Sunday, March 31, 2019

Today In History: March 31 Happenings

One way to learn a little about history is to write about it. An even better way is to teach it. Today I am just going to write about it.

1596
French philosopher Rene Descartes was born on this day in 1596. Descartes wrestled with the notion of self and knowing, famously declaring, "I think, therefore I am." Truth be told, his actual words were in French, and the statement above is a bad translation of what he actually said, which was "I am thinking, therefore I am."

1732
Austrian composer Franz Hayden was born on this day in Austria. I took my first piano lessons at age 8 and was introduced to simplified versions of compositions by great composers, including Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt and Franz Hayden.

1809
Russian author Nikolai Gogol was born on this day in 1809. Though his career overlapped Dostoevsky's he was a forerunner of sorts for the great Russian authors who followed. Most of us who studied Continental literary figures have read his story "The Overcoat." Another of his stories was titled "The Nose," which happens to be the title of one of my own stories which you can read here.

1878
Boxer Jack Johnson was born. Jonson would become the first African American to become World Champion and you can bet he was much hated for this achievement. He reigned supreme from 1908 to 1915, the most famous black man of his time. He married a white woman at a tine notorious for the Jim Crow laws in the Deep South. His cavorting resulted in getting sentenced to prison for violating the Mann Act. He fled the country for seven years but finally returned to serve a year in Leavenworth. 105 years later he received a presidential pardon for this injustice, from Donald Trump.

1914 
Saddleback Mountain, Monterrey. 1980.
Mexican diplomat and poet Octavio Paz was born. In 1990 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. In 1945 he went to Paris as a diplomat and wrote "The Labyrinth of Solitude." Labyrinths are a recurring theme in the writing of Argentine Jorge Luis Borges, who influenced numerous 20th century authors including Umberto Eco (Name of the Rose), Gabriel Garcia Marquez (The General in His Labyrinth), Italo Calvino and myself (Duel of the Poets.)

1948
Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. was born in Washington D.C. to a Tennessee congressman who would later serve 18 years as a senator from Tennessee. Born into politics he became a two-term VP under Bill Clinton. He was derided many ties over the years for having claimed to invent the Internet. These cheap jabs were based on a false interpretation of what he had said. In reality, Gore actually did cast an important vote that enabled the Internet to come into being. He never once said or hinted at having invented it. He was treated like a chump for something he never said. He's more famous now as an environmentalist. In 1998 I attended an Environmental Expo across the street from Disneyland in Anaheim where he was the keynote speaker. I attended in person; he was piped in by satellite.

1918
101 years ago today Daylight Savings Time went into effect for the first time in U.S. history.

1916
Old Mexico
On this day in General Pershing and the U.S. Army invaded Mexico with whom we were not at war and routed Pancho Villa. From 1910 to 1920 the Mexican Civil War (or revolution) was an ongoing disruption. After Victoriano Huerta was ousted Pancho Villa and Venustiano Carranza vied for power. The U.S. chose to take sides with Carranza so Pancho Villa got even by executing 16 Americans living in Northern Mexico and 17 more in a New Mexico town. Pershing took 10,000 troops deep into Mexico to deal with Pancho Villa, but after a year Mexicans got tired of this American army cat-and-mouse game and Pershing was dispatched back to his home turf. Three years after the Revolucion someone assassinated Pancho Villa on his ranch during peacetime.

EdNote: Reading this brought to mind a 5-mile long underground tunnel from the center of Matehuala to Pancho Villa's hideaway. For a pair of interesting films about this period of Mexico history see Viva Zapata! (Marlon Brando) and The Old Gringo (Gregory Peck, Jane Fonda) based on the powerful novel by Carlos Fuentes. (The film was weak but I enjoyed it because I'd read the book.) FWIW, the Viva Zapata! screenplay was written by John Steinbeck. (Bet you didn't know that.)

1889 
The Eiffel Tower in Paris officially opens as part of the Exhibition of 1889. Hopefully it will still be standing after all this Yellow Vest protesting of the past several months in France.

