The Big Stage

My man, Kevin Boothe, was drafted to the Oakland Raiders in the sixth round of the NFL Draft today. Congrats, congrats. Bringing some respect to Ivy Football!

Wow

The most amazing thing you will see this month, guaranteed. This guy humiliates the Chris Bliss juggling video I posted earlier. My apologies.

In other news, I learned how to juggle.

Easter?

So I go to the gym yesterday. The parking lot is empty, all the lights are off, and the door is locked. As I drive up, there is a man pulling at the front door with two hands and all his might. I say, "closed for the Holiday, huh?" He responds, "yeah, must be spring breaking or something. I don't know."

Cash Back

Cash Back at the grocery store is the greatest. I cannot remember the last time I went to a bank or ATM. Not that cash is even really important considering direct deposit, online banking, automatic bill pay, and credit cards being accepted everywhere. How long until we have no cash? I would guess about 37 years. Making my prophecy that by the time I am 60 cash will be obsolete.

Prudential Real Estate Investors

The group I work for launched a new fund yesterday called the Prudential Retirement Real Estate Fund. The Fund will allow investors to gain exposure to diversified portfolios of direct commercial real estate investments with a target return of 7-10% per year, after fees and expenses, with moderate risk. In a word, this will be revolutionary.

It is currently only open to Prudential employees, but will eventually be available to other company retirement funds, 401ks, etc. This Fund will also be tax free at the individual level as long as you only use pre-tax contributions, and keep the gains in your 401k. If this option comes available at your office, I recommend jumping on it ASAP. I just changed my 401k deferral rate from 4% to 20%.

Disclaimer: There is no assurance the objective of the Fund will be met. Please remember to consider all options carefully when investing. Read a complete prospectus, and contact me if you have any questions.

Members

If you have only been reading this blog for the past month or two, you may be wondering who these Tom and Tad characters are. Well, I think Tom was abducted by outer space aliens (earth to Matilda…hel-lo, hel-lo), or there is a new Ugg boot about to hit the market. I have called, emailed, and IMed with no response. Tad has a more defendable excuse of a whirlwind international tour of Thailand and Cambodia. He will be back soon, and hopefully has experienced enough to muster maybe one post. As for Drew, I wish I could give better news. It seems we are stuck with this guy. Sorry.

Hockey Fight

The only clear winners are the fans...Canada vs. Russia Fight

Locked-up

Cubs Fans: Purchase all the D. Lee gear your heart desires. The Cubs just locked-up last year's NL MVP runner-up for five years at $65 million.

Hug a Tree

That was the main takeaway from my fourth yoga class tonight. "The trees have energy. We are not the only living things. When you hug a tree you can thrive off its energy." As much as I think this woman has lost her marbles, there is a good chance I will be embracing this proclaimed energy the next moment nobody is looking. Namaste.

The Year of the CUBS?

These boys are rolling. Last night, catcher Michael Barrett jacked a come-from-behind grand slam in the eighth inning to bring the Cubs their first sweep of the Cardinals at Wrigley since 2001. The team is averaging 7.6 runs per game, but also giving up 4.4. I think this offense could be explosive, but we desperately need defense.

A Religious Twist

Yesterday was Palm Sunday. As I'm sure you are all aware, this day marked the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem before His crucifixion. The people are said to have laid palms before Him as he entered to symbolize triumph and victory. The events that followed are The Last Supper on Holy Thursday, His Crucifixion on Good Friday, and The Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

This week also marks the start of Passover at sundown on Wednesday. Passover commemorates the day the Israelites were freed from persecution in Egypt. Passover marks the "birth" of the Jewish nation, as the Jews were freed from being slaves of the Pharaoh and allowed to become servants of God instead.

That concludes this week’s CCD class. Enjoy your holidays!

Quiet Please

I think they should ban clapping and cheering at the Master's. How can you putt when hundreds of people erupt in your back-swing?

And while I'm making ridiculous requests, can we please instate a one showing per commercial during sporting events? These things are monopolized by a couple sponsors that I end up hating from their ad repetition. Just this tournament alone will make me stray from IBM and the new SBC/AT&T. Nothing makes me special, and I don't want my world delivered. Thanks.

Sweet Marissa

This is the first season I haven't religiously watched the O.C. I simply felt the show had moved beyond entertaining into implausible drama. Well, I caught the last eight minutes of last night’s episode, and if I’m not mistaken all of these events took place during that time:
·Marissa will be going to Berkeley with Ryan
·Seth broke up with Summer because he got rejected from Brown
·Some new girl Ryan is dating said she is not going to Berkeley with him
·Kirsten walked out on Sandy
Are you kidding me? Who still watches this trash? I’ll stick with 24 and LOST for the moment, although those are getting a little ridiculous as well. Last week Jack strangled his possible wife, Audrey, because he heard she was a traitor, and the now admitted “other” apparently chose to put himself back in custody rather than walk out an open front door. Where's Married with Children for a dose of reality?

Italian Cork Soakers

Second to few...SNL Italian Cork Soakers

Opening Day

Baseball starts today with Prior and Wood on the disabled list. Sounds about right. The Cubs have the offensive talent to be a contender, but as always we need our pitchers healthy. Hoping for the best…PLAY BALL!

Cinderella Sucks

Now we all know what happens when you root for Hollywood-esque Cinderella scripts midway through the NCAA tournament...the next game is MISERABLE! George Mason finally faced a team that cared about winning, and LSU is simply atrocious. My man J.J. would have never been humiliated by UCRodeo Drive. Thank God we can watch 24 tomorrow night instead of the final game.

Another thought: Why do emergency exit doors have you wait 30 seconds before they open? Do you really think I'm going to stand at a door for 30 seconds while the building burns or some guy is AK47ing the room? In fact, I think I could run to any "regular" exit in most buildings if you gave me 30 seconds.

Finally: Yesterday was April Fools. Anybody have good pranks from this year or years past? The best/worst one I have ever heard was when my friend was called and told his best friend had been hit by a car and was in a coma, but would probably not last the night. He immediately gets in his car and starts the 4-hr drive home. About an hour later, the fooler calls him back to say "April Fools" and laugh hysterically. Sick.