Duluth You & Me: William A. Irvin
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: William A. Irvin
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
New Richardson Brothers Podcast Episode: “Bar Fight”
“Bar Fight” is a Duluth-centric science fiction vignette in the style of William S. Burroughs. It reads like a hard-boiled noir tale of a private eye tailing a crooked cop to the bad part of town, ending in a scene of shocking violence — except the private eye is an interdimensional traveler in a space suit, the crooked cop is the god Osiris (now a beat cop for Jehovah), and the bad part of town is a bar in Limbo (modeled after the Pizza Luce bar). I performed this through a megaphone while speaking very quietly because it gives the feel of a distant transmission. I recorded this a couple years ago late at night, but abandoned it because I thought it was silly and I was a mess. Now I’ve viewed it again and it is making me laugh, so I’m posting it. There is a gap of a few seconds in the middle as I scroll my page down. This is the first video release on our podcast, which you can see if you click through but it’s just me reading at a table. The video has a surreal shuttering effect which was unintended but I like it. This story originally ran in the Transistor.
PDD Video Lab: 1963 Duluth Footage
For this edition of the PDD Video Lab we’ve once again taken a silent film from Dominic Chione’s archive — this one from 1963 — and paired it with music by Duluth/Superior’s own Jerree Small. The track is “60 Words for Water” from the 2004 album Mobius.
Watch for a nice cameo appearance at the 1:30 mark by the old Sky Room Restaurant at the Buena Vista.
PDD Quiz: Duluth’s Architectural Details
Can you identify some of Duluth’s historic architecture based on decorative details (and a few hints)? Quiz on to find out!
The next PDD quiz will test your knowledge of May 2020 headlines; it will be published on May 31. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by May 27. (more…)
Low Instagram Concerts
Low has been doing Instagram concerts on Fridays during the coronavirus, with tips benefiting charity, too. Because the shows are on Instagram, they seem to vanish within a day. But apparently, they give permission to fans to post to other media platforms. This is the only one I can find. Are they available in other places or through other YouTube users? Help appreciated.
Signed, — A Fan Whose Greatest Disappointment Was That Moving To Duluth In 2005 Did Not Mean Seeing Low Every Weekend
Nurses and COVID-19
“The world breaks everyone and afterward
many are strong at the broken places.”
~ Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell To Arms
Donna Heil is a registered nurse working in Duluth during the Covid-19 pandemic. Every morning or night, depending on the shift, she wakes up and goes to work. Earlier in her career she took care of children in an intensive care unit, and would fly in helicopters when needed to help pediatric patients. Now she works in radiology, helping people who are sometimes very sick.
She became a nurse after living through a horrific automobile crash in which her husband died. That is why I turned to Hemingway and his words, “many are strong at the broken places.” He wrote those words in his novel about the first world war and the time he spent in Italy recovering from a wound he suffered as an ambulance driver and the nurse who took care of him while he was convalescing. Donna is a tremendously strong, loving, caring woman which is why she is a great nurse filled with compassion and empathy. (more…)
My Favorite Writers/Biggest Influences: Jorge Luis Borges
I read, and re-read, the same few authors. I find them impossible to put down. Here are my favorites, the biggest influences on my own writing — and why.
Jorge Luis Borges was born in Argentina in 1899. (more…)
This Week in Social Distancing: May 15
This is the final episode in our series of social-distancing highlight videos. We appreciate all the people who entertained and got wacky virtually in this weird time. Thanks for making 2020 more bearable. Consider following their social media, contributing to their Venmos or PayPals, buying their merch, or supporting their programs.
Be smart, stay safe and keep other people safe.
Monthly Grovel: May 2020 Edition
The PDD Calendar continues to soldier on through the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping you informed about virtual events and things that might or might not happen in the fuzzy future.
Once a month we reach out with a beggarly blog post to remind everyone that human beings and not machines are at work editing and publishing calendar events on Perfect Duluth Day. So if you appreciate it, drop a few bucks in the PayPal account, yo. (more…)
Documents from the Northeastern Minnesota COVID-19 Community Archive Project at UMD are now live
History is being written today.
Documents from the Northeastern Minnesota COVID-19 Community Archive Project at the University of Minnesota Duluth are now live. More information about the project can be found at lib.d.umn.edu. If you would like to learn more, including information on how to submit, please check out the research guide.
This is a great resource, including art by UMD colleagues and friends.
Video Archive: The Litter – “Blue Ice” (Duluth Armory, 1970)
Recently unearthed Super 8 footage of the Litter performing at the Duluth Armory on May 15, 1970 has been set to a studio recording of the song “Blue Ice.”