1880
Wabash Indiana is first city in the U.S. to install street lamps.

1790
Maximilien Robespierre is elected president of the Jacobin Club. When I was in seventh grade I did a report of Robespierre, who played a central role in the bloody French Revolution. He came to exemplify the saying, "He who lives by the guillotine dies by the guillotine." They didn't call it a reign of terror for nothing. You might just say this is one more reason I'm not a fan of mob rule.

* * * *

2019
This won't get you in to tonight's show. But
it's pretty cool. Courtesy Bill Pagel Archive.
Tonight, Bob Dylan is performing in Dusseldorf, Germany. The European leg of his Never Ending Tour is in full swing.

1995
Bob Dylan performed at the Brixton Academy in London.

1964
The Beatles were filming A Hard Day's Night.

1965 
The Beatles filming their sequel, Help!

* * * *

Happy March 31. 

Saturday, March 30, 2019

21 Questions: Dylan Fest Trivia 2019

Illustration by Kristi Abbott
Well, it's official. I lost my job as the creator of the Duluth Dylan Fest Trivia Contest. Evidently, and I was warned repeatedly, my questions were too hard. Oh well.

My view was that the Trivia Contest could serve as a way to learn more things about Bob. Even if you didn't know the answers, by playing you could learn things.

What follows are 21 questions I'd prepared for this year's Duluth Dylan Fest.

* * * *

1. Which Author Does Not Yet Have a Book in Print About Bob Dylan?
a. Harvard Professor Richard F. Thomas
b. Duluth Blogger Ed Newman
c. Rolling Stone Music Critic Greil Marcus
d. Horror Fiction Writer Stephen King

2. Since the beginning of the Never-Ending-Tour Dylan has averaged how many concerts per year?
a. 31
b. 131
c. 81
d. 100

3. What did Dylan say publicly after he survived his health crisis in 1997?
a. “Thank you, Jesus.”
b. “I thought I was going to see Elvis.”
c. “When in Rome do as the Romans do.”
d. “I may have to cancel tonight’s show.”

4. What nationality is Bob Dylan?
a. Half Jewish, Half German
b. Half Jewish, One-Fourth Italian, One-Fourth Spanish
c. Half Jewish, One-Fourth Lithuanian, One-Fourth Mixed
d. Half Jewish, and the other half Jewish

5. Dylan’s father, Abe Zimmerman was a graduate from Central High School in Duluth in 1929. He especially liked baseball, basketball and golf. He used to golf at both the Enger and Lester River Golf Courses. Why didn’t he golf at the Northland Country Club?
a. It was too expensive.
b. It was too challenging.
c. It was anti-Semitic.
d. He could never get a tee time.

6. In 1964 Dylan wrote a piece of prose titled 11 Outlined Epitaphs in which he recalls a number of features from his early memories of Duluth. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in 11 Outlined Epitaphs?
a. The honkin’ foghorns
b. The blinking lighthouse
c. The rainy mist
d. The rocky cliffs

7. What sign of the Zodiac is Bob Dylan?
a. Capricorn
b. Virgo
c. Gemini
d. Cancer

8. There were four movie theaters owned in part by Robert Zimmerman’s uncles. The young Bobby Zimmerman enjoyed going to the movies, and later wrote a song called Brownsville Girl that references Gregory Peck. What Gregory Peck movie does this song refer to, which young Dylan undoubtedly saw.
a. The Paradine Case
b. The Gunfighter
c. Moby Dick
d. To Kill a Mockingbird

9. How old was Bobby Zimmerman when his family moved from Duluth’s Central Hillside to the one-industry union town of Hibbing?
a. 8
b. 7
c. 6
d. 5

10. In the late 40s when the Zimmermans were settled in Hibbing, the leading cause of death for people ages 15 to 44 was….
a. Guns
b. Polio
c. Tuberculosis
d. Flu

11. Which artist has NOT been recorded performing Buddy Holly’s song “Not Fade Away”?
a. Rolling Stones
b. Johnny Mathis
c. Bob Dylan
d. Grateful Dead

