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Iron Range original music on tap this Saturday
The Iron Range Original Music Association is an excellent example of a small grassroots effort that makes a big difference in the quality of life in a place like ours. This loose band of songwriters has helped cultivate a number of local bands that produce some true musical art and good times. They’ve got a…
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Duluth tall ship festival tickets on sale today
Tall ships docked at Duluth Harbor, 2010. Three tall masted ships will arrive in the Port of Duluth, Minnesota, this July. If you want a ride, tickets go on sale today and officials expect they will sell out by summer. The Tall Ships Festival is July 25-29 and if the 2010 event was any indication,…
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Getting to the bottom of the yoga ‘pants’emonium
This is my Sunday column for the March 31, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Getting to the bottom of the yoga ‘pants’emoniumBy Aaron J. Brown Allow me to state my qualifications to talk about yoga pants. I’ve done yoga a couple times on my Nintendo Wii. I really enjoy how yoga pants look…
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News of the Twins, riding by shadow and twilight
The Minnesota Twins open their 2013 season on Monday. This season’s opener is decidedly less optimistic than last year’s, which was the first season in quite a long time that there was no perceptible optimism whatsoever from anyone except people earning paychecks from the Minnesota Twins. And last year went terribly. So we’ve got this…
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Charting a future for the Midwest beyond its past
“Does the Midwest matter?” That’s the question posed in an essay by Frank Bures in MinnPost today. Bures remembered his youth in Winona, Minnesota, this way: Growing up, I remember feeling like greatness was something that belonged far away, and that if I wanted to do anything worthwhile, my only choice was to leave. That…
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See this stunning collection of Iron Range images
The old Dupont power house, just before it was demolished thistime last year, shot by Minneapolis photographer Vance Gellart. I’ve paged through just some of the many photos shot by Minneapolis photographer Vance Gellart from his travels across the Iron Range trying to capture the unique colors, gritty ambiance and stunning contrasts found in this…
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A little bit of Earth sails beyond our known world
Bob Collins at MPR’s NewsCut reminds us that Voyager 1 has left the solar system. This little unmanned spacecraft documented so much of what we know about a tiny corner of the universe we ourselves cannot travel in a lifetime, even if we got off our duffs and tried. I knew that Voyager 1 had…
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Three great music acts perform tonight in Hibbing
Rachael Kilgour There’s a pretty cool-sounding concert slated for tonight at Hibbing Community College. I wasn’t aware it was Women’s History Month, but if that inspires people to put three of the best northern Minnesota singer-songwriter’s on one showbill I’m all for it. HCC Music Series presents, Women’s History Month Showcase featuring singer/songwriters Rachael Kilgour,…
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Comet Theater in Cook launches existential Kickstarter
The small towns of the Iron Range once each had their own small movie theaters. There were several theaters in the bigger towns like Hibbing. Up in Cook right now, they’ve got longest continuous single-screen theater in Minnesota, open since 1939. But the Comet Theater is in danger, as this film shows: They need digital…
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The Ides of March: culture on the Iron Range
The Death of Caesar, by Jean-Léon Gérôme Friday is the Ides of March, the famous day in which Roman Emperor Julius Caesar took a little walk down to the forum in 44 B.C. and was stabbed 23 times by 60 prominent conspirators. The term comes from a warning he received on the street, “Beware the…
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The Beargrease is on, as are memories of Skeezer
The John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon is underway along Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior this week. Making its first start in two years on Sunday, the race is expected to wrap up tomorrow, March 13. Last year’s race was cancelled because of poor snow conditions. You can follow results and see footage here. Watching…
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Twin Cities, Duluth rank high among college towns
The American Institute of Economic Research places two Minnesota metro areas high on a list of best college towns. Minneapolis-St. Paul is ranked sixth among major metro areas. Duluth is ranked 14th on the small metro list, just behind Honolulu. While #6 and #14 might not be enough for a medal, it’s fun to see…
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Great Northern Radio Show preview: Meet the Players!
It’s coming! The spring edition of my Great Northern Radio Show hits the stage of the Bagley High School auditorium and airwaves of Northern Community Radio this upcoming Saturday, March 9. The show airs from 5-7 p.m. and free tickets are still available by calling KAXE at 800-662-5799. Find out more about the show and…
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Great Northern Radio Show preview: Sonny Johnson
It’s coming! The spring edition of my Great Northern Radio Show hits the stage of the Bagley High School auditorium and airwaves of Northern Community Radio this upcoming Saturday, March 9. The show airs from 5-7 p.m. and free tickets are still available by calling KAXE at 800-662-5799. Find out more about the show and…
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Runaway seal flops off to the sky
One of the two seals that escaped from the Lake Superior Zoo during last year’s historic flooding in Duluth has died. Here’s the teaser for the AP story at the top of yesterday’s Hibbing Daily Tribune. I share this because there’s a lot going on here. The top head is what you tell the kids.…