Bitching Posts

Naming Rights and Personal Bias

May 21, 2010 12 Comments

For some reason I have the following broad scope of opinions about the new stadium/arena names.

Amsoil Arena – Fine by me. Sounds OK.
Target Field – Kind of dumb, but I can deal with it.
Mall of America Field – Kill me now.

Am I the only one with these blatantly hypocritical feelings?

By the way, Mall of America Field is at the Metrodome, in case any of you are unaware. The name change happened kind of quietly last year, but apparently some Teflon fabric panels will soon be placed on top of the dome to make it painfully clear.


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Duluth/Superior Auto Mechanic Help

May 04, 2010 39 Comments

I’ve been living in this area for nearly four years and have not been able to find a decent auto mechanic who has a good reputation and is reliable. Any help or reviews would be greatly appreciated. It seems that for the most simple things I get charged an outrageous price, then the car breaks down a week later with something else unrelated. 

Duluth or Superior is fine I just need to feel like I’m not getting ripped off.  I’m 67 and female and really bet they see me coming.  I was charged for a fix, the same thing broke a week later and I was charged a “shop fee” to fix the same thing again.  Not nice!


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Downtown Ace Hardware closing

Apr 24, 2010 24 Comments

Losing Daugherty Hardware was bad enough. Now Ace Hardware downtown is closing. The big-box stores cannot compare, and downtown takes another hit. Poop!


News and Current Affairs, R.I.P.

Skyline Drive Litterbugs: Please Keep Your Trash Out of My Backyard

Apr 19, 2010 4 Comments

Yuck!

This past weekend, I thought I would do my part to clean up the wooded area across the alley from my house.   It’s a small section of undeveloped land along Skyline Drive between the Coppertop Church and N. 7th Ave East.  Some garbage like the old bottles and paint can in the picture had been there for decades; other stuff —  like  the Subway receipt dated April 15, 2010 — just days.

Does Minnesota Nice not including littering?


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What? Really? You still make people get a key from you to use the toilet? Really?

Apr 09, 2010 14 Comments

I don’t use convenience store toilets very often, so I’m no expert, but I do use them from time to time and I must say it’s been quite a few years since I’ve had to get a key from the cashier. I thought that practice died long ago.

Well, today the Plaza SuperAmerica reacquainted me with ol’ procedure. And the key wasn’t attached to a small piece of wood or a plastic tag; it was attached to a friggen Frisbee.

So, what am I supposed to do when I get inside, since I can’t put the key in my pocket? Am I supposed to wrestle my dork out with one hand? Because there’s no surface wide enough to set this key down except in the middle of the sink, on the floor or balanced on the door handle. I could maybe wedge it into the condom machine, but if it falls out it’ll land in the toilet.

Am I too much of a germaphobe or are restroom keys disgusting?


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Come on already!

Apr 01, 2010 69 Comments

It’s been five years — what are you waiting for?!

The Current radio station should come to Duluth!

(If we can get the mayor to jump in the lake for Google, I’m sure we can get him to do something good for bringing awesome music to the northland!)*

* Note: This is not actually endorsed by Mayor Ness, please don’t hate me!


Music

Homegrown Hate

Mar 20, 2010 89 Comments

This is where I will take my frustration out against the Duluth Homegrown Festival Committee. It seems that my musical endeavors are not ready to be displayed amongst the Duluth scene.

Now I’m not trying to sound pompous, but there are plenty of musical acts in Duluth, that probably shouldn’t have been accepted. Mark Gartman for one is a talented musician, but I’m sure that at least one of his 9 bands could have been taken off the roster. Not saying that I would have been a good replacement, but COME ON!

Isn’t this festival about showcasing new music in the Duluth scene? I have never played a show in Duluth (and maybe that was what hurt me) but now would have been the time.

This city has great potential for new artists, but none of the venues want to lay their money on the table for a chance. I’m sorry I didn’t enlist a washboard player into my music. Really, I am, because if I had, you might have been able to see me play at Luce or the Red Star.

Shoot, I would have been somewhat pleased if they had stuck me in Soup Town. But nope, I’m not even worth that to them.

Anyways, I’m done (for now) with committee hate. Maybe next year I’ll have more rage when they once again reject me from their Homegrown Happen’n List.