12. The most recent Bootleg Series is titled More Blood, More Tracks. Which features outtakes from Blood on the Tracks. Which of these songs from that album did not get recorded in Minnesota?
a. Tangled Up In Blue
b. Idiot Wind
c. Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
d. Simple Twist of Fate

13. Which of the following artists did NOT do a cover version of Dylan’s “If Not For You” from his album New Morning?
a. Sarah Vaughn
b. George Harrison
c. Elton John
d. Olivia Newton-John

14. What was the name of the Hibbing High School Yearbook when Bobby Zimmerman was in school there?
a. The Parasite
b. The Hematite
c. The Hermaphrodite
d. The Anthracite

15. Which of these characters was in the song Desolation Row?
a. Louis the King
b. T.S. Eliot
c. Mack the Finger
d. Georgia Sam

16. In what Blonde On Blonde song will you find the line, “Jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule.”
a. To Ramona
b. Fourth Time Around
c. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
d. Visions of Johanna

17. The civil rights protest song “Only a Pawn in their Game” is about the murder of what important civil rights leader?
a. Emmett Till
b. Medgar Evers
c. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
d. Malcolm X
Photo: Bill Pagel Archives. Warfield Theater SF, 1979.

18. In which album from Dylan’s Gospel Trilogy period did the song Dead Man, Dead Man appear? 
a. Slow Train Coming
b. Saved
c. Shot of Love
d. World Gone Wrong

19. The album Greatest Hits Volume 3 selected which song from Dylan’s album Blood on the Tracks? 
a. Tangled Up In Blue
b. Hurricane
c. Changing of the Guard
d. Ring Them Bells

20. Which Song from Greatest Hits Volume 3 is also the title of the album it appears on?
a. Silvio
b. Knocked Out Loaded
c. Jokerman
d. Under the Red Sky

21. To find the schedule for this year's 2019 Duluth Dylan Fest, you should go to what website?
a. BobDylan.com
b. BobDylanWay.com
c. BobLinks.com
d. Highway61Revisited.com

YOU CAN ALSO FIND THIS YEAR'S SCHEDULE HERE.

Now that wasn't so bad, was it? With the exception of question one, most answers can be found online fairly easily.  The answer to question one is d, Stephen King.

ANSWERS BELOW IN THE COMMENTS

Is There a Relationship Between Suffering and Achievement (Two Books and an Intro to TapRoots)

I'm not really sure whether it's chance or an alignment of the stars, but within a couple days I've been introduced to three people whose personal experience of suffering led to producing insights that they were moved to share with others. Most interestingly, the insights they share are not about their suffering at all. Rather, their experiences served as a catalyst, resulting in profound insights that can help each of us toward a better life.

Two of these people became authors. The third has developed a website and "game" of sorts that has the aim of teaching us lessons for life.

1.
James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
Clear's book cover announces its basic premise: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results. The book description goes on to say, If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.

It's an interesting approach. It avoids blaming the reader for his or her failures and affirms the good intentions while focusing on what has to change.

Because I've been reading another good book on business strategy by Richard Rumelt, James Clear's message to individuals resonates. Success is not by trying harder or sheer willpower, but through using a better strategy.

Author James Clear didn't develop his ideas through reading but through experience, hence its power. As a teen with a passion for baseball, not unlike myself, he had the horrendous experience of having a baseball bat smash his face, shattering skull and facial bones. The process by which he came back from the induced coma to ultimately performing again at a high level is remarkable, and the basis for his understanding of how to build a new life

2.

Winifred Gallagher, Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life
Gallagher's book likewise begins with a difficult hurdle, all too common and familiar to most of us who have been around a while. Cancer. Like Atomic Habits, I am only near the beginning, and like Clear's book the intro spells out what she went through to attain her understanding of new psychological terrains.

In Gallagher's book the lessons revolve around the power of focus, and how the mind works. It's insightful and once more relevant to living a fulfilled life, especially in a world filled with distractions. Gallagher doesn't let us off the hook, however. If we get distracted by television, social media and whatever else we allow to pull us in all directions, she doesn't blame these other things. She simply puts it to us to think differently and assume responsibility for what we choose to deem important.

