This week: celebrity dancing, dioramas, scuffling cupids, and more

Monday, Feb. 6
Temple Grandin,  doctor of animal science, bestselling author, and advocate for people with autism speaks on the St. Scholastica campus.

Thursday, Feb. 9
Celebrities duke it out for another year of the Celebrity Dance Challenge. It’s opening night of the multiple Tony award winning musical Spring Awakening at the Teatro.

Friday, Feb. 10
Music and miniatures combine again for Diorama-rama at Sacred Heart. Don your best Renaissance garb for a Valentines Madrigal Dinner which will also take place Saturday night.

Saturday, Feb. 11
Martin Zellar plays a CD release show at Luce with Charlie Parr opening. Take your pick of Valentine’s Day related events to get you in the mood to either love or love to hate the upcoming holiday, starting with a special match between the Harbor City Roller Dames and the Chippewa Valley Roller Girls in a cupid scuffle. Enjoy a romantic dinner at Glensheen after taking a tour of the historic site. Lastly, take in some art based on love, a puppet show, lasers, and more at Love at the Snoodle.

Keep checking the PDD Calendar for events!

From I&I to Feelin’ Irie in Just 12 Easy Steps

OK, maybe there are more than twelve steps, and maybe they are not-so-easy. But the City of Duluth and the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District promised a “12-year schedule to stop sewage overflows.” That was back in 2004 (I think), so if my math is right we are 8 years into the plan. I don’t know about you, fellow Duluthians, but I am feeling irie!

Here it is early February, and spring is in the air. That means snow-melt, which admittedly won’t be a huge issue this year. But we know from past experience that spring melt and heavy rains can lead to sewer overflows. This is a problem worth understanding, and rather than trying to offer details here, I highly recommend WLSSD’s article on the topic (I and I Solutions – Inflow and Infiltration: When Clean Water Causes Problems!).

Read more about why I love the new storage tank in Canal Park, and overlook some of its less redeeming qualities (and see a photo) by visiting today’s Nature of Modern Life post.

Christmas & New Year’s 2012

Entries into the guest books at lodges tend to be kind of boring, but I like how this group made a comic out of their stay at Heston’s Lodge on Gunflint Lake a month ago. Flipping through the stack of archives reveals this group has been making the trip for at least a dozen years, and they always leave a comic behind.

Where in … ?

Vision Pro-Envision

Lake Superior Libraries Symposium

The Lake Superior Libraries Symposium is placing a call for proposals with local librarians, teachers, IT professionals and community members to participate in our inaugural conference to be held on Friday, June 1, 2012 at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College Conference Center. 
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2012 Duluth Bike/Ped Public Meetings

Save the date for one of four upcoming bicycle/pedestrian meetings in Duluth. Each two-hour meeting starts promptly at 6 p.m. (more…)

Duluth Furnace Installation

We are looking to replace our furnace this spring. Can anyone recommend some places that sell and install furnaces?

What happened to the creek at Cascade Park?

Cascade-Park-Postcard-Duluth

When you look at old pictures of Duluth’s Cascade Park there is a creek that runs through it. Whatever happened to it? Why did people change it? (more…)

Vision Pro-Envision

Duluth Dog Walker

It’s a beautiful winter and I need to get my dog outside. I just don’t have the time to run with her right now. Does anyone know an excellent dog walker that I could contact? I’m looking for someone that can keep her moving for at least 30 minutes.

Robert Hughes, Art Lover.

If you haven’t heard, the Duluth Art Institute will soon be starting screenings of Robert Hughes’ Shock of the New, which is a fantastic eight-part series on the rise and fall of the modern art movement. Not only will you be able to rest your eyes on the handsome and talented Robert Hughes, but you will be able to do it for free.
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Adam Carr Send-Off


(januaryinduluth.wordpress.com).

He’s been clogging up the airwaves with his “January in Duluth” posts … now it’s time to bid him farewell.

Before he flees, he has agreed to give us a presentation on what he’s been up to. (more…)

Silent movie on a date night in a church?

