Review of Sasquatch Scramble 5K
Through events too complicated to explain here, I needed to run a 5K by the end of the month to get a break on my health insurance. The only one that fit into my schedule involved being chased by Big Foot through an obstacle course.
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T-Mobile Cell Coverage in Duluth
My wife and I are long-time Verizon wireless subscribers. In my experience, their coverage is second to none, no matter how far off the beaten path I’ve gotten. Unfortunately their customer services are starting to fade.
It used to be that after two years (contract period) they’d offer discounted prices and a $100 credit toward a new phone. Then, a few years back, it was lowered to a $50 credit. Today, when I looked at a replacement phone for her cracked one, there is no credit, plus they now charge $30 on top of the phone price ($100 to $300) as an “upgrade fee.” All the while collecting the $140 per month for service while “locking” us in for an additional two years.
Well, I’m getting woozy from this roller coaster and want off. From my research, T-Mobile has the market cornered in both service price for two smart phones as well as remaining contract-free. My worry is whether those savings and lack of seat belts will come with sketchy coverage? Any PDD people with T-Mobile?
Literacy Volunteers Wanted
Do you enjoy reading with children? Can you commit to one hour per week for three months? If you said yes, please consider becoming a Volunteer Literacy Tutor with the Minnesota Reading Corps and spend time one on one building literacy skills of children in grades K-3. Positions are available at Lowell and Piedmont schools. To learn more, e-mail jaime.jost @ duluth.k12.mn.us. On Twitter: @Duluthreading. We regularly hold literacy events, so if you’d love to volunteer but cannot commit to the time period, consider volunteering for one of our events!
East Superior Street
Could anyone tell me how the neighborhood is on East Superior Street near the Rose Garden?
Skyline Art Gallery features local artists; showcases Duluth history
This weekend I visited the Skyline Art Gallery for its grand opening. This location, right near the crest of Thompson Hill is an area that I recognize as the spot where I feel like I am “home” and the awe-inspiring views of the great inland sea and the cities of Duluth and Superior open up before your eyes when approaching on I-35 from the south. I’m sure that many others have a similar sentiment, the owners of this gallery could be included in that group.
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Video Archive: Flipping the bird across Duluth, from east to west, decade to decade
The video above, by Mark Ryan, is a collection of film footage from 1970 of dudes hanging out at the old London Inn and other places in eastern Duluth, flipping off the camera. It first appeared on PDD in 2008.
I brought it back for this post because I just came across some footage I shot in the halls of Denfeld on Oct. 17, 1988, that I hope is of similar quality.
This week: drag shows, brain damage, campfires and frickin’ lasers
Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.
I bet you’ve been hankering a good ol’ fashioned laser light show synched to classic rock in a planetarium with a fog machine thrown in, haven’t you? Well, you’re in luck! There’s a series of Classic Rock Laser Light Shows at the UMD Planetarium tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday. Tonight kicks off with “Dark Side of the Moon.”
Charlie Parr appears at the Underground on Tuesday in a new series of music and conversation shows called “Song, Interrupted.” It’s like a concert with liner notes.
Pride Festival kicks off Thursday with the Mayor’s Reception at the Depot and runs through Sunday with music, a wedding tent, a parade, a 5K, a drag show, a boat cruise, a train ride, a worship service… and the pride goes on and on and on.
“Who Am I, Again?” is a one-man show about brain damage showing one night only at the Teatro Zuccone on Friday.
Break out the s’mores! Rachael Kilgour, Brothers Burn Mountain, Evergreen Grass Band and others gather around the campfire at Camp Miller for a fundraising concert on Saturday.
So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.
Log in to PDD via Facebook
If you’ve wanted to create a post, add a comment or participate in a poll on PDD, but felt that creating an account would be a nuisance, well, now you can log in through your Facebook account with a simple click.
[oa_social_login]
Duluth Cable and Internet Providers
I’m trying to figure out costs for living in Duluth. I am wondering which cable and internet provider most people use there. I see there is Comcast and Charter, their prices look different but I am wondering if one of them is better than the other as far as customer service, functionality, etc.
