December 2016 Posts

Price Check: Poinsettia

Dec 11, 2016 No Comments

poinsettia

While some may still be recovering from food comatose, the rest of us must prepare for rounds two and three: food on Christmas Eve and presents on Christmas Day.

What if you cannot think of what to bring for Grandma’s Christmas Dinner? Bring her a poinsettia. It is the appropriate response to both a table decoration near the ham and a gift to warm her heart.

As I explained this price check to a coworker and she said, “my grandma puts like 20 of those around her house for Christmas.” I laughed because it happened to be my exact memory of poinsettias.

The red and green foliage is perfect for Christmas display. These plants can be found in all types of sizes, but for the purposes of this price check, the prices below reflect 6-inch or 6.5-inch poinsettias.

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Random, Recommendations

Adam Ruins Everything references Duluth

Dec 10, 2016 No Comments

adam-ruins-everythingAdam Ruins Everything is at least the fifth television series to reference Duluth in 2016. Episode 23, which aired Dec. 6 on the cable network TruTV, features Adam Conover discussing “how deep Facebook’s tentacles really go,” with an example of a man who bought a “bacon double heart-attack burger” in Duluth after seeing an ad targeted through his Facebook likes.

Other shows that have referenced Duluth in 2016 include Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Robot Chicken, Vinyl and Lady Dynamite.


News and Current Affairs

Sixteen Years on the Superior Hiking Trail: Silver Bay to Split Rock State Park

Dec 10, 2016 No Comments

Paul Lundgren Saturday EssayThe fall colors in 2009 received mixed reviews. I thought they were outstanding.

“I’m sorry, but the colors were TERRIBLE this year,” one Perfect Duluth Day reader wrote at the time. “Very disappointed.” Another agreed. “They’ve been very dim up the shore.” One advised that it was important to “get off the shore 5 miles inland” to see the colors at their best.

It’s human nature, I suppose, to consider all things in relation to whatever else might be possible. Just this past week I was at Bent Paddle’s busy tap room and my wife quickly ordered two Harness IPAs, knowing it’s a beer I love. While that was happening, I was a few feet away looking at the beer options on the board and elated to see Barrel-aged Double Shot Double Black Ale was available. When a Harness landed in front of me I wanted to take that beer I generally love and pour it directly into a urinal to make a clear path for the Double Black—the only acceptable beer in the world at that moment.

So when I say the fall colors were excellent in 2009 and show a few pictures, it’s with the understanding that maybe they were the 974th-best fall colors of all time.

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Outdoors ,

Doomtree – “Fresh New Trash”

Dec 09, 2016 No Comments

PDD alum Kahla Statema directs this unofficial video for “Fresh New Trash” from Doomtree’s 2011 album No Kings. Rapper Andrew Sims is currently on tour, with stops planned at Papa Charlie’s in Lutsen on Feb. 4 and the Red Herring Lounge in Duluth on March 10.


Music, Videos

Selective Focus: Chris Monroe

Dec 09, 2016 1 Comment

chrismonroeteaser
If Duluth has an official “look,” it’s a Chris Monroe cartoon. There is no possible way that you haven’t seen her art at some point. She has a show of new work opening Monday, Dec. 12, at in the Zeitgeist Arts Café. In this week’s “Selective Focus” she fills us in on some of the details.

C.M.: I work in several different mediums — gouache, pen and ink for the comics and other drawings, and oil pastel. My upcoming show is primarily oil pastel. It is the medium I often go to for fun.

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Art ,

Duluth Nordic Center Stop-motion Workshop Video

Dec 08, 2016 No Comments

A compilation of stop-motion animations done by children at the Nordic Center on Nov. 20. Video by Falyn Oja.


Videos

Mystery Photo #48: Superior Street and Lake Avenue circa 1998

Dec 08, 2016 5 Comments

electric-fetus-1996

Where are you now, Danny Tanner?

This image is from a postcard printed by the College of St. Scholastica featuring photography by student Danny Tanner. Searching the internet to determine if Danny Tanner is still involved in photography is a bit complex; it turns out Danny Tanner is the name of a character on the television sitcom Full House, which had recently wrapped up its eight-season run around the same time the real Danny Tanner was doing his thing on Superior Street.

