Zygi buys new apartment in NY

I don’t really want to get into how this came to be, maybe someone else can step up with that info if anyone is curious. What I’m here for is some advice on what (if anything) I can do. I’m sure everyone will see their money at some point but that’s not enough. Who does people recommend I talk to to try and make sure we don’t get screwed again? Lawyers? I hear they cost money. Unions? Some kind of labor group?

Any thoughts are welcome.

Currently the plan is to reuse the school building itself, and add one-to-three additional buildings. The student-focused housing would have 300 beds in mainly four bedroom units. If demand is high enough this could be increased to 1,000 beds. The retail aspect of the new development would include restaurants. The DNT story named  Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods as some potential additions.  A hotel is also being considered.

Sounds like the new development would open in Fall 2013 or 2014.

The full story can be found here.

What do you think about this plan? Is it a good idea? If not what would you propose? Personally, I think no matter where students go in high concentrations that residences in the same area will take a “not in my backyard” attitude. This development may not solve all the student housing issues, but it will alleviate it to some degree, and create jobs.

On the retail side what would you like to see at the site? A friend of mine would really like to see a Chipotle, Panera, or faster food pasta place. I would love to see more locally owned restaurants go in. Duluth Grill part 2?

On Perfect Duluth Day, I found a post by City Councilor-elect Jennifer Julsrud, titled “Duluth’s Plumbing Needs Big Fix,” regarding Duluth’s aging water infrastructure. Accompanied by a short YouTube video (serious people talking seriously about water, serious music playing in the background), the post listed a series of upcoming community meetings that were to be held on the subject.

Naturally, this irritated me greatly. As far as I was concerned, this was just the latest example of Duluth’s tendency to be serious one minute about issues that actually need attention, and the next minute to stampede giddily off in pursuit of unneeded, but very expensive, luxuries that we want RIGHT NOW—as if the money we spend on the luxuries has no relation at all to the money we need for necessities.

To illustrate this point, I made three comments on the post. They read as follows:

COMMENT #1: Let’s sell the NorShor Theatre for a few million. That should cover it.

COMMENT #2: I know, I know. I’m just kidding. Let’s jack up water rates instead.

COMMENT #3: And now you can skip all the meetings.

Satisfied that I had made my views known in a way that satisfied my inherent need for sarcasm, I put the matter behind me and went to bed.

The next day, however, as I scrolled through PDD, I was surprised to find that the water utility post had no comments attached to it. Puzzled, I emailed the PDD moderators to ask what had happened. I was thus informed that my comments no longer existed because the author of the post, City Councilor-elect Jennifer Julsrud, had flagged them as spam and removed them.

I blew a gasket. Getting censored by a government official was bad enough, but to be flagged as spam enraged me. My comments may not have been overflowing with niceness, but they made a valid point, and nobody who has read anything I have written on PDD and elsewhere would be the slightest bit surprised by them. It’s my style, dude. You can’t censor people based on their style.

Your thoughts?

Warning: political, intemperate.

…aaand here’s the sequel (warning: f-bomb, gutter talk, mature situations):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLjdBowRVgQ

This makes me think three things:
1. How sad I am to see our choices for good food diminished.
2. How sad I am to see out choices for good community diminished; Saigon Cafe was more than just a place to pick up takeout.
3. How much I wish there was a place for businesses I love to post: “We’re cash-strapped right now. If you could order just a little more food, a little more often, you’d get us over the hump.”

If anyone can tell me that the owners are out there, happy and healthy and maybe cooking somewhere else, I’d love to hear it.

But I hate the “Advice” and “Recommendations” posts.

Over the course of the past few months we’ve seen:

• Duluth Dog Kennel Recommendation
• Duluth Handyman/Woman?
• Recommendations for Brake Mechanic?
• Car Air-Conditioning Service – Help!

Before I go any further I should clarify something. I don’t hate the people posting these questions. What I hate is the need to ask everyone on PDD.

Perfect Duluth Day is an amazing resource for all kinds of really great information, but is it really the best place to share all about your experience with different dog kennels, small engine mechanics, window installers, hair stylists, etc.? You might disagree … but I think you are all just being selfish with your insight.

My wife and I moved to Duluth a little over a year ago, and at the time we didn’t know anybody. We bought a new house in June 2010 and decided we wanted to have the windows replaced before winter. We did our best to research different area businesses, but were surprised to find virtually no insight from Duluthians on the most common places to look for such information. Google Reviews was bare. Angie’s List was bare. We didn’t know about PDD. We were in the dark.

After getting a few estimates we had a local business come in and do the work. Our experience with them was horrible. So what did I do? I reviewed them on Google and then I reviewed them on Angie’s List. I made my voice heard in the two places most people would think to look. Ten different people have stated on Google that my review was helpful. That makes me feel good.

For all of you who took time out of your day to help a Duluthian in need by posting about your experiences with a kennel, handyman, and brake mechanic, will you please consider sharing that same information on Google? Rather than being selfish by only sharing your thoughts with the people lucky enough to stumble on to Perfect Duluth Day, why not share with everyone using the internet trying to find the perfect kennel, the perfect handyman, and the perfect brake mechanic?

Take pride in your opinions. I do.

Now that I have your attention, what struck me as odd about the original objections to Marc Gartman’s Ween post was how the comments were so out-of-context and un-community in nature. I did see the “bigger boobed” version, am familiar with Ween, and have a fairly well-honed ability to read and comprehend.

In other words, I saw the photo was clearly the cover art for the album by Ween that Gartman and friends would be covering in December. And most importantly, Gartman was asking the PDD community if anyone knew a videographer for their Ween experiment.

Out of 47 comments, only one pertained to Gartman’s request. When Chase & others encouraged dismayed commentators to investigate the history of the album cover, instead of doing so another thread began, rehashing the old comments. So a viscous cycle of communicating about what is objectionable VS artistic intent began again. Brought me back to Gore VS Zappa.

I don’t really know Gartman; he could be a misogynistic one who fucks (see Lundgren, I did read your comment). What I do know is that he does not force Jerree Small to dress as Wonder Woman and gyrate when Coyote performs live. Nor was he asking for strippers to perform in a video. He stated his artistic project & asked for assistance.

I’m glad PDD gives everyone a voice, but really I’m more of an action kind of gal. In other words Emmadog, Carla & others, what do you do in your community to make the world better for girls & women ?

At the heart of PDD is a community of people reaching out to enlighten, entertain, assist and inform. But do we really need to censor others and bitch when we don’t get our way? If you’re going to do the talk, then do the walk. If you are going to bitch, then show me how you are making a change. I will post possible projects, courses of action, in the comments, but I’d really like to hear from PDDers.

I’ve been to Burrito Union probably close to a dozen times, so in no way am I staking any sort of claim, but I can count on more than one hand how many times I’ve placed an order, only to have it incorrectly made. Never anything to the point where I won’t eat it, but when I pay something like $2.25 extra for something like adobo sauce and I don’t get it, I have to ask why? Why would you forget to add a topping that costs between 20-25% of the cost of a customers burrito? Especially when its a delivery order. 

Again, this wouldn’t be such so bad if it were a one-time occurrence, but when the majority of experiences is like this, it really puts me off. I’m a real big fan of Tim and Rod’s other ventures and look forward to Tycoons, but I really hope service comes before ambiance.