Video Auto Play
Apparently, because of some changes at YouTube, some videos on PDD have been autoplaying under some circumstances, in some browsers. That should never happen, and we apologize profusely if it has happened to you.
Please, if you ever open a page on PDD and a video starts playing without you asking it to, e-mail help @ perfectduluthday.com with a note about what video it is and what browser you are using and we’ll either fix it or take the post down.
That’s our PDD no-auto-play guarantee, for what it’s worth.
Moving to Duluth, wondering about people and bad areas
I just accepted an engineering position in Duluth and I will be moving there from Grand Forks in the next few weeks. Can anyone tell me if there are many young professionals there around my age (26)? Also what are some areas I should avoid living in? I noticed a lot of the homes on the hill look pretty run down. What I would like is an apartment in the west side of town or on the hill. Other than that I enjoy the outdoors during all seasons so I think its a good fit there, just wondering about the people and areas.
Poll: Best New Restaurant
After some careful analysis, we developed a list of nominees for Best New Restaurant in the Duluth area. Now we ask you to pick your favorite.
[poll id=”41″]
This poll is now closed. The three top finishers, in alphabetical order, were:
Pak’s Green Corner
7 West Tap House
Tycoons Alehouse & Eatery
My Close Call at the Deeps
I had a foolish close call cliff-jumping, but got it on video. Here’s the bone-chilling tale of hubris and naked luck: hottest day of the year but the lake was ice cold so I went to the cliff-jumping swimming hole on Lester River known as the Deeps. I’d made a video there before of jumping from up high, but I hadn’t jumped from the highest point yet, so I tried it. (more…)
Pirate Pizza
There’s a new covert pizza alternative operating out of a secret location on Goat Hill here in Duluth. Pirate Pizza delivers home made pizza from a home made oven with largely local ingredients to your door via a motorbike that once, according to the pirates, “used to run contraband around the Gaza strip.”
Video Archive: 1988 Denfeld Hockey
Part of the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament experience is the creation of a cheesy music video highlighting the school and the team. The Hunters did not disappoint with this clip. Yes, there are all the mullets and protruding bangs you would expect, along with plenty of guitar air-jamming.
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Hello, Duluth People
This is Jeff Cork, some guy who used to live in Duluth but then moved to a beautiful St. Paul suburb. I have a handsome brother named Jason Cork.
Anyway, I’m turning 40 in a few days and we’re going to have a fun party because that number ends with a 0. The party will be on August 30 at some bar called McCarron’s Pub in Maplewood. Sexhawk is going to be playing! Bone Appetit played at this spot when it was a dive called Dean’s. They added some taps with Irish beer and put shamrocks all over the place, and now it’s miraculously converted into a pub. There’s also a burger place attached. Irish burgers, I assume.
Soooooo… Duluth people should come and say hi and listen to some rawk music while drinking beers or whatever. I promise that it will be a super fun time unless you’re some kind of jackass who hates having fun times. In that case, you should hang out in the parking lot.
Hope to see you there!
Jefffffffff
Where on the North Shore? Boundary Islands, Pigeon Bay Kayaking
Boundary Islands, Pigeon Bay Kayaking Trip, Grand Portage, MN
Loll Designs – Job Opening!
We have an opening here at Loll! The position is Customer Service Representative and the complete job description is posted on Minnesota Works. See Job ID #7331340.
Best New Restaurant Nominees
Two weeks ago, we announced Duluth Grill won our poll for Perfect Breakfast Restaurant. Now we’re wondering which restaurant among the newbies you like best.
