Videos
Video: Duluth Winter Surfing 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqmODOzyn3c
Hudson-based F3 Visuals shot this Lake Superior surf video earlier this year and released it this week.
Long Winter Reprieve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaJo2dOttQs
Summer scenes from several of Duluth’s many swimming locations to help shake off what seems a very long winter.
PDD Video Lab: People’s Free Skate Rink 2019
Presented for your amusement, a series of videos chronicling the Feb. 19 and Feb. 23 skating parties on Lake Superior. Above are clips shot by Rich Narum, which the PDD AV Squad has assembled as an introduction to the wonder of the People’s Free Skate Rink. (more…)
Duluth Dolls: Danie Jimenez
In this video produced by Illy Killy, Danie Jimenez of Duluth Dolls Burlesque & Cabaret performs during FeMN Fest 2018.
People’s Free Skate Rink
Tomas Soderberg’s video scrapbook from the People’s Free Skate Rink on Saturday. This event was the culmination of a rolling 7-day spontaneous party on foot-thick ice over 40-foot-deep water. Featuring DJ Kevin Craig, in a set he shared with Pete Biasi / Raw Space. Footage includes the snowy owl that buzzed us in the final frames.
Video Archive: Hemlock Garage Collapse of 1979
Forty years ago the Hemlock Garage at 302 E. First St. collapsed under the weight of snow. WDIO-TV news anchor Dennis Anderson and reporter Tom Lindner had the story. (more…)
Duluth Dolls: Miss Tallulah Creant
In this video produced by Illy Killy, Miss Tallulah Creant of Duluth Dolls Burlesque & Cabaret performs at the Red Herring Lounge during last summer’s Super Big Block Party.
Irish people try Bent Paddle beer
In the segment above, three pairs of Irish people sample four Minnesota craft beers and offer their opinions. One Duluth beer landed in the mix, Bent Paddle‘s 14° ESB. The beer that won a gold medal at the 2017 Great American Beer Festival elicits opinions from the Irish panel ranging from “It’s like a mouth full of pennies” to “It’s grand.” (more…)
Clinton’s Critters: How Great Gray Owls Hunt
Clinton Nienhaus, head naturalist for the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog and education director for Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory narrates this video about how Great Gray Owls hunt for voles in winter. Video by Sparky Stensaas.
Rachael Kilgour – “Game Changer”
The second single from Duluth native Rachael Kilgour‘s new EP, Game Changer.
The Slamming Doors – “Clover”
Duluth-based roots-rock band the Slamming Doors perform the song “Clover” for The White Wall Sessions in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The band has Duluth gigs coming up Feb. 13 at Teatro Zuccone during TED at Teatro, Feb. 23 at Blush, and March 15 at Ursa Minor.
Shinobi – “Risk Zone”
Duluth rapper Shinobi shouts out to his city in this video shot and edited by Daniel Weiser.
Duluth Reference on The Passage
The latest Duluth mention on a national television show is in season 1, episode 3 of the new Fox series The Passage, which aired on Monday night. (more…)
Video: Duluth Sea Smoke
Video by Twin Cities-based Sky Candy Studios.
Reference to Duluth on American Crime Story
Season two of American Crime Story, which dramatizes the five murders committed by Andrew Cunanan and is subtitled The Assassination of Gianni Versace, features a quick Duluth mention. The character David Madson is portrayed as an award-winning student at the University of Minnesota Duluth, which is sort of true. (more…)
Selective Focus: Mike Scholtz
Mike Scholtz makes movies about odd little things that no one seems to know about, but after watching them, you think, “Why didn’t I know about that?” Also, these are not little things, they are big parts of some people’s lives. The world premiere of his latest film “Riplist” at the Fargo Film Fest was just announced today. Mike talks about what drives him to dig into these stories and presents some trailers from his work.
I’m a documentary filmmaker who enjoys making funny films about serious subjects. Or serious films about funny subjects. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure which. But I do like to sneak up on an audience with a few laughs before I hit them with the soul-crushing realization that we’re all going to die in a cold, uncaring universe.
That’s how I approached my latest film, Riplist. It’s about a group of friends from Fargo who compete in a celebrity deadpool. It’s a contest where players draft celebrities they think might die in the next year, like fantasy football but with elderly presidents and ailing musicians. I hope people are as morbidly fascinated with this hobby as I am, because it’s premiering at the Fargo Film Festival in March. I suspect it will play at some other festivals in the area shortly after that. If you like your comedy as black as your soul, I think you’ll like this film.
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Well Below Zero
This video by Erik Wilkie documents a Jan. 20 surfing expedition on Lake Superior when the temperature was -15 Fahrenheit.
Lake Superior Sunrise Time Lapse
Video by Danny Baker.
Selective Focus: Esther Piszczek
This week, Esther Piszczek talks about her journey from attorney and doodler to artist and teacher. Be sure to check out the beautiful documentary produced by Lola Visuals toward the end of the post to see in real-time how she makes her intricate artwork.
EP: I am a pattern artist specializing in the Zentangle® method of pattern drawing. The Zentangle method, created by Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts in Massachusetts, uses a .01 Sakura micron pen and pencil shading on a 3.5 x 3.5 inch paper tile to create intricate, beautiful, non-representational art. The method is contemplative and founded on the principle that there are no mistakes, only opportunities to create something unexpected. (more…)
Weird Waves Season 1: Great Lakes
Shoe company Vans brings its branded content team to Duluth, and the locals show them some of the winter surf “hot” spots. (more…)
Selective Focus: Amber Burns
Amber Burns is a true advocate for the arts. She has worked as a dancer, choreographer, painter, teacher and is now Artistic Director of the Duluth Playhouse Family Theatre. This week she talks about her love of many types of expression, and how she builds the work of other people as well as the many disciplines of her own.
AB: When I think about my medium I more like to think about what I love to create, which is visual movement, whether it is through my choreography, directing, through sculpture or on a canvas. Sometimes my medium is paint and sometimes it is physical bodies. I am a dancer, actor, director, choreographer, and visual artist. When I was just three years old I started dancing at a studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota and when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I said, “I already am a dancer!” As I got older I developed passions for many other things, including drawing and painting. When it was time to pick a career and go to college I decided to b become an art teacher, and graduated from UMD in 2011 with a BFA in Art Education, all the while I was still dancing and teaching dance classes. At UMD I also received a minor in dance, and this is where I was introduced to the theater world.
(more…)
North Shore Adventure in 60 Seconds
Joe Esenther of Excelsior posts videos of his travel adventures on YouTube under the moniker “Wild by Nature.” His most recent travelogue shows him exploring the North Shore of Lake Superior with friends.




