The Cool Dude Series
Part of our purpose here at Citizen Wausau is to celebrate the cool. We live in an amazing city, and there are amazing things happening. We seek to go find the cool folks, and talk to them about what they do, and why they do it, and what kind of fun it is. We don’t want to let this site become some sort of self-referencing fashion show of vanity, something that you can find many other places on the internet. We want it to be something else.
A wise man said that the key to our success is going to be the use of a regular feature. Like pulling from the community blogs on Fridays, we hope and intend to make this a regular feature. We also hope that you all will take it upon yourself and write some cool dude stuff on your own.
Cool by its very nature is not something that can be defined. Cool exists in some sort of collective consciousness, a sort of advanced groovy if you will. What I think is cool is vastly different than what Andy thinks is cool, and what we think is cool is going to be vastly different from what our readership thinks is cool. But somewhere, somehow we hope to find the cool, and to celebrate it.
This week we start with a feature about a cool dude named Gary Barden. Gary is a passionate man, and honestly is someone that I look up to very much. A graphic designer, I carry one of his designs as a tattoo on my right arm, so clearly Gary has made an impact on my life. Gary is also much more than that as an owner of two businesses, and a passionate person about his home life and family. A cool dude, this Gary Barden, and tomorrow you can read all about him.
Trying to preview what will be in the cool dude series is a little bit tough. Naturally in the beginning they are going to be people I can sit down and talk to. So far I have met with Jim Rosenberg, and we’ll be hearing from Jim O’Connell as well. I have a tentative plan to sit down and talk to Deb Hadley as she runs for Mayor, and with Linda Lawrence as she returns to public life. Along with the politicians I am hoping to meet with music icon Jim Carlson, and home grown grocer Kevin Korpela.
It’s an inspiring world we live in, and I hope that we can find something you like, and maybe you can tell us someone you would like us to talk to. Though, in all honesty, I am hoping that you guys write these as often as we do.
Melissa Sullivan said:
Great idea, Dino.
All of your cool people sound great, but I’m most interested in Deb Hadley, so I hope you can make that happen. I have thought of seeing if she will talk to me for a piece on CentralWisconsinMommy.com, too. Of course, I’m interested in her ideas as a mayoral candidate. But even more so, I’m interested in her journey from a stay-at-home mom of 5 children to an accomplished public servant. How a woman goes from changing diapers and wiping noses to City Council President is fascinating to me. As a woman whose days currently consist mainly of changing diapers and wiping noses, I find Deb Hadley quite inspiring.
I’ll try to think of some cool people myself and write something up.
February 18th, 2008 at 9:37 am #
mapletownshrub said:
I’d like to hear Mrs. Hadleys response to the allegations of walking quorums that she seems to be a part of on a regular basis. I’d also like to find out why as part of the Wausau school board at the time set up Dr. Skurka with the golden parachute he recieved.
February 19th, 2008 at 11:54 am #
rockerchick said:
Somebody I really admire is Orthopedic Spine Surgeon John Hugus, M.D. of Aspirus Spine & Neurosciences Institute. What an amazing ability this man has to heal! These poor children with spines shaped like capital S’s come in to see him, and through the miracle of science and surgery these children are able to lead, for the most part, normal lives. At least quality of life is far better for them! As a person he is an example, and as a surgeon he is second to none. There is a reason this gentleman is in such high demand!
My two cents….
February 19th, 2008 at 12:25 pm #
Dino Corvino said:
Shrub,
If you want to email me that information to ask Deb Hadley, I will consider it. But to be frank my perspective on this might be differant than that. Like my spelling.
I want to figure out who she is first, let her tell me that. Write the positive stuff. As the election goes on, I think that we ar e building a set of information that will make for some good articles, not just about Hadley…but about the whole bunch.
But for now, I think I want to write positive things. COOL things.
But by all means email me, and I will do it up.
Rocker…I would love to talk to the Doc, can you help me with that? Or maybe you would like to do it and write it for us?
February 19th, 2008 at 12:37 pm #
mapletownshrub said:
I understand that you want to gain some credibility by doing a non-offensive piece. However, by avoiding the tough questions, doing a puff piece, and not interviewing her opponent are you not just doing a fancy endorsement of her campaign?
If you want more information about the allegations give Pat Peckham a call. He wrote about it in his metro briefs almost 2 years ago.
February 19th, 2008 at 3:05 pm #
Dino Corvino said:
Shrub…I emailed Mayor Tipple 4 times. 3 times the email bounced back, the 4th time it has gone unanswered.
Pat Peckham…hmm..who is that? I have heard that name.
