An Introduction to Lake Superior by Jim Richardson of Duluth, MN.

Girl on her Bike, Duluth, 1977. By Tom Arndt from his book Home.

Now, I don’t actually know where in Duluth this was taken, but I’d like to know so I can go re-shoot it. The buildings in the background look distinct enough that I hope someone here recognizes them if they are still standing.

I just now noticed that “analysis” could be thought of as having a prefix.

Anyway, the ears on the left are from the Whole Foods Coop and the ones on the right are from the guy in the Pizza Hut parking lot on Central Entrance.

Co-op price was .99 each (or .89 with my membership). Pizza Hut price was $6/doz or .50 each.

A random coop ear was 35 corns high and 18 corns around at the base and thus I approximate it as having 630 corns at $0.0014 per corn.

Pizza Hut Guy corn was 33 corns tall and 13 corns around at base. That’s 429 corns and $.0012 per corn.  Still cheaper, but if I had a little more patience, I might count around the middle next time.

The Co-op corn’s white appearance is outside of my childhood memories of what corn should look like, but it did yellow up after boiling.

They were both delicious.  However; I found the Co-op cob superior.  It was fresher and juicier.  Co-op corn also offered a better audio experience as the kernels popped when bitten into.

Go see him! If you’re not familiar, check out his website: http://that1guy.com/multimedia/video/mash. Saw him first at Green Man a few years back and he’s hella fun. Playing a 1:00 matinee at Big Top Chautauqua this Saturday for only $4 (get tickets in advance, though), and then opening later that night (still at Big Top) for…..hold onto your hearts, ladies….KANSAS.
Admittedly, we’re skipping the Kansas part, but the matinee should be rad and there are still a bunch of tickets left.

At least one news organization reported yesterday that Mayor Don Ness is the first Duluth mayor to be unopposed in an election. Well, it’s not true.

Mayor Ness is indeed the only mayor in the past 126 years to go unopposed, but Maryanne Norton at the Duluth Public Library has found three Duluth mayors in the 1800s who were unopposed.

Sidney Luce was elected unopposed in 1872 and served one term.

Dr. Vespasian Smith was elected twice with no opposition — in 1873 and 1874. (Mayors served one-year terms until 1913, when the current four-year system began.)

Horace B. Moore was elected unopposed in 1885 and served one term.
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Inspired by a previous post, and feeling a desperate need for external validation, I figured it’s about time to formally introduce my blog to the PDD community.

ericdubnicka.com

An angst-ridden New Years drove me to finally get a website going, and shockingly, I update it with new artwork near daily, commentary and links to art, design and oddities that I’ve come across.  It’s a work in progress and I encourage any comments and suggestions you may have.

I’ve just started following Ennyman’s blog.

He goes to a lot of art openings that I’m not cool enough to even know are happening until after they happen. (I’d walked past Ochre Ghost Gallery a hundred times and never thought to ask whether it had a mailing list.)

What other local blogs (beside this one) would you recommend following to get a taste of Duluth?

Yoga North is excited to announce an upcoming trip to India Feb 1-21, 2013 for the Kumbha Mela.

If you have ever had any interest in going to India or just hearing more about it, please join us Saturday, Aug 6, from 3-5pm at Yoga North.
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Hattie took this photo on Park Point during the storm last Sunday night.

In honor of National Public Lands Day, September 24, my brother Mike and I are going to spend 2 weeks paddling over 120 miles across the BWCAW documenting, collecting, and packing out all the trash that we find along the way. 

We will inventory everything we find and create trash density maps to aid wilderness resource managers and environmental advocates focus education and clean up efforts within the BWCAW. 

Checkout our blog thegreatpackout2011.blogspot.com and Facebook page The Great Pack Out 2011.

Find the full National Citizen Survey results for the City of Duluth here (PDF).

The numbers are still lower than we would like, but we’re seeing progress over the past couple of years.  A good example of this is the question on “The overall direction Duluth is taking.”  In 2009 it was only 33%, today it’s 51%.  That’s a number that I’d like to see around 80%, but we’re making progress.

I think PDD deserves a lot of credit for consistently pointing out the good things happening around town (as well as pointing out those things that need to be improved).

As I figured, eventually I started to take Zinema 2 for granted, and even to vaguely feel uncool enough for it.

Then, today, I saw TrollHunter.

“The TrollHunter” is the story of a group of Norwegian film students that set out to capture real-life trolls on camera after learning their existence has been covered up for years by a government conspiracy. A thrilling and wildly entertaining film, “The Trollhunter” delivers truly fantastic images of giant trolls wreaking havoc on the countryside, with darkly funny adherence to the original Norwegian folklore.

If you haven’t gone, this is the way to beat the heat!

Stolen early 7/18. Green 1985 BMW K100. Identifying features: Green paint with dented gas tank. One ammo can on left side, other was off. Windshield was off. Yellow brake rotors, black tape on seat. If you see this bike, call the DPD/911. Aerostich jacket in ammo can as well.

