The Electric Fetus is getting some love from Rolling Stone. It’s featured in a new list of the top 25 record shops in the United States.

“Jewels of Superior” opens Friday, Sept. 24, with a reception from 4-7pm at the Johnson Heritage Post in Grand Marais. The show closes Oct. 10.

The ‘Buerke Bunch’ is liquidating over 50 years of beer sign collectibles. Old and new including neons, pub signs, pool table lamps, mirrors, tin signs, steins, mugs, glassware, merchandise, bottles, cans inflatables, cups, and one of a kind pieces! We carry Hamm’s, Royal 58, Olympia, Miller Brands, Leinenkugel, Heineken, Guinness and many more! One day only! Saturday, Sept 18, at 10am sharp! Preview starts at 8am. 6555 E. Hunter Lake Road, Duluth. Contact 722-3360 for more information.

Please join us for a Benefit Gala Concert to be held on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at Mitchell Auditorium at the College of St. Scholastica.

Lyric Opera of the North kicks off a new season –- and a new era –- with this festive program, which features soloists Vicki Fingalson, Kate Kulas, Sarah Lawrence, Bill Bastian, Cal Metts, Jeffrey Madison and others, along with the LOON Chorus and Orchestra, all under the baton of Keith Swanson. With close to 70 musicians participating – 100% of them local artists– this is an event you do not want to miss!

The program is sure to please: plenty of favorites and lots of variety from opera and operetta. The program will run approximately 75 minutes and will conclude with a champagne reception. More than 10 local vendors have contributed treats for this event.

Funds raised at this event will support future programming, including LOON’s upcoming production of Amahl and the Night Visitors, scheduled for December 17, 18 and 19.

Tickets are $24 and are available at the Mitchell Auditorium Box Office: 723-7000.

The ad below, for Northern Natural Gas Company, ran in Time magazine 45 years ago — Sept. 17, 1965. Hats off to Susie LeGarde Menz for the find.

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Local and global artist openings for Glocal, Global & Local Art & Gift Fair to be held Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010 from 10 until 3 p.m. at St. Michael’s Church, 4901 E. Superior St. in Lakeside.
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Laps Around the Library – a fundraiser walk to support the library, Sept 25, 2010.

Organized by the Friends of the Duluth Public Library
Exercise * Community * Support the Library
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Lake Avenue Café
Tuesday, Sept. 21, 5-7 p.m.

Among the 100 booths at Fall Fest this Saturday at Chester Bowl will be one designed to remind you what an upstanding participant Perfect Duluth Day is in local commerce, civic boosterism and random hyperbole. Come check it out!
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The New York Times is looking for people to show off their city.

Show us Your City:
A User-generated video project with a local point of view

We all remember the Google Fiber video. I think the PDD universe can produce something better. Better than Visit Duluth. Better than the powers that be.

Anyone up to the challenge?

Renegade Improv’s Friday and Saturday night crew is teaming up with the New Class to bring you the very first Renegade Improv Marathon.

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Urban Farm Tour
Saturday, September 18, 10 am – 2 pm
sponsored by the
Lake Superior Sustainable Farming Association and
Duluth Community Garden Program
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The NorShor received the ban hammer from DEDA today. The building will be closed indefinitely until it meets ADA compliance.

It took a few days to pull together, and the link was kind of buried in the Upset Duluth thread, but in response to demand a gallery of portraits has been started over at the News Tribune Attic. It includes the 1995 photo above, by the News Tribune’s Bob King, of a Superior resident concerned about the condition of the sidewalk near his home. There are photos of people without concerns, too.

I’ll keep adding to it if there’s reader interest in seeing more.

Now that the Denfeld and Central High School student bodies have been united, it seems like a good time to look back at some of the pranks students played on each other.

The most infamous, of course, was during the 1974-75 school year. Denfeld kids somehow managed to hoist a Volkswagon to the top of Central High School. The car had “Hunters” painted on the side.

The statute of limitations is probably up, so anyone willing to come forward, admit participation and explain how it was done will surely be held harmless. (Although I can’t promise some middle-aged Central grad won’t toilet paper your house. And I suppose administrators could still revoke your diploma. Better keep quiet.)

