Yesterday Daniel Hannan, MEP for South East England, gives a speech during Prime Minister Gordon Brown´s visit to the European Parliament which was completely ignored by all the major “old school” media outlets.  Overnight, compliments of YouTube, we here in the States get to see a good old-fashioned tounge-lashing, the likes of which are not seen outside of the usual talking heads on cable TV.  Enjoy.

Good Show, MAN!

Check out this hilarious cartoon short by Current.com that parodies Twitter and the Twits who Tweet on it (hat tip to Daniel Randolph): 

Of course, I have been using Twitter for a little more than telling you when I’m in the restroom, –  I don’t think this admittedly-funny clip quite portrays an accurate view of the Twitter-sphere, especially in Dubuque.  Yes, you will find gaggles of yahoos who insist on telling you when they are brushing their cat, eating Cheerios, how they feel about that latest episode of Rock of Love. 

There are roughly one hundred or so users of Twitter in the Dubuque area – we certainly pale in comparison to other Iowa cities – we are growing by a few users per day.  Personally, I use Twitter to find out and let people know about what’s going on in my community, my industry, and, yes, to have plenty of fun too.  Check me out at Twitter.com/robcook .

While I don’t advocate constantly shilling for your business and/or industry – exclusively posting thinly-vieled advertisements and self-promotions – you can use it to let folks what’s going on in your corner of the world, including what you do for a living and especially if they may actually find value in what you’ve got to say.

Clickity-Click!

If you’re one of the many applying for IBM jobs, here’s a pair of short clips from EmploymentCrossing.com of how NOT to behave in a job interview (Rated PG-13 – Don’t say I didn’t warn!):

I found really cool, though mostly useless, Twitter tool on Derek Bough’s Coffee to Car Payments blog.  You can create a mosaic of your friends and/or followers on Twitter at TwitterMosaic.com.  The following are all the super folks that I personally follow on Twitter and get some great daily updates, news, insights, etc. from.   

Granted, the vast majority of the folks I follow are other Realtors from across the USA, but there are quite a number of local Dubuque folks, as well as other Iowa friends, too. Unfortunately, there’s a limit to the number of profile pics the system can display, in all I’ve got 244 of the 944 folks I follow on Twitter here.  See if you know anybody and follow them if you don’t already:

If you have any questions about Twitter and how it’s helped me become, not only a better informed real estate agent, but also help me make great connections in our local community, shoot me an e-mail or simply visit me at my Twitter Page Here or click my Twitter pic here:

Just an hour ago, we spotted a pair of deer walking through Waterford Estates in Dubuque.  We were on tour to discuss new construction with Ruhl & Ruhl’s New Construction Coordinator, David Falk, and happened by a pair of deer taking advantage of the slightly warmer weather and snow melt to locate some apples still on the ground from last year.

Following a recent show at the Mississippi Moon Bar at the all-new Diamond Jo Casino, music star Jewel did some relaxing with friends at Cherry Lanes, also within the Diamond Jo complex.  Here’s a short video of her experience (and not-so-great bowling skills) at Dubuque’s newest bowling alley.

You have no excuses if you’re moping around the house this weekend, complaining about nothing to do.  Four big events in the Tri-State area should be able to find something for you to do.

First up is the TH’s Annual Big Boy Toy Show at the Grand River Center from 10am to 6pm on Saturday and 11am to 5pm on Sunday.  Iowa Hawkeye football players Shonn Greene, Matt Kroul, and Brandon Myers as well as Wisconsin Badger players Mike Newkirk and Chris Pressley will be there Sunday to sign autographs.  Superstar fisherman Babe Winkelman will appear on Saturday.  Throughout the event there will be RV’s, ATV’s, Fishing Boats, Big Screen TV’s, Sports Memorabilia, Food, and for many guys, most importantly Beer! 

Get you testosterone fix on, head to the Big Boy Toy Show – see you there!

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The 2009 Winter Iowa Games kick-off with an grand opening ceremony at the Five Flags Center at 7pm Friday night.  A weekend full of events includes Basketball, Broomball, Ice Hockey, and Volleyball.  This year’s theme is Shoot For The Gold.

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Ice Fest 2009concludes three weekends of snow and Ice activities at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium.  This weekend’s event include snow and ice harvesting, winter programs, and live animals.  The Dubuque Fire Department will have open-water rescue demonstrations.  There will be a chili Cook-Off at Noon on Saturday and KWWL’s Jeff Kennedy will be hosting a winter workshop.

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Last up, Bald Eagle Days in Potosi will be held from 8am to Noon both Saturday and Sunday at the Wildlife Observation Deck at Cassville’s Riverside Park.  Winter is an excellent time to observe our nation’s official bird in it’s natural habitat along and about the great Mississippi River.

As with any post, your comments and questions are encouraged…

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn’t seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

As with any post, your comments and questions are encouraged…

Congrats to the Dubuque Colts Drum & Bugle Corpsfor their very successful trip to Washington D.C. for thier participation in Barak Obama’s Inauguration Day Parade.

See Video of the The Colts from KCRG-TV here

Updates: Both Lauren Squires of KWWL and Katie Wiedenmann of KCRG are blogging the events in Washington D.C. and have specific reports on the Colts:

Lauren’s Blog Posts here

Katie’s (KCRG) Blog Posts here

As with any post, your comments and questions are encouraged…