All the talk of the calc/watch got me excited..then this new millitary device made me just about ... er...well, in the words of Bud Backen, I had to be alone for the next part....but I now begin the quest for the musical counterpart for these gloves using the above guy's idea and an old hockey glove.

Posted by baci at 02:52 PM | Permalink | 6 comments, last by TimK
Filed under Weird Stuff

The triumphant return of the PDD Game Night!
Thanks to everyone who came! Thanks to DragonPort Games for allowing us to take over their backroom!
Last night's game: A rousing rout of RoboRally!

(Photos taken with my Blackberry... sorry, Edge, I'll get a good photo of you next time!)

Continue reading "We did not play Stratego... euphemistically or otherwise..." »

Posted by tamara at 06:18 AM | Permalink | 12 comments, last by Eldon Krosch Jr.
Filed under Duluth Scene | Geeky | Photos | Serious Substantive Matters | Weird Stuff

Pre-Cooked Double Cream Stout Roast with cool beer foam action!

Post-Cooked Double Cream Stout Roast

If I had to figure what I'm the most geeky at, it'd have to be cooking (and the subsequent eating!) I love to cook. I pore over ritzy food magazines and drool at the knives that cut cans in mid-air. My pasta pot is like my third arm. I belong to the Cooking Club of America. I love making comfort food or food that has unpronounceable ingredients that I can only order online from a great store like Kalustyans... I buy antique cooking implements (and use them a lot!) I have a whisk collection.

Yup, I'm a food geek.

Anyway, I was pondering if a food geek could really be a geek in the traditional sense of the word. So I wikipedia'd geek.

According to said Wikipedia, "Formerly, the term referred to a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken, bat, snake or bugs." Hmm... biting the head off live animals. Food. Biting. Animals. Food.

So it seems to me that a food geek must be the original geek, at least if you believe Wikipedia's account of the word. And I do... oh yes, I do.

Continue reading "I geek, therefore, I am." »

Posted by tamara at 07:01 PM | Permalink | 7 comments, last by tamara
Filed under Geeky | Recommendations | Serious Substantive Matters | Weird Stuff

For what it is worth, Chef Andrew Zimmern, host of a very odd but sometimes entertaining TV/Cable program called Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel, will be doing an entire show dedicated to the freaks and their silverware from the fine state of Minnesota. Previous episodes have had him in Vietnam and Taiwan. Minnesota isn't that far from the epicurean palate, no?

The story line is simple, drop off a fearless eating machine someplace on the planet and he will eat anything. The grosser the food, the better the ratings is my guess. Never eaten Spider Ass fried in oil but hey, I may sometime soon.

Continue reading "Bizarre Minnesota" »

Posted by Kitty Brand at 02:55 PM | Permalink | 14 comments, last by claire
Filed under Creepy Duluth Stuff | Restaurant Reviews | Weird Stuff

Posted by tamara at 05:44 PM | Permalink | 5 comments, last by Scribbler
Filed under Weird Stuff

Posted by tamara at 05:35 PM | Permalink | 1 comment by cathyp
Filed under Weird Stuff

So, I've been an unabashed fan/lover/reader of Dan Savage's Savage Love since way back when his readers used to address him as "Hey Faggot," and he had a day job pulling shots at Cafe Paradisio...

ANYwhooo...back last month for his Valentine week column, he ran a letter concerning sex toys, and the proper etiquette of the proper disposal of such. Within his reply he made a suggestion that any and all old toys could be mailed to a Kandiss Crone, an "investigative" reporter from Jackson MS, who recently staged a raid on an adult book/video/toy store because, apparently Mississippi is one of a few sex-phobic states that has completely outlawed the sale of "three dimensional devices" intended for sexual gratification. The store had been busted a couple of times prior to Ms. Kandiss' story by the JPD, but to her shock and awe, the store had not ceased its immoral retail activity.

