By the power of grainy 20-year-old VHS, embedded above are performances by Charlie Parr and Haley from the short-lived WDSE-TV program Coffee House. The premiere episode featured three songs by each artist and aired March 12, 2003; the segment here contains just one each, and is from a sampler of the show that aired a week earlier. The footage was shot in 2002.
The lake is out there somewhere in this desolate wasteland at the peak of human endurance. Pro tip: If downtown is closed up because of blizzard conditions, the Boat Club is still open because it’s part of the Fitger’s hotel, and they’re all trapped in there eating each other, but it’s open. A great place to hole up here in the last outpost of civilization during the snowmageddonpocalypse. That is a vat of pepper-soaked vodka. Bloody Mary review: 9/10.
In honor of the Academy Awards on March 12, this week’s PDD quiz takes a look at mentions of Duluth on the silver screen. A previous quiz on this topic was published in August). If you’re looking to cheat study up on references to Duluth in popular culture, check out this sweet PDD tag.
The next PDD quiz will review the month’s headlines; it will be published on March 26. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by March 22.
A long time ago, in a rink far, far away, the best salads and skullets, mullets and manes descended on the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament in St. Paul. Hockey-hair video maker John King is back with his annual compilation of the best flow in the state.
As bock season kicks into high gear — Earth Rider celebrates this weekend; Fitger’s is waiting until April this year — we look back 110 years to get Fitger’s brewmaster John Bierhalter’s definition of the strong, dark beer traditionally brewed in fall and consumed in spring.
The New York Times is vaguely claiming Duluth “has welcomed thousands of new residents from out of state” in the past four years, citing climate change as the “motivating factor.”
Seated to the left of the mustached gentleman at far right appears to be Duluth’s 23rd mayor, Dr. John A. McCuen. Win the internet by identifying anyone else in the photo.
Duluth’s Gaelynn Lea provided the opening keynote yesterday to Microsoft’s 2023 Ability Summit. Her video included a performance of the song “Watch the World Unfold.”
I dropped by the Depot last night for about twenty minutes of the Northern Exposure festival. Popcorn, beverages were available, and the audience appeared to have a good time.
Many people come to Hayward to ski, but only an elite few dare to giant ski. Last week Perfect Duluth Day shared the previews, the music video, the news coverage and the overall hype; this week we present the full-length feature documentary on the most storied team in the history of the American Birkebeiner Giant Ski Race. It chronicles the team’s past success, the rise to fame and stardom, struggles with selling out, and the uncertain comeback.
Minnesota Public Radio reports the historic lighthouse at the entrance to the Duluth Ship Canal is St. Paul-based Rethos, a nonprofit that plans to open the lighthouse to tours.
The Cloquet Ski Club promotes ski jumping and cross-country skiing at Pine Valley Ski Area.
In its series The Slice, PBS North presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
On March 5, the Duluth Poetry Chapter, working with Caddy Shack Indoor Golf & Pub, hosted a Poetry Slam Dunk, a play on the usual open-mic format of a poetry slam. Poetry slams are typically held in bars, with the alcohol making the reading of poems less intimidating and the listening more relaxed, too.
Duluth native Al Church has a new album, Party Sounds (From Another Room), due out March 18. The record is about post-pandemic socializing. “Into the Willows” is the first single.
The band features Mike Gunvalson on drums, Ryan “The Ripper” Rupprecht on keys, Izzy Cruz on vocals and percussion, Pete “The Boy” Lavoie on sax, and Evan Foxphace on bass.
