Hoodies Are Stupid

I have four hooded sweatshirts in my closet. That’s probably not an unusual number, because the hoodie is a popular shirt style. It also seems like a very practical garment, designed to keep people warm and cozy. It’s like an indoor/outdoor jackety blanket for people who don’t want to feel weird about wearing a jacket inside or a blanket outside.

Though I sometimes wear hoodies and appreciate the idea behind the design, I don’t actually like them. The reason is that there are really only two things that differentiate a hoodie from a sweatshirt — the hood and the kangaroo pocket. And both of those things are stupid.

Yet, somehow, hoodies are far more popular than regular sweatshirts. The reason, I think, is because most people believe they sincerely like the hood and the jumbo single-pocket abdominal pad. But really, they don’t. They just can’t.

Surely hoodie lovers have been waiting for decades for someone to come along and explain how stupid they are. Well, here I am. Society is now just a few paragraphs away from the end of the hoodie, because everyone is going to agree with me, change their ways immediately, and heap praise upon me for freeing them from their misguided perceptions of fashion and comfort.

Shaky Ray Records Reissues?

I don’t remember where I heard this, but is it true that Shaky Ray Records is planning to reissue its local music recordings?

Big Into – “Used to Go”

The latest music video from Big Into includes cameos by a variety of other Iron Range rockers, but the real star is a cheese-flavored cracker. The video was shot at Mesaba Co-op Park near Hibbing.

Guide to Duluth-area Blogs

The journey of blogging from personal to institutional has been slow and steady, but there are still individuals crafting creative narratives about their lives and the things they love. Of course, there are also organizations that want to promote tourism, hotel rooms and merchandise by mixing in lists of the ten best trails to lure in readers. Whether the medium is better or worse in 2024 than in 2004 is up for debate, but blogging is, at least on some level, still a thing.

Every two years or so, Perfect Duluth Day scans the web to see who’s active in the local blogosphere, compiling a comprehensive-as-possible guide to the region’s active web logs. Below is the roundup as of September 2024.

Homestead Aurora

Duluth photographer Tone Coughlin captured northern lights scenes from Monday night’s stronger-than-expected solar storm. “It peaked around 10:30 pm and was so strong you could see it with the moon lighting up the foreground!” Coughlin wrote in the YouTube description of his video. “Another wonderful light show.”

Climate>Duluth: Andrew Boyd

Climate>Duluth host Tone Lanzillo interviews author and activist Andrew Boyd in episode #29. Boyd is the author of the book I Want a Better Catastrophe,” published in 2023 by NSP Books, and co-creator and CEO of Climate Clock.

PDD Quiz: Superior School Daze

Hit the books and test your smarts with this week’s quiz about Superior schools. (And check out a similarly-themed PDD quiz on historic Duluth schools here).

The next PDD current events quiz will be published on Sept. 29. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Sept. 25.

Illustrating Hunger and Homelessness: AC Kirk

Art by Nelle Rhicard at reframeideas.com.

A group of University of Minnesota Duluth faculty, students and community artists came together to explore strategies to communicate the stories of frontline workers in housing and food insecurity. UMD students met AC Kirk, the Farms Coordinator at the Family Freedom Center in Duluth.

Sir Duluth and Father Hennepin on Mushrooms

Letters exchanged between Father Louis Hennepin and Daniel Greysolon, Sir Duluth. From a special collection at Northern Illinois University, translated from the French by Peter S. Svenson.

To: Daniel Greysolon, Sir Duluth
Montreal, New France
From: Father Louis Hennepin
Rome
Date: August 23, 1701

Dear Duluth,

Remember our exchange when you rescued me from my kidnappers? I asked you, “Do you have to look so much like a French musketeer?” And you replied, “Do you have to look so much like Friar Tuck?” Forgive me. An old man on my deathbed, let me put things right. I anticipate my reward but I cannot help but look back at the many enemies I made. I hope you were not one of them. I only spent a short while in New France. And we did not know each other well. But we tore it up, didn’t we? I should think they will name a city after you someday. Myself, I will be contented with a street or two named after me, perhaps a bridge. One doesn’t wish to be prideful. But you deserve your glories.

One thing bothers me. Please tell me what you remember of our time on Lake Superior, on our final full day together. My memories of the event are confused. We caught no fish yet we were out there for hours.

Yours,
Louis

Morgan Park church wins place on national registry; highlights historic Duluth properties tour

United Protestant Church member Bob Berg, left, Moderator Marna Fasteland and Pastor Mitch Nelson stand in a back balcony inside the church sanctuary. The Morgan Park church was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

A monumental concrete block church constructed by idle steelworkers in early 19th-century Morgan Park earned national recognition last month and will be a stop on a historic building tour this weekend in Duluth.

Duluth playwright interviewed on NME

Duluth playwright Mark Stanfield was interviewed for an article published this week in the British arts and culture website New Musical Express, or NME.

Ian Alexy – “Dancing in the Dark”

Ian Alexy offers a take on Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” on his new EP of cover songs titled Campfire Extraordinary.

The performance footage in the video was shot by Sarah Jane Hale with assistance and lighting by Dan Dresser. The additional footage is from two educational films, Asking for a Date (1949) and Show ’em the Road (1954).

Armory fundraiser event seeks art submissions

The Armory Arts and Music Center is celebrating the 109th anniversary of the Historic Duluth Armory on Nov. 15. The fundraising event will feature 20-25 artists and their works, focusing on the theme of the evening: Preservation.

Postcard from the Willard Motel

This undated postcard shows the Willard Munger Inn circa 1970, when it was simply the “Willard Motel.” It is still in operation in Duluth’s Norton Park neighborhood.

The Duet of a Lifetime: Viola Turpeinen and William Syrjälä

This 1994 WDSE-TV documentary, from the series Album, explores the enduring musical legacy of Viola Turpeinen and her husband, William Syrjälä, who frequently performed in northeast Minnesota.