Jacob Mahon – “Salty Dog” and “Faching”

Jacob Mahon releases his debut album, Llamaless, during a concert Saturday night, March 31, at Beaner’s Central. (more…)

MusicVideosJacob MahonRosewood Music

An Icy Sunset on Lake Superior

Video by Boston-based marketing firm Swiftkurrent.

VideosLake Superior
Pier B Resort: Courtside Concerts
Downtown Duluth: Movies in the Park

Land of the Sky Blue Waters

This illustrated map depicting “The Minnesota Arrowhead Country” is from the Hotel Duluth Coffee Cub menu, circa the mid-20th Century. The illustration is by wildlife painter Louis S. Raymer, who graduated from Duluth Central High School.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune published an article about Raymer’s career in 2014: “Painter Louis Raymer, 85, on life, career and the heyday of wildlife art.” Raymer died in 2016.

ArtHistoryMaps

PDD Quiz: March 2018 in Review

As we near the end of the March doldrums, let’s take a look back at local (and local-adjacent) happenings that made headlines this month.  Quiz on to see how closely you’ve been paying attention to current events!

The next PDD Quiz, on the geology of the Twin Ports, will be published on April 15. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by April 12. (more…)

News and Current AffairsPDD Quiz
Grandma\'s YAF Wednesday Races

Eat Yourself Help

The biggest mistake you can make after deciding to eat yourself is to start with the hands. The hands are the easiest part of the body to eat, so they seem like a good place to begin, but that is exactly why you should save them as long as possible. Remember, once your hands are gone, those hard to bite areas become an even bigger strain.

I suggest you start with your thigh, just above the knee. Chew through both legs, severing them. This allows you to eat your calves and feet like two big, sloppy corncobs. (Should you begin choking on an Achilles tendon, remember that a self-applied Heimlich maneuver can be just as easily performed when you are rolling around on the floor with severed legs as when you are standing on your feet.)

You might find the area from your thighs up hard to reach with your mouth so it’s important that you still have your hands and arms. Don’t eat them yet! After you have chewed open your legs, you will easily be able to use your hands to scoop out heaping portions of the rest of your body.

Many people ask me, “Paul, how do I eat my own mouth?” The answer is simple. Just push it down your throat and swallow. It’s that easy. (more…)

RandomSaturday Essay

Selective Focus: William Garnett

William Garnett is a teacher at East High School, and an avid supporter of the sports and other programs there. He uses his photography skills to provide the student athletes with some amazing Sports Illustrated-level images through his Instagram and Facebook feeds.

WG: I do photography, mostly sports. I began by taking photographs to document the activities of an organization I was the adviser for at East High School and progressed to photographing a variety of activities from sports to theater. I have been called the school photographer and I guess that fits. (more…)

ArtPhotosDuluth East High SchoolSelective Focus
Barrel Room Smokehouse
Glensheen

The Ripple Bar on Lake Superior opens March 23

Maggie Gustafson

Maggie Gustafson – Photo by Lissa Maki

If all goes swimmingly, the Ripple Bar on Lake Superior will open on Friday at 3 p.m. A soft opening was held last night.

Margaret “Maggie” Gustafson is the new owner of the rebranded drinking establishment, formerly known as the Slip. The bar occupies a 900-square-foot space adjacent to Hoops Brewing at 325 S. Lake Ave. in Duluth’s Canal Park Business District. (more…)

News and Current AffairsBars / Drinking EstablishmentsCanal ParkHoops BrewingThe Ripple Bar

Charlie Parr – “Dog”

(more…)

MusicVideosCharlie Parr
Fond-du-:Luth Casino: Thursday
Weis Eye Center

Kingsbury Bay and Grassy Point Habitat Restoration Project

There’s good news for people who like to geek out with lengthy environmental assessment worksheets and pages upon pages of support documents. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is accepting public comments through April 18 on the EAW for the Kingsbury Bay and Grassy Point Habitat Restoration Project in West Duluth.

