Tag Archives: life

Three-for-one at Black Bear

Posted on by
Reply

Former WWE wrestler Goldust (Dustin Runnels) will be at Black Bear Casino in Carlton on Saturday, May 4, 2013, for the first day of the two-day “Jokes, Pokes and Chokes” comedy, tattoo and wrestling convention. (Photo courtesy of Dave Sabick)

Three events.

Two days.

One venue.

The cleverly and aptly titled “Jokes, Pokes and Chokes” comedy, tattoo and wrestling convention comes together in a three-way dance of hilarity, pain and mayhem today and Sunday at Black Bear Casino Resort in Carlton.

The event, the first collaboration of Duluth-based organizations Tattoo You Minnesota and Heavy on Wrestling, will feature live music, stand-up comedy, burlesque dancers, more than 75 licensed tattoo artists and piercers, and professional wrestling matches. The concept was born out of friendship, Tattoo You Minnesota founder Dave Nelson, of Duluth, said.

“I’ve always wanted to do something in conjunction with these guys,” Nelson said, referring to his longtime friends, Dave Sabick of Heavy on Wrestling and Ron Houk of Northern Lights Burlesque. “Tattooing is so mainstream it goes with everything. Sports figures are tattooed, and tattooing and entertainment go hand in hand.”

The combination of tattoos and professional wrestling is a throwback to the days of carnivals and freakshows featuring inked-up oddities and strongmen. Add comedian Dwight York to the weekend lineup, and jokes complete the trifecta.

The wrestling card will feature six matches each day as well as meet-and-greets with wrestlers for autograph signings and photo ops. Some of the wrestlers scheduled to appear are former WWE talents Goldust, Honky Tonk Man, Trevor Murdoch and Shelly Martinez. The main-event match of the weekend — fittingly — is a triple-threat title match between Heavy on Wrestling champion Ben Sailer, Arik Cannon and Arya Daivari.

Nelson returns to Carlton in August for his annual Tattoo You Minnesota convention, which is in its 22nd year. Sabick would like to see “Jokes, Pokes and Chokes” become an annual event if the weekend is successful.

“If it rocks,” Sabick said, “we’ll get it rolling and do this every year.”

This story originally appeared on duluthnewstribune.com.

‘Trailer Park Boys’ star talks Duluth, NHL lockout, Colorado and Washington marijuana laws

Posted on by
Reply

From left: Julian (John Paul Tremblay), Bubbles (Mike Smith) and Ricky (Robb Wells) are the Trailer Park Boys. (Courtesy of Sonic Entertainment Group)

Duluth will catch a whiff of Sunnyvale today when the cast of the hit Canadian TV show “Trailer Park Boys” makes a stop on the “Dear Santa Claus, Go (bleep) Yourself” tour.

The mockumentary-style show, which aired on Canadian television from 2001 to 2007 and spawned two movies in recent years, follows the lives of Ricky, Julian and Bubbles, three foul-mouthed, booze- and drug-filled underachievers who have a tough time avoiding jail. Most of the show takes place inside the confines of Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

After a successful run as Showcase TV’s highest-rated program, “Trailer Park Boys” continued to grow a devoted worldwide cult following through DVD sales, Netflix instant streaming and airing in 15 countries. Shooting for a third film begins in March.

Joining Ricky (Robb Wells), Julian (John Paul Tremblay) and Bubbles (Mike Smith) onstage for the show at DECC Symphony Hall are park supervisor Jim Lahey (John Dunsworth) and assistant Randy (Patrick Roach).

Wells spoke with the DNT this week about the tour, show, trailer parks in Duluth, the NHL lockout; Colorado and Washington voting to legalize marijuana, and just what makes these guys so lovable.

DNT: When did you first realize that “Trailer Park Boys” was a phenomenon and pretty big deal to people?

Robb Wells: We’re still starting to realize it, I guess. It’s always been big in Canada, obviously, but it seemed like it just went a little slower across the border in the U.S. Now with Netflix, it’s really, really picked up a lot of steam; it’s big over in Europe and England, Ireland, Scotland. We’ve been to Australia and New Zealand. It really is phenomenal; it’s crazy. We had no idea that it would ever get this big.

