Thursday: Minnesota Ballet Wine & Cheese Fundraiser
Thursday: Maya Rao
Friday: “Dimensions” Opening Reception
Saturday: Charlie Parr and Pert Near Sandstone
Saturday: DSSO Reflections
Sunday: Homegrown Music Festival
Monday: Lake Superior College Spring Art Exhibit
Tuesday: UWS Steel Drums Concert
Wednesday: Home Free
For a complete look at what’s happening today, tomorrow and on into infinity, visit perfectduluthday.com/calendar.
At approximately 9:50 a.m. there was an explosion at the Husky Energy oil refinery in Superior. The initial fire was extinguished at 11:31 a.m., but a second fire erupted shortly after noon. The Duluth News Tribune reports there have been “multiple explosions.” An additional tank caught fire at 3:15 p.m.
All refinery personnel and contractors have been accounted for. There are no known fatalities. Conflicting reports indicate somewhere between 6 and 20 injuries.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has issued an evacuation of the area due to the potential toxic nature of the smoke.
Mint Vintage began after a chance encounter and a few jam sessions. As the band explains, it’s not about notoriety. It’s about being yourself. Click on the image above to hear the podcast.
Upcoming gig:
May 5 at Sir Benedict’s Tavern on the Lake during Homegrown Music Festival
Responding to a worldwide call by the Pina Bausch Foundation, dancers from Duluth made a short video based on Bausch’s “Four Seasons” choreography from the 1982 piece Nelken. With just a few distinct gestures, the dancers describe the four seasons — spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Bands that were part of the first Homegrown Music Festival in 1999 tended to be long-running acts that played dozens if not hundreds of shows. Some recorded numerous albums, others put out just one album or at least a few scattered singles.
The exception is 2 Sleepy People, a short-lived act that is nonetheless remembered for stealing the show the one time it played Homegrown. Available above is a rare recording of the duo, captured at the Shaky Ray Records studio in Duluth’s Hillside, one day before the very first Homegrown. The track was recorded by Mark Lindquist, who supplied it to Perfect Duluth Day for your pre-Homegrown 2018 nostalgia fix.
R.I.P. DJ Baby Judy.
Did you know Duluth has a Laurel and Hardy society?
Me neither, until Tim Broman mentioned it: Busy Bodies Tent #60 ~ Sons of the Desert. I’d love to hear more about this organization from PDD readers.
Some groups find inspiration in Elton John, Billy Joel or Stevie Wonder. For The Latelys, it’s the theme song from Step by Step. Click on the image above to hear the podcast.
Upcoming gig:
May 4 at Rex Bar at Fitger’s during Homegrown Music Festival
Earth Rider Brewery in Superior is expanding its production capacity. Tomorrow morning two more large vessels, a 40BBL fermenter and 40BBL brite tank, will be installed. Another expansion is planned for late 2018. Earth Rider began brewing operations in September and intends to expand distribution to Two Harbors this week.
This undated photo shows the old Duluth Curling Club perched on a bluff at the shore of Lake Superior. The building at 1338 London Road stood from 1913 to 1984. More Duluth Curling Club history can be found in “Postcards from the Duluth Curling Club.”
Drone footage from April 21 at Kitchi Gammi Park in Duluth. Shot by Rajiv Vaidyanathan and Jay Vaidyanathan.
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. As construction continues on the new Ursa Minor Brewery at 2415 W. Superior St., this article harkens back to the days when the building was home to a pool hall and drinking establishment called Horseshoe Billiards. The article was originally published in the May 8, 2006 issue of the Transistor.]
I should know better than to expect middle-aged hustlers. I want to hang out with someone like Minnesota Fats tonight, and instead I’m surrounded by a crowd of mostly 25- to 35-year-olds who fall into two categories: 1) Unattractive men. 2) Unattractive women.
Now, I don’t require pretty faces to have a good time. But see, these creeps at Horseshoe Billiards are unattractive for reasons other than what nature dealt them.
There are a lot of men here wearing jerseys who obviously don’t play sports, for example. About half of these guys are wearing hats, and the ones who aren’t should be.
A short film written and directed by Matthew Dressel, shot at the East End Cafe in Superior.
Lydia Noble is an artist who loves making comics, and is also branching out into printed products like shirts and bags. She talks about finding work right after school, investing in her own career, and staying motivated to build her own business.
LN: I graduated a few years ago with a BFA in Entertainment Design with a concentration of Comics in Sequential Art. Nothing makes me happier than making comics. Comics is a way I can express my wildly varying emotions with my love of illustration. The comics I’ve made have varied from one panel digital comics to a 50-page water colored graphic novel. Lately I’ve been working exclusively with my tablet drawing digitally. When I moved back to the Twin Ports I was told to invest in myself as an artist, so I bought a large Wacom tablet. I draw on the tablet and it pops up on Photoshop, where I can swiftly change colors, draw and re-draw lines, experiment with fonts and textures. It makes the process of drawing and illustrating much more effective- especially when working with clients and doing freelance work.
