Beyond the Gridiron: Made in Duluth
Season 1, episode 11 of the Minnesota Vikings video series “Beyond the Gridiron” profiles Duluth native C.J. Ham, telling the story of his journey from Denfeld High School to the National Football League.
Season 1, episode 11 of the Minnesota Vikings video series “Beyond the Gridiron” profiles Duluth native C.J. Ham, telling the story of his journey from Denfeld High School to the National Football League.
Jonathan Richman, founder of famed proto-punk band the Modern Lovers, dropped a Duluth reference on his third solo album, 1991’s Having a Party with Jonathan Richman.
As we move into the holidays it seems appropriate to share our gratitude for the hundreds of Duluthians who have added their name in support of the Bag it Duluth Campaign. In so doing they are showing they care deeply about our community by working to shift a cultural mindset away from a disposal planet and disposable people toward a livable economy that works for all and future generations. And, in this time of unconscionable inequality and climate change we acknowledge that many others feel frozen, unable to act, as what feels sacred seems lost. To those, we extend our hearts.
Find something for everyone on your gift-giving list with PDD’s annual curated gift guide. It’s a bit different than most gift guides in that it’s not a list of stores that advertise with PDD — it’s a list of items created in our region, chosen simply because they are nifty.
The Red Kettles are out, and the adorable man next to the adorable eagle is my friend.
The teddy bear on the left is Tim Broman; “Earnie” the eagle on the right is Cara Ellis. As you might guess from the fairly cheesy pun in “Earnie,” Cara is a mortgage specialist at Northern Communities Credit Union, where Tim is a customer service representative.
They are standing outside Cub Foods, where I bought some tasty sushi yesterday, inspired by the PDD post about Wasabi.
I didn’t realize that local businesses partnered with the Salvation Army in this way. I appreciate the generosity of NCCU, I shame my friend Tim for making the lady wear the costume (a gentleman would have worn the scratchy sweaty suit) and I wonder whether any other businesses and organizations partner in this way in the holidays. Post below if you will be ringing this season, please?
Former Duluthian Michael Fedo’s new book is reviewed on the arts and literature website Open Letters Review:
For all readers interested in the workaday writing life, it’s fascinating to follow Fedo through his many adventures, from writing an authorized biography of Garrison Keillor vehemently opposed by its subject to interviewing Cloris Leachman about starring in a play about Grandma Moses (which flopped).
I enjoy this book well enough, it inspired my Spring syllabus for Writing Studies majors.
Wasabi Japanese Cuisine will open at 132 E. Superior St. in Downtown Duluth on Black Friday, Nov. 23. The restaurant’s Facebook page notes the grand opening will be from 2 to 10 p.m.
For more information, read Perfect Duluth Day’s previous story on the subject: “Wasabi Japanese Cuisine to open in Duluth’s Old City Hall.”
The menu, shown below, features dine-in and take-out items.
As we near the start of the 2018/19 ski season, here are some clips of Thunder Bay’s Paul Bystrican in action last year. Several shots are from Spirit Mountain in Duluth.
We’ve shared plenty of Ingeborg von Agassiz videos recently, and with all the videos she has been posting, it would be easy to turn this into Ingeborg TV. But dang, this is a gorgeous song.
Minneapolis-based musician and occaissional Duluthian Mary Bue is poised to record songs for her eighth album, The World is Your Lover — “a collection of songs about the world, players and cheaters, snow falling on sage, the River Styx, gemini eyes, and tomatoes.”
Up first, a Kickstarter campaign.
It’s not known who shot this photo or the names of the people posing in it, but based on the woman’s flapper outfit and the fact that the Aerial Bridge in the background isn’t a lift bridge yet, it must be circa the 1920s. Can anyone find other clues?
In 2016 the city of Duluth purchased a remote-controlled glider designed to humanely chase away geese. “The Goosinator” was acquired from an eponymous company in Denver, Colo. at a cost of about $3,000 plus shipping and handling. The city made this purchase with the express goal of ridding Bayfront Festival Park of an increasing abundance of goose feces, a consequence of the recovering Canada goose population. In large amounts, goose feces diminish the park’s appeal and utility, and can cause illness in people and pollute the lake.
Two years on, the Goosinator agreed to meet with me for an exclusive, first-ever interview.
No one in the newly-opened Dovetail Cafe & Marketplace recognizes the Duluth park maintenance worker hustling in from the cold for an interview, but he draws notice all the same. The Goosinator stands about 20 inches tall and, at almost four feet long, has to sit sideways as I help him into a chair at a table made of reclaimed birdseye maple. He wears an outsize, toothy permagrin. He’s bright orange. And he seems perfectly at ease with the sideways glances, thanking me with a wry smirk as I pass him the Cascara Tea I took the liberty of ordering him. After all, he’s used to being the focus of attention, as it’s a prerequisite for his unusual line of work.
Here it is, nearly two hours of KBJR-TV coverage of the Christmas City of the North Parade from 20 years ago — Nov. 20, 1998. It was the first time the parade was routed onto Railroad Street in Canal Park, where KBJR was building its new studio.
See below for an index of parade entries if you want to find your favorite and not watch the whole broadcast. Also below, bonus footage: A portion of the KBJR newscast that preceded the parade. Both videos include most of the local commercials. National commercials were trimmed out, as were local commercials that repeated.
Thanksgiving is arguably the best holiday. It’s an opportunity to be grateful for what you have, eat delicious food and spend time with family (either blood or chosen). There’s no need to buy presents, go to church or decorate the house. The most stressful aspect of the day is the cooking.
