December 2012 Posts

This week: bonfires, taxes and nerdery

  

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

We’ve got lots of Christmas related events on the calendar right now conveniently located under one tag for your viewing pleasure.

Nerd Nite hits the stage at the Teatro Zuccone this Wednesday with presentations on the “Star Wars Holiday Special,” Hyman Minsky, and vampires that sparkle.

You can learn and discuss how your commercial property taxes are determined at the Play Ground on Thursday in a forum hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.

With the Winter Solstice happening Friday at 5:12 a.m. CST there are several solstice related events this week, including:

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know!

Gander Mountain ad is troubling

This morning’s Gander Mountain promotion, “Great Holiday Deals” displays the Bushmaster .223 paired with a 2000-round case of ammo. Both are on sale this week.

Isn’t this the type of weapon used in the Sandy Hook massacre?

Hell is Other People?

Last night, I had the pleasure of preparing a TalkBack session on the Stage II production of Jean Paul Sartre’s “No Exit.”

Bands wanted for Midwest Music Fest Winona, April 18-20

Duluth musicians have until Dec. 31 to apply for entry in the Midwest Music Festival in Winona, April 18-20. This is the festival’s fourth year and is a great time for musicians and fans alike in this city-wide party much like Homegrown Music Festival in Duluth.

Duluth Album Releases in 2012

Compiled here is an incomplete list of Duluth-related music releases from 2012.

Bike Share

Wouldn’t it be great if we had a bike share like the Cities?
Or like Nashville?

And/or car share like Chicago?

It seems like programs that a community association would be great at administering.

Duluth Meatballs

Have we mentioned yet that there is a Duluth pennant in the 1979 film Meatballs? It’s on the wall inside Tripper’s cabin.

Free Sign!

I will produce and ship this sign to anyone who would like to stand next to Mr. Jankowski in Bentleyville and exercise their First Amendment rights. The sign is approximately 2′ x 3′, printed on corrugated plastic, two sided, with arrows pointing in both directions for your convenience.

24-hour eats?

My sister just notified me that the Perkins on London Road is no longer open 24 hours!  The choices for all-night study sessions someplace other than a dorm room seem to be dwindling.  Does anyone have suggestions for someplace that is open all night?  Do we even have any 24-hour restaurants left in Duluth?!?

Duluthophilia

This popped up in my Facebook feed.

I mean, Master Card’s little contest might pale in comparison to the intense fervor, Duluthophilia, I call it, that some of us have for this town. Heck, this blog is basically all about how great we think we are (except for the bitching posts, which are still pretty much about how great we think we are.)

Duluth Beer Snob Blog

I was looking for some beta on the New Canal Park Brewery when I ran across this Duluth Beer Snob Blog.  So it made me wonder, have we reached the point of Beer stardom where we now have the pinnacle of beer snobbery in town?  Seems to know his stuff and he sure gets around the beer joints.

Show your support for Bentleyville

This is probably bad form to cross-post from facebook back to PDD… sorry about that.   But it’s for a good cause.

I’ve created a post that’s serving as somewhat of an informal petition in support of Bentleyville in Duluth – in less than a day, over 1400 people have “liked” the statement and 250 people have written supportive statements.

Essentially, it’s just a simple thank you to Nathan and all of the volunteers who make this event possible.  There are times when the little annoyances can be frustrating and feel larger than they are.  Hopefully this will help keep the focus where it should be, the hundreds of thousands of people who enjoy this event and would like to see it continue.

Here’s the link to add your support – Support Bentleyville

Who wins the Giant Foam Finger of Greatness?

A group of journalism students at UMD have created their own online journalism projects. The assignment asked them to conceive of a website that focused on a specific media “niche” and to produce content that appealed to that group by drawing on as many online media tools as possible.

The projects range from a Duluth-area beer-review page to a site that links volunteers with community needs in the Twin Ports.

Tomorrow we will have a very informal awards ceremony in which the page that has the most “likes” on our Facebook page will receive the Giant Foam Finger of Greatness Award (it’s a long story).

So, visit the page, check out a few of the projects, vote for your favorite and give the student journalists some feedback. Who knows, perhaps the best of them will actually develop into permanent pieces of the Duluth media landscape.

“Duluth is Horrible” Kickstarter

This February (maybe), filmmaker Vincent Gargiulo will be coming to Duluth to film a short movie titled Duluth is Horrible. Chip into the Kickstarter here, and/or follow the news on their blog.

Chester Bowl opening Dec. 20, 4:30 p.m.

Originally scheduled to open this Saturday, Dec. 15, the ski hill will now open Dec. 20 at 4:30 p.m.. The snow makers lost eight days due to the warm weather the last couple weeks.