The husband-and-wife photography team of Dawn M. LaPointe and Gary L. Fiedler have a pretty sweet online photo gallery. The canoeing snow-people in particular caught my eye. LaPointe and Fiedler have work on display at two Duluth stores — Duluth Pack in Canal Park, and the Frame Corner & Gallery downtown.

24-year-old receives sage counsel from venerable 27-year-old
DULUTH, MN—Generously bestowing the kind of wisdom that only comes with age, worldly and venerable 27-year-old Matthew Owen took the time last night to offer his enlightened counsel to 24-year-old family friend Dennis Paige.

Other Onion stories with Duluth datelines:

• Boy finds own real-life E.T. (2009)

• Antique dealer sick of appraising Smurf collections (2002)

• What this town needs is a really shitty community newspaper (2002)

… and there are probably some we missed.

This recently unearthed clip from KDLH-TV’s Newschannel 3 This Morning, features the Hospital People performing the song “Crash” in support of their April 2003 Geek Prom gig at the NorShor Threatre.

There is nothing quite like rawking and spaz dancing at 6 a.m. Maybe that’s why the video is so faded.

Video by students at the Bethany Lutheran College Media Arts department in Mankato.

Since this old comic was available for a quarter at the Wallace Hankins Estate Sale, I thought I’d scan and post it, in case anyone finds it interesting or knows specifically what it’s about.

I would guess it’s from the 1930s, when buses began replacing streetcars, which may have resulted in cutting trees to widen roads, or maybe the tree is simply a metaphor for how the streetcar business would be hacked to death by buses.

The headline leads me to believe this was a newspaper editorial comic that the Park Point Community Club had printed on card stock and distributed around town to raise a fuss. The signature on the comic is John Harrison.

Another installment of the exciting game in which the person who is the first to identify where the photo was shot is the winner of great dignity and respect.

Smelter: John Finkle
Photographer: Chelsea Froemke

Smelting posts from years past:
Where is the best place to eat smelt? (2012)
Duluth Smelting (2011)
Remember the glory days of smelting? (2010)

Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Dept. has issued its annual plea to the public to refrain from using city hiking trails, snowmobile trails and cross country ski trails until the mud dries up. Refer to the 2010 PDD post “Where to hike in Duluth when it’s muddy,” for guidance.

If you enjoy the mud, well, the Mudman Race will be held at Spirit Mountain on July 20. It features 5k and 10k courses with obstacles to “test strength, endurance and mental fortitude.” So, in addition to mud, you better enjoy hopping over hay bales and climbing through a spider web of ropes.

Just to tie this all together, it bears mentioning that Mud Sisters Pottery will open a new exhibit at Washington Studios on May 10 called “Mud Madness, Mud Magic, Mud Sisters.” It features a collection of functional and decorative pottery, and sculpture in clay and bronze.

The slideshow above displays photos tagged with homegrownmusicfestival2013 on Flickr. It will continue to grow as photographers sober up and find time to upload their gems. Share your memories through words in the comments.

Wrenshall’s Mark “Sparky” Stensaas has had up to 19 wild turkeys at his feeder. He tells the full story on his Photonaturalist blog.

The URL for PDD’s Homegrown Chicken App is calendar.perfectduluthday.com/homegrown, if you want to check out the Homegrown schedule on the fly from your mobile device.

The official Homegrown website should have everything else you need, and of course, there are Field Guides all over town and a speadsheet of the schedule. The only change to the schedule we’ve heard so far is that 3-2-1 will not play tonight due to illness.

Homegrown’s Twitter handle is @dhgmf and the hashtag for this year is #hgmf13. The hashtag on Instagram is also #hgmf13. Obviously there is a Facebook page, too.

Flickr tag for photos: homegrownmusicfestival2013

Homegrown banners are in effect across the top of PDD. You can continue to submit them throughout the week to banners @ perfectduluthday.com. (Yes, Homegrown banners will also be in PDD’s new banner competition for the $100 prize.)

Game on.

Duluth got two nods from City Pages in its Best of the Twin Cities issue, and musician Eric Pollard was part of both. He’s the drummer for Retribution Gospel Choir and front man of Actual Wolf, bands that won for Best Live Artist and Best Songwriter, respectively.
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Timelapse video and photography by Mark Ellis. Shot April 14 in northern Minnesota.

The 2014 race for Minnesota Governor is already underway. Republican Scott Honour, a businessman from Orono, has launched his campaign website. (Amusing sidenote: The announcement page is at “/splash/#prettyPhoto.” Well, it is a pretty photo.)

Zenith City Online launched a redesign today and has delved into the history of the Tycoons Alehouse building, formerly Duluth’s City Hall, answering the question, “Was Tycoons Alehouse ever a jail?” Spoiler: For one year the Rathskeller was home to a holding cell, not an official jail.

There will be a full moon tonight for the Take Back the Night march and I Heart Consensual Sex Party. Sexual Assault Awareness Month will be recognized in Superior as well, with the Speak Out Superior march. Howl like a wolf; hump like a civilized person.

The Cloud Cult movie No One Said it Would be Easy screens tonight at Zinema 2, and the band will play the Twin Ports Bridge Festival in Duluth on July 6.

Poem by Sheila Packa; video by Kathy McTavish.

With the Homegrown Music Festival coming up, PDD launched a series of polls two months ago, tournament style, to determine which Duluth-area band has the sweetest pic. It has come down to these two:

Charlie Parr (photo by Peter Lee)

Tangier 57 (photo by Patrice Bradley)

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This poll is now closed. The results were:

Tangier 57 — 59.5 percent
Charlie Parr — 40.5 percent

Tangier 57 is now the reigning publicity photo champion, and will carry the title proudly through Homegrown. In future weeks, title defenses will occur randomly as new band photo contenders emerge.

Note: Only people who are logged in to their Perfect Duluth Day blogging account are allowed to vote (to prevent people from voting multiple times). To create an account, click here. If you need help figuring it out, click here.

The comments on the recent post about wine rooms as breeding places of vice in Duluth a century ago delved into the history of prostitution in Canal Park. If only someone had come up with the idea for the Lakewalk back then …
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