Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

I’m back from my three week sojourn. Thanks to Hallie and Paul for holding down the fort while I was gone!

What’s it like to go viral? Hannah Hudson discusses the ups and downs at the Duluth Photography Institute tonight.

You know how your mom always told you to make your bed? Now you can make beds for other folks at the Steve O’Neil Apartments. There’s a bed build session in a shop in Hermantown on Tuesday.

Spirit Valley Days kicks off on Wednesday and runs through Sunday. The first day features Bill Bastian, a Miss West Duluth Pageant and a Classic Car Show.

Red Herring marks the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain with a viewing, “unpretentious film analysis” and a dance party afterwards on Thursday.

The Two Harbors Kayak Festival runs Friday through Sunday with events operating out of Burlington Bay in Two Harbors.

And, in case you aren’t getting outdoors enough, the 28th annual Brewhouse Triathlon is this Saturday.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

Comic Andy Kindler comes to the Teatro Zuccone stage tonight followed by a Q&A and screening of two episodes of “Bob’s Burgers” downstairs at Zinema 2.

I can’t make her love me if she don’t, but Bonnie Raitt plays the Big Top on Tuesday.

The musical Pippin, presented by Lundeen Productions, opens on Wednesday at Harbor City and runs three weekends.

Sidewalk Days are going on downtown starting on Wednesday and closing with a big street dance on Saturday. And if you haven’t been walking on closed off streets enough for one week, you can Meet in the Streets in Lincoln Park on Sunday.

Movies in the Park starts its new season Friday night with Brave at Leif Erikson Park. (Note: This event has been postponed.)

On Saturday Greece comes to Marshall and craft beer goes to Lutsen.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

Sure, the World Cup is going on in Brazil, but it’s Sweden vs. U.S.A. right here in Duluth when a bunch of teenagers from our sister city, Växjö, Sweden, play soccer against some of our kids at Stebner Park today through Wednesday.

It’s the season for outdoor concerts. St. Anyway plays at Chester Bowl on Tuesday as part of the Chester Creek Concert series and Hairball plays Bayfront on Thursday.

You can celebrate the July 4th weekend with a British invasion by watching a special screening of the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night at Zinema 2 on Friday and then see American English, a Beatles tribute band, at Big Top Chautauqua on Saturday.

Of course, there’s a big concert and fireworks down at Bayfront on Friday.

How do you deal with a break up? Well, if you’re Rachael Kilgour you sing sad songs and invite people to a concert at the Teatro Zuccone on Saturday.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

Today is the grand opening of the Spirit Room, a tapas bar in Superior, so watch your diction when you tell people where you’re going. Say it with me: “TAHP-ahs bar.” Very good.

You can get all civic minded on Tuesday with the Healthy Duluth Ideas Festival at the Zeitgeist or give your input on a proposed dog park in Observation Park at the Washington Center.

You can paint along with Bob Ross at The Underground on Wednesday. Yes, the DAI staff knows Bob Ross is dead, but thanks to the miracle of technology, we can still paint happy little trees with him forever.

Learn about not eating meat one day a week with Intro to Meatless Mondays at the Library on Thursday. (Pro tip: This can be accomplished by not eating meat one day a week.)

The Right to Consciousness exhibit at Trepanier Hall opens on Friday featuring art by Rabbet Before Horses Strickland and a whole lot of music.

It’s like a homecoming! Trampled by Turtles, Haley Bonar, Low and Doomtree play Bayfront Park on Saturday. I’m sure it will be summer by then. Right?

And the-Little-Blog-that-Could turns eleven on Sunday with a party at Carmody. Come for cake, awkward conversations with people you only know by their PDD gravatars, and a PDD themed pub quiz hosted by yours truly.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

Pause to reflect on the violence inherent in the system today with a memorial service on the 94th anniversary of the lynching of Clayton, Jackson and McGhie and then go to a presentation by Elizabeth Dorsey Hatle on her book, The Ku Klux Klan in Minnesota, at Fitger’s.

