Why I still love the DNT

From today’s Swap Shop:
SWAP: My knowledge and advice for oral Yiddish lessons. Kurt 218-xxx-xxxx Posted: 02/05/2009

SWAP: Briggs & Stratton push lawn mower. Will trade for 20 lbs of ham. 218-xxx-xxxx. Posted: 02/03/2009

Forum on “The Troubled History of Afghanistan”

Sunday, Feb. 8 @ 7pm
UMD Kirby Student Center Room 333

You’re invited a forum on the troubled history of Afghanistan. With both the Democrats and Republicans talking about the need to escalate the war in Afghanistan, and the corporate media going right along with them calling it the “good war” – it’s crucial for activists to understand the history and dynamics of this land, and why we need to oppose this war.

Speaking will be Adam Ritscher. If you are unable to attend, but interested in the topic, email him at wainosunrise@yahoo.com for a copy of the speech.

Lake Superior Socialist Action
PO Box 16853, Duluth MN 55816
(715) 394-6660
www.the-red-raven.blogspot.com
www.socialistaction.org

Creating a Gravatar

By now you may have noticed PDD’s Gravatars, the little personalized images that appear next to each of the comments. Some people already have personalized Gravatars, but right now your comments probably display our default image. Want a personalized Gravatar of your own? It’s easy.

How do I get my own Gravatar?

Click here to visit gravatar.com and upload your own image. You will have to sign up for a free account at that site. All you need is an image and an email address.

When you return to PDD, simply use the same email address you used at gravatar.com. Your images should automatically appear whenever you make comments on this or any other site that enables Gravatars.

Should you need this information in the future, we’ve created a page in the help section.

Need a Polka Band @ Reasonable Price

A friend of mine has reserved the community shelter on Park Point for early Aug. for a family reunion. He’s got a lot of older rural Minnesota relatives who have fond memories of spending their honeymoons in Duluth (yes, this is what Garrison Keilor did a skit about a few years ago–going to Duluth becoming a codeword for doing the goatdance).

Anyway–this friend would like to help his entire family to have a great time by hiring a polka band (or at least a polka accordianist) to play for the gathering. He’s not employed locally, so doesn’t have a lot of money to spend.

Anybody got tips on a likely band or individual who could play two hours of good polka tunes to tug at some nostalgic heart strings?

Thanks!

Where can I get kerosene?

I just acquired a nifty little kerosene heater to use when working out in the garage, or – maybe starting this week – to use when the power goes out at my house.

But, I’m not sure where the best place is to get kerosene to fuel the thing.

Hardware stores have kerosene in little metal jugs, but the price is almost $10 a gallon. It has to be available for cheaper than that, right?

The only gas station listed under “kerosene” in the phone book said they don’t carry it anymore.

So, does anyone know where I can get kerosene in Duluth? (Time is running out before the freezing rain starts)

When the moon hits your eye…

Valentine's Day @ Pizza Luce

Valentine's Day @ Pizza Luce

Vampire Hands

The Tisdales

The Undesirables

$5/11pm/all-ages

BLAH!

Who are We, Where are We, Why are We

Who are We, Where are We, Why are We

Where in Duluth?

Where in Duluth is this?

Heart to Heart: A Celebration of Love

Heart to Heart is a 3-day event for married couples to embrace intimacy and promote growth in their relationship.

Couples Yoga – February 28th 10:00 – 11:30 am
Wine Tasting and presentation on “Heart Focused Intimacy” – March 6th 6:30 pm
Formal Dance – March 7th 7:30 pm
$120 per couple (includes all events)
The perfect gift! Gift certificates available

Call Katrina at 218-728-2246 for registration or more information

Open letter to the DNT

Dear Duluth News Tribune,

Any time I find a stray newspaper at a coffee shop, or waiting room, my initial course of action is to go straight to The Family Circus so that I may gawk at the daily track-wreck of comedy it provides. The philosophical beating I take by trying to riddle out just what is it that Bil & Jeffy Keane think I should be laughing at has somehow become a masochist treat for my brain as the years go by.

