us informed about the concerts, plays, lectures and other instances in which four or more people gather in our region.
We should also note that during this transition period we’ve fallen a bit behind in our work. If you’ve submitted an event to the calendar, please be patient. There is a backlog right now of over 300 events. We’ll get them in … eventually.
Classic bars and liquor stores on the outs
A few recent booze-related news items we’ve been too busy to mention in detail on PDD:
- A sign went up last month at 501 E. Fourth St. declaring the former Twins Bar will be reopening as the Break Room.
- West Duluth’s venerable North Pole Bar is delinquent on property and sales taxes. It was not open this past Saturday night.
- Last Chance Liquor in the Central Hillside will close in the coming months.
- Warehouse Liquor on Central Entrance will close and be replaced with a Dunkin’ Donuts.
Raccoon Release
Wildwoods Rehabilitation has been raising nine orphaned raccoon since July, and our babies (now huge, rollicking, unruly teenagers) are ready to head off on their own and find a spot to hibernate for the winter. We took them far off into the woods, to a secret release site. Here are some picture as they begin to explore their new world. Good luck, little wash bears, and stay safe!
Final Ballot for Best Brewery in Duluth
Our previous poll pitted eleven breweries from the Arrowhead region against each other for the opportunity to advance to the final ballot. Now, the top two go head to head for the chance to be branded as the best.[poll id=”72″]
This poll is now closed. The results were:
Bent Paddle Brewing – 60 percent
Fitger’s Brewhouse – 40 percent
Aerial Tour of Fall on the North Shore of Lake Superior
Aerial Footage by Liftoff Aerials. Music by Sarah Krueger.
Rewinding from Death in the cold
I ended Thursday freezing to the death in the antarctic with Kurt Russell at the Zinema 2 Horror Movie Festival. It’s nice to see the theater packed to show a 30-year-old movie (The Thing), and maybe I will see you there in subsequent weeks.
Before that, viewing Danny Badhwa‘s photography exhibit! Moving, and worth viewing.
Before that, dinner at Tavern on the Hill. That place is too crowded for me, somedays, and I have yet to order at the bar such that my food and my companions’ food have arrived at the same time, but it’s tasty.
Before that, I met with a young MA student to talk Coleridge, my colleague Liz Wright to talk about the complexity of memory places, both at Starbucks at Bluestone. That was after lunch at Qdoba — yummy, tasty, but $10 for a burrito? A bit much for me.
Before that, a meeting with UMD’s Mindy Granley, of the office on sustainability, and four of my favorite artists (Peter Pestalozzi, Catherine Meier, Kathy McTavish, and Emily Jayne) to talk about a project covering art and sustainability.
I ended the day exhausted. After some of the other awesome stuff this week (game night at Rogue Robot, dinner at Oriental House, Dr. Whosday at Red Herring), I am tired.
But Friday night — a haircut by Andrea at Shear Katz, followed by excitement at Prove Gallery. What are you up to?
Reviewing Hedwig and the Angry Inch
So I thought I would like to write a review of the rock-musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
I am new to writing full-blown reviews so I guess by default this will be the worst one ever… but also the best? I am by no means an expert on anything, nor should you hold my opinion to more or less value than you would hold to someone you just met on the street. My opinion is my own, but I would like to share it.
(more…)
Five-minute excerpt of Minnesota Woolen film from 1959
It’s been more than a year since a post was published on PDD inquiring about the history of Duluth-based clothing manufacturer Minnesota Woolen. The first thing that came out of that post was the discovery that the Northeast Minnesota Historical Center Collection has a 16mm film about the company, but does not have a projector. Well, a projector was found this week and loaned for a little screening. (more…)
House Hunting in Riverside
My husband and I have recently thought about buying a house in Duluth. There have been a few houses in the Riverside neighborhood that have caught our eyes, but we aren’t really familiar with that part of town. Can anyone offer up any kind of information regarding Riverside?
Charlie Parr music in “Town of the Living Dead” TV show trailer
The song “Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down” by Duluth musician Charlie Parr is prominently featured in this trailer for the new TV series Town of the Living Dead, which premieres Oct. 7 on the Syfy cable network.
Poll: What is the best brewery in the Duluth area?
Duluth is the Beer Capital of Minnesota, at least according to the unofficial claiming of the title by Mayor Don Ness in The Growler magazine in 2013. So, which local brewery has the best blends of barley, hops and yeast? Well, it’s time to decide with a fancy PDD poll.
We often have a nomination process for polls, but in this case it seems appropriate to just throw all the breweries into the running for our first round. We also typically rule out areas farther than 10 miles from Duluth city limits, but since the beer from more outlying areas makes it’s way to taps in Duluth, we broadened the range to include the north and south shores.
So now, without further ado, we ask …
[poll id=”71″]
This poll is now closed. Bent Paddle Brewing and Fitger’s Brewhouse were the top finishers and will advance to the final ballot.
Robert Plant and Mike Simonson
Hey Duluth. It’s been awhile.
Two radio-related things happened today I heard here in Madison and thought you might be interested in.
1) Robert Plant gave a nod to Duluth’s own Low in a CBC interview on their show Q (it’s towards the end).
2) WPR announced the death of Mike Simonson, a journalist for whom I have the utmost respect and enjoyed hearing on the statewide news whenever his stories showed up. He cared about reporting what needed to be reported and unpacking the news in a very authentic way. Looks like Final Edition has had its final edition. He’ll be greatly missed.
