The Plays of 2015
Before we launch PDD’s poll to determine the best play or musical of 2015, we present this list of every play or musical from the past year we could track down, with the hope that you’ll let us know in the comments if we’ve forgotten any.
Avenue Q – The Underground
Banning Around the Christmas Tree, or, The Last Noel of Don Ness – Rubber Chicken Theater
The Barber of Seville – Lyric Opera of the North
Behind the Shining Star – Duluth Playhouse Theatre for Young Audiences
The Birds – Renegade Theater Company
Blithe Spirit – St. Scholastica Theatre (more…)
This Week: Cannons, Cowbell and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
The 38th Atmore Memorial Ski Race is happening at Spirit Mountain, Dance Attic is at Papa Charlie’s at Lutsen, the Northern Lights Foundation raises money by asking for More Cowbell, the All Black Zine is having a release show at Prove Gallery and a bunch of noisy rock bands are playing to benefit a future festival.
The Duluth Playhouse Children’s Theatre brings James and his giant peach to the stage, Loose Cannons are still loose after all these years, Bayfront Park is the place for fire, hot chocolate and skating, it’s art for and by musicians at Studio 15, rapper Dem Atlas slings the verses at the Red Herring and Guerilla Girls bring their gorilla-masked selves to town.
PDD Quiz: Mayors of Duluth
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As we transition from the Don Ness era to the Emily Larson era, this edition of the PDD Quiz focuses on Duluth mayoral history.
Thanks to Jake La Jeunesse and Paul Lundgren for contributing to this week’s quiz.
Video Archive: Megadeth in the DECC Auditorium, June 21, 1998
This post originally contained an hour and a half of grainy video of Megadeth in Duluth, shot by Ronaldo Rodrigues Paravani. At some point the video was removed from YouTube.
Selective Focus: Cabin Fever
Aaron Reichow, untitled
While it has been too warm to be stuck inside contracting the negative strain of cabin fever (Winter will no doubt find us), this week we can emphasize the phrase’s positive connotations. Such retreats represent our desires to simplify, to get away from the dissonance and clutter of what we ordinarily deem important. They foreground necessity and diminish the superfluous, and manifest our plainest requirements for dwelling; heat, light, a water source, a welcoming entry, maybe a window to gaze from or peer into. (more…)
Video: Duluth Inauguration 2016
01:00 – Duluth’s Chief Administrative Officer David Montgomery recognizes outgoing city councilors Sharla Gardner, Jennifer Julsrud and Linda Krug.
04:09 – Sixth District Judge Leslie E. Beiers swears in newly elected councilors Joel Sipress, Gary Anderson, Em Westerlund, Elissa Hansen and Noah Hobbs.
07:40 – Former Duluth Poet Laureate Deborah Cooper reads “We All Wake to the Same Sun.”
11:08 – Outgoing Duluth Mayor Don Ness’ exit speech.
18:22 – Mayor Emily Larson recites the oath of office.
21:35 – Mayor Larson’s speech.
OMC Smokehouse anticipates November opening
Duluth Grill owner Tom Hanson stands in the gutted 1886 structure that will house his next restaurant venture.
If all goes as planned, the nascent commercial stretch of the Lincoln Park neighborhood — home to Bent Paddle Brewing, Damage Boardshop and Frost River Trading — will gain a distinctive new restaurant before the end of 2016.
OMC Smokehouse is Duluth Grill owner Tom Hanson’s latest project. OMC stands for oink, moo, cluck. The aptly named eatery will cater to carnivores with its smoked meats and cured sausages, but Hanson promises there will be menu items aimed at vegetarians, too. (more…)
Perfect Album of 2015: Low’s Ones and Sixes
The latest evidence of the ubiquity of Alan Sparhawk: Not only did his band Low gain the most votes in PDD’s poll to determine the best local album of 2015 for its release Ones and Sixes, Sparhawk also produced the Social Disaster album Dark Side of the Roller Rink, which finished a close second in the voting.
But that’s kind of what we expect from the icon of Duluth’s music scene.
For Low’s 11th studio album — its fourth on the Seattle-based Sub Pop Records label — the band teamed with producer BJ Burton and recorded at April Base Studios in Eau Claire. As usual, Sparhawk handles the guitar work and shares vocals with his wife, drummer Mimi Parker. It’s their third album with bassist Steve Garrington.
Ones and Sixes is perhaps the band’s most spiritual-sounding music yet, though not in a denominational sort of way. The songs are filled with soul and strain. Like every Low album, critics have labeled it a departure, while at the same time noting it’s unmistakably Low. Perhaps therein lies the soul and strain. When music critics have a tough time putting a finger on it, it’s usually a great thing that’s happening in the headphones. (more…)
The story of Duluth’s Best Bread: Sourdough in lieu of a PhD
I recently spent a day trying out the role of assistant baker for Duluth’s Best Bread. The amount of time and effort that goes into their scrumptious goodness defies belief. Furthermore, the simple ingredients that go into a traditional sourdough are completely unimpressive. The real feat is accomplished by the wild yeast and lactobacilli that run wild in a symbiotic relationship through Michael Lillegard’s time-tested method of cold fermentation. (more…)
Jerry Vandiver – “In Grand Marais”
Nashville recording artist Jerry Vandiver has a special affinity with Grand Marais, which he expressed in this love song from his 2014 album Every Scratch Tells a Story. The recently released video features images by Grand Marais photographer Paul Sundberg.
New owner takes over Superior’s Cedar Lounge
The Cedar Lounge is located just off Tower Avenue at Third Street in Superior’s North End. The new owner has not announced plans for the property.
