January 2016 Posts

This Week: Bernie Sanders, Beargrease and more

Jan 25, 2016 No Comments

Untitled design
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders comes to town, Fairlawn Mansion is holding a garden talk, UMD is having a night for nerds, the Holocaust is remembered, the musical The Last Five Years is up at The Underground and the Red Herring is the place for post-rock from Portrait of a Drowned Man and guests.

Gndwire Records is throwing a party at Lutsen, Fitger’s raises money for Animal Allies, the 1959 Winter Dance Party gets an update, people can make and race art sleds for Northwood Children’s Services, there’s a skating party at the DECC, the Nordic Spirit Ski Race is on at Spirit Mountain and the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon has its 32nd running.


Events

The Late Show Accent-Off: Minnesota Edition

Jan 24, 2016 No Comments

Duluth’s Maria Bamford and Late Show writer Ariel Dumas square off in the Minnesota accent battle to end all Minnesota accent battles.


Videos

PDD Quiz: The Untold Delights of Duluth

Jan 24, 2016 No Comments

Zenith City of the Unsalted SeaThanks to the historians and contributors over at Zenith City Online. Their article on “The Untold Delights of Duluth” was the basis for many of the questions and answers for this quiz. So, if you want to cheat study up before taking the quiz, head over there.

Next week’s theme will be focused on the happenings of January 2016 in and around Duluth. Send your suggested quiz questions (and answers) to lawrence @ perfectduluthday.com by noon on Wednesday, Jan. 27.


History

Suicide Peaks with the Tulips and Lilacs

Jan 23, 2016 No Comments

DavidBeard_SE

The drive back from the VFW Hall in central Minnesota was cold, and the snow falling in the dark January night covered the road. I couldn’t tell whether I was drifting too far across the median or too close to the shoulder until I crossed the rumble strips. I probably should have left earlier, but to be honest, it’s dark after 4 p.m. when you are so far north in winter.

Drinks were cheap and not very strong. The bartender didn’t know how to make a Manhattan. I needed to drive home, so I alternated each drink with a glass of water. My friend’s apartment was just blocks away, so she could walk, even if I didn’t offer her a ride. And if I offered, she’d never take it.

We’d met at 9:30, when the jazz trio took the stage (the stage was a wooden platform four inches higher off the ground than the rest of the bar). She and I weren’t particularly close. If we had been, I might not have made the trip. My wife had moved out that morning. It’d been a separation a long time coming, but it still wasn’t something I was ready to talk about. I needed a friend who was not so close that she knew the reason my life was changing. I needed a friend I could talk to about nearly anything except the separation. I wanted someone to drink with, without sharing why I needed a drink.

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Art

A.G. Thomson House named Best in the Nation, again

Jan 22, 2016 No Comments

AGThompson

Duluth’s A.G. Thomson House has been named the Best Bed and Breakfast in the United States by Trip Advisor for 2016. The inn was also named one of the 10 best in the world.

The Thomson House placed #1 of over 17,000 B&Bs across America. It also received the first-place award in 2012.


News and Current Affairs ,

Charlie Parr – “Hobo” (from the Bischoff Sessions)

Jan 22, 2016 No Comments

The Bischoff Sessions is a compilation album planned for release later in 2016. Proceeds will go toward creating awareness and understanding for drug and alcohol abuse. This is the first video of the series, featuring Duluth’s Charlie Parr recorded at Orange 72 Studio downtown Eau Claire.


Music, Videos

Selective Focus: The Great Indoors

Jan 22, 2016 No Comments
Lars Wästfelt

Lars Wästfelt, untitled

Due to a near total lack of submissions this week, I had to bring in some pinch hitters. For the past 5 years I’ve managed a photography collective called “You are not a dinosaur” which features vernacular images from around the world, and I was compelled to draw from this pool for our current theme. See more here: www.flickr.com/groups/notadinosaur/pool/

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Art, Photos

Lake Superior Zoo Proposed Concepts

Jan 21, 2016 2 Comments

View and Comment

Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Division has invited the public to view and comment on three proposed concept plans for improvements to the Lake Superior Zoo and Fairmount Park. The plans were presented by a consultant at the Jan. 19 Duluth Parks Commission Open House.

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News and Current Affairs

Best/Hottest Wings in Duluth and Superior

Jan 20, 2016 6 Comments

My friends and I are having a bit of a competition/pissing match. We’re having two side-by-side debates. Here are the questions: What are the best wings in the Twin Ports (and why)? Also, what are the hottest wings in the Twin Ports? This debate will culminate in a wing-off with the four of us, based on your suggestions, agreeing on the establishment and seeing who can make it through the hottest order of wings in the Twin Ports with the most grace and bravado. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.


Recommendations, Restaurants

The Current to launch broadcast relay station in Duluth

Jan 20, 2016 10 Comments

The Current logoMinnesota Public Radio announced in a news release today that Duluthians will soon be able to hear its album-oriented alternative music station, the Current, on 90.9 FM. A mix tape of music by artists from northern Minnesota began airing on the station today. At 9:09 a.m. on Feb. 1 the switch will flip to the Current’s live broadcast from the Twin Cities.

The low-power station will broadcast at about 99 watts, with an expected coverage area spanning from Hermantown to Superior. MPR purchased the 90.9 FM spot on the dial in 2015 from Family Stations, a national Christian network, which had aired programming as W215CG.

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Music ,

Aerial Bridge: Pull and Return Slowly

Jan 20, 2016 4 Comments

1908 Aerial Bridge

Aerial Bridge Over Ship Canal, Duluth, Minn.
Only one of its kind in the world; clear span, 400 ft.; clear height 136 ft.; total height above water 186 ft.; size of car 34×50 ft.; capacity of car, 125,000 lbs.; motive power, electricity; speed, 4 miles per hour.

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History ,

PDD Video Lab: Sea Smoke on Lake Superior

Jan 19, 2016 3 Comments

Video shot by Levi Drevlow on a -18 degree day. Choose an audio soundtrack below and enjoy. From indoors.


Music, Videos ,

Perfect Play or Musical of 2015: Renegade’s Eastland

Jan 19, 2016 No Comments

PDDPerfectPlay-MusicalLogo2015Renegade Theater Company has earned its second consecutive Perfect Play or Musical plaque, this time for a dramatic musical that marked the centennial of the tragic sinking of the SS Eastland. The 1915 shipwreck resulted in the death of 844 passengers, the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.

Titled Eastland: A New Musical, the play was partially inspired by Jay Bonansinga’s 2004 historical novel The Sinking of the Eastland: America’s Forgotten Tragedy. The show debuted in 2012 at the Lookingglass Theater in Chicago. Renegade’s staging in August 2015 was just the second professional production of the haunting musical written by Andrew White, with a folk, blues and ragtime score by Ben Sussman and Andre Pluess.

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Art , ,

Going to build buildings?

Jan 19, 2016 No Comments

Build Buildings - Clyde Iron Works - Engineering News-Record Magazine

Ad from the Nov. 30, 1944 issue of Engineering News-Record.

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History , ,

Rick McLean – “St. James”

Jan 18, 2016 No Comments

New video from Duluth’s Rick McLean for a song from his recent EP Coupla Focal. Directed and edited by McLean, with camera help from Ian Vincent and Jacob Swanson.


Music, Videos