Rollerdames Next Weekend
Harbor City Roller Dames
Sat. May 7
Fargo Moorhead Derby Girls
S. Pioneer Hall, DECC – Duluth
Harbor City Roller Dames
Sat. May 7
Fargo Moorhead Derby Girls
S. Pioneer Hall, DECC – Duluth
Michael D. Linn, UMD Linguistics professor and friend, celebrated his retirement this week. Linn is most famous, perhaps, for work in the Linguistic Atlas of our region. Mike is the reason that we know that the unique mix of ethnic communities in the Range produced more than 30 identifiable dialects. Maybe equally importantly, he explained (to me, at least) the ways that labor in the mines was fragmented and weakened when work groups were mixed together of people who did not speak the same language. No common language, no ability to organize unions. [Today, it seems, we are separated by a common language that keeps us from organizing. That’s my opinion, not Mike’s.]
Mike taught intro linguistics, topics in linguistics, and applied linguistics for teachers. I’m sure many teachers in Duluth learned their trade from Mike. He also taught writing. If you have any memories of Mike you’d like to share, comment below.
More info about Mike, including some indication of how he will spend retirement, can be found here
Annual Asian Cultural Show: ImaginAsian Hosted by UMD’s Asian Pacific American Student Association. Join us in a night of Asian arts, cultural performance, and delicious Asian cuisine. Admission: $10 (admission includes dinner and a show). For more information, please contact Hli Vang at 218-726-6335 or at [email protected]
UMD Kirby Ballroom
Saturday, April 30th
6:00 p.m.
The Superior Public Library book sale runs 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
More info
17th annual Empty Bowl
Tuesday, April 26 – 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The Depot, 506 West Michigan Street, Duluth
Empty Bowl benefits Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank, providing food for more than 3 million meals annually to people in need throughout northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. $15 includes a handmade bowl and a simple, delicious soup meal.
Collector’s Connection used to be cramped, a place to stall while my wife wandered the mall. No longer! It’s become a destination. Last night, my wife and I played two games with a charming young couple of students and the Host, who did an excellent job of teaching us how to lose gracefully. The evening was free, though I bought a comic on the way out!
Action at Yarn Harbor -- Not Slumber Party
Did anyone attend the “Slumber Party” at Yarn Harbor?
The next one will be May 13th. More info about Yarn Harbor is here.
Charley’s Subs is opened in the Mall. I always appreciate a new business, even if it’s a franchise. Where is the best sub sandwich in town?
What’s the word among PDD’ers about the Duluth Playhouse’s production of Chicago?
I always feel odd enjoying the Fitger’s Brewhouse. Nearly everyone under 30 I’ve ever known in Duluth, and some older, has worked for the Brewhouse empire. And empire is not a carelessly chosen word; the success of the Brewhouse, Red Star, Burrito Union and the new expansion into City Hall may be local in origin, but functions in much the same way Wal-Mart does: by grinding through an ample supply of tourism-economy low-wage no-benefit employees. I feel good about eating local; I wish that I felt better about the economic impact of that particular local choice.
That said, there’s a newspaper circulating in the free racks around town talking about how the Brewhouse supports local agriculture, and so I thought I’d give them a chance, again, in prix fixe, as part of the Greater Downtown Council’s Eat Downtown event. I was not disappointed.
The burger was hearty and filling, the fries and onion rings are almost a meal to themselves, and the German chocolate stout cupcake will bring Kate and me back in the future.
Really, really awesome. Whoever designed this Prix Fixe (and gave me a window into the local agriculure connection at the Brewhouse in that newspaper) has brought me back to their table.
Now, if I could buy that cake to bring to work …
Le Bistro restaurant in the former City/County Complex in Superior will close April 16, a victim of the sluggish economy.
You have one more week to enjoy Eat Downtown! The Greater Downtown Council-sponsored event, with 19 participating restaurants, is back this year.
The DNT describes the program here.
Kate and I at ate J J Astor — an amazing dinner, including blackberry salad, for me a pressed chicken, for her walleye with grapefruit and bleu cheese salad, for me a chocolate pudding for dessert, for her an orange olive oil cake. Amazing. Also of note: the happy-hour specials at the Astor are at least competitive with other local happy hours. We had never seen the bar added in the remodel before; it (and the whole space) is awesome.
Bellisio’s was awesome both for the company (M., S., and L.) as for the very filling mix of a caprese salad (the highlight of my meal), various pasta dishes, and tasty gelato.
Being a tourist in your own town is sometimes one of the best ways to rediscover your love for it. Try a local restaurant today. And note: some of the restaurants with more modest aims have a “two for twenty” menu in the evenings.
It’s Saturday. My wife has a cold, and I get “the look” when I suggest that I might go out and leave her shivering under blankets.
So I’m not at the bout between the Harbor City Rollerdames and whomever they are playing tonight. [It doesn’t matter whom — they will be crushed.]
If you have results, please post here. Go Rollerdames!
Drum roll!!! Trumpets!!! Wildwoods Rehabilitation is now an official nonprofit organization!!! (Applause!)
About Wildwoods
Wildwoods, a Minnesota nonprofit, is a group of wildlife rehabilitators and volunteers in Duluth. We work to help injured and orphaned animals return to their natural lives. Though we are currently based out of the homes of our individual wildlife rehabilitators, we plan to open a free-standing center in the Duluth area in the next 6-12 months.
We invite you to browse the pictures and stories of the wild animals on YouTube on pffarr’s channel. We are very fortunate to live in such a wild, wonderful corner of the world. Enjoy!
Email
* duluthrehabber @ yahoo.com
Facebook
* http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001386579814
The retired mine and active tourist site & research lab at the Tower/Soudan mine appears to be on fire, about a half mile beneath the surface.
Minnesota Brown collects the story.
The DNR has a release here:
“Fire underway in mine shaft at Soudan Underground Mine State Park (Released March 18, 2011)
“Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center (MIFC) are responding to a fire that has been detected inside the mine shaft at Soudan Underground Mine State Park near Tower, Minn. There have been no injuries or loss of life due to the fire. It does not pose a risk to nearby communities or the environment.
