Fundraiser/Meet and Greet

Jamie Ness and Father Hennepin will be performing in support of the RNC8 this coming Saturday, February 7 at Carmody Irish Pub. The shindig kicks off at 9PM and is $5. A few of the RNC 8 will be on hand to chat with.

More info below.

rnc8

Defend the RNC 8!

The RNC 8 are organizers against the 2008 Twin Cities Republican National Convention who have been falsely charged with terrorism in response to their political organizing. Luce Guillen-Givins, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Trimmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik and Garrett Fitzgerald were all members of or associated with the Welcoming Committee, an anarchist collective that helped arrange food, housing and communications for the thousands of people who converged on St Paul in September to protest the RNC. None of the 8 committed any act of violence, and most were arrested during FBI raids of activist centers and homes before the protests even began. Now they are facing multiple felony conspiracy charges, including two counts of “furthering terrorism” under Minnesota’s version of the Patriot Act.

The reach of this case falls far beyond the eight defendants. It should be followed by every union member, every environmentalist, every community organizer, and every Minnesotan who cares about civil liberties. By charging the RNC 8 for what they may have been thinking, and by invoking a law which redefines terrorism to include even civil disobedience, Ramsey County prosecutors have not only attacked these 8 organizers, but the right to organize itself. Please come out and show your support for the RNC 8… because you could be next.

http://rnc8.org/

From the Big Box of Photos in My Basement | 1989

Neck injury

Neck injury

It seems like a lifetime ago that I was in Paramedic school. Our last project before graduation was a mock disaster that was held in the White Bear Lake Middle School. I had forgotten how all out we went in preparations for the drill. Moulage and fake smoke were used with great effect.The day after the drill we flew to Colorado Springs for our exams which we all failed over a technicality. We had to wait a month to take them over.

[Don’t] See the Twin Cities by Streetcar

Ever wonder where all the streetcars went? A subsidiary of GM bought them, burned them and put in a few buses and sold them back to the city once they were finally destroyed.

Here is a streetcar map of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1933!
Minneapolis and St. Paul by streetcar
map from here


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_streetcar_scandal

duluth_streetcars
Thanks hbh!

Taken for a Ride is a great documentary about this scandal.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2486235784907931000&ei=BmeISaXpOoS4-QHP–38Cg&q=taken+for+a+ride

Another swell evening at the Brewhouse

Thanks to everyone that showed up tonight! Just a reminder, beers are only $1 every Monday when I play at the Brewhouse. – Ryan

(I posted this using my iPhone)

BOLD-choice Theatre

CHOICE, unlimited is a private nonprofit agency dedicated to supporting individuals with disabilities. CHOICE, unlimited’s mission is to provide quality services to adults with special needs leading them to greater self-determination and independence. The BOLD-choice Theatre Company was developed to help more fully realize this mission.

Romeo and Juliet’s Tragic Comedy is an original piece created by the BOLD-choice Theatre Company based on the Shakespearean classic tale of star-cross’d love. In the BOLD version of the story, the characters face the realities of discrimination, stereotyping, alienation and group think. They also experience the joys of young love, friendship, family and unification. As the story unfolds, the actors themselves get a chance to share the challenges they have personally encountered, as well their own hopes and wishes. Romeo and Juliet’s Tragic Comedy allows the audience a chance to experience a new world with an entertaining and honest twist on the age old story of love and hate. The play encourages the ideas of thinking for oneself and looking beyond pre-conceived notions –questioning why we act the way we do toward people who are different than us. Romeo and Juliet’s Tragic Comedy brings to life the beauty of finding similarities among one another and appreciating the differences that make us unique.

Things are tidying up nicely around here

If you haven’t visited Perfect Duluth Day all weekend, you must be just noticing that the site has changed. It looks different and it works different. Here are the basic things you need to know:

  • The comments work the same as they did before, except they upload faster.
  • PDD is using a new publishing platform, WordPress, so creating posts is a little different now. It also requires registering for a new account to log in. All accounts from the old site are closed.

If you are confused, see the help page. We’re working on adding more topics to it, so please be patient.

The only glitch so far, that we’re aware of, is that the archives from the old site are a little messed up. We’ll keep working on that. Let us know if you see anything else haywire.

Thank you for your patronage. Go blog yourself.

Duluth elite rock snobby pizza joint

Come see Duluth elitists Cars & Trucks this Saturday with Minneapolis’ Story of the Sea and Self Evident.

Neither Story of the Sea nor Self Evident have played Luce before, but I’ve heard they eat at the ones in Minneapolis so that earns them a spot in our clique, right?

And You May Ask Yourself

Once In A Lifetime
I just have to say that I’ve had “Once In A Lifetime” going through my head almost constantly since I saw that ad for the PDD help page. So now I must share with you all the absolute strangeness that is the video. Thank you, PDD Designer Gods!

Minnesota Book Awards 2009 Duluth Finalists

ctc_cover_index monkey1

Books by Tony Dierckens (Crossing the Canal) and Chris Monroe (Monkey with a Toolbelt) are finalists in the Minnesota Book Awards.

Huzzah and congratulations!

Strib story

PDD Banners on Flickr

Check ’em out here.

From the Fortress of Solitude…or Duluth

Taken on Park Point today for your viewing pleasure

Walking on the ice.

Good skating on the big lake!

Alas

 CANCELED

For those not going to the Mitchell…

Beaner’s has been kind enough to let me display roughly 40 new drawings and paintings. Reception is this Thursday @ 6:00. They’ll be up on the wall through February.

poster222

The EP will be a free download: “Bone Black: improvisations on amplified harmonica”, but you have to actually go to the reception to get the URL.

My good friends Clint Boylan and Toby Churchill will be playing music throughout the night as well. It’s really worth it just to see them.

Wait… Did I mention all of this is free?

Sammy.
p.s. (pdd 3.0 is nifty)

New PPD = WIN, New Banner Policy = FAIL

I am very happy that the PPD nerds continue to strive forward into the 21st century.  The switch from MT to WP was a fine platform choice and the chosen design is quite lovely.  A certain DIY aspect was lost however with the new banner submission process.

I’ll detail my complaints in order:

  • The Perfect Duluth Day logo will be added by PDD’s art department.
  • You will not be notified if your photo has been accepted or rejected.
Personally, the best part banner making is choosing where the PDD logo goes, how it blends into and becomes part of the photo, etc.  Also I really enjoyed the immediate thrill of seeing the banner live immediately after posting.  I can think of many times I sat there and refreshed my browser until I’d see my submission.
I would wholeheartedly enjoy a re-thinking of this policy.  Perhaps the addition of the logo by the artist could be allowed yet approval still required?  My $0.02.  As always, keep up the good work, staffers.
Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!