Duluth Brand Parodies: Derogatory Wordplay in Dull-youth
It probably happens everywhere just as much as it happens in Duluth. Someone intentionally replaces the name of a well-known person, place or thing with a similar sounding word or words, almost always in a belittling way, and other people think it’s funny and repeat it.
There should be a list of those, right? Well, here it is. (more…)
Mark’s Great Duluth Alley Rally Urban Mountain Biking Route
Duluth has become known for it’s mountain biking trails in recent years, and for decades the paved Munger Trail has been a favorite of those with road bikes. But what about the unofficial street routes created just for the sake of being weird? Well, Perfect Duluth Day’s own Mark Nicklawske has established a route through the Endion, Chester Park and Congdon Park area that “climbs and plummets more than 1,300 feet in about 10 miles” according to a review on Medium by Nicklawske’s friend Keith Uhlig of Wausaw. (more…)
Dollhouse City Streets
This is the new Richardson brothers project, a Youtube channel devoted to the dollhouse city we built with our lifelong toy collection. The channel is just getting started but we’ve already got a ton of Dollhouse City content on Allen’s Instagram @blackobelisk. Here is how we describe it on Youtube: (more…)
Garbage, Dog Turds and Polyethylene Owls
When I’m out walking and I see a plastic bag stuck in a tree, I always point it out to anyone who might be around and say, “Hey look, a West Duluth owl.” It’s a stupid joke that doesn’t get much of a reaction, but hey, so am I.
Making cheesy remarks might be the best action in that situation. There’s a clump of ugly garbage stuck in a beautiful tree, and my options for how to deal with it are to climb the tree or use a long device of some kind to somehow remove the bag, ignore the situation altogether, or pretend like I wanted that bag to be there all along to support the comedy of life.
I have similar statements I repeat all the time. If my childhood friend is telling me about her cancer diagnosis, for example, I’ll say, “I told you not to go swimming downstream of the steel plant.”
The tragedy behind the comedy boils down to something pretty simple: I want a clean environment, but I know that’s unrealistic. It’s also confusing, because a clean environment contains a lot of dirt. And seriously, a clean planet and a polluted planet are made up of the same things; the difference is how those things are arranged. (more…)
Greetings from Duluth
This undated postcard, published by Cartwheel Company of St. Paul, shows five images of Duluth circa perhaps the early 1980s. (more…)
Wild Horses – “Man in the Mirror”
Grand Rapids-based Americana band Wild Horses launched its summer tour on Saturday at Milk & Honey Ciders in St. Joseph, Minnesota. Gina Nagler Smith captured this video of the song “Man in the Mirror.”
The Slice: Blake Romenesko’s Lake Gossip
Blake Romenesko talks about the new Twin Ports history zine Lake Gossip, the first edition of which tells the quirky story of Duluth ice houses.
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.
Bart Sutter’s new poetry collection revels in the natural world
Bart Sutter in the apple trees.
“Lake Superior is God.” Bart Sutter wrote that declaration in his 1998 book Cold Comfort, a collection of essays about “life at the top of the map.” The work was well received by readers, culminating in a Minnesota Book Award for creative nonfiction, and Sutter’s permanent status as a northern force. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Miss Norton
No fewer than five pennants hang on the wall in the photo on this undated postcard. Three are illegible, but one clearly indicates someone is a fan of Duluth. Another pennant represents the Withee Farmers Market of either 1912 or 1913. Withee is a village in Wisconsin, about 140 southeast of Duluth. (more…)
PDD Geoguessr Challenge #19: Sister Cities Smörgåsbord
Duluth’s sister cities
Five of the previous six Geoguessr challenges have looked one by one at Duluth’s sister cities: Ohara Isumi, Japan; Rania, Iraqi-Kurdistan; Växjö, Sweden; Petrozavodsk, Russia; and Thunder Bay, Canada. As a Geoguessr game has five rounds, it only makes sense to conclude the series with a challenge that includes all five cities. (more…)
Build a Goddamn Bob Dylan Statue Already
For real, I think there needs to be more serious discussion about a Duluth Bob Dylan statue. He’s the (checks notes) greatest songwriter in the world (the Nobel Prize people compared him to Homer and Blake), and Duluth is his (checks notes again) literal birthplace. Where did I read — perhaps buried in the epic comments of this PDD Facebook post — that local/regional Dylan relatives disfavor statues, as opposed to a nice plaque or something? An MPR article cites “a Dylan family member” who states a preference for educational work instead. I get it. But Dylan must have dozens of relatives, did we ask them all? Do we have to ask any of them, since Dylan belongs to the world?
