Month: October 2014
Norm Coleman wants you to vote for Sandman
Just got a creepy mailing here in upper Woodland that accuses Ray Sandman of being a liberal and out of touch on issues such as Polymet, minimum wage increase, and war. It made us want to vote for Sandman! — until I looked up who paid for the ad — the 501c4 PAC led by former Minnesota Republican Senator Norm Coleman. A vote for Sandman is, unfortunately, a vote for Mills.
Izzy’s BBQ Lounge & Grill in Superior
It’s been two months since Izzy Turner opened his new restaurant in the former Whiskey Ward / Shenanigan’s / J.T.’s / Johnny’s Bar location, 1506 North Third St. in Superior. Does anyone have any thoughts to share about Izzy’s BBQ Lounge & Grill?
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The Duke of Duluth, Redux
“Finds ‘Duke’ to be Insane,” Duluth Weekly Herald, 15 January 1908
In the interest of furthering the ongoing fascination with the “Duke of Duluth” on PDD [1][2] and in the broader Duluth community, I submit this 15 January 1908 clipping from the Duluth Weekly Herald. Given the description of the unfortunate Arthur J. Baird–“claimed to have acquired his nickname by reason of his hirsute adornment, his education and general demeanor“–it seems possible that he might in fact be the same man in the photograph Nemadji posted in 2010.
It would appear that some members of the local community, inspired by Nat M. Wills’ 1905 musical “The Duke of Duluth,” bestowed the mocking title on Baird, but that’s the limit of what I’ve (accidentally) found. Stay tuned for more fascinating updates if/when they appear.
Night on the Town: Wednesday Edition
I started tonight listening to Darin Bergsven play some jazz tunes. I was there with Darrin and another member of Tangier 57, a local band that has both talent and a sense of humor. They push the same buttons in me that Combustible Edison used to… but not all members of the band knew the reference. What can you do?
At the table was my friend Liz Wright, who recently published an essay about The Negro Motorist Green Book. The Book, “with its list of hotels, boarding houses, restaurants, beauty shops, barber shops and various other services, can most certainly help solve your travel problems. It was the idea of Victor H. Green, the publisher, in introducing the Green Book, to save the travelers of his race as many difficulties and embarrassments as possible.” Liz does fascinating work in the rhetoric of race and gender, and this project seems really exciting to me.
Also at the table was Elias Mokole, a local vocalist whose work I am only starting to understand and enjoy. (Classical music eludes me. And someone who works in as many languages as Elias is crazy rich and complex as an artist.)
When I left, I wandered downtown for a bit — a trip to Rogue Robot, for starters, and then to the Electric Fetus, where I bought the “She & Him” Christmas album for $6 in their 20% off Halloween sale. Oh, Zoey Deschanel… please visit me in Duluth.
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Duluth Lights
Time lapse video by Skyler Brewster.
Night on the Town: Tuesday Edition
So I was at the Red Herring, watching the last episode of the first season of Dr. Who (with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor) and the first episode of the second season. The second season stars David Tennant. Tennant is, possibly, my favorite Doctor. So much so, I am watching Gracepoint.
Kristen Hylenski was there planning the November 9: Fall of the Wall Film and celebration, 3:30 – 8:00. The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures will show the film “Good Bye Lenin!,” then hold a 1989 dance party. There will also be opportunities to learn about the wall and the fall of the wall.
Paul Lundgren was there. Paul is my hero, in many ways: what I think a writer can be. While I was there, My friend Emily sent me her new song lyrics. She posts them here. The night was hopping for me. Thanks to Heikko for organizing a Tuesday night event that gets me out of the house and among my friends, and that gets me tasting the infused liquors of the Red Herring.
After that, I wandered over to the Zeitgeist. I had grading to do, and I needed some help. While I was ordering my liquid help, I saw Richard Hansen of the Duluth Superior Film Festival… That man never stops, never sleeps. Planning the next festival started the second the last one ended. I also saw Kathleen Roberts and Nick Monson of Prøve Collective get a snack.
Full, rich night.
Duluth view of Oct. 23 partial solar eclipse
Patrick Smith created this video using YouTube Slideshow Creator.
Creepy Japanese Things, Halloween 2014 Edition
My friend Robert, who is originally from the Iron Range and went to UMD, has lived in Japan for over a decade. He lives the costume, sci-fi loving, geek dream! Although not too creepy, I thought this was a good post to share in homage to the PDD of the past where Creepy Japanese Things ran riot.
