May 2018 Posts

Duluthian Joe Klander on “America’s Got Talent”

Joe Klander, aka Uncle Clutch, aka Kinderchomper was on the season premiere of America’s Got Talent on Tuesday. Mike Scholtz’s documentary about Klander’s wrestling career “Kinderchomper” will be at the Duluth Superior Film Festival with other shorts on Friday, June 1, 6 p.m., at Teatro Zuccone.

Pak’s Green Corner in Superior opens June 1

Pak Williams - Photo by Lissa Maki

Pak Williams – Photo by Lissa Maki

The wait is nearly over for Twin Ports Thai food fanatics. After a three-year hiatus from the restaurant business, Kamolpak (Pak) Williams will reopen Pak’s Green Corner in a new Superior location on June 1.

“Gleahan and the Knaves of Industry” premieres tonight

The Duluth-Superior Film Festival is upon us, and that means it’s time for another premiere from Duluth’s budding film community. Gleahan and the Knaves of Industry, by first-time writer/director Samuel T. Weston, makes its debut Thursday night at 9 p.m. at Teatro Zuccone. As with all of the DSFF screenings, tickets are free.

Mystery Photo #67: Duluth?


 
A few years ago I came across this photo, saved it on my computer with just the title “Duluth,” and then forgot about it. I probably didn’t know much about it then, or maybe wasn’t even certain it was a photo of Duluth.

So … that’s all we’ve got to go on with this Mystery Photo. It looks 1800s-ish. Could be Superior Street. Can anyone verify this as a Duluth photo?

Facing lynchings from Duluth to Montgomery

From MPR News: Two guys named Carl walked onto a bus last month in Duluth, one black, one white. One of them was Carl Crawford, the other was Carl Huber. Together, they traveled to Alabama to visit the new memorial to the victims of lynching, and they became friends on the journey. After they returned, they talked together about what the trip meant to them.

Video and photos by Evan Frost.

Morgan Park coffee shop returning as Letica’s Iron Mug

Morgan Park’s only restaurant and beverage purveyor closed on May 25 after nearly four years in business. On June 9 it will reopen under new ownership. The Duluth News Tribune reports Mike Letica is the new proprietor of the Iron Mug. Johnny Northfield will manage the business. Building owner Paul Johnson, who founded the coffee shop, is a silent partner.

The DNT notes Letica plans to steer away from the Iron Mug’s previous food focus, pizza, and is instead planning inexpensive options like Taco Tuesday and 99-cent ice cream cones.

Interior designer expands into historic Lake Avenue building

Isola Design and Mavis Furniture principal and owner Jill Isola Johnson, holding her dog Pepper, stands with Assistant Designer Mireille Kidd, left, and intern Kyla Schulte in the new office furniture showroom.

An interior designer responsible for cutting-edge urban commercial properties like the Whole Foods Co-op and Canal Park Brewery is opening a new office furniture showroom in a historic Downtown Duluth building.

Bob Dylan: Duluth Ski Bum?

A profile on Roger McGuinn in No Depression, a quarterly roots music journal, opens with an interesting Duluth-related tidbit.

McGuinn says he and Dylan went skiing in Minnesota — near Duluth or Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing — during a Christmas break in Dylan’s historic 1975-76 Rolling Thunder Revue tour.

“He’s fast,” McGuinn recalls. “I was a beginning skier on the intermediate slope going down cautiously. I look to my right, and Bob goes vroom right past me.”

So, was it Spirit Mountain? Chester Bowl? Mont du Lac? Giants Ridge? Lutsen Mountains? Let the speculation begin.

A Delightful Cruise on the Chicago Queen or the Streamliner

An old promotional flyer for excursions on the “world famous Twin Ports Harbor and Lake Superior.”

Filmmakers of Duluth

A short documentary highlighting three filmmakers working in Duluth — Keith Hopkins, Robert Larson and Matthew Dressel. Directed by Wyatt Buckner.

Yu and J’s in the Miller Hill Mall — already gone?

I loved Yu and J’s Grilled Subs in the Miller Hill Mall. I loved that is was independently owned. I loved the tang of the bulgogi sauce (and wish we had more Asian alternatives in Duluth.)

but the lights are out …  I hope those tasty recipes will appear in a summer festival cart or a food truck or some other wonderful venue. Please let me know.

PDD Quiz: May 2018 in Review

As we continue our giddy march toward summer, let’s look back at the headlines from May 2018. Test your current events knowledge with this month’s quiz!

The next Perfect Duluth Day Quiz will review PDD lore and legend in honor of the blog’s 15th birthday. It will be published on June 10. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by June 7.

Conceptual designs for new WWI Memorial in West Duluth

Duluth’s Parks and Recreation division has been working with community members to gather ideas for a new World War I memorial to be built in Memorial Park in West Duluth. After surveying the public and hosting public discussions, the city’s consultant has drafted three conceptual designs based on submitted feedback and is once again seeking public input on three concepts.

Ripped at the Chinese Garden in 2008

[Editor’s note: This week we’ve pulled out another relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s connoisseur of drinking establishments from 1999 to 2009. In this essay we travel back ten years to a time before Duluth’s Black Water Lounge existed. A restaurant called the Chinese Garden occupied that part of the Greysolon Plaza, and our inebriated anti-hero paid a visit. This article was originally published in the June 30, 2008 issue of the Transistor.]

If there’s one thing I hate about being sober it’s how polite I become. Here I am, standing next to the cash register at the Chinese Garden, waiting for a fucken waitress to come over and choose a table for me. This wouldn’t happen if I were drunk.

Obviously, if had any spirits in me at all, my choice would be to flop into the closest available booth, even if someone else is sitting there. Tonight, that would mean interrupting what appears to be a magic night of romance for a pair of chubby 60-year-olds who are silently finishing their dinner.

The man, whose grey hair is pulled back into a ponytail, breaks their conversational lull by asking the woman, “So, are we going to stay here and drink all night?”

Her answer is, “I think so.” And so the stage is set.

Selective Focus: Ed Newman

Ed Newman is a prolific artist, writer and supporter of the arts in our area. His frequent blog posts at “Ennyman’s Territory” cover the work of other artists, events and issues around town. You can almost always count on seeing him at openings, and he’s also very involved with this week’s Duluth Dylan Fest. He talks about how all these passions and interests come together for him.

EN: I work in a variety of media. About four decades ago I re-defined myself as a “creative person” which opened up all kinds of channels for creative expression beyond painting and drawing. I became serious about my writing at that time, and have always been drawing and making art in the background of what has primarily been a career in advertising.