Lake Superior
The True Story of My High Seas Encounter with the Sheriff
The lake was calm and warm with a mild breeze blowing inland. I put out in Floyd, my patrol flamingo, and went upshore via flipper power. Then I drifted back toward town on the prevailing breeze. (more…)
Got Pulled Over Today
I can’t drive 55
A People’s Free Skate gem by Johnny of the Northwoods
Recorded at this past winter’s #peoplesfreeskate, in response to DNT reporters prompting him. Just getting this off my phone now. Cast your mind back to blessed February.
A People’s History of the People’s Free Skate
Hear the totally true story of the People’s Free Skate Rink from its creators: Lake Superior Aquaman and Robot Rickshaw interviewed by Ryan Welles on his podcast “True Stories and Other Damage.” Featuring the genesis of it, all the behind the scenes information, anecdotes, and a few extravagant claims, finishing up with the harrowing account of our iceberg ride.
The Mysterious and Ferocious Serpent Monster of Lake Superior
Duluth politicians can keep bragging about keeping Lake Superior free of sharks, but what about the “enigmatic lake monster”?
What about the “giant and ferocious serpent”? The “underwater panther”? The “lizard like fish around 10 feet long” with “a head like a turtle”? The “hideous” thing “cruising through the water with a 15-foot long neck and a huge jaw”? The “immense humped creature” with “huge horse shaped head and large dark left eye” with a nose bearing “a visible catfish type whisker, maybe two feet in length and wiggling”? The “gigantic serpent with 3 to 5 humps” rising out of the water?
Well, for those into myths, legends and stories short on attribution but with the words “supposedly” and “apparently” repeated throughout, there’s a new article that has it all. (more…)
Selective Focus: @fatherfigures
We all know living on Lake Superior is epic, but these images from @fathersfigures take landscape photography to a whole other galaxy. Be sure to check out the behind-the-scenes Instagram stories.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvLKc1SBSI7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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Iceberg Ride
Robot Rickshaw and I sailed into our imagination on an iceberg, a doomed expedition worthy of Shackleton. Do not attempt. We selected a vessel and set sail from the Lakewalk around the Va Bene area. The wind was at our backs as we navigated down the shore past Fitger’s, where we disembarked just as our vessel began losing seaworthiness. We had sailed approximately 500 feet. However the real journey was into the depths of the human heart. Do we in fact have missing time as we suppose? Did we sail into a mist and live on the Isle of Avalon for untold years, before charting a course back to our day-to-day lives?
What makes Lake Superior ice look blue?
In this edition of WDSE-TV‘s The Slice, Jay Austin from the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Large Lakes Observatory explains why Lake Superior ice has a blue hue.
Tons of People’s Free Skate Rink Freakout Footage
Video by Lane R. Ellis
The Start of the Great Thaw of 2019
Dennis O’Hara presents the new Canal Cam capturing the March 12 sunrise, the beginning of the meltdown before the rain storm.
Selective Focus: The People’s Free Skate Rink Freakout
Instagram
77 likes, 1 comments - lakesuperioraquaman on March 8, 2019: "things are shaping up nicely #hoopsbrewing #peoplesfreeskate".
instagram.com
Images from the largest freshwater skating rink in the world, featuring Friday night’s performance by the Spin Collective.
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Video: Duluth Winter Surfing 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqmODOzyn3c
Hudson-based F3 Visuals shot this Lake Superior surf video earlier this year and released it this week.
Going out today to rebuild the rink
This week will be cold but relatively free of precipitation, so any rinkspace recovered will likely survive a few days. It looks like a blasted moonscape out there right now, but a couple hours of shoveling will uncover the byways of our lost civilization, that culture of pure leisure we established whose spirit survives. (more…)
PDD Video Lab: People’s Free Skate Rink 2019
Presented for your amusement, a series of videos chronicling the Feb. 19 and Feb. 23 skating parties on Lake Superior. Above are clips shot by Rich Narum, which the PDD AV Squad has assembled as an introduction to the wonder of the People’s Free Skate Rink. (more…)
People’s Free Skate Rink
Tomas Soderberg’s video scrapbook from the People’s Free Skate Rink on Saturday. This event was the culmination of a rolling 7-day spontaneous party on foot-thick ice over 40-foot-deep water. Featuring DJ Kevin Craig, in a set he shared with Pete Biasi / Raw Space. Footage includes the snowy owl that buzzed us in the final frames.
Today’s a great day to skate the biggest lake in the world
Photo by Jon Choi
The People’s Free Skate Rink on the ice sheet near Leif Erikson Park is still open and fabulous, but the weather’s turning the next couple days so take advantage today-tomorrow while you definitely still can. I think you’ll like what we’ve done with the place, an ice maze of islands and slollums. Don’t need skates, just come bask in the view of the city and the sky. After dark the snow turns pink in the city lights, a premier hangout for the adventurous. See you there!
Selective Focus: Super Snow Moon on Lake Superior
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuFds2JFtdd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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Return of the People’s Free Skate Rink
Max Moen and I did this once before in 2014. This will be open as long as weather permits maintaining it. It is on Lake Superior directly off Leif Erickson Park from the stage, about a quarter mile. It is marked with orange cones which hopefully no one will eff with. Ice is around a foot thick, you could drive a train on it. This is the premier skate course in town, a hundred feet long with many twisty paths. Even if you don’t have skates, it is a great excuse for a party. Bring bikes, kites, beach chairs, flags, capes, etc.
A Walk on the Lake and the Things We Saw
Lake Superior Aquaman reporting. Co-starring my buddy Meghan AKA The Meg
Tried Skating to Wisconsin
Made it to 35th before impassable stacks of plate ice.