Selective Focus: Moira Villiard
This week’s Selective Focus subject has a solo show opening next Monday, June 6, at Zeitgeist Arts in the Atrium. Moira Villiard talks about her paintings and the physical toll her work has taken on her.
MV: People are often surprised when I tell them I haven’t been a painter for very long. I’ve always been involved in the arts, but my skills didn’t mature all that much until I got out of high school and spent my first few post-secondary years sketching portraits I found in old National Geographic magazines. Prior to that, I used to draw doodles in my class notes and took pride in calling myself a “surrealist,” though everything I’d done had been on notebook paper. (more…)
Slow TV: Moving Chickens at the Food Farm
Slow TV documents ordinary events over long periods of time in delightful detail. This particular example features live animals, an on-camera introduction and a few seconds of fast-motion!
But don’t get used to these exciting innovations. Our next video could just as easily be 12 straight hours of grass growing.
Mystery Photo #34: UMD Majorette June Feick
This mystery photo comes from the folks at UMD’s Kathryn A. Martin Library. The majorette featured front and center is June Feick, leading her fellow majorettes and the UMD Marching Band during the 1952 Homecoming Parade on Superior Street in Duluth.
The mystery? “June doesn’t appear to have enrolled at UMD for the 1953-54 (school year),” reads the caption on the Kathryn A. Martin Library Facebook page. “We are curious about what happened in her life after she left UMD. Can anyone help us find more information?”
Trampled by Turtles 2015 Bayfront Park Footage
WDSE-TV’s The PlayList shot last summer’s Trampled by Turtles concert at Bayfront Festival Park. The band returns July 9 for another Bayfront show.
Carts, Pop ups, Trailers, Trucks & Tricycles: Duluth Mobile Food Guide for 2016
Let’s face it: there’s nothing quite like dining al fresco on a perfect Duluth day. But area patio dining options are limited. Plus, they can be crowded and expensive. Those looking for a quick, reasonably-priced bite while relaxing outside can embrace the local food truck phenomenon. Several mobile eatery options have popped up to fill new niches since last year’s rundown. Find out more about these restaurants on wheels, when they’re around and what they have to offer in our 2016 guide. (more…)
Three guys leaving Duluth 100 years ago
Who are they? W.M. Matheny, A.F. Vance and J.W.A. Abb. When were they leaving Duluth? One hundred years ago — June 2, 1916, at 1:45 p.m. Did they plan to return? Yes. Two days later. It’s all written in pencil on the back of the postcard. (more…)
Duluth-based trilogy on Kindle
My brother Allen and I are releasing three interrelated novellas set in Duluth, on Kindle. The first one is available now, Menno Zwonk: Amish Outlaw. Here’s the blurb we wrote for it: “A savage dystopian satire featuring Menno Zwonk, a larger-than-life Amish outlaw and big game hunter. Zwonk is locked in perpetual struggle with a closet-zoophiliac vegan animal rights activist, and an underground lesbian separatist organic farm. Meanwhile biotech has run amok and the fate of the world might be decided in Zwonk’s roadhouse restaurant outside Duluth, Minnesota. Ultraviolent, dirty, and hilarious, this book is as much a diabolical foodie novel as it is outrageous action tale.” Not for the faint of heart. Yes this work has been excerpted in the Transistor over many years. Stay tuned for pt 2 “Novelty Theater,” and pt 3 “The Guys Who Never Stop Fighting.” These books are action/adventure-science/fantasy with literary pretensions. But more than anything they may be seen as love letters to Duluth MN, where these ideas and characters gestated. Social Media: Menno Zwonk Facebook page, The Richardson Bros Facebook page.
Cross City Trail section on DWP line almost done
Last week the pavement went down on a new section of the Cross City Trail that runs on the former Duluth, Winnipeg, and Pacific Railroad line behind the Lake Superior Zoo — part of the DWP Trail. The paved section runs from Greene Street to the zoo, a distance of about one mile.
Clyde Iron Works ad from 1927
From pages 162 and 163 of The Road Builders Catalog Directory, 1927. (more…)
Historic heart of Superior’s East End faces changes
Walter Haugen stands in front of buildings on the 2100 block of East Fifth Street, all planned for demolition this spring.
Walter Haugen stood inside an old corner pharmacy his father operated for close to 70 years on Superior’s East End. A junk pile was pushed near the plate glass front windows. Empty shelving units displayed old merchandise tags. A pungent mercurochrome smell filled the dusty store.
He pointed through a hole in some foam panels overhead. The hole exposed a tin ceiling most likely installed when the building was constructed in 1878. Dozens of silver, square tin tiles decorated the ceiling.
Haugen said someone could be hired to take down the tin, which could be sold for a hefty price to antique dealers or architectural salvage specialists. But it won’t be done.
“It would be like gutting a relative,” he said. “It would be like if you had a pet deer that you raised and someone asked you to chop it up and sell them the meat. You just wouldn’t do it.”
The East End Drug Store, on the corner of Fifth Street and 22nd Avenue, anchors a collection of storefront buildings in the oldest business district in Superior. The 19th Century buildings are expected to meet the wrecking ball in the coming weeks, opening a prime corner to commercial redevelopment. (more…)
Aerial clips from the movie Girl Missing
The Lifetime movie Girl Missing features scenes shot in Duluth by drone operator Josh Kunze, including aerial footage of Glensheen Mansion and a limo driving along Lake Superior’s North Shore.
