Month: March 2020
Beyondbliss – “WuHan!! Got You All in Check”
Duluth rapper Beyondbliss parodies Busta Rhymes’ 1996 hit “Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check” in this new video.
Kip’s Grand Marais Photo Walks
Explore the great northern Minnesota city of Grand Marais with photographer Kip Praslowicz in this video shot in January. Prints from the photographs captured during this video can be purchased at shop.kpraslowicz.com.
PDD Quiz: Prohibition in the Twin Ports
To mark the centennial of the start of nationwide Prohibition, this week’s quiz explores how residents of the Twin Ports adapted to (and circumvented) laws banning alcohol.
The Zenith City website, the Northeast Minnesota Historical Center collections, and the book Naturally Brewed, Naturally Better: The Historic Breweries of Duluth and Superior by Pete Clure and Tony Dierckins were all invaluable sources of research for this quiz.
The next PDD quiz, reviewing headlines from March 2020, will be published on March 29. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by March 26. (more…)
Do you know? Facts about Duluth from 1920
From Feb. 23 to March 25 of 1920 the Duluth Herald newspaper published a daily fact about Duluth on its front page. Some are pretty interesting, some are kind of silly. All in all, it’s a fun snapshot of what Duluth was bragging about a century ago. (more…)
Missing Person: Patrick Lubina
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office is looking for assistance in locating Patrick Robert Lubina to check his welfare.
Lubina was last seen on March 10 at his residence on Strizich Road in French Township, about 90 miles northwest of Duluth. He is believed to have left his residence on foot.
Lubina is described as 6-foot-4-inches tall, 190 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. He might be wearing a blue jean jacket with a cream-colored collar.
Anyone with information about Lubina’s whereabouts should contact the St. Louis County Sheriff’s office via 911 or 218-742-9825.
Selective Focus: #perfectduluthday
It’s been a tough week – daylight savings, changing seasons and lots of ice and mud, Friday the 13th, not to mention current events. Take a step back from it all, and we’ll enjoy a few recent #perfectduluthdays.
Postcard from Astor Trading Post
This undated postcard depicts a replica of the American Fur Company trading post at Fond du Lac, which opened in 1935 at Chambers Grove Park in Duluth’s Fond du Lac neighborhood and was demolished in the late 1960s.
The original fur post operated from 1817 to 1847 at the present-day site of Historical Park, just a bit downstream from Chambers Grove Park along the St. Louis River. (more…)
PDD Video Lab: Edgewater, the Bellows and S.S. Meteor, 1976
For this edition of the PDD Video Lab we’ve taken yet another silent film from Dominic Chione’s Vimeo account. The clips here are from 1976, and they might make you weepy when you see them accompanied by the intro to the Manhattans’ 1976 hit “Kiss and Say Goodbye.” (more…)
Girl from the North Country … Duluth on Broadway!
The Broadway premiere of Girl from the North Country, set in Duluth and featuring the songs of Duluth native Bob Dylan, was held at the Belasco Theatre on March 5. (more…)
Video Archive: SatAn’s Residence for Sinner Citizens
Ten years ago today, the Colder by the Lake theater group opened “Older by the Lake, or the Colonoscopy Monologues” at the Zeitgeist Teatro. The show was a comedy about aging. The clip above, produced for the show, is a parody of television ads for St. Ann’s, an assisted-living facility in Duluth.
The Slice: The Embassy
For those who missed the Church Bazaar last weekend, here’s a quick look inside the former Holy Trinity Lutheran Church where a Duluth artist collective called the Embassy is envisioning a new space for collaboration and artistic expression.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
Searching for Descendants of the Duluth Tooth-puller Incident
Perfect Duluth Day readers might remember a post featuring an unusual story from 1903 about a crazed Finlander and unwanted dentistry. Minnesota filmmaker Joshua Carlon is exploring a short documentary about the event and is looking for any descendants of the parties involved who would be interested in being interviewed on camera regarding the incident.
The only named parties in the event are the Finlander John Simonson, Police Chief Troyer, Officer O’Neill and one victim, a Mrs. Elaison of 329 St. Croix Avenue.
If any PDD readers are related to this event or have connections to anyone who might be, please reach out to Josh at josh @ jcarlon.com.
