Breakfast of Bizarre
I feel like sometimes I'm the only person amazed by the weird things I witness here, almost daily. Is it my small-town, sheltered upbringing? I'm not sure. But here's the lowdown on strange sighting #672 ...
I was eating breakfast at Amazing Grace (one of my new favorite places to eat, by the way. The decor is a rummage sale delight and the food is, well, amazing) Anyway, as I was forking scrambled-egg goodness into my mouth with one hand and dousing my pancake in real maple syrup with the other, I was also keeping my eye on the stairwell. People watching is a favorite pasttime and, today, Amazing Grace would not disappoint.
A family of four had sat down next to me. They had pre-ordered their food. It was on their table minutes after they sat down. What a great idea! I'm sure the parents' two little girls were delighted as well. Although, the older of the two seemed to be more enthralled by the fish tank behind the table than with her breakfast.
The man who came in after them also didn't seem to have eating on his mind. He was more interested in trying to attract the attention of the two girls. He had pulled a pair of large clown glasses from somehere, put them on and started dancing up to the table, repeatedly announcing "I'm a nerd, I'm a nerd." with his hands flailing in front of him. "I'm just a big nerd," he said. It was almost as if he trying to convince the family, "Hey, I'm harmless. Want some candy little girls." And then runs off with the children.
Then he starts to make conversation with the family. Asking where they're from and how long they're in town. "Leaving today," the dad said. Short. curt. To the point.
The stange man continues ... "Too bad you're not staying to see my show" (pause, as if waiting for a response. There was none.) "Yeah, I have my own act. I play a nerd and do nerdy things."
"That's nice," the mom says. But I'm pretty sure she was lying about that.
The man loitered a bit longer, then left out of the opposite door he came in. And I think I actually felt the parents breathe a sigh of relief. I wonder if they appreciate Duluth's oddities as much as I do? Although, this day's sighting kind of crossed over from strange to down-right creepy.
Posted by: Kelli Sandhurst on 9.19.2008 at 6:09 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
pizza update
The best local pizza story runs Wednesday. Buy a paper that day. And thanks for all your advice. Myself, John Myers and Clint Austin ate like fat pigs for two weeks on account of a story. And we didn't even get to every nominated place. (there were 19.) We had to cut three places that we really wanted to go to because of time issues. So take comfort, Duluth, in knowing that while sometimes the area seems to lack an abundance of decent places to eat, we've got pizza covered. Except for Neapolitan pizza, Punch-style. we could definitely use that up here.
Posted by: Jana Hollingsworth on 9.15.2008 at 9:52 PM | Comments (15) | Permalink
Spice it up a Little!
So, after a busy couple months, I am back on Duluth Current. The last time I posted a recipe, I learned of the best guacamole recipe ever from Tracy in return! So, here's another one for you guys that I got from my friend Ryan. It's super cheap and EASY. It's hardly even a recipe, but basically melt cheese on a tortilla in the microwave until it's soft and gooey. (I like the colby/jack mixture you can buy grated.) Then, drizzle this amazing hot sauce, Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce, over it, which I have found in the Mexican food section at Cub Foods. And then, enjoy before the cheese gets cold.
The big bottle of Valentina is one liter for $2.39 + tax! It's hot, but so different from salsas or other hot sauces that I have had. And, I love the chili pepper flavor. This is especially good late at night for some reason. Enjoy!
Posted by: Amanda on 8.18.2008 at 5:48 PM | Comments (4) | Permalink
Work crew covers all the bases
As I left work last night, I saw this scene on First Street:
It's a work crew fixing a water main on First Street between Third and Fourth Avenues West. It's also almost 1 a.m. on a Saturday morning, so kudos to them for being on the job at all hours.
But what caught my eye was the big "ROAD WORK AHEAD" sign. First Street is a one-way street. The view in the photo is looking AGAINST traffic. So, that sign is set up pretty much only for cars driving the wrong way.
I wonder if they placed it there specifically because they were working at 1 a.m. on a Saturday morning, knowing that - in all likelihood - someone would drive the wrong way down that street after bars closed. In any case, it looks like they were covered for all scenarios.
