Bug Ear
One time, I got a bug stuck in my ear. Which is a funny coincidence, since I have always wanted to never have a bug in my ear.
It happened in early summer, and I was fast asleep. At some point around 4 a.m., I was awakened by the sound of a helicopter crash-landing inside my head. I, like all humans on the planet, have experienced bug fly-bys of my ears on many occasions. Bees, for example, seem to really like my ears. They enjoy repeatedly buzzing up behind me, like fat, airborne playground bullies, chasing me around the swingset. Their dumptrucky buzzing is a nice reminder that a bee is almost in my ear. I like to run around my yard, waving my hands around my head and saying, “You won’t even fit in there! And I’ll probably kill you if you try, which I really don’t want to do because you’re the future! You’re the future!” I bet this is pretty funny to my neighbors.
Generally, I dislike flying insects. It seems like they get an unfair advantage. They are already bitey and stingy and too-many-leggy and wearing chitinous exoskeletal armor over their loathsome, malevolent silhouettes. If any bug were as big as a person, we would all freak the fuck out, even if it had a lovely personality. It would take a lot of paradigm adjustment and acceptance, not to mention furniture and undergarment redesign. Twenty percent of all meditation would be to gain control of involuntary shuddering. (more…)
NorShor Theatre circa 1960s: Recognize these kids?
This photo was found in the Duluth Playhouse‘s archives. The kids, enjoying concessions at the NorShor movie theater in what appears to be the 1960s, are listed as: “Sandy Audio? Atto, Otto, Ottio? 5 years” and “Judy Hanson 8 years.”
Multiple sclerosis as a catalyst from being a burnt out cubicle jockey to self-taught artist and entrepreneur
Perhaps you’ve wondered what it takes to open your own retail space. Here is the formula that worked for one of my neighbors: intense physical pain + $7,200 in startup costs + burnout and restlessness + a debilitating medical diagnosis + a whole lot of elbow grease = one art gallery. And that’s about all it takes.
The story of Lakeside Gallery, Aaron Kloss’s new venture, is incredible. Check it out at Ed’s Big Adventure.
Any German Speakers???
I found this old inscription in a 1930s book. Can anyone help me understand it? It looks to be German or Norwegian and based on what I can figure out it references alligators and Lake Superior.
Selective Focus: Richard Colburn
This week, we look at the quiet, fascinating photography of Richard Colburn.
R.C.: As a photographer I am interested in the social landscape, the idea that a photograph is drawn from life and engages, however eccentrically, being human and alive. There is a wonderful circularity in this way of working in that the photograph originates in the world and through carefully viewing of that photograph we see the world with fresh eyes. That refreshed vision is the result of carefully considering not only the subject but also how the photographer employs the language of photography. That language includes a photographer’s knowledge of materials and processes and history of the medium.
It may be asking a lot for a viewer to make such an effort when we live in a world clotted with easily made and circulated images that are consumed in an instant.
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Duluth National Regatta of 1916
One century ago, Duluth hosted the 44th annual regatta of the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen. The event ran Aug. 11 and 12, 1916, with the Duluth team winning nine of the 12 events it entered. (more…)
Mystery Photo #39: Old 708
A train rolls through western Duluth. Year unknown. Photographer unknown. The number on the train is 708. Anyone have insight?
A Little Trip Around Duluth
Kevin Wehmeyer of Drone 117, a new aerial video and photography business out of Chippewa Falls, visited Duluth on a recent perfect day and captured scenes around Canal Park and Leif Erikson Park.
Duluth 2016 Primary Election Results
With all 4,120 precincts reporting statewide:
District 6A Minnesota State Representative (Republican Party)
Robert Farnsworth – 856 | 100%
District 6A Minnesota State Representative (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party)
Julie Sandstede – 1,676 | 35.71%
Tom Whiteside – 1,468 | 31.19%
Ben DeNucci – 1,303 | 27.69%
Mike Thompson – 259 | 5.5%
District 7B Minnesota State Representative (Republican Party)
Cody Barringer – 494 | 100%
District 7B Minnesota State Representative (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party)
Liz Olson -1,6,07 | 89.03%
Bryan Jensen – 198 | 10.97%
District 3 St. Louis County Commissioner
Beth Olson – 904 | 50.03%
Jay Fosle – 811 | 44.88%
Kim McKay – 92 | 5.09%
District 7 St. Louis County Commissioner
Michael A. Jugovich – 1,219 | 35.77%
Melissa Scaia – 1,122 | 32.92%
Jeff Polcher – 670 | 19.66%
Mary Jo Rahja – 397 | 11.65%
Minnesota Supreme Court Associate Justice 6
Natalie Hudson – 173,757 | 64.95%
Michelle L. MacDonald – 54,765 | 20.49%
Craig Foss – 38,906 | 14.56%
Duluth Imperial Mill Company
Duluth Imperial Mill was the largest single mill in the world in the 1890s, but by the turn of the century its reign was over. There’s a full history with plant photos at zenity city.com.
Presented here are a few promotional items. (more…)
Kiss Meets the Phantom of Duluth
Kiss performed at Amsoil Arena in Duluth on Aug. 3, and … well, if you didn’t go, there are all sorts of videos shot by a guy named Tom. If you did go, and you didn’t care much for it, well, Paul Stanley thinks you are a miserable asshole.
Where in Superior?
For the 147th installment of Perfect Duluth Day’s ultra-thrilling photo-trivia sensation “Where in Duluth?” we cross the bridge to ask, “Where in Superior was this photo taken?”
