Weird Posts

All publicity is good publicity?

From the front page of Fail Blog.  I don’t remember that particular quote, but the sign itself looks awfully familiar.

Remembering the Duluth Bicycle Tree

Bicycle-Tree-Duluth

An old “Where in Duluth?” post reminded me of the “Bicycle Tree” near the College of St. Scholastica. Eight years ago, or longer, a collection of bikes started growing on a tree … or whatever happened. I actually never saw it, I only heard about it. Fortunately, Tony Rogers has a whole gallery of photos from 2004.

The DOY Podcast, Episode Two

In the second installment of DOY, we go “Behind the Music” with one of Tony’s earliest and most formative recordings, Nate relives church-function sexual discovery, and Jody weighs the importance of his dog’s testicles. Other non-factual topics range from reptilian shapeshifters to Box Car Willie’s lust for children and a mysterious Hardy Boy named Nan.

Photog seeking props

I’m working on a little side project, more or less some product shots. I’m looking to borrow a few items that I haven’t been able to turn up while thrifting which has been mind boggling seeing as how they are pretty common items. Well, for the most part. I think I should only need these for a day, two tops.

Do we at least have the Duluth record?

Apparently, the record for heads on a single sunflower plant is in the low 100s. This one from PDD’s West Duluth Headquarters only has about 25 heads — which the Internet tells us is actually rather common. Anyway, some critter chewed this sucker down last night, so our attempt at the record has fallen considerably short.

Grandfather’s 104-headed sunflower started as a weed in his carrot patch … now it could be a record breaker

Confusing enough?

Green-Door-Lounge-Beaver-Bay

This sign is on the entrance to the Green Door Lounge in Beaver Bay. I guess it means that even though the place is going to be closed on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, it will still be “open” on Mondays and Tuesdays … with the quotation marks maybe indicating that they are “open for suggestions” or something. Maybe that’s how the “new hours” work.

Drones?

Did anyone see the “drone-like” plane fly over Bayfront Park on Saturday during the Harvest Festival? The same thing flew over the July 4th Parade in Superior.  Any idea what it is?

Late Summer Swim at the Cutest Little Beach in WI

Things I saw.

Slacklining and Swimming at Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum

Duluth’s megalithic ruins. I’d taken a spot of footage late last winter, and I’ve been looking forward to a summer shoot just like this to complete a video exploration of the Cribs, aka Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum. Sure enough these kind party people let me video their fun-loving attempts to best a wiggly slackline here on the late summer date of Sept. 9.

The water was very cold, it must be said, but I seem to have experienced a bodywide mutagenic change that can take it. I look forward to a shoot next summer with warm, crystal clear water; maybe I can get video even farther down in and around this quintessentially Duluth structure.

The Perilous Inlet 1 & 2

[Part two of this video series is no longer available.]

(Regular readers may recognize the first couple of minutes of part 2 as I already released those, teaser-style, not too long ago. Now the gruesome conclusion may be shown.)

Welcome to Washburn, Wisconsin!

Obama sucks; defeat the liar

The latest campaign sign to add to PDD’s collection of whack-job yard art is this one on Highway 13 near Washburn, Wis.

Who cares?

This Duluth campaign sign from 2001 is my all-time favorite. I think what Dan Williams might have intended to suggest was that he was the answer to the question — he cares. But no one took it that way.

Williams was running for the Fourth District City Council seat. He was knocked out in the primary by Roger Reinert and Neill Atkins. Atkins eventually won, topping Reinert by 18 votes.

Adding insult to injury.

Maybe you don’t live in Lakeside and missed this on Saturday. Well: there it is.

McPants on Fire?

I’ve been watching that god-awful fortress of a retaining wall around the London Road McDonald’s slowly bulge outward over the past months with a mixture of bemused amazement and horror. Now comes word via the News Tribune that the wall is being knocked down and rebuilt … as part of a cosmetic enhancement?