3.
Phelan, founder of 500 BC Foundry
The founder's story begins with her daughter's cancer. If I've said it once I've said it a hundred times: No parent should have to bury their child. Phelan's commitment to seeing her daughter through this trial led to many insights. An app called TapRoots is the results.

The motto here is: You owe it to yourself to get to know yourself. Knowing oneself is essential to a great life. Knowing oneself precedes "To thine own self be true." How can you be true to yourself when you are oblivious to who you are.

What Phelan discovered was that the insights from antiquity remain relevant today. This understanding led her to seek a way to share these insights via a new medium, in the tech-infused world we now live in, using the tools of our contemporary culture. The end result was TapRoots, a game of self-discovery.

In ancient times, people used sharpened flint as a tool. Today we have apps devoted to transferring the wisdom of the ages into our present seeking minds. That's what TapRoots is all about.

* * * *
Good things seem to happen in threes. I was surprised at this third one. It seemed like I'd discovered something interesting that was in sync with a recent awareness of the importance of mindfulness. For the past 35 years there's been an urgency to life, driven by the notion of hustle, speed, push, make things happen. It's almost as if the objective is burn-out.

After a good friend of mine was laid off a couple years back I was surprised at how his new interest was 180 degrees opposite of the rat race. He's lost interest in this deal, and was on a new path, toward a greener pasture, beside still waters. He didn't use this word but it was the same: mindfulness.

* * * *
For what it's worth, I like what I've seen of 500 BC Foundry and TapRoots. I'm interested in what they are attempting to do. And it may be the right timing for this because there are so many distraction now to take us away from who we are. How can you be to thine own self true if you don't even know who you are?

So, I'm playing a new game, just to see where it goes. If you want to play, to be part of it, here's where you can learn more... and be part of a contemporary game that can potentially make a difference in your life.

#GalacticGiveawayShares   
Sign up to get cool rewards at 500 BC Foundry and by doing so, my rank will improve. 

* * * * 
I started by saying that I would introduce three people. I actually only met them though what they have created, and the last I don't even know (yet) by name, just her handle. I did, however, decide to enter the Galactic Giveaway, and spread some roots. Where it will lead I have no idea, but I will keep you posted.

Meantime, enjoy the onset of Spring and make the most of your day.

Friday, March 29, 2019

A Visit with Marketing Strategist Machelle Lind, Founder of Leaderly

Our paths had crossed several times over the years, most recently through our mutual involvement with Oldenburg House in Carlton. Machelle Lind was on the board and I had been writing about some of the activities there along with its history.

Her enthusiasm for marketing is infectious so I asked if she would share some of the insights she's gained over the years from a career in sales and marketing.

EN: Can you briefly outline how your career path, especially as it relates to marketing?

Machelle Lind: Sales and Marketing go hand-in-hand. When I began my career, I began as a highly-trained cold call sales person. My success in sales promoted me to being a sales trainer which led to a career in marketing. The sales and marketing experience then led to success in development for nonprofits and then on to some pretty serious experience in business development for corporate entities.

Through it all, I developed a love for small businesses and small business owners. I longed to start my own business to help small businesses crack the code for successfully marketing with a limited budget. That longing led to the birth of Leaderly.

EN: Where did the name Leaderly come from? 

ML: Most adverbs end in ly. When you put an adverb in front of any other word it improves it. Completing an online course is one thing, successfully completing it tells an entirely different story. I chose Leaderly because when you put in front of any small business marketing strategy, it’s improved.

EN: Is this the title of your business? 

ML: My company's legal name is Lindly Success Strategies. I rebranded to take on a business partner. The business partner moved on, the name stayed.

EN: What is the nature of your business and what is it that excites you about solving marketing problems?

ML: Leaderly’s unique selling proposition is to help other businesses discover their unique selling proposition. Once this is known, we/ I leverage it to generate revenue and drive traffic to their website, storefront, or inbox. I like to make things happen and I do, again and again.