Before we open the voting, of course, we have to establish a list of nominees. What qualifies as a new restaurant? Well, these are all fairly new:
Shorty’s Pizza and Smoked Meat (Superior; Aug. 2013)
Citys 58th Street Diner (Superior; June 2013)
Canal Park Brewing Co. (Nov. 2012)
7 West Tap House (Oct. 2012)
LeeAnn Chin (Oct. 2012)
Noodles & Company (Sept. 2012)
Pak’s Green Corner (Aug. 2012)
Grizzly’s Wood-fired Grill (Canal Park location; May 2012)
Giant Panda (Feb. 2012)
Oriental House II (Jan. 2012)
Tycoons Alehouse & Eatery (Dec. 2011)
Azteca’s Mexican Grill (Dec. 2011)
Vitta Pizza (June 2011)
What territory are we talking about? Anything in Duluth or 10 miles of its border — so new restaurants in Superior, Hermantown, Proctor and the various bordering townships all qualify; Two Harbors and Cloquet are out of bounds.
So, the only question we’re really asking here: Are there any good nominees we didn’t think to include in the list above?
Graduate Study in the Twin Ports
I am lucky enough to have been declared the director of graduate studies in the Master of Liberal Studies degree at UMD.
It made me think that a guide to local grad programs would be helpful. So I built one. Which programs listed below are you an alumnus from? And what advice might you have for new students?
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DNR moves to formalize changes to Threatened, Endangered and Special Concern lists
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is moving to formalize proposed changes to the list of endangered, threatened and concerned species which was last updated in 1996. A media release was sent out today:
Twenty-nine species, including the bald eagle, wolf and snapping turtle, were removed from the list; 180 species of plants and animals were added; 91 species had their status either upgraded or downgraded while remaining on the list. The changes were based on large amounts of new information gathered by DNR and other researchers.
The “bald eagle, wolf, and snapping turtle” reads like a “who’s who” list of beings that are considered sacred to local Native American people. Although I am not aware of any plans for a turtle (Mikinak) hunt the DNR did authorize a highly controversial eastern grey wolf (Maiingan) hunt in 2012. A bald eagle (Migizi) hunt seems unthinkable, but many people would have said the same about a wolf hunt 15 years ago.
Someone at the DNR also thought maybe that it would be a good idea to frame the discussion of endangered species from the perspective of European explorers in the 17th and 18th centuries, rather than focusing on the healthy hunting and land-use practices of the Dakota and Ojibwe people who managed the lands for centuries before the Europeans arrived. You can look it over here while I knock this chip off my shoulder. (Screen grab below)
Source: Updating MN list of endangered, threatened, special concern species
Cultural faux pas aside, I think that some of the most significant changes to the listings are the inclusion of moose, and a large number of fish, plants, and insects to the state’s protected lists. For example, after eyeballing the charts accompanying the release, listings for dragonflies, mosses, lichens and plant-life have increased maybe ten-fold or more since 1996. I’m no biologist by any means, but I think that there may be both good and bad news in this report for environmentalists, hunters, loggers, farmers, and miners. Not that a person couldn’t be more than one (or all) of those things concurrently. But the enormous increase in threatened/endangered/special concern species overall is somewhat alarming to me.
The entire list is here (it is an enormous pdf). A shorter summary is here
This week: scarecrows, metal bands and folk dancing
Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.
Monday means International Folk Dancing at Temple Israel. Get your multicultural dance on!
It’s mid-August so why not get started on Halloween? There’s a scarecrow making workshop at Engwall’s this Tuesday. No brains required.
Taste of Duluth-Superior is a fundraiser for the Children’s Museum featuring food from the New Scenic Café, Duluth Grill, Restaurant 301 and other tasty local eateries. It’s at the Northland Country Club on Wednesday.
At Bayfront on Friday and Saturday you can see not KISS, not AC/DC, not Metallica, not Led Zeppelin and a lot of not other bands at Tribute Fest.
The Islamic Center of the Twin Ports is serving up a Middle Eastern Dinner at the UU Church on Saturday.
Hillfest is a big ol’ street party in the heart of the Hillside with live music, games, and local crafts this Sunday.
So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.
Mr. Nice in: The Telephone
NSFW. Tune in Sundays for new installments.