David Bazan and Andy Fitts recently came to Duluth to do two living-room shows in Duluth. I was thrilled at the opportunity to get him to come to Sacred Heart and record some songs and be a part of a Lakefront Videos project. I think it turned out super sweet.
The old Holiday Inn in Duluth was located in Canal Park, just down from downtown, and this was before all the new development happened in Canal Park. In the 1980s, it had its name changed to something else. I don’t remember what that name was, or if the building is even still there. Can anyone bring me up to date?
The Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault will be hosting a 40-hour Sexual Assault Advocacy Training in October. PAVSA is seeking kind, responsible and compassionate people who are interested in working with victims of sexual violence.
In August, I ventured north to Finland to meet a man I had only communicated with via email. Little did I know, you have to hike a mile back into the woods to find his modest log cabin he built for his wife and two sons.
Rory Scoles will be guiding a group of sulfide mining protestors on a 30-day canoe trip from the Polymet Mine Site to the St. Paul Capitol. I sat down with Rory at his favorite look-out, the only spot he gets reception on his phone and the best spot to view the wild rice he is harvesting and that could be in danger if proposed mining projects go through.
Minnesota 5th District House Rep., Keith Ellison, hosted an Ask Me Anything on Reddit today.
Did anyone see the “drone-like” plane fly over Bayfront Park on Saturday during the Harvest Festival? The same thing flew over the July 4th Parade in Superior. Any idea what it is?
I can see what looks like a cockatiel (although I am not good about knowing bird types) flying through my neighborhood, Chester Park, by Sara’s Table. It’s been flying between 9th and 10th streets, the 1800 block. It’s been sitting in the tall fir trees in the neighborhood. If you know someone who has lost a bird, please let them know. It seems to be calling out, and it’s pretty loud, but will calm down if talked to. It will not come to me, though.
Things I saw.
What a week for nerds! Sept. 11 was the sellout Nerd Nite at Teatro Zuccone.
Nerd Nite, organized by Jer Nilsen, Crystal Pelkey, and Adam Brisk, is nearly a religious ritual for me.
(It helps that Reverend Lee attends nearly every one. If you haven’t read this pastor from United Church of Two Harbors‘s recent column about upcoming constitutional amendments, you haven’t heard what the voice of religious conviction sounds like, when it is committed to the search for truth, rather than its presumption. See here or the Lake County News Chronicle for more.)
Nerd Nite is where I take new Duluthians to find community, to experience people who share their passions and their humor.
This could be you and your dog.
So I got this little photography art show coming up at the DAI in 15 months and still don’t have enough good photos taken to edit from! So I’m looking for a new glut of willing volunteers to let me photograph them, or a bit of their life, sometime between right this very second, and next fall.
Curious? Full information and sign-up form can be found right over here on my website. If you do one thing this year, have it be filling out that form.
The DOY Podcast is a comedy/chitchat/whatever podcast. The very first episode features local raconteurs/comedians/ actors/musicians/television hosts/et ceteras Jody Kujawa, Tony Bennett, and Nathan Carlblom talking, singing, telling jokes, being gross, being vile, and just being. DOY is not recommended for children or people who get all freaked out by dirty stuff.
Please give DOY a shot, if you’ve got some spare time where your ears aren’t booked. It may be just what your drums have been craving. And keep checking back for Episode Two and beyond. The idea is to do at least one of these a month.
Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.
Where can you learn about making beer, flat track roller derby, and Norse deities getting busy with it? Nerd Nite, of course, all on Tuesday night at the Teatro Zuccone.
Make clever puns about “irony” at the Duluth Art Institute‘s Iron Casting Seminar starting on Wednesday.
See the premier of The Cabin, a new play written by local playwright Caity Shea Violette, at the Play Ground running Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week and next.
Storyteller Kevin Kling is coming to Duluth this week and you can see him Friday night at the Marshall Performing Arts Center with Simone Perrin and you can see him Thursday night reading his book, Big Little Brother, with illustrator Chris Monroe at Glensheen Mansion.
Rachael Kilgour sings songs. Adeline Wright cuts hair. And now the celebrated couple team up on stage to sing songs and cut hair! Will the zany fun never end? We hope not! See them this Saturday at the Teatro Zuccone.
So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know!`
Duluth’s megalithic ruins. I’d taken a spot of footage late last winter, and I’ve been looking forward to a summer shoot just like this to complete a video exploration of the Cribs, aka Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum. Sure enough these kind party people let me video their fun-loving attempts to best a wiggly slackline here on the late summer date of Sept. 9.
The water was very cold, it must be said, but I seem to have experienced a bodywide mutagenic change that can take it. I look forward to a shoot next summer with warm, crystal clear water; maybe I can get video even farther down in and around this quintessentially Duluth structure.
In Bayfield County Forest, across the road from the old Town of Bell Cemetery, is the trailhead to Lost Creek Falls. From there it’s less than a half-hour hike to the falls.
Are you ready for fall? Minnesota, especially the North Shore of Lake Superior, is known for its vibrate fall colors.
