Bitching
Your AM snowstorm road report
I just drove from the West End to the East Hillside. Here’s what I observed/experienced:
- Visibility is very poor. This has improved quite a bit since I first set out, since the sun has come up. Mainly your enemies today are wind and blowing snow.
- I-35 is quite clear, but slow going. I had to completely stop twice. I think the top speed was about 45, though it might have reached 50 for a moment.
- Mesaba is a traffic jam. No surprise.
- Second Street has a lot of snow on it. Also people are having difficulty finding their lane. There are three lanes on Second Street, and even in the best conditions it is wise to choose one. Thankfully, no one is doing that thing where you blow through the lights just as they change green. That would be stupid on a day like today.
- Fourth Street is worse than Second Street.
- The avenues are slippery and difficult to negotiate. As you’re spinning your wheels up them or sliding down them sideways, please take a moment to realize that this is why your house with an incredible view is affordable.
- No matter how bad it gets, there’s always someone who is in a big effing hurry and thinks that tailgating will help. You will encounter that person today. Please try not to be that person today.
Please post your experiences and the road conditions for your part of the region in the comments. If you are somewhere that’s warm and doesn’t get snow, and feel the need to point that out in the comments, please realize that the rest of us are rolling our eyes and making the “jerk-off” gesture with our dominant hands
Blue Law Blues
According to estimates by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Minnesota could raise $10 million in tax revenues simply by allowing liquor stores to sell on Sundays.
Read this brief story from Saint Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report for more info.
But the real reason to allow liquor stores to sell on Sundays is because it’s stupid not to, right?
Treatment Bound
Is there a person frequenting PDD who actually saw the Replacements play Duluth ? I saw the Suburbs play here twice (1986 and 1987, I believe) But I, a very big ‘Mats fan from my Duluth high-school influences, never saw the band live. I’ve seen Paul in Minneapolis, but he has yet to play Duluth.
Why do I bring this up? Because Wilco, which has covered the Replacements “Color Me Impressed” numerous times since 1997, and cites the Replacements as an influence, are a Chicago band coming to Duluth for the third time.
So why the hell can we not book Paul Westerberg? And did the Replacements ever play Duluth?
We all can talk about supporting local talent and wanting great acts to play Duluth, but why the hell do we not get the Minneapolis acts that have gone national and are influences to the acts we do attract?
If the Vikings lose to the Packers, I’m blaming it on the lame new name of the field
“Branding the field [at the Metrodome] as Mall of America Field represents an opportunity to share our name and image with an even larger nationwide audience. It also connects two treasured Minnesota brands – Mall of America and the Minnesota Vikings – which adds value to both companies.”
–Maureen Bausch, executive vice president of making people want to puke
Read more here, if you can stomach it.
Where in Duluth?
They could have at least added a couple coils of razor wire for ambiance.
Getting Involved.
I am really interested in getting involved in efforts to support some sort of health care reform. Is there a local organization working to support this and show our leaders we think this is important and necessary?
This is something I’ve been really concerned about as an uninsured young adult and I feel like I need to do something other than shout at the television.
Please help!
–Amy Swanoski
Happy Estimated Tax Day!
Today is one of four days of reckoning for the self-employed among us. I thought it was funny that these were the only stamps I had left on the sheet to put on my federal and state estimated payments.
Can Someone Please Explain to Me…
why if you want to see Sweeney Todd, or any Playground performance, you can’t buy tickets in advance? Oh wait, you CAN buy tickets in advance online but you have to pay a $2.50 convenience fee per ticket. Wouldn’t it be more convenient to skip the fee and just sell tickets in advance at the door?
I really just don’t get why every other theater in town can sell tickets in advance but the Playground insists on using this odd system.
So, really, can anyone explain this to me? Because I don’t get it.
Renegade Duluth makes “the Network”
I had given up on much Duluth art being discussed ever on MPR, after forever of hearing the Pioneer Press’ Dominic Papatola’s eye-rolling, painfully self-conscious weekly host chats, (yes, “host chat” a la Regis and Kelly, only if you added a condescending air to their blather). But then they added this interesting feature “Art Hounds” which is a great step in the right direction, only they’re very Twin Cities centric, as is standard for “the Network.” THEN, today I heard a familiar voice: Lucie Amundson, who is (if I’m not mistaken) a PDD and/or Park Point regular. Haven’t heard her on the “network” since election day. They should use her more. Good work, Lucie. Would love to hear you do stories in person sometime!
https://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/08/13/art-hounds/?refid=0
She talks about the new renegade theater show, hopefully there is a link there ^ and you can click and listen …
Fall allergy season begins!
