In the early half of the 20th century Duluth was often promoted as a haven for those who suffer from hay fever. Such is the case with this postcard of a trolley car on Minnesota Point, mailed Aug. 23, 1912 — 110 years ago today.
Jimmy Kimmel Live guest host Nicole Byer referenced Duluth during the opening monologue of the Aug. 17 episode. She introduced a clip from Fox 21 in which news anchor Dan Hanger and meteorologist Ken Slama shared their thoughts on Snoop Dogg’s new breakfast cereal, Snoop Loopz.
Byer referred to Hanger’s response to a quip made by Slama as “the cattiest moment in the history of broadcast television.”
Hanger also appeared in a clip used on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2018 when his banter with sports anchor Sam Ali turned awkward.
Interdisciplinary artist Annmarie Geniusz creates large-scale chalk murals during the summer months.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV 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.
This postcard of Gooseberry Falls — presumably the upper falls, northwest of the Highway 61 bridge — was mailed Aug. 20, 1952. The recipient was Mrs. Lester H. Dixon of North Vernon, Ind. The sender is probably her sister, based on the salutation. The signed name is Golda.
Duluth hardcore band Torment has an album in the works called Swallow Your Teeth. The first single is featured in this animated lyric video put together by Dwi Nugraha with Genoicide Artwork.
The Duluth Economic Development Authority has put out its third request for proposals to redevelop the Pastoret Terrace, a building that has been condemned since 2010. Though previous redevelopment proposals were deemed unsatisfactory and the threat of a wrecking ball has long loomed, the building will continue to stand … at least in the short term.
For the fifth edition of DuluthiLeaks — Perfect Duluth Day’s series in which public documents are presented as if they contain secret information leaked from an anonymous whistle blower — we present: “22-5504 Rebid Request for Proposals: Historic Restoration Pastoret Terrace.”
John Keefover poses with the Northern Terminus sign after completing his thru-hike of the Superior Hiking Trail.
John Keefover is the Duluth-based nature photographer behind the photography business Keefography. This June, Keefover thru-hiked the Superior Hiking Trail, sharing photos, videos and journal entries along the way. Keefover used this adventure as an opportunity to raise funds for the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center.
Birding, broadcasting, micro-agriculture, astronomy and motherhood are just some of the topics Duluth-area writers are blogging about. 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.
New among Duluth’s food trucks and trailers this summer is Northland Larder. The “immobile mobile food trailer” is parked near the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center between the Vista Fleet and the pedestrian bridge that crosses the Minnesota Slip into Canal Park. It features a shaded dining area, synthetic turf and Loll furniture.
A Van Gogh style painting of a 1920s cargo train traveling on a winter night though an evergreen forest next to a huge blue lake with the aurora borealis in the night sky.
DALL-E is an online tool that uses machine learning to generate digital images from plain English text descriptions. You type a description of something real or imaginary and the program does its best to create a unique image based on that description. After some time on a waitlist, I recently received an invite that allows me to create and download a limited number of artificial intelligence generated images per month. This came at a good time, as I recently found a watercolor print of the Duluth hillside in a Lincoln Park shop that I liked quite a bit but could not afford. I decided to use some of my AI image credits to see if I could get the automated system to produce Duluth art of at least somewhat comparable quality. In the examples that follow, I describe this process, showing what worked and what did not. The captions of each picture show the text query that generated the image.
Burdock Ceramics is the pottery duo of Duluth artists Rita Morris and Barry Sands. Their pieces are hand thrown and painted, creating functional and elegant pottery inspired by the northwoods.
This four-way battle royal is scheduled for one fall with a 43-second time limit. From Voyageurs National Park, each maybe weighing something like 25 pounds, they are the Half-Moon Pack.
The footage is from a Voyageurs Wolf Project trail camera.
Set sail for this week’s Perfect Duluth Day quiz, which tests your knowledge of Duluth’s various tall ship festivals.
The next PDD quiz will review this month’s headlines; it will be published on Aug. 28. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Aug. 25.
Keeping in mind that I have no credibility, this is the true story of my psychic powers, which I don’t believe in. The reader may decide if I have psychic powers or not. I’ve already told you I don’t believe in them. I used to but not anymore. However, even though I quit believing, psychic things keep happening, which is profoundly irritating.
In chronological order:
Porky Pig Clairvoyance, 1st-2nd Grade (?)
Family Florida trip. A full-page ad in the back of a comic book transfixed me. I read it on my hotel room bed in a block of sunlight, sounds of the ocean in the distance. The ad was for a book about developing psychic and magic powers. It had fine print about the powers, psychic ways to make money, etc. I read every word, thinking it was real or could be.
Then I remember Dad driving and I was in the front seat with him. It was the just the two of us. Florida seemed particularly packed with road signage. A random thought flitted through my head as stores and restaurants flowed by: a line of Porky Pig dialog. No surprise there. It was fleeting and I paid it no mind. Within a couple minutes we drove past a barbecue place with a Porky Pig knock-off on its signage. I said, “Hey, I just thought about Porky Pig and here we are driving past this sign! That’s psychic!”
“Do you think so?” Dad asked, humoring me.
I did think so. Now I knew: I had psychic powers.