This Week: baseball, bubbles, blues and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find in this week’s PDD Calendar:
The University of Wisconsin-Superior hosts the inaugural Aeronautics and Space Camp for high-school girls, the 2016 primary election takes place on Tuesday, nationally-recognized kids’ comedy duo Mixed Nuts performs at the Duluth Public Library, Mama’s Stolen Horses make an appearance as part of the Chester Creek Concert Series, the completely bonkers cult film Miami Connection screens at the Zinema, supergroup Case/Lang/Veirs plays Big Top Chautauqua and the Shark-Watching Society is keeping their eyes peeled on Wednesday.
The 2016 Wisconsin Space Conference takes place at UW-Superior, the Duluth Art Institute holds an ongoing workshop on digital-based art, Iron Range mining communities are the focus during a talk with photographer Vance Gellert, ad agency Swim Creative celebrates a decade in business, Har Mar Superstar schools fools at the Red Herring, the Bayfront Blues Festival returns to Bayfront Festival Park, the Duluth Huskies play their last regular-season home game and the Duluth Children’s Museum holds its eighth-annual Bubble Festival.
Movies in the Park and a Hint of Rubber Duck
I passed through Movies in the Park on Friday while walking home from Suicide Squad at the Duluth Movie Theater at the DECC. On the way home, I conservatively passed seventy people playing Pokemon Go. I know this because I was playing, too. (more…)
Duluth 2016 Primary Election Sample Ballot
Minnesota’s State Primary election will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 9, in all election precincts within all cities, towns and unorganized areas of St. Louis County. Shown above is the state partisan side of the ballot for the Duluth area. Shown below is the state and county nonpartisan side of the ballot. (more…)
Leo Seltzer’s Transcontinental Roller Derby in Duluth, 1937
Two years after the term “Roller Derby” was trademarked, Duluth hosted a bout.
Some Notes on the St. Louis
Mark in his blue jeans and cowboy boots back flipping off the Fond du Lac Bridge. Each of us following him but never brave enough to flip. Tee holding his breath for as long as he could when he hit, so we’d all run across 23 to hang over the opposite railing and wait for him to come up and shake the water from his black hair. Nearly every kid in the neighborhood soaring and only occasionally thinking of what our mothers said: ok, you know how deep it is. But do you have a map of all the swimming turtles? The tourists stopping to snap pictures of the Flying River Rats. What did we know of pollution? We’d smear the foamy river on our faces and call each other Brown Beard. Yar, we’d yell and plunge again into the water.
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I have friends who love mountains more than rivers and lakes. I don’t trust them. (more…)
Volleyball Leagues in Duluth
I’ve lived here for a decade. I don’t know why this surprises me so much, but I went to Skyline Lanes and saw more than 100 people playing volleyball on a Wednesday night. Are there other places for this kind of fun?
Missing Person: Roger Wayne Swanson
Update: On Monday, Oct. 10, at 4:37 p.m., Duluth Police responded to the end of Park Point; in the area of 4800 block of Minnesota Avenue after receiving a report of a person locating the remains of a human body. Officers arrived at the scene and located the remains of human body. Police are investigating the incident and believe the remains of 53-year-old Roger Wayne Swanson, who went missing on Aug. 1. At this time, the preliminary investigation indicates the death of Mr. Swanson is not suspicious. This incident is still under investigation and no other information is available.
The Duluth Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating Roger Wayne Swanson. He is a 52-year-old white male, 5’8″ tall, 150 lbs., has brown grayish hair and brown eyes. Swanson was last seen in the Woodland area near the 100 block of College Street. The Duluth Police Department needs the public’s assistance in locating Swanson to ensure he returns home safely and receives his prescribed medication.
Selective Focus: Adam Swanson
This week we hear from one of the area’s most prolific and recognizable painters, Adam Swanson. Adam has an opening reception tonight (Friday, Aug. 5) at the Tettegouche State Park Visitor Center.
A.S.: I work primarily with acrylic paints on tempered hardboard panels. In my youth and studies I experimented with a wide variety of media and techniques. Though I’ve always rallied against specialization, I accidentally grew to love acrylic painting.
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The Duluth Quantum Computing Project
So I attended the first meeting of the Duluth Quantum Computing Project designed and taught by Kathy McTavish, local cellist and multimedia artist. The series of workshops and mentored projects continues into the month of August. There, Kathy will bring what she described as a hybrid of fine arts, of high technology, and the ingenuity of the spirit of the MakerSpace in Duluth. As Kathy put it in last night’s class, “simple materials such as HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript, a text editor and a web browser will be our tools in creating new work.”
According to McTavish, “artists have been leveraging this space to explore new forms.” But the workshop is not only of value for creativity — McTavish believes using these tools will grow economic opportunity. “These technologies are of high value in the today’s market. In other regions of the country, coding classes provide artists with creative tools and career opportunities.” (more…)
‘Tis the season for car prowls, theft
There’s an old saying in Duluth that cold weather keeps the riff raff out. Logic follows that summertime is the peak season for car prowls and even the occasional theft. A blue Audi A4 convertible like the one shown above was stolen on the evening of July 31. (Update: Police have recovered it.)
Duluth Police routinely remind citizens to lock their vehicles, remove valuables and report suspicious activity to 911. (more…)
Mystery Photos #36-38: Three Women
One day you’re glamorous enough for a fancy Duluth studio portrait; one-hundred years later, no one knows who you are.
At least the photo on the left comes with half of a name: “Mrs. Mohler.” Other than that, what you see is what you get for clues. Anyone who recognizes one of these women or can provide further details will be declared winner of the internet for a day.