Apparently, Ms. Crone went incognito to the adult store, purchased a purple vibe, and then returned later with a camera crew to confront the store's employees. She even went as far as to try to solicit further involvement of the Jackson, MS police department, but they weren't interested. She was rebuffed with a statement from them saying that the citizens of Jackson would prefer the police be involved with rounding up criminals, drug addicts and prostitutes, and that pursuing a criminal investigation on an adult bookstore for selling sex toys wasn't very high on their list.

I wonder whatever became of the purple vibrator.

Posted by in.dog.neato at 06:06 AM | Permalink | 5 comments, last by Buttonhead
Filed under Bitching | Current Events | Media Watch | Weird Stuff

Apparantly...the folks at Louis Viutton(sp), think Keith Richards is the prime candidate to be the new "face" of the company.......we will see how that one goes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080304/en_afp/lifestylefashionmusic

Posted by nbayuk at 10:02 PM | Permalink | 5 comments, last by jed
Filed under Weird Stuff | Weird Stuff

Apparantly...the folks at Louis Viutton(sp), think Keith Richards is the prime candidate to be the new "face" of the company.......we will see how that one goes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080304/en_afp/lifestylefashionmusic

Posted by nbayuk at 10:02 PM | Permalink | 5 comments, last by jed
Filed under Weird Stuff | Weird Stuff

My sister was in town last week to see me and the house I bought a few months ago. Since she possesses the boldness, decisiveness and sense of style that I lack, we went out to pick paint colors - my first time shopping for paint in years.

I expected to see paint color names like Biscotti and Cranberry Punch. But they went way, way beyond that. Emotions, events, sensationalism... it was as if US Weekly had set up shop in the paint store.

As I went through shades of red and tan, I started to piece together the chronology of a story using only paint color names. Here's what I came up with:

Lonely
Dreamin' Romance
Touch of Cupid
Suspicious Love
Sangria
Love You Lots
It's a Girl
Pink Fantasies
Happy Trails

Oh, and there also was a paint color named "Global Warming." Who knew?

Posted by akjuneau at 09:45 AM | Permalink | 9 comments, last by Lucie B.
Filed under Art | Weird Stuff

From MentalFloss.com.

Posted by Paul Lundgren at 06:47 PM | Permalink | 2 comments, last by stonedragonfly
Filed under Weird Stuff

Now I want to see the Mona Lisa as interpreted by Matt Groening.

Posted by Girl From the North Country at 09:28 PM | Permalink | 2 comments, last by Girl From the North Country
Filed under Art | Found Stuff | Weird Stuff

www.salon.com/ent/tv/review/2008/02/19/krofft/

Continue reading "H R Pufnstuf, Jack Wild, and Quisp in Loves Park, IL" »

Posted by Girl From the North Country at 10:35 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Filed under Funny Stuff | Geeky | R.I.P. | Weird Stuff

Posted by Starfire at 10:09 PM | Permalink | 13 comments, last by Bully
Filed under Funny Stuff | Weird Stuff

Only 10 minutes left in my shift, but I had time to skim through this useful site: GovernmentAttic.org.
Lots of government documents, including the often hillarious FCC complaints - check out this gem someone called in on the Simpsons.

Posted by Bad Cat! at 10:53 PM | Permalink | 8 comments, last by Lucie B.
Filed under Funny Stuff | Web Fun | Weird Stuff

This weekend my friend Henry and I decided to make the best of the ample snow in the hills of Duluth. We both have a history of living in the mountains and spend a good amount of time hiking and skinning the steeps to find the best off-piste turns. Living in Duluth doesn't offer a whole lot of the steep and deep so we decided to go for a hike and do some skiing - regardless of whether it was only five or eight turns instead of the 50 or 100 we'd have gotten out West . Watch the 2:08 video we put together on YouTube.

