Heads up! Two Many Banjos at Tom’s Burned Down Cafe, Madeline Island
Friday and Saturday, June 11-12
Election 2010: The Weird Stuff
As noted in a previous post, an Elvis impersonator is running for lieutenant governor in Minnesota.
Here are some other things that jump out at me from the candidate filings:
* Kenny Kalligher, co-host of Duluth Public Access Community Television’s The Average Guys is running for state auditor. He’s also a musician. Maybe you saw him at the Homegrown Music Festival, performing as Uncle Kenny.
* Longtime Republican Harry Welty is running for the State Senate in the 7th district on the DFL ticket. (By the way, Welty was my geography teacher in the 7th grade. My 9th grade civics teacher was Sam Solon, who held this senate seat for 31 years. And just to stretch these parenthetical Morgan-Park-Junior-High-related remarks out longer, I’ll note that the son of my 8th grade social studies teacher is running for judge in sixth district court 11.)
* Joe Reasbeck of Iron River is running for Congress in Wisconsin’s seventh district (currently Dave Obey’s seat; Obey’s retiring). This is, of course, the Joe Reasbeck of Google Goes to Twin Ports fame. He’s running as a Democrat.
An article in the Wausau Daily Herald notes that “in 2006 Reasbeck ran as an Independent write-in candidate for Congress in the Houston-area district formerly held by House Majority Leader Tom Delay. He raised about $4,000 from donors and ended up with less than 1 percent of the vote.”
An AP story notes that Reasbeck and other Republican candidates were officially considered independents after DeLay quit the race, but Reasbeck “said he was running as a Republican at the time and his campaign listed his party affiliation as Republican in a federal filing.”
Sam Miltich and the Big Dipper Jazz Band
Get all jazzed up with the PlayList Thursday night. Sam Miltich and the Big Dipper Jazz Band fill the studio with gypsy swing and traditional jazz tunes. Also, organic wood sculptures by Tim Byrns. Catch it at 9 pm on WDSE – PBS Channel 8.
Duluth Dentists
My former dentist retired recently and the dentist who took over his practice seems to me like he’s running a scam. After a couple of questionable experiences, I won’t be going back. I have plenty of friends who love their current places, but it seems like those dentists are all on the verge of retirement themselves. So, I turn now to PDD for advice. I am seeking a dentist who:
- Is currently accepting new patients
- Is not planning on retiring in the next 5-10 years
- Is good with children
- Won’t try to scam me on prices or leave my mouth worse off than before I went in
I never understood why people hated going to the dentist until I encountered a true scumbag years ago during an insurance switch. While most of the dentists I’ve had have been wonderful, I’ve seen the other side, and no sir, I don’t like it! So tell me please, who makes you smile?
Grand Opening of Playfront Park
The Junior League of Duluth will host the Grand Opening of the new Playfront Park this Friday, June 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. Mayor Don Ness and representatives from the Duluth Chamber of Commerce will join members of the Junior League of Duluth for the official ribbon cutting at 5 p.m.
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For the kiddos!
I just wanted to share with you all a book my wife and I published called Elephant and Hare. She wrote the story based a Maasai folk tale her grandmother told her when she was a little girl growing up in Kenya. I drew the pictures.
It went on sale this morning at our website: LetsGoSafariKids.com
Cheers!
=Hans Johnson (former Duluthian)
Sound Unseen Duluth Film+Music Festival Opening Night is Wednesday, June 2
The staff at Sound Unseen are both very anxious, nervous and incredibly excited to kick-off Duluth’s inaugural international film + music festival at Sacred Heart Music Center! If you are still on the fence about what to do Wednesday night, let us remind you that we’re premiering two films at our Opening Night: locally produced Google Goes to Twin Ports and Feed the Fish!
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Tommy, can you hear me?
Presented by Renegade Theater Company, with the Cartier Insurance Agency, 95.7 the Bridge and 102.5 the Northland’s Classic Rock FM
Music and Lyrics by Pete Townshend
Book by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff
Directed by Andy Bennett
The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The original Broadway production was nominated for 10 Tony awards. Now, Northland audiences will experience the original rock opera like never before. Local performers join forces with area rock group Cars & Trucks to present one of the greatest albums of all time on stage in a new, thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime production.
Follow Tommy as he changes from a deaf, dumb and blind boy to a pinball champion to a modern messiah. Packed with dazzling spectacle, show-stopping choreography and high-energy rock and roll, this is a production that will astound every last one of your senses. You’ve never seen or heard Tommy like this before.
Memorial Day, the real deal.
I spent the holiday getting my tires/tie rods/alignment replaced/done. If that doesn’t say holiday, I don’t know what does. It was hours upon hours at the service center, me without my laptop and not much to do.
Guy comes in with a combat wounded plate. Service shop is finishing up his transaction and employee says, “Thanks for your service, were you in Nam?”
Turns out he was. Turns out the customer service guy was as well. They talk about locations/dates and it turns out that it is highly possible the guy selling tires once upon a time flew the customer in a helicopter someplace over the jungle in Vietnam. Wow, they can’t make this up. Pair of them tell a few stories, shake hands. Thank each other for their service.