In recent months though, this pleasure seems to be unhinged by the horrible way your layout editors treat this sacred circle. Attached is the comic as it appears from the syndication source, immediately followed by the beaten and bloodied corpse that gets spat onto your printed comics page.

The DNT F's it up again.

The Family Oval shall not suffice. I’m sure Bil & Jeffy Keane would be aghast by the treatment you give their comic. Without a doubt, the Keane’s go to great lengths to make sure that Billy, Dolly, and little PJ’s heads perfectly resemble testicles in each and every one of their daily discs of unfunny. To unprofessionally scale them in the way that you repeatably do, should be taken as nothing less then an open handed slap to the face of both Bil & Jeffy Keane as you disgrace their little works of art.

Please, give the editor back his shift key so he can resize his images while constraining proportions. It will make us all happier at the end of the day.

Sincerely,
K. Praslowicz

Diarama-rific

Did I miss the diaramarama? Did I spell that right? Should I save my shoe box? I could be wrong of course, but I thought it was around this time of year. I’m probably way off, but will save my shoe box anyway.

Disco, funk & soul music at The Redstar

dj_spockcopy

DJ Nola tonight at the Redstar club playing rare disco, funk & soul grooves.

21+
10pm-2am
No Cover

Come see LOW before the Turtles show

“The Drive: A Benefit for the Pelkey Family”

Live Music & Silent Auction Fundraiser

$5.00 Suggested Donation
5-11 p.m. at Teatro Zuccone
Friday, February 6, 2009

Bands include(from start to finish):

Bill & Kate Isles
Charlie Parr
Coyote
Lake Superior Cacophonic Choir
Low
The Alrights
Cars and Trucks

If you can’t make the event, give to :

The U.S. Bank Crystal Pelkey-Rodeski Family Donation Fund

You can donate by:
1) Going to ANY US Bank and make a donation; just tell them it is for the Crystal Pelkey-Rodeski Family Donation Fund.
2) Or mail a check to US Bank at the below address:
US Bank – Duluth Main Office
Crystal Pelkey-Rodeski Family Donation Fund
130 West Superior Street
Duluth, MN 55802

Friday Night Show

Trampled By Turtles & Devils Flying Machine @ Luce Friday night for the ongoing “Music Heals” series. Show starts about 10 pm. See ya’ll there… feb62

WP – Photo Gallery – North Shore

Below is an example of adding images  in WP using the gallery option.

I clicked insert an image. Choose from  computer, select files, browsed & selected all 9 images I wanted at once and uploaded all of them at one time. Very Slick! 😉 Then I added captions to all 9, selected Gallery tab, selected my options for the gallery and hit insert gallery to post.  That’s it.

Lux Interior dead at 60

PN010053

I think it’s safe to say the Cramps were the most influential band of my life. I learned to play guitar listening and playing along with Songs the Lord Taught Us and Psychedelic Jungle. Which probably explains why I’m really not a very good guitar player.

Story here.

17th Annual Living Green Conference

FYI:
The 17th Annual Living Green Conference will be taking place this Saturday, February 7th, from noon until 4:30 PM.  This is a great way to network with other like minded individuals or to become associated with local eco-minded businesses and services.  Bring a donation for the food shelf and get $1 off admission ($10).  The event will be held at Lake Superior College, which is a different venue than previous years, allowing for more exhibitors and classes.  Come and bring a friend, you won’t regret it!

PDF Version of the Flyer

Crazy Sortation Options

Okay, so while it’s pretty thin right now, I want to talk a bit about my favorite feature of the new PDD. The one that’s capable of revolutionizing the way I read the website. Author archives.