Bent Paddle 14° ESB wins medal at Great American Beer Festival
Duluth’s Bent Paddle Brewing won a bronze medal in the Extra Special Bitter category at the Great American Beer Festival this past weekend in Boulder, Colo. Presented by the Brewers Association, the Great American Beer Festival is the largest commercial beer competition in the world.
This year 268 medals were awarded in 90 categories covering 145 different beer styles. A group of 222 beer experts from 10 countries evaluated the 5,507 commercial entries from 1,309 breweries.
Fitger’s Brewhouse is a past medal winner, taking home a bronze in the American-Style Sour Ale category in 2012 for its Fitger’s Framboise and another bronze in the French- and Belgian-Style Saison category in 2004 for its Farm House Reserve.
Photo Tour of Nopeming
Photographer Andrew Perfetti has posted an interesting series of photos of his time “discovering the abandoned hospital on the hill.”
For background, there’s a history of Nopeming on Zenith City Online. Also, check out Substreet’s “The Nopeming Stories: Recollecting a Century of Use and a Decade of Abandonment.”
This week: debates, rivalry and belly dancing
Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.
As election day approaches here are some opportunities to see candidates discuss their views:
- Poverty forum with candidates from several local races at Trepanier Hall tonight.
- District 7B State Representative Candidate Forum at Morgan Park Community Rec Center Tuesday hosted by the League of Women Voters.
- Eighth District Congressional Forum at the Duluth Playhouse hosted by the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. (Note: Registration for this forum is not open to the public.)
- District 7A State Representative Debate at UMD on Thursday.
Want to learn Swedish? There are classes for beginners and intermediates at the Nordic Center starting this Tuesday.
Renegade Theater Company presents Grace, a play about an evangelical Christian couple having a crisis of faith, at the Teatro Zuccone on Thursday and it runs three weekends. There will be talk back sessions hosted by yours truly after the show on Thursdays.
Let your colors fly. The Duluth East Greyhounds host the Denfeld Hunters at Ordean Stadium on Friday.
Mystical Nights features area dancers at Weber Hall this Saturday.
There are also a few Halloween themed events this week, including Boo at the Zoo and a Zombie Pub Crawl.
So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.
Fred Tyson – “Free Man”
Sometimes larger creative projects beget smaller ones. Here is one such instance. Submitted for your viewing pleasure, a music video for Fred Tyson’s “Free Man,” captured on a cross-country road trip while shooting for the feature film Half Super. What’s captured in the tag at the end can only be explained as the late-night result of three guys punch-drunk from a dozen days together in a small car. Enjoy.
Oh, and Fred has no idea about this. So happy birthday, Fred! What?? It’s not Fred’s birthday you say? Nonsense, every day is your birthday when you’re Fred Tyson!
Last One Leaving Duluth Billboard – Myth Confirmed!
This (in)famous billboard has been discussed many times, but it seemed there was never any conclusive evidence of it’s existence, until now.
Mayor Fedo was able to dig up a copy from his records, thus solving the mystery of the billboard that kicked Duluth while it was already down.
- Duluth News Tribune – Former mayor confirms existence of Duluth’s fabled ‘turn out the light’ billboard
- Minnesota Public Radio – Duluth’s ‘Turn Out the Lights’ billboard confirmed
Project Homeless Connect seeking volunteer barbers/stylists
Four-hundred people are expected to participate in Project Homeless Connect on Oct. 15, and we are really short on volunteer barbers/stylists. PHC provides a range of free services, but the haircuts are one of the most popular. A clean cut means a world of difference to a person’s dignity and job prospects.
If you can help, please contact me at duluthcatholicworker @ gmail.com or 218-340-4356.
Retaining Wall and Excavation in Duluth
Does anyone have good recommendations?
The mayorally proclaimed Perfect Duluth Day of 2014
Duluth Mayor Don Ness was “overwhelmed with a feeling of love and gratitude for this beautiful city,” yesterday (Sept. 28) and declared on Facebook that it was the “perfect Duluth day 2014,” encouraging people to “take advantage of everything the city has to offer” and post pictures and stories with the hashtag #perfectduluth. Here are some of the results.
(more…)
This week: a park plan, a sex change and a spooky ship
Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.
Love Chester Park? Want to see the city’s “mini-master plan” for the park? Check it out and give your two cents on Tuesday at Myers-Wilkins.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a musical about glam rock and a botched sex change. It opens at the Undeground on Thursday and runs two weekends.
On the other end of the theater spectrum, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House opens at UMD on Friday and also runs two weekends.
The William A. Irvin once again becomes the Haunted Ship for the month of October starting on Friday. You can check out all of the Halloween related events on the calendar.
So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.
Writing, Writers, Appetizers
Photos by Dan Turner.
I spent the better part of the afternoon at Barnes and Noble, Miller Hill Mall, with Terrance Griep. Griep was signing hardcover editions of his comic books starring Scooby Doo.
Griep is both a comic artist and a professional wrestler, visiting Duluth today and tomorrow (Monday). (more…)
Agate Hunter 2
Footage from July or August. I tried to edit out the fart noise @ 1:00 but gave up. It is air escaping from the camera pole I swear.
Part one here.
(By the way, here’s my social media deets: like me on Facebook here; subscribe to my Youtube channel here; follow me on Instagram @lakesuperioraquaman, and Twitter @superioraquaman.)