A 20-something woman waiting in line behind the Vietnam vet is waiting less than patiently. Vet leaves. Woman says something like, “What’s all the fuss?”
Just another day at the auto repair shop.
Geography of National Geographic
Tonight at 5:30 p.m. in the Duluth Art Institute Depot galleries: A tour and talk with Pat Farrell, Geography professor at UMD on the new exhibit: “National Geographic Greatest Portraits.”
Emergency Protest against Flotilla Murders 5pm Tuesday
On Tuesday, June 1, at 5 p.m., peace and justice activists in Duluth will gather at the Federal Building to denounce the Israeli government’s assault on the Gaza Freedom Convoy and call for an end to U.S. aid for Israel. (more…)
A Winter Downpour + Atlas Mts. + Hotel Coral Essex Saturday!
A Winter Downpour made its Duluth debut this past May at “New Band Night” during the Homegrown Music Festival. Now we take the second step in becoming a certified Twin Ports band by crossing the bridge for our second show and playing at Thirsty Pagan. Hope to see you there. This is a free show. Plus our friends Atlas Mts. and The Hotel Coral Essex are joining us.
Sat. June 5th @ Thirsty Pagan
10pm | 21+ | Free
A Winter Downpour | Atlas Mts. | Hotel Coral Essex
The Hold Steady in Hayward July 2
We’re so excited, we’re doing back flips here! Of course, this is leading to serious injuries and skyrocketing group insurance rates, but here’s the skinny:
Community radio station WOJB is presenting The Hold Steady with special guests The Whigs from Athens GA and Milwaukee’s best kept secret, Jaill in concert July 2 at the Lac Courte Oreilles Convention Center, four miles east of Hayward at the junction of County Highways B & K.
And only 20 bucks in advance! Tickets are available at www.wojb.org or by Visa/MC over the phone at 800-776-3689.
Bill and Ted’s Oil Drilling Adventure
Stupid stupid stupid oil industry! If you thought all this crap was bad today, it was equally bad in 1979 (“equally bad” as in “the exact same fucking problem”).
Historic Duluth Armory photos
Historic Duluth Armory featured Paul Metsa and Danny Fox, the 2008 winner of the Hibbing Dylan Days singer/songwriter contest for the May 30 open house.
Rubber #@$! Chicken presents David #$@%! Mamet’s “American $#&*!@# Buffalo”
May was a great time for homegrown music. June is shaping up to be the month for homegrown theater.
Rubber Chicken Theater presents
“American Buffalo” by David Mamet
June 3-5, 10-12, 17-19
7pm at The Venue at Mohaupt Block.
Directed by Minden Anderson
Featuring Tony Barrett, Brian Matuszak and Tate Haglund-Pagel
218-213-2780, rubberchickentheater.com
Beating a very dead horse
Confederate grave, Holly Springs, Mississippi, June 2007.
The News-Tribune had a nice editorial Sunday encouraging people to take time out to remember that Memorial Day was intended to include an element of solemnity, paying homage to those who have died in the service of the United States. I’m no jingo, but I generally embrace those sentiments. The editorial board erred in citing the nonprofit usmemorialday.org’s characterization of the origins of the tradition, however: “That inaugural Decoration Day, on May 30, 1868, drew some 5,000 Americans who helped place flowers and flags on the graves of more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery,” the group claims, imagining a scene of national reconciliation. (more…)
Things to Do Memorial Day Weekend
Big weekend ahead. Got plans? Here are some suggestions, assuming that you’re not heading off to hibernate at your cabin on the lake … though if you are reading this now, you really should be outside. (more…)
WTF?!? (Puppy Edition)
A warning to all dog owners out there: some asshole is going around Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood poisoning dogs (DPD, DNT, Strib, Fox21, MPR). Unlike the dog-napper rumors, this appears to be real.
Watch your doggies, bring them to the vet if you notice symptoms, and keep an eye out for suspicious people giving your pets “treats.”
Humor on Campus
I saw this on a UMD bulletin board among all the “House for Rent” and “For Sale” fliers. It made me laugh.
Are you talkin’ it off or walkin’ it off?
So, I’m walking down East Third Street, minding my own business, and a middle-aged man with a goofy smile on his face asks me: “Are you talkin’ it off or walkin’ it off?”
Is that some kind of expression? What could it possibly mean? Did I hear him right?
I’ve found that it’s best in these situations to just say something quickly and politely while continuing to walk, so I just said, “Walking it off,” and kept going.
But now that interaction is bugging me. The only implication I can think of is that maybe I’m supposed to be walking off a hangover, which I guess sort of makes sense. But how would somebody talk off a hangover? And since I wasn’t talking, shouldn’t it have been obvious I was walking it off?
One more week to apply for PDD sales position
Don’t forget, the deadline for the Perfect Duluth Day sales position is Friday, June 4th.
See the job description here.
Wonderbuzz Records @ TPB
Show w/ the Branditos, the Fontanelles & the Western Ridge + a limited amount of hand screened music compilations (done by Glen Maloney) featuring 14 songs (by Jordan Taylor, Sara Softich, the Branditos, and me) and some noise and stuff.
See ya!