[Don’t] See the Twin Cities by Streetcar

Ever wonder where all the streetcars went? A subsidiary of GM bought them, burned them and put in a few buses and sold them back to the city once they were finally destroyed.

Here is a streetcar map of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1933!
Minneapolis and St. Paul by streetcar
map from here


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_streetcar_scandal

duluth_streetcars
Thanks hbh!

Taken for a Ride is a great documentary about this scandal.
https://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2486235784907931000&ei=BmeISaXpOoS4-QHP–38Cg&q=taken+for+a+ride

Another swell evening at the Brewhouse

Thanks to everyone that showed up tonight! Just a reminder, beers are only $1 every Monday when I play at the Brewhouse. – Ryan

(I posted this using my iPhone)

BOLD-choice Theatre

CHOICE, unlimited is a private nonprofit agency dedicated to supporting individuals with disabilities. CHOICE, unlimited’s mission is to provide quality services to adults with special needs leading them to greater self-determination and independence. The BOLD-choice Theatre Company was developed to help more fully realize this mission.

Romeo and Juliet’s Tragic Comedy is an original piece created by the BOLD-choice Theatre Company based on the Shakespearean classic tale of star-cross’d love. In the BOLD version of the story, the characters face the realities of discrimination, stereotyping, alienation and group think. They also experience the joys of young love, friendship, family and unification. As the story unfolds, the actors themselves get a chance to share the challenges they have personally encountered, as well their own hopes and wishes. Romeo and Juliet’s Tragic Comedy allows the audience a chance to experience a new world with an entertaining and honest twist on the age old story of love and hate. The play encourages the ideas of thinking for oneself and looking beyond pre-conceived notions –questioning why we act the way we do toward people who are different than us. Romeo and Juliet’s Tragic Comedy brings to life the beauty of finding similarities among one another and appreciating the differences that make us unique.

Things are tidying up nicely around here

If you haven’t visited Perfect Duluth Day all weekend, you must be just noticing that the site has changed. It looks different and it works different. Here are the basic things you need to know:

  • The comments work the same as they did before, except they upload faster.
  • PDD is using a new publishing platform, WordPress, so creating posts is a little different now. It also requires registering for a new account to log in. All accounts from the old site are closed.

If you are confused, see the help page. We’re working on adding more topics to it, so please be patient.

The only glitch so far, that we’re aware of, is that the archives from the old site are a little messed up. We’ll keep working on that. Let us know if you see anything else haywire.

Thank you for your patronage. Go blog yourself.

Duluth elite rock snobby pizza joint

Come see Duluth elitists Cars & Trucks this Saturday with Minneapolis’ Story of the Sea and Self Evident.

Neither Story of the Sea nor Self Evident have played Luce before, but I’ve heard they eat at the ones in Minneapolis so that earns them a spot in our clique, right?

And You May Ask Yourself

Once In A Lifetime
I just have to say that I’ve had “Once In A Lifetime” going through my head almost constantly since I saw that ad for the PDD help page. So now I must share with you all the absolute strangeness that is the video. Thank you, PDD Designer Gods!

Minnesota Book Awards 2009 Duluth Finalists

ctc_cover_index monkey1

Books by Tony Dierckens (Crossing the Canal) and Chris Monroe (Monkey with a Toolbelt) are finalists in the Minnesota Book Awards.

Huzzah and congratulations!

Strib story

PDD Banners on Flickr

Check ’em out here.

From the Fortress of Solitude…or Duluth

Taken on Park Point today for your viewing pleasure

Walking on the ice.

Good skating on the big lake!

Alas

 CANCELED

For those not going to the Mitchell…

Beaner’s has been kind enough to let me display roughly 40 new drawings and paintings. Reception is this Thursday @ 6:00. They’ll be up on the wall through February.

poster222

The EP will be a free download: “Bone Black: improvisations on amplified harmonica”, but you have to actually go to the reception to get the URL.

My good friends Clint Boylan and Toby Churchill will be playing music throughout the night as well. It’s really worth it just to see them.

Wait… Did I mention all of this is free?

Sammy.
p.s. (pdd 3.0 is nifty)

New PPD = WIN, New Banner Policy = FAIL

I am very happy that the PPD nerds continue to strive forward into the 21st century.  The switch from MT to WP was a fine platform choice and the chosen design is quite lovely.  A certain DIY aspect was lost however with the new banner submission process.

