JP Rennquist, Author at Perfect Duluth Day

New York Times: Theater of the Variegated

Apr 26, 2010 No Comments

“36 Hours in Duluth, Minn”
New York Times, Aug. 5, 2005

9) Theater of the Variegated

You never know what to expect at the Historic NorShor Theater (211 East Superior Street, 218-733-0072), an oasis of culture in a scruffy section of downtown. Opened as the Orpheum in 1910 and later remodeled in Art Deco style, the timeworn Norshor is part movie theater, part concert hall, part performance space, part art exhibit hall and part whatever whim strikes the management. One July weekend featured a showcase of local and Twin Cities bands; the next included all-day showings of “Dr. Strangelove.”

Art, Recommendations Media, New York Times, NorShor Theatre

Seedlings … and local Morning TV Shows.

Apr 15, 2010 No Comments

WDIO-WIRT was good enough to do this morning show interview with a couple of organizers for this event that I am helping with on Saturday. We’re giving out seedlings for dads, among other things. That’s why I mention it. The event itself is called “MN Father’s Forever” and it is designed to help promote connections between dads and their kids, especially for dads who have been around the block a few times, so to speak. Sometimes dads get so far behind on child support or they have trouble navigating the custody and family court system and they just give up. So we’re working with those guys, too. We want to help them get re-connected. I wrote some details for the event here on our Facebook event page.

Events

Jitterbug for Jitterbug TONIGHT

Apr 09, 2010 No Comments

Jitterbug for Jitterbug
TONIGHT!
April 9th, 2010
6 – 11 pm
Peace Church – 1111 N 11th Ave E – Duluth

People of all ages, shapes and sizes will have a chance to learn some basic, advanced and even “trick” swing dance steps taught by a team of professional dancers (rumor has it that the area’s premier mix tape master will also make a guest DJ appearance sometime during the night slinging his favorite swing tunes).

News and Current Affairs, Recommendations Dancing

“What Happens in Duluth, Stays in Duluth. Mostly.”

Apr 07, 2010 11 Comments

ESPN writer Paul Lukas traveled to Duluth for the House of Hearts Celebrity Bonspiel last month. His article is funny but clearly he respects curlers and doesn’t take any of the cheap shots that many national writers do. He includes lots of great quips, like “What Happens in Duluth, stays in Duluth” and even makes a run to Super Duper town and puts the Anchor Bar on the ESPN map (pictured below from the article)

Sports Lost and Found, Media

Fox 21 News at 6 … no that is not a typo

Apr 06, 2010 6 Comments

Fox 21 News is adding a 6 pm newscast starting June 28th. This move is surely related to the addition of Jason Vincent (most recently of Fargo) as the new news director replacing Julie Moravchik.

In the release on their site (click the image to see it) they are clearly gunning for their competition:

In addition to being the fastest growing Twin Ports station in terms of newscasts, we are also the Twin Ports fastest growing station for viewers. Since we first launched in March of 2007, we immediately beat our 9pm competition and continue to do so.

FOX 21 also beat the local CBS’s 10pm show and continues to do so. We are now neck-and neck with the local NBC, which has the advantage of having been on the air for the last 50 years.

After 36 months, we’re poised to outnumber them as well (and have already beaten them in two key demos: 18-34 year olds and 18-49 year olds).

Random Fox 21, Media

R.I.P. Jaime Escalante (the teacher who inspired ‘Stand & Deliver’)

Mar 31, 2010 1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but he made me want to be a teacher to a bunch of really tough, overlooked but brilliant kids. And it worked, I did it. I even used his line about Mayans being first to popularize the zero to my own mostly Mayan descended students a few years after I saw the film when I was a volunteer teacher in Central America. Oddly enough the film didn’t do much to quell my fear of calculus.

I’m not sure how the film holds up now, 22 years later, but it was a great depiction of a great man. RIP, Maestro Escalante.

R.I.P.

Advance Warning: “Jitterbug for Jitterbug”

Mar 29, 2010 No Comments

“Jitterbug for Jitterbug”
Supporting Julie “Jitterbug” Pearce’s Earthquake Relief Mission in Haiti

Events, Recommendations

Sen Al Franken Resurrects “Duluth Answer Man” to Support Twin Ports Google Fiber

Mar 10, 2010 28 Comments

MARCH 10, 2010 – Minnesota Sen. Al Franken has joined The Google Twin Ports Fiber Initiative by resurrecting his Duluth Answer Man clips.

Duluth’s campaign combines a fun and creative grassroots campaign with a very serious effort to build a strong business case for bringing Google Fiber to the Twin Ports.