It started for me today. Anyone else?
My favorite remedies are sleeping 12 hours a day and eating every second that I’m awake. Snorting cromolyn sodium also helps.
What about the Current in Duluth??!!
The MPR website recently announced a new expansion of the Current station to St. Peter. Not that I don’t love some of the stations we have around here, but it really makes me feel even further from the cultural scene to not have access to all three MPR stations. As a yearly supporter of MPR it doesn’t seem fair. If there’s anyone out there who agrees, please join me in writing to MPR to let them know how we feel.
Anti-Government Rally Today!
Chuck Horton is rallying the troops to the steps of City Hall to protest corruption in city government and to demand the resignations of a couple of city councilors. To make this my perfect Duluth day, I’d like to see some counter-protesters holding up signs with snappy slogans, like “Hey Horton, Get a Job!” or “Taxes = Anarchy.” I’m sure you guys get the idea. If you are too busy to counter-protest, at least share your pithy placard pronouncements on Perfect Duluth Day!
What do you know about Duluth ley lines?
Would any of you be able to tell me more about ley lines and why Duluth is on this map?
[courtesy of liminalthresholds.blogspot.com]
Boycott the Pickwick Restaurant!
Following months of unsuccessful negotiations and numerous unfair labor practices, Workers United Local 99 is asking that the public boycott the Pickwick restaurant. (more…)
Truth in Advertising
This behemoth was about 30 feet long and aptly named.
Miss West Duluth Pageant 2009
An annual tradition that goes along with the Miss West Duluth Pageant is my attempts to stir up controversy about it.
My initial objection came in 1987, when the first Miss West Duluth was a young lady from Morgan Park. It seemed to me that if the title was going to be “Miss West Duluth,” the contestants should all be from West Duluth.
I was told back then the criteria was that girls must live within the attendance boundary for Denfeld High School to be eligible. Although I thought “Miss Western Duluth” might be a more appropriate name, I was satisfied with this Denfeld rule, so I shut up about it for a few years.
Then, in 1996, a graduate of Hermantown High School was a contestant. I assumed she lived in the Denfeld area but chose to attend Hermantown, which would get around the rules enough to allow her to compete. In subsequent years I’ve noticed Proctor High School students in the list of contestants.
Give a contest an inch and it takes a mile. One of this year’s contestants is a senior at East High School, according to the Spirit Valleys Days insert in the Budgeteer News. (UPDATE: She lives in Morgan Park, according to comments to this post.)
Now, I don’t mean to fan the east/west flames here, so I’m just going to suggest we call this thing the Miss North America Pageant already and get it over with.
DNTV Showcases Murder Victim’s Blood
In what is perhaps a new low for the Duluth News Tribune, the DNT’s website just posted its first-ever “DNTV Special Report” in which Executive Editor Rob Karwath basically reads the paper’s earlier story about last night’s murder in Duluth’s Central Hillside, apparently as an excuse to show what did not run in either the newspaper or on the website’s text version of the story: a photograph of the crime scene with large pools of the victim’s blood.
In the video, Karwath narrates as the photo appears not just once, but over and over again, interspersed with other photos from the crime scene. Apparently, it is unethical to print the victim’s name at this sensitive time for his friends and family. But it is perfectly OK to showcase photos of the blood that came out of his fatally damaged head.
In addition to the DNTV piece, which at least does not allow comments, there is the text story, which unfortunately has comments open. At the time of this posting, there are 43 comments, which vacillate between racist, asinine comments about the type of person who lives in Duluth’s Central Hillside, and commentary about the shocking disrespect which is allowed to run rampant in our hometown’s newspaper of record.
I ask this, openly of everyone involved with the DNT and the news media in general: Is this how you would have handled this story if the victim were one of your own loved ones? Do you actually think that any of this is ethical?
I’d also like to know what the PDD community thinks of this specific issue. People bitch about the DNT on this site frequently, and even sometimes unfairly. But on this specific topic, I’d like to know what people think.
