Atmosphere – “Say Shh …”
Minneapolis-based hip-hop outfit Atmosphere name-drops Duluth in a hidden track on its 2003 studio album Seven’s Travels. (more…)
Countdown to Halloween: Lady Ocalat’s Paranormal Investigations
I’ve been to Lady Ocalat’s Emporium once, to buy some fake dove blood for purposes of writing with my new fountain pen. I don’t know entirely the relationship between the tarot reading services and the paranormal investigations, but Lady Ocalat’s website maintains a record of past paranormal activity, bigfoot sightings and UFO sightings.
PDD Quiz: October 2019 in Review
Another month of 2019 has nearly passed; how much of it do you remember? Take this quiz to test your knowledge of local headlines.
The next PDD quiz, on statues of people, will be published on Nov. 10. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Nov. 7. (more…)
Two Harbors Carmody 61 closed until further notice
The bar/restaurant once operated by Rick Boo, Carmody 61 in Two Harbors, closed this week for unspecified reasons. Boo died at age 60 in August and was also part of the management at Carmody Irish Pub and Brewing in Duluth.
Both Carmody establishments have been on and off recent lists from the Minnesota Department of Revenue for delinquent payment of taxes.
Ed Gleeson, a partner in the enterprises, said he is “duty bound” to not comment until Boo’s estate has been probated.
“That’s for the family’s sake,” he said. (more…)
Countdown to Halloween: International Paranormal Society
Gloria Doescher (left) shows Chris Julien (center) and Adrian Lee a photo of what her thermal imaging camera picked up during one of the vigils at Fairlawn Mansion and Museum in Superior. The three investigated the mansion along with other members of the International Paranormal Society, the first time in more than a dozen years that ghost hunters were allowed into the mansion. (Maria Lockwood / Superior Telegram)
The International Paranormal Society has visited Duluth multiple times. One of its visits included time on the SS William A. Irvin, another the mansion at Fairlawn. Adrian Lee, its founder, has a pretty unique gimmick — he talks about working at the intersection of history and paranormal science, spending time in archives to track historical records that help him make sense of the data his heat sensors and ghost boxes find. Triangulation yields truth, apparently. (more…)
Ripped at the Boogieman Project in 1999
[Editor’s note: Before the NorShor Theatre became a spiffed up Duluth Playhouse venue it hosted a variety of concerts and parties, such as the annual Boogieman Project at Halloween time. For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. He paid a visit to the NorShor and filed the report below, originally published in the Ripsaw newspaper.]
I was completely ripped. To the north of me stood a minotaur. To the south was Ernie from Sesame Street. To the east was a person dressed in about four hundred flashing colored lights. To the west was Kool-Aid Man. No, it wasn’t a bad case of delirium tremens, it was the NorShor Theatre’s fourth annual Halloween party, otherwise known as “The Boogieman Project.”
The NorShor was all decked out for a party of massive proportions. Live bands rocked the house in the main downstairs theater while all manner of freaks and weirdos got funky on the dance floor — a space in front of the stage where the seating was long ago removed. There was a bar setup in the theater to complement the usual one in the balcony mezzanine lounge, where even more bloody surgeons and Star Wars characters drank it up and raised hell to even more live music. God, I love Halloween. (more…)
Sorry Alworth Building, you’re not special
The website of Rotary International published a story in August about reading, with “suggestions for making each book count.” Around the middle of the story is this nugget:
Recognize that not all reading pleasures can be shared. I have friends who will swear up and down that Frederick Exley’s A Fan’s Notes is the greatest sports book ever written. This, for the record, is like being the tallest office building in Duluth. Which in and of itself doesn’t make the building special.
Well, don’t worry, Alworth Building, Perfect Duluth Day thinks you’re special. All 247 feet of you.
Duluth-area “Storage Wars”
I had no idea one could try one’s luck, “Storage Wars” style, in Duluth.
Visit twinportsbid.com if you want to wonder about what sad turn someone’s life took that led them to abandon their locker.
It reminds me of the times I visited Nordic Auction and wondered at the people whose lives were being emptied into boxes for auction. What happened to them? And what will happen to my 9,000 books when I am gone?
