Clickbait Posts

PDD Shop Talk: The Art of Clickbait

Three of Duluth’s best sledding hills are at Bayfront Park, Wheeler Field and Keene Creek Dog Park. One of the city’s best beaches is at the base of Ely’s Peak. OMC Smokehouse is a popular spot in Canal Park.

The Most Read Saturday Essays of 2021

Saturday Essay logo genericNever before has one author landed more than two works on Perfect Duluth Day’s list of the top-five most read Saturday Essays. And now, like some literary Muhammad Ali, Jim Richardson landed not three, not four, but all five. Total domination. He also had the sixth-most-read essay of the year, just to rub his popularity in the noses of every other writer in town.

How did he do it? Well, for starters he wrote more essays than everyone else. But ultimately it was the quality of the goods that made him PDD’s click hog in 2021. Many of his works fell into a genre we might describe as “Duluth fan fiction,” but at least one in the top five is about something that really happened. And another one could be fact based, but we can’t prove whether the author wants to see naked women or not.

The Mysterious and Ferocious Serpent Monster of Lake Superior

Duluth politicians can keep bragging about keeping Lake Superior free of sharks, but what about the “enigmatic lake monster”?

What about the “giant and ferocious serpent”? The “underwater panther”? The “lizard like fish around 10 feet long” with “a head like a turtle”? The “hideous” thing “cruising through the water with a 15-foot long neck and a huge jaw”? The “immense humped creature” with “huge horse shaped head and large dark left eye” with a nose bearing “a visible catfish type whisker, maybe two feet in length and wiggling”? The “gigantic serpent with 3 to 5 humps” rising out of the water?

Well, for those into myths, legends and stories short on attribution but with the words “supposedly” and “apparently” repeated throughout, there’s a new article that has it all.

Duluth top city for paycheck stretching, according to indeed.com

Indeed.com released a report today entitled, “US Cities Where Salaries Go Furthest: 2018.” Of 185 metro cities, the one that topped the list for stretching the buying power of a paycheck is Duluth.

Perfect Duluth Day launching two new community websites — Perfect East Duluth Day and Perfect West Duluth Day

In an effort to better serve the community, Perfect Duluth Day announced today it will convert its nearly 15-year-old website into an all-advertising format, then launch two new websites to separately serve eastern and western Duluth with neighborhood-specific features and folksy tidbits.

Bob Monahan Naked

Well, it was a thing for a day, but now the privates are private. Apparently this video was a limited-time Father’s Day offering.

Sussex sex tower echoes West Duluth nards

The wacky news story of the week is out of the Village of Sussex in southeast Wisconsin. A contractor painted over the first three letters on a water tower and then decided it was break time. It turns out, the same thing happened at the same water tower in 1996.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinal: Village of Sussex residents have heard this water tower sex joke before

Prior to either of the sex tower situations, Duluth had its own temporarily bawdy sign. When the original West Duluth Kmart location at 503 N. 50th Ave. W. was converted to become a Menards store in 1991, workers put up five letters on the side of the building before knocking off for the night. Anyone driving down 46th Avenue West or Mike Colalillo Drive could plainly see “nards” hanging high on the store’s eastern side. To my knowledge, this was never reported by media and no photos exist. But then again, someone must have taken a picture. And it’s time for that person to come forward.

The Most Read Saturday Essays of 2016

Saturday Essay logo genericPerfect Duluth Day launched its “Saturday Essay” series at the beginning of 2016 and it quickly became the most popular recurring feature on the website. With the first set of 50 essays now complete, it’s time to take a look back at which pieces have been the most read of the bunch so far, according to the folks at Google Analytics.

Before we get all Casey Kasem, a few notes about how the “Saturday Essay” feature works: Yours truly, Paul Lundgren, is the editor. A small group of writers are featured somewhat regularly, but anyone is welcome and encouraged to submit a piece for consideration. Shoot an email to paul @ perfectduluthday.com to inquire.

And now, the countdown …

History Unearthed: The Du Luth Stone

Duluth RockA stone that bears the marking “Du Luth 1679” has been found in Pine County, one hour southwest of Duluth. A prominent geologist says the discovery could be one of the oldest carved artifacts ever found in Minnesota, potentially carved by the French explorer Daniel de Gresolon, the Sieur du Lhut.

Forensic geologist Scott Wolter, developer of archaeopetrography, a scientific process used to date the origins of stone artifacts, says the stone is “absolutely authentic.”

History texts indicate Gresolon landed his canoe on Minnesota Point on June 27, 1679, with the mission to meet with natives and persuade them to trade fur with the French instead of the British. Five days later he took possession, in the name of the King of France, of the Dakota territories at the village of Izatys, attaching the coat of arms of King Louis XIV to a tree on the shore of Mille Lacs Lake, just west of Pine County.

Spirit Mountain a finalist for $100K in online contest

Bell Helmets Gimmick

Duluth’s Spirit Mountain is one of three locations in the running for the $100,000 prize offered by Bell Helmets to fund a trail-building project. Voting in the nationwide contest is being conducted on bellhelmets.com and will continue through June 4.

Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores is the nonprofit organization leading Duluth’s effort. Spirit Mountain is competing for the 2015 Bell Built grand prize against projects in La Grange, Calif. and Knoxville, Tenn.

Duluth up for bike park grant in latest online voting gimmick

Red Rock - Cedar Creek - Spirit Mountain

Bell Helmets is awarding $100,000 to fund a trail-building project in one of nine U.S. cities in the latest online voting contest involving Duluth. Two cities have already been eliminated in the West Coast voting. Duluth is in the lead in the Central Region, which closes voting on Sunday, May 10. East Coast voting runs May 11-24. Voting in the finals will begin on May 25.

Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores is the nonprofit organization leading the effort to improve trails at Spirit Mountain.

Leaning Tower of Enger

Breaking News

Thanks to Eric Plumb for tipping us off on this breaking news. Fox 21 is confirming the story right now by sending someone to shoot footage of Enger Tower standing perfectly upright.

Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum sinking

pic3

Oh Snap. Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum (a.k.a “The Cribs” a.k.a “Duluth Ice House”) seems to be melting away this winter.  First the column went missing a few weeks ago and now the whole house seems to be doomed. Let’s hope Lake Superior Aquaman can fix this?

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?

I am outraged!

Dairy Queen purchases naming rights to BWCAW.