Cult, filmed in Duluth last summer, gets its public premier at Zinema 2 on Tuesday.

Renegade Theater‘s Red, a play about the expressionist painter, Mark Rothko, opens on Thursday at the Teatro Zuccone, with improv darling Jody Kujawa playing the lead. It runs two weekends.

Thursday also marks the opening of the 117th season of the Two Harbors City Band playing in the Band Shell at Thomas Owens Park. There’s a Simple Supper before each Thursday evening concert lovingly prepared at the United Church across the street.

Also on Thursday, you can go hear Perfect Duluth Day regular, Heidi Bakk-Hansen, talk about “The Notorious Madam Gain and the Red Light Ladies of St. Croix Avenue” at The Underground.

It’s Grandma’s Marathon weekend, and that means music, music, music, more music and yet more music in and around Canal Park. And, of course, there’s always Jazz at the Toga.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

There’s a fundraiser today at Lighthouse at Emily’s for Kendall’s Smokehouse which had a bit too much smoke a few weeks ago and needs to make repairs. If you plan on going farther up the shore, though, be mindful of road restrictions on Highway 61.

The Duluth Public Library Book Sale is this week with a presale for Friends of the Library on Tuesday, then the general public gets to see what’s left on Wednesday. It concludes with a bag sale on Friday.

Duluth Huskies baseball is in full swing this week with four home games Tuesday through Friday at Wade Stadium. In other sports action, the Harbor City Roller Dames have a double header this Saturday at the DECC to conclude their 2013-14 season.

Ring of Fire, featuring the music of Johnny Cash, opens at The Underground on Thursday and runs two weekends and LOON‘s Don Pasquale has only two performances at Lincoln Park Middle School on Thursday and Saturday of this week.

The Formal Age release a new album at Red Star on Friday, sharing the bill with Wino, WI and Turbo Rathvon.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

Chester Bowl Park kicks off its series of Tuesday outdoor concerts with the Chmielewski Funtime Band.

Sing! sings and celebrates 15 years at The Underground on Wednesday.

The Red Herring opens its doors on Thursday to kick off a weekend long grand opening.

The second annual Berserkon is where gamers and cosplayers can get their nerd on at the DECC Friday through Sunday.

Or you can polka until you can’t polka no more at the International Polka Fest this weekend at Black Bear Casino.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

Today is Memorial Day so go out and pay your respects to the dead before or after you fire up the grill. There’s a parade in West Duluth this afternoon without so many Veterans for Peace.

Zinema 2 will be showing a restored version of Orson Welles’ Othello on Tuesday for their Explorers Club series.

The Duluth Superior Film Festival opens on Wednesday and runs through Sunday with films in a variety of venues and, this year, the showings are all free.

Blood on the Tracks won’t get so much blood on so many tracks this Thursday, as construction is limiting the run, but you can still rock the train all the way from the Depot to Lakeside.

Other Desert Cities opens at the Duluth Playhouse on Thursday and runs two weeks. Inside tip: I’ve heard nothing but superlatives about this production.

You’ve seen them in Wicker Kittens, now you can jigsaw puzzle your way to fame and fortune in the first ever Duluth Puzzle Derby at the Depot on Saturday.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

Take It With You is a live variety show taped for podcasting and the second episode is happening at The Underground on Tuesday with guests singer/songwriter Brianna Lane, Lake Superior Honey Company owner/operator Jonathan Otis and mayor/guy-about-town Don Ness.

The Duluth Farmers Market is open again on Wednesdays and Saturdays, which raises the perennial question, should a market for farmers be a “Farmers Market,” a “Farmer’s Market” or a “Farmers’ Market.” I think the middle one is right out, unless it’s just one farmer. Share your thoughts in the comments.

If you think your media needs to get more social and you like to confer, you’re in luck. The Zenith Social Media Marketing Conference is at Greysolon Plaza on Thursday.