Warehouse District and Downtown Duluth circa 1905
It’s not a perfect connection, editing these two old Detroit Publishing Company photos together, but it does create a passable panoramic view of the Warehouse (or “Wholesale”) District and western Downtown Duluth circa 1905. (more…)
“Duluth’s Song” by Charlotte Montgomery
Charlotte Montgomery, one of Duluth’s most inimitable singer-songwriters, is moving away. This also means the band Red Mountain is losing a vocalist. She has left us with this new song, a perfect example of her haunting sound.
You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Shot and recorded by Mikayla Haynes of Clyde Fox Creative.
Postcard from the Publicity Bureau of Edwin H. Lee
For a little background on what the deal is with Edwin H. Lee, we turn to a supplement of the Nov. 1, 1913 issue of Skillings Mining and Market Letter. (more…)
More Duluth climate-change refuge speculation
The international news agency Reuters is the latest to report on Duluth as a potential climate-change refuge. Back in April, it was the New York Times.
William A. Irvin: Monarch of the Steel Industry
With all the news surrounding the SS William A. Irvin moving out and back into the Minnesota Slip in 2018 and 2019, we take a moment here to look at William A. Irvin, the man. The brief bio below appeared in the March 28, 1932 issue of the Billings Gazette of Billings, Mont. (more…)
Selective Focus: Heavy Rain and High Wind
The National Weather Service has issued a coastal flood advisory until 10 p.m. tonight. Duluth city staff issued a news release reminding the public not to drive through standing water, and keep a safe distance from the shoreline. (more…)
Bullet – “Duluth Blues”
From the 1975 soundtrack album to the TV series The Hanged Man comes the short instrumental piece “Duluth Blues.” The band Bullet was a collection of session players assembled in Germany to play the soundtrack music composed by Alan Tew. (more…)
Mystery Photo #101: Forest Service Office at Grand Marais
This photo seems to be of a forest service office on the southern part of Cook County Road 12, aka the Gunflint Trail, in or near Grand Marais. Or does it show a private residence and the arrow on the forest service sign indicates the office is up the road? Who is the gal posing the photo? What year is was this picture taken? Mysteries abound.
The Richardson Brothers’ Podcast: New Episodes
New episodes: “The Blue Man.” Duluth’s most melancholy superhero weaponizes the color blue. But what strange force can undo … The Blue Man? Also: “The Ballad of the Crammenfjorder.” Captain Buck Wild saves the city. And: “Attack of the Food Nazis.” Agent Coma Joe gets tortured with natural foods.
Proctor DWI chair, where are you now?
Ten years ago — Oct. 19, 2009 — Dennis LeRoy Anderson pleaded guilty to driving a motorized lounge chair while under the influence of alcohol. The incident happened more than a year prior — on Aug. 31, 2008. Anderson hit a parked vehicle while driving away from the Keyboard Lounge in Proctor. (more…)
Meet the Candidates: Duluth General Election 2019
Candidates for Duluth municipal and school board positions spoke about their platforms in anticipation of the Nov. 5 General Election. The video was recorded in the Duluth Public Access Community Television Studio.
Wildwoods temporarily unable to accept animals
Indigenous Peoples Day 2019 Celebration and Proclamation
Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration and Proclamation, recorded Oct. 14 on the steps of Duluth City Hall by Duluth Public Access Community Television.
Steamer Augustus B. Wolvin, “Queen of the Lakes”
This image from Detroit Publishing Company shows the Great Lakes freighter Augustus B. Wolvin on Lake Superior at Duluth. The vessel was built for the Acme Steamship Company of Duluth and launched April 9, 1904. The Library of Congress dates the image above as “between 1904 and 1910.” (more…)
Selective Focus: William A. Irvin on the Move
The SS William A. Irvin was moved back to the Minnesota Slip yesterday evening after being worked on at Fraser Shipyards in Superior since September 2018. The ship began its trip from Fraser at 5:30 p.m. and arrived at the Minnesota Slip bridge at 8:30 p.m. It took more than two hours to guide the big boat through the narrow blue bridge back to its permanent home. Here are a few views of the process, via Instagram. (more…)