“Strongman” a melancholy Tuesday
I went to see the story of Stanless Steel, the strongman. He’s an old-school strongman, the kind that I would have seen on That’s Incredible growing up in the 1980s. (more…)
Rocket, man.
So if anyone in the Chester Creek Cafe neighborhood finds a model rocket in their tree / backyard / roof, I know who it belongs to. Orange parachute, dark rocket with Ryan T written on it. Launched from the baseball fields, ended up somewhere S SW of there tonight. Thanks.
Duluth Jalapeno Express: Closed
Walt Dizzo reports via Facebook today: “So bummed, best restaurant in town. RIP Jalapeno Express.”
Remember all the ranting and raving about the greatness of this place? What happened?
Moving Day Group
We’re in the middle of moving, and all of the trips up and down the stairs got me thinking about something that actually seems viable. I was imagining the best possible scenario for moving and I came up with the Duluth Moving Consortium, a gigantic group of people that could help each other move. Imaging how quickly and easily you could move your stuff if a group of 100-200 people all came to help. In a perfect world, enough would show up that each person could take one load down the stairs and the work would be done.
Sure, you might draw a bad load and end up with half a couch or mattress, but the next move might be a shoebox of CDs or a trashcan. And if you help, then others come to your aid when you need to move.
I just thought that with all of the moving going on in this town, this sort of cooperative just might have legs.
It’s so crazy, it might work.
New newsletter for Lakeside and Lester Park neighborhoods
The first issue of the Look at Lakeside newsletter is out. It will come out every two months (on the even-numbered months). If you have article topics, Lakeside photos, news, even history, or even want to share why you live in or what you like about Lakeside-Lester Park, send me an email. The issues are being distributed at Lakeside-Lester Park businesses and online. You can subscribe (free) to get a notice when the next issue is out online.
Duluth Album Releases in 2007
Trampled by Turtles
Trouble
(March 19)
Available on iTunes
Low
Drums and Guns
Sub Pop Records (March 20)
Available on Bandcamp
The Hotel Coral Essex
Glisten
(April 27)
Available on Bandcamp
Video Archive: Robert Bly in 1976, interpreting Rumi’s poem “Feeling and Thinking”
This is an excerpt of the short film “From the Museroom: A Sampler of Minnesota Poets,” shot during a Poetry Collective benefit at the Firehouse in Minneapolis, Minn.
“Feeling and Thinking” by Rumi
Someone struck Zayd a hard blow from behind. He was about to retaliate, when his assailant cried, “Let me ask you a question: first answer it, then strike me. I struck the nape of your neck, and there was the sound of a slap. Now I ask you in a friendly way — ‘Was the sound caused by my hand or by your neck, O pride of the noble?'”
Zayd said, “The pain I am suffering leaves me no time to reflect on this problem. Ponder it yourself: he who feels the pain cannot think of things like this.”
This week: street dancing, kayaking, chess and banjo picking
Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.
If you haven’t seen a Huskies game yet this season in beautiful Wade Stadium you are running out of chances. Fortunately the Huskies are hosting the Waterloo Bucks at the Wade tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday. Go Huskies!
Spirit Valley Days kick off this Wednesday with a parade on Thursday and a street dance on Friday featuring Hairball.
Mary Bue launches her new album with a concert at the Teatro Zuccone on Thursday.
Chess is in the air. Can you feel it? Grand Master and two time U.S. Champion Alex Yermolinsky is coming to town for a lecture on Friday to be followed by a tournament on Saturday and Sunday.
Next weekend is a good time to be up the shore in Two Harbors with BradFest and the Kayak Festival going on, not to mention their spiffy City Band.
And, the cherry on the sundae of this coming week, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers hit the Bayfront Stage on Sunday capping off the Bayfront Jam Music Festival.
So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know!`
He got married but … you get the presents!
If you haven’t become a member, or even if you have, check this sweet deal out on Blacklist’s Beer+Art Project! Only a few more days left to back this Kickstarter project and make it happen in Duluth! (more…)
Swimming Lake Superior 7-28
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDor-E0GIpo
“‘Things that lived under the sea…had cities on the seabottom, an’ the island was heaved up from thar. An’ some of the things was alive in the buildins when it come up…humans got a relation to ’em, see? Everything alive come aout o’ the water once an’ only needs a little change to go back.’…. ‘Dreams of a phosphorescent palace with gardens of strange leprous corals and grotesque brachiate efflorescences, fathoms below… I must swim out to that brooding reef and dive down through black abysses. And there I shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever.'” – H.P. Lovecraft, “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”
Tackle shop recommendations, etc. — Advice for getting started fishing in Duluth
I’m relatively new to Duluth, and I’m hoping that PDD folks will offer advice as I begin learning about fishing here in the city. What tackle shops should I visit for tips and gear? Anyone want to share the location of their favorite fishing hole?
