Paul Lundgren Posts

Job opportunity: Become the leader of Duluth’s music scene bureaucracy

HomegrownChicken2The Homegrown Music Festival is looking for a director to follow in the footsteps of Paul Connolly, who has stepped down from the position.

Homegrown is Duluth’s yearly celebration of local music, featuring eight days of concerts with performances by well over 100 bands.

The 12th annual Homegrown will be held May 2 to 9, 2010.

The festival director is responsible for the overall management of Homegrown.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation in Minnesota with Daniel Johnston, Laura Ingalls Wilder, my great-great-grandparents and a bunch of short-fiction writers

There comes a time in every Minnesota man’s summer when he climbs into a rusty conversion van with the love of his life and sets out across the state in search of everything and nothing in particular.

Once the dog and the cooler of beer are secure in back, it’s off we go.

From the Rock Poster Archive | 1999

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Ten year’s ago, the hottest chainsaw-weilding band in the country played at Stargate in Superior. For some reason I held on to the poster, even though I did not attend. I did see Jackyl open for Damn Yankees at the DECC in 1992, however.

Did anyone see the Soup Town show? Anyone? Anyone?

Fall allergy season begins!

It started for me today. Anyone else?

My favorite remedies are sleeping 12 hours a day and eating every second that I’m awake. Snorting cromolyn sodium also helps.

1935 Wheaties box featuring Frank “Butch” Larson

FrankLarson1Duluth native Frank “Butch” Larson appeared on Wheaties cereal boxes in 1935. Finding one of those boxes after 74 years might be a challenge.

You better shutup all that screamin’

Three kids are playing or doing whatever in their backyard. I can’t see them, I can only hear them because they’re all yelling at each other.

Suddenly, the voice of what is likely the father drowns them all out with, “You better shutup all that screamin’!”

I’m not questioning this parenting method at all; I’m just telling the story as a fan of irony.

(Additional irony is that this follows the “Peaceful Waves” post. Serenity now!)

It’s hard to watch a house come down

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This house at 738 N. Central Ave. in West Duluth was ripped down yesterday to make way for the new Laura MacArthur Elementary School. I think the new school will be great, and I have no particular reason to be sentimental about this house or any of the others on the block, but there’s something that punches me in the gut when I watch a house get smashed to bits.

Historic Day at Denfeld

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Ten new members were inducted into Denfeld High School’s Hunter Hall of Fame on Saturday. At the end of the ceremony, descendants of Robert E. Denfeld and Walter Hunting were brought to the stage. Although the phrase “Denfeld Hunters” has been around since the 1930s, the Denfeld and Hunting families had never met before. (Photo by Butch Williams)

Sgt. Hamil’s behind-the-back strikeout pitch

August 3, 2009 | Wheeler Fields, Duluth MN

“Most luckiest” indeed, as Sarge has thrown at least one behind-the-back pitch every game this season without success, knowing eventually he’d land one. The batter seems frozen in disbelief, not even considering taking a swing.

End of Stagecoaches in Duluth

On August 1, 1870, the St. Paul and Lake Superior Stagecoaches ceremoniously quit service with the opening of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad. On this day, the first train arrived in Duluth from St. Paul, a roughly 150-mile trip that took 16 hours.

–Susan Marks, Historic Photos of Minnesota
Turner Publishing Company, 2009

Caption This

2009 Head of the Lakes Fair

Yeah! Demolition Derby! Yeah!

Consolation Prize: A Year's Supply of Turtle Wax

Smash 'em up!

Bumper-on-bumper Action

Not Afraid of Brett Farve Jokes

Paul Paquette of Duluth

Contemplation Before the Consolation Round

Demolition Derby Action

Neary Flipped Over

Thank you, Head of the Lakes Fair.

I think the announcer said a guy named Matt from Superior was the winner.  Really, in a smash-up derby, everyone wins.

Not that this is a newsflash or anything, but holy living Christ God Almighty does Ticketmaster suck big, wet ones or what? I mean, REALLY? Are they EFFing serious?!?

Tickets to Daniel Johnston at First Avenue are $14 each. So, two tickets would be $28, right? That seems reasonable to me.

What? Oh, there’s a service charge. Well, I suppose that’s not a big deal. How much more could it be, really?

What? Over 60 percent more? All right, in that case I guess I’ll just throw my keyboard through my monitor and change my plans for Aug. 13.

Advance tickets/ages 18+ with valid ID — US $14.00 x 2
Total Building Facility Charge(s) — US $1.00 x 2
Total Convenience Charge(s) — US $4.95 x 2
Additional Taxes — US $0.74
Order Processing Charge(s) — US $4.57
Standard Mail — No Charge
TOTAL CHARGES US $45.21

Last Look at Three West Duluth Structures

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Anticipating the demolition of the Duluth Motel and Star Enterprises in West Duluth, I took a few photos two weeks ago. Both buildings are rubble now.

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