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.

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Saturday was a full day for pop culture nerds.
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Nerd Nite Lite was an Abridged Nerd Nite to celebrate the grand opening of the Underground performance space in the Depot (in the former Children’s Museum space). Images below. (more…)

The Duluth East Daredevils are at the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis, and are ranked 5th going into the second day of qualification matches. Robots!

If you hang out on PDD or Facebook or the corner of Lake Avenue and Superior Street long enough, you’ll hear a Duluth musician complain about how many banjos there are in the local music scene. Personally, I’ve heard Duluth referred to as “the banjo capital of the world,” and I’ve heard people say — not even jokingly — that it’s almost impossible to spend a night in the local music venues without hearing a banjo. On one hand, I understand what they are saying, but on the other hand, it seems like tremendous hyperbole.

The purpose of this post is to try and figure out, as accurately as possible, the percentage of bands playing Homegrown that feature a banjo, and to discuss whether or not that percentage is an excessive amount of banjos.

Consulting with Paul Lundgren and the Homegrown Field Guide, this is the list of known banjo players performing at this year’s festival. Please help fill out this list with any omissions, if you can find them. But mind the rules: you must provide the banjo player’s name, and the band you reference must be playing this year’s Homegrown Music Festival.

1. Charlie Parr
2. Dave Carroll – Trampled by Turtles
3. Tom Maloney – Four Mile Portage
4. Shawn Neary – Silverback Colony
5. Harrison Olk – Tin Can Gin
6. Ryan LeBard – Black River Revue
7. Tony Peterson – Diet Folk
8. Tony Peterson – Saint Anyway
9. Jerree Small – Southwire
10. Marc Gartman – Coyote
11. Ben Butter – Punch the Driver
12. Ben Butter – De Se

That’s 12 so far. If there are 12 bands with banjos out of 186 bands total, that means 6.4% of the bands playing Homegrown have a banjo in them.

What are your thoughts on the banjo situation? Is this percentage as large as people make it out to be? If not, why does this false perception exist? If so, why do people choose to play the banjo, and why do people flock to see the bands that play them?

For shipping nerds.

Some images in the slideshow are by Shannon Kinley; others are from Geek Prom’s Facebook page.

PDD intern Shannon Kinley takes us behind the scenes of Duluth events in this series of stories.

This past Saturday (April 6, 2013) adults were given the chance to blast into their pasts and attend prom. This was no regular prom though. Instead of people being dressed up in expensive gowns and tuxes they got to wear costumes such as Han Solo, Princess Leia or Dr. Zoidberg.
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Google Fiber – Duluth, it looks like your next best bet will be Austin, TX. You should consider moving there. I’ll help you pack.

Via Ars Technica.

At Nerd Nite the hosts showed the Geek Prom poster on the PowerPoint screen and asked the crowd what was being parodied. For a group that doesn’t miss a reference very often, the audience was actually stumped for a few seconds and I swear I heard a few crickets before someone finally muttered “Talk dirty to me?”

Perhaps the creative arrow missed the target market on this one. Maybe the prom committee will stick to Star Wars references from now on and leave Poison out of it.

Finally. Clear skies after sunset allowing my first, eagerly anticipated view of Comet PANSTARRS over Duluth. Sigh. Unfortunately, PANSTARRS isn’t really delivering the goods. I took these pictures Saturday night about 45 minutes after sunset, looking due west over the UMD campus, and trust me, even though the comet was visible to the naked eye, the photos are better than what I could see, even with binoculars. Still, if you get a chance (and the weather Gods permit) I recommend checking this underachieving celestial visitor out.

Even though it’s not a spectacular comet by any stretch of the imagination (stay tuned for Comet ISON, coming this Thanksgiving) PANSTARRS won’t be back again for another 100,000 years, and physically contemplating something so ephemeral is kinda cool. Although it’s slowly fading, the comet should be visible for the next week or two.

Here’s a link to the DNT’s Astro Bob and his guide showing how to find it, if you’re so inclined.

All ur future are belong to bots.

I’m participating in the Reddit coffee and tea exchange. I’m planning on sending some info about the greater Duluth area and it would be nice if I had a sticker or two to throw in there.

From Ars Technica:

Jammie Thomas-Rasset has been fighting a recording industry lawsuit accusing her of sharing music using the now-defunct peer-to-peer network Kazaa for the better part of a decade. In 2007, a jury found Thomas-Rasset liable to the tune of $222,000 for sharing 24 songs. She appealed the verdict, resulting in two more trials that each produced even larger jury awards. These higher figures were thrown out by the courts, but last year, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the $222,000 award.

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I saw a commercial being made for the upcoming Smelt Festival while walking in Canal Park today.  The sea creature character was booming out a pretty funny pronouncement from the Smelt Queen promising puppetry, puppet making and smelt-y fun in exchange for funding.

I couldn’t find any info online, but I did find a piece about last year’s event.

It’s stuff like this that makes me love this town.

Berserkon failed to make it’s initial Kickstarter goal of $42K, but it gained a lot of attention, a major grant from Visit Duluth, and learned a thing or two about what people are looking for from a major gaming convention. It’s back with a much more manageable $9,950 basic goal and stretch goals that will add to the fun.

If you pledged the first time, that’s erased. To support this project, roll again!

Luke Moravec takes a look at the history of the Hanna Barbera gang of sleuths. Recorded at Nerd Nite 19 on Oct. 30, 2012, at Teatro Zuccone in Duluth.

From the Math is Hard Network:

The Math Is Hard Network of podcasts and blogs is proud to announce the release of our second podcast property, Nerd Nite MN.

Nerd Nite is a national organization with local chapters, and this podcast features live recordings from the Duluth, MN chapter. Similar to Give and Take and Ignite presentations, Nerd Nite features smart, funny presenters speaking about nerdy topics that they are totally into, and can’t wait to share about. Topics can range from Japanese toilet technology to the collapse of the modern banking system, and everywhere in between.

Our first episode provides a detailed look at the past, present, and future of Scooby Doo. Presenter Luke M. is hugely passionate and informed about the topic, and it shows. You’ll laugh and learn at an equal clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wa5MGEZNrf0

This years robot challenge. This will be the ultimate nerd party of the year. PLEASE support this event in Duluth, it’s an awesome and inspirational spectacle. They’ll need help to pull it off this year.

Duluth’s Lake Superior has become a double regional due to the rapid expansion of robotics in the region. This event will attract 104 teams, with the potential of bringing 3,000-5,000 people to Duluth. Free and open to the public, the Northern Lights and Lake Superior Regionals are looking for volunteers for this big event. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Jay and Chris Dillon at jay.chris.dillon@gmail.com.

Morgan Freeman is calling you!

This March, Duluth will be the location of one of the largest high-school robotics competitions in the country. We need judges! Judging involves assessing process more than product. Technical expertise is not the primary qualification. Management, organization and outreach are huge assessment points. Do not think that you need to have knowledge of robotics to judge. I partnered with Darren Danielson of WDIO (if an anchorman can do it, so can you! … jk jk Darren). If you at all have an interest in helping young geeks blossom into “gracious professionals,” this is a way to do it! And it’s a blast!
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