Videos
Painting in the BWCA
Duluth artist Ken Marunowski describes the process of making a wilderness landscape painting.
Fun While it Lasted
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xNo5Vne07o
People’s Free Duluth Skate Rink now closed for the season, obliterated by snowpacalypse. Here we see it in its heyday, as well as its ignominious conclusion.
Snow Swimming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSoT5R4bnXQ
Shanesaw and Scuba Steve have a little fun during today’s snow day.
It’s not the snowfall, it’s the snowdrifts
“It’s not the snowfall, it’s the snowdrifts.” I just realized that’s kind of a northcountry version of “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.”
I give yesterday’s storm about a 6 out of 10 for Duluth snowstorms in terms of intensity and general nastiness. However, I think this might be the biggest drift I’ve encountered in the 12 years I’ve been at this house.
httpv://youtu.be/1V4tdVVVYO8
Video Archive: 1989 Denfeld Hockey
It’s been 25 years since Denfeld played in the 1989 Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament. Through the miracle of shaky old VHS tapes, we take a look back. Above is the gloriously cheesy video profiling the school, produced for between-period entertainment.
Below are local TV news highlights of Denfeld’s route to the tournament. (more…)
Fly Fishing Movie – Rivers of a Lost Coast extended trailer
If any of you are like me and love the art of fly fishing, this new movie (Rivers of a Lost Coast) may interest you. There is something about grabbing your fly rod and box of flies in search of the illusive North Shore steelhead or casting dries for that beautiful trout on your favorite stream or lake. Fly fishing truly does have a unique way of connecting us to nature as evident in this new film. Tight lines!
At the turn of the 20th Century, a handful of pioneers carried their fly rods into California’s remote north coast and gave birth to a culture that would revolutionize their sport. For a select few, steelhead fly fishing became an obsessive pursuit without compromise.
Rivers of a Lost Coast is a new documentary that looks at our relationship to nature through the eyes of the most fabled angling community in American history. This surprisingly touching film was recently labeled a must see by the San Francisco Chronicle and Seattle Times.
Ice Dam Cam
The shovel cam has been repurposed into the ice dam cam. It’s not nearly as fun as the shovel cam, it’s frustratingly hard to use, depressing and doesn’t get much done.
Getting to the Bottom of the Proposed Polymet Mine Part 2, Winona LaDuke
After much, much hand wringing and editing and processing and sweating and arguing with myself, here is a passable video of the lecture by Winona LaDuke that was delivered on Feb. 8 at the College of St. Scholastica. I think that the message she is sharing is important to hear and try to understand, whether or not you agree with her conclusions. One of her central theses seems is that people have been living and thriving in this region for thousands of years and in the past 100 or 200 years there have been significant and undesirable, even toxic, changes to the land, the waters, and the creatures and people who populate this region.
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T-Bird Tom
I wanted to share this video showcasing Duluthian Tom Maruska, who restores cars for the national Barrett Jackson auction. As a fellow car guy it is amazing to see the level of quality work that this man puts into restoring American classics.
People’s Free Duluth Skate Rink Now Open (Updated)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLBEqTKyCac
I wasn’t going to let a few inches of snow stop me from skating. I knew there was nothing but smooth ice under there. If you’ve got skates and feel like you missed your chance to skate the Big lake this year, here’s the only skate-able ice right now, expanded more since this video was taken. Bring your shovel and add an addition. I’ll keep the rink maintained as long as these conditions last. (Although it’s 20 inches thick, high winds are predicted for Thursday-Friday so we’ll see, use at own risk haha.) Location is off the Lakewalk just shy of the Vietnam Memorial.
UPDATE: Closed for the season, obliterated by snowpacalypse.
Lake Superior Ice Cover
Satellite imagery of the big lake from Jan. 4 to Feb. 16. Video by Paul Schonfeld. Music by Chilly Gonzalez. Sure to remind many of you of the hand jive.
For those in a summer mood …
“Duluth Sketches: Park Point After The Flood” video by Shawn Donovan.
In a strange, unfamiliar world …
Footage of the Duluth Festival Center … in Duluth … Georgia.
Ice Skating Around the Polar Bear Plunge
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri4zxoMMrF8
Skated to the Duluth Polar Bear Plunge. Asked a nice gentleman from the Fire Department if the ice of the outer harbor was safe to skate and he said, “It’s 20 inches thick, that’s strong enough to hold a train. Have fun.”
UMD Bulldogs Hockey 101
The 12th episode of this series about the National Collegiate Hockey Conference profiles the University of Minnesota Duluth and its hockey history, NHL success, the campus and the school itself.
Getting to the Bottom of the Proposed Polymet Mine, Part 1
httpv://youtu.be/xjOYImaGgbE?t=3m12s
I’m hoping that this video, featuring Paula Maccabee of Water Legacy, will be the first of several that I will be able to share over the next few weeks.
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Duluth Indoor Climbing: Boulder Problem
I wanted to share a video that I made about a climber, Rob, who faces his fears daily climbing at Vertical Endeavors in Duluth. Check out the video and let me know what you think!
Recreatin’
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXW_wkrRHqE
Chad Salmela’s Access Gold Medal
We had the clip here from Access Hollywood of Duluth’s Chad Salmela accepting a Gold Medal for his announcing of the 30k Skiathon as a cross-country skiing analyst for NBC. As you can see if you click on it now, NBC has put the copyright kibosh on it. Hopefully that means NBC has the clip available somewhere.
There is nothing left in anybody
Known to most of the world as “The Skiathlon Announcer” Duluth’s own Chad Salmela has gained notoriety as one of the stars of the Sochi Olympics. According to the web site Awful Announcing, “Chad Salmela is to the Winter Olympics what Rowdy Gaines is to the Summer Olympics.”
“Superior Dream” Kayaking Adventure Around Lake Superior
Superior Dream: A Circumnavigation of the world’s largest lake, Lake Superior. Footage from a kayaking expedition by two UMD alumni from Minnesota, Greg Petry and Luca Will, around Lake Superior in late 2010 was made into a movie Superior Dream. The 49-minute movie was released late in 2013 and started shipping in January 2014. We have not found any movie trailer besides the footage clip released back in 2012 and this Kickstarter video below.
Skating Duluth’s Outer Harbor
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0ncNmEJ7hc
Toby Thomas Churchill’s second solo album trapped in future
Duluth’s Toby Thomas Churchill plans to record his next album with Ben Durrant at Crazy Beast studio in Minneapolis. You can help fund it by contributing to the Kickstarter campaign. His first solo album, Death, came out in 2011. (more…)
Duluth Grill on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
Duluth Grill was featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives program on Nov. 26, 2010. The segment can be viewed at foodnetwork.com. Host Guy Fieri samples the grass-fed bison pot roast that made the West End famous.