Posted by samh at 03:48 PM | Permalink | 3 comments, last by scott
Filed under Art | Duluth Scene | Earth | Weird Stuff

Posted by c-freak at 08:40 PM | Permalink | 2 comments, last by mayday
Filed under Weird Stuff

Continue reading "I'll have the nerf medallions, thank you very much!" »

Posted by tamara at 09:32 AM | Permalink | 1 comment by Mary
Filed under Geeky | Photos | Weird Stuff

What a view! I am writing this from a certain hotel lobby, home to a certain rotating restaurant, where a certain band (okay, Haus Meeting) is rounding out the guerilla part of its 2007 Full Haus Tour, with a show in the totally radical (and cozy!) pool area at 9pm. Don't like your hair freezing? You don't have to swim to enjoy the show, but its encouraged. You don't even have to bring any cream corn, but you might regret it. It'd be super swell to see everyone there. Oh yeah... SHHHHHHHH! It's a secret. So is the fact that we have a room here (#914, if anyone asks).

Posted by brautigan at 06:04 PM | Permalink | 3 comments, last by baci
Filed under Art | Duluth Scene | Music | Weird Stuff

A calendar for funeral directors proves that death can be sexy too!

Posted by Girl From the North Country at 10:15 AM | Permalink | 7 comments, last by Girl From the North Country
Filed under Found Stuff | Funny Stuff | Photos | R.I.P. | Weird Stuff

Indian Point Campground in West Duluth has an outdoor pool table under a gazebo. There's never anybody around at this time of year, so you'll probably have the run of the place. Bring your own balls and cues, and watch out for deer.

Posted by Barrett at 09:26 PM | Permalink | 1 comment by ironic1
Filed under Recommendations | Weird Stuff

Celebrate Day of the Dead

Posted by eclectic_poly_pair at 04:44 PM | Permalink | 2 comments, last by eclectic_poly_pair
Filed under Creepy Duluth Stuff | Geeky | R.I.P. | Weird Stuff

What some people spend their time on.

behold!
The $10,000 gin and tonic.

Posted by d.mauling at 04:18 PM | Permalink | 0 comments
Filed under Weird Stuff

Hugo Awards are out.

Non reading type notables: Pan’s Labyrinth and Doctor Who.

Posted by adam at 04:06 AM | Permalink | 2 comments, last by edgeways
Filed under Art | Geeky | Weird Stuff

Found on fanboy.com and I guess I just had to share it, didn't I? We need a Creepy Bollywood Things category.

Posted by ironic1 at 12:12 AM | Permalink | 2 comments, last by Bad Cat!
Filed under Geeky | Weird Stuff

I wasn't entirely sure what heading was appropriate for this topic, but I thought the content was interesting enough to post up for you guys to check out...

Pulled this up on a link from cursor.org originally posted up on yourleaders.org.

The disclaimer at the bottom states that "NOTE: It is a violation of Federal law to duplicate or reproduce this manual without permission. It is not to be photocopied or released to anyone outside of the Executive Office of the President, White House Military Office or United States Secret Service. It has been developed for your guidance and is intended for your personal use. For more information, please contact the Office of Presidential Advance at (202) 456-5309."

It's been redacted to a large degree, but you can download the entire manual in a variety of file types. The posted section deals with attendance, tickets and the handling of "demonstrators."

enjoy.

Continue reading "..." »

Posted by in.dog.neato at 08:47 PM | Permalink | 7 comments, last by hbh
Filed under Found Stuff | Politics | Web Fun | Weird Stuff

Now this is dedication.

Posted by tamara at 07:10 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Filed under Current Events | Serious Substantive Matters | Weird Stuff

I don't think I'll be asking for this at the Brewhouse anytime soon.



"Azmi...has received complaints that it is cruel to export the monkeys, which are destined for restaurants and research laboratories."