I bet you didn’t even know there were author archives. You’ll notice that under each post’s title, the author’s name is actually a hyperlink. Click it to see a list of everything that person has posted since PDD’s upgrade. Sure, there’s not much there now. But imagine a couple years’ worth of posts.

Here are some things that I find exciting about this feature.

1.) Individual sub-blogs. Think about it: If you can, in one click, see all posts made by one particular person, well, that’s a blog of its own, right? You can take a look at one person’s real estate in the PDD community. If you wanted to show someone the work you do at PDD, simply give them the link. https://perfectduluthday.com/authors/YOURNAME/. It’s like a blog all your own.

1.a.) Author RSS feeds. You can even subscribe to an RSS feed for a particular PDD blogger, or link your own feed elsewhere on the web. We haven’t worked an automatic way to generate author feeds into the PDD system yet, but the feeds are there. https://perfectduluthday.com/authors/YOURNAME/feed/ is where each feed is located.

2) Bullshit detector. I’ve always held that every new thing you say on PDD carries the weight of everything you’ve previously said. The problem is, with so many members it’s hard to keep track of everyone’s ideals and history. Now, with one click you can easily read back-posts, and refresh your memory as to just what kind of an asshole or angel you’re dealing with.

I read recently that when confronted with new technology, a lot people just learn the rudimentary functions. Don’t be that person! PDD has crazy good features, customizable to fit your needs.

Music of the Hipness

Hello all. I’m looking for alternatives to daytrotter.com in the likes of hip-hop, world, spoken-word, and just plain different music. For those who are not familiar with daytrotter, please don’t hesitate any longer. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

Ryan

Duluth Fourth Street Time Lapse

An hour in 20 seconds.

Free Screening of GOD ROCKED at CSS

 

God Rocked DVD

God Rocked DVD

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
7pm – Science Auditorium, College of St. Scholastica
FREE to CSS Students & Faculty (with ID)
Everyone else $5
Hope to see you there!

Teach Your Children Well

tsatoy

Playmobil Security Check Point

You have to read the product reviews!

Tangier 57 & Batteries at Carmody

valentines09web-small

Tangier 57, 9 to 11 p.m.
Batteries, 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Fundraiser/Meet and Greet

Jamie Ness and Father Hennepin will be performing in support of the RNC8 this coming Saturday, February 7 at Carmody Irish Pub. The shindig kicks off at 9PM and is $5. A few of the RNC 8 will be on hand to chat with.

More info below.

rnc8

Defend the RNC 8!

The RNC 8 are organizers against the 2008 Twin Cities Republican National Convention who have been falsely charged with terrorism in response to their political organizing. Luce Guillen-Givins, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Trimmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik and Garrett Fitzgerald were all members of or associated with the Welcoming Committee, an anarchist collective that helped arrange food, housing and communications for the thousands of people who converged on St Paul in September to protest the RNC. None of the 8 committed any act of violence, and most were arrested during FBI raids of activist centers and homes before the protests even began. Now they are facing multiple felony conspiracy charges, including two counts of “furthering terrorism” under Minnesota’s version of the Patriot Act.

The reach of this case falls far beyond the eight defendants. It should be followed by every union member, every environmentalist, every community organizer, and every Minnesotan who cares about civil liberties. By charging the RNC 8 for what they may have been thinking, and by invoking a law which redefines terrorism to include even civil disobedience, Ramsey County prosecutors have not only attacked these 8 organizers, but the right to organize itself. Please come out and show your support for the RNC 8… because you could be next.

https://rnc8.org/

From the Big Box of Photos in My Basement | 1989

Neck injury

Neck injury

It seems like a lifetime ago that I was in Paramedic school. Our last project before graduation was a mock disaster that was held in the White Bear Lake Middle School. I had forgotten how all out we went in preparations for the drill. Moulage and fake smoke were used with great effect.The day after the drill we flew to Colorado Springs for our exams which we all failed over a technicality. We had to wait a month to take them over. (more…)