I also get that statues are falling out of favor and may become problematic. The meaning of a statue can change. Maybe it would be better to just name a street, or a music center, or erect a plaque — something you can quietly change up or take down in a hurry if history reverses on you. But respectfully, I worry that plaques and manhole covers are simply too boring to honor the greatest songwriter in the world besides Taylor Swift.
You think Taylor Swift will only get some nice manhole covers? You think they won’t build a statue in her hometown by the time she’s Dylan’s current age of 82? (more…)
Postcard from the St. Louis County Courthouse in 1924
This postcard was mailed June 1, 1924 — 100 years ago today. It shows the St. Louis County Courthouse in Downtown Duluth, which opened in 1909. (more…)
Rachael Kilgour – “Dad Worked Hard” (live at The Current)
“Dad Worked Hard” is the third song Duluth native Rachael Kilgour performed during a recent studio for a session at the The Current hosted by Radio Heartland’s Mike Pengra. All three songs are from her 2023 album My Father Loved Me.
The Slice: Duluth Punk Rock
The Vintage Hideaway flips the script on antiquing
Nichol and Tony Hommerding, owners of The Vintage Hideaway. (Submitted photo)
A thrift and antique store in Hermantown has brought a fresh take on antiquing and thrifting in the Twin Ports. The Vintage Hideaway focuses on uniquely staging items, restoring pieces looking for a little bit of love and creating a welcoming environment by offering coffee and snacks in its pantry. (more…)
Video: A mountain lion in northern Minnesota
This video of a mountain lion just south of Voyageurs National Park was captured on April 16. The trail-camera footage is from the Voyageurs Wolf Project, which is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in the park. This is the third video of a mountain lion the project’s cameras have captured in the past three years. All three animals seemed to be wandering through and were only caught on camera once before they appeared to leave the area.
Duluth 2024 Primary Election Primer
The filing period for candidates running for federal, state and county offices in Minnesota is from May 21 to June 4. The primary election is Aug. 13; the general election is Nov. 5. (more…)
PDD Quiz: May 2024
See how many of this month’s headlines and happenings you remember with this week’s current events quiz!
The next PDD Quiz, scheduled for June 16, will test your knowledge of the Superior Hiking Trail. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by June 11. (more…)
The Final Resting Place of Private John Matthew McGillis
Left: Private John Matthew McGillis, photo courtesy of Jasper van Kampen. Right: His burial place (Photo by Matthew James)
John Matthew McGillis, known to his family on Duluth’s Park Point as Jack, died on Christmas Day 1944, one day before the end of major fighting in the final German offensive of World War II. He wasn’t a combat soldier. (more…)
Rachael Kilgour – “Heart on Fire” (live at The Current)
Duluth native Rachael Kilgour visited The Current studio for a session hosted by Radio Heartland’s Mike Pengra. She played three songs from her 2023 album My Father Loved Me, including the track featured here, “Heart on Fire.”
Jesus Christ Meets Bob Dylan in a Hotel Room in Tucson, 1978
Bob: I’m ready to accept you, Lord.
Jesus: Not so fast there Bob. I need you to do something first.
Bob: Name it Lord.
Jesus: I need you to rub out Jimmy Gravante.
Bob (stunned): The hitman?
Jesus: Your successor in the Duluth family, after you got out and became — this (gestures around). You know Jimmy — the sniper who blew you off your motorcycle in 1966 in Woodstock.
Bob: He hit the bike, man, not me. Sniper my ass.
Jesus: I’m going to need you to check your tone.
Bob: I’m sorry Lord. It’s just that he wasn’t even at 200 yards. He’s more like a potshot expert than a sniper. And my divorce is killing me. I just got off a world tour and my adrenal glands feel squeezed dry like little raisins. Think I’m coming down with something (sniffles). (more…)
Grandma’s Marathon 2023 Double: One More Time
Once again, Eric Strand and his crew run from the Grandma’s Marathon finish line to the start, then turn around and run the official marathon. They call it the “12th annual” though it’s technically the 11th, since the first was in 2012 and the run didn’t happen in 2020.
Dirty Knobs – “More Fire in More Places”
“More Fire in More Places” is the fourth release from the new Dirty Knobs album, Songs About Everything Dying Around Us, Including Us.
Smelt parade seeks new leader as founder retires
Run, Smelt, Run! Parade photo via Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe Facebook page.
Dressing up as a silver fish in late spring could become weird again. After eleven years of marches normalizing smelt fashion on the Lake Superior boardwalk, the annual Run, Smelt, Run! Parade could be making its final march on May 26. (more…)
The Slice: Naming Life Parade and Deep Fake Five
Cameron Mathews explains how the bands Life Parade and Deep Fake Five got their names.
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.