EN: Field of Dreams is a great film, but when it comes to marketing it is clearly a myth. Would you like to elaborate on this idea?

ML: I use this analogy all the time. You cannot build it and they will come. Meaning that you cannot rent a space and hope customers will show up to buy your product. You cannot create a website and hope that those online will find you and call. You cannot create a Facebook page and a post or two and then hope that your audience will engage with you.

Marketing is hard work. You build it and then you must continue building it by welcoming and inviting people again and again and then again to learn more about what you do. The welcome and invite part is so important – it needs to be bold, underlined and capitalized.

EN: When you speak of marketing and seasonality, what do you mean?

ML: My grandparents raised me. They were sugar beet farmers. Grandpa would plant in the Spring (he was always proud to be one of the first in the fields, typically in April) and then comes the hard, back breaking work. To increase the yield you have to weed, worry about the weather, and wait. Even the harvest is labor intensive and finding good help is challenging.

Marketing is planting a seed, then you are up to your elbows in mud while you hope for growth. In addition to the sugar beet crop you sometimes add other types of crops (side hustles) to help generate additional revenue to cover the beets. You do all of this until Harvest time.

My grandmother’s role would be to feed the men and women in the fields to keep them going because as the saying goes, you have to make hay while the sun shines. Then Winter comes and you may get to rest or you may have to use that time to work on the equipment, make a new plan and get ready to plant again in the Spring. To get to the heart of what I am saying quickly: you invest in a marketing strategy and it is going to take time (3-6 months) for you to see a return on that little seed you planted in the Spring. There are no short cuts in agriculture or marketing.

Here’s a little nugget: Planting the right seed in the right soil with the right climate is the secret to anyone’s business success.

EN: The world of work can sometimes be a drudgery. Yet you seem to enjoy what you are doing. I’ve heard you say, “Marketing should be fun?” In what way?

2019 ribbon cutting.
ML: Oh! Take the “should” out of it!! Marketing IS fun. Here is the first thing to know about marketing: It goes w-a-y beyond advertising, social media management or the way you merchandise your product. This will blow your mind: marketing has nothing to do with money. Nothing happens in our world until someone convinces someone else of something. That’s marketing. When you influence someone to take action: that’s marketing. That’s fun. We’d have a whole lot of people doing a whole lot of nothing without marketing. I’ve got stories, I will tell them to you later.

EN: What kinds of clients could best benefit from your services?

ML: The best clients that fit with Leaderly are those businesses that understand the value of time. The vertical markets I have chosen for my business tend to be attorneys, chiropractors and real estate agents because they value their time like they would value a warehouse filled with inventory. I do my best work for those types of business owners. I get them and they get Leaderly.

* * * *

Website: https://www.lindlysuccess.com/

Social media: https://www.facebook.com/leaderlysucce

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Throwback Thursday: Anniversary of the Three Mile Island Nuclear "Event"

40 years ago today there was an "incident" 
at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.

  Photo by Frédéric Paulussen on Unsplash

According to a U.S. NRC Fact Sheet, it happened like this:

"The accident began about 4:00 a.m. on March 28, 1979, when the plant experienced a failure in the secondary, non‑nuclear section of the plant. The main feedwater pumps stopped running, caused by either a mechanical or electrical failure, which prevented the steam generators from removing heat. First the turbine, then the reactor automatically shut down. Immediately, the pressure in the primary system (the nuclear portion of the plant) began to increase. 

"In order to prevent that pressure from becoming excessive, the pilot-operated relief valve (a valve located at the top of the pressurizer) opened. The valve should have closed when the pressure decreased by a certain amount, but it did not. Signals available to the operator failed to show that the valve was still open. As a result, cooling water poured out of the stuck-open valve and caused the core of the reactor to overheat."

In 1973 through 1976 I was a security guard for the company that built these nuclear power plants. This anniversary brought to mind a pair of anecdotes which I have carried in my memories. You can check them out by following this link to Medium. I have no doubt that you will find them memorable, too.