-D A N E C D O T E


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What the F-Bomb happened in front of my house yesterday?

Mar 13, 2010 29 Comments

My son and I were sitting in the front room and heard the common yelling fight there usually is on our Armpit-of-Duluth-Corner-of-Doom. It was 5 p.m., the time the kid got off the bus last Friday, when all the chaos happened. Yesterday, Pirate was sick sans bus.

At the first “gun-shot,” I told Pirate to duck, then covered him. I counted seven gun shots; the sound was not “together” like a firecracker. And it was LOUD!

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Journalistic Integrity is at Stake Here

Feb 26, 2010 15 Comments

So, Chris Riemenschneider, the Strib’s music critic, had an item about Wilco’s Duluth concert in this week’s Vita.MN. In it, he quoted Jeff Tweedy as saying,  “This teenager came up to us and said he was mayor. We think it’s legit.”

I couldn’t help but notice this is not quite the same quote that PDDers have repeated. In the post with the picture of our fresh-faced mayor alongsideWilco, for instance, the quote is “‘teenaged boy who claims he’s the mayor.” (And I believe that post was authored by none other than our fresh-faced mayor himself, no?)

That leads me to wonder which it was. The omission of “the” before “mayor” could have been a typo on Riemenschneider’s part, but I wondered about “teenager” v. “teenaged boy,”  “said” v. “claims” and past v. present tense.

It’s no biggie, of course. I just remember that after the Sept. 4, 2007 concert, Riemenschneider reproduced Tweedy’s quote about the ore boat/fog/bridge differently than I recalled it myself. Is he just paying too close attention to the music to get quotes verbatim (which is arguably okay for a music critic)? Were the PBRs flowing too freely for anyone to take too close a notice of Tweedy’s comment? Was the concert so good no one really cares about this except me?

Discuss.


Music

DNT Resorts to Interviewing its Publisher to Produce Content?

Feb 23, 2010 41 Comments

So I know that the whole ripping on the Duluth News Tribune theme gets a bit tiresome. Yet this article compels some response from anyone who knows better than to accept as journalism a story about the New Tribune’s publisher speaking before the Duluth Chamber. Ironically, in this story, the reporter quotes the DNT’s publisher stating that “What we don’t have is less local news content.” Well, I suppose if this article and advertisements qualify, that may be the case. But the newspaper is not even close to being “better than it was a year ago.” Read the story and you might understand my utter confusion at how anyone could possibly consider this story to be newsworthy.


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Wilco rocked Duluth again … I think.

Feb 20, 2010 21 Comments

One of the many Perfect Duluth Days was punctuated with I had hoped be the Perfect Duluth night … an evening with WILCO live on stage at the DECC.  I had bought tickets months before and had been anticipating the night ever since.  Unfortunately, instead of waking up this morning, thinking what a GREAT concert, I woke up thinking…WTF was wrong with the people in our row at the concert.  The self-indulgent, self-centered, group that could not or would not just stand there, dance and enjoy the amazing music the band was putting out.

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Music

Great Food. Bad Punctuation.

Feb 17, 2010 50 Comments

For as swanky as Black Water is you’d think management would check the signage better.


Restaurants ,

Tiny Belly?

Jan 17, 2010 16 Comments

Is anyone else tired enough of this ad to throw in a few bucks and pay the proprietors to get rid of it?


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SMDC Rejects Contract Offer, Authorizes Strike

Jan 08, 2010 36 Comments

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/156923/publisher_ID/36/

FYI, SMDC netted $28.7 million in profits (despite being a “nonprofit” hospital) in 2007 and purchased over $5 million worth of property last year. CEO Peter Person makes $1.1 million per year. The average medical transcriptionist makes just on the threshold of a living wage – $35,000 per year. Solidarity! (Stay tuned for info on how you can help out…)


News and Current Affairs, Politics

Speaking of Winter Coats

Dec 31, 2009 17 Comments

What do you do with your winter coat if you go to a crowded bar to celebrate the New Year? Pile it onto the coat rack that’s built to hold six coats but is loaded up with twenty and ready to fall at any moment? Throw it on the floor in the corner and hope for the best? Keep it on and sweat like crazy? Leave it in the car and suffer through the walk?


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