Cable Natural History Museum Naturalist/Curator Job Opening
The Cable Natural History Museum’s naturalist/curator position requires curiosity, active engagement with projects, professionalism, independent initiative, effective communication skills with children and adults, and a desire to work with animals. (more…)
Found: The Elusive West Duluth Snowy Owl
If you’ve followed Perfect Duluth Day closely for more than a year, you might know that my wife and I are the world’s laziest and lousiest birders. We have cheap binoculars and cameras, and basically just try to keep an eye out while we are engaged in an activity like cross-country skiing. Last year, during an owl irruption in the Duluth area, we saw zero owls. The only snowy owls we had seen in our lives, before today, were in captivity at the Lake Superior Zoo and the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri.
We had a few failed missions last year, seeking the elusive snowy at Rice’s Point and the Bong Airport. After hearing reports of sightings near Duluth Business University and Wade Stadium this year, we decided to give it another try. We saw a bald eagle at Grassy Point within minutes, and figured that was a good sign. We knew from reading Sparky Stensaas’ blog post about Superior Snowy Owls that it’s generally easier to find them in a stupid place, like on a football scoreboard (in his case) or a piece of industrial equipment (in our case) than in a beautiful wilderness environment, so we were only moderately surprised to find our gal at Erie Pier in West Duluth, perched on a bulldozer.
Poll: Best Local Album of 2014 (Final Round)
A previous round of voting identified the top three albums by Duluth bands in 2014. Now it’s time to pick the award winner. Ire Wolves’ The Ascetic and Wolf Blood’s self-titled album can be listened to on Bandcamp. Red Mountain’s Scowl Lightly isn’t available for free listening in its entirety, but the single “Home” is on SoundCloud and there are videos for “Forestasia” and “Put Me Through.” Listen up, then pick your favorite.
[poll id=”76″]
This poll is now closed. The results are:
Red Mountain’s Scowl Lightly – 40.6 percent
Wolf Blood’s self titled debut – 34.4 percent
Ire Wolves The Ascetic – 25 percent
Selective Focus: Resolve
Erika Fryklepak, untitled
With “resolve” I’d asked for images of what you’d like to leave behind in the new year — vices, habits, excess, etc. — as well as things you hope to carry forward and to cultivate — whether those are things as tangible as a garden, or more ephemeral- like say, gratitude, mindfulness, or empathy. (more…)
Perfect Duluth Day’s Best Videos of 2014
It was a big year for Internet videos, with over 200 Duluth-related segments posted to Perfect Duluth Day. Combing through and picking our favorites was arduous, but we nailed down the top 17 and gave up trying to cut the list at that point. (more…)
Clover Street Cronies – “Look Up, Look Down that Lonesome Road”
Shot by Jacob Swanson on July 5 at the ruins of the U.S. Lighthouse Station Depot.
2014: The Year in Duluth Gig Posters
This is by no means a comprehensive collection of the past year’s gig posters, just 126 of them that caught my eye.
(more…)
Where in Duluth?
Time for another installment of Perfect Duluth Day’s ultra-thrilling photo-trivia sensation. Where in Duluth was this shot taken?
Poll: Best Local Album of 2014 (Elimination Round)
Among the 50+ albums released by Duluth-area musicians in the past year, the nominees are in for Best Local Album of 2014. Log in and click away to help us identify the strongest in the field.
[poll id=”75″]
This poll is now closed. The three albums below will advance to the final round of voting:
Ire Wolves – The Ascetic
Red Mountain – Scowl Lightly
Wolf Blood – self titled
Year In Review: Artist Interviews 2014 — July to December
New work by Elizabeth Kuth
All-in-all it has been an exciting year in the local Twin Ports art scene. I was able to interview and share the work of more than 25 artists again this year. My blog post today links to 15 of those interviews that were shared at Ennyman’s Territory from July through December.
This Week: Old Man 2014 meets Baby 2015 and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
We’re in the home stretch of the holiday season. This week, there’s New Year’s Eve, and there’s everything else. First, the everything else — lots of concerts taking place: Dedric Clark and the Social Animals, Aurora Baer, Wolf Blood and Mary Cutrufello are all treading the boards at local venues.
Learn about the food you eat at the Zinema, see some Legos and play some Legos at the Library, skate on some open ice at the Heritage Center, get Fringe-y at Teatro Zuccone and enjoy some Ethiopian coffee and food at Jefferson People’s House.
Next, New Year’s Eve. Click right HERE to see the entire night’s menu of entertainment choices. Still growing at press time, there’s bound to be something for any reveler of any reveling style. From “subdued gathering” to “drunken blowout,” it’s all there.
Balloon View of Duluth/Superior Harbor
This postcard, captioned “Balloon View Harbor, River and Natural Breakwater; Duluth to Left, Superior to Right” raises a few questions. Perhaps the most important one is, how did that tree on the left edge get so tall? (more…)
Interviews with Local Artists
End of the year means summing up what’s been happening in 2014 so we can turn forward and face the new year. This morning I posted links to many of the interviews with local artists that I had the privilege of sharing from January through June. This was another great year for arts happenings here in the Twin Ports. Here are some of the people who make it happen.
