Beyondbliss – “Bipolar Kangaroo”
In this new lyric video, Beyondbliss raps about the extreme highs and lows of life. The song “Bipolar Kangaroo” is from the recently released album Born Deaf.
At the Rex? – Aug. 17, 2014?
Can anyone refresh my memory if this was a Hadjis or a Black Labels reunion show?
Big Manitou Falls at Pattison Park
The tallest waterfall in Wisconsin — and fourth-highest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains — is just outside the city of Superior. Big Manitou Falls at Pattison State Park sends water plunging 165 feet into the Black River.
Video by Douglas Feltman.
Duluth Boat Club racers trained on Shredded Wheat Biscuit
The Duluth Boat Club Eight Oared Crew won the Senior Eight Oared Race in the Northwestern International Regatta at St. Paul in July 1913 — 110 years ago — according to this Shredded Wheat Company advertisement. (more…)
Watson Silver and Lift Bridge Spoons
Ad for Watson Silver
As I read some of the magazines I purchased from the Duluth Public Library, I am impressed by a sense that the library bought magazines to suit the aspirations of the Zenith city. Magazines celebrating the fancy life might feel a little out of place in a public library today, but Duluth in the 1920s was a city that had some millionaires and wanted the world to think it had more.
We can see that in the ad above, taken from an interior design magazine, for Watson Silverware. (more…)
Duluth Mail Bag: What does a city councilor do?
As a two-time Duluth city councilor, now in my final year of service, one of my goals is to make city government more accessible, or at least help citizens become more informed. I figure there are many Duluthians who would like some simple answers to some simple questions. I learned in school that if there is something you don’t understand it’s likely there are many others who feel the same way. Hence the idea of the Duluth Mailbag column.
I won’t divulge who is asking the questions, but I’ll answer them in this format about once a month. Feel free to put a question in the comments for next month’s “Duluth Mailbag” or tweet me via @Hobbs_Duluth or email me at hobbsforduluth @ gmail.com.
Also, if you want to have a longer conversation, you can sign up for a 45-minute cup of coffee through my 100 Cups of Coffee project.
OK, here we go! (more…)
Indecent Proposal – “Late in the Morning”
Indecent Proposal‘s music video for “Late in the Morning” was shot by Manny Villanueva at Spurs on First, among other Duluth locations. It features Henriette Soderlind and Stuart Gordon.
Video Archive: Green Man 2003
The second annual Green Man Festival was held at Spirit Mountain 20 years ago this week — July 11-12, 2003. The event featured more than 30 music acts — the Big Wu, Wookiefoot, Shannon Wright, Heiruspecs, the Black-eyed Snakes, Ol’ Yeller, Mark Mallman, White Iron Band, Cry on Cue, Spider John Koerner, Charlie Parr, Haley Bonar, etc.
Embedded above is local television news coverage of the event.
Seeking info on the Hadjis and the Black Labels
I hope this brings back memories to all the fans of Duluth’s music scene. I am beginning research into two Duluth bands from the past, namely the Hadjis and the Black Labels. (more…)
Video Archive: Proctor Speedway, 1983
This video from July 10, 1983 — 40 years ago today — features the Mid-season Championships at the Proctor Speedway. (more…)
Eveleth Clown Band at Two Harbors Heritage Days Parade 2023
A highlight of the Two Harbors Heritage Days Parade was the Eveleth Clown Band, performing songs like “When the Saints Go Marching In” and other standards while … you know, clowning.
PDD Quiz: Waterfalls
With summer in full swing, it’s the perfect time of year to explore the outdoors. This week’s PDD quiz spotlights some of the region’s many parks that feature cascading water. Both the Zenith City website and Tony Dierckins’ Duluth Historic Parks: Their First 100 Years were valuable resources for this quiz.
The next PDD quiz will be pubished on July 30; it will review the month’s headlines and happenings. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by July 26. (more…)
American Boy
“Get out of the lake right now, or I will fucking shoot you,” he hollers, staring down an invisible sight and into my eyes, his finger threatening to pull the trigger — a notched branch on the stick rifle he has cocked and rested on his shoulder.
None of us respond, but if heart rates were words, we’d be babbling.