Your right, it is not my intention to let anyone off, but to be fair to me…I am pretty new to local politics, so my frame of referance is pretty bad. It is my intention, and our intention as Citizen Wausau to encourage posts that are in fact about the local politics and the election specifically.
I will call this Pat Peckham you speak of, and ask him.
But like you said, it is our goal to find some credibility after some rather public missteps that we are over coming.
February 19th, 2008 at 3:09 pm #
oldwoodchair said:
I’ve got a question, and then (of course…it’s my nature) a suggestion or two.
Shrub: help me out…I’ve never heard the term before…what are “walking quorums”???
Dino: we are lucky enough to live in a city/community where anyone who wishes to can walk into our city hall and head to the Mayor’s office to see him in person. If he didn’t return your email, perhaps he didn’t receive it…so don’t give up….go see him, or pick up the phone….our representatives ARE available to us.
Additionally, just a word to the wise about doing stories on people who are up for election…if you do one or two or three, the opportunity should really be offered to ALL…only fair to each candidate. And the clock is ticking…only a little over a month to April Fool’s Day…I mean, Election Day! Just an idea, but maybe “The Cool Dude Series” is not the place for that…perhaps a series specifically dedicated to the upcoming local elections…like the “The Wanna-Be Government Elected Official Dude & Dudette Series”
And lastly (at least for the moment and in my opinion), credibility isn’t earned by positive or negative or nicely worded prose or warm fuzzy writings…I think credibility is based on the facts, and the dedication & guts to present those facts…and sometimes facts aren’t pretty and sometimes they’re offensive to some and right on the money for others, and sometimes they are messy, but facts are facts and, I believe, the basis for credibility…and I’d rather read those, even if I disagree with them, than bland uninspired safe fluff.
Just some thoughts…
February 19th, 2008 at 9:47 pm #
Dino Corvino said:
Your probably right Chair. I have been devising a way to create a Wausau Politics blog, but really have not come up with anything good.
Thanks for the feedback though.
February 19th, 2008 at 10:02 pm #
katie said:
did somebody say <>??
Maybe try…
http://www.waow.com/Blogs/political_blog.php
and many times
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/includes/newspaper/blogs/mentzer/index.shtml
and surely
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-eXQhrWI7cqvtgS9dJrmZgm_CdQ–?cq=1
/End shameless self promotion/
February 19th, 2008 at 11:48 pm #
zeenawombat said:
Don’t forget the dudettes, man.
February 20th, 2008 at 3:35 pm #
Dino Corvino said:
Do you have Dudette in mind?
February 20th, 2008 at 3:40 pm #
zeenawombat said:
Not really, so long as it’s not the same old, same old… (as in not just Woman of Vision, Athena Award winners — all without question very valid and worthwhile)… just some cool Dudettes to go along with the cool Dudes, man.
February 20th, 2008 at 3:52 pm #
dwestcott said:
Tammy Stezenski, editor/publisher/owner of City Pages. Mom of two. She’s an amazing individual. Dino, I think you have the number.
February 20th, 2008 at 3:58 pm #
mapletownshrub said:
Definition of a walking quorum from the League of Wisconsin Municipalities website. ( I cut and pasted)
Local officials must also be aware that a series of gatherings, telephone calls, or e-mails between a small enough number of officers so as not to trigger the law at one specific gathering may constitute an illegal meeting This involves what is sometimes called a “walking quorum.” A “walking quorum” is a series of gatherings among separate groups of members of a governmental body, each less than quorum size, who agree, tacitly or explicitly, to act uniformly in sufficient number to reach a quorum.
From the public’s perspective, the danger of the walking quorum is that it may produce a consensus or predetermined outcome with the result being that the publicly-held meeting is a mere formality without any real discussion or consideration of the issue being conducted in public. The use of a walking quorum to conduct business is subject to prosecution under the open meeting law.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:44 pm #
Barry Liss said:
I like Mahesweran as a cool dude…math professor…won’t be hiring anyone like him anytime soon in the UW Colleges…
Barry
February 20th, 2008 at 7:36 pm #
oldwoodchair said:
Shrub: thanks…I learned something today…had no idea. I would assume our public officials are well aware of the laws concerning that, but bet most of us regular folks aren’t. Thanks for the education.
February 20th, 2008 at 8:20 pm #
Shawn Sullivan said:
My wife’s a cool dudette…
February 21st, 2008 at 8:32 am #
queue said:
I have a piece already written about my brother Brandon Gottung who traveled across Asia for nearly two years after studying in St. Petersberg, Russia. It also appears in the current issue of UWMC’s The Forum if anyone is interested.
February 26th, 2008 at 4:52 pm #
deb hadley wausau said:
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April 17th, 2008 at 11:34 am #