May 2016 - Page 4 of 79 - Perfect Duluth Day

Charlie Parr in his own words

May 13, 2016 No Comments

Charlie on easel

Charlie Parr strolled into the neighborhood yesterday—barefoot, even though it was cold and damp. We had a nice conversation on my podcast about the hardships and joys of life on the road, dropping out of school, and how he slowly got into making music as a vocation. He’s doing what he loves, and that’s what I’m trying to do: as an author, and an urban farmer. My new urban farm, Tiny Farm Duluth, is slowly coming together. The soil of formerly wasted space within the city of Duluth has been tilled, and seeds will soon be sown.

Art, Music Agriculture / Farming, Charlie Parr, Tiny Farm Duluth

Selective Focus: Jonathan Thunder

May 13, 2016 1 Comment

This week’s selective focus subject has appeared on PDD before; doing the Robot on every street corner in Duluth. He even made the Best Videos of 2014 list. Even more impressive than his dance moves are his paintings. He’s also an animator and filmmaker. Jonathan Thunder tells about his diverse work.

Art, Videos Comics and Cartoons, Jonathan Thunder, Painting, Selective Focus

Meat

May 12, 2016 No Comments

The short film Meat, directed by Michael Forstein and shot in Duluth, premiered online this week on the Short of the Week website.

Meat tells the story of an idealistic college student forced to take a job as a door-to-door meat salesman. Highlighting the culture clash between small-town, working-class America and its urban counterpart, Short of the Week describes Meat as “warm to the realities of poor, white, male culture, but clear-eyed to the self destructiveness and fundamental insecurity that underpins its habits. It is a remarkable work that heralds powerful new voices in Forstein and Thomsen.”

The script was written by Duluth native Colin Keith Thomsen and the cast includes Caleb Carlson (Hermantown native), John Cromwell (son of actor James Cromwell), Sari Lennick (A Serious Man; Woody Allen’s Cafe Society), and Pearce Bunting (HBO’s Boardwalk Empire). Before premiering online, Meat screened at over 30 festivals across the United States, Europe and Australia, including the Denver Film Festival, Dallas International Film Festival, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, Rooftop Films, Indie Memphis and the Duluth Superior Film Festival.

Art, Videos

Video Archive: The Psychic 8-Ball Hotline

May 12, 2016 No Comments

In early 1996, under the assignment of the late-great UW-Superior Professor John D. Munsell, I was tasked with creating a 60-second television commercial for a Direction of Talent in Media class. Since psychic hotline ads were common on cable TV, and I grew up in a house with a rec room and a Magic 8-ball, I opted to produce this spoof.

Videos Video Archive

Sustainable Design at UMD

May 11, 2016 No Comments

I’m lucky to have worked on a sustainable art project on the breezeway leading to Darland Admin Building at UMD with Darren Houser, Mindy Granley, Catherine Meier, Kathy McTavish, and Wildwoods.

Duluth is a bottleneck for bird migration. Birds flying south prefer not to fly over open water, and so follow the coastline until they read the head of the lake in Duluth.

Art, Outdoors Birds, UMD

Homegrown Music Video Fest 2016

May 11, 2016 3 Comments

The videos from the 2016 Homegrown Music Video Festival have been popping up online, and PDD is archiving them on a page. We’ll continue to add to the collection as we find them or as they are sent to us.

Here’s a sample by Tomas Soderberg – “Machinery” by the Social Disaster

Art, Music, Videos Creepy, Homegrown Music Festival

The Story of Hairmantown: ESPN Clip

May 10, 2016 No Comments

ESPN’s E:60 premiered its Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament feature tonight, they released this clip on their website specifically about the Hermantown Hawks’ pursuit of the class A championship … and excellence in flowing locks.

News and Current Affairs, Videos Hermantown, Hockey

The Art in Mayor Larson’s Office

May 10, 2016 No Comments

PDD doesn’t typically post promotional videos, but this one from the University of Minnesota Duluth’s School of Fine Art offers an interesting glimpse into some of the artwork in Duluth Mayor Emily Larson’s office, particularly focusing on Stephanie Boyum’s piece that melds an archival photograph of Fifth Avenue West over a modern-day scene.

