Last night’s opening/reception at the new Prøve Gallery in Downtown Duluth was as exciting as the first. For those interested in the arts, I have posted a few photos with commentary at Ennyman’s Territory.
Don’t forget the two shows tonight in Superior at Mr. Lucky’s and Goin’ Postal. The Superior Telegram featured these two events in a front page story this week by Maria Lockwood titled Mixing art and business.
It was a full house, everyone alive as the Duluth art scene spreads its wings.
I am looking for a videographer that can help me with a project. I am looking for someone that is creative, unique, and likes people. It will be a compensated project, and needs to look good. Any suggestions or contacts?
The West Duluth ICO on Grand Avenue and 46th Avenue West has been torn down. A CVS pharmacy will be built in its place. I don’t have any ICO memories that are springing to mind, other than that one night in 2010 I decided to shoot a photo of it.
By the way, I think it might have technically been a Spur station, even though everyone called it ICO and there was an ICO sign on it. I’m not really sure how gas-station naming works.
When the Twin Towers were struck and fell on my birthday ten years ago, 9/11 was immediately being compared to another Day of Infamy sixty years earlier. What’s striking about the two events is how differently the news reached us. In 2001 Americans across the land were glued to their TV sets seeing replays of the horror and hearing commentaries of related unfolding events as they happened, with varying degrees of accuracy but instantly. With Internet access we could also watch reactions from around the world. Information about the 1941 attack came home to us in a far different manner, as this book excerpt shows.
During World War II my father-in-law Wilmer A. “Bud” Wagner kept a diary which years later he assembled into a book, with the help of his son Lloyd. And There Shall Be Wars is 536 pages in length with 178 original photos and illustrations. In many ways it is a remarkable document by the second man from this region of the country to enter the army, serving for the duration in North Africa, Italy and all points in between. The diary entries were made throughout, but the book’s additional value comes from the commentary added nearly fifty years later. My blog entry at Ennyman’s Territory this a.m. features the excerpt from Pearl Harbor Day through the ninth of December 1941… A thought provoking read.
And There Shall Be Wars is a worthy addition to any World War II library.
We need team managers for Destination Imagination teams at Congdon Park Elementary. I have been trying to tap out other sources before posting here, but schedules are not lining up and I’m getting desperate!
Not familiar with Destination Imagination? Check out idodi.org for more info. It can be sort of difficult to explain exactly what it is, but essentially you facilitate a group of 5-7 kids working on a project to present at a tournament on March 10. I say “facilitate” because the kids provide the ideas, and the work; adults are not allowed to do anything for them or give them ideas.
I am hoping to find someone before Dec. 21 who would be able to start meeting in January. I have two teams without managers at this point: one group of kindergarten-to-second-grade students who will be meeting Tuesdays from 2:30 to 4 p.m., and a group of fourth- and fifth- graders who will be meeting Wednesdays from 2:30 to 4 p.m. You are provided with materials for your team meetings, including a “Team Pak” purchased from DI that explains the projects the kids will be working on.
Please contact Nikki at nicole.strand @ duluth.k12.mn.us if you are interested. I can provide you with more details and information at that point! All volunteers participating in our after-school programs will be required to fill out an application and pass a background check prior to starting.
If Congdon isn’t the right spot for you, but you’re still interested in being a team manager for DI, please still let me know and I will connect you to other schools that still need team managers as well!
In preparation for the holidays, it’s time to clear the desks at PDD of any hot giveaway items. Mention in the comments how good you’ve been this past year, and which one of the shows below you deserve two free tickets to, and I’ll act like Santa and divvy up the goodies.
(UPDATE: This contest is over now, and Santa has given away all his goodies, but you can still brag about how good you’ve been in the comments if you want. Just be aware that bragging is not being good.)
Prøve Gallery has announced the opening of a new show, Second, on Friday, Dec. 9. Second will feature the work of Alexander Hanson, Nikki Burger, Michael Beachy, Brittany Sanford, and Zach Gorr. Prøve Collective members Anthony Zappa, Justin Iverson, Nickolas Monson and Steven J Read will also be presenting work. The DJ collective the Crunchy Bunch will be spinning records, food will be provided by Clyde Iron Works and micro-brewed beer will be provided by Carmody Irish Pub.
I enjoyed the first show immensely. Last night I met with three of the young men from the PRØVE collective who started this new gallery and published the interview at my Ennyman’s Territory blog.
This event is free and open to the public.
The Prøve Gallery promises to be an exciting addition to the Twin Ports arts scene.
I’m an independent radio/media producer currently living and working in Milwaukee. However, for a variety of reasons, I find myself strongly drawn to Duluth (I’ve visited a few times and a couple close friends currently live in Duluth).
To satisfy that interest, I’m thinking about spending next month implementing a project I’ve cooked up called January In Duluth. The idea is fairly straightforward — I’m going to spend the month (1) getting to know as much as I can about the culture/people/history/state-of-mind in Duluth and (2) exploring how the winter cold effects a community (I’m currently sitting in the half-outside section of a coffee shop, practicing/conditioning myself).
I’d be coming into the city looking to listen and learn, so conversations in physical and digital spaces would be a central part of my approach. All of the stories, conversations, interviews, videos, photos, etc. produced would then live on an interactive website, much like this one.