Local theater and film costumer, Sasha Howell, is staging her first fashion show, Spectacle, on Friday at The Underground. Sasha says her style is influenced by steampunk, Burning Man, Lisa Frank and horror.

Vikre Distillery in Canal Park is having its Grand Opening this Saturday and Sunday with tours and samples.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

Just as the return of the robin signals spring, so the departure of free parking in Canal Park signals tourist season. So, that’s happening.

And, on the subject of birds, Jan and Larry Kraemer and the Audubon Society are hosting a series of early morning warbler walks on Park Point on Tuesdays and Thursdays in May.

Nerd Nite is back on Wednesday at the Teatro Zuccone with presentations on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, jumping into Lake Superior every month and time travel in the 1980s.

There is a Bike Rodeo on Thursday at the Myers-Wilkins Elementary School with bike inspections and safety training, just in time for Bike to Work Day on Friday with tune up stations at Minnesota Power Plaza, the Mayor’s Bike Ride starting at City Hall and the Mayor’s Luncheon at Clyde Iron.

By the way, what’s the difference between a “lunch” and a “luncheon?” Is it just a lunch with extra syllables so you’ll pay more?

Bob Dylan gets saluted at Sacred Heart on Saturday as a benefit for the Armory.

Zinema 2 screens Roberto Rosselini’s The Flowers of St. Francis on Sunday with a real live Franciscan friar to do a Q&A afterwards.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

Today is Cinco de Mayo and to celebrate Randy Lee and his band are doing a set of Latin American music at Clyde Iron today.

As people take their bikes out of winter hibernation, new bicycle repair stations along bike routes are being unveiled on Tuesday. But fear not, there is still open ice skating at the Duluth Heritage Sports Center on Wednesday.

Renegade opens their new comedy, Rx, about pharmaceuticals and love on Thursday at the Teatro Zuccone and it runs three weekends. Or if you prefer your comedy a bit more kinky, Venus in Fur opens on Thursday at The Underground and runs two weekends.

Jokes, Pokes & Chokes is a tattoo and piercing convention at Black Bear Casino this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The annual YWCA Mother’s Day Walk/Run is this Saturday and the deadline for registration is today.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

Blah blah blah Homegrown. Blah blah all week blah over 200 bands blah blah. Blah blah PDD Chicken app. Yadda yadda yadda.

Believe it or not, there are other things going on in town, too!

Emily Woster (inventor of the PDD Bingo Sheet) is presenting on Anne of Green Gables at the Nordic Center on Tuesday. And speaking of that feisty fictional red head, Wise Fool opens its production of Anne of Green Gables at the UWS Manion Theater on Friday.

And that’s not the only theater going on! Much Ado About Nothing opens at East High School on Thursday and All in the Timing opens at Marshall on Friday while Pride & Prejudice continues at Harbor City and Damn Yankees continues at UMD.

For the outdoorsy types, Hartley Nature Center is having an Outdoor Expo on Saturday and Camp Miller is having an open house on Sunday with all sorts of activities.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

Let’s start at the end of the week and address the 800 pound chicken in the room. Homegrown starts Sunday with over 200 bands playing in dozens of venues. A special edition of the Pub Quiz at Carmody (written by yours truly) kicks off the festival. I’ll give you an inside tip, dear reader: Homegrown Field Guides will not be permitted to be open during the quiz.

The Run Smelt Run Parade is also this Sunday and there are three workshops this week for volunteers to help get the smelt queen ready.

Learn about “The Well Dressed Viking” from Dr. Stefan Guttormsson on Wednesday at the Nordic Center. Where else?

Damn Yankees opens at UMD this Thursday and runs two weekends.

Zinema 2 continues their series of silent films with a live soundtrack with Fugitive scoring Fritz Lang’s Metropolis on Friday and Saturday.

The Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop is Saturday with a free bus shuttling participants all over the Twin Ports.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.