One rumor I heard was that the whole prank was based on a lesson from a physics class at Denfeld.

Another prank I remember hearing about, I think also from the 1970s, involved Denfeld kids setting a greased pig loose at Central. Again, anyone with details should chime in on the comments.

And, of course, there was the fall of 1979, when Central kids threw eggs at the Denfeld marching band before the Homecoming game, which prompted Denfeld kids to throw eggs at Central’s band during halftime. I think that was the last significant prank before Duluth Public Schools entered an era of civility and brotherhood and whatnot.

Certainly there were some other good pranks not mentioned here. Let the discussion begin. Hell, we’ll even let cake eaters participate.

Duluth charities and UMD can win up to $70,000 in this year’s Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year contest. Plus the alumni association that rallies the most votes will win an additional $10,000.

Bob Nielson is again in the running for NCAA Division II coach of the year, after nearly winning the title last season. Everyone can vote every day on their smart phone and each of their computers at coachoftheyear.com. Your vote could mean up to $80,000 for our community.

Check out this video created by three UMD students

Today, September 15, at Hartley Nature Center:

5-7 p.m. Staff-led Mushroom and Plant Walk- join staff as we stroll through Hartley Park to see what’s growing.

7 p.m. AIS meet and greet – an introduction to the aquatic invasive species found in our area presented by Marte Thabes Kitson, Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Specialist and National Park Service Liaison for Minnesota Sea Grant.

More information at www.hartleynature.org

Rehearsals start Tuesday, Sept. 21, at 7pm at Woodland Middle School. This is put on by Duluth Community Education. You won’t find a better bunch of people to play with. Josh Aerie is the conductor and does a marvelous job. So, whether you are in middle school, high school, out of high school, college or out of college, or even if you haven’t played since college, give this a try. All your other hobbies cost tons of money anyway. Have fun and enjoy great music along the way.

Seeking all instruments, but woodwinds and brass especially.

No auditions, all ages and skill levels welcome. The ‘semester’ is $36 and you can prepay or do it at Woodland Middle School.

The Boundary Waters has a long literary tradition. From the works of Sigurd Olson to Paul Gruchow to Helen Hoover, many writers have tried to capture the adventure, solitude and beauty of canoe country.

Now, it’s your turn.

This fall, the Friends of the Boundary Waters will publish the first edition of a new chapbook, “The Firegrate Review,” and you are invited to submit your essays, stories, poems, and other written works.

As a collection of wilderness writings, the chapbook will be the perfect size to slip into your Duluth Pack for reading in the tent or around the fire.

Submissions up to 1,500 words in length will be considered, but writers are encouraged to keep submissions concise. Poems should be fifty lines or shorter.

The deadline for submissions is the end of the BWCAW permit season: September 30, 2010.

Visit http://www.friends-bwca.org/firegrate-review/ for details

Laurie Hertzel, author of News to Me: Adventures of an Accidental Journalist, is going to be in Duluth launching her new book, Thursday evening, Sept. 16, at 7 pm, in Fitgers’ Spirit of the North theater.

News to Me tells the story of the 18 years Laurie spent working for the Duluth News Tribune, including her accompanying a group of Duluthians to what was then the Soviet Union in 1986, when they went to talk to the city officials in Petrozavodsk about setting up a sister city relationship. It’s a compelling read, and there’s some fabulous stories about what Duluth was like in the ’70s and ’80s. And to sweeten the deal, there’s going to be a cash bar, free meatballs, and I am introducing Laurie!

On September 18, the Full Circle Superior walkers will finish the last few miles of their trek around Lake Superior. All are welcome to join Mike Link and Kate Crowley as they walk the final mile of their journey by meeting at Leif Erikson Park at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. They’ll walk along the Lakewalk to Canal Park Lodge for an informal reception with refreshments. The reception begins at 2 p.m. and will include an outdoor tobacco ceremony.

Mike and Kate will complete their circle of Lake Superior the same weekend that the Lake Superior Circle Tour celebrates its 50th anniversary. It was on September 17, 1960 that the last leg of the Trans-Canada Highway opened in Wawa, Ontario, making it possible to circle Lake Superior by vehicle. A 50th anniversary celebration is planned in Wawa.