P.S. Robert is Frankenstein, vote for his creepy costume.
Jake Specht skateboards across Duluth
Footage shot Oct. 19 by Jesse Covington. Music by Atmosphere – “Let Me Know That You Know What You Want Now.”
Halloween Banner Contest winner
The winner of the PDD Halloween Banner Contest of 2014 is Mark Ryan with this entry.
Honorable mention goes out to the submissions below. Thanks to everyone who sent photos, all of the submissions are now in the rotation along with photos from past years.
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This Week: Halloween, plays, gigs and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
Halloween week is upon us, and there are lots of frights to be found. Both Glensheen and Fairlawn mansions are doing flashlight tours, the Buffalo House is in the home stretch of its Haunted Shack, Renegade is throwing a Halloween Dance Party, Bridgeman’s is having a kids’ costume party, the Duluth Heritage Center is putting on a Boo Bash, Evil Dead: The Musical is still in action, and the Haunted Ship is still haunted.
Non-spooktacular events include an in-studio PlayList taping, an Adam Sippola/Rachael Kilgour gig, Dirty Knobs’ Zeitgeist Experiments continue, Shakespeare’s Tempest is brewing, and Mark Mallman brings his brand of pop to Pizza Luce with Wolf Blood and The Social Disaster.
Mystery Photo #21: What was Cook’s Place?
For sale on a couple websites are tokens for Cook’s Place, 527 W. Michigan St., Duluth. What was Cook’s Place? The address puts it on the western end of where the Duluth Public Library stands today.
A listing on tokencatalog.com offers what appears to be a list of various names the business may have gone by over the years: “Moses S. Cook Saloon 1898-1912; Mayer J. Cook Saloon 1912-1916, Beverages & Restaurant 1920; Homer L. Cook Restaurant 1937-1942; J. Earl Cook Confectionery 1947-1958.”
That seems to raise some questions, though, like: How did so many different Cooks carry out 60 or more years of business in one spot? When was it called Cook’s Place? Is Mayer a first name? There was no “mayor” of Duluth named J. Cook, although Jay Cooke played a big part in Duluth’s history in the late 1800s.
What’s the deal with Cook’s Place?
Goin’ Postal 2014 Fall Art Show
I was going to write about the Goin’ Postal show in Superior. (Goin’ Postal is one of the major hubs of the art community in Superior.) But Ed Newman does it better, with pictures.
Ghosts of the French River
This summer Erin Renee and I released a video trilogy of a collaboration at the French River. Here is the final, fourth installment, a coda if you will. (more…)
Stoney Point Surf
Video by Kyle James.
Recognize any of these?
The Bike Cave is a little crowded these days with half-finished projects, if you left a bike here please claim it before the end of the month. Open shops are coming to an end for the season: the last two are Saturday, Oct. 25, 1 to 5 p.m., and Wednesday, Oct. 29, 3 to 6 p.m. After that the Bike Cave will only be open by appointment. We are not accepting donations at this time.
It’s been a great year, with more than 150 people of all ages building and going home with their own bikes. Join us for our third annual Halloween ride to celebrate.
14-31DS
A few fundamental questions on the on the Chester Ski Jump Memorial Plan City of Duluth RFP.
Is not art, true art — spoken, written, painted, sung, or mixed media — an expression of that which comes from places that are intangible or elusive? i.e.: from within, a collaborative, the Netherlands, the proverbial Vibe?
Yes, the history of a place, lived out by a people is vital — I get that (and the real magic still is to have been there and lived it out) — however, most of us probably don’t have that benefit.
But a request put out on an RFP – a bid – along with city hall upgrades and roofing repairs not only diminishes the call, but is the antithesis of artistic inspiration. Just my opining.
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Video Archive: Low – “Fear”
Ten years ago Starfire posted this video he made for the Low song “Fear,” from the 1994 album I Could Live in Hope. The video was produced as part of the Crash Ballet Contest put on by Coudal Partners, a design, advertising and interactive studio in Chicago. Participants were asked to edit original NASA footage to music. Starfire’s video was named a runner up in the contest.
Geek Prom on hiatus
Note to fellow nerdwads:
We have reached an era of unprecedented technological advancement and far-reaching anti-bullying campaigns. The mission of Geek Prom is complete. The prom committee is disbanding.
