Anyone trying to create a user account for Perfect Duluth Day from Saturday night to this morning, probably saw this:

The problem is fixed, and creating an account should work now. We apologize to those who were frustrated by this.

This list is just getting started. Click on any image to see it bigger and start a slideshow.

Duluth East High School A Cappella Choir
1964-65
1965
Directed by Robert D. Mix; includes the “East High Alma Mater.”

Don Yoder
Because He Lives
Year not listed, Word Records
Produced, as near as anyone can tell, through the everlasting love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Moose Wallow Ramblers
The Moose Wallow Ramblers
1976, Half Moon Records
Engineered by John Berquist.

Gene Hill
That’s Just His Way
1976
Recorded and mastered at Sound 80 in Minneapolis; directed by C. Edward Thomas.

Various Artists
Trackin’ Up the North
1982, KQDS 95FM Radio
Features bands from the KQDS Miller High Life Rock to Riches Talent Search Contest.

Kim Solem & the Electric Spurs
In Just One Night
1993, Divine Bovine
Engineered by Jeff Nelson and Tom Heinonen.
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I’m not sure if “Drunken Photos from the 1990s” is meant to be a series or not, but I happened to come across two images in my attic that fit the category and raised some questions I thought the Internet could answer.
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Welcome back to your regularly scheduled Perfect Duluth Day programming. For roughly 24 hours, PDD was blacked out to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Protect IP Act in the U.S. Senate, co-sponsored by senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar.

Now that the silence is over, rant and rave all you want in the comments.

Here are some news links:

Fox 21: “Websites Black-Out in Protest of Possible Internet Censorship”
MPR: Delegation responds to Internet piracy bills
AP: Wikipedia editors question site’s SOPA blackout

Following up on a post from July 2010:

The Canal Park Brewing Co. has the beginnings of a website now, it is expected to open this summer, construction is underway and Wagner Zaun Architecture’s designs look like this:

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Well, I parked my vehicle on Third Street around 4 p.m., opened the door, and the wind ripped the door right off.

O.K., the door wasn’t literally ripped off so that it tumbled down the street, but it bent all the way backward. Instead of stopping at the usual 70-degree angle, it opened all the way up to a nearly 180-degree angle.

I didn’t take a photo at the time, because my first instinct was to quickly pull the door back and close it. Once it closed, I considered that a major victory and left it that way. Here’s what the damage looks like today:

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Lets Make Babies (Paul Broman and Danecdote) by DANECDOTE

New song from a pair of Duluthians.

Ain’t they all, Mr. Mayor?

As most of you have probably noticed, Perfect Duluth Day has changed its background colors. The changeover started several days ago, and there have been some issues with the old colors popping up in a few spots …

… but we think we’ve taken care of all of those issues now. Please let us know if you see the old colors popping up anywhere.

Also, let us know if you love or hate the change. If you love the change it will make us feel good. If you hate the change we will get all defensive and accuse you of having poor taste.

To read the story, click here for the PDF.

For your viewing pleasure:

Perfect Duluth Day’s Best Videos of 2011.

And for further geeking out: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2000 to 2005 and older.

Minnesota’s only living Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Duluth’s Mike Colalillo, died last night.

From the Star Tribune: “Why are we more boozy?”

“Many residents in the Upper Midwest are descendants of northern Europeans, and that’s an area of heavy alcohol consumption,” said Peter Nathan, a professor at the University of Iowa who has been studying alcohol use patterns and effects for more than 40 years. “The long, cold winters keep people inside more than in other parts of the country, so that contributes, as well.”

• The sign is up at Tycoons Alehouse and Eatery and a New Year’s Eve opening is planned with Cry on Cue playing.
• The Zeitgeist Arts Café is opening for brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting Jan. 1. Signature drinks including bloody Marys made with bacon-infused vodka will be available. In step with the brunch at the café is a new series of Saturday morning family movies at Zinema 2. The first one is 1979′s The Muppet Movie on Jan. 7 at 10:30 a.m.
• Ledge Rock Grille in Larsmont has a new Carribean menu on Thursday nights.
• The old Italian Village in West Duluth is now Gannucci’s Italian Market. It has expanded into the neighboring space and now includes a pizzeria. (See below.)

Here’s an interesting read from the Sept. 25, 1921 Duluth News Tribune.

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Twin-Cities based Seven & Sixty Productions is working on a video featuring contributed footage that captures “what is truly unique about winter in Minnesota.” If you like shooting snowflakes and pond hockey and whatnot and want to contribute, read the guidelines.

The Duluth News Tribune reports that Duluth East graduate and former WDIO photojournalist Bryan Koop directed photography on this little project.

Hit YouTube video of Twin Cities flash mob was directed by Duluth East grad

MPR: $300M initiative to clean up Great Lakes

Congress has approved $300 million to continue a multiyear program aimed at fixing some of the Great Lakes’ most severe environmental problems. Some of the money is expected to benefit Lake Superior and Duluth.

Check out the new Christmas song — performed/recorded/mastered in Duluth by Duluthians — available for free download at Bandcamp.

Chester Bowl Park is open for downhill skiing as of today. Daily lift tickets for all ages are $5.25. Details at chesterbowl.org.

Aerial Lift Bridge photos by Rick Mickelson.

As most people know, the southern wing of the old MacArthur Elementary School was built in 1915 as Denfeld High School. (The modern Denfeld opened in 1926 and the old Denfeld became West Junior; MacArthur was built in 1957; West closed and became part of MacArthur in 1983; MacArthur was replaced with a new building this past fall). The photo above is of the 56th Avenue West entrance to the old MacArthur, which has always been considered the back door.

The section of the building that protrudes out and comprises the rear entrance is not original. It was built in 1994 to provide an elevator for improved handicap accessibility. There was a stone block over the entryway, covered by this addition, that read “Robert E. Denfeld High School.”

If anyone has old photos of the entryway, please post them. The old MacArthur is in the process of being gutted and prepared for demolition, so if that entryway exists under the current one and anyone would like it to be saved and either left on the current site as a monument to the old Denfeld or moved to the current Denfeld campus, the time to act is drawing short.

Update: All evidence points to the conclusion that the old Denfeld block was removed in 1994. Details in the comments.

Duluth’s newest Mexican restaurant is in the Village Square Mall on Mountain Shadow Drive. Has anyone checked it out yet?

Members of the Duluth band Trampled by Turtles are spreading the word in San Francisco about the Zenith City:

“Per capita, there has to be more bands there than anywhere that I know of,” said Ryan Young, fiddler.

From the Bay Bridged, an indie-music website for the San Francisco Bay Area: Trampled by Turtles: an unconventional bluegrass band inspired by metal and Dylan

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.

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.)

The Running (Unopposed) Man
Dec. 9, 10, 16, 17, 30 and 31, 7 p.m., The Venue at Mohaupt Block

Dink Tank: Return of the Dinks
Dec. 9, 10, 16 and 17, 8 p.m., Teatro Zuccone

From Havana to Duluth
Dec. 12 and 13, 8 p.m., Teatro Zuccone

Old Knifey and the Cutthroats Holiday Variety Show
Dec. 17, 9 p.m., All American Club

From last week’s City Pages, “Wilco’s John Stirratt talks about the band’s Minnesotan ties“:

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.

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.