Who knew ??? with the movie community all abuzz over the French  film, The Artist,”  the first silent movie in 80 years up for an Academy Award, that First Lutheran Church would be “trendy” this Friday night Feb 3 at 7:30 p.m. with the showing of the 1925 silent movie classic “Ben Hur: At Tale of the Christ” with the talented University of Michigan theater organist, Dr. Steven Ball providing some stunning  improvisational musical accompaniment on the church’s world-class pipe organ.   Tickets $10 adult, $5 student.  Join us!
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Local Comedian Daren Streblow

httpv://youtu.be/j-P_jjzBppY

Daren Streblow performs in Duluth on Feb. 17 as part of the Duluth Christian Singles Event. To purchase tickets go to: duluthchristiansingles.org.

Best Fried Chicken in Duluth

Where can someone go to get good fried chicken around the Twin Ports? KFC is absolutely terrible and I can’t think of any other place that has fried chicken.

Vision Pro-Envision

Plastic is better than silicon.

hn

Photo Electric Effect

Texas Science: “Discovery of a ‘Dark State’ Could Mean a Brighter Future for Solar Energy

Where near Duluth?

Looking for grand ideas & Dulu-tia (Duluthminutia).

(Getting to the end — thank you so much for putting up with these January in Duluth encroachments in this wonderful space.)

Last day of January and I have a few sackfuls of questions with incomplete/partial answers. With time running out, maybe you can give me a few hints on my homework? Below, I’ve boiled down a list of [A] v. [B]s, isolating dichotomies about life here in Duluth — if you have a few extra intro/outrospective minutes to kill today, I’d love to hear how you’d weigh in on any or all of these. Of course, in each matchup there’s no need to declare a clearcut winner (balance in all things), so your answers can take the form of one word or a phrase or a few thoughts or an essay if you’re exceptionally motivated. (more…)

PDD user account registration problem fixed

Anyone trying to create a user account for Perfect Duluth Day from Saturday night to this morning, probably saw this:

The problem is fixed, and creating an account should work now. We apologize to those who were frustrated by this.

And then he turned into a pumpkin and rolled away…

But not forever, I’m thinking.

So tomorrow is the last day of January in Duluth (and everywhere else too). I’m going to be writing a post in the morning asking some bigger picture questions I’ve been thinking about, but haven’t answered definitively. Look out for that (also, if you’ve been following and holding back, you can tell me what you really think about the project — but wait for tomorrow to do that).

For today, I have a morbid question. If you knew tomorrow were your last day on earth, and you were to spend it entirely within Duluth/immediate surrounding area, what would you do? A last day, in Duluth.

Small Town Killer Episode 2

[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]

This episode has a chase scene through the Skywalk and Canal. Hope you enjoy!

Call for Art: “Strange Objects”

Prøve Gallery announces an open call for submissions for the show “Strange Objects.” (more…)

Not Missing the Boat: CSAs in Duluth

I always wait until too late. Not this year!

What Community Shared Agriculture projects would you recommend? I’m an old, fat man who isn’t willing to work on the farm to cut his costs, and who is deathly afraid of programs that mandate that I go to a specific place within a 45 minute window once a month or lose my food.

What would you recommend?

Vision Pro-Envision

“Hey White People …” Un-Fair Campaign

I’m no longer in Duluth, but I found out about a campaign going on there right now and I couldn’t be more encouraged by the people and message behind it, including Mayor Ness. (more…)

This week: musical birds, pipe raffle show, Bassgate and more


Tuesday, Jan. 31
Legacy Glassworks holds its January Pipe Raffle Show with Joshua Grose, Kyle Scherz, Three Song Sunday, and Bliss & Sitter.

Wednesday, Feb. 1
Kevin Kling will be presenting a lecture and discussion on storytelling at the library before heading to Sacred Heart to perform his musical For The Birds.

Thursday, Feb. 2
Local, young DJs spin tracks at Stargate all night at Bassgate.

Friday, Feb. 3
Mr. Kickass and Fearless Moral Inventory play Roscoe’s Pioneer Bar.

Vision Pro-Envision

Zenith City writers share their work

The Podium at Teatro Zuccone

Last night I attended a very special evening of area writers sharing essays, poems and stories at Teatro Zuccone. It’s really exciting to see this kind of event assembled. Kudos to all involved. If winter is the off-season for the Duluth arts and culture scene, you’d never know it by all the things happening in our community these days. Here’s a link to my review of the event last night and the writers who alternately made us laugh or think more deeply about the meanings of our lives, sometimes at the same time.