What makes Lake Superior ice look blue?
In this edition of WDSE-TV‘s The Slice, Jay Austin from the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Large Lakes Observatory explains why Lake Superior ice has a blue hue.
Saturday Essays in Book Form
I have self-published a small book containing 15 essays. They comprise the lion’s share of the 17 essays which Perfect Duluth Day so kindly ran as part of the Saturday Essay series. It is available at Zenith Bookstore on Central Avenue in West Duluth next to Beaner’s Central.
Game Changer: A Watershed Moment
Duluth-based Blue Forest Films produced this short feature about Alyssa Nelson’s transition from UMD Bulldogs athletics to fly fishing and nature education. Game Changer was screened last weekend during the Great Water Fly Fishing Expo at Hamline University in St. Paul.
Another Blue Forest Films production, Bigotry to Brook Trout, screens on Friday in Duluth during the Watershed Arts & Film Fest.
Jacob Mahon & the Salty Dogs – “Dazed and Confused” and “Whole Lotta Love”
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
New video by Illy Killy featuring footage of Jacob Mahon & the Salty Dogs from last fall’s Duluth Does Zeppelin concert at Sacred Heart Music Center.
Kathy McTavish named an inaugural Jerome Hill artist fellow
The Jerome Foundation has announced the first recipients of the new Jerome Hill Artist Fellowships program. Duluth-based artist Kathy McTavish was among the artists chosen from 1,172 applications. (more…)
Doughboys on Duluth: “Campaign in the Ass”
Doughboys, the podcast about chain restaurants, mentions Duluth in episode 77, “Cold Stone Creamery with Kevin T. Porter,” released Nov. 2, 2016. (more…)
Poll: What Duluth-area restaurant has the best fish fry?
Who is serving up the Perfect Duluth-area fish fry? In our latest poll, we’re counting on our readers to help suss out the answer to this important question. (more…)
Mystery Photos #88-89: Hardware Store Women
I recently came across two photos of a couple strong Duluth women in an unidentified Duluth hardware store on Minnesota Reflections. There is no accurate date or known specific location (there is a guesstimate year span on this one of 1918-1925, which seems quite unlikely due to their stylish high-collar/big sleeve clothing). Who were they? What year was this? And would they tolerate any nonsense? Unlikely. (more…)
Saturday Essay and Selective Focus Programming Note
Like a bunch of old timers stuck in some newspaper-era, schedule-oriented, deadline-consumed mindset, the brain trust at Perfect Duluth has been locked for several years in the notion that every Friday we need to publish our Selective Focus feature and every Saturday we need to publish our Saturday Essay. No more. It was fine for a while, but we’re done with that rigid scheduling. (more…)
Selective Focus: Justin Christopher Ayd
Justin Christopher Ayd has a close relationship with movies and film. He is working on a feature documentary project shot on the North Shore on super 8 and 16mm film, and explains why in a very digital age, celluloid is the right medium for this project. If you’d like to help out with the project, links are included below.
JCA: I work professionally in two fields simultaneously – filmmaking and film projection. Both aspects of film were introduced to me at a young age, filmmaking and the exhibition side, and by 1992 I knew I wanted to not only make movies, but be the person in the shadows running motion picture film for audiences. (more…)
The Start of the Great Thaw of 2019
Dennis O’Hara presents the new Canal Cam capturing the March 12 sunrise, the beginning of the meltdown before the rain storm.
Duluth City Blocks Puzzles
Apparently a person or entity named P.J. Kossett obtained a copyright in 1978 for the purpose of manufacturing “City Blocks,” a collection of “six puzzles of Duluth scenes.” Shown above is the Duluth Depot, aka St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center. Also featured in the puzzles: Leif Erikson Park, Ore boat entering harbor, Canal Park, Enger Tower and Spirit Mt. Ski Chalet. (more…)
T-Icy Roll Ice Cream opens Downtown Duluth location
Duluth’s second T-Icy Roll Ice Cream shop opens today at 202 E. Superior St., the former location of Lake Superior Art Glass.
Owner Daniel Huang and manager Michelle Lin opened the first T-Icy shop on Aug. 10 in the Denfeld Retail Center in West Duluth. The shops specialize in hibachi-style Thai rolled ice cream treats.
Nominees for Perfect Fish Fry Poll
It’s Lent, the official season to dine on fried fish and chips with a side of slaw, which leads us to Perfect Duluth Day’s latest poll. What local eatery has the best fish fry? (more…)
Some youth pastor in Duluth is having the craziest sex
The podcast Omnibus! with Ken Jennings and John Roderick references Duluth in the March 12 episode “Tippi Hedren’s Fingernails.”
At the beginning of the show the hosts talk about reasons to get married and note it might assure more frequent sexual intercourse. Around the 4-minute mark, Jennings refers to an unmentioned source — “what the numbers say” — and comments that “far from the stereotypes about cold marriage beds, in fact, married people are having more and better and freakier sex than all of us. Some youth pastor in Duluth is having the craziest sex.”
No Empty Bowl?
WDIO tells me Empty Bowl is off, this year. I own five bowls, and I have probably broken five more — these things get used in my home. I love useful art, and Empty Bowl fills my heart and home with useful art.
Colleagues who throw pots as an art form worry that Empty Bowl hurts the market for pottery, but I would say that the twenty bucks I spent there would never have been spent on something in a gallery — it is the confluence of art and charity that makes Empty Bowl magic.
What is next for Empty Bowl? I don’t know, but I hope it returns.
Renovation of former Carlson Book building nearly complete
The Lange Motors building at 206 E. Superior St. was constructed in 1915 and served as an automobile showroom and service center for four decades. A complete building rehabilitation is nearing completion.
Major restoration work on a historic auto dealership now located in a Downtown Duluth entertainment district appears close to completion and owners say they will begin marketing the space this spring. (more…)
Sunday Paper
Tony Doyle loves his coffee, bagel and Sunday paper, despite record snow during his first month in Duluth.
Music: “Sunday Papers” by Joe Jackson from the 1979 album Look Sharp.
Sammy’s Pizza now open in Hermantown
WDIO-TV Eyewitness News reports a new Sammy’s Pizza restaurant opened today in Hermantown at 4310 Menard Drive.
“It’s been a dream of ours for quite some time to open a full-service Sammy’s Pizza restaurant in this area, and we’re thrilled that the opportunity has finally arrived,” restaurant owner Terry Perrella told WDIO.
Sammy’s had a Hermantown location for 26 years inside a BP gas station, but it closed in 2017 when the building was sold and the restaurant lost its lease.
Six Versions of ‘I Like it in Duluth’
The original version of the local anthem “I Like it in Duluth” appears on the 1976 self-titled album by the Moose Wallow Ramblers. The late John Berquist penned the song. Joining him in the band were Greg and Charlotte Ham. Numerous versions of the song have been recorded by other acts over the years; a few are presented below. (more…)
PDD Quiz: History of Morgan Park
This week’s quiz is the first in an occasional series that will focus on the history of Twin Ports neighborhoods; please sound off in the comments on other neighborhoods that you’d like to see covered! (more…)
Minnesota All Hockey Hair Team 2019: Grand Flownale
John King returns with his 10th annual review of the finest hair styles at the Minnesota High School Hockey Tournament. He says this is the final video in the series — the “Grand Flownale.”
Congratulations to Duluth East sophomore forward Jacob Jeannette, who took top honors for his “vintage” and “gorgeous” flow. Even “Nature Boy” Ric Flair had to give it a “whooooo!” (more…)