Yes, friends, (perhaps I’m the last to know, but) they’re here. Are other people seeing these nasties? I saw this one downtown last week. Are there other sightings? This could be fun! Who wants to plot the push-pin map? Tent caterpillar hotdish recipes??

Duluth band Low is playing a concert in front of the caretaker’s cottage at the Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery on June 9.

As previously noted on PDD, this is not the summer of the full-on army worm invasion. However, I did see a lot of the above on the end of Minnesota Point on Saturday. So there will be some level of yuck this year.

I sometimes wonder if people who have moved to Minnesota from outside the Midwest maybe eight years ago hear army worm stories and think it’s a figment of folklore, like the hoop snake. They will be in for a surprise.

The icky army worms are coming … but won’t be in full force this year.

The sinkhole above, on the Raleigh Street spur to the DWP Trail, is huuuuge. Can anyone beat it? Will we need to get out the tape measures?

I concede, of course, that though it is much larger than the sinkhole Nate Lindstrom posted about in 2010 (shown below), it doesn’t exceed that one in terms of comedy. Maybe I need a model.

Playing with my helmet cam and some tape, 1 second interval shots, Duluth to Superior 2626 frames stitched together and set to music.

You’d never know what would happen next at a Dukes of Hubbard show (circa early 2000s). On stage, they would mix Phish with Kenny Loggins, then beatbox. Or play Ween followed by a Beatles medley and other antics. Or Jane’s Addiction followed by Herbie Hancock, while trading instruments and doing shots. And with Trudy (good dog, may she rest in peace) lounging off to the side. Some nights were more of a variety show than a usual set of music.

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I haven’t seen any ticks yet, but this popped up on my Facebook wall:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?edit=vd&v=pNuf4hViBXo

I’m reposting here an open letter written to the Duluth community by Joel Kilgour, a local peace activist, and Sara Thomsen, a local musician. Basically, Duluthians are urged to stay away from the March 3 rally planned by a white supremacist group right here in the Zenith City.
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Sherwin Shayegan — the Piggyback Bandit — was spotted in Duluth Saturday night! Friday he was banned from All Minnesota High School sporting events after creeping at high school games in St. Cloud Thursday and Minneapolis on Friday. Saturday night he was at the DECC! There was a guy creeping on our group as we were saying our goodbyes after the Roller Derby bout. One guy said something to him and he dashed off. That’s when we recognized him.

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If you haven’t heard, the Duluth Art Institute will soon be starting screenings of Robert Hughes’ Shock of the New, which is a fantastic eight-part series on the rise and fall of the modern art movement. Not only will you be able to rest your eyes on the handsome and talented Robert Hughes, but you will be able to do it for free.
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Tangier 57 would like to invite you to take a little trip with us.

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.

Timothy LaPara and a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, testing water pouring from a modern water treatment facility in Duluth, found genes of drug-resistant bacteria in the discharge. Most American cities do not have facilities as good as Duluth’s, but no one knows for sure how much worse the situation may be at those facilities because it has not been measured.

Inside Science News Service: The best wastewater treatment plants can’t filter out superbug fragments

Before Call of Duty and Elder Scrolls, there were these quirky little things called Text Based Adventures. Primitive on the graphic front (with NO graphics in them), these were the first dungeon crawlers and computer based rpgs like Minnesota’s own Oregon Trail. In 1982, this was super addictive stuff. Well, as I’m an active user of Goolge Docs, I came to realize that it might be possible to use their forms and spreadsheets to “crowd source” the content for a text based “pub crawler” or some text based questing game based in the PDD ethos.

Sorry, this is where my mind goes when I’m feeling ill and home alone from work for the day. So I started a test survey. It’s not perfect or definitive and really just a test so I can have a bit of crowd sourced data to try and put together in game form.  Once there’s a few entries, I’ll make a game out of it. I hope to refine the survey to better automate the process. So, take a few minutes and unleash your inner geek. BTW, This is NOT an official PDD sponsored thing and no folk bands will be hurt in the programming of this game.

From the Duluth News Tribune, 100 years ago.

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From the Duluth News Tribune, 1895.

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Join us for a zombie-themed symposium that is free and open to the public. Six UMD professors will give talks about how their work relates to zombies. Refreshments appropriate for the topic will be served. BYOB (Bring Your Own Brain).

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