* * * *
My wife Susie used to do pottery. Sharing these stories brought to mind how some of her mugs had a similar appearance to these cooling towers. Here are two pictures for you. Interesting the different appearance based on the angle of the lighting. Memories sometimes work the same way, based on our vantage point.



Three Mile Island isn't the only nuclear disaster of the past 40 years. The 1986 Chernobyl event was an epic fail. And since writing about this ten years ago Japan experienced the Fukushima disruption. 
At the end of my article on Medium are links to further details on these three events.

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Local Art Seen: Christie Carter Eliason @ the Zeitgeist Cafe

What The Cluck
Monday night the Zeitgeist Cafe held an opening reception for Christie Carter Eliason and her ever-expanding collection of animalia. The turnout was strong, with lively discussions taking place all about the second floor landing.

I couldn't help but think of Orwell's Animal Farm while looking at the farm animals. A few of this birds I recognized from her Red Mug show titled Inside a Raven Conspiracy.

The expressions on her critters are exceedingly amusing, matched only by her equally amusing titles. She certainly appears to be having fun.

In Sheep's Clothing
Some Pig
Look Me In The Eye
Wake Up Call
Meditation
Come Closer
The Demise Of Antigonus
I'm Still Here
Nope
Dairy Queens
Whatever You Say
Smart Ass
I See You
Meantime, art goes on all around you Get into it. 

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Easter Edition Crayon Creations: This Fund Raiser for Kids' Kitchen Is All Fun and No Sugar

Easter Edition Crayon Creations
make it easy to color your world
and support a good cause at the same time.

Susie's latest Easter Edition Crayon Creations are made from recycled crayons. Easter Edition crayons are a perfect little gift to put in a child's Easter basket, something that is NOT sugar for a change. Best of all, 100% of these crayon sales goes to the Damiano Center Kids' Kitchen.

The crayons are packaged as seen in these pictures, with FREE DELIVERY if you are within a reasonable distance from Downtown Duluth or the Proctor area. A smile is guaranteed along with your package.

PRICE: $8.00 / Package

EdNote: We also still have some of our Lego® crayons and Puzzle Pieces crayon designs. The proceeds from all of these will go to the Kids' Kitchen.

TO ORDER: PM me on FB (Ed)
or email: ennyman AT gmail DOT com
PAYMENT METHODS INCLUDE CHECK, CASH OR PAYPAL

Easter Edition Crayon Creations
Read about the Kids' Kitchen HERE

In case you're wondering, ALL THESE CRAYONS color exactly like your other crayons. They just happen to be really cool looking.

Puzzle and Lego designs available while supplies last.


Susie's Account:
The Story and Symbolism behind the Crayons

When I recently began to volunteer at Damiano Kids’ Kitchen doing some art projects with kids I was told they had been given a donation of a huge box of crayons, which were all only red, blue, yellow and green. They were about to get thrown away as they were not being used. I had an idea!

I had seen cute silicone molds of various shapes. I also found that with some mixing and melting and using my background knowledge of tints and shades I could come up with a variety of colors. To me this seemed symbolic. Some kids who might not have had many advantages in their lives could be seen by our society as “throw aways” but with some creativity and effort they might become something pretty cool!

All proceeds of the sale of these crayons will go to help support Kids’ Kitchen at Damiano Center.

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD

Monday, March 25, 2019

Local Art Seen: What The Feminist @ the PRØVE

Viridescent by Sarah Brokke
I believe this is the second year for the WTF Show, an art exhibition that strives to bring awareness to feminist issues. This show at the PRØVE featured 79 pieces by local and regional artists. The aim of the exhibit is "to commemorate International Women's Day by bringing visual awareness to feminist issues."