Art, Videos Emily Larson, UMD

Upset Duluth: Brevator Township Edition

May 09, 2016 No Comments

The Duluth News Tribune reports a proposed tire-recycling facility north of Cloquet has a few people upset. Photo by Steve Kuchera.

News and Current Affairs, Photos Upset Duluth

Duluth and Superior Photo Tweet From Space

May 09, 2016 2 Comments

Duluth From Space

Astronaut Jeff Williams of Winter, Wis., tweeted this photo of the Twin Ports this morning from the International Space Station. Far out, man.

News and Current Affairs, Photos

This Week: Randy and Lahey, smelt, Homegrown shots and more

May 09, 2016 No Comments

Here’s a bit of what you’ll find in this week’s PDD Calendar:

Superior Public Library is the place to learn about how to assist an orphaned or injured wild animal, individual Homegrown Festival journeys are documented in a photography show at the Red Herring, Duluth mayor Emily Larson and councilman Gary Anderson hold the latest in their series of community listening sessions, the John Frankenheimer classic The Manchurian Candidate screens in an all-new 4K restoration at the Zinema, it’s Adult Night at World of Wheels Skate Center and Randy and Mr. Lahey of the cult television comedy Trailer Park Boys bring their greasy hijinks to Clyde Iron.

The Duluth Junk Hunt showcases all things antique, vintage and repurposed, the cartooning of Chris Monroe comes to life at the Duluth Playhouse Children’s Theater, Bent Paddle Brewing Co. celebrates three years in operation with lotsa bands and lotsa food, kids can learn the ins and outs of Ultimate Frisbee at the Duluth Heritage Sports Center, it’s time for the costumes and puppets of the annual smelt parade and the roaring of the engines has once again commenced in Proctor.

Events

Who won Homegrown 2016?

May 08, 2016 3 Comments

The final applause of the 2016 Homegrown Music Festival is now in the history books. Which band “won” the festival? Each year PDD polls its readership and asks that very question. Because art is useless if it isn’t vain and competitive, right?

How does one “win” a music festival? Is it about musicianship? Is it about showmanship and antics? Is it about pretty hairstyles and flamboyant fashions? Yes.

The poll is now closed. Here are the results:

Medical Underground – 16.8 percent
Red Mountain – 12.3 percent
The Social Disaster – 11.2 percent
Bratwurst – 10 percent
A Band Called Truman – 7.8 percent
Various other bands – 41.9 percent

Music, Polls Homegrown Music Festival

Homegrown Kickball Classic 2016

May 07, 2016 2 Comments

The 2016 Homegrown Kickball Classic at Chester Bowl Park was ushered in by shockingly perfect weather conditions. The sun shone, some random dude played sitar, dogs pranced, beer flowed. And musicians in their seventh day of an eight-day Homegrown bender attempted to rally and act like athletes.

News and Current Affairs Homegrown Music Festival, Kickball

German Prisoners of War in Northeastern Minnesota

May 07, 2016 No Comments

From the Duluth Public Library Reference News and Resources blog, Reference@Duluth:

As World War II continued into 1943, some U.S. industries were experiencing shortages of workers. In Minnesota, the pinch was felt especially acutely in agriculture, food processing, and logging. Women and even children often stepped up to help with the labor shortage in agriculture and food processing. One notable local example was 17-year-old Duluthian Shirley Armstrong, who appeared on the cover of the September 27, 1943, issue of Life magazine because she was working in corn fields near Fairmont, Minnesota. She and several other young women from Duluth were featured in an article about the Women’s Land Army.

In spite of the help, the labor shortage grew worse. Early in 1943, the state of Minnesota had begun working on a plan for using prisoners of war to fill some vacant jobs and help keep the industries operating smoothly and able to provide the country with needed food and lumber. A small number of prisoners were used in Minnesota agriculture in 1943, but usage increased greatly in 1944.

Superior Siren – “Rosemar”