Posted by: Andrew on 8.16.2008 at 5:44 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink
Cool Web site answers Olympic questions
There is a flood of television coverage from the Summer Olympics in Beijing, but as the coverage jumps from sport to sport, it's hard to understand what is going on in some of the lesser-known events.
A co-worker directed me to this Web site, which offers slideshows explaining every Olympic sport:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/
On the right side of the page, scroll down to the section labeled "Beijing Olympic sports in action." Click on the icon of the sport you want to see. I learned all I need to know to watch team handball.
Posted by: Andrew on 8.14.2008 at 6:24 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Best local pizza?
For September, the News Tribune plans to do a sort of "best local pizza" roundup. I am from the area and know of a few non-chain pizza places that belong on the list, such as Shamrock, Lee's, Sammy's and VIP. Help me out by nominating some others. We will try as many as we can and narrow it down to the top five or so.
Posted by: Jana Hollingsworth on 8.04.2008 at 6:10 PM | Comments (24) | Permalink
August Approaches
Even if you haven't looked a calendar lately, you can tell it's coming.
The light is changing. Those green little bugs you see everywhere are here. It's dark by 9:30 p.m.
August.
But don't worry about summer being over. We've still got a third of it to go, and the 21,000 or so tourists who will come to our city this month can't all be wrong - there are plenty of good things about the last month of summer.
- June was rainy and cold and you were busy all July. The long, hazy days of August are the best time all summer to head to Park Point and just lie there.
- The raspberries on the bushes in the ditch at the bottom of my driveway are ripe. I presume this means raspberries are ripe elsewhere. This means they are ready to be eaten. There should be no further questions.
- There are fewer bugs in August. Do I have any backing whatsoever for saying this? No. But I think it's true, so I hope that's good enough.
- Air conditioning: August is the one month when we really, really need it here. If you have it, enjoy it.
Posted by: Will Ashenmacher on 7.30.2008 at 4:29 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink
Scrabulous withdrawal
If you're anything like me -- sure hope you're not, for your sake -- you spent tons of hours during the cold of winter huddled up behind your computer, improving your two-letter, four-letter, eight-letter Scrabble skills with the clearly copyright-infringed-but-totally-addicting Scrabulous.
And, if you're even more like me, you carried that habit over from winter to spring and now summer. Since I've been holing myself up in front of my air conditioner, all I've been wanting to do is do battle with my eight-plus Scrabulous opponents. That wasn't an issue until this morning, when -- finally -- after months of pressure from Scrabble's copyright holders, Scrabulous got taken down on Facebook. I keep trying to load the application, only to be told over and over and over that it's gone, possibly forever.
So, um, what am I supposed to do now?
Posted by: CT on 7.29.2008 at 8:56 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink
City Council Snack Time
I like covering city council meetings, except for the fact that they always run through dinner and I get hungry.
Judging by tonight's agenda and special sessions, city councilors have found a way around this problem. At various points in the back-to-back sessions, several of them got up and went to a cupboard behind their seats. I can only conclude that this is some sort of City Pantry of Awesome Snacks.
Tony Cuneo had what looked like Chex Mix. Jeff Anderson had some trail mix-type stuff. Mayor Don Ness- a Milky Way. Jay Fosle went for what must've been barbecue potato chips.
I want one of those bountiful cupboards here at the newsroom.
Posted by: Will Ashenmacher on 7.24.2008 at 7:37 PM | Comments (4) | Permalink
Questionable Kodak Moments
I am always amused when I see tourists taking pictures in front of ordinary things. Sometimes I get it - they're being funny or ironic. But when they seem serious about it, I'm kind of confused.
Today for instance, I saw a woman take a picture of her husband in front of the Fountain of Wind (or whatever) in Canal Park. Now, if I had been the subject, I would've walked on the path, or stood near a statue, or pretended I was drowning or something. Anything. But this guy just stood there near the chain fence. Boring, man. Your relatives are not going to want to see that.
Later tonight I saw a couple pose in front of the fountians in front of the courthouse. Now, I like these fountains, but I would never think to get my picture taken there. Maybe I just have a deficient imagination.
The day I see people getting their picture taken in front of Miller Hill Mall, then I'll know I've hit rock bottom.
Posted by: Will Ashenmacher on 7.22.2008 at 9:15 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink