Chinese Lantern Restaurant Fire of 1994
(Duluth News Tribune photo of Jan. 16, 1994, Chinese Lantern fire)
Back in the 1980s we lived in Silver Bay, and my parents used to make special trips down to Duluth just to go to this place. Now they drive up from the cities to visit and we’ll take them out to eat at many of the fine restaurants we have, and they’ll always comment about how great the Chinese Lantern was and how there’s nothing else like it. Even when my wife worked at the Duluth Athletic Club, before the flooding closed it, she would always hear comments like, “This place is great, but it’s no Chinese Lantern.”
So what was it about that place that people still lament its passing 20 years later?
Photography
I was in the Duluth Photography Institute last night. The current exhibit was a little spicy (about bondage) — but that’s what art institutions give us — something spicy to challenge the mind, right?
Duluth Spotify
I made a Spotify list with Duluth bands. Check it out if you want and let me know of any bands that I may have missed. Hope you enjoy!
What to do when it’s really cold outside
Just when you thought you’d seen enough of those cold videos, Henry Reich of Hayward puts all of the activities together in one.
Recommendations for residential plumber?
Does anyone have a recommendation for a fair and cost-effective plumber? I live in Lakeside and need the pipe connections to my gas hot water heater tightened and resealed. Project estimate of 1 to 2 hours.
More thoughts on Duluth neighborhoods
All of the recent postings have reignited my interest in our city’s neighborhoods. Their unique aspects are really interesting. And there are so many things I still don’t know, even after living here for 20+ years.
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Duluth-area Literary Vibe: Zines, journals and other lit publications from the region
I was at the Prøve Gallery last week and was happy to see a blossoming collection of literary magazines beside the small press books from Holy Cow! and the fine art. I thought it might be fun to catch folks up on the literary publications in our community.
District 2 St. Louis County Commissioner Special Election Result
With 11 of 11 precincts reporting:
Patrick Boyle — 2,783 (65.5 percent)
Jim Stauber — 1,465 (34.5 percent)
Shipping Season Finale!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfZSqtUCea8
The tug, Heritage Marine, was busy breaking ice in a Duluth harbor slip in preparation for one of the shipping season’s last arrivals. Still photographs of the ice breaking may be accessed the NorthStarNerd’s Flickr stream.
Going without garbage service
I use Hartel DBJ as my garbage hauler and it is a great company, but I hardly produce any waste during a month. I am wondering if anyone in Duluth goes without garbage service. Can a person bring trash to a collection site and pay a fee whenever the garbage can is full? How about recycling? Are there places to bring those items?
I called WLSSD yesterday and they said they don’t take household waste and a person must have a provider to take away trash.
Ultimate Road Surfing: Duluth on Ice
My 5-block walk to the store for a mug of coffee turned into an ultimate extreme epic insane sick street surfing session.
This week: two Parrs, a sleuth and a dude
Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.
What will this week bring us? We’ve endured snow, frigid cold and ice. What’s next? Well, we all survived so we could see the season three premier of Sherlock tonight with a preview screening at Teatro Zuccone.
Tuesday you can get your civic duty on with a special election in the east and Mayor Ness speaking at the Kitchi Gammi Club on the future of Duluth.
It’s a busy week in the Parr household this week. You can see Charlie Parr at Fitger’s on Wednesday and then you can see his other half, Emily Lanik Parr, star in Good People at The Underground starting on Thursday and running for two weekends.
You also have a chance, only on Thursday, to see an encore performance of Last Summer at Bluefish Cove at UMD before they take the show to Lincoln for a regional competition.
Get yourself a white russian and watch a special midnight screening of The Big Lebowski on Friday night at Zinema 2.
There are several events this weekend related to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration, including a talent show at Duluth East on Friday and a worship service at St. Mark AME on Sunday.
So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.
Don’t bother adjusting your antenna … KDLH is having transmitter issues
If you’ve been throwing your antenna around the room since the first segment of 60 Minutes on Sunday, give up. KDLH channels 3.1 and 3.2 are experiencing a transmitter outage. Engineers are working on it.
Update: You can temporarily pick up KDLH on channel 6.3 while technicians continue work to solve the issue.
Duluth neighborhood boundaries?
I was just thinking, of course Duluth itself has clearly defined boundaries, but how about all the neighborhoods within? You always kind of know about where you are, but where does say the Heights turn into Kenwood or Norton Park turn into Morgan Park, etc. Are there even really boundaries? Thoughts?
Jan. 12 road conditions: Ridiculously icy
Above is the scene on Mesaba Avenue Sunday morning. (Photo by Dave Diercks.) Freezing rain turned streets into hockey rinks.
Below: Blake and Jeremy road surf on Third Street near Mesaba Ave.
Ice Boulders
We’ve had a lot of awesome ice-sheet events on Lake Superior, but I can’t say we’ve had smooth, round boulders. This video by Bob Smitka shows ice boulders on the Lake Michigan shore at Glen Arbor from the polar vortex days.
Nominations close Feb. 1 for Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards
Celebrating books about northeastern Minnesota published in 2013. Send one book plus $25 nomination fee to UMD Kathryn A. Martin Library. Winners will be announced May 22.
Mayor Ness named Person of the Year by Twin Cities Business magazine
Twin Cities Business magazine has named Duluth Mayor Don Ness the 2013 Person of the Year. Editor-in-Chief Dale Kurschner wrote in a statement that Ness “stood out for outstanding leadership that has strengthened our state’s economy, business opportunities and culture.”
2013 Person Of The Year: Duluth Mayor Don Ness
This is the first year Twin Cities Business has designated a Person of the Year.
Someone wrote a headline like this once and it was shared on Facebook. Then something amazing happened …
Do you miss the days on Facebook when all the clickbait headlines your friends shared were numbered lists?
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Perfect Album of 2013: Ryan Van Slooten’s Victory March
With at least 50 albums released by Duluth-area musicians in 2013 — including Low, Retribution Gospel Choir, Trampled by Turtles and Charlie Parr — Ryan Van Slooten’s third solo work had to be considered a long shot in a poll to choose the best local album of the year.
Well, Van Slooten can begin his Victory March; the upset is complete.
Rock your ice beards in Ibanuary: Six wicked ice beards
Move over Movember and make way for the Ibanuary (Ice Beard January). January is definitely ice beard season and this year is certainly no exception. With the full-on Polar Vortex there is no better time to show off your ice beard awesomeness. Above are six wicked ice beards … well five, and one pretty weak ice beard of mine.
Post your best ice beards in the comments!
Couple of “streaming” videos from the cold
This second video is much less lovely and mildly NSFW.
Poll: Best Album of 2013 (Final Ballot)
According to previous PDD polls, the top three Duluth-related albums of 2013 are: Christoph Bruhn’s Weekends on the Frontier, Southwire’s self-titled debut and Ryan Van Slooten’s Victory March. The voting so far has been close, so we’ve set up this final showdown. Follow the text links above to listen to the albums on Bandcamp, then make your choice below.
[poll id=”62″]
This poll is now closed. The results were:
Ryan Van Slooten’s Victory March – 45 percent
Southwire’s self-titled debut – 31.9 percent
Christoph Bruhn’s Weekends on the Frontier – 23.1 percent