The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

Cooking on the Car at Beaner’s

Jason Wussow and Dan Dresser’s adventures in cooking on the exhaust manifold of a 1989 Toyota Camry continue tonight. They’re making a special meal for the mayor and his wife. A screening of the short “Cooking on the Car” movie will be part of the event.

Friday, Nov. 27, 8 p.m. | Beaner’s Central

Speaking of coffee shops, the Red Mug in Superior is celebrating its 5th anniversary with prizes and specials all day today.

The Great Thanksgiving Blizzard of 1983

Just wondering if anyone else remembers the big snowstorm of ’83? It actually hit the night before Thanksgiving. I was working at what was called the Duluth Arena then and we got snowed in. I got to pull my car inside and sleep in the auditorium mezzanine. It was pretty sweet. We took an Arena ice truck and tried to get to Superior for some beer, but had to turn back. We did manage to walk down in the middle of the blizzard and eat at Godfather’s on London Road, right before they closed up shop. I remember we even managed to throw a snowball or two at Jack McKenna’s weather window on Michigan Street.

Good times.

The coolest thing about this monster blizzard was the thunder and lighting. That was the first time I had ever seen that, and I don’t think it’s happened since.

Whole Foods Co-op Classes–Great Gift Ideas!

Do you have a family member, partner, or friend who might enjoy taking a class through the co-op? We have some great classes coming up, and they make a fantastic gift idea at $20 for co-op members, and $25 for non-members. Coming up:

Uber-knowledgeable Celia Linneman returns to teach, “Herbal Crafts for Kids” on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 12:30 – 2 p.m. The class is for kids ages 7-12 and will have them creating some holiday gifts on their own, from salt and sugar scrubs to lip balms.

On Tuesday, Dec. 8, is “Cooking in a Winter Wonderland” featuring WFC’s own Shannon Szymkowiak with super dishes and deep thoughts about eating locally for the wintertime.

Then on Thursday, Dec. 10, from 6-8 p.m raw food guru Emily White returns to teach a “Raw Christmas Goodies” class about indulging in holiday goodies without all the guilt.

Here’s to your health and well-being this holiday season! For more information, go to www.wholefoods.coop. Thank you.

Yelp!

I was looking through the Duluth reviews on yelp.com and things are looking sparse and outdated. There are precious few reviews from Duluthians, it’s mostly just weekend tourists. I know you all have strong opinions on the M&H, your dentist, the parking situation in Canal… so go post some reviews, add businesses you don’t see, and let’s make Duluth sound good! Or bad, whichever you prefer.

Ye Olde Traditional Thankfulness Post

TraditionalThanksgivingAllow me to once again lead the PDD Thanksgiving prayer. I’ll go ahead and take friends, family and food for granted as usual.

This year I’m most thankful for dentists, particularly the one who is finally going to fix my cavity next week.

I’m also thankful for Minnesota Care and Delta Dental, which aren’t necessarily the best friends of dentists, but are a big help to me.

I’m also thankful for people who won’t turn the comments to this post into a bitter debate about health care, even though I kind of provoked them.

There. Now what are you thankful for?

(Here’s what we were thankful for in 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003.)

Off the Wall Artist Market

Come to seventh annual holiday celebration of art, food and music at the Historic Trade and Commerce Marketplace at Hammond and Broadway in Superior. Off the Wall, Artist Market is in the Red Mug and North End Arts Gallery. Saturday dec. 5 is a building-wide open house, gallery reception in the evening, and live music after in the Red Mug. Off the Wall runs through December. The Red Mug, Duluth Pottery, Art in the Alley and North End Arts Gallery are open daily for the season.

Missing Person

Dear Chad,
Please come back to the Artist’s Way group. We miss you!

Everybody else, keep an eye out for the next Artist’s Way session, starting in December!

“Have Yourself an H1N1 Christmas, or, Snufflin’ in a Swine Flu Wonderland”

SantaChicken

Rubber Chicken Theater presents its second annual Holiday Comedy Revue, entitled “Have Yourself an H1N1 Christmas, or, Snufflin’ in a Swine Flu Wonderland.”

Looking for a few decent hockey players …

… aged 35 and up to play in a league on Sunday nights. There are 6 teams, it’s supposed to be a 40 and over league but they’re pretty loose on the rules. I’m on the “6th team” — they put together an emergency team so everyone could play every week, but we need a few warm bodies. I would say the level is intermediate to advanced…. So yeah, call Mars Lakeview at 722-4455 if you need any info. Times are between 6 and 8pm, which is pretty nice.

Interview with World-Class A-hole

WMW Still 1

Check out the latest interview with White Man’s World writer/director Jason Page.

PDD Gift Guide 2009

The time to spend money we don’t really have is upon us. So why not give that money from the future to our friends and neighbors? With that sentiment in mind, the folks at Perfect Duluth Day have compiled a selection of locally produced goods and services to add to your shopping list.

The fabulous showcase below is by no means comprehensive, of course. We at PDD would like you to contribute to it through the comments. If you know of a local something special for that special someone, let it be known.

Perfect Duluth Plaid Friday?

trees

So I guess there’s a Plaid Friday thing in San Francisco to encourage shopping locally rather than in the big box stores on the evil Black Friday. I’m not much of a Christmas shopper myself, and don’t even plan to leave the house Friday, but I suppose most people are.

Ideas for reusing a vacuum cleaner

HooverVacuum2We’ve got this old Hoover vacuum cleaner taking up space in the basement. It kind of still works, but mostly it just makes a bunch of noise and reorganizes the dirt on the floor. It was replaced with a new Hoover about two years ago.

I haven’t looked into whether the garbage man will take it or if it needs to be brought to a materials recovery center or what. In the meantime, here’s what I’m wondering:

If I were a creative or moderately handy person, what kind of reuses for this vacuum could there be? Could Tim Kaiser make a musical instrument out of it? Would the brush roll make a good dog brush? Can I donate the hose to Last Place on Earth as drug paraphernilia or maybe a sex toy?

This vacuum was built to clean up the world, so help me resist the urge to just toss it into a landfull. Or at least help me come up with a bunch of entertaining and impractical ideas for reuse before I  just go ahead and  throw it out anyway.

Whatever you do, don’t try to explain to me how it can be fixed. The ship already sailed on that when it was replaced. If you want it fixed, I’ll glady give it to you and you can fix it all you want.

Zooming in on Duluth with Google Maps Street View Expansion

As Perfect Duluth Day and others noted earlier this year, Google Maps Street View arrived in Duluth with a brief run-through. [See the original PDD piece.]

Now however, Google has taken Street View to a major portion of Duluth and surrounding areas, and I write about it with a number of example photos including the Kozy Bar at my personal Web site:

http://www.truthisapathlessland.com/

Best Regards,
Lane R. Ellis