The wife of former Fitger’s Brewhouse co-owner Tim Nelson has her name on the recently transferred liquor license of a decades-old Superior tavern.
The Superior City Council granted Cedar Forest LLC a Class B liquor and beer license for the Cedar Lounge, 1715 N. Third St., at its Dec. 15 meeting. The license application lists the sole member of Cedar Forest as Naomi C. Nelson, wife of Duluth micro-brew trailblazer Tim Nelson. (more…)
Where in Duluth? Bathroom Edition
How many of these five Duluth establishments can you identify just from their restroom signs? Hint: all but one are from restaurants or bars. Click the thumbnails for a closer view. (more…)
This Week: inaugurations, exhibitions, festivals and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
Mayor-elect Emily Larson becomes Mayor Emily Larson, DJ Walt Dizzo defends his taste in film, Charlie Parr begins his Red Herring residency, Duluth Yoga officially opens its doors and the art of Andrew John Swanson is exhibited.
The Lake Effect Music and Ski Festival goes down at Papa Charlie’s at Lutsen, the multimedia event Cellar Door happens at the Red Herring, Bayfront Park is the place for hot chocolate and a bonfire, the 28th annual Duluth Wedding Show is at the DECC, Floyd J. Phillips brings the funny to Dubh Linn and Crankshaft joins Mary Bue and Vivielle for a gig.
Fish Bowl of 1952: The time Duluth beat the Packers … sort of
For three seasons, the Green Bay Packers divided up their team for inter-squad scrimmage games in Duluth. The first-group players, or “starters,” played for the Packers, and the second group players, or “benchwarmers,” took the name of the Duluth Eskimos. Of course, there was an actual Duluth Eskimos NFL team from 1923 to ’27, but the games referred to in this post were from 1951 to ’53.
The scrimmages were known as “The Fish Bowl,” and attracted crowds of about 8,000. The Packers won two of the three games, both by small margins, but in 1952 the backup players, under the name Duluth Eskimos, defeated the Green Bay starters by a score of 34-7. (more…)
PDD Quiz: 2015 Year in Review
Photo by Judy Weber
[This quiz was embedded from a platform that is no longer available.]
Reflectivore – “Red Looking Glass”
Washburn-based band Reflectivore released a self-titled album this week. The video for “Red Looking Glass” was directed by Kjell Kvanbeck.
The Inheritance
My grandmother Irene was a pitiful, crazy person. Not all the time, unfortunately, or she’d have been packed into some coarse New England institution for experiments with electrons and lithium derivatives much earlier. As it was, because she alternated her violent and impulsive behavior with periods of serenity and excellent baking, she was allowed to quietly produce one, two, three, four and finally five wards of the state, one right after the other, before she was wrangled by the authorities and medicated to death.
Her youngest boy, Fred, who she kept along with three more kids, believed that shock therapy, medication, and age had actually healed Irene just enough that she could think rationally about what she’d done. So she overdosed herself on lithium.
We met her once, about a year before she died. She looked like a watercolor version of our mother, all smeared and indistinct in comparison. We had no idea she was our grandmother. Our mother introduced her as “Irene,” no more information. (more…)
Ness will launch economic development business
Outgoing Duluth Mayor Don Ness announced at a news conference today he will launch a new business called Hillside Ventures. The Duluth News Tribune reports Ness will offer his services to assist clients with economic development and “public-sector strategy work, working with other communities in the region, especially on the problem-solving and visioning piece.” (more…)
Perfect Duluth Day’s Best Videos of 2015
As the quantity and quality of videos posted on PDD continues to increase, it gets harder and harder to narrow down the standouts from the past year. But here’s what we’ve come up with. It’s a little heavy on music videos, but there’s a touch of everything else in there. Let us know what we may have missed by adding your own favorites in the comments. (more…)
They Aren’t Paid Enough to Be So Nice at This Time of Year: A Nod to Cashiers in the Holidays
Not the self-checkout at the Duluth Target, but I like it
I was noting the new self-checkout at Target. I don’t like it. It feels like Wal-Mart, which is enough to make me never use it. But beyond that irrational knee-jerk, it feels like Target would like to create a shopping experience in which I interact with no one whatsoever. If I wanted that, I would shop at target.com. Which I do for things not carried at the Duluth Target. (I still can’t believe there will be only one Target in our area soon. Aldi will still draw me to Souptown, I guess.)
So I was really happy when I decided to try it today, and the coupon system stymied me, and a cashier walked over and hung out until I was happily rung through. Human touch. (more…)
Selective Focus: Constant
Aaron Reichow, untitled
What won’t you change in the new year? What remains a fixture in our lives? That was this week’s challenge; to find the things that ground us in a world of whirring flux. Easier said than done in a region whose predominant feature is an endlessly shifting inland sea. I would like to have seen some people as “constants” (as they’ve always been in my life), but hey, I only edit this thing. (more…)
2015: The Year in Duluth Gig Posters
Here it is, PDD’s annual gallery of gig posters. It’s not comprehensive, just a smattering of promo images that grabbed attention in 2015. (more…)
Video Archive: Christopher Halverson and Frank Nichols
Christopher Halverson performs “Rockcreek/Grantsville” at R.T. Quinlan’s Saloon during an open mic on Sept. 16, 1995. The video closes with a clip of Frank Nichols blowing his jaw blues harp.
Noon – “Duluth”
Noon, a band from Munich, Germany, has a song called “Duluth.” Anyone who can translate the lyrics from Italian to English or explain the existence or meaning of this song in any way is encouraged to do so in the comments to this post.