Shippee – “World Today”
The fourth video release from Blake Shippee’s new solo album, It All Started from a Whisper, was produced by Laura Jean.
Cut- and Burned-over Timber Land near Duluth
This image is from a stereograph published circa the early 20th century by the Keystone View Company of Meadville, Pa. (more…)
Lester Park Literary Club
In visiting the new local history librarian at the Duluth Public Library, I am uncovering even more gems about the history of writing and literature in Duluth.
One of those gems is the Lester Park Literary Club. (more…)
Avant-Garde Women: Review of the novel “Branded” by founding Dadaist Emmy Hennings
Contents
-Introduction
-The Key to Dada
-Hennings on Language
-Hennings and Expressionism
-Hennings as a Burroughsian Beat
-Technology in Branded
-The Branded Playlist
Introduction
Just last year I pointedly wondered why the books of founding Dadaist Emmy Hennings remain untranslated into English after more than 100 years. I threatened to translate them myself even though I don’t know German. Thankfully, I caught wind of a forthcoming English edition of Hennings’ autobiographical novel, Branded (edited and translated by Katharine Rout). Since I demanded translations and one appeared, now I demand this book become a film. It is Hennings’ origin story, the often hilarious tale of a proto-Dadaist navigating contradiction, absurdity, and lies. (more…)
Steve Solkela – “Up on da Range”
Steve Solkela keeps the hits coming. Here’s a prime cut from his recent album release Sauna Knight, available on Spotify, Apple Music, etc. (more…)
Superior FunLand is open at Mariner Business Center
The Superior Telegram reports that a new indoor play space for kids has opened in the Mariner Business Center, 69 N. 28th St. Superior FunLand had its grand opening on Jan. 14. It’s owned by Paul Bothun and Desiree Hughes.
Holiday Aurora: Lights of Summer
The latest video from Seth Trobec is new to the internet, but was shot last summer over Independence Day and Labor Day weekends — July 2 and Sept. 4 to be precise. The timelapse was created from Trobec’s photos of the northern lights. (more…)
Duluth reconsidering mandated parking minimums
The Duluth News Tribune reports that proposed changes to city code would eliminate requirements for developers to provide a specific number of parking spots.
The Slice / Almanac North: Gunflint Mail Run 2023
The Gunflint Mail Run, an annual sled dog race in Cook County, was held Jan. 7. PBS North Producer Megan McGarvey captured the scenes for the station’s feature The Slice (embedded above) and also for a segment on the weekly show Almanac North (embedded below). (more…)
Low fights for rights to master recordings
I’m surprised I didn’t know about this yet, but the Star Trib just posted a story about the difficulties Low and other mostly indie bands are having with re-releasing and/or getting the rights back for their older recordings. What a goofy system to deal with art! Art belongs to the artist(s)!
Selective Focus: Having a PDD at the start of 2023
Select photos from Instagram spanning the first days of 2023, all hashtagged with the name of a certain website. (more…)
Mystery Photo: The Ritcheys
This cabinet card photo of the “Ritcheys” is listed for sale on eBay. Who were the Ritcheys? Well, that’s our primary mystery. The photo was presumably shot in Duluth, being marked with the logo of the Robinson Studio … although the “and New York” below the address is a little confusing. Anyway, it’s supremely likely the Ritcheys either lived in or near Duluth, or visited Duluth about 125 years ago, and that’s about all there is to go on. (more…)
PDD Quiz: 2023 Coming Attractions
Peek into the future with this week’s quiz about 2023 Duluth area happenings.
The next PDD quiz will review this month’s headlines; it will be published on Jan. 29. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by Jan. 26. (more…)
America’s Forests in Minnesota / Chuck Leavell in Duluth
Famed musician Chuck Leavell visited Duluth on March 29 to record a performance of the Bob Dylan song “Like a Rolling Stone” with the Duluth band Big Wave Dave and the Ripples at Sacred Heart Music Center. The collaboration was for the closing segment of the 10th episode of the television series America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell. Embedded above is the full episode, which recently aired on select PBS stations, but not in Duluth. Another video, isolating just the music performance, is embedded below. (more…)
Note from a Fellow She-Traveler
Travel days scramble my perspective. Routines, habits, and thoughtless movements slide off my character while I grasp for rudimentary survival gestures in order to hold on to my mental acuity. Or, maybe in my case, find some mental acuity.