The works were produced in a wide range of media from traditional painting to printmaking to porcelain to Ellen Sandbeck's scissor-cut pieces.
Carla Hamilton's Jewels
Six Graces at the Laundromat by Carolyn Olson
Winter Amaryllis by Alison Aune

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Five Articles Recently Published On Medium Related to the Past, the Present and the Future

These are all fairly short explorations around various ideas. The first two were stimulated by passages from the book Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt. The third examines a thought I had in response to what is happening in France these past several months. The fourth is a brief presentation of how our preconceived biases influence the way we envision the future. The last is a short story idea that came to me around two decades ago when we took a family vacation in the Black Hills.

Lord Nelson, the Battle of Trafalgar and a Lesson in Strategy
https://medium.com/swlh/lord-nelson-the-battle-of-trafalgar-and-a-lesson-in-strategy-51d76e9c48e5?source=friends_link&sk=ecd75488e77e6ab8a766fa370212f94c

Dark Matter and the Psychologist’s Dilemma
https://medium.com/@ennyman/dark-matter-and-the-psychologists-dilemma-93ef7c60c431?source=friends_link&sk=e2e1a6d8146e7beb608377e5938ce9eb

My Biggest Concern About the Green New Deal
https://medium.com/@ennyman/my-biggest-concern-about-the-green-new-deal-9aeb7f671283?source=friends_link&sk=ea252cca8bd976c09c0c879011291984

Notes from Herman Kahn’s The Next 200 Years
https://medium.com/predict/notes-from-herman-kahns-the-next-200-years-fc9f82de6023?source=friends_link&sk=b0663aa9f3f7d1bad3f72314eb66e2a5

Coyote with Broken Mouth (A Black Hills Story)
https://medium.com/@ennyman/coyote-with-broken-mouth-4280c8beb9e7?source=friends_link&sk=0d470297ec73f8d061026c39cc3418c4

Painting by local artist Shawna Gilmore.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to share.

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Local Art Seen: Sirpa at the JNG and a Flask Exhibition

Last night there were several openings of note in Downtown Duluth. The Sirpa Särkijärvi opening at Joseph Nease Gallery is all the evidence we need to affirm the value of this addition to the arts community. The Finnish painter, herself present, was greatly appreciated by the crowd of art enthusiasts who gathered for the freshly hung exhibition.

Down the street you could also attend two other shows: The Flask Exhibition at the Nordic Center and WTF (What The Feminist) at the PROVE.

The Flask exhibition was subtitled A Focus on Form and Function. The show featured flasks a flagons of all shapes an sizes. Flasks have been used in Nordic and other cultures throughout history for carrying liquids from place to place. We saw them in the form of canteens on TV Westerns as kids. The flasks in this show, curated by Karen Keenan and Bob Dearmond, were produced from clay, wood, metal, glass and fiber by area artists, an intriguing theme with some remarkably inventive "products."

It was fun to see the variety of names we have given to our containers. Jugs, flasks and decanters were most common. There were also glasses, a funnel, and a growler, all for sale at reasonable prices, considering these pieces were also art.

Artists who contributed included Bob Dearmond, Erin Eitsch, Richard Cruchalla & Carrin Rosetti, Bob & Cheryl Husby, Elzabeth James and Jim Klug, Clayton Johnson, Karen Keenan, Karin Kraemer, Loiselle D Lehigh, Michael Maguire, May Anne Malm, Yarrow Mead, Kathryn Mongan-Rallis, Rita Morris & Barry Sands, Robin Murphy, Dan Neff, Anne Wolfe Nichols, Denise Perry, Mike Simieja, Sheila Staubus and Julie Zenner.

Gallery hours for the Flask Exhibition are from 1-4 p.m. on March 23, 24 and April 6, 7 as well as on March 29 from 5-8 p.m. during the Downtown Duluth Art Walk.


The space was crammed, but not impossibly so. Friends and fans made their way through, many of them sifting down into the WTF space where it may have been easier to make an exit.

Transcription 57 (She) by Sirpa Särkijärvi @ the Joseph Nease Gallery
Sirpa Särkijärvi
The Joseph Nease Gallery offers a versatile space for a art appreciation.
Sneak preview of what I saw at the PROVE's WTF show & will share soon.
Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage it.