PDD Quiz: Football
Are you ready for some football? Call up your best plays and tackle this week’s PDD quiz about football in the Twin Ports.
The PDD current events quiz comes your way on Nov. 27. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by Nov. 23. (more…)
Ripped on Arrowhead Road on 2002
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty years ago the Sultan of Sot took a rare trip to Hermantown and wrote the article below for the Nov. 11, 2002 issue of the Ripsaw newspaper. Since then each of the drinking establishments mentioned have changed. The Afterburner Bar & Lounge was replaced by Arrowhead Tap House. The Runway Bar closed in 2011 and the site became home to the Kolar auto dealership. The Local Bar & Grill is now Foster’s Sports Bar & Grill.]
Laugh all you want, but on Election Day I like to be near the Duluth International Airport. I mean, you never know: We’re on the brink of destruction, and, in the event of a sudden military coup, I want to be the first to take off to another land. But, security being what it is these days, I’ve unfortunately had a bit of trouble just hanging out and getting drunk at the official airport bar, the Afterburner. I’d rather not go into the details.
The Runway
So I find myself a mile or two away from the airport at the Runway Bar and Grill, hunkering down, waiting for the inevitable and having a few beers in the process. I’ve got three problems with this place: 1) They use the kind of pitchers that have the “ice reservoir,” thus cheating the customer out of valuable pitcher space. 2) They’re not showing election coverage on TV. 3) The man/woman ratio in this room is at least 20:1. (more…)
The Bass Players of Low
The paper said the eulogy began: “Friends, family, and bass players, welcome.”
Rafe Carlson – “A Place to Fall”
The new single from Hermantown’s Rafe Carlson has been released on Veteran’s Day for a reason. He’s donating 1,000 percent of his streaming revenue to 23rd Veteran, an organization that helps military veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Cruising the Great Lakes with Dan Kraker, MPR
Minnesota Public Radio’s Dan Kraker talks about the Great Lakes cruise ship industry.
A nice girl from Duluth on S.W.A.T.
The CBS network television drama S.W.A.T. has a reference to Duluth in its second episode, titled “Cuchillo.” The show aired five years ago today — Nov. 9, 2017.
In the scene, Sergeant “Hondo” pulls over a nice girl from Duluth who has been mixed up with a bad boy.
Postcard from a Night Scene of Fire in Superior Milling District
A flour mill fire in Superior caused more than $2.6 million in damage on Nov. 9, 1907 — 115 years ago today. The Duluth News Tribune referred to it as “the most disastrous fire in point of property loss, and probably the most spectacular blaze ever seen at the Head of the Lakes.”
The postcard shown above was mailed nine days after the fire. It was sent by someone named Frank to Master A. Pearson of Spokane, Wash. The photo apparently shows the smoldering remains of the Freeman Flour Mills and Elevator — Franks wrote “Fremon Mill” on the back of the card. (more…)
Duluth 2022 General Election Results
With 4,103 of 4,103 precincts reporting, here are the statewide numbers for races relevant to Duluth.
FEDERAL OFFICES
District 8 United States Representative
Pete Stauber | 188,070
Jen Schultz | 140,433
Write in | 325
(more…)
Chuck Haavik – “I Hung a Cross in My Heart”
The fifth single from Duluth’s Chuck Haavik is a bit more Gospel leaning than his previous songs. “I Hung a Cross in My Heart,” features Dave Mehling keys and Taylor Donskey on string bass.
Farewell to Mimi Parker, from Slate
Slate senior editor Sam Adams on the life and death of Mimi Parker and the music of Low.
The Slice: Tom Maruska’s 1956 Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser
Robert Plant pays tribute to Mimi Parker
Legendary rocker Robert Plant and his band Saving Grace, featuring Suzi Dian, paid tribute to recently departed Duluth musician Mimi Parker last night during a performance at King’s Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland. (more…)
Postcard from Minnesota Point Lighthouse
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Nov. 7, 1912. A previous Perfect Duluth Day post featured a different version of the same card, mailed four months earlier. That post includes additional background info on the lighthouse.
Also previously noted on PDD, the remains of the lighthouse have remained in roughly the same condition for more than a century. (more…)
Lumberjack World Championships: Cut Above the Rest
CBS Sunday Morning reports on Hayward’s Lumberjack World Championships, aka “The Olympics of the forest.”
Mimi Parker of Low has died of ovarian cancer
Duluth News Tribune: “Mimi Parker, of Duluth band Low, dies of ovarian cancer
Pitchfork: “Low’s Mimi Parker has died”
NPR: “Mimi Parker, vocalist and drummer of the minimalist rock band Low, has died”
Rolling Stone: “Low’s Mimi Parker, whose otherworldly vocals helped define slowcore, dead at 55 after cancer battle”
PDD Calendar: Mimi Park Vigil at Sacred Heart
The Duluth Strangler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2s72q83VbA
The 1998 satirical comedy Wrongfully Accused, starring Leslie Nielsen, is available to watch in its entirety on YouTube. A reference to “The Duluth Strangler” shows up around the 18-minute mark. (more…)
The Fur-bearing Trout of Lake Superior
From the Museum of the Weird in Austin, Texas.
Fur Bearing Trout
Very Rare
Caught while trolling in Lake Superior off Gros Cap, near Sault Ste. Marie, District of Algoma.
It is believed that the great depth and the extreme penetrating coldness of the weather in which these fish live have caused them to grow their dense coat of (usually) white fur.
Mounted by Ross C. Jobe, Taxidermist of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Remembering the Fitzgerald
Great Lakes Now is a production of Detroit Public Television.
Duluth in Anarchy: A Journal of Anarchist Ideas
I found reference to Duluth in Anarchy: A Journal of Anarchist Ideas, issue #84, from February 1968, with a feature about something I have never heard of, the Kropotkin House. (more…)
Duluth East Birch Logs of 1970 and 1972
Rich Mattson and the Northstars – “Echo Chamber”
Rich Mattson and the Northstars have a new album titled Out There set for release on Nov. 4. “Echo Chamber” is the band’s newest video release. (more…)
The Slice: Duluth Poet Laureates Reading 2022
A series of readings was held in October celebrating past poet laureates of Duluth and introducing the next generation of the city’s poets.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.