DNT: When you first got into the show, was it a year-by-year, season-by-season deal?

RW: Originally, it was only supposed to be a six-episode miniseries kind of a thing. The response was really, really great, and we need another season right away before the first one even aired. As it gets selected to do more and more, trying to keep everyone together has been a challenge, to say the least.

DNT: Every time I watch the show, it seems that a lot of it is improvised. What gives it that real feel or that authenticity is some of the motions that the characters make or if somebody drops something, it looks so unintentional.

RW: Everything’s fully scripted, but we always improvise based on the script, on the vague kind of things. We’ll shoot some scripted takes then we’ll play around a little bit. That’s why it has a more real feel to it. That’s the whole intention of trying to make it as much like reality TV mockumentary as we can. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. We definitely play around with pretty much every scene, based on the script.

DNT: The Duluth area does have a few trailer parks. What advice would you have for their park supervisors on making improvements?

RW: (laughs) Well, I’m not sure how the parks are there, but if they’re anything like Sunnyvale with Mr. Lahey, try to keep them under control. But it’s all about having fun. Make it as fun as you can, and people get along more for some reason.

DNT: Out of all of the park supervisors Sunnyvale has had, who was the best?

RW: Well, I can’t say me, I guess. I think Lahey’s a good supervisor. If he stayed off the alcohol and just minded his own business more, the whole community would get along better and there wouldn’t be so much trouble with police around. Randy was a lot easier going, so maybe Randy would be the best one.

DNT: Colorado and Washington voted to legalize marijuana. Would Ricky (known marijuana smoker and grower) consider moving south of the border?

RW: It’s good to know he can’t get in trouble or get busted, but with it being legalized there’d be a lot more of it around, so it’d be hard for him to make a living. I guess his stuff is supposedly the best; it probably would be a good place for him to go live and find some good clients and make a living and not worry about going to jail again.

DNT: What do you think about the NHL lockout?

RW: I’m a huge hockey fan (don’t get him started on his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs) and it’s very disappointing. Last week it looked like they were making some ground, like they were going to resolve it. Now it’s worse than ever, I guess. I really don’t think we’re going to see a season this year, unfortunately, and it’s really sad for all those fans and all the players as well. It’s very unfortunate.

DNT: Have you been to Minnesota before?

RW: Yeah, I have a few times; it’s very pretty.

DNT: How has the tour gone?

RW: The strange thing about the show is the demographic is anywhere from teenagers up to senior citizens. It’s a very diverse crowd, which is nice. It’s nice to have all five of us (cast members) for a change. There’s something in the show for everybody.

DNT: What makes these guys so beloved? They do some horrible things, but they’re so endearing. What is the quality that makes that so?

RW: When we’re writing, the one thing is that because these characters are so crazy — there’s guns and dope and so much swearing involved — we have to have a lot of heart. We try to keep as much heart as we can, with family and friends and just love. Although these characters are crazy and out of control, they’d do anything for their family and friends. I think that’s what redeems them in all of the craziness.

IF YOU GO

What: “Trailer Park Boys: Dear Santa, Go (bleep) Yourself”
When: 8 p.m. today (doors open at 7 p.m.)
Where: DECC Symphony Hall
Tickets: $36.50 and $42, ticketmaster.com and DECC box office

This Q&A originally appeared on duluthnewstribune.com.

Lit guitarist Jeremy Popoff looks back on, forward to music

Posted on by
Reply

Lit are (from left) Ryan Gillmor, Kevin Baldes, A. Jay Popoff, Jeremy Popoff and Nathan Walker. (Photo courtesy of Good Cop Public Relations)

Jeremy Popoff wonders where the time has gone.

The Lit guitarist and his bandmates first found mainstream success in 1999 — after 10 years together — with the release of the album “A Place in the Sun.” The album’s biggest hit, “My Own Worst Enemy,” still gets consistent radio play today. The band’s run continued into the 21st century with three follow-up albums through 2004. But Lit’s time in the national spotlight faded as the band dealt with a series of tragedies.

