Goodbye Duluth
Dear Duluth,
I am sorry to have to let you know this way, but seeing your name is in the title of this website I thought it would good place to contact you. I have spent the last year thinking about our relationship and living situation and there is no easy way to say it but I am leaving you.
It is not that I don’t love you, I do. And most of the past dozen years have been good, but I have to admit I am attracted to other cities.
I want you to know that of your group of close friends you’re a shining star. Eveleth, Gilbert and Virginia–I am sorry to say–I find boring, and they depress me. And as for your sister Superior, well, she is a drunken, dirty whore.
Though there are many things about you that I enjoy, like your beach, your urban wilderness and your downtown, the truth is that you are just so cold most of the time. Sure, when you are in a good mood you are almost perfect, but seeing you that way for only 5 or 6 weeks a year is just not enough to fulfill my personal desires any longer.
I would love to tell you where I am going next but I honestly don’t know. I think I will wander for a while and visit old friends out west. I hope we can still be friends and I will come visit you in the future.
Take care and much love,
Me
P.S. I am stopping to have a three-way with Minneapolis and St.Paul on my way out west. You know I have always had a thing for them. Good times.
Remembering Laura MacArthur
A commenter to the post about the house being torn down for construction of the new Laura MacArthur Elementary asked the question, “Who is Laura MacArthur anyway?”
Laura MacArthur was an elementary and junior high school teacher and principal in West Duluth for over four decades.
Born in England, she came to the United States with her family at around the age of 10. She attended high school in Wooster, Ohio, and graduated from the College of Wooster.
She came to Duluth in the spring of 1896, where she was assigned to teach Latin, algebra and civics to ninth graders at Longfellow School.
Gimme an F …
Duluth Does Woodstock
Oct. 8
Sacred Heart Music Center
Sign up for artists ends Sept. 4
Don’t miss your chance to fulfill your 1960s musical fantasies minus the rain, mud and bad acid.
NorShor
Tonight the Duluth City Council will consider suspending the Norshor “Experience” liquor license.
Here’s a picture of among other things, future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Link Wray who had one of his last public performances in the United States at the NorShor before he died a few months later. He played with a number of Duluth rockers, some of you were there, it was pretty amazing.
Rules for Teachers, 1905 and 1872
During my recent visit to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, I had a good laugh reading two lists of rules on the walls of the little schoolhouse.
Fastest Vote in the West
Most precincts, like mine in West Duluth, have only two races on the ballot this year. At least we get to vote for two candidates in each.
Click here for a list of candidates that includes all the district races.
Haunted House Rummage Sale Sat-Sun (updated)
Sale this weekend at my brother’s old Babbitt-esque house at 1616 Jefferson St. (lower Endion, in the Loaves and Fishes zone if that helps anyone to place it). The kids and their friends have nicknamed it the “haunted house” because it’s one of those creeky old, not-quite-a-mansion-places that is just creepy enough to be fun, but not outright scary, and it is very popular with sleepovers for our kids, their friends and more.
I am selling stuff I can’t even believe I’m selling … (more…)
A problem that needs addressing
Just about every town has a “0” point for its street addresses. In Duluth, that would be the corner of Lake and Superior, right? 1 E. Superior, 1 W. Superior, 1 N. Lake, etc. The lower the address number, the closer it is to the zero point. And in general, there are imaginary lines that spread out from that point, dividing addresses into north-south, and east-west.
That all works out well in Duluth on the main grid of streets – downtown, West End, West Duluth, Lakeside… but then it starts to get odd.
Free Tix to Singer/Songwriter Competition near Bayfield
I can’t make it, but If anybody wants them I have 2 tickets to the Singer/Songwriter Competition for Thursday, August 27, 2009 at 7:30pm at Mt. Ashwabay Ski Hill/3 miles south of Bayfield. First person who emails me at:
mark (at) amitycreek.com
with their snail mail address gets ’em. I’ll put them in tomorrow’s mail. Thanks!
Job opportunity: Become the leader of Duluth’s music scene bureaucracy
The Homegrown Music Festival is looking for a director to follow in the footsteps of Paul Connolly, who has stepped down from the position.
Homegrown is Duluth’s yearly celebration of local music, featuring eight days of concerts with performances by well over 100 bands.
The 12th annual Homegrown will be held May 2 to 9, 2010.
The festival director is responsible for the overall management of Homegrown. (more…)
It’s a twister ma!
A tornado touched down a few times in Minneapolis. The Electric Fetus was hit.
We saw it coming from our work windows and headed to the basement. It touched down about five blocks from my theater.
And the winner is … (drum roll)
And the winner of two tickets to Suzanne Vega at Big Top Chautauqua is Sam Haraldson, whose rendition of the Last Supper managed to capture our hearts and minds here at the PDD Headquarters. We have no idea who any of these people are, or what the story behind the photo is, but we like it. Congratulations, Sam. We hope you enjoy the show.
How I Spent My Summer Vacation in Minnesota with Daniel Johnston, Laura Ingalls Wilder, my great-great-grandparents and a bunch of short-fiction writers
There comes a time in every Minnesota man’s summer when he climbs into a rusty conversion van with the love of his life and sets out across the state in search of everything and nothing in particular.
Once the dog and the cooler of beer are secure in back, it’s off we go.
New 4 Track Films Production
We’re going into production on a new 4 Track Film. This one is entitled The Life of Riley and is a romantic comedy. We’re shooting in and around Duluth and a little up the North Shore. (more…)
Duluth on AOL
The Duluth housing market is being featured on the AOL homepage right now. It’s time to buy a house, according to this headline.
Victorian Olympiad at Carmody
I say! I say! Compete against other chaps and ladies in the hat-doffing competition, hop-skip-and-jump while holding a drink, and other categories that promise to be an entirely civilized good time!
Competitors should be dressed accordingly, and look to the UK Chaps Olympics to get into training!
Monday, August 24, 7 PM. Toodle pip!
Equal Xchange CD Release
w/ special guest Mat Milinkovich on drums.
Choose your Cruise
Glass Elevator rocked Homegrown. Aug 29 is the next chance to see the band again along with Uptown Boys and DJ Kevin Craig.
Question of the Day.
What won’t you buy used? I have a thing against used sheets, something weird about that. Also underwear (of course) and toilet brushes. How about you?