Posted by in.dog.neato at 05:37 PM | Permalink | 9 comments, last by Swan
Filed under Current Events | Earth | Weird Stuff

Uh, I guess there's a whole scene of real life super heroes out there...I just picked up on this. There appear to be people living the dream all over the country (the world too). Both coasts and the midwest have thriving scenes. It makes for fascinating (inspiring?) reading, especially their "friend lists," and blog posts (like this one - ulp - and this one) on their myspace pages and so forth. Here's some of the more fun ones I've found:

The Green Scorpion.

Master Legend. (Master Legend audio file here.)

The Eye. (Some of the Eye's gadgets here.)

Mr. Silent.

Doctor DiscorD.

The Death's Head Moth.

(Late-breaking regional one mentioned in the comments, the masked crusader of Rochester, Geist.)

Seemingly displaying best in Internet Explorer, here's one of the more comprehensive registries (although not complete as Doctor DiscorD claims on his blog to patrol with people not on this list) and here are the (rather strict) submission guidelines if anyone out there wants a crack at getting their superhero persona into the big leagues.

Here's an excerpt from an upcoming documentary - an interview with "Hardwire" that, I think, says it all:

Most of this cross-posted at Gonzo Science.

Posted by The Professor at 04:55 PM | Permalink | 13 comments, last by The Candidate
Filed under Duluth Scene | Web Fun | Weird Stuff

Continue reading "I'm sorry...so very, very sorry." »

Posted by in.dog.neato at 10:10 PM | Permalink | 8 comments, last by baci
Filed under Geeky | Music | Weird Stuff

Posted by Paul Lundgren at 09:10 AM | Permalink | 14 comments, last by Tomasz
Filed under Weird Stuff

Sorry about the double posting, but I couldn't resist...

here's a story about a squirrel having a berzerker in Germany...

Posted by in.dog.neato at 06:51 AM | Permalink | 5 comments, last by zra...
Filed under Weird Stuff

Since this store in Superior always seems to be closed, maybe it's moving into this space.

Posted by Paul Lundgren at 10:53 AM | Permalink | 8 comments, last by gemini
Filed under Weird Stuff

Those of you still in town for Grandma's weekend but are trapped in your homes by street closures, insane runners and yard-saling soccer moms, please enjoy the following Muppets clips.

Continue reading "Muppet Mania..." »

Posted by tamara at 08:05 PM | Permalink | 10 comments, last by zra...
Filed under Web Fun | Weird Stuff

When: Monday, June 11 at 6pm-ish
Where: Robin Goodfellow's
What: Come and play good games with your fellow PDD Gamer Geeks! Fun will be had, food will be ordered, the more the merrier! See you there!

Posted by tamara at 10:24 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Filed under Duluth Scene | Weird Stuff

"...If built, the metal monster would apparently be visible to aircraft as they come in to land in the casino capital...It would be in the desert sands. Laser beams would shoot out of it so it would be the first thing people flying in would see."

Posted by in.dog.neato at 10:17 PM | Permalink | 1 comment by Brian
Filed under Weird Stuff

the gift that keeps on giving.

Posted by in.dog.neato at 06:04 PM | Permalink | 1 comment by The PartsGuy
Filed under Weird Stuff

for those looking for a perfect duluth AREA day...

THE RACE IS ON!
April 19th, 11 AM
Meet at the Carlton County Historical Society - 406 Cloquet Ave, Cloquet

BIG DAY CLOQUET '07 will be a scavenger/treasure hunt featuring Cloquet landmarks and history sponsored by the Carlton County Historical Society. Teams of two will compete in a race designed to test mind, spirit, and ability to see beauty in a funky mill town. Participants will be asked to follow clues and complete challenges throughout the approximately 3 mile route.

The team to finish first will receive a prize. The coveted 'spirit award' will also be given to the team that
exhibits the most enthusiasm. There will be a party at the finish line where ALL participants can feast on pizza and enjoy live polka music on the accordion.

