Looking back at what Duluthians documented on video in 2019, we find the usual themes. The lake made numerous appearances, whether liquid and moving or frozen solid. We saw lots of music videos, parodies, spur-of-the-moment happenings, and some weird experimentation. Below are our picks for the standout videos of 2019.
 

Totally Rad – Lake Superior Surfing
It wasn’t the first surfing/drone/extreme-sports video on PDD and certainly won’t be the last, but this production by Brent Eliason of Ease Drones raises the bar as far as editing, gorgeous photography and action. Originally posted Jan. 2.
 

Ice Skating Frozen Lake Superior
Matt Porter and friends share the most breathtakingly beautiful hockey practice you’ll ever see. Originally posted Jan. 3.
 

Duluth Sunday Paper
Tony Doyle provides a 100 percent accurate document of a wintry Sunday morning on the hillside. Originally posted March 11.
 

Ice Chipper Cam
More reality TV; a view all too common to most Duluthians. Plus, Spinal Tap. Originally posted March 13.
 

The Slice – People’s Ice Party 2019
Numerous videos chronicled the Feb. 19, Feb. 23 and March 9 skating parties on Lake Superior. The crew from WDSE-TV‘s series The Slice perhaps captured it best. Originally posted March 24.
 

UMD All Hockey Pep Band Hair Team
Hockey hair is contagious. Originally posted April 10.
  

Carrera
The first video from Duluth band Sadkin was directed by Daniel Benoit, with choreography by Andrea Miller and Erin Tope. Originally posted June 14.
 

Trio of Romping Red Fox Pups
Sparky Stensaas captures what might be the most adorable video of the year. Originally posted June 27.
 

Pictured Rocks Cliff Collapse
Talk about timing. This was a real one-in-a-million shot, right place, right time. Drone footage by Jon Smithers and Craig Blacklock captures a cliff collapsing near a group of Lake Superior kayakers at Pictured Rocks. Originally posted Aug. 14.
 

There is no Poop Fairy
The year’s most entertaining Public Service Announcement. Originally posted Sept. 5.
 

The Long Way Around
This music video for a Gaelynn Lea track was shot, directed, edited and produced by Dave Mehling in Duluth, with assistance in the shooting by Rachael Stigsell and Paul Tressler. The line drawings are by Lee Zimmerman. The actor is Vlad Messing. Originally posted Oct. 9.
 

A Spoken Word Musical Tribute to Weasels
David Syring gets wild, weird, wistful and weasely. Originally posted Nov. 3.
 

Duluth from Above
Drone footage of Duluth by Riley Goss, showing off “an unfamiliar perspective of familiar things.” Originally posted Nov. 23.
 

Antics from Duluth’s Thanksgiving Weekend Snowout of 2019
From the PDD Video Lab, a collection of wintery antics with footage by Lissa Maki, Heidi Sowers‎, Leon Rohrbaugh and Stephanie Lundgren. Originally posted Dec. 3.
 

Hoping for the Sun
Perfect Duluth Day’s annual holiday video features a song from the Latelys from the 2019 release Waiting for You. The Latelys are a great band, who knew they were also great actors? Originally posted Dec. 8.
 

Perfect Duluth Day’s Best Videos Index
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