House of Representin!

On a busy, yet chilly, Memorial Day weekend, so far so good. My weekend actually started Thursday night where Anay showed me some Chicago nightspots. I think my favorite was Red Ivy or Red Vine. Friday I made the quick drive up to Milwaukee and spent Friday night with my grandparents. They are both 88 but their spirits are high and we had a nice night. Saturday I met my parents and we saw the movie Angels and Demons. I loved the book so I have been pretty excited for the movie for a while. I was still anxious though. Tom Hanks is a great actor but his performance as Harvard professor Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci code was atrocious. The movie actually was pretty good. I give it a B/B+. Not surprisingly, director Ron Howard removed a lot of the controversy that the book stirred up. What was left was an excellent action movie with lots of exciting twists and turns. After a nice dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, I fell asleep watching the Cavs/Magic game. Sunday I met my aunt, uncle, and cousin for a great lunch at Harry's and then headed back to Chicago. Later last night I met a couple of friends at a really fun blues/jazz club called Kingston Mines. I have never seen a live blues show before. The singer, Linsey Alexander, was engaging, funny, and extremely talented. He started the night by doing a blues version of Lose Yourself by Eminem that was hilarious and excellent. We ended up staying there the whole night so I just woke up. I am off to Evanston for a quick BBQ.

1. As usual the Minnesota Timberwolves have made a mockery out of what a legitimate NBA team should be. They finally broke through their country club attitude and hired a person who hasn't worked in the NBA for seven years. He was last fired in 2002 as assistant general manager of the Indiana Pacers. This seems like a slam dunk hire to me!

2. Memorial Day is usually a day full of grilling, drinking beer, and enjoying the day off. Please keep in your hearts all of our men and women who have given their lives so we remain free.

3. By far Wendy's best commercial: http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2009/05/ill-gladly-get-frosty-with-this-wendys-posse.html

4. Lebron James becomes a free agent after next season. A lot of people think he should leave Cleveland. I think that would be ridiculous. Does he really need to go to a major market like New York to get more publicity? He has lots of publicity. It's not money since the Cavs will obviously offer him the maximum contract. Cleveland has gradually added pieces to make them championship contenders. Plus, their highest paid player, Ben Wallace, has a contract that is expiring either this year or next year. He is getting paid almost $20 million a year. With his salary off the books, they can either go out and get a superstar like Chris Bosh or pay two good but not great players $10 million a year and a chance to win a championship. Richard Jefferson, Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, Carlos Boozer, and Vince Carter will be available. Add Jefferson and Carter to Mo Williams and Delonte West and you have the most talented roster in the NBA.

5. I have to hand it to this Susan Boyle. She is an amazing vocalist. Plus, she consistently chooses notoriously difficult songs like Memories: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Ayk9G7-sc. If you don't want to watch the whole three minutes, skip to the 2:20 mark.

6. Currently listening to "Climb Every Mountain" from the Sound of Music.