MDA planning gypsy moth treatment
Some residents of Duluth will be seeing a plane fly over their homes Sunday morning. But it’s nothing to be alarmed about. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is using the plane to try and stop the spread of gypsy moths. The MDA is planning to treat about 342 acres in Duluth’s Central Hillside, in an area approximately from North Sixth Avenue East to North 17th Avenue East and Skyline Drive to East Fourth Street.
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Cheap date for North Shore hikers, agoraphiles
For the price of a few gallons of gas, you can have a full, free day at Split Rock Lighthouse. It’s the annual open house for Minnesota State Parks, so park admission is free. So is admission to the Minnesota Historical Society Split Rock Lighthouse site.
Did I make up word, “agoraphile”? It’s the opposite of an agoraphobe (someone afraid of crowds). The park and especially the Lighthouse will be crowded!
By the way, gas is often 3-4 cents cheaper per gallon in Two Harbors. Something about Hugo Chavez…
Bill Flannagan Rockin’ Honky Tonkin’ Blues
I will be playing at Sir Benedict’s Tavern on Friday, June 10 at 9 p.m. Come and enjoy a great selections of songs and beers. Music is free; the beers cost.
Yeehaw and Yahoo!
Yahoo! thinks we’re pretty.
Stop: Duluth’s four-mile lakeside sports path shows off the city highlights: a rose garden, pre-Prohibition brewery, an aerial bridge, and the largest grain elevators in the world.
Final Trip Through Original Laura MacArthur Elementary School
An open house was held at MacArthur Elementary School yesterday as the last day of classes was wrapping up. I brought my camera on a final tour before the place is demolished and turned into a field. A new MacArthur is being built across the street from the original. (more…)
Drink up
100 years ago, from the front page of the Duluth News Tribune, June 10, 1911.
Squirrel begins life of hard labor … via Wildwoods Rehab
This is Delilah, our developmentally delayed grey squirrel. We normally don’t pet the animals in our care; we need to keep them as wild as possible. Delilah is a bit “special,” so we love her up. (more…)
Neighborhood Housing Services of Duluth Golf Fundraiser
NHS Duluth serves all of Duluth’s core neighborhoods in home improvement, homeownership, and revitalization efforts. It is a 401(c)3 non-profit organization, making any donations tax deductible.
We are holding our first annual golf fundraising outing on Friday, June 17, and are looking for any players or sponsors who may be interested. To sign up click here. Cash Prizes! Golf Prizes! A Friday on the golf course!
For more information, contact Dan at 218-727-8604 x. 207 or at dollhoff @ nhsduluth.org.
Learn your local wildflowers
Let’s say you’re a wildflower and you happen to like cool, moist, acidic woods. Suppose you’d find a place to live around Duluth? That’s what happened for Cornus canadensis, the bunchberry or Canada dogwood.
For four great random facts about the bunchberry, read more at my blog.
Where in Duluth 1890?
File:Duluth MN Panorama circa 1890s.jpg
TITLE: Duluth, Minn. CALL NUMBER: PAN US GEOG – Minnesota no. 8 RIGHTS INFORMATION: No known restrictions on publication.
MEDIUM: 1 photographic print : albumen ; 4.5 x 41 in. CREATED/PUBLISHED: [between 1886 and 1905]
RELATED NAMES: Newton, George A., photographer.
This may have been posted before but I don’t remember seeing it. I found it on one of my new favorite sites, Wikimedia Commons. Click the image to go directly to the page, you should be able to enhance it there as well.
I believe this picture was taken close to my current domicile but I can’t exactly say. Could anyone else tell where it appears to radiate from? I’d also love to see one of you photoshop wizards try overlaying modern images so I can compare side by side, but that’s asking a lot on a rare warm summer day, I know.
Hello, West Duluth. Is it Lionel Ritchie you’re looking for?
This poster was hanging on the pillar outside Insty-Prints at the Spirit Valley Shopping Center in West Duluth on Tuesday. Everyone at Insty denied involvement and seemed unaware of it. The tear-offs at the bottom are lyrics from the song. (more…)
The Life of Riley 7:15 Screening Sold Out
Due to a great response, the 7:15pm’s RSVP list is now filled! Thank you! If you are still interested in coming to see the film, there are spots available at 9:15. Email me at carrie(at)4trackfilms(dot)com or send me a message on FB.
If you have already RSVP’d for the 7:15 show, PLEASE arrive by 6:45 to check in. Then feel free to wander about, grab a 1/2 price pint from the cafe or some grub, or step out to the Lakewalk for a few minutes. After 6:45 we will be releasing seats to those who are waiting.
If you have any questions, please email me at the above.
Also – I’ll be doing an interview this evening on The Local on KUMD – talking about & playing some of the awesome local music in the film!
Duluth FourthFest 2011 at Bayfront Park
Monday, July 4, 2011 | Bayfront Festival Park
Is it still free?
Yes, just like our country.
What bands are playing?
Shaunna Heckman, Sarah Krueger, Dirty Horse, 4onthefloor and Charlie Parr. Plus, the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, with its full company of 60 musicians, will perform an Independence Day program in the tradition of the Boston Pops and John Philip Sousa.
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“A Major Aurora Event”?