This Week: fishing, farmers, funny business and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find in this week’s PDD Calendar:
It’s Memorial Day, and the annual West Duluth parade is happening (as is the Gary-New Duluth Veterans’ Memorial Ceremony), James Taylor comes to town on Wednesday to do his chilled-out thing, the five-day Duluth-Superior Film Festival gets underway, former Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak stops at Fitger’s to discuss and sign his new book, the play Annapurna opens at the Duluth Playhouse and Neil Young tribute act Tired Eyes is out there jamming the classics.
The 18th annual Arrowhead Arts Awards take place in Grand Marais, Renegade Improv is the place for on-the-spot laffs, local anglers are raising money for ALS, the Duluth and Barker’s Island farmer’s markets are in full effect, Animal Allies holds its Walk for Animals 2016 event and the Underground is the place for Music for All.
Thanks, Telly
Clip from an advertising supplement in the May 29, 1984 Duluth News Tribune, referring to the classic “Duluth, who loves ya baby?” TV spot. (more…)
PDD Quiz: May 2016
May 2016 isn’t quite over, but it’s over enough to quiz you over it. Here are some questions to see if you’ve been paying attention.
The Lie
There is something about a Hardee’s buttermilk biscuit; you have to admit it. Even the ones that have been cooked for too long, left hot and dry under the culinary equivalent of a tanning lamp until they surpassed deep golden and arrived at dusky caramel, sitting puck-like on the stainless steel rack. You can eat them until your lips crack and curl, until your mouth puffs biscuit crumbs like sandstorms in a desert, they’re so tasty.
Regina simply could not resist them. Which was unfortunate, really, because she was already a big woman — more than six feet tall, and built to comfortably support her more than 200-pound weight. When she got hired as the morning biscuit baker it was a pretty good promotion, and one she had sorely wanted. But now she was alone with those biscuits every morning from 4:45 to 6 a.m., when Hardee’s opened, and a person could eat a lot of biscuits in that amount of time.
Regina came from Bartholomew, Kentucky originally, but she had moved to Lexington before her 18th birthday because she had her eye on the assistant manager position, and when one opened up in Lexington, she applied right away. (more…)
Ingeborg von Agassiz – “Bulletproof Vest”
Ingeborg von Agassiz performs in KUMD‘s studio in this video, shot on May 5.
Upcoming gig: Friday, June 24 at Washington Gallery
Selective Focus: Andy Miller
This week’s Selective Focus subject makes the most of the square format of Instagram with beautifully composed photos of abandoned, forgotten buildings around the area. Andy Miller tells us why he documents them. (more…)
Perfect New Restaurant: Northern Waters Restaurant
It’s no surprise Northern Waters Restaurant crushed Perfect Duluth Day’s best new restaurant poll. The eagerly anticipated eatery just opened in February, but has swiftly won the admiration and bellies of Twin Ports residents, as evidenced by garnering 67 percent of the vote.
Manager Greg Conley with staff at Northern Waters
Zenith Quartette circa 1908
The Zenith Quartette was a Dutch vocal group based in Duluth. Members shown in this old flier are Carl Hvaal, first tenor; J. Olsen, second bass; O.A. Gronseth, baritone and O.O. Hovday, second tenor.
Skate the Lake 2016
Video by Ian Lundborg of Mestek Media from last Saturday’s Skate the Lake, an event promoting skateboarding as alternate transportation in Duluth.
Ely’s Peak Drone Tour
You may have noticed the PDD Drone has come out of hibernation recently. Here is a quick video of Ely’s Peak on the western edge of town. Yes, we did fly the drone through the entire tunnel. It was a bit hairy due to the darkness and the boulders that kept jumping out at our feet. The drone was wearing a small headlamp but it didn’t help much. (more…)
The NorShor Experience: A Strip Club Retrospective
The NorShor Theatre first hosted exotic dancers on May 24, 2006, with two simple words on the marquee: “Live Girls.” Later, the words “Adult Club” would appear above the theater’s new business name: the NorShor Experience. (more…)
Poll: Best New Restaurant in Duluth Area (2016 Version)
What local restaurant will be the Spirit Room’s successor as Best New Restaurant? You tell us. Last week we compiled a list of nominees. Vote now for your favorite new eatery. We’ll post results later this week.
As usual, it’s a runoff ballot, so the list of options will shrink as favorites emerge. If the restaurant you vote for gets dropped from the ballot, you can vote again, so check back later. We started with 16 restaurants in the poll; it’s now down to the top four: Beijing Restaurant, Lake Superior Bakehouse, Northern Waters Restaurant
and Sala Thai.
[poll id=”86″]
This poll is now closed. The results were:
Northern Waters Restaurant – 67 percent
Lake Superior Bakehouse – 13 percent
Beijing Restaurant – 10 percent
Sala Thai – 10 percent
The Story of Duluth Homegrown 2016
Kip Praslowicz‘s latest memory-card dump video is a retrospective of the eight-day Homegrown Music Festival.
Music by the Electric Witch