The Slice: Under the Waterfall
Mystery Photo #96: Unknown Building
This image landed in Perfect Duluth Day’s files under “unknown building.” Anyone recognize it?
Quitter
Just about a year ago, I wrote an essay detailing my own reasons for abstaining from alcohol. (If you’re also a stickler for reading a series in order, you can find “1,186 Days” in the archive. Don’t rush. We’ll try not to get too far ahead before you rejoin us.) It was a relief to talk about it, frankly, having stewed it over for a few years. It was also surprisingly cathartic to put it on paper, since it was substantially more chaotic swirling about my brain box than it was organized and detailed in that essay. Ah, the curious, inscrutable liberation of constraint.
Before I published it, I labored for months over the implications of my admissions: would friends judge me? Would they rewrite the stories of our relationships with this new information, indelibly staining our shared moments with my arrival at this murky end? Would they see evidence in my behavior, view our debaucherous moments with hindsight bias, convinced they could see now the unfortunate trajectory that would lead me to quit drinking? Would they feel weird around me? Would they glumph me into the world of addicts, a ticking time bomb that might dive headlong into a vat of gin and tonics and never resurface? Would I lose friends? Job opportunities? And did any of this matter to me, really? Because in this case, the truth was the truth. The only variable was other people seeing me as I actually was. So I published it. (more…)
Meet the Candidates – Recorded by PACT-TV Duluth
The staff from PACT-TV Duluth invited candidates for the mayoral, at-large city council and council districts 1, 3 and 5 to speak up to 5 minutes in regarding their candidate platforms.
Selective Focus: Adeline Wright
Adeline Wright is a multi-disciplinary artist, probably known by most for the work done at her hair salon. The distinctive building at 1132 E. Ninth St. was recently repainted, and a mural is being finished up along the side of the building. Changes and collaborations are happening inside the salon as well. There will be a Grand Reopening Celebration this Saturday, Aug. 3, from 4-7 p.m. Adeline gives us a preview and some more info on the updates.
I am currently creating in multiple ways though hair will always be my primary avenue of expression. What I have come to realize recently is that all of the creative endeavors in my life point clearly to one thing: My love of people is at the forefront of why I do what I do. As a visual artist (working in oils, acrylic, and spray paint) I lean toward portraiture as a means of understanding my relationships with the people around me and those in the broader human community. When I take digital photos, or form a collection of images, the photos and images are always of people. I really notice art that has humans or animals somehow included, even if indirectly. To me, sometimes flowers are also faces, or they represent something similar to how I feel about people. Also, as animals are sentient beings too, I don’t really separate them from humanity, though I only cut human hair, LOL! I have been relationship driven, portrait focused, and styling hair as long as I can remember. (more…)
Postcard from Paul Bunyan Bar & Grill
This undated postcard, published by Kaeser & Blair of Cincinnati, Ohio, depicts interior and exterior scenes at the Paul Bunyan Bar & Grill in Downtown Duluth. (more…)
Monthly Grovel: August 2019 Edition
In the past year — from August 2018 through July 2019 — the PDD Calendar published 7,883 Duluth-area events. Each one was edited by a human being before the “publish” button was pushed.
It’s a tremendous amount of work to keep up with all the submissions from the more than 1,000 organizations that have sent us info about their concerts, plays, seminars and stilt-walking classes. That’s why once a month we set our dignity aside and remind readers how much we appreciate their financial support. (more…)
Duluth 2019 Primary Election Sample Ballot
The primary ballot is a little thin this year. Duluthians who aren’t in District 3 will only see two offices getting narrowed down. City Council races in the first and fifth districts have just two candidates, as do three school board races, which means they don’t appear on the primary ballot.
Primary Election polls open Aug. 13 at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. (more…)
Lake Superior Trust Fall
Lake Superior water temps rise to roughly 60°F in late July, but even that can feel like a “frigid ice box” for folks like photographer Kip Praslowicz.
Sinclair Lewis / John G. Williams House
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
Cade Imaging of Maplewood provides this short, sweeping aerial video of the Duluth mansion best known as the home of Nobel-prize winning writer Sinclair Lewis during the 1940s. (more…)
R.I.P. Bruce Hagen, former Superior mayor
Bruce Hagen died July 26 after a lengthy illness. He was 73. Hagan served as Superior’s mayor from 1975 to 1987, and from 2011 to 2017, when he retired during his fifth term.
Eavesdropping in Britain
Local author Julie Gard has published new poetry in Coldnoon, from a project rooted in eavesdropping called “Eavesdropping in Britain.” (more…)
T Bone Burnett – “Every Time I Feel the Shift”
Grammy-winning musician T Bone Burnett referenced Duluth on the track “Every Time I Feel the Shift” from his 2006 album The True False Identity.
At the 1:12 mark he sings:
It all comes down to a moment of truth
Clock ticking in a soundproof booth
From Corpus Christi to Duluth
From Genghis Kahn to Babe Ruth
PDD Quiz: July 2019
Put your knowledge of recent headlines to the test with this week’s PDD quiz!
The next PDD quiz will feature neon signs of the Twin Ports; it will be published on Aug. 11. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Aug. 8. (more…)
Mystery Photo #95: Mr. Earl Askew
A recurring source of confusion in the Mystery Photo series is whether particular images that share the stamp of the Post Card Shop in Minneapolis and the Penny Arcade in Duluth were shot in Minneapolis or Duluth. Here is another such image. (more…)
Selective Focus: Deer
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzGJCYPnQqL/
The ubiquitous white-tailed deer — an almost daily sighting for Duluthians who spend time outdoors and away from the downtown; and probably a weekly sighting for anyone who just looks out the window. In this edition of “Selective Focus,” a few Instagram images of local does and bucks. (more…)
The Slice: Davidson Windmill
The Davidson Windmill is in Lakeside, Wis., about 20 miles southeast of Duluth and six miles east of Superior on Wisconsin Highway 13. It was built between 1900 and 1904 by Jacob Davidson on his 80-acre homestead. The mill operated until 1926. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and donated to the Old-Brule Heritage Society in 2001. (more…)
Flesh-eating foot-fetishist minnows of the French River
Featuring Alyssa Hoppe’s feet. She giggled and squealed the whole time.
Postcards from Lincoln Park
A random collection of postcards depicting Lincoln Park in Duluth’s friendly West End neighborhood. (more…)
Mexican cuisine options expanding in Duluth area
Margaritas, chips and salsa at Bucktales – Photo by Lissa Maki
The Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior have never been known for Mexican food, but options for taco lovers have been expanding and improving in recent years. It’s been a long time since Hacienda del Sol, Zona Rosa and Chi-Chi’s were the hot spots. (more…)