October 2016 Posts

Call for Halloween Banners

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We want to see your Halloween photos at the top of this page as banners. Keep in mind the hauntingly horizontal format, it can be tricky to work with, but a treat when it works well.

Sorry, that was terrible.

Click here for complete submission guidelines, but the basics are: 1135 pixels wide by 197 pixels high, e-mail them to [email protected]. We’ll put them in rotation near the end of the month.

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Sixteen Years on the Superior Hiking Trail: Swamp River to Cascade River

Paul Lundgren Saturday EssayDigital cameras existed in the year 2000, but it wasn’t until about 2003 that using one became mainstream. I started my quest to complete the Superior Hiking Trail with a cheap 35mm pocket camera and a roll of black and white film … perfect for capturing lush fall colors. A grand total of four photos were taken during this five-day hiking trip.

By contrast, I have 35 photos and three videos from a five-minute window when I finished my hike in 2015. So the world has changed a bit. I worked for a newspaper then, I work for a website now. The World Trade Center buildings stood then, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum stands now. Time marches on at a faster pace than my hiking boots, apparently. My first trip covered nearly 60 miles of trail, however, and that’s not too shabby. Unfortunately, things slowed down after that.

On the sunny afternoon of Sept. 23, 2000, my friend Jeff and I drove the winding way of Highway 61 to Grand Portage. It’s not a place that is necessary or practical to go when seeking the start of the Superior Hiking Trail, but it’s a fun location to stop and look out over Lake Superior while there’s time to kill on the day before the adventure begins.

Duluth Shore August 2016

duluth-boulder-hoppingAndrew Hendricks shot this footage in August on the shore outside his hotel room while testing his new Zeiss Contax 85mm camera.

Selective Focus: Bill Coit via Valerie Coit

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Earlier this year, my friend Val started posting photos her dad had taken to a Facebook album. They were obviously decades old, but they were pristine. These weren’t scans of tattered, faded, off-color prints found in a box in the basement, they were scanned from the slide film her dad shot. A couple years ago, my mother-in-law passed away, and my brother-in-law took on the job of scanning the best photos from a big chest of old pictures and sharing them with the family via Dropbox. All this makes me wonder what will happen as most or all of our family photos become electronic, not physical.

Castle Danger and Lake Superior Aerial Video

castel-dangerShot by Kyle Christy of St. Paul.

Moose Lake Brewing selling big ol’ cans called ‘crowlers’

Moose Lake Brewing crowlers

Moose Lake Brewing Company started selling 24 oz. crowlers this week. For those unfamiliar with the term, a crowler is an oversized can, which is filled on site, much like a growler.

Charlie Parr – “I Ain’t Dead Yet” (live on KUMD)

charlie-parr-and-reubenCharlie Parr performing in KUMD’s Studio A on Sept. 20.

What’s all the folio fuss?

First_Folio_lo_resDr. Krista Twu, associate professor of Medieval literature at UMD, and Matt Rosendahl, director of UMD’s Kathryn A. Martin Library, chat with Almanac North hosts Julie Zenner and Dennis Anderson about the rare copy of the Bard’s “First Folio.”

When Spirit Mountain had a pool

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At some point in the early 1980s, Spirit Mountain did away with its swimming pool. It was probably a maintenance nightmare, and the notion of a pool on a hill overlooking the tributary to the world’s largest freshwater “pool” might be considered a little absurd in retrospect.

Trust me, though. It was fun while it lasted.

Entering the story, painting the dump gray, and the last chicken

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This is why I think you should go see the production of One River, happening at UMD’s Marshall Performing Arts Center each night this week until Friday. My experience relayed here might be a bit self-centered, especially the comparison to another touching moment when our dog died in my arms recently, but this is how I was affected by these remarkable young actors. Now I can see the power theater has to really touch the heart. Read more at Ed’s Big Adventure.

Floating Dead Rabbit

As seen in “Diving the Condos” video, I found a dead rabbit in a Lake Superior tidepool. Three days later, 200 yards away, I  stumbled upon what must have been the same rabbit, worse for wear…

Iff you vill come to Duluth ve vill lock up all de cops

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Similar to the “Vilkome to our city of Duluth” version, this is another “Dutch Kid” pennant postcard, popular from about 1900 to 1920. The same cards were produced for various cities across the country.

Blacklist brewery aims for mid-November opening

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Blacklist co-founder Jon Loss

Blacklist Artisan Ales, homeless since Sept. 1, is transitioning into its new and improved home at 120 E. Superior St. The revamped space is still under construction and is barely recognizable as the former site of the infamous Last Place on Earth head shop. If all goes well, the brewery will begin production in mid-October and the taproom will open in mid-November.

Bull Moose Party at Lester Park

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The Duluth News Tribune reports the Eckels family picnic at Lester Park today “included a visit from a bull moose that gave a few snorts and, at one point, passed within 20 feet of the group.”

Bull moose meanders through Lester Park

PDD Quiz: September 2016

emilyandjoelvikreSeptember 2016 is SO OVER. Donezo. What do you remember about it? Let’s find out.

The next quiz will be on October 16 and we have no idea what the theme will be yet. Send your ideas and questions to lawrence @ perfectduluthday.com by October 12 at noon.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!