Low Viz at the Ledges
The consistent rain this summer has made for a cloudy lake. Poor visibility obviates more adventuresome diving than this, so here I am in familiar territory, sticking close to shore in the crenulated shallows of the Ledges.
North Shore Aerials – Summer 2016
Another beautiful aerial video of Lake Superior’s North Shore, this time by Open Window Productions of Minneapolis.
DTA Woodland Windjammer, Crosley Clipper, et. al.
The quest is to settle a bet. Whether there’s enough evidence so far to settle it will have to be up to the wagerers.
Former Duluthian Daniel Heinan, now living in Los Angeles, sent the following email:
My friends don’t believe that there was a DTA bus line called the Woodland Wind Jammer. There was even the Crosley Clipper. They existed in the 1980s and early 1990s. Can you help me prove them wrong?
What an inside source at the Duluth Transit Authority reports:
A long-time employee and former driver tells the tale of not just the Woodland Wind Jammer and the Crosley Clipper, but also the Proctor Pacer and the Superior Streaker. These were all express routes, designed to get people downtown as soon as possible. He thought there might have even been a contest to name them.
Alas, a search through the DTA library resulted in no physical proof, but I trust my source.
So there we have it. Anyone with hard evidence should obviously come forward, but so far the jury would have to lean heavily in favor of the Windjammer and Clipper being actual former DTA bus route names.
Duluth and North Shore – Summer 2016 Aerial Video
Seth Butler took a trip to Duluth, and this gorgeous video was the result.
Mystery Photo #40: New Duluth Bus and Drivers
This photo popped up on Pinterest a while back. It’s dated 1962. Photographer unknown.
Duluth’s first diesel buses began operating in 1957 under the auspices of the Duluth-Superior Transit Company. The Duluth Transit Authority was created in 1969, so one could say the bus in the photo above is a DTA before there was a DTA.
Can anyone name any of the drivers?
Reflectivore – “7 77/March”
Director/DP: Kjell Kvanbeck
Written by: Allen Cragin, Ryan Rusch and Kjell Kvanbeck
“7 77/March” is the second collaboration between Reflectivore and True Norse Films. The first, “Red Looking Glass,” was released in December.
Cast Iron Bar and Grill fills Le Grand Supper Club void
Duluthians don’t typically venture north of Hermantown to eat dinner, but now there’s a reason for the ride. The Cast Iron Bar and Grill opened three months ago in the old Le Grand Supper Club space in the Pike Lake area. (more…)
This Week: ships, Olympics, nerds and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find in this week’s PDD Calendar:
The Hoghead Festival begins in Proctor with a golf tournament, North Shore Scenic Railroad presents an onboard murder mystery, it’s the dawn of the Nerdaissance at Teatro Zuccone, Mary Bue brings her Holy Bones to the Chester Creek Concert Series, the latest installment of Take it With You goes live at the Underground, Gaelynn Lea releases her latest EP with a show at the Red Herring and families who have Olympic fever can compete at the Duluth Family YMCA.
It’s the season for kids to run wild in Wednesday Night at the Races, the Tall Ships are back in the harbor, the 4-day Art in Bayfront Park event opens, the punk/hardcore music festival Northern Isolation II runs from August 19 to 21, the Duluth Experience takes people on a Dark History Walking Tour of Duluth, Rich Mattson and the Northstars join Space Carpet at the Red Herring and local fare is celebrated at Farm Fest.
Selling promotional squares for financial remuneration
As a constantly growing media giant, Perfect Duluth Day is once again looking to expand its crew of people who sell those advertisements that are so handsomely stacked on the right column of the pages of this website (or in between the content if you are looking at PDD on a smartphone).
If you are an outgoing and enterprising person who enjoys rubbing elbows with decision makers at local businesses, click here to read the job description.
If you are a reader of PDD who hates advertising and gets nervous when reading something like this, rest assured that although PDD strives to sell more advertising to support its vast infrastructure, ads on the site will continue to be confined to appropriate space and never come in the form of a pop-up or auto-play video. We respect you too much for that.
PDD Quiz: Tall Ships Festival 2016
[This quiz was embedded from a platform that is no longer available.]
The tall ships are coming! How much do you know about the ships coming (or not coming) to this year’s festival? Let’s find out!
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.
(more…)
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…)