Help support the effort to bring fiber to the Twin Ports. 2 – 4 at the DECC. Mention that you are going to Google Fest and get free parking. Music, face painting and a chance to see the making of the Hollywood production. I’m not really sure what all is going on, but it sounds interesting.

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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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Ten go in! One comes out!

For Nerd Nite 1.2 I am going to settle once and for all who the best Doctor is, at least until Matt Smith becomes the Doctor starting April 4. In the spirit of March Madness I have constructed a bracket and have seeded the Doctors based on how many stories aired in their reign.

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Karen Sunderman has a new show on PBS named The PlayList that debuted last night featuring Trampled by Turtles.  Here is a link to an interview and more information.

They have many more shows coming up with bands like Cars & Trucks and other local artists appearing on the premiere episode on April 1 @ 9PM.  That is also when it begins its regular run, but last night was a preview of what is ahead. It is really great that we now have a television program covering the arts of the Northland. If you have a story idea, want to learn more or are an artist contact them through their site at www.theplaylistonline.org.

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Featuring the Keep Aways.

This is the maiden voyage of the Gonzo Science youtube channel, the Gonzonomicron.

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Metal lives on Friday, March 19 at Pizza Luce in Duluth for the Ides of March.  Duluth’s own Bryon Maiden hit’s the stage midnight or so.

Come see: Cory “Hotrod” Ahlm as Paul Di’anno/Bruce Dickinson
Brett “Moleman” Molitor as Dave Murray
Allen “Alien” Cragin as Adrian Smith
Bryon “Gaynor” Maiden as Steve Harris
Mat “Internet Predator” Milinkovich as Nicko Mcbrain.

Be there NERDS!

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Alex Chilton of Big Star and the Box Tops died last night of heart complications at the age of 59. Here’s a eulogy from Rep. Steve Cohen (D) Tennessee, which he gave today before congress.

Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton
When he comes ’round
They sing, “I’m in love. What’s that song?
I’m in love with that song.”
– The Replacements

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Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 – 7:30pm
UMD Alumni Composer Concert
UMD Weber Hall
Adult $8 • Senior $7 • Student $5 • UMD Student $3 • Alumni $2

This is new classical chamber music featuring a real PDD’er!

The concert features the music of 4 umd alumni composers: Robert Linnemann, Ryan Rapsys, Nick Mroczek and James Gould. All of the pieces are lyrical, varied and entertaining. Every composition is a world debut! The Gichigami Piano Trio is the featured group, but the umd woodwind quintet and other small ensembles will also play.

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A group of local artists opened Pineapple Art and Supply Center last month. They bought the inventory from Bohemia Arts, which is out of business.

The new store is at 124 W. First St. in Downtown Duluth. The grand opening is Saturday, March 20, from 4 to 8 p.m.

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Ryan Van Slooten will be playing a free in-store show on Thursday, March 18 at the Electric Fetus. It’s at 5pm, and totally free.

Ryan is our featured artist this month. His new CD All But My Soul is on sale for $7.99 throughout March. Come check out his acoustic set and support local artists!

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The Iron Range Tourism Bureau has a new website called ComeHomeBob.com.

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Catching up on some of my favorite tech blogs this morning and found this familiar face headlining a post on Gizmodo. 

Duluth, Minnesota
But wait! Patrick Garmoe, public information officer of the Google Twin Ports Initiative laughs sheepishly as he explains Googlefest, an event that is one part rally, one part carnival and all parts enthusiasm for the promise of Google Fiber. In the midst of bands, choirs and other entertainment, “We’ll be shooting a movie with real actors and a Hollywood director and live-streaming the event to impress Google,” Garmoe says. The new initiative comes on the heels of Deluth mayor Don Ness’s own stunts. In a spoof video proclamation that in honor of Google, all first born males would be henceforth named GoogleFiber and first born females would of course be Googlette. Also, he literally sunk to a new low in the brutal battle for business. He jumped into the freezing waters of Lake Superior. Hizzoner, perhaps you’ll be deterred from further lunacy by these extremely gnarly Google Image results for “frostbite.”