The graphic above is an interesting nugget from the documents. It shows aerial views of the Kingsbury Bay area, where Kingsbury Creek enters the St. Louis River estuary near Indian Point Campground. The 1948 version shows a wide open beach; the modern view shows a marshy swamp filled with invasive narrow-leaved cattails. (more…)

News and Current AffairsWest Duluth

Postcard from Goldfine’s Bridge Room

This postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography shows the Bridge Room at Goldfine’s by the Bridge, one of the nation’s first discount stores. It opened in 1962 at 700 Garfield Ave. Today the building is home to the Goodwill Duluth store. (more…)

HistoryPhotosGallagher's Studio of PhotographyGoldfine FamilyPostcardsRice's Point
Glensheen
Grandma\'s YAF Wednesday Races

Video: Duluth State of the City Address 2018

For those who missed it last week or want to relive it this week, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson’s Ides of March State of the City Address from the NorShor Theater is now available in a 40-minute video.

News and Current AffairsPoliticsVideosEmily Larson

Aces on First under new ownership

Cade Grover

Cade Grover – Photo by Lissa Maki

Customers may have noticed a few changes at Aces on First. Two seasoned Duluth mixologists have taken over the popular downtown drinking establishment and dance club at 113 W. First St. (more…)

News and Current AffairsAces on FirstBars / Drinking Establishments
Ashwabay Alliance / Big Top Chautauqua

Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge Control House Panotour

Step inside.

PhotosAerial Lift BridgeCanal Park

Rural Duluth man kills wolf with hammer, city very happy

The above clipping is from The Times of San Mateo, Calif., Jan. 2, 1956. (more…)

HistoryBears
Weis Eye Center

Mystery Photo: Diamonds are Forever … Except in Duluth!

This old photo seems to show striking workers at the Diamond Tool and Horseshoe Company in West Duluth. Or are the workers protesting the closing of the plant? What year was the photo taken? Who is the guy in the foreground crossing the street? There are plenty of questions to be answered in this Perfect Duluth Day Mystery Photo. (more…)

HistoryManufacturingMystery PhotosWest Duluth

Winter Adventures

vimeo.com

Video by Tanner Bjorlie.

VideosNorth Shore of Lake SuperiorPalisade Head
Weis Eye Center

Better Late Than Never

When my wife reads this she’s gonna kill me dead. You see, we’re not into public displays of affection. A peck on the lips at the airport is about the extent of it, and to say we’re understated would be an understatement. But I’ll tell you this straight away, as I often tell my wife: I like her more than a medium amount.

In middle-age I became a novice married man, and we found our balance on the scales of wedded bliss, with my wife being smart on the one hand, and I, on the other, able to lift heavy things. With she being cute, and I able to lift heavy things. With she having miraculous powers to actually consider the future and I, in the moment, lifting.

Fifteen years later we refer to the present as “the good old days,” and I’m still rounding the learning curve of coupledom. We continue to expand our glossary of secret terms and their acronyms, a code uncrackable by the NSA. An abrupt maneuver while driving, most often a U-turn, is known as a “Hang On Deary” or “H.O.D.” Dusk in winter is the “Blue Snow Hour.” Friends of our neighbor have become the biblical “Tribe of Dan,” and our cats have more nicknames than the Gambino family. (more…)

RandomSaturday Essay

Selective Focus: Ingeborg von Agassiz


Ingeborg von Agassiz is a multimedia artist who writes and performs music, paints and draws, creates videos and also teaches music. She just released her album “O Giver of Dreams” and hosted a combination release show / art show at the Red Herring. Her art will be up into the month of April at the Herring. In December, she and her students worked with PDD on a video for “Oh, the Hillside,” a song from the new album. Her music embraces technology with looping vocals, synths and effects, while her paintings are distinctly handmade with bold lines, shapes and strokes.

