Duluth’s Anthony Bennett presents this cover of the classic A.J McLean song “Damn, Duluth,” from the forthcoming compilation album Duluth Does Damn Duluth.
If you don’t understand, see “AJ Mclean praises and damns Duluth on TikTok.”
It’s a week or so since 9/11, and the special issues of magazines unsold in the checkout lane are being reported unsold, stripped of their covers and reported destroyed. The television guide on my Roku is no longer choked with 9/11 documentaries and “looks back.” In fact, I can barely tell it happened.
I remember how difficult it was to return to normal after 9/11 — how many days it took before the late night shows could broadcast, for example. It feels like we snapped back awful fast this time.
Well, I didn’t. Here’s my last post on 9/11 for Perfect Duluth Day, looking at some writings, some poetry, after 9/11, talking about what life is like after.
This postcard of the Central Motel was mailed Sept. 20, 1956 — 65 years ago today. The address, 24 N. Central Ave., is now greenspace across Main Street from Irving Park. The land is controlled by the idled Duluth paper mill, which was sold by Verso Corporation in May to ST Paper.
@ajmcleanofficial I have never seen something so serene and beautiful in all my life and quiet a little taste of heaven before I go to bed. Big day tomorrow!
AJ Mclean, the singer, actor, dancer and model best known as a member of the Backstreet Boys, was in Duluth this weekend for a wedding, according to videos on TicTok. In his first Duluth post, from the edge of Lake Superior, he notes he has “never seen something so serene and beautiful” in all his life and calls it “a little taste of heaven.” In the second post, however, he’s a bit miffed that there are no Ubers available. There is also a third post with some wedding-day fun.
I had just crossed lazily through the intersection toward Wells Fargo Center, gently swinging my bag in the late afternoon heat. I had also decided that day to make friends with the hips I had developed over the past six months and lean into them … literally.
I saw him, 30-ish, scruffy, with a dirty T-shirt and a backward hat, leaning against the building. Our city has its contingent of panhandlers. They add a little paprika to our lives and I didn’t pay him any mind — until he called out to me as I passed by him.
“What?!” I asked, incredulously while laughing, stopped in my tracks.
‘I asked if you were married,” he answered with a crooked smile.
“Yes,” I replied and started to walk away. He wasn’t done, though. “Can I get your number and text you?” he yelled at me.
I turned around. “HAPPILY married!” I shot back and spun around on my heel and walked off, laughing.
Another installment of the latest wheeled sneaker stunts by former Duluthian James Geisler, also known as the hip-hop artist JamesG.
This postcard was mailed Sept. 18, 1911 — 110 years ago today. For some reason it took more than a month to reach it’s destination. It bears a second postmark of Oct. 26; indicating it took 38 days to travel about 250 miles from Duluth to Miss Martha Moe in Wood Lake.
Duluth photographer Kip Praslowicz occasionally acquires old point-and-shoot cameras that still have a roll of film in them. In this video he shows off black-and-white images from a Samsung IBEX 3x camera.
Clues in the background of two of the mystery photos indicate the images might be from the Minnesota State High School League Region 7AA Visual Art Festival in early 2004. That’s as much as we know so far.
Have you heard about the gentleman out of Duluth who developed his own word processor? You should have heard about him seven years ago in episode 9 of the television drama Halt and Catch Fire.
The clip above features the Duluth mention, which aired on the AMC cable network on July 27, 2014.
The discovery that wolves in Voyageurs National Park hunt freshwater fish came in 2017 and was reported in the Duluth News Tribune, New York Times, USA Today, National Public Radio and other outlets in 2018, when the first videos emerged.
Mary Bue has a new music video for a track from her 2020 album The World is Your Lover. “Tequila Song” is produced by Jon Hain.
This postcard of the College of St. Scholastica was mailed Sept. 13, 1931 — 90 years ago today. Robert Strauss of Snyder, N.Y. was the recipient. The message on the back is from his parents, who write: “Hello Boy. On our way to Seattle.”
Co-owner and head brewer Ben Gipson and his wife Emily show off Warrior Brewing’s silver medal from the Great American Beer Festival. (Photo via Warrior Brewing Company)
Duluth’s newest brewery is also its newest medal winner. Warrior Brewing Company was awarded the silver medal for its Barbarian Imperial Stout at the Great American Beer Festival. The Lincoln Park neighborhood business released its first batch to liquor stores in June.
It’s the fifth year in a row that a Duluth or Superior brewery has won a medal at the festival.
How well do you know the finer points of Duluth’s legislative code? Dive into this week’s trivia and test your legal smarts.
The next PDD quiz, on current events, will be coming your way on Sept. 26. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Sept. 22.