In 2005, Jeremy and frontman A. Jay Popoff’s mother, Sheryl Suglia, was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident when she and their stepfather, Kerry Suglia, were struck by a drunk driver. Kerry Suglia died.

In 2008, drummer Allen Shellenberger was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died in 2009.

But the Popoffs and founding member Kevin Baldes (bassist-singer) never stopped playing. The Fullerton, Calif., band of brothers — biological and in friendship — continued to play shows despite going eight years between album releases.

With new members Nathan Walker (drums) and Ryan Gillmor (guitar and keyboard), Lit released “The View from the Bottom” in June.

The band wraps up the Summerland Tour, a ’90s-themed throwback of sorts that includes Sugar Ray, Everclear, Gin Blossoms and Marcy Playground, on Saturday night at Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth.

Jeremy Popoff, 40, spoke with the News Tribune on Wednesday about his band, writing songs for Lit and other artists, and a career that has spanned four decades.

Jimmy Bellamy: Maybe it’s because it hasn’t been that long since the ’90s, but Lit’s music doesn’t sound dated.

Jeremy Popoff: “I think our new record sounds like Lit, and I think it sounds current and relevant. I don’t think it sounds dated. But at the same time, we’re just a rock band. I think a lot of the rock bands I grew up listening to kind of have their sound and they make records for 10, 20, 30 years. It’s funny; we were together 10 years before success and then all these people thought we were new. We’ve been around for a long time.

“One of the things that hasn’t changed is my guitar tone. I was an ’80s metal kid. I always had that sound and tried to achieve it since the ’80s. My sound went from dated to cool, dated to cool. I just never changed it. As accessible as music is now on the Internet, it’s kind of a trip. To be making music with Les Pauls and amps … that’s just how we’ve always done it. Now it seems like it’s rare to do it that way.”

JB: Have you been able to adapt to the changes in the music industry because of the period of time when you first were successful? Has it helped deal with how grimy the business can be?

JP: “The griminess of the business definitely hasn’t changed. The business of selling records has changed. We were fortunate. I’m stoked that I have a couple of platinum records hanging on my wall. Who knows? Maybe someday they’ll have an award for most ‘likes’ on Facebook. The idea of going out and selling a million physical hard copies of an album is difficult now. I was lucky to be a part of a band in that last wave, so to speak.

“We were lucky to be a band in the late ’80s. We’ve been around for a lot of stuff. We’re lucky to still be doing it. … I can’t believe how fast the last 10 years have gone.”

JB: After everything you went through, you never split up. Was it made easier because your brother’s in the band with you? Did you ever talk about a break-up?

JP: “I don’t think that that was ever an option. We’ve gone through a lot of crazy stuff over the last 10 years. I think it’s just real-life stuff that every person goes through. You keep going through it and getting through it. It’s not like Lit is a hobby or a side project. We’ve known Kevin since junior high. A. Jay and I are brothers, and Kevin’s my brother.

“(Even without new albums), we still had the ability to come and play shows. It’s what we dreamed about doing since we were little kids. You work your ass off for a lot of years to get to a certain point. We did it so long before we had any success.”

JB: You’ve continued to play together all these years. You hear and read about people in bands who go through burnout. You must love to perform.

JP: “It’s a rush and for real every night. I think the burn factor can definitely set in for other people. It’s different because we have kids and families and businesses now; it makes it difficult to be on the road for a period of time. It’s challenging in that regard, but for the most part we’re able to make it work.”

JB: You released the album “The View from the Bottom” in June. Has it helped to have new material at shows?

JP: “We’ve been waiting for a long time to be able to put out new music. The response has been awesome and the crowd is digging the new stuff. We weren’t working on this record the entire time.

“We were writing songs, but we also were writing songs for other people and other projects. That’s how Ryan joined the band. We got together to write songs for other people. The gears were turning; it feels good. Even though it was eight years (between albums), I couldn’t imagine looking back and saying, ‘We should have dropped a record that year.’ ”

JB: Did your success outside of music (the opening of The Slidebar Rock-n-Roll Kitchen in 2004 in Fullerton) make that easier?