Our silence exasperates him. “I am not fucking kidding. You get out of the lake right now” — he sweeps a dictatorial finger from the lake where seven of us are circled in the water and toward the pebbled beach where he’s tantruming — “… or I will fucking shoot you.”
A few of us turn our backs to him, attempting to pick up the conversation we’d been having before this agitated teen and his friend, high on unaccustomed warmth in the air and whatever’s in that vape pen tucked into that pocket, stumbled into our orbit. The gun-pointer, initially aided by his sidekick, has been yelling at us for five minutes now, a genuinely unnerving bundle of aggression in green shorts. But if there’s one thing this group of grown-ups — parents, partners, queers, professionals, grieving, recovering, regulating, growing — knows how to do, it’s ignore the todderlistic foot stamping of a heckler. (more…)
Video Archive: Tri-State Speedway, 1983
This video from July 8, 1983 — 40 years ago today — features three races at Tri-State Speedway in Superior. The 3/8-mile dirt track is now known as Superior Speedway or Gondik Law Speedway. (more…)
Record Collection from Gabriel’s
In the past, I’ve written about the used records, bound in old-school albums, I have found at Gabriel’s, the thrift-bookshop in Lakeside. Because the records are donated, they are a real crapshoot, as the ruffians say. Often they come from estates, from families that don’t want to sell things piecemeal and are grateful someone will just take the whole collection all off their hands. (more…)
The Slice: Sailboat Racing on Lake Superior
Captain Chris Friese has owned the sailboat Radio Flyer for five years, racing with his crew in the A-Class on Lake Superior.
In its series The Slice, PBS North presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
Spring Vignettes in the Northwoods
This spring 2023 trail camera footage shows vignettes of wildlife in Voyageurs National Park, with several toddlers tromping through the frame.
The camera was set up by the Voyageurs Wolf Project, which is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in the park.
Mystery Photo: Third Street Patriots
This image, found on eBay and still available for sale as of July 3, has “609 W. 3rd Dr. Duluth” written on the front. It looks as if the famous Duluth Incline Railway is in the background, which would seem to verify the photo was indeed shot on West Third Street. (more…)
Duluth-area beer production back on an upswing
When Perfect Duluth Day last took stock of regional craft beer production in 2020, the Twin Ports and surrounding region had generated roughly 50,000 barrels of brew — more than 1.5 million gallons. Pandemic production dipped slightly but has stabilized and started to rebound. The 2022 tally shows a production level of more than 61,000 barrels of brew as well as optimism that there’s still some untapped potential for growth. (more…)
Duluth Photos Featured on Twitter’s “Cars Destroyed Our Cities”
A friend let me know that Duluth recently appeared on Twitter’s Cars.Destroyed.Our.Cities (you might need to log in to see the Tweet; Twitter is undergoing some changes), an account that shows how the addition or removal of car infrastructure can dramatically change the urban environment. (more…)
Postcard from the Ruins of the Chambers House
The caption on this undated postcard suggests that it shows the ruins of American Fur Company’s trading post at Fond du Lac, but it is actually the ruins of the home of Michael and Emily Chambers. (More on that in the comments.) (more…)
On the Map: Stewart Creek Bridge
Karen Scullin of KMSP-TV Fox 9 in Minneapolis was in Duluth recently for a segment on the Stewart Creek Bridge in Duluth. The bridge is part of Skyline Parkway and passes over Stewart Creek in the Smithville neighborhood.
Happy 20th birthday to us!
Expressions of gratitude, reflections on past perfection and visions for the future might come later, but right now it’s time to party. Yes, Duluth’s Duluthiest website is 20 years old today.
The 4onthefloor – “Hard to Handle” (Dusk Version)
Back in May the 4onthefloor played its annual “Stomper’s Cruise” on the Vista Fleet in Duluth. Videographer Adam Jagunich captured some of the action for this video of the band’s take on a classic Otis Redding song.
The Fiercest Fires in Minnesota History
This new Twin Cities Public Television documentary explores the state’s worst natural disasters. Host Mary Lahammer, along with historian Hy Berman, meteorologist Paul Douglas, and climatologist Mark Seeley tell the story of the deadly blazes that have taken more than a thousand lives in Minnesota. (more…)