Work by Karen Owlsley Nease who has recently transplanted to the North Country from Kansas City.
North Shore Camping Adventure
A late-summer camping adventure — with scenes from Duluth to Grand Portage — shot by Shun Matsuhashi. The song is “Swansea” by Bombay Bicycle Club.
Selective Focus: Light
Marissa Murdy, untitled
Given the perpetual greige skies of Duluth this late-December, looking at last week’s light-themed photos was a necessary pleasure. And, as I can see no reason now to stop being seasonally appropriate, our theme next week will be “resolve.” Again, here’s a word that is capable of many possible valencies: tenacity, commitment, coming into view, and more. (more…)
Peaceful Duluth Day
This is a fun little project I’ve been thinking about for a while. I thought today is as good of a day as any to post. Did I miss any?
Favorite Duluth Albums of 2014
Yes, it’s time once again to get all judgmental about the local music scene and pick the best albums of the year for further breakdown into a fancy PDD poll. There were at least four-dozen albums released by local musicians in 2014, which means few people have listened to them all. So, how do we begin?
Well, it’s fairly simple. In the comments to this post we ask you, the local brain trust, to mention your favorite albums from the past year, then we use that list to generate the nominees for the poll we’ll run a few days from now. It is acceptable, by the way, to nominate an album that came out late in 2013 and maybe didn’t capture much attention until 2014.
With so much local music being produced, of course, it’s hard for even devotees to feel like they have much of a grasp on everything that’s out there, but note that the list of albums linked above contains numerous links to Bandcamp pages where you can listen to many, many tunes for the low, low price of free. So browse, listen, or just spout off about how good the new album by your best friend’s band is and consider yourself an expert. It’s only rawk and/or roll, after all.
Charlie Parr – 30 Minute Music Hour
The self-taught guitarist from Duluth performs his Piedmont-style blues live in the Wisconsin Public Television studios in Madison.
Chester Bowl Freestyle Cadet’s-eye View
Last year, Chester Bowl added “Freestyle Cadet” to the list of active groups at the ski hill. These kids build and groom the jumps, rails and other stuff located toward the top of the hill. For those who don’t get to the top of the hill, here’s a cadet’s-eye view from James Holak.
Artificial trailer and Indiegogo campaign
My name is Lance Karasti and my team and I are working on a new project that will be filmed in Duluth over the next year. Artificial is about a young photographer who meets a mysterious visionary with plans to create a sentient program. We’ve already shot the prologue of the movie which features the photographer traveling around town and capturing some of the Duluth’s most iconic scenes.
For $10 you can get a copy of the film and your name in the end credits. Please consider supporting local filmmaking by donating and sharing the link. Thank you for your past and current support.
One Chill Ride
Keegan Burckhard compares various transportation modes for his commute to the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Do the School Board Twist
It’s been a while since Perfect Duluth Day held any rousing debates on the Duluth School Board and its ensuing antics as Loren Martel has issued one scathing indictment after another, illustrating in great detail the buffoonery he believes gurgles forth from this wily group of characters.
I’d like to field some of your fair and balanced opinions on what you think of this current chapter of someday Duluth history. How do you feel about the school board heading into 2015? The narrator will refrain from comment.
This Week: Christmas, Christmas, Christmas and more
Here’s a bit of what you’ll find on this week’s PDD Calendar:
It’s Christmas week, so it’s basically your final chance to get out and get a cheer infusion. The lights are still up at Bentleyville, Glensheen and Fairlawn, and Rubber Chicken’s holiday revue is still kicking.
Post-holiday, there’s lots to do. Check out Teague Alexy and Low Forms at the Red Star on different evenings, and see stand-up and improv comedy to laugh away the post-holiday blues.
But the real news of the week, of course, is that you can park for free downtown on Christmas Day. So why not ditch your family, drive downtown, and just aimlessly park your car in various places over and over? It’s gotta be better than listening to Uncle Jim talk about his political views, surely. Surely.
Holidays and Such
I saw the Wise Fool Shakespeare production of A Christmas Carol this afternoon with Lucie Amundsen.
Lucie wrote:
Didn’t make it to the Wise Fool Shakespeare ‘s Christmas Carol? Dude, you missed out. Goosebumps, guffaws and a little case of the verklempts. Thanks cast for giving up your autumn to make my Solstice.
It’s true — community theater is hundreds of hours to produce a work as awesome as this one. I am grateful, as Lucie was, for all their efforts. Jodi Kujawa stole the show, for me, as the Ghost of Christmas Present doing a little fourth-wall breaking, too. But the whole afternoon was awesome, twice as awesome because Sunday was “pay what you can,” so the crowd was even more energetic than you might expect.
I ended today shopping at the Mall, where I saw Brian Rauvola shopping, too. Brian has done as much as any one man can to sustain a culture of photography in Duluth, and it’s good to see him take a breather from that work. I still miss the Duluth Photography Institute, which was his baby.