September 2016 Posts

Jeff Morris – “The BPMs”

the-bpmsSteppenwolf meets Spinal Tap in this video for the greatest song since “Fighting for Duluth.”

According to bpmmc.com, the Minnesota Chapter of B.P.M. formed in the early 1960s and presently has chapters in Duluth, the Iron Range, St. Cloud, Anoka and New Prague. Although, as noted at the end of the video, this song does not “reflect any of the sentiments, attitudes or views of any of the members of the BPMs.”

Selective Focus: Joe Polecheck

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Our area has provided plenty of stunning scenes for photographers, but Joe Polecheck’s photos go beyond typical landscapes as he has some fun with subjects, tricks and experiments.

J.P: I’ve always been involved in the arts, both painting and drawing ever since I was a child. I’ve always been able to identify things I liked or not when appreciating photography. About 2 years ago, I realized I’d better put up or shut up and try my hand at it. And as my wife has told me, “nothing can just be a hobby for you” which leads me here today!

Winter Driving in Duluth

Hello from Chicago-ish. We (my wife and I, 50s, no kids, two dogs, one cat) will be moving to Duluth in December, just in time for winter. I’ll be working near the airport, and my wife works from home. We intend to live in Duluth, not Hermantown, Esko, Proctor or Superior.

I have been up there once, scouting the lay of the land and looking at a few houses. I’ve read every word on this site about neighborhoods, “safe” vs. “unsafe” areas, etc. What I really need to know is this: when the roads are bad, is it easier to drive to the airport from, for example, Denfeld than from, for example, Chester Park/UMD? Or vice versa?

Thanks!

Cheap Wedding Venue in Duluth

So, I’m getting married on Nov. 11. My plan was just to elope at the courthouse until I realized that Nov. 11 is Veterans Day. I decided to get the license and an officiant, but now I’m realizing that even though it’s just a handful of us its gonna be too cold to go outside somewhere semi-scenic. But with it being only 43 days away, I’m on a very limited budget. According to Farmers Almanac last year was about 35 degrees and 2014 was 18 degrees so I don’t really wanna chance it outside. Does anyone know somewhere semi-romantic and cheap, possibly with a view, for a very limited amount of people?

Totally Employable

totally-employableHere’s a little reminder to enjoy your work, via Choice Unlimited, a Duluth nonprofit dedicated to supporting adults with disabilities and individuals who are experiencing barriers to employment and community inclusion.

Music: “Bills” by LunchMoney Lewis.

Duluth 2016 General Election Sample Ballot

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This ballot shows races on the western side of Duluth. Depending on where you live you might see:

State Representative District 3B
Timothy Brandon, Republican
Mary Murphy, Democratic-Farmer-Labor

State Representative District 7A
Dylan C. Raddant, Republican
Jennifer Schultz, Democratic-Farmer-Labor

County Commissioner District 2
Patrick Boyle
Linda Ross Sellner

… and then of course the back side has the judicial races.

Rural Recording Studio Suggestions?

Tweet from @ZOLAJESUS looking for rural studio

Musical artist Zola Jesus made this request on Twitter today. Any suggestions? Tweet back to @ZOLAJESUS.

I replied with Sacred Heart but there must be more.

League of Women Voters Duluth 2016 Voter Guide

2016lwvvoterguideWith the election cycle now in full swing, the League of Women Voters Duluth has published an online Voter Guide — a tool for voters to know who their regional and local candidates are and where they stand on issues.

This is the first time the LWV of Duluth has offered its Voter Guide electronically. The 76-page PDF offers perspectives from candidates in 10 races on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot:

United States Representative District 8
State Senate District 7
State Representative District 3B
State Representative District 7A
State Representative District 7B
County Commissioner District 2
County Commissioner District 3
Minnesota Supreme Court Associate Justice
Sixth Judicial District Court 13
Sixth Judicial District Court 15

Keep Cool with Coolidge in Duluth

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Postcard from the Boulevard Around Duluth, Minn.

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It’s difficult to read the names on this postcard dated July 13, 1907, so the transcript will represent them with blanks.

____ and I are having a glorious time. Took a beautiful drive this a.m. and saw this very spot. Be good till we get home.
_____

New Duluth-area Restaurants: Fall 2016 Update

The opening date of a new eating or drinking establishment is often a moving target. A majority of enterprises planning to launch in the coming months required significant gutting and reconstruction of old buildings, a common recipe for delays. Here’s the scoop on four soon-to-launch food and beverage joints.

7WestSuperior7 West Taphouse

Owner Rick Lampton has pushed back the anticipated opening date for Superior’s 7 West Taphouse to Oct. 3. The burger bar at 1319 N. Tower Ave. is modeled after the original Duluth location. It will feature burgers, tacos and 40 rotating taps of craft beer. Click here to read the full-length story from July.

The Little Black Books – “Buffalo Pit”

mark-lindquist-2016Former Duluthian Mark Lindquist has been busy in his basement in Baxter. A five-track EP by his one-man band the Little Black Books titled The Don’ts has been showing up in the mailboxes of some of Lindquist’s Duluth friends. It bears the famous Shaky Ray Records label, founded in 1995 on Duluth’s East Hillside. “Buffalo Pit” is the second track on the new EP.

Watch Spike the Lake Superior Zoo porcupine dance

Spike is an orphaned, hand-reared porcupine who, due to his close relationship to humans, was deemed unreleasable. Lake Superior Zoo gave him a forever home. Jessica Shold, Spike’s keeper at the zoo, says he has exhibited this “dancing” behavior his entire life — the result of being raised by humans instead of porcupines.

“We have a daily enrichment and natural feeding program in place as well as positive reinforcement training to ensure he has the best possible welfare and is content for his entire life,” Shold says.

Music: ZZ Top vs. Pink.

Sixteen Years on the Superior Hiking Trail: Preparations

Paul Lundgren Saturday EssayAt some point in the 1990s, I started hearing about the Superior Hiking Trail, a new footpath designed for hikers to see the sexiest peaks and rivers in the wilderness along the North Shore of Lake Superior. It didn’t come up very often in conversation until the year 2000, which is when it began to annoy me that I had never hiked a speck of it — other than maybe wandering away from the waterfalls at Gooseberry and noticing markings that told me I was on the not-yet famous trail I’d been hearing about.

It was April 2000 when an upstart Duluth newspaper called the Ripsaw began publishing weekly and I stepped up to be its managing editor. The paper had a weekly “Adventure” article and I suddenly found myself around people who had taken on parts of the SHT and heard stories about a handful of souls who had through-hiked the whole thing, which at the time meant trekking from Two Harbors to the Canadian border.

There was a rumor going around that Dusty Olson ran the whole trail in two days, which I found almost but not quite believable. The notion that such a feat could be close to true at least led me to think I could do it in fewer than two weeks. Then I heard the first documented person to conquer the trail had a fused spine and partially paralyzed legs, and hiked with forearm crutches. That made it hard for me to make any excuse that I wasn’t physically up to the task.

Selective Focus: Hemlocks Leatherworks

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This week, a little bit of fashion in Selective Focus. We hear from Candace Lacosse who operates Hemlocks Leatherworks.

C.L.: I am primarily a shoemaker (which is a cordwainer, not a cobbler), but I love designing and making just about anything out of leather and waxed canvas: bags, purses, wallets, leather-bound journals, really just about anything.