Members of the band were: Mark Gallegher, Dan Rinaldi, Tom Murray, James Worthington and Sean Jones.
A Trip to the Dentist
I went to the dentist today, the first day (I think) that Park Dental has been open at its Downtown Duluth location in the Medical Arts Building. There is a Park Dental location near my workplace, but I have an affection for running errands downtown, normally. (more…)
Squatting All Over Duluth
If this video by Eric Torvinen is any indication, Duluth could soon be overrun by squatters.
Postcard from Mesabi Open Pit Iron Mine in Virginia
This undated postcard shows scenes from the Mesabi Iron Range, the largest of four iron ranges in northeast Minnesota. The card uses a spelling more often associated with a roadway in Duluth — Mesaba Avenue. (more…)
“Freshwater” Trailer
515 Productions of Minneapolis / Des Moines is working on a feature-length documentary about surfing Lake Superior. Freshwater is scheduled for release this fall.
The Menu: New Scenic Café
As we continue staying safe with our social distancing practices, Perfect Duluth Day continues to showcase local take-out and delivery dining options with “The Menu.”
New Scenic Café is available for both curbside pickup and deliveries. Orders can be placed at newsceniccafe.com/store. The meal kit service, “Mise en Place Marketplace,” offers a variety of options for delivery within a 30-mile radius of the center of Duluth. In addition to prepared meals, grocery store items will begin to appear in the online store as the service is continued.
Pick-up and Delivery Days:
Delivery and pickup for meal kits and other foods is available on Mondays and Fridays only.
Orders placed Sunday through Wednesday are delivered on Friday from noon to 5 p.m. or are available for pickup on Friday from noon to 2 p.m.
Orders placed on Thursday through Saturday are delivered on Monday from noon to 5 p.m. or are available for pickup on Monday from noon to 2 p.m. (more…)
Duluth Lakewalk Mural
Duluth photographer Dennis O’Hara presents this look at Duluth’s 12-foot-high by 580-foot-long “Image Wall” along the Duluth Lakewalk.
Muralists Mark Marino and Sandra Ettestad placed 6,960 12-by-12-inch tile assemblies and more than 1.7 million 3/4-inch ceramic tiles to create a timeline of Duluth’s shipping history.
The Slice: Free Seed Libraries in Duluth
The Duluth Community Garden Program has built and installed seed libraries across the city.
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.
Fish I Have Met
In my years of recording every moment in the lake (and the rivers and streams), I have encountered many fish. Here are some highlights.
Joe Gallian: There Will be an Answer
University of Minnesota Duluth Professor Joe Gallian has inspired a community of more than 260 top-performing mathematicians.
Duluth You & Me: Grain Elevators
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Grain Elevators
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
Lake Superior Gives Us the Cold Shoulder but Warms Our Hearts
In 2019 I celebrated the first day of summer with my grandchildren on a day trip to Two Harbors. This summer COVID-19 could put a damper on our adventures, but we can still day trip down memory lane. (more…)
Al Trace and the Revelers – “Duluth M-I-double-N”
Here’s a little track for everyone who wants “to be where the winds blow free” — Duluth.
The PDD Video Lab has joined this scratchy old 10-inch record with Duluth images circa the mid-to-late 1940s via Minnesota Reflections, the database of digitized materials from the Northeastern Minnesota Historical Collections and other cultural heritage organizations across Minnesota. (more…)
Trampled by Turtles – “Winners”
Trampled by Turtles performs the “official quarantine” version of “Winners,” a track from the band’s 2014 album Wild Animals.
Video by Banjo Dave Carroll.
To the Women Who Raised Me
I was raised by immigrants from a big Turkish-Armenian family. It’s an old family, sprawling across Istanbul, across Turkey, across the globe. If I mention reading a study from New Zealand or Brazil or Lithuania or Poland or wherever, the response is inevitably, “Oh, we have cousins there!”
It takes a village to raise a child, and while most of our village was overseas I still felt their presence. I was singularly blessed to have a veritable metropolis of strong role models supporting me. Despite having been born and raised in America, my roots grew too deep in foreign soil to be pulled free.
Now I have a daughter of my own. A wide-eyed, strawberry-haired little gummy bear. She already loves dolma and a lengthy duduk solo. She is being raised not just by her Mama and Papa, but by a rambling expanse of extended family. In raising her, I have a new appreciation for the love and devotion of my grandmother, my aunt, and my mother. (more…)