Regret
A short film by Blake Lawrence, shot and cut by Manny Villanueva in Duluth, January 2017.
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #44
Another trivia card from a board game purchased at Savers. (more…)
Mystery Photo #103: Girl with Curls
What’s the deal with this curly haired lass? Was she a Duluthian? (more…)
Minnesota All Hockey Hair Team 2020: The Flow Must Go On
Like a great hair band, John King keeps on goin’ with another edition of the Minnesota All Hockey Hair team.
Video Archive: Minnesota All Hockey Hair Team 2005
Last year John King announced he would end his annual series of videos reviewing the finest hair styles at the Minnesota High School Hockey Tournament. Well, he didn’t. But that’s no reason not to dig into the archives and feature the original Minnesota All Hockey Hair Team of 2005, created for the short-lived TV program The Show to be Named Later.
Cade Fairchild of Duluth East makes the team for his “Ogie Ogilthorpe look,” and East Head Coach Mike Randolph gets special recognition for his “Lloyd Christmas look.”
Ripped at the Kom-on-Inn in 2000
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty years ago he visited the Kom-on-Inn in West Duluth and published this report for the April 5, 2000 issue of the Ripsaw newspaper.]
Granted, it does not take much to amaze me, but when I entered the Kom-on-Inn my spine just about shot out of the top of my head. I had always been under the impression that the Kom-on-Inn was a boring bar that was empty most of the time. But nothing could be further from the truth. It was … I don’t even know where to begin, so let me just walk you through the place.
First of all, it is important to know that everyone—every last person in the bar—was smoking a cigarette. I am not exaggerating when I say it was difficult to see across the room. At the very back of the bar, where I came in, a bunch of Tommy Boys talked on cellular telephones and shot pool with heavily hair-sprayed and lip-linered girls drinking bottles of Mountain Dew. Apparently they were stationed there to give newcomers like me the wrong impression of the place, for just past them, everything became drastically different. (more…)
Selective Focus: Twin Ports Terror
If you’re into spooky stuff, horror, or Halloween, you may be interested in a new project, Twin Ports Terror: A Haunted Duluth publication. It may seem a bit out of season as Spring approaches, but organizer Brooke Zarn fills in the details, and explains that they’re hoping to gather written and visual material before Halloween.
What is it?
Twin Ports Terror is an effort by the curators of the Haunted Duluth website (Matt Rasmussen, Sean Zarn and Brooke Zarn) to provide a platform for local writers and artists to share their stories, poems, artwork and photography within the horror genre. These items will be published on the Haunted Duluth website starting on Half-Halloween (the end of April), and continuing on as the Halloween season approaches. We’ll also look to host some story-telling events and perhaps publish a printed zine if there’s enough interest.
(more…)
One Less Guest – “Come on Over”
Duluth band One Less Guest will release its debut album, Monochrome, on April 18 at Thirsty Pagan Brewing. The group also performs on March 7 at Bent Paddle and St. Patrick’s Day at Rex Bar. The music video above was shot by Caelan Mars.
PDD Video Lab: Lester Park, Skyline Drive and Twin Ponds, 1975
In this PDD Video Lab mashup we’ve taken another silent film from Dominic Chione’s Vimeo account and added music. This time the Duluth scenery includes Lester Park, views from Skyline Drive and Twin Ponds (with two slides going into the water). For music we’ve chosen “Sister Golden Hair,” a chart-topping single by America in 1975.
Monthly Grovel: March 2020 Edition
In the past year — from March 2019 through February 2020 — the PDD Calendar published 8,064 Duluth-area events. Each one was edited by a human being before the “publish” button was pushed.
It’s a tremendous amount of work to keep up with all the submissions from the more than 1,000 organizations that have sent us info about their concerts, plays, improv classes and lutefisk dinners. That’s why once a month we set our dignity aside and remind readers how much we appreciate their financial support. (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #43
Another trivia card from a board game purchased at Savers. (more…)
Minnesota 2020 Presidential Primary Election Results
In the statewide race, with 4,110 of 4,110 precincts reporting, Joe Biden is the projected winner of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor presidential primary.
Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Nomination for President of the United States
Joseph Biden – 287,553
Bernie Sanders – 222,431
Elizabeth Warren – 114,674
Michael R. Bloomberg – 61,882
Amy Klobuchar – 41,530 (more…)