Personally, I think it’s disgusting. I would link to the video for you, but that would only give them exactly what they are transparently after.
Family problems?
Boyz II Dadz is hosting another FREE FAMILY LAW clinic, next week because …
Unfortunately, this ….
sometimes turns to this … (more…)
Secret Service – Fail
https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/124411/
Sunday’s Bayfront concert cancelled due to low ticket sales. Did they ever promote it? I e-mailed Secret Service on Monday asking some questions about it, since it was not listed in the Transistor and got no response. Another Secret Service flop just like Lucinda Williams last November.
Rebooting without Consent
Umm, yeah…
Windows Vista decided to reboot my system without my consent mid-game (Yes I’m a late night gamer geek). So let’s look at this for a second. What if I were running a 2 hour crunching program, or working on an important spreadsheet? No terrible offense, MS, but your promises are half-assed.
BTW, do you have those TPS reports done?
Kia Sucka-Palooza
I suspect there may be a resurgence of the “thumbs down” feature after this post, but I’m in a bind, and any car and/or relationship advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
I need to decide what to do with my currently inoperative car. Should I fix it and hope for a few more good years before driving it to it’s death? Or should I float it out on Lake Superior and set it alight, putting it out of it’s misery with a Viking funeral?*
* This is more of a metaphor really… I wouldn’t actually shove my car into Lake Superior, as it would be horribly toxic for our water source.
(more…)
For your consideration…
Just want to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding the “mystery barrels”. The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa out of Bayfield, WI have secured over $1 million from the Department of Defense to remove about 70 of the barrels for testing. PDF here of the 2008 MN DOH “Health Consultation” regarding the barrels. Link here to Nukewatch’s compendium on barrel research including a full collection of local news releases on the subject.
Please share this info with friends and neighbors.
Share the Love Super1
Why is it that only the West Duluth Super1 bakery has the recipe for Peanut Butter Kisses? I recently moved to the East side and neither the Kenwood or Superior St. Super1’s have these delicious calorie grenades. I had to make the drive last night to satisfy the cravings of my significant other…
Party Bus FAIL
To the organizers of Homegrown,
On the surface of it, having a “Highway 61 night” theme to Wednesday’s homegrown festivities seemed like a good idea. But it would have been a much better idea had there been adequate transportation up that namesake road to the Lakeview Castle, the main venue of the later evening, as was advertised. Frustratingly, there was not.
The night started well enough at the Twins Bar, with a stellar (as always) performance by the Rez. The “first” bus left on its journey to the Castle at 9 PM as scheduled. I wasn’t on it, but I imagine it was fairly sparsely ridden, as the bar was still pretty empty and the first act was still playing at that point.
Though none of the Homegrown volunteers working the Twins seemed to know anything specific about the bus times, the Homegrown Guide gave the impression that the bus would go up, turn around and come back, making multiple trips throughout the evening. But it turns out we were falsely led.
I talked to several people, who all were under the impression that the next bus would come be at 10. Between 9 and 10, the Twins went from sparse to quite full. Several people arrived specifically to catch the 10 PM bus up the shore, maybe to have a drink first. At least a couple dozen people were waiting for the bus around 10, but it didn’t show up and didn’t show up. Finally, we received word from a volunteer that the bus was parked at the Castle and wouldn’t be leaving there until 11 for another run.
What should have been a completely fun night became tainted with frustration. Had the bus done its job as advertised, we all could have gotten up there in time to see Old Knifey (a travesty to be missed) and stayed long enough to make the 25-minute trip worthwhile. But as it stood, you had a couple dozen people out waiting in the rain instead of at least being informed of the situation in a timely manner so they could go back inside, relax and enjoy the music at Twins. It also became a potentially dangerous situation when people who had already had a few drinks got fed up with waiting and decided to drive themselves up the shore instead of taking the bus. And once those unlucky enough to stick it out for the bus got on and got up the shore, they only had an hour or so of musical talent to enjoy at the Castle.
9 PM is a fine time to start running a bus if it’s your FIRST bus. But it’s too early to be the ONLY reasonable bus. Advertising a back-and-forth shuttle and then not having one just isn’t cool. Better to have no bus than half a bus and leave people stuck.