For more information about the event, call 218-722-5002.

Statewide results for Wisconsin races related to Douglas County and Duluth’s neighboring port, the city of Superior:

FEDERAL OFFICES

United States Representative, Wisconsin District 7
Democratic Party
Julie M. Lassa — 28,576 | 85%
Don Raihala — 5,016 | 15%

United States Representative, Wisconsin District 7
Republican Party
Sean Duffy — 41,032 | 66%
Dan Mielke — 21,100 | 34%

STATEWIDE OFFICE

Wisconsin Governor, Republican Party
Scott Walker — 360,032 | 59%
Mark W. Neumann — 237,870 | 39%
Scott S. Paterick — 16,609 | 3%

Wisconsin Governor, Independent Candidates
Jim Langer — 12 | 67
James James — 6 | 33
(This result is for Douglas County only. No one seems to be tracking this race statewide.)

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor, Democratic Party
Tom Nelson — 107,029 | 52%
Spencer Coggs — 43,535 | 21%
James L. Schneider — 37,269 | 18%
Henry Sanders — 19,297 | 9%

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor, Republican Party
Rebecca Kleefisch — 259,318 | 47%
Brett Davis — 139,211 | 25%
Dave Ross — 80,433 | 15%
Robert Gerald Lorge — 52,199 | 10%
Nick Voegeli — 21,082 | 4%

Wisconsin State Treasurer, Democratic Party
Dawn Marie Sass — 129,510 | 67%
Dan Bohrod — 62,761 | 33%

Wisconsin State Treasurer, Republican Party
Kurt W. Schuller — 169,232 | 37%
Scott Feldt — 166,148 | 36%
Jim Sanfilippo — 123,315 | 27%

After yet another radio format switch I find myself wondering the reason for it all, and when it will end.  I must admit, the Bridge was one of the few stations left that I could stand to listen to.

Upper Midwest Broadcasting Station News reports:

Midwest Communications’ KDAL-FM/95.7 (Duluth) has dropped its “Bridge” Adult Alternative format and is now carrying Rock of the 1970s, `80s, and `90s as “Rock 96.”

What are everyone’s thoughts?

Furthur on Tour

Check out some of the band’s shows from this past summer. Entire Terrapin Suites. Killer.

Come out and celebrate Ian Kvale’s 21st birthday with Dirty Horse at the Brewhouse!

I love this time of year. The leaves may be falling, but the Perfect Duluth Day sticker harvest has just begun. Stop by the Perfect Duluth Day booth at Chester Bowl’s Fall Fest this Saturday, Sept. 18, from 9:30am – 4:30pm to pick up your own free Perfect Duluth Day bumper sticker.

This is a brand new batch of stickers with a slightly different design than the original. (If you have an old sticker, you will officially be stuck in the past after Saturday.)

The PDD booth will be on the right side as you enter the park from Skyline, about halfway down the row.

Weather should be good, but the rain date is Sunday, Sept. 19, same time.

If you can’t make it to Fall Fest but still want a sticker, send a S.A.S.E to PDD.

Perfect Duluth Day
P.O. Box 7305
Duluth MN 55807

UMD Market in the Plaza
Every Wednesday 1:30 – 4:30
UMD Kirby Plaza
1120 Kirby Drive

Vendors from Lake Superior Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota offer bedding plants, hanging baskets, perennials, annuals, vegetable transplants, fresh fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, farm fresh pasture raised eggs, organic culinary herbs, lotions, balms, cold relief teas and drops, skin products and more!

Market Plaza

Tim Kaiser

Art In the Plaza

A constantly changing bazaar featuring goods and demonstrations from local artists and crafters. Everything from jewelry and decorative garden stakes to paintings, craft items, and hand-blown glassworks.

In case you missed it, or nearly had a head-on collision today … with little fanfare, East 12th and 14th Avenues are now two-way streets! No longer can drivers drag race up 14th in a dash to get to Burrito Union first. Gone are the days of stopping at every stoplight on 12th. Be safe out there.