JP: “I don’t know. I’m not sure that it has to do with success or not; it’s a matter of you go through the cycle. You get back to writing and do it again. It’s not that we weren’t (successful) in the past; it’s that other things were going on. As far as the next record, it might be next year. It’ll probably be quicker (than eight years). I have a recording studio in Nashville, so we have access to be able to jump in and go.”

JB: When putting an album together, are there certain songs that make the cut and others you stash away for later?

JP: “For us, we’ve never been a band that writes 30 or 40 songs and picks 12 and the rest go in the trash. Because we write for other things and other genres, we usually don’t finish a song we’re writing unless we’re into it. Usually by the time we have 12 or 13 songs, we’ll go and record those. It’s a waste of time and money to record songs that people aren’t going to hear.”

JB: You’re coming to a close on the Summerland Tour. Have you toured with some of the bands in previous years? How’s it been?

JP: “It’s been awesome. We’ve never done any shows with the Gin Blossoms, and those guys are great. The Marcy Playground guys; we hadn’t really known them before this tour. Sugar Ray and Everclear we’ve known, and those guys are awesome. I’ve been friends with (Everclear frontman) Art (Alexakis) for a lot of years.

JB: What are your tributes to Allen on the new album?

JP: “ ‘Here’s To Us’ and ‘The Wall’ are for Al. But really the whole record’s a tribute to him. We have a slideshow of him playing on the big screens during some shows. And we’ve done some other stuff, too. It’s different. I know other bands have, but I hadn’t been through it before. There was the public stuff, then the personal, private stuff. And some of it overlapped. But, yeah; I think every night’s a tribute to him. He’s up there onstage with us every night.”

JB: What’s in the works for you and Lit post-Summerland Tour?

JP: “We’ll be on the road again after this. We’re going to go home for a couple weeks, see the fam. We’ll be back on the road in the fall. Our first single’s going to radio in a couple weeks — ‘Miss You Gone.’ Check them out on iTunes and give them a listen.

“I also have another single I wrote coming out. It’s a country song called, ‘Why’d You Have To Be So Good,’ by Heidi Newfield. So, I’ll have two songs out there on different formats; it’s awesome. I love it. (Writing songs) is something that I’ll be able to do for a long, long time.”

This Q&A originally appeared on duluthnewstribune.com.

Celebrity mourners, where’ve you been?

Posted on by
2

The death of singer Whitney Houston on Saturday at age 48 was big news, no doubt. At one time in the 1980s and ’90s, Houston arguably was the biggest act in music.

Houston died Saturday at the age of 48. (1998 file / Las Vegas News Bureau, Associated Press)

I vividly remember being 9 years old and watching TV as Houston belted out a spine-tingling, tear-jerking rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Super Bowl XXV in Tampa, Fla., at a time when American troops were at war in Iraq.

But years later, Whitney had battles of her own. Her beauty and one-of-a-kind voice soon were replaced by her often-publicized problems with drugs and then-husband Bobby Brown as the things for what she was best known.

Sure, like the Olympics, she’d come around every four years or so, singing a song at an awards show or making a TV appearance for an interview. But she never quite made it back to her spot at the top.

During those dark days, and even in recent years when she seemed to get back on track after her split from Brown, little was said about Houston publicly, which is hard to imagine now that we live in a world with social media and a 24-hour news cycle.

That was until moments after news of her death broke. Everyone from Aretha Franklin to Kim Kardashian offered their public condolences, and words like “inspiration” and “best ever” and “influence” were used by countless celebrities who couldn’t seem to wait to talk about Whitney Houston.

With any person — well-known or not — who dies, it’s expected that the people who knew them or knew of them share their memories of the deceased. What I take issue with is that when celebrities die, particularly ones who had personal struggles made public, some of the famous seem to try to use it as a chance to get attention even though they have little to no connection to deceased.