Since such a project would rely so heavily on the kindness and knowledge of strangers, I thought this would be the perfect space to kick up a short conversation about the prospect of January In Duluth. Does this project sound interesting to you, either as a person who might share some thoughts about Duluth or perhaps an audience member? Beyond your own feelings, is this the kind of project Duluth might respond to? Any feedback will be warmly appreciated!
The Senate has voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act , which contains a provision that would allow the military to abduct American citizens, on US soil, without charges or trial, indefinitely. Ex CIA analyst Ray McGovern discusses it here. Both Minnesota senators voted yea. This is a bigdeal!
UMD released the name of a student found dead in his dorm Monday. William “Billy” Harper, 19 from Coon Rapids, was discovered dead in his room at Heany Hall on Monday. Lisa Erwin, chancellor of student life, says it appears he died of natural causes. Billy Harper was enrolled in the Labowitz School of Business and Economics. He was very active in sports and talented football player in high school. My prayers are with his friends and family.
A public lecture by Dave Benson (executive director of the Damiano Center) happened to a standing-room only crowd at 5pm in the UMD Library Rotunda. I had to sit in the next room and listen intently. (more…)
Thursday, Dec. 8
Dink Tank, Duluth’s only resident sketch comedy act, is back with Return of the Dinks.
Friday, Dec. 9
Two productions of The Nutcracker open tonight. One at the Myles Reif Performing Arts Center in Grand Rapids and the other at the DECC. In its second week is Rubber Chicken Theater’s fourth annual holiday sketch-comedy revue. This year it’s titled “The Running (Unopposed) Man, or, Another Fine Ness You’ve Gotten Us Into”
Saturday, Dec. 10 Lower Chester Park re-opens with ice skating, concessions and a proclamation from the mayor. R.T. Quinlan’s hosts a night of indie rock with A Winter Downpour headlining.
Keep checking the PDD Calendar for continuously awesome events.
For all the beards and mustaches raised in Duluth this fall, I expected more of a bang for the end of M’ovember harvest - the epic month of facial hair. Was something posted somewhere? A gallery?
I do some freelance work for SwimCreative and see they posted this video of Mike Malone getting a classic shave on their Facebook page.
I was just trying to figure out trail mileage in Hartley on the internets. I found a good enough map on the Hartley Nature Center website, but while poking around I also saw on aerial maps that there is a lot of contiguous greenspace across Howard Gnesen Road to the west. Anyone know what is over there? Is it private or public, and are there trails? Not that there aren’t enough trails in Hartley to get good and lost without heading out of the park boundaries.
Jeff Gage: Just last year, you guys became honorary citizens of Duluth. Have you been doing any house shopping up there yet?
John Stirratt: I don’t know if I want to move any further north — not that I want to sound wimpy to a Minnesotan. But that’s a beautiful town, man, it really is. I would totally hang out there during a summer.
As someone still fairly new to town, I’m not sure I understand the whole story behind the legalities of the Fond-du-Luth casino downtown.
Is it located on sovereign Indian territory or is the Fond du Lac band just the landlords? Why do we have such an eyesore that encourages anti-social behavior in our downtown at all? Isn’t there some way to make it go away entirely in favor of say, a museum, or a book store, or affordable housing, or a cafe?
[BTW -- I come from a family of origin where the scourge of gambling wreaked havoc. Yeah, yeah, I know people can enjoy gambling and do it responsibly -- but can't we at least leave that out of downtown and off in Nevada or on reservations? (Of course, I don't think it's really healthy for reservations either, but if that's a sovereignty issue I respect that.)]
I’m heading in to Duluth today to do some shopping, and I’d like to catch the Vikings game at a local establishment. I live in the sticks and I don’t know enough about Duluth yet to know of a good place to go.
Requirements: game must be on. Reasonably good food – more than just deep-fried bar fare. Places to sit (not super crowded). Not too dive bar-ish.
Winter is upon us, and we have decided to get a remote car starter. We are new to the area, and do not know much about these things. We thought the nice people here might have some advice on what remote starter to get and what local Duluth/Superior business is good to install it. We would like to have a remote starter that can start the car from far away, and have it installed by some good people in the area. Does anyone have experience with this? Thanks!
Personally, I find it impossible to drive past a situation like this and not have a Dukes-of-Hazzard fantasy. And it always surprises me that no one goes for it. A trailer positioned like this is clearly a stunt-jumping invitation for any West Duluth dirtbag with a muscle car — and I don’t see how any judge could disagree.
More specifically he mentions the miraculous case of Janice Goodger …
There was a 65-year-old woman in Duluth, Minnesota last year that was found frozen and without a pulse in her front yard one morning in the winter, and they brought her back to life. The next day, she was doing so well, they wanted to run tests on her. She got cranky and just went home.
I ran into Marc Gartman last night, who had this item hot off Miss Zoey Cohen’s drawing pad.
Although I audibly groaned to myself at every stage of the Ween cover art controversy (starting with “Ween … and you?,” continuing with “Sex and Rock and Roll,” and finally dragging to a temporary halt with “This is what a feminist looks like”) I now personally endorse as much disagreement and debate about this as possible.
