Duluth authors Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence return to UMD to share insights with students
University of Minnesota Duluth alumni Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence spoke to students in the Writing Studies major in April. Hafdahl and Florence offered tips, tricks and profound insights into the publishing process. (more…)
WDSM 10 p.m. News Final: Walt Jensen and Don Wright
This 1964 newspaper clipping, for sale on eBay, shows Duluth television newscasters Walt Jensen and Don Wright at the WDSM-TV anchor desk.
WDSM was Duluth’s first VHF television station, launching in black and white on March 1, 1954. Color broadcasts started in 1965. In 1974 the call letters were changed to KBJR.
Cloud Cult – “I Am a Force Field”
Cloud Cult has returned with a new single, “I Am a Force Field.” The video was directed by Jeff D. Johnson of Motion 117 Productions. (more…)
The Slice: Naming ZOZATRAS
Luke Moravec explains how his one-man band, Zeb or Zeke and the Run Away Screamings, was named.
In its series The Slice, PBS North presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
Welcome to the Thirteenth Floor
Local and worldwide authors attended the celebration of the Nemadji Review. The 13th issue is titled “The 13th Floor.”
Tina Higgins Wussow, one of many local luminaries, read during the event. (more…)
Selective Focus: A Late Spring Aurora Borealis
Northern Lights on the shore of Lake Superior at Glensheen Mansion. (Photo by Mike Mayou)
A startlingly strong Northern Lights show was visible across the United States this weekend, viewable from even the Florida Keys. Instagram is brimming with spectacular shots from in and around Duluth thanks to this solar storm. (more…)
Figure Painting at DPL
Saturday, the owner of Rogue Robot Games & Comics led a free class in figure painting at the Duluth Public Library. (more…)
Charlie Parr – “Boombox”
In the past two weeks a pair of videos have been released for the Charlie Parr song “Boombox.” Above is the “official” version, directed and animated by Kev Craven. Below is an alternate version, shot and edited by Adam Jones and starring William Silbey. The song is from Parr’s recently released
18th album, Little Sun. (more…)
Train Day at the Depot
Saturday was National Train Day. The Depot was hopping, and I loved it. Picture of a very cool train set below. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Twin Ports in Bloom
Stop and smell the roses with this week’s garden (and garden-adjacent) PDD quiz!
The next PDD quiz will review May 2024 headlines and will be published on May 26. Submit question ideas to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by May 22. (more…)
Dirty Knobs – “Older than Bones”
The second release from the new Dirty Knobs album, Songs About Everything Dying Around Us, Including Us is the track “Older than Bones.”
West Duluth event center planned as MidCoast Catering expands
MidCoast Catering owner Jonathan Reznick stands outside his Central Avenue buildings. Reznick is remodeling the property on the left to create a new event center called The Tasting Room. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)
A popular Duluth food truck and catering business plans to expand operations later this summer when it opens a new event center adjacent to its West Duluth headquarters.
The Rambler food truck and MidCoast Catering owner Jonathan Reznick said he purchased the Michael Talarico law offices at 313 N. Central Ave. last May. Reznick connected the building to his catering kitchen next door and launched remodeling efforts this spring. The new space will be called the Tasting Room. (more…)
Lake Superior’s Warming Waters
Lots of Duluth up in here.
Austin Castle – “Patient”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmpvrZTGt5Q
Austin Castle, with Ashe Berton on bass, performs “Patient” at Lakeview Park in Two Harbors.
Harley Race proposed to third wife on a drive to Duluth
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
Season five, episode five, of the Vice-TV documentary series The Dark Side of the Ring delves into “The Life and Legends of Harley Race,” a world champion professional wrestler whose early career included a run in the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association. At the 13-minute mark in the episode, Race’s third wife, Evonna Hedbávný, tells the story of Race proposing marriage on a trip from Minneapolis to Duluth in the early 1960s.
Apparently, even the toughest guy in the rasslin’ business can’t resist the romance of Duluth.
Selective Focus: Homegrown 2024 (The Weekend)
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44 likes, 1 comments - perfectduluthday on May 3, 2024: "Homegrown Music Festival, day six, Nevins at the Owls Club. #hgmf24".
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Select images via Instagram from the final three days of the Homegrown Music Festival. (more…)
Postcards: Steve Solkela
Steve Solkela is a comedian, and the only member of his one-man band, which includes accordion and cymbals among other instruments. Solkela finds joy in his music and his heritage, showcasing his talent and sense of humor to audiences all over the world.
This video is a segment from the southwestern Minnesota Pioneer PBS series Postcards. The May 2 episode focused on Finnish musician and artists. The Solkela segment is edited by Mike Scholtz.
PDD Geoguessr Challenge #17: Duluth’s Sister Cities – Petrozavodsk, Russia
Petrozavodsk, Russia. Photo based on an interpretation of aerial imagery by Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Petrozavodsk, Russia became a sister city of Duluth in 1987. With a population of 250,000, its Duluth’s largest sister city. Petrozavodsk is the capitol of the Republic of Karelia and located on the western shore of Lake Onega. Like Duluth, Petrozavodsk has a lakewalk that features art from its sister cities. In 1991, artist Rafael Consuegra won a national competition to represent Duluth in a sister cities sculpture exchange with Petrozavodsk. Below is a picture of his sculpture, The Fisherman, that I took with a disposable camera during my brief visit to the city nearly 20 years ago. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Little Rufus Milne in 1894
This cabinet card photo is marked “Rec’d May 5, 1894.” It’s not entirely clear what received might specifically refer to here, but with some confidence we can say this photo is at least 130 years old and someone received it precisely 130 years ago. (more…)
Remember Watson
Goob, Fozz, and I hiked down around another switchback in the trail. We saw a family that passed us higher up on the mountain. A dad, his three kids, and a dog. I saw the dad standing there, blocking the trail. His son sat on a rock with his two sisters standing beside him.
As we got closer Dad said, “He’s not doing so good.” I assumed he meant his son.
I walked up and then saw the dog. Their golden retriever was lying on its side in the trail and panting. I thought: We’re part of this now.
Dad said, “His stomach is super hard, too.” I reached down and felt the dog’s stomach which had swollen up bigger than his ribcage. It was firm.
The Dad explained that the dog chased something and got all riled up. I can’t remember if he said it was a squirrel or another dog. But it was after the dog’s frantic chase and barking that he started to swell up.
“I think his stomach has flipped over,” I said. (more…)
Selective Focus: Homegrown 2024 (The First Five Days)
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149 likes, 0 comments - perfectduluthday on April 28, 2024: "Day one of the 2024 Homegrown Music Festival; Lefty sports the inaugural shirt from 1999. #hgmf24".
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Select images via Instagram from the first five days of the Homegrown Music Festival. (more…)
Dirty Knobs – “Sticks on Skins”
Duluth’s auditory atmospherist Zac Bentz has a new Dirty Knobs album, Songs About Everything Dying Around Us, Including Us, set for release on May 31. The first visualizer is for the track “Sticks on Skins.” Bentz says the “hypnotic, looping visuals are meant as an aid to clear the mind, at least for a few moments, even if the music conjures visions of doom.”
The Peoples Temple: A Unique Duluth Resource
My friend and colleague Elizabeth Nelson has donated some remarkable materials to the archives at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
The Elizabeth Nelson Peoples Temple Collection contains items relevant to the alternative religious organization founded by Jim Jones, best known for a mass suicide/murder in 1978 at its “Jonestown” settlement in Guyana. (more…)