Although the date the photo was shot and date the postcards were printed are unknown, this one is postmarked Nov. 2, 1998. In the background are the Electric Fetus store, Strand Theater and a Duluth Transit Authority bus headed to New Duluth.


Random , , ,

History of Itasca: Part 1

Dec 07, 2016 1 Comment

itascaLilah Crowe, executive director at Itasca County Historical Society, talks about the rich native history of Itasca County in the first of a four-part presentation.

This short-form documentary was produced by A Plus B Productions as part of the Itasca Conversations series.


History, Videos

Dance Attic – “Startin’ a Fire with You”

Dec 06, 2016 2 Comments

Happy holidays! Jimi Cooper and Suzi Ludwig of Dance Attic bring the holiday cheer for this year’s PDD Christmas video. The song is from the band’s first album, tentatively scheduled for release in April.

A big thank you to the Homegrown Music Festival for sponsoring the video. Band registration is happening now, the Homegrown Winter Fiasco is Jan. 13, and the full-on eight-day extravaganza happens April 30 to May 7.

A big tip of the western hat also goes out to Darryn Wallace, who made Dance Attic’s snappy outfits.

Visit the PDD Holiday Video Showcase to view a collection of clips featuring the ghosts of Christmas’ past.


Music, Videos , ,

Petitioning to Change Duluth in 2016

Dec 06, 2016 No Comments

changing-duluth

What do people want to change about Duluth? Well, according to change.org — as of 9 a.m. on Dec. 6 — 5,471 people want the University of Minnesota Duluth to save the American Indian grad program, 1,100 people want the city to stay the enforcement of parking violations targeting Duluth college students, 313 people want to stop harsh LED street lighting, 140 people want Duluth to pass a Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights, 13 people want a Trader Joe’s franchise to locate here and six people want to bring a Costco store to Duluth.

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News and Current Affairs

The year Joel Hodgson spent in Duluth

Dec 05, 2016 No Comments

joel-hodgsonOn the Halloween episode of The Dana Gould Hour, guest Joel Hodgson briefly mentions his family lived in Duluth for a year. The conversation had steered to small-town television shows and personalities, and Hodgson recalled “picturesque slides of lighthouses” and how it gave a “mood of where you were.”

Hodgson, of course, is best known as the creator of the hit television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.

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Random

ARCO Coffee celebrates 100 years

Dec 05, 2016 4 Comments

arcogenerations

It’s remarkable for a family-owned business to withstand a century’s worth of cultural and economic changes, not to mention several generations of leaders. But Superior’s ARCO Coffee Company has reached this monumental achievement—100 years in business.

G.A. Andresen and W.J. Ryan founded the business in Duluth in 1916 as Andresen Ryan Coffee Company. Their names were later combined into the acronym ARCO.

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News and Current Affairs ,

Sarah Krueger – Northern Air 5-track EP

Dec 05, 2016 No Comments

Duluth musician Sarah Krueger “holed up for a couple evenings in St. Paul” in November with her “good homie Jordan Taylor to record some holiday songs.” The result is the five-song EP Northern Air. Listen here for free, or name your price to download from Bandcamp.


Music ,

Wild West Liquor Mural, 1996

Dec 05, 2016 1 Comment

wild-west-liquor

This photo is dated Dec. 5, 1996. It’s a shot of the exterior mural on the parking lot side of the former Wild West Liquor, 318 N. Central Ave. in West Duluth.

At the time it was probably a fairly new mural; the liquor store changed its name from West Duluth Liquor to Wild West Liquor at some point in the mid 1990s. I don’t remember when the mural was painted over, but I’d guess the side of the building has been plain white for at least ten years. The liquor store closed in 2015.

The building is being remodeled to open as Zenith Bookstore in summer 2017.


History, Photos

Thrift Store Finds: Last Ride on the Incline

Dec 05, 2016 4 Comments

lspc-1 lspc-2

I’m teaching a class that emphasizes writing about place next semester. So I’ve been scrounging thrift stores for examples. Here’s one to share. Is there a copyright-awesome way to secure these old magazines online?


History