Aldo Abelleira’s Lake Superior Autumn Trip
Aldo Abelleira of Aldo Design took the cruise up from Minntonka to Lake Superior’s North Shore this fall to document the waterfalls, autumn colors and occasional fox hanging out in the road.
Arts & Economic Prosperity in Duluth
A study released on Monday suggests the nonprofit arts and culture sector in Duluth generates over $36 million annually in total economic activity. Arts & Economic Prosperity in the City of Duluth, MN is a follow up to the statewide study Creative Minnesota: The Impact and Health of the Nonprofit Arts and Culture Sector. Highlights are above, fine print is below, and the full text of both studies are linked in the sentence previous to this one. (more…)
The other Horton for Mayor song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trn06N7hzyE
The “Fighting for Duluth” song posted previously on PDD drew a fair amount of attention, and plenty of speculation that it was created as satire. The song in this post seems to have the full endorsement of Duluth mayoral candidate Chuck Horton. According to the credits, the music, lyrics and vocals are by Joe Tuttle, the slideshow was produced by Otiz Mac, and the “message and video are approved by Chuck Horton.”
Note: Normally PDD would not post a campaign ad as content, but in this case the argument can be made that there is entertainment value. And maybe a case for equal time. Let the battle of campaign songs begin.
“Fighting for Duluth”
A very unofficial Chuck Horton campaign song made by an anonymous local musician.
Scrap Tire Mulch on Duluth Public Schools’ Playgrounds
Last week Duluth Parents for Healthy Playgrounds presented the results of a test conducted by St. Paul-based Legend Technical Services on a sample of rubber mulch from the playground at Lester Park Elementary School. The test found 12 chemicals listed by the Minnesota Department of Health as “chemicals of high concern,” but the chemicals were at levels not considered hazardous.
From the report’s executive summary:
Our test does not account for possible interactions or “synergistic” effects of the 12 “chemicals of high concern,” nor for carbon nanotubes. Given the variety of chemicals different tire manufacturers use, and the variability of the tire brands in Rubberific mulch, the eight grams from Lester Park Elementary that were tested may account for only a few of the estimated 12,000 tires in the whole playground.
Link to the full report: Scrap Tire Mulch on Duluth Public Schools’ Playgrounds (PDF)
Lake Superior’s North Shore Witch Tree
“Manido Gizhigans” to the Ojibwe people, the Spirit Little Cedar Tree (known as the “Witch Tree”) has been keeping a keen eye over the shores of Lake Superior in Grand Portage for an estimated 300-400 years. CBS Minnesota did a “Finding Minnesota” story on the Witch Tree. Travis Novitsky was interviewed for the story and said “You’ve got this tree that’s growing out of the rock for at least 400 or 500 years. And just to stand in the presence of something that’s living, that’s that old, to me is mind-boggling.” Sorry for the brief commercial before the video starts.
See the full story by clicking here.
Copyright for the above photo belongs to Travis Novitsky. www.travisnovitsky.com
This Week: scares and chills and frights and all that
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find in this week’s ghoulish PDD Calendar:
They’re coming to get you, Barbara, UMD tackles zombies and hands out candy to kids, writer Wendy Webb talks ghosts in the Rathskellar, pleasure-skating gets a Halloween makeover, the William A. Irvin is still haunted, there’s a scary bus tour going on and Samhain (not the Glenn Danzig vehicle) is at Teatro Zuccone.
Beaner’s Central is throwing a costume party, Frank N. Furter and the gang are at the Underground, there’s a Masquerade Ball at the DECC, Studio 15 is having a Halloween party, R.T. Quinlan’s is putting on a Spookshow, the fifth annual Corn-i-ville is underway at Engwall’s Corn Maze and both the Red Herring and Pizza Luce have bills full of bands for Halloween, too.
Video Archive: Mel Sando gets his mojo working
Mel Sando, best known for his days with the Delta Resonators circa 1997-1999, performs the blues classic “Got My Mojo Working” at R.T. Quinlan’s Saloon during an open mic on Sept. 16, 1995.
How to see Duluth and Superior on electric cars
The date on this bad boy is 1909. The cover image seems to suggest there was a floating railway perpendicular to the shipping canal where people could watch flaming ships torch the city. (more…)
Cloud Cult – “No Hell” (Homemade Lyric Video)
“No Hell” is the first single from Cloud Cult’s forthcoming album The Seeker, scheduled for release in February. The official music video will be released in December. For now, the band put together this “quick homemade behind-the-scenes lyric video, shot lo-fi on a phone” in the “woods where most of these songs are written.”
