Dennis Deery

Our good friend Connie Loden recently published an article titled “Localism - What’s the Attraction?” on the NewGeography web site. “So, what is the “local” appeal? It is the character and quality of life that provides a sense of place – a reminiscence feeling of authenticity and knowing the source of where things come from, who made it and how it was grown. There is a desire to make the personal connection and create an experience in the purchase of a product.

We ventured out into the frozen evening last night to shoot some pictures at Menomonie’s WinterDaze 2008 parade and fireworks. The parade was organized by our good friends at Main Street Menomonie. Congratulations to the whole crew of volunteers who made this event a great outing.

Well it’s been a week now. The words President-elect Barack Obama are becoming easier for pundits around the world to spit out. Our conversations and thoughts now turn (I hope) to our goals for the future. Last Tuesday I spent a good chunk of the day knocking on doors for the Obama campaign, encouraging people to get out and vote. I had donated to the campaign, and was happy to spend at least a little time volunteering for such a good cause.

Kathleen and I visited city hall in Menomonie last week and took advantage of Wisconsin’s early voter option. I was happy to cast a vote for Barack Obama, who I think is the best candidate for president in this campaign, and possibly in my lifetime. He’s an eloquent speaker at a time when this country desperately needs one. It’s always frustrated me that the American people don’t seem to see that as a base qualification for President.

From Ireland’s prolific Pat Phelan comes word of a new web site that can allow you to hedge your gas prices against the rising tide. Check out Pat’s blog for details.

http://www.herecomeseverybody.org/2008/04/looking-for-the-mouse.html http://blip.tv/file/855937

What better way to get back in the swing of things than with this wonderful rendition of “Danny Boy” by Muppet regulars the Swedish Chef, Bleeker and Animal?

****Bernard Goldbach has a good post up on his blog about one of the dangers in traveling with a laptop. As someone who regularly travels internationally with my laptop, this has been a big, and growing, concern to me. The United States’ Transportation Security Administration can be truly draconian in their approach to travelers. Those who run afoul of a screener, for whatever reason, can be subject to pretty unbelievable treatment.

This Irish getaway spot has launched an interesting competition to build their web traffic. Glengarriff Lodge in County Cork is giving away a one weekend Luxury Self Catering stay at their beautiful lodge. In addition to being a beautiful, historic lodge, the folks at Glengarriff are also working to make their business eco-friendly and sustainable. A great marketing idea my friends at Hidden Valley Lodge should consider!

Well I guess I can admit it publicly - I celebrated my 40th birthday recently. Since this is supposed to be one of life’s big milestones (hasn’t felt like it!), we decided to celebrate in grand style. Kathleen planned a long-weekend trip to Malta for us. Kathleen had brought a group of students to Malta a couple of years ago, so had a good idea of where to go and what to see.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a dinner put together by Paul Walsh to discuss the need for a new non-profit organization representing the digital or interactive media industries in Ireland. The dinner, sponsored by Microsoft and Blacknight, was held at a restaurant co-owned by Walsh, Jaipur. The evening was off to a wonderful start with a sampling of dishes from Jaipur’s menu - this was the best Indian food I’ve found in Dublin.

Our good friend Kat Lui is spending the fall semester teaching at the Wisconsin in Scotland program in Dalkeith, Scotland. This gave us the perfect chance to not only spend a second Thanksgiving in a row with Kat, but also to spend a few days and have Thanskgiving dinner in a palace. We flew from Dublin to Edinburgh on Wednesday evening, arriving to a rainy Edinburgh. We caught the airport bus to downtown Edinburgh, and my first glimpse of rainy Edinburgh was picture-perfect.

Click here for slideshow

Just wanted to let everyone know that Kathleen and I have decided to stay in Ireland for another year. We’re still working out some of the details on where we’ll be living and such. Will post more here when I know more. In the meantime, if anybody needs a house to rent in Menomonie, we’ve got one! We’ll be back in the States for most of August, and of course we’re going to try to see as many people as we can while we’re there.

I made my way to Limerick yesterday for the biweekly geek gathering that is OpenCoffee Limerick. OpenCoffee is a worldwide movement that encourages entrepreneurs, tech people and investors to gather in an informal manner for networking. There are a couple of vibrant groups here in Ireland, in Limerick and Cork. I’ve been following some of the online discussions resulting from these gatherings, but hadn’t made the effort to attend in person.

After nearly a year driving on Ireland’s roads, we’ve learned that you have to pay close attention all the time because you never know what you might see. It’s not at all unusual to see herds of various types of animals being herded down the middle of the road between fields. So, you plan extra time for any trip, and stop and wait when you have to. This past weekend Kathleen had a meeting in Portlaoise, so early Saturday morning we headed up the road.

I wrote a few days ago about a blog post by Conor O’Neill suggesting a method of encouraging startups. Conor touched off quite an online discussion among various bloggers here in Ireland. Check the links below to catch up on the discussion, then I’ve got a few more thoughts to share.* Conor’s original post * My original response * Further responses from: * Joe Drumgoole * Bernie Goldbach * Damien Mulley * Alan O’Rourke * David Copithorne *

Conor O’Neill of Argolon has a great post on his blog discussing a method of jump-starting tech startup companies in Ireland. I think his ideas are right on the money, and relatively easy to put into action anywhere. The idea centers around creating a summer “hothouse” to help college students get rolling with ideas for new products. To his list of ideas, I would add just a couple of suggestions:

 Tramore Beach - 9:45PM