This fall my husband and I biked through the Driftless Zone of Wisconsin while small and large events mostly pleasantly surprised us. For example, on our second travel day I was surprised by the delectability of flathead catfish. But there were also unpleasant surprises, like the fact that (future) Secession President Jefferson Davis spent time in Prairie du Chien subduing Indigenous warriors. I was also rudely surprised by a Border Collie who spent his day sitting by the mailbox waiting for just one slow lady cycler to pedal by so he could give chase. I was not completely surprised by Google maps, which couldn’t properly inform the googler on conditions of rural Wisconsin roads.
But in the midst of that day, I received lovely encouragement in the form of a note. It was from a fellow traveler. This was someone on the journey of humanity — I assume simply trying to make it easier for the next person in line. It was forged in kindness. And I noticed.
I’m showing you so you can notice the kindnesses of fellow travelers. Here’s what I saw. (more…)
PDD Video Lab: Visit to Duluth, June 1967
This edition of the PDD Video Lab features a panoply of Duluth film footage from the summer of 1967. The segments were made by taking scenes from an 18-minute silent film titled “Visit to Duluth,” breaking them up and adding music.
The first segment features scenes from Chester Bowl Park and Skyline Drive, with views of Peace Church, the Aerial Lift Bridge, Minnesota Point, Enger Tower and so on, set to Marvin Gaye’s mid-1960s hit song “Wonderful One.” (more…)
Harry Welty raises the flag with latest snow sculpture
Harry Welty lit up his latest snow sculpture on Wednesday, an homage to Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal’s image of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945. You can read more about the famed photograph at pulitzer.org. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say the artistic statement being made is that America has been through a difficult time, yet the country, its people and flag endure.
The sculpture is clearly visible driving up 21st Avenue East, at 2101 E. Fourth St. Welty spoke with Perfect Duluth Day in 2016 and KDLH-TV the next winter about his ephemeral artwork.
Historical Documents of the Vista Fleet
Old adverts for Vista excursion-boat tours of the harbor tell us something about why people would visit Duluth and take the boat tour — to see the ships from around the world. The lake and the city skyline mattered less than the almost cosmopolitan dimensions of the Vista experience. (more…)
Dealing with two-faced Duluthers
Brief History of a Star – Intro
Music by Duluth’s Cory Coffman with visuals by Alyssa Johnson of Blind Spot Creatives.
Postcard from the Spalding Hotel Lounge
This undated postcard shows the stylish design and furnishings in the lounge at Duluth’s Spalding Hotel circa the early 1900s. (more…)
Duluth View Checklist
From the Institute for the Study of Light and Water. There are three main components to your scenic view from Duluth, Minnesota: the sky, the lake, and in between those, whatever Wisconsin is doing. These components have been sorted below into color and texture for your convenience. Using the provided ingredients, you should be able to record and/or recreate any Duluth view. Print out and carry with you. Circle all that apply.
Date/time: __________
Sky Color: Sky blue. Teal. Blueberry. White. Pink. Lavender. Burgundy. Violet. Subdued sunrise/set like a natural gas flame. Blazing sunrise/set like an atomic bomb. Black. Gray. Red. Magenta. Periwinkle. Pastels. Peach. Indigo. Orange. Layer cake of colors.
Sky Texture: Cloudless. Partial cloud cover. Full cloud cover. Full cloud cover allowing sliver of sky at horizon. Fog. Partial fog. Brooding twisty clouds. Washboard/fishbone clouds. Cigar-shaped clouds. Strips of clouds like filets. Pulled cotton clouds. Clouds underlit by sun or city. Towering cloudbanks like Southwestern mesas pregnant with lightning. Two or more unique cloud layers moving independently. Crisscrossing white contrails (gold/pink at sunrise/set). Single contrail (gold/pink at sunrise/set). Aircraft. Laced with birds. Single bird. Gulls making a racket. Gulls in great gyres. Raptor/s. Sheets of rain. Sprinkles. Sun shower. Mists (glowing/not glowing). Rainbow/s. Snow flurry. Blizzardous. Big fat snowflakes practically hovering in the still air. Sleety. Full moon. Middling moon. Sliver of a moon like God’s fingernail clipping. Moonlight coming from somewhere but you’re not sure where. Full of stars. Intermittent stars. Single star. Electrifying auroras. Auroras so faint you’re not sure if it’s a thing, but maybe. Antenna farm. Antenna farm in fog. Antenna farm in deep winter frosted white against blue sky. Layer cake of textures. (more…)
Video Archive: Students return to Grant Elementary in 1983
On Jan. 6, 1983, Grant Elementary School reopened after a six-month, $1.4 million renovation project. WDIO-TV’s Nancy Taggart has the report.