IVA: I work as both a musician and visual artist. I’ve shared my visual art publicly under another name for over a decade and once I launched my musician project as Ingeborg von Agassiz, I decided to use that name for all the art that I make. I make acrylic paintings on canvas and also pen & marker drawings on paper. And sometimes I use watercolors and also typewriter text on paper. I’ve created a couple of zines with drawings, doodles, essays, song lyrics. (more…)

ArtMusicVideosIngeborg von AgassizPaintingSelective Focus
Ashwabay Alliance / Big Top Chautauqua
Fond-du-:Luth Casino: Thursday

Superior native reviews “Girl From the North Country”

“Girl From the North Country,” the musical play that features the song catalog of Duluth/Hibbing native Bob Dylan, will close its second run at the Old Vic Theatre in London’s West End on March 24. Superior native Cassandra Csencsitz has published a review in the latest “Critic’s Notebook” on the American Theatre website: ‘Girl From the North Country’: How Does It Feel?

ArtMusicBob DylanTheater

Bent Paddle’s new taproom will open April 12

Bent Paddle will transition from its old taproom at its brewing facility to a new one across the avenue during the month of April. The new space, located in the former Enger & Olson Furniture store building at 1832 W. Michigan St., has been under construction since November. (more…)

News and Current AffairsBeer and BreweriesBent Paddle BrewingLincoln Park Neighborhood / The Friendly West End
Downtown Duluth: Movies in the Park
Vision Pro: Clear Vision

Way up North, Gay up North

Duluth newscasters Dan Hanger and Edward Moody share their stories of being gay news anchors in Lavender magazine.

News and Current AffairsMedia

Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #9

Below are more questions from a Duluth Trivia Deck I found at Savers.

1. True or false? The fires of 1918 destroyed the Northland Country Club, the Homecroft and Cobb Schools, the Alger-Smith Lumber Yards and approaches to the Interstate Bridge.
2. In what sport did Walter Hoover excel?
3. True of false? The Viking Explorer, the replica of the ship sailed by Leif Erickson, has never sailed.
4. Who planned the Duluth Civic Center?
5. Who dedicated Enger Tower?
6. For how many years was Samuel Frisbee Snively mayor of Duluth?
7. Why was the Hotel Duluth’s Black Bear Lounge so named?
8. What recent year will be the year remembered at the year bears invaded Duluth?
9. What leading proponent of prohibition lectured in Duluth in 1910?
10. What suffragette spoke in Duluth in 1889?
11. What was the title of Nixon’s address in Duluth?
(more…)

History
Vision Pro: Clear Vision
Weis Eye Center

Ursa Minor Brewing will stress variety, quality

The Ursa Minor Brewery team includes, from left, General Manager Andrew Scrignoli, Head Brewer Mark Hugus and Chief of Operations Ben Hugus. The brewery plans to hire 10 employees.

The newest brewery in Lincoln Park will feature a patio, a pizza oven and a plan to create adventurous, small-batch beer in a former cracker factory.

Ursa Minor Brewing announced this week it will open a five-barrel brewing operation, tap room and offices at 2415 W. Superior St. Brothers and co-founders Ben and Mark Hugus said they hope to begin serving thirsty customers by mid-summer. (more…)

News and Current AffairsRestaurantsBeer and BreweriesLincoln Park Neighborhood / The Friendly West EndUrsa Minor Brewing

Fat-tire Bike Iceberg Jumping

Video by Richard Hoeg of 365 Days of Birds.

SportsVideosBicyclingLake Superior
Fond-du-:Luth Casino: Thursday
Pizza Luce: The Stelvio

Canning is underway at Earth Rider Brewery

Earth Rider Brewery announced today that 12 oz. cans of its beer will be available at retail outlets beginning Thursday. Until now Earth Rider beer has been exclusively available in crowlers (32 oz. cans) from the Cedar Lounge taproom and on draft at local restaurants and taverns.

Cans will be available in the Twin Ports initially and expand this summer to include the South Shore to Ashland, North Shore to Two Harbors and other points within the Lake Superior watershed.

Four Earth Rider flagship styles will be put into cans initially: Superior Pale Ale, North Tower Stout, Precious Material Helles and Caribou Lake IPA.

News and Current AffairsBeer and BreweriesEarth Rider BrewingSuperior