We now enter a state of complacency, no longer planning our defenses against the hideous Fleckuloids of the Mineculon, though our strategies remain in tact should we need to summon our forces due to reemerging threats.
May you all live long and prosper, be you dill-weeds, spazzes, dorks, doofuses, dweebs, Einsteins, pizza faces, brainiacs, space cadets, mathletes, meteorologists, gamers, Trekkies, disc jockeys, zeros, gaywads, hobbyists, greenies, weaklings or any other form of misfit.
Do you remember Fox Night?
In Great Britain, Nov. 4 is Fawkes Night, but in Duluth in the 1970s and ’80s, the night before Halloween was “Fox Night.” It was a warm-up for Halloween, with no costumes and no candy — instead it focused entirely on vandalism and mischief.
I’ve talked to plenty of people about this, and for the most part, people don’t know what I’m talking about. But people who grew up in a certain time in a certain place know it all too well. And it’s interesting to think about how this happened. How did Guy Fawkes Night make its way to the Midwest, change its date, and alter its name for this brief period of time?
Duluth was not alone in the celebration, if you can call it that. Wikipedia calls it Mischief Night, and pins it down as a primarily East Coast phenomenon with roots reaching back to the 18th century. It lists many alternative names, but does not mention Fox Night.
- Hackers Night
- Goosey Night
- Cabbage Night
- Gate Night
- Mat Night
- Devil’s Night
- Mischievous Night
- Miggy Night
- Tick-Tack Night
- Corn Night
- Trick Night
- Micky Night
- Cabbage Stalk Night
- Mizzy Night
In 2003, a bunch of PDDers brought back an adult version of Fox Night, which was basically barhopping while acting like a jerk. If memory serves, it involved a lot of duct tape and firecrackers.
So what are your memories of Fox Night? Did you participate? Were you ever toilet papered, egged, or soaped? When did it originate here? When did it end?
Winter is coming … how about a Duluth Street Store?
We’ve got a lot of poor, if not homeless people in Duluth. And winter is mighty cold. I’d sure love for there to be a way to give directly to those who need, not funneled through a nonprofit. Maybe something following the Street Store model.
Help searching Duluth addresses for old businesses
I’m a bit of a armchair history buff, especially when it comes to Duluth and the surrounding area. I love absorbing historic information, but one thing has eluded me: finding out information about old businesses and such. I just want to be able to type in an address and see old directories, find out the history, but I’ve had zero luck.
I tried Ancestry.com, which is close, but you can only search the old city directories by a person’s name, which does not help at all if I don’t know who to look for. I know there must be something out there. I know people on PDD seemingly have this very ability as they’ve contributed information on past posts, like “(insert business)” was listed at such address in 1985,” etc. So how is it done? Is there any online resource that can feed my history needs? Your suggestions and assistance would be greatly appreciated by this curious minded fellow.
A Different Argument for the Trees
On the topic of removing the trees that line the two-mile stretch of Fourth Street from Sixth Avenue East to Wallace Avenue during the street reconstruction and upgrading of water and sewer lines in 2016:
Keeping the Fourth Street trees is not just a matter of esthetics, sentimentality or environmentalism. It seems to me that although all of these arguments should save the trees, they are emotionally based. We need an argument to save the trees that is going to stand up to science.
The memory of a study came to me today while I was driving down Fourth. There is less crime in areas with trees. And with the center of dodginess on one end of Fourth, it seems to me that criminal activity could very easily expand outward, taking up another portion of our fair city.
So yeah, there is more criminal activity in areas without trees. I don’t think we want more of that.
This Week: scares galore, meatballs, lectures, flicks and more
Here’s a little bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
Ghosties and ghoulies are in abundance, this week, as the scares get ramped up in anticipation of Halloween. Evil Dead: The Musical is in action at the Underground, Glensheen has a few days worth of chills planned for its Jack O’Lantern Spooktacular, and Gooseberry Falls is offering creepy campfire tales.
Saturday’s the biggest day for frights, with a Terror Train, a Field of Screams, a Corn Maze, and a Haunted Shack, among other terrifying delights. (And don’t forget about the Haunted Ship, of course.)
Not everything this week is of the scary variety, though: get some Swedish meatballs on Tuesday, hear Egyptian scholar Dalia Basiouny perform her one-woman show on Tuesday and lecture on Wednesday, celebrate five years of Zeitgeist Arts with a flick, and see the District 7A State Representative candidates square off on Tuesday.