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Listen to audio of Dylan’s Nobel Prize lecture
Late last year, Bob Dylan issued his official acceptance of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Today, the Nobel committee released an audio recording of his lecture, a requirement for accepting the prize. It was already a compelling set of words, but it’s interesting to hear them in Dylan’s unique voice. The audio recording is on…
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Great Northern Radio Show cruises home to Grand Rapids
Lately, I’ve been thinking about Mr. Rogers. If you’ve never heard of him, or seen his groundbreaking children’s show, that’d be reasonable. It’s getting a little old now. But some of you might have seen the recording of his testimony defending federal funding of public broadcasting back in 1969. Others might have seen the viral story…
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FARGO, Season 3, Ep. 7: “The Law of Inevitability”
The FX series “Fargo” takes viewers on a “true crime” adventure through the snow-swept landscape of Minnesota. Based on the Coen Brothers Academy Award winning film “Fargo,” each season of the TV series explores a new story cast from the themes of innocence lost, human failings, and the redemptive power of goodness. Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown…
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Trap shooting trend a blast for Minnesota youth
In America’s swirling political vortex of gun policy debate, one thing seems to be fairly non-controversial. Clay pigeons deserve to eat my child’s hot lead. Trap-shooting is the fastest-growing trend in high school youth activities in the state of Minnesota. This, according to a May 30 Bob Shaw story in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.…
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Duluth-Superior Film Festival opens today
Summer movie season has arrived, and if you’re like me you’ve noticed a sea of derivative retreads slated for our cinema multiplexes. “Blah Blah IV.” “Blah Blah: The Remake.” “Blah Blah: Based on the Popular Video Game.” The film industry has always balanced its urge for creativity with its need for money. It seems money…
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On ‘The Americans’ and the burden of secrets
In 2012, I joined many liberals in laughing off Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s assertion that Russia remained the biggest threat to American interests. Russia? That’s Cold War thinking. We’re living in a bold new world full of complex threats. Well, that’s only half right. The threats are complex, but we’ve since learned that the ghost…
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FARGO, Season 3, Ep. 6: “The Lord of No Mercy”
The FX series “Fargo” takes viewers on a “true crime” adventure through the snow-swept landscape of Minnesota. Based on the Coen Brothers Academy Award winning film “Fargo,” each season of the TV series explores a new story cast from the themes of innocence lost, human failings, and the redemptive power of goodness. Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown…
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Unique arts camp at historic Mesaba Park near Hibbing
In 1929, Finnish immigrants founded Mesaba Park, a cooperative park located on Northstar Lake between Cherry Township and Hibbing. They sought to provide a safe meeting place for workers and a low-cost recreational facility for their families. It was unique then, and even more so today having survived the decline of the cooperative movement elsewhere. The…
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Dylan Fest 2017 honors Northern MN’s own Bob Dylan
Every May, Bob Dylan’s shared hometowns of Duluth, where he was born, and Hibbing, where he grew up, celebrate music, poetry and culture in his honor. This year, Dylan is fresh off his Nobel Prize for Literature. And while the former Bobby Zimmerman isn’t expected to appear at this year’s festivities, a full lineup of…
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2017 Northern Lights Music Festival to feature Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’
The Northern Lights Music Festival will take place in Aurora and other Iron Range towns this July 2-23. The organization recently announced its lineup, including its featured opera production, Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin.” I wrote about the Northern Lights Music Festival in a 2014 column, exploring our region’s history as it relates to classical music: Every…
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FARGO, Season 3, Ep. 5: “The House of Special Purpose”
The FX series “Fargo” takes viewers on a “true crime” adventure through the snow-swept landscape of Minnesota. Based on the Coen Brothers Academy Award winning film “Fargo,” each season of the TV series explores a new story cast from the themes of innocence lost, human failings, and the redemptive power of goodness. Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown…
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FARGO, Season 3, Ep. 4: “The Narrow Escape Problem”
The FX series “Fargo” takes viewers on a “true crime” adventure through the snow-swept landscape of Minnesota. Based on the Coen Brothers Academy Award winning film “Fargo,” each season of the TV series explores a new story cast from the themes of innocence lost, human failings, and the redemptive power of goodness. Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown…
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Nisswa night cops ‘rick-roll’ themselves
I used to work as an overnight disc jockey. I was also the editor of an afternoon newspaper. That meant that my day started before the end of what would normally be the “night shift” at the cop shop downtown. A strange feeling overtakes you as you realize that most people you know are sleeping, but…
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FARGO, Season 3, Ep. 3: “The Law of Non-Contradiction”
The FX series “Fargo” takes viewers on a “true crime” adventure through the snow-swept landscape of Minnesota. Based on the Coen Brothers Academy Award winning film “Fargo,” each season of the TV series explores a new story cast from the themes of innocence lost, human failings, and the redemptive power of goodness. Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown…
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Short film shot in Duluth shows horror of modern workplace
What drives the modern worker? Is it money? Ambition. Or have we been conditioned to press on with increasingly meaningless office tasks in fear of what might happen if we ever stop? Perhaps, like the shark who must swim to survive, the office worker must print, copy and collate. “Take Your Non-Vaporous Apparition to Work…