When Michael Jackson died in 2009, the celebrity train was so long that it took weeks to get through the list of people who had something to say or wanted to perform at the seemingly endless number of tributes to the “King of Pop.” But many of those same stars wouldn’t have been caught dead associating with Jackson in the final decade-plus of his life because it would have been career suicide.

The same could be said about Houston, the “Queen of Pop.”

New posts coming soon

Posted on by
Reply

I'll be back this week with new posts. I also retroactively added my News Tribune columns from recent months.

For anyone who still has this blog on an RSS feed, thank you for your patience or for forgetting to delete it.

I’m in the process of retroactively adding my Duluth News Tribune columns from August to December 2011.

A lot has happened since I regularly posted on here. Brett Favre joined and left the Minnesota Vikings. Tons of people famous and not-so famous have died. And I’ve had a few birthdays.

Jimmy Jabber will be back with new posts and commentary in the coming day.

There’s no one to blame but yourself for missing class

Posted on by
Reply

Video games are the reason for students’ struggles in school as much as food is to blame for people’s weight issues.
College often is a person’s first taste of freedom (loads of free time) from parental supervision and influence, especially if said student lives away from home during the school year. And it happens to coincide with the dawn of adulthood.

This is me playing "Mortal Kombat" for PlayStation 3, and I turned out all right, right? Well, I graduated, at least. (Photo illustration by Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

The key is having the desire and drive to complete the necessary work without overindulging in the circus outside of the classroom. Remember, college is optional no matter how much pressure your parents might apply.
As gaming has evolved the past 25 years from the days of 8-bit, side-scrolling heroes Mario and Link to elaborate, co-op, first-person shooters and full-body, motion-sensing controllers, so, too, has its benefits. Titles such as the popular “Call of Duty” series force gamers to use multitasking, problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination — and teamwork in online play — in order to succeed, as one friend reminded me. But that doesn’t mean any college student should blow off that 8 a.m. Intro to Psych class in favor of blasting zombie Nazis.
People are responsible for the decisions they make. Yes, video games can be a distraction when you’re living away from Mom and Dad in a dorm or house with your buddies. But so can alcohol and drugs, which all too often contribute to the derailment of people’s educational and life tracks with devastating consequences.
Some of my best memories from college — what I remember of it, anyway — include all-hours marathon gaming sessions of “WWF No Mercy,” “NHL,” “Mortal Kombat,” “Goldeneye 007,” “Contra” and “FIFA Soccer” with roommates and friends. In college — or even today, when family and full-time jobs take up time — we played when we could.
That guy who failed every class this semester because playing “Skyrim” took priority over studying for that calc final — and I’m sure there’s at least one out there — has no one and nothing to blame but himself.
I’m tempted to use the standard “bad parenting” blanket excuse that inevitably gets pulled out of the linen closet of clichés at this point, but it goes beyond that. There are such things as common sense and learning from the mistakes of others.
The “iWorld” we live in today makes it easier to act like slugs, passing up physical activity and face-to-face interaction in favor of the Netflix Instant Queue and Facebook chat. (Sadly, there’s a reason the NFL feels like it has to encourage kids to run around outside for an hour a day. It makes me feel guilty for watching eight hours of “Dexter” the other day.) But that doesn’t mean we should be held to lower standards than before.

Jimmy Bellamy is a Duluth News Tribune columnist and multimedia editor in Duluth, Minn., and a lifelong gamer. Contact him at (218) 723-5390 or jbellamy@duluthnews.com. This pro-con piece originally appeared here. The opposing view can be read here.

Death isn’t funny, but Twitter and Kim Jong Il changed that

Posted on by
1

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s death wasn’t violent like the ones experienced earlier this year by fellow world-famous bad guys Osama bin Laden and Moammar Gadhafi.

The 69-year-old communist wasn’t overthrown by the people he oppressed and hurt. And he didn’t get gunned down by U.S. military forces. He reportedly died of heart failure while riding on a train.

Kim Jong Il in puppet form was the main villain in the 2004 film “Team America: World Police.” (Photo from rottentomatoes.com)

No mass celebrations.

No cell phone-camera footage on YouTube.

No faux death photos.