Selective Focus: Black and White
Brian Barber, “Bandit”
Black and white photography is most often anything but. Degrees of tone exist in a broad spectrum within what we reductively deem either/or. I’ve argued before that its use as an aesthetic device is antiquarian, retrogressive- that the medium has grown past the limitation, yet there remains an appeal in seeing images pared to their essence, without the ersatz mediation of hdr and hyper-saturation. (more…)
Looking for local authors
The Duluth Public Library is looking for local authors for Author Day on Nov. 21. In order to participate, an author must have published at least one book and have copies of the book(s) available for sale. (Self-publishing qualifies.) Preference is given to Minnesota authors or to authors with books set in northeastern Minnesota, especially Duluth.
The library will provide table space: each 2.5′ x 6′ table will be shared by two authors. Tables will be located throughout the library, in the nonfiction/reference area, in the fiction area, and in Youth Services. The transport and arrangement of book promotional materials, displays, books to sell and payment options are the responsibility of the author.
If you are interested in participating please fill out an application on the Duluth Public Library website. Please submit this application form by Nov. 13 in order to participate. Space is limited so tables will be assigned on a first-come basis. Once all tables are reserved, applications will be placed on a waiting list.
The “Portrait of an Artist” Art Opening at the Duluth Art Institute
This is the Oct. 15 art opening of Sarah Brokke’s show, “Portrait of an Artist.”
PDD Video Lab: Halloween Edition
Happy Halloween, PDDers. Press play on the video above and select your favorite soundtrack below.
And don’t forget, we’re looking for your Halloween banners. Send them to [email protected]
Question 3: Method for setting fee paid to Duluth city councilors
After publishing the Duluth 2015 General Election Sample Ballot, a question arose. We’ve been hearing a lot about ranked-choice voting and Lakeside liquor sales, but what’s the deal with question #3? (more…)
Still curious?
What’s the deal with Curious Goods in Superior?
If you’ve driven by 1717-1/2 Winter St. and wondered if the store ever opens, well, it doesn’t … but in a way it’s always open, on the Internet. For the past decade or so Curious Goods has basically been a warehouse for eBay items from the seller Curious-g.
Project manager wanted for 10-month media collaboration
The journalism program at the University of Minnesota Duluth is looking for a part-time project manager to assist in coordinating the “One River, Many Stories” media collaboration project.
Funded through a Knight Foundation Fund grant from the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation, the project will test ways media collaboration can inspire innovation and nurture engagement among professional journalists, educators and citizen storytellers in the Duluth-Superior community. In April 2016, the media in northern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin will give special attention to one topic: The St. Louis River. Newspapers, television and radio stations, local bloggers, photographers, videographers, university, college and high school journalism programs, and citizen storytellers will produce news articles, documentaries, podcasts and other media about the historic St. Louis River corridor.
This Week: pumpkins, curling, Bach and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
Glensheen Mansion needs pumpkin carvers, Duluth Curling Club is giving a free lesson to curling newbs, the new Lake Superior Ojibwe Gallery is dedicated, the Twin Ports live radio soap opera continues, candidates for Duluth city offices discuss poverty and Bachmaster Angela Hewitt performs.
Duluth extreme metallers Vitamin Death release an album, DanceWorks hits Marshall Performing Arts Center, Glensheen’s pumpkin-carvers (see above) display their work, One Roof Community Housing throws a fundraiser, the Minnesota Ballet celebrates a half-century in operation and a fundraiser for violence victim Matthew Rewald is happening at Mr. D’s in West Duluth.
Perspectives on a Rainbow
After Mary Lou Williams’‘ rainbow photo was shared last Monday on the PDD Facebook page, three other perspectives emerged. From left to right below are photos by Paul Gudmundson, Laurie Newland and Tyler Day. (Click to view larger.)
Why are there so many photos of rainbows, and what’s on the other side? Well, according to reports from Kermit the Frog, rainbows are visions, but only illusions, and rainbows have nothing to hide.
Video Archive: Chainsaw Artist John Gage
Video produced by Margo Devich and Nathan Steigman for UWS Studio 2; shot in Two Harbors on Sept. 17, 1995.
Duluth’s Mark Sertich on CBS Evening News
Tonight Mark Sertich became the second Duluthian to be featured on the CBS Evening News in the past month. Just 18 days after St. Scholastica Saints kicking coach Sister Lisa Maurer was profiled on the program, Sertich was featured in a segment with “On the Road” correspondent Steve Hartman.
Sertich is a 1939 Denfeld graduate and World War II veteran who, at age 94, still plays hockey with a group of Duluth firefighters.
Unnur Andrea – “Walking on Nails”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcxcDfpsRBY
Back by popular demand, Unnur Andrea’s video shot at the Duluth Owls Club. It was originally posted on PDD on Jan. 15, 2013, but was mysteriously suspended by YouTube.