I went on a little paddle Saturday afternoon to see if I could track down any of those “tall” ships.

I found a couple and I can confirm they are tall.

Over 30 artists will be attending and creative items ranging from photography, glass, jewelry, clothing, home decor, ceramics to items made of natural and recycled materials will be for sale. This is the 3rd year for this local artist fair.

Saturday, July 23, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
New location: Unitarian Church, 835 W. College St. (on the bend of the road in between UMD and CSS). Free parking – above ground and below ground.
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My band is working on finding a place to practice but so far has had no luck. We are a three piece rock band and have a great basement, but don’t want to offend our neighbors.

Does anyone know of any space available for bands to rent in the area? Any ideas?

From the Cliff’s Barber Shop Collection.

Some fine gentlemen doing some excellent parkour and freerunning in our wonderful little city. The video was filmed and edited by Clark Anderson.

The other evening I saw three guys mowing the grass that the city has ignored on a median strip on Mesaba Avenue. Thank you guys! I go down First Avenue East every day and the tall grass that had not been mowed all summer made it impossible to see up-bound traffic. These three guys took matters into their own hands and believe me it did not go unnoticed. Thank you guys!

I know this is a hot button, and the title alludes to an expletive, but please, please can any of the libertarian-minded PDD readers explain what is the moral objection to taxation? It seems to me that an intelligent and regulated tax system is a sign of an evolved society that wants to achieve some communal objectives, like good schools and investing in leading-edge technology in our infrastructure. 

Yes, humans are imperfect … there will always be people who take advantage and are greedy/dishonest.  But why the “Hell No!”? Do you have substance to back up the intransigence? “No taxation without representation!” could also be viewed as “No representation without taxation!”

Let’s keep the flame to the troll zone, I’m truly interested in intelligent, reasoned and goodhearted debate on this.

Cat found in Central Hillside (3rd St & 2nd Ave E) 7/14/11. Has a pink collar but no tags. Please notify if you are or know the owner.

The Duluth Festival Opera presents an innovative music drama that re-visits Anne Frank’s diary in this inspiring story of a young girl standing tip-toe on the edge of her future during a time of hatred and intolerance. Produced by the award-winning Nautilus Music Theater of St. Paul.

WHEN:
July 21-23, 7:30 pm and July 24, 2:00 pm
WHERE:
Teatro Zaccone
TICKETS:
$16 per adult/under 18 free
(218) 336-1414 or online at teatrozuccone.com

SEED MATH IV

Here’s the fourth of four digital reissues of the Seed Math albums that were originally released in 2003-2004. This one is free for the taking, as are the other three. Complete your set, today! And, please, tell a friend.

New album is recorded and awaiting mastering. (Read: I have to learn how to master and then master.)

Free Duluth music for free Duluth people. Eat up.

RIYL: noise, Beck, Ween, noise, Melvins, psych, etc.

Perfect Duluth Day is launching an events calendar, and for the next month or so you can preview it at it’s permanent URL:

perfectduluthday.com/calendar

We have created this calendar because a majority of posts to the PDD Blog are about events, but the format of a blog is not a practical way to organize that type of information. If you wanted to know what’s happening today based on PDD posts, you’d have to select the “events” category and skim through weeks of random items looking for today’s date. That is lame.

So today our calendar is born. It doesn’t have a ton of events in it yet, and it probably has some technical issues left to be fixed, but the general format is set and it has seemed to be working well during our initial testing phase.

Check it out and tell us what you think with a comment to this post or an e-mail to calendar @ perfectduluthday.com.
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Yesterday, across Minnesota, battered women’s shelters closed their doors. Why? Not for lack of need, but for lack of priority by the state. So far shelters and childcare for low-income families have been placed in the “non-essential” services category. What then are “essential” services and who gets to decide?

Walk/Jog/Yoga with Kiki is a weekly summer and fall-long gathering held (by donation) in Duluth of like-minded people that connect through yoga, walking and jogging. Kiki is happy to motivate and empower you to get fit, loose a few extra pounds (if desired) and get happy!
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I hear a band playing that sounds like it’s coming from Bayfront park, but I don’t see anything on the schedule. Anyone know the mystery of the random sounds of metal washing over Lincoln Park?

Do you play an instrument? Well good for you, you frigging braggart.

Wait … let’s try that again.

Do you play an instrument? Want to get paid to play it and hang out with some cool people? Renegade Theater Company’s upcoming production of THE WILD PARTY needs the following musicians:

• Trumpet player
• 2 Reed players
• Guitarist
• Bassist

If you or anyone you know might be interested in playing some sweet jazz / rock / pop music while earning some cash and having some fun, please contact Artistic Director Katy Helbacka at katyhelbacka@gmail.com.

Tonight at Glensheen:

Guided grounds tours, croquet, and Concerts by the Lake

Join us!