[Google Twin Ports]

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With three amazing colleges in the area, producing some of the most intelligent minds Minnesota has to offer, investment in the future of technological progress in Duluth already seems like a good idea. Recently, however, with the advent of Mayor Don Ness’s term, our city has seen a robust growth on the involvement of younger generations in the politics of the region. These are the same minds that, generally speaking, fully comprehend the vast value of human inter-connectivity and the ability to utilize cloud data to apply distributive processing to the human intellect. Duluth in particular represents a bastion of human kindness and advanced social responsibility the likes of which are nearly incomprehensible on a large-city scale; our downtown area is immensely reflective of this. As a veteran of the United States Air Force, I’ve witnessed firsthand not only the inhuman characteristics and notions of self-entitlement prevalent in cities such as Tokyo, but also the indifference and uncaring attitudes fostered by lackadaisical local political forces in a two-city region, as the Shreveport/Bossier area of Louisiana proved so succinctly for me.

In short, Duluth and Superior represent the best-functioning example of an interstate relationship between two medium-sized cities, united by a common goal: survive the next winter.

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So, I’m currently an 11th grade student at Harbor City International School downtown, but I’ll be spending my senior year somewhere in Brazil. When I get there, I need to give a presentation on my home town, and I’m looking for some photos of Duluth that exceed my photography skills, and some advice on what to include in my presentation. Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

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Spook rockers Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie are coming to the DECC May 12!

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Check out a few river shots from this past weekend.

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Has anyone else heard about dog thieves or “bunchers” in the area?

Two different people have told me to keep an eye on our dog as there has been a rash of stolen dogs in the Duluth area. I just peeked on craigslist and the pets board is full of warnings.

Why hasn’t the DNT or the news picked up on this?

Keep an extra close eye on Fido for the time being.

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The Meat Puppets are scheduled to play Pizza Luce again. Con Queso and the DTs will open.

Wednesday, April 7 | 10 p.m.
$10 tickets; cash only; available at the Looch

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Finding myself recently laid off, I have decided to get a start on my midlife crisis by buying a skateboard.  Being laid off (need a database person?) I don’t want to spend too much but being a gearhead I know I want something decent to learn with.  Where should I go in the Twin Ports to find such a board?

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The ~4 foot-high retaining wall that holds up (well, used to) our driveway just dumped over with an impressive thud. Can anyone recommend a (reliable but not bank-breaking) contractor for this kind of work? It has been leaning for a couple of years, so there will probably be some excavation of dirt that has to be done before a new wall is put up. Only the top of one section fell down, but the rest is really leaning.

Thanks!

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There will be a public promotional event for the DPI at Valentini’s Restaurant on Monday, March 29th at 6:00pm. FREE with appetizers, a cash bar, and entertainment by singer/guitarist Emma Rustan. Please RSVP to the Facebook event, calling the DPI 218.393.2468, or by emailing dpi@duluthphotographyinstitute.com. Go to www.duluthphotographyinstitute.com for more info on the DPI.

Hope to see you all there!

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Google biking. Very rad.

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This March 19 will mark the 7th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. During these past seven years hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of Americans have needlessly lost their lives – and millions more have had their lives disrupted by physical and psychological injuries, by having their homes demolished, and losing loved ones. And tragically, after the passage of all of this time, there is no real end in sight.

To show our continued opposition to this senseless war, and to remind the powers that be that the people still insist on immediate withdrawal, we are calling on all of you to join us, yet again, in taking to the streets!

On Friday, March 19, the Northland Anti-War Coalition is going to be holding three vigils/pickets at different times of the day, in different parts of Duluth. Our goal is to raise the anti-war banner high to remind that public that the war is still being waged, and show that there is still a vibrant anti-war movement for them to join. Please try to find time in your day to join us for one or more of these vigils.

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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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Anyone else got it this morning?

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The cream is here, the cream is here! At the Coop next to the whipping creams. Man it would go good with a big bowl of Google Fiber.

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MARCH 10, 2010 — Minnesota Sen. Al Franken has joined The Google Twin Ports Fiber Initiative by resurrecting his Duluth Answer Man clips.

Duluth’s campaign combines a fun and creative grassroots campaign with a very serious effort to build a strong business case for bringing Google Fiber to the Twin Ports.

The Duluth Answer Man campaign was produced in the mid 80s by the Duluth Convention and Visitors Bureau, known today as Visit Duluth. The series ran in the Twin Cites market as the summer tourism campaign for Duluth.

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