One common thread they did share? Plenty of one-liners and jokes on Twitter.
“Kim Jong Il’s son has some tiny shoes to fill,” actor Jeff B. Davis said, referring to the diminutive stature of Kim, whose son, Kim Jong Un, was named his successor.

“Kim Jong Il? More like Kim Jong Dead,” tweeted a flurry of people, each of whom I like to imagine thought they were the only person in the world funny enough to come up with the line.

My Twitter timeline blew up shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday with everything from that last piece of comedy gold to news reports with as much detail as one could get from a less-than-cooperative North Korean government.

One of my favorite tweets came from comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

“Rest in peace Kim Jong Il. You were a very sweet lady,” Kimmel said of Kim, who I’m almost certain looks like somebody’s grandma somewhere.

But nothing appeared as often as references to “Team America: World Police,” the 2004 movie made by Trey Parker and Matt Stone — the creators of “South Park” — that used marionette puppets for characters. The terms “Team America” and “World Police” quickly entered the website’s list of trending topics in the U.S. The main villain in the film was Kim Jong Il in puppet form, complete with oversized glasses, bulldog jowls and tan jumpsuit.

“We did it Twitter. We made every Kim Jong-Il joke there was to make,” musician Brendan Maclean tweeted. “I’m sure North Korea will appreciate it once they get the Internet.”

Like it or not, to my generation, that’s how Kim Jong Il is best known. One of world’s most hated men is seen by millions of people as a puppet with a voice that sounds like South Park character Eric Cartman’s.

Jimmy Bellamy is a Duluth News Tribune columnist and multimedia editor in Duluth, Minn. Contact him at (218) 723-5390 or jbellamy@duluthnews.com. This column originally appeared here.

‘Two thousand’ is over, and it’s time for the twenties

Posted on by
Reply

2012.
How does that sound? Seriously, how does it read to you?
Did you hear “two thousand twelve” or “twenty-twelve” in your head when you read it?
Since 2010, I’ve heard it with a mix of “two thousands” and “twenties,” and “two thousand,” sadly, is winning in a heavily lopsided battle.
The year 2000 was quick and easy to say. And we didn’t have much choice in how we said years 2001 through 2009 — I never heard someone say “twenty-o-one,” for example, when talking about 2001.
But 2010 and beyond has offered options. Do we stick with what we knew for a decade or save time and syllables for the next 87 years? I’d go with the latter.
Just do a comparison using the 1900s.
The year 1900, I only can assume, was said at the time as “nineteen hundred,” not “one thousand nine hundred.” Just like the year 1910 was “nineteen ten” instead of “one thousand nine hundred ten.”
I cringe each time I hear someone on TV or the radio, and in everyday conversation, talk about the current year and start with “two thousand.” Saying “twenty-eleven” flows better. Plus, no year should take six syllables to say.
Hopefully with 2012, a year long talked about for its connection to the end of the Mayan calendar and the belief of some that the world will end, people will drop the two thousand and stick with twenty. I mean, even the 2009 movie “2012” was pronounced “twenty-twelve.” And think about how fun it will be to say “2020” when we get there.
Comedian Bill Burr, who hosts my favorite podcast, “The Monday Morning Podcast,” starts every show by saying, “Hey, what’s going on? It’s Bill Burr, and it’s the Monday Morning Podcast for Monday, (whatever the date is), 2011.” He almost always says the year as “two thousand eleven” or even “two thousand and eleven.” And it bugs me to an unreasonable and irrational degree.
But this week, something was different. He said “twenty-eleven” for only the second or third time this year, and it sounded so right.
All of us should get behind the twenty and make that battle a little less lopsided.

Jimmy Bellamy is a Duluth News Tribune columnist and multimedia editor in Duluth, Minn. Contact him at (218) 723-5390 or jbellamy@duluthnews.com. This column originally appeared here.