I’ll detail my complaints in order:

  • The Perfect Duluth Day logo will be added by PDD’s art department.
  • You will not be notified if your photo has been accepted or rejected.
Personally, the best part banner making is choosing where the PDD logo goes, how it blends into and becomes part of the photo, etc.  Also I really enjoyed the immediate thrill of seeing the banner live immediately after posting.  I can think of many times I sat there and refreshed my browser until I’d see my submission.
I would wholeheartedly enjoy a re-thinking of this policy.  Perhaps the addition of the logo by the artist could be allowed yet approval still required?  My $0.02.  As always, keep up the good work, staffers.

Posting from my phone is awesome.

WordPress has an app for the iPhone and iPod touch. It is free and will be updated soon with more functionality.

I was gone for a while

trees!

trees! st. john v.i.

Wow, let’s me edit after posting!

Looks different–I’m sure there’s all kinds of new functionality here. Looking forward to more of the same madness and even some new kinds. Thanks for all the energy you’re putting into new kinds of community. This forum is one of the things I look enjoy repeatedly checking in with on an almost daily basis.

A New Dawn

red_dawn_cabo28

Congratulations guys, it looks good. It will take some getting used to. Whenever you have a regular hangout that changes, even for the better, it’s kind of a shock to the system to see the look of the site so radically different. I can’t speak for everyone but I certainly appreciate the effort.

Rubber Chicken Improv

Rubber Chicken Improv has been strutting its stuff on local stages now since the troupe started up last year. The group has been performing shows at venues around the Twin Ports and even took on Dudley Riggs in the Twin Cities last November at a local fundraiser. (Mayor Don Ness was on hand to present the trophy to Rubber Chicken for besting the Minneapolis improv troupe in one of the shows!) And now, Sharon Dixon Obst and her crew of improvisational comedians would like to share their funny business with folks in the Northland.

Every Sunday from 2-6pm at the Proctor Area Community Center, Sharon and her improvisational troupe get together in a relaxed and friendly environment to work on their art, learning new improv games and becoming more closely knit as a team. These meetings are free and open to the public, no matter what the age or the profession. “Even if someone has no intention of joining us onstage, learning improv has many benefits,” said Obst at a recent rehearsal. “Anyone, in any walk of life, can use the skills improv teaches, such as creative problem-solving, building teamwork, and speaking effectively in front of a group.”

Some participants who have learned from Rubber Chicken Improv include a medical administrator, a high school principal, a doctor, and communications instructors. “It’s open to anyone and everyone who wants to give it a try,” said Obst. “So come on and join us this Sunday!”

As mentioned, Rubber Chicken Improv is being headed up by Sharon Dixon Obst. Sharon graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Superior and has been working steadily in theater since she took her first acting class 32 years ago. She has been a writer, a performer, a producer, a director, an acting/vocal coach and teacher in the Duluth/Superior area for the past 16 years. Sharon has also been a guest lecturer at The College of St. Scholastica on Improvisational Theater.

To make reservations for the Sunday Improv Get-Togethers, please call (218) 213-2780, or email Brian@RubberChickenTheater.com.

(Pictured left to right) Rubber Chicken Improv Director Sharon Dixon Obst is ready to accept the Improv-A-Looza Late Show Championship Trophy from John Haynes, the director of the Brave New Institute at Dudley Riggs, and judges Matthew Feeney and Duluth Mayor Don Ness.

Newness

Congratulations, you’re a virgin again

Attention PDD Bloggers:

Because of the switch to WordPress, you can no longer log in with your old account to create posts. You have to register for a new account. (more…)

Michael Ryan at CSS

michaelryan238957WARNER READING SERIES
featuring poet Michael Ryan
Friday, Feb. 6 | 7:30 p.m. | Free
Somers Lounge, College of St. Scholastica

(more…)

The Lonesome Death of William Zantzinger

William Zantzinger, the former tobacco farmer and property fraudster who “killed poor Hattie Carroll,” as Bob Dylan famously sang, died in disgraced obscurity on Jan. 3.

New York Times: W. D. Zantzinger, Subject of Dylan Song, Dies at 69.

Thornton’s Kiddieland: Amusement at Lake Superior Zoo

zooslide894571

The Lake Superior Zoo used to have a big slide, among other toys for the kiddies. I took a ride on it in the late 1970s with my big sister, as seen in this photo. (more…)

References to Duluth in Movies

Return to Duluth
Edited by Mark Ryan in 2005 (more…)