Appropriate for families, friends, and enemies over the age of six. During the day, teams can get around using
public transportation and their own two feet. No bikes, scooters, Segways, or cabs allowed.

$5 to enter but winning is priceless. Please register before Friday, May 4: call or email the Carlton County
Historical Society at 218-879-1938 or cchs@cpinternet.com

More in the Cloquet Pine Journal:
http://www.cloquetmn.com/articles/index.cfm?id=10202§ion=News&freebie_ch
eck&CFID=30665157&CFTOKEN=68208600&jsessionid=8830af7aca71196c2711

Posted by squash at 02:02 PM | Permalink | 0 comments
Filed under Geeky | Promotion | Weird Stuff

The Professor missed one of the greatest conspiracies ever: Frank Zappa's bid to take over the world.

Posted by Xpat at 12:42 AM | Permalink | 4 comments, last by zra...
Filed under Weird Stuff

Have I been living under a rock or something?

I was browsing the Duluth Wikpedia Article tonight when I came across a piece of Duluth history I'd never heard of before--Darling's Observatory. J.H. Darling (some rich dude in 1917) built an observatory that housed a 9 inch private telescope as a "means of awakening an interest in this noble science [astronomy] among the people of his city and of contributing to the popular knowledge of the subject." It seems the spot that it used to stand on is now Observation Park out by Emerson. I went out to the spot tonight to look for evidence, and it was scanty. I was just curious if anyone else could shed some light on this topic or maybe just a better picture? From the one above the observatory looks quite grand. I wonder why it's still not there? It looks like it was kind of a big deal for its time........

Posted by v-nick at 11:08 PM | Permalink | 7 comments, last by rnarum
Filed under Creepy Duluth Stuff | Duluth History | Duluth Scene | Weird Stuff

I used to crew on a tall ship called the Lady Washington back when I lived in Seattle. We were primarily an education vessel, and our focus was teaching traditional sailing. In the summer, a lot of our time was spent sailing around Elliott Bay doing sunset cruises and fun things for the touristas. This was ever so delightful to me because I got to flirt with lots of women. Somehow, climbing up and into the rigging, hauling bowsprits, halyards and gathering sheets while balancing on two inch manlines 60 or so feet above the deck was somehow quite alluring to beautiful young ladies.

At the end of a sail, we would have to pull alongside the dock where we moored and send someone out on a splatline, which was a rope which hung from the fore course yard on the starboard side of the boat, swinging over the deckrail and down onto the pier(dock) to catch the mooring lines and run them around the cleats to tie the vessel up.

I was manning the line on one afternoon, returning from a trip around the bay, and as we neared the dock, I swung out over the deckrail and out over the side of the boat. Anyone who's ever been to Seattle knows that seagulls there are quite plentiful, and inhabit pretty much ever level surface in the city, and poop. All. Over. Everything. (but I digress) Just as I was about at the apex of my swing out, I startled a seagull which had been sitting on the dock. He flew upward and right at me. I was just about to let go the splatline and drop to the deck when the seagull and I met...in midair. Caught me dead in the middle of the chest, and fell to the dock, ran a little then flew away in a flurry of feathers and squawking. I let go of the rope, landed on the dock, stumbled a bit, lost my balance and then rolled over once, jumped up as if nothing had happened, and caught the incoming mooring line just in time to drop it over the deck cleat and tie the boat up.

Posted by in.dog.neato at 07:59 PM | Permalink | 3 comments, last by yep
Filed under Weird Stuff

Posted by in.dog.neato at 09:15 PM | Permalink | 16 comments, last by Waveview
Filed under Current Events | Funny Stuff | Music | Weird Stuff

"New Mexico makes the bolo the official state tie"

"Bush seeks better ties in Latin America"

both from yahoo news this morning...

kinda makes ya think, no? or not?

Posted by in.dog.neato at 05:45 AM | Permalink | 1 comment by Purple
Filed under Puzzler | Web Fun | Weird Stuff