-
USA Curling falls to Norway in Olympic opener
This morning the men’s Team USA curling team competed against Norway in its Olympic debut. Despite pulling within 5-3 in the middle of the match, Team USA, skipped by Chisholm native John Shuster, fell 7-4. The defeat is a disappointment for Team USA Curling not because they were favored (Norway is considered a strong medal contender),…
-
Flipping ‘The Odd Couple’ in Duluth
The Duluth Playhouse is doing a run of Neil Simon’s famous play “The Odd Couple,” about a mismatched pair of roommates learning to deal with life, change and each other. No big deal, right? Well, the play features lead actors Jody Kujawa and Jason Scorich, alternating the roles of Felix and Oscar each night. In…
-
Actual Wolf sings ‘Victims and Things’ live
You could do a lot worse things with three and a half minutes of your life than listen to this live recording from the Current featuring Actual Wolf and his new single “Victims and Things.” Actual Wolf, nee Eric Pollard and his band, is a northern Minnesota act headed to Nashville. They’ll have a full-length…
-
‘Rhythmic biological pattern of life’ goes on
In Sunday’s Duluth News Tribune, Sam Cook writes of the last mail run of retiring postal carrier John Latimer, who doubles as the staff phenologist at KAXE-Northern Community Radio. (Phenology is a Tuesday morning radio show, and also the “rhythmic biological pattern of life”). While John might not be delivering mail in rural Itasca County…
-
Dylan Days in Hibbing calls for poems, stories
Every year a group of folks, myself included, throw together a grassroots event in Bob Dylan’s Iron Range hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota, celebrating Dylan’s work and influence and the enduring art and culture of northern Minnesota. One of the things we do is a writing contest named in honor of the English teacher who turned…
-
Bob Dylan pitches for Chrysler in Super Bowl ad
Folks who stuck with the Seattle Seahawks blowout in the Super Bowl were treated to one of Chrysler’s trademark American heartstrings ads: this one featuring Hibbing’s own Bob Dylan. The reclusive folk/rock troubadour waxed poetic about America, the road, and the Detroit-made goodness of Chrysler automobiles. My local social media feed did not lack the…
-
Team Norway curling uniforms set blasters on stun
All month I’ve been talking about the underdog U.S. Curling team with northern Minnesota roots in advance of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Well, if those guys are the scrappy underdogs, we now have a picture of one of their elite adversaries. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Ulsrud Rink, aka Team Norway. Team…
-
U.S. Curling team with MN/WI stripes earns attention
When the 2014 Winter Olympics begin next month in Sochi, Russia, many will be following the high profile athletes of hockey, skating and snowboarding. But as people here in northern Minnesota know, and others are starting to realize, there is a true “regular folks” team to follow in Sochi. The U.S. Curling team, which I’ve…
-
Trampled by Turtles return for 2014 MN/WI tour
Duluth and Minneapolis-based progressive bluegrass band Trampled by Turtles will be making another Minnesota/Wisconsin tour this year, reprising their successful home-state swing from last year. Here in the north, TBT will be back at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids on March 25 and in Bemidji on March 28. You can find out more or…
-
Mesabi Daily News headline makes Letterman show
As it was foretold in prophecy, the Mesabi Daily News‘ not-so-accidental boner joke from late last year was included in a David Letterman segment on funny small town news last night. Here’s video: It bears mentioning that Team Letterman put the Mesabi Daily News story last in the segment. Humor writers save that spot for…
-
Down in the Boondocks: Author Kate Ingrid Paul
Kate Ingrid Paul is a fellow Sax-Zim Bog spawn who, like me, found the experience worth writing about. She’s got a new book out entitled “Memoirs from Down in the Boondocks: A Spiritual Journey through Poem and Short Story.” Paul was featured in last Sunday’s Hibbing Daily Tribune. Here’s an excerpt from her talk with Tony…
-
In Alt-USA, State of Superior is atop the map
Longtime readers know I’m a sucker for maps. Maps tell us what was, what is, what was known and what was imagined. Maps show what people care about. Maps show what one person cares about. So, when Dr. Andrew Shears and his alternative history map of the United States show up on my desk, I’ll…
-
A northern Minnesota Christmas review
Merry Christmas to my readers who celebrate this Christian holiday co-oped from ancient pagan solstice revelry. As Crudbump would remind us (NSFW) “it’s about respecting the holiday; you’ve gotta respect the holiday.” It’s time for another northern Minnesota Christmas and I’ll be taking a few days off from regular updates. We’re settling into the part…
-
Heartwarming reunion of Hibbing civil war brothers
The holidays are a time to reunite families. I was interested to read a June 7, 1913 story from the (Hibbing, Minn.) Mesaba Ore, reprinted Sunday on Jack Lynch’s history page in the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Two Hibbing civil war brothers, separated for 35 years, realized late in life they had been living in different…
-
Great Northern Radio Show warms up Fosston
Last Saturday, Dec. 14, we broadcast our winter/holiday edition of the Great Northern Radio Show live from the Fosston Library Arts Center in Fosston, Minnesota. The show featured Reina del Cid and the Cidizens, Katie Wig, and several talented voice actors and guests from the surrounding community. Now that it’s done, I can officially say that…