The Duluth Answer Man campaign was produced in the mid 80s by the Duluth Convention and Visitors Bureau, known today as Visit Duluth. The series ran in the Twin Cites market as the summer tourism campaign for Duluth.

History, News and Current Affairs, Videos Al Franken, Broadband, Google Fiber, Media

Duluth Mayor to Google: Forget Topeka, Take My First Born

Mar 03, 2010 16 Comments

News and Current Affairs, Videos

USA Men’s Hockey in Gold Medal Game (plus UMD note)

Feb 26, 2010 No Comments

My earlier local Winter Olympics connections post here on PDD didn’t exactly catch fire, what with Wilco coming to town, people waving pitchforks at the DNT, and new doorknobs or cheaper beer or fill-in-the-blank down at Luce. However, I’m gonna take another crack at the local Olympics connection with these two items.

a) The USA Men are in the Medal Game Sunday afternoon vs the Canada/Slovakia winner (that game is tonight). Captain of Team USA is Cloquet Native Jamie Langenbrunner

b) According to the Wall Street Journal, UMD has produced more Vancouver Olympians than any other college in the World besides the University of Calgary. Full story is here. Naturally, not all of the UMD Olympians are Americans, which is also impressive to me. UMD is a magnet for many of the world’s finest women’s hockey players, including 6 from my ancestral homeland Sweden.

Random Hockey

Minnesota Olympians

Feb 03, 2010 1 Comment

I am not a huge sports watcher. I like the Vikings, I appreciate the Twins and once in awhile I will watch a bit of the NCAA Men’s BB Tournament in March. But I do enjoy the Olympics. Especially the Winter Olympics. And I think part of the reason that I appreciate the winter games so much is that there are so many local athletes. I’ll admit, my favorite aspect of the “Miracle on Ice” game from (ouch) 30 years ago now is that so many Minnesotans played a role in that underdog-david-vs-goliath-come-from-behind-victory.

Here are a few lists of Minnesotans that are in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver from Bob Collins MPR NewsCut blog, and the Star Tribune, plus a cursory search of the NBC Winter Olympics web page.

News and Current Affairs Media

R.I.P. Howard Zinn, 1922-2010

Jan 29, 2010 12 Comments

Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States and many other books died this week.

Here are references I found to Duluth and Minnesota in “A People’s History of the United States”

Politics, R.I.P.

Jitterbug

Jan 28, 2010 7 Comments

Jitterbug Julie Pearce is leaving the Northland’s NewsCenter. She says this will be her last weekend anchoring the newscasts.

Hello all, yes, the rumors are true… this weekend will be my last weekend as a news anchor for the NewsCenter. This has been a hard decision for me. I’ve been with the NewsCenter now for about 4 years. I work with some amazing people and have truly enjoyed my time there. The big bright studio lights, the cameras, and… deep connection to our community have been extremely rewarding and exciting.

from her facebook page.

After a couple of weeks doing nursing and helping people in Belize she came back and bought a one-way ticket to Haiti to do medical support for people there who have been devastated.

Uncategorized Media

James Fallows on Cirrus as Game Changers, 9 Years On

Jan 26, 2010 11 Comments

This was interesting to me. On the Plane Conversations blog, author Alan Howell reviews a 2001 book by Atlantic contributor James Fallows called “Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a New Age of Travel.” In the book, according to Howell, Fallows says that the Klapmeier brothers of Duluth’s own Cirrus Design created the first of three major innovations that would change the way people travel. How did the prediction stack up?

In the last nine years, how did James Fallows’ case studies fare?

To date, Cirrus has manufactured and sold more than 5000 aircraft and has been the number one, best selling aircraft in the past decade – not bad for a start-up company with a non-conventional design. Like other aviation companies, Cirrus has been severely impacted by the economy but will survive in some form. The aircraft has been too successful and the market will continue to demand new models with improved technology.

Read the whole article here: Free Flight: What has happened since James Fallows wrote the book

JP Rennquist Posts

New York Times: Theater of the Variegated

Seedlings … and local Morning TV Shows.

Jitterbug for Jitterbug TONIGHT

“What Happens in Duluth, Stays in Duluth. Mostly.”

Fox 21 News at 6 … no that is not a typo

R.I.P. Jaime Escalante (the teacher who inspired ‘Stand & Deliver’)

Advance Warning: “Jitterbug for Jitterbug”

Sen Al Franken Resurrects “Duluth Answer Man” to Support Twin Ports Google Fiber

Duluth Mayor to Google: Forget Topeka, Take My First Born

USA Men’s Hockey in Gold Medal Game (plus UMD note)

Minnesota Olympians

R.I.P. Howard Zinn, 1922-2010

Jitterbug

James Fallows on Cirrus as Game Changers, 9 Years On

Jason Vincent new Fox 21 news director

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