‘Movember’ about more than men’s facial hair

Posted on by
Reply

Normally, I advise against it.
Just as Liberace’s impressive ability to wear sequin capes didn’t guarantee you can do the same, not everyone can look good with a mustache.
But for one month, I strongly encourage maximum participation.
Born out of an idea by a group of friends in Australia in 2003, “Movember” is a mustache-growing (spelled “moustache” outside the U.S., hence “mo”) campaign to raise awareness and money for men’s health during November, according to movember.com, its official website. The campaign especially targets prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.

Movember

This was my beard by mid-November. Weak, I know. After seeing this, I'm more concerned about the back-of-the-neck hair. ("Movember" 2011 file / News Tribune)

“I think it’s a good way to bring attention to the issue,” Duluth native Aaron Ballantine, a two-time Movember participant, said. “Often times, people look at me and say, ‘You’re a clean-cut kid with a big mustache.’ It always gives me an opportunity to educate someone.” (See Ballantine’s and others’ facial hair here.)
The usually clean-shaven 26-year-old gives up his baby face one month a year for a personal reason.
“One of my good buddies lost his dad to prostate cancer,” he said, “so it’s close to heart.”
Today the movement has grown into a well-groomed worldwide phenomenon and spawned similar trends such as “No-shave November” and “Novembeard,” which aren’t necessarily aimed at a specific cause.
My approach to wearing a mustache has been the same as my take on bangs on women and bowties — even if you look good with them, you’d look better without. So rather than stop at a mustache, I prefer to grow a beard, neck hair and all.
There is, however, the occasional man who represents all that is great about the mustache. Northland residents don’t need to look far for their spokesman.
Former longtime WDIO-TV news anchor Dennis Anderson has done more for the mustache than actors Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott combined. Anderson’s bushy lip-warmer looks as if it were sculpted by Michelangelo himself.
A more appropriate month might be “Manuary,” one of my colleagues suggested. But November as the facial-hair-growing month gives some Minnesota and Wisconsin deer hunters an ally against the wind and cold during firearms season.
So grow that mustache or beard, and do it for a good cause. It beats a sequin cape.

Jimmy Bellamy is a Duluth News Tribune columnist and multimedia editor in Duluth, Minn. Contact him at (218) 723-5390 or jbellamy@duluthnews.com. This column originally appeared here.

Kim and Kris kaput? I called this one

Posted on by
Reply

It may seem like only yesterday, and that’s because it practically was.
The napkins would have been inscribed “August 20th.” The TV broadcast was Oct. 10.
Those are the dates that mark the wedding of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries — the first being the day of the actual wedding, the other the day that it made it on the air.
Britain has its future king and queen get married on TV, while we have a woman best known for starring in a sex tape and a basic-cable reality show marrying a guy who averages 5.6 points per game over a seven-year NBA career. Oh, and he owns the Five Guys Burgers in Duluth or something.
And now, 72 days later, it’s over.
Kardashian filed for divorce Monday from Humphries, turning the seemingly endless magazine covers and TV coverage into an even bigger joke. The couple reportedly had most of the $10 million cost of their wedding covered and made nearly $18 million capitalizing on media attention of the nuptials, highlighted by E! television’s four-hour, two-part “Kim’s Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event.”
When the show aired, Kardashian tried to disrupt my regular Monday night viewing of “WWE Monday Night Raw” by telling people via Twitter to watch her big day unfold. I replied, saying I wouldn’t be watching but would be sure to tune in for the divorce.
Seriously. Thirteen people retweeted it.

I saw this coming, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one. (Screenshot from Twitter.com)

I wasn’t making light of divorce, but pointing out how people can make a mockery of something politicians and priests and protesters all tell us is sacred.
Without weighing in on the politics of same-sex marriage, those who are so dead-set on defending marriage would do far better working to prevent such made-for-TV shams than worrying about which genders are hooking up together. Whatever you say about those unions, they usually last longer than 72 days.
The marriage of two men or two women or two anything couldn’t be any worse for society than whatever this multi-million-dollar fairytale farce was supposed to be.

Jimmy Bellamy is a Duluth News Tribune columnist and multimedia editor in Duluth, Minn. Contact him at (218) 723-5390 or jbellamy@duluthnews.com. This column originally appeared here.