According to Science Buzz, astronomers are predicting some sexy Northern Lights tonight:
A major eruption on the Sun on June 7 sent high-energy particles spewing into space. They are expected to reach Earth on the night of Wednesday, June 8 (Minnesota time). Astronomers are predicting a major aurora event, with the Northern Lights visible overhead as far south as Milwaukee, and possibly visible on the northern horizon as far south a southern Indiana and Washington DC!
The most recent case of awesome Northern Lights in Duluth I remember was seven years ago. Tomasz Majewski captured the image above for Perfect Duluth Day from his home in the Piedmont neighborhood on Nov. 7, 2004.
Big Top Songwriting Competition 2011
The deadline is approaching for Big Top Chautauqua’s fourth annual songwriting competition. Interested local musicians have until June 17 to submit two original songs. Up to twelve finalists will be selected to perform in the competition finals on the Big Top stage August 19 for a chance at a cash prize of $100, a slot performing two songs as the opener for the Jessie Winchester/Johnsmith performance, and a chance to appear on the nationally broadcast Tent Show Radio program. Details here.
(Also, Big Top is celebrating its 25 years by giving away 25 prizes in 25 days. If you like Big Top Chautauqua on Facebook before July 5 you could win show tickets.)
A few unsolicited viewing recommendations for this week’s SUID Film Fest
If you didn’t have the pleasure of attending a screening at last year’s inaugural SUID Film Fest, I encourage you for your own sake to not let this opportunity escape you the second time round. This year the programmers have once again assembled a remarkable slate of films, many of which will be accompanied by Q&As with the directors and producers. As a film fan, it is close to utopia to have a festival of this quality here in our hometown. This year I (legally) got my hands on screener copies of some festival selections and have a few recommendations for films to check out this weekend.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Kk5K1mLmg&feature=player_embedded
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There’s nothing to fear from independent cinema…
Free Range Film Festival
July 29 & 30
freerangefilm.com
The Chicken Hat Plays, sponsored in part by Pizza Luce!
This Saturday, come see 8 plays that don’t exist right now.
Eight writers draw their prompts from hats full of suggestions on Friday night. (Odds are pretty good that someone will get “wiener.”)
Eight directors and a bunch of actors show up Saturday morning. Each director draws a script from a hat, then their cast from a hat, then they all go away.
Saturday is spent memorizing lines, finding costumes and props, and general cramming.
Saturday night at 7pm, you get 8 original world premiere plays from the area’s bravest theatrical artists.
All of this for ten bucks.
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Duluth Int’l Film Festival This Week
A friend of mine said that when he went to the Duluth Film Festival last year he was blown away. His expectations were modest, but after the first film he couldn’t believe what he just saw. Then he took in the second, and the third. Ultimately he attended 11 films and participated in many of the dialogues with directors that can be part of a film festival experience.
Two weeks ago I met Richard Hansen, director of the event, and was sufficiently impressed with his vision and enthusiasm to make sure we had lunch together last week. I now understand why an international film festival would make its home in Duluth. It’s my hope that Hansen and associates are sufficiently successful to make this the next Sundance.
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Thumbs Up for Rock and Roll!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaIvk1cSyG8
Shot in Bemidji. Starring Owen Kosevich after his first bike ride, with his father Nick behind the camera.
“I feel happy of myself!” Owen says. “Everybody, I know you can believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, you will know how to ride a bike! If you don’t you just keep practicing. You will get the hang of it. If you keep practicing you will get the hang of it and then you can get better and better at it as you do it. Thumbs up, everybody, for rock and roll!”
Four Poems by Ray Smith
Four poems by the late Ray Smith, director of the Superior Public Library, 1971-75, and visiting lecturer in English at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, 1975-83, have been posted by the Wisconsin Academy Review.
Mayor’s Mix: 17 pretty great local songs for $5
So yeah, you can find it at the Electric Fetus. If you’re like me and you think it’s pretty neat that our little city produces so much incredible talent, maybe you should buy this CD. It has a low-key vibe to it, good for your family BBQ this summer … (more…)
This week at Hartley
Busy week at Hartley Nature Center:
-Tuesday, June 7 Our first volunteer garden work night in the Butterfly Garden, 6pm.
-Wednesday, June 8 COGGS members lead a trail bike ride, 7pm.
-Thursday, June 9 Yoga night, Back to Basics 4:30 pm & Hatha 1 6 pm.
And there are a few summer day camp spaces left for youth ages 4-15. Register soon!
More information at www.hartleynature.org
Proctor artist Scott Murphy’s Duluth Public Library mural
The artist who created the Duluth Art Institute rotunda mural in 2010 is at it again!
Free Movie Monday at Duluth Art Institute
TONIGHT!
Monday, June 6
6:30 Gallery Tour
7:30 Movie: “9 to 5”
FREE
Friday night isn’t the only free movie night in Duluth this summer! The Duluth Art Institute is offering Free Movie Monday at the Depot to celebrate the exhibit “Esther Bubley: On Assignment”. Treat yourself to a tour of our exhibition, then head downstairs to the Train Museum’s Zelda theater for a free movie.
Our first film of the series celebrates three sassy women as they take on their terrible boss. Dolly Parton memorized the entire movie, word for word, in preparation for her part, not realizing she really only needed to know her own lines!