Category Archives: Eh?&E

‘FunnyRaiser’ for Safe Haven

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This brings a new meaning to “laughter at your expense.” A group of Leadership Duluth alumni are hosting the second annual “FunnyRaiser,” which gives all of its proceeds to Safe Haven, a Duluth shelter and resource center for victims of domestic abuse.

The event, which includes live comedy, food, drinks, raffles and a silent auction, is 5:30-9 p.m. May 23 at Clyde Iron Works, 2920 W. Michigan St. in Lincoln Park.

More than 200 people attended last year’s inaugural event that raised nearly $13,000, and the group wants to set a new mark.

Tickets are $20. Go to the Safe Haven website to buy tickets, make a donation or for more information. Check out the event on Facebook, too.

Sean Penn spotted in Duluth, 83 years ago

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The Kansas City Bridge Co. crewman (left) looks an awful lot like Sean Penn (right), who was born in 1960. (Left photo courtesy of Duluth Public Library)

Did you know that Sean Penn was photographed in Duluth sometime between August 1929 and March 1930? Well, it was someone who looked like Sean Penn, not that anybody in Duluth knew who Sean Penn was in 1930.

That’s when a crew from the Kansas City Bridge Co. came to town to convert the transfer bridge over the Duluth ship canal to the Aerial Lift Bridge we still use today. And one of the guys on the crew really did look a lot like Sean Penn. He’s front and center in a photo of the crew posing on the bridge.

The history lovers at Zenith City Online found the photo at the Duluth Public Library and posted it. Check it out there and join the conversation about when and where you would go if you were as good at time-traveling as Sean Penn.

DSSO youth orchestra concert

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The spring concert for the Duluth Superior Symphony’s youth orchestras — the Youth Symphony, the Concert Orchestra, the Sinfonia and the Percussion Ensemble — is 3 p.m. Sunday at Marshall School. They will perform classical and pop music.

Like what you hear? The youth orchestras are holding auditions at the College of St. Scholastica, Room 3625, in Tower Hall for the 2013-14 season:

  • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday: Woodwinds, brass and percussion
  • 5-9 p.m. Monday: Strings

E-mail Kevin Hoeschen with your instrument, phone number, e-mail address and grade level for the fall. Indicate your top two preferences for an audition time. Auditions are eight minutes. Musicians should prepare a solo of up to five minutes that demonstrate playing ability. You’ll be asked to do some sight reading.

Go to dsso.com for more.

Stadium Journey stops in Duluth

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Amsoil Arena scored a 4.9 out of 5 on Stadium Journey. (2010 file, Bob King / News Tribune)

Amsoil Arena is about 2½ years old, but in case you still haven’t attended a Minnesota Duluth hockey game, there’s a review at Stadium Journey to check out.

Reviewer Matt Ward refers to it as a “near-perfect college hockey experience.” The venue was great on a five-star scale for categories that include food and beverages, atmosphere, neighborhood, fans, access, return on investment and extras. All items received five stars, except the fan aspect, which was given four — for an overall score of 4.9 out of 5.

Rockin’ style

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Hey ladies, how about going to your closets and picking out your coolest outfit. You know the one. Now put it on. Then get that camera. Upload a photo of yourself rocking your look by May 27.

No, it’s not anything kinky.

It’s a contest that Duluth-based Maurices is holding that will send the winner to the 2013 CMT Music Awards on June 5 in Nashville.

Maurices women’s clothing chain — the official digital retail sponsor for the awards — is calling it the “Style that Rocks Casting Call.”

The winner, along with a friend, will go to the awards show with their airfare, hotel and VIP transportation paid for, a $300 Maurices shopping spree and a professional hair and makeup session.

Show off that bike

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Don’t just rely on neighbors and those you pass on the highway to be the ones to see your motorcycle. Display it.

The Twin Ports Motorcycle Expo and Bike Show is 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 18 at Black Bear Casino Resort.

Enter a bike for $10 cash the day of the show and leave enough time open to stay for the whole event. Trophies and tickets to Moondance Jam and Buffalo Valley Fest are up for grabs as prizes.

Don’t have a bike or just don’t want to enter? That’s fine, too. Admission is $3 for anyone interested in attending the event, which will have on-site bike dino and pinstripe tuning. The latest Victory motorcycles will be available for test rides. Superior High School will be auctioning off a bike that two students built. There also will be vendors with accessories, clothing, tattooing and piercing.

Go to twinportsmotorcycleexpo.com or call (218) 348-7625 for more information.

Go out for that musical

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The Duluth Playhouse is hosting youth education auditions for the summer performance intensives and musical theater boot camp from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Playhouse Conservatory, 230 W. Superior St.

Hopefuls are asked to prepare two 16- to 32-bar musical selections. An accompanist will be provided. Cold readings will be supplied at the audition.

Shows include:

  • “Annie Jr.” (ages 8-13), with rehearsals June 10-28 and performances June 28-30.
  • “Disney’s The Jungle Book” musical theater boot camp (ages 9-13) with camp from Aug. 12-23.
  • “Grease” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie” in repertory (ages 13-18) with rehearsals July 8-Aug. 8 and performances Aug. 8-18.

For more info, go to the Duluth Playhouse page on Facebook.

Real Marge Simpson was from Iron Range

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Margaret Groening is seen here with her son, Matt Groening, in this Nov. 13, 1996, photo. (Photo courtesy of the Oregonian)

The mother of “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening died April 22 in Oregon, and her obituary in the Oregonian became a popular read on the Internet this week because of the familiar names that appear in it.

Margaret, of course, is the formal name for Marge. She married a man named Homer. She had children named Lisa and Maggie. And her maiden name was Wiggum, the last name of the cartoon’s police chief.

But something else you might not know is that while Margaret Ruth (Wiggum) Groening went to school in Everett, Wash., she was born March 23, 1919, in Chisholm, Minn., forever tying Springfield to the Iron Range.

Poetry: Adults only

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Hey, literati: What would happen if “Moby Dick” were rewritten as an erotic haiku? Find out during an adult poetry reading featuring Kat Mandeville (the writer behind the whale of a tale), Jayson Iwen and Chad Faries.

The reading is 9 p.m. Wednesday at Adeline Inc. Salon, 1132 Ninth St.

The event is free, though donations are welcome.

Brief stay with Jay

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Bill and Kate Isles talk with Jay Leno on stage in Burbank, Calif., on April 23, 2013. (Photo courtesy of Bill Isles)

Duluth musicians Bill and Kate Isles shared “The Tonight Show” stage with host Jay Leno on April 23 in Burbank while in California for an unrelated performance.

The Isleses got tickets to the show’s taping from a friend of a friend and were picked out of the audience by Leno to visit with him where he does his monologues. Bill Isles said Leno, who has performed stand-up comedy in Duluth, spoke highly of the city, which got a nice pop from the crowd.

After the interview, Leno said: “Hey, sit in the guest spots, and we’ll pose (for a photo) there. You can put it on Facebook,” Bill Isles wrote on his Facebook page.

So they did.