JamesG – “Lawnmower”
In his latest music video, former Duluthian James Geisler, aka JamesG, takes the ol’ John Deere for a spin.
Duluth’s historic Wirth building gets facelift
The historic Wirth building, 13 W. Superior St., at left, received a major facelift this month. Owners said more than 30 splaying limestone blocks were replaced or repaired. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske).
A historic architectural gem in Duluth received a major facelift this month as crews repaired the aging facade of the city’s first pharmacy — a building that now serves as home to a couple that pioneered downtown living in the 1990s. (more…)
Explore Wisconsinbly with Mary Mack: Musky Fest 2023
Comedian Mary Mack was back in Hayward in June, visiting a favorite summer event: the 73rd annual Musky Fest.
Rachael Kilgour – “Heart on Fire”
The video for the second single from Duluth native Rachael Kilgour‘s upcoming album, My Father Loved Me, is a self-made production with editing help from Sara Pajunen. It features the heart of some of the places Kilgour has called home.
“I did not fall through the rafters, not even once, while recording,” Kilgour notes.
Postcard from the Babes on Park Point
This undated postcard features a trio of sunbathing beauties on Park Point circa the 1960s.
Selective Focus: Full-on PDDs
Instagram
73 likes, 5 comments - thermes_dlh on June 28, 2023: "We’re so fortunate to live in a city where you can see wildlife right out your door
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instagram.com
Select photos from Instagram spanning mid-June to mid-July 2023, all hashtagged with the name of a certain website. #perfectduluthday (more…)
Lovehouse – “Alone Right Now”
The second video release from Duluth band Lovehouse includes scenes from the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. It was directed by Parker Majerus. The song is from the band’s 2022 EP Shades of Red.
The Acceleratii – “Seven Nights to Rock”
Some time after Steve “Gomez” Mahlberg and Ben Marsen played in the Hadjis and the Black Labels, they created some great rock and roll with the Acceleratii. This is from their 2011 self-titled CD.
Love and Kisses from Duluth in 1903
This Detroit Publishing Company postcard of Duluth is copyright 1902 and was mailed July 16, 1903 — 120 years ago today. The writing at the left indicates the temperature that day was 71 degrees.
Beyondbliss – “Bipolar Kangaroo”
In this new lyric video, Beyondbliss raps about the extreme highs and lows of life. The song “Bipolar Kangaroo” is from the recently released album Born Deaf.
At the Rex? – Aug. 17, 2014?
Can anyone refresh my memory if this was a Hadjis or a Black Labels reunion show?
Big Manitou Falls at Pattison Park
The tallest waterfall in Wisconsin — and fourth-highest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains — is just outside the city of Superior. Big Manitou Falls at Pattison State Park sends water plunging 165 feet into the Black River.
Video by Douglas Feltman.
Duluth Boat Club racers trained on Shredded Wheat Biscuit
The Duluth Boat Club Eight Oared Crew won the Senior Eight Oared Race in the Northwestern International Regatta at St. Paul in July 1913 — 110 years ago — according to this Shredded Wheat Company advertisement. (more…)
Watson Silver and Lift Bridge Spoons
Ad for Watson Silver
As I read some of the magazines I purchased from the Duluth Public Library, I am impressed by a sense that the library bought magazines to suit the aspirations of the Zenith city. Magazines celebrating the fancy life might feel a little out of place in a public library today, but Duluth in the 1920s was a city that had some millionaires and wanted the world to think it had more.
We can see that in the ad above, taken from an interior design magazine, for Watson Silverware. (more…)
Duluth Mail Bag: What does a city councilor do?
As a two-time Duluth city councilor, now in my final year of service, one of my goals is to make city government more accessible, or at least help citizens become more informed. I figure there are many Duluthians who would like some simple answers to some simple questions. I learned in school that if there is something you don’t understand it’s likely there are many others who feel the same way. Hence the idea of the Duluth Mailbag column.
I won’t divulge who is asking the questions, but I’ll answer them in this format about once a month. Feel free to put a question in the comments for next month’s “Duluth Mailbag” or tweet me via @Hobbs_Duluth or email me at hobbsforduluth @ gmail.com.
Also, if you want to have a longer conversation, you can sign up for a 45-minute cup of coffee through my 100 Cups of Coffee project.
OK, here we go! (more…)
Indecent Proposal – “Late in the Morning”
Indecent Proposal‘s music video for “Late in the Morning” was shot by Manny Villanueva at Spurs on First, among other Duluth locations. It features Henriette Soderlind and Stuart Gordon.
Video Archive: Green Man 2003
The second annual Green Man Festival was held at Spirit Mountain 20 years ago this week — July 11-12, 2003. The event featured more than 30 music acts — the Big Wu, Wookiefoot, Shannon Wright, Heiruspecs, the Black-eyed Snakes, Ol’ Yeller, Mark Mallman, White Iron Band, Cry on Cue, Spider John Koerner, Charlie Parr, Haley Bonar, etc.
Embedded above is local television news coverage of the event.
Seeking info on the Hadjis and the Black Labels
I hope this brings back memories to all the fans of Duluth’s music scene. I am beginning research into two Duluth bands from the past, namely the Hadjis and the Black Labels. (more…)
Video Archive: Proctor Speedway, 1983
This video from July 10, 1983 — 40 years ago today — features the Mid-season Championships at the Proctor Speedway. (more…)
Video: Eveleth Clown Band in Two Harbors Heritage Days Parade
A highlight of the Two Harbors Heritage Days Parade was the Eveleth Clown Band, performing songs like “When the Saints Go Marching In” and other standards while … you know, clowning.
PDD Quiz: Waterfalls
With summer in full swing, it’s the perfect time of year to explore the outdoors. This week’s PDD quiz spotlights some of the region’s many parks that feature cascading water. Both the Zenith City website and Tony Dierckins’ Duluth Historic Parks: Their First 100 Years were valuable resources for this quiz.
The next PDD quiz will be pubished on July 30; it will review the month’s headlines and happenings. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by July 26. (more…)
American Boy
“Get out of the lake right now, or I will fucking shoot you,” he hollers, staring down an invisible sight and into my eyes, his finger threatening to pull the trigger — a notched branch on the stick rifle he has cocked and rested on his shoulder.
None of us respond, but if heart rates were words, we’d be babbling.
Our silence exasperates him. “I am not fucking kidding. You get out of the lake right now” — he sweeps a dictatorial finger from the lake where seven of us are circled in the water and toward the pebbled beach where he’s tantruming — “… or I will fucking shoot you.”
A few of us turn our backs to him, attempting to pick up the conversation we’d been having before this agitated teen and his friend, high on unaccustomed warmth in the air and whatever’s in that vape pen tucked into that pocket, stumbled into our orbit. The gun-pointer, initially aided by his sidekick, has been yelling at us for five minutes now, a genuinely unnerving bundle of aggression in green shorts. But if there’s one thing this group of grown-ups — parents, partners, queers, professionals, grieving, recovering, regulating, growing — knows how to do, it’s ignore the todderlistic foot stamping of a heckler. (more…)
Video Archive: Tri-State Speedway, 1983
This video from July 8, 1983 — 40 years ago today — features three races at Tri-State Speedway in Superior. The 3/8-mile dirt track is now known as Superior Speedway or Gondik Law Speedway. (more…)
Record Collection from Gabriel’s
In the past, I’ve written about the used records, bound in old-school albums, I have found at Gabriel’s, the thrift-bookshop in Lakeside. Because the records are donated, they are a real crapshoot, as the ruffians say. Often they come from estates, from families that don’t want to sell things piecemeal and are grateful someone will just take the whole collection all off their hands. (more…)