Northland’s NewsCenter and Charter Communications reach carriage deal
The Northland’s NewsCenter has announced that the Northland’s CW 2 (KDLH DT 3.2) and My 9 (KBJR DT 6.2) will be returning to the Charter cable lineup after being absent since early March.
“Today is a great day for fans of CW 2, My 9 and most of all, the community,” said David Jensch, vice-president and station manager. “Whether you watch UMD hockey or America’s Next Top Model, fans of the great programming on these stations can now enjoy their shows without interruption.”
My 9 and the CW 2 have been off the Charter system since March 12. Charter Communications has noted it will return the signals as soon as possible.
Minnesota Flood 2012: Is that the best name we’ve come up with for it?
It seems to me the best local storm names tend to be tied to a holiday or otherwise significant date:
Leap Day Snowmageddon 2012
The Geek Prom Blizzard of 2008
The Halloween Megastorm of 1991
The Great Thanksgiving Blizzard of 1983
Following that tradition, our recent flood would be the Summer Solstice Flood of 2012. But I haven’t heard anyone call it that, and it’s been over a month.
What are you calling it? Any good ideas? Maybe if we come up with a good one there will be more federal relief money sent our way, so perhaps we should work the word “disaster” in.
Google Fiber up for registration in Kansas
Filling a backyard pool
We just bought a backyard inflatable swimming pool. My husband insists there’s a better way to fill it with 1,000 gallons of water than the garden hose.
From what I can calculate, it’d cost us about $100 to fill it that way. Can anyone weigh in? Any better ideas?
No FEMA aid for individuals
Sustainable Agriculture
I’m moving to Duluth at the end of this school year (about 10 months) and I am trying to make a plan for some gardening I intend to do. My personal garden will likely be north of Duluth, in the Island Lake area. I know that the soil there isn’t great and that I will be required to haul in some of my own. I also know that Duluth would be in USDA hardiness Zone 3, so that obviously dictates what I will be able to grow.
My question is: what crops have you had success growing in the Duluth area? Any tips or tricks that might help? I’m passionate about returning to localized food production, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Monitoring Lake Superior
Interested in conditions on and in Lake Superior? UMD operates two buoys in the far western arm of Lake Superior about 15 miles outside Duluth, one near the McQuade safe harbor and one offshore of that location. You can see the data in real time by following this link.
Duluth’s Best Guitar Slingers
The Chaperone Records post (congrats on that – great to see here) reminded me of a conversation at Bayfront regarding the area’s best guitarists.
IMHO, the Twin Ports Bridge Festival featured three of the area’s top ten, maybe even five. Charlie Parr, who seems to have become a master of his genre. Jimi Cooper of the Fractals, who I have seen do many styles effortlessly. Barry Pirkola, also of the Fractals, who exhibits a similar smoothness to Jimi and works the steel as well.
We’re lucky to have so many great artists right here in our community (Twin Ports area – I titled w/Duluth because this is PDD). I’m curious and would enjoy hearing who others think are the area’s top five or ten if you feel like going deeper.
Chaperone Records … unveiled!
Chaperone Records is Duluth’s newest, true-bluest, local-centric record label!
Founded in May of 2012, Chaperone Records is devoted to the promotion and enfranchisement of northern Minnesota’s musically progressive community. In a world of cheap, plastic gadgetry, a product’s finest aesthetic can only be achieved through passion, insight and an honest commitment to quality. This is the foundation of Chaperone Records’ philosophy and the impetus behind its inception.
The Flame Nightclub, Duluth version
The new Flame Nightclub at 26 N. First Ave. W. in Downtown Duluth opens on July 29.
I can hear the grass growing …
My faithful electric lawn mower of 14 years has died and they don’t make a replacement battery anymore. I am seeking a push mower that will last at least a couple more years for $75 or under. Does anyone have a mower to sell?
Photo Archive
I’m looking for a simple solution to “cloud type” photo storage. Currently we attempt to consolidate all our photos on one computer via thumb drive and other work arounds. My wife and I each have a smart phone, we have multiple digital cameras, and multiple computers to which photo’s end up being downloaded – so it gets to be a mess when we “organize” pictures.
It seems that it would make more sense for me to directly upload pictures to a remote site we all could access for viewing. Editing would be constrained to one computer. A nice option would be to have some sort of “syncing” tool similar to the iTunes and Google Drive solution suggested here by my earlier post.
My wife likes to edit photos and put together photo books while we are driving and therefore needs to be able to access the photos offline. So ideally, as photos were edited – these would also be reflected online post sync. There would not be a need to keep all photos locally – just the ones of interest. The syncing would only need to be with one computer; but uploads would be from various sources.