Cirque du Soleil

Last night, I attended Cirque du Soleil’s “Kazoo” show.  I wasn’t sure what to expect going into the performance since I’m accustomed to their grand spectacles at the lavish hotels in Vegas.  But, as could have been predicted, it wasn’t another amazing performance.

They perform one terrific act after another … the time flies … the audience is certainly entertained.  Our whole row of friends were shrieking with joy.

The practice that goes into each performance must be intense … from the contortionists to the high-wire acts to the uni-cyclist to the juggler and on and on.

If you’ve never gone to a Cirque show, my strong recommendation is to go and check it out.   You’ll be entertained.   It’s money well-spent.

Blogging

I finally started blogging last week on a regular basis, but no one knows about it.   According to the blog stats, I’ve had zero visits over the past few days.  LOL.  Guess I’ll add it to my facebook status update or something … we’ll see what kind of impact that has.

Speaking of Facebook, at my recent guest lecture at JMU, I asked the 125 – 150 students in attendance how many use MySpace and many use Facebook.  Not one student uses MySpace!  And, over 90% use Facebook.   Those are similar numbers to when I polled my students at Georgetown.

Of course, 3 – 4 years from now, the college students will probably be using another social networking site.

Marathon

My baseball game on Sunday was canceled due to the heavy rains on Saturday afternoon and night.  So, I ended up going to watch the Marine Corps Marathon for a couple of hours.  A good friend of mine, Mike Honeycutt, was visiting from Dallas and running in this year’s marathon.   I believe it was his 8th marathon.

It was truly a great experience to watch the marathon — they had over 30,000 registered runners (although only 18,000 finished).  But, nonetheless, the support from so many, many people must have been great for the runners.  The streets were lined for miles with family members and friends supporting the runners.

And, major kudos to the US Marine Corps for hosting what looked to be a first-class event.

I have great admiration for people that can run a marathon — it’s amazing to see the variety of people — all ages, races, sizes, etc.  It must take great mental strength to pound away for hours.

My hats off to all that participated in the MCM.

NCAA Football

Saturday was a good day to stay home and watch college football!  This was particularly true in the DC region since the weather was horrible — lots of rain and cold, windy weather.

Although neither game was on live, two of my favorite teams – the OU Sooners and Maryland Terps — both won.  So, OU will remain in the top 5 while Maryland is now bowl-eliigible and should hopefully finally crack the Top 25.

A couple of great match-ups on Sat night — with OSU v Penn State and Alabama – Georgia.  Of course, I’m a huge baseball fan and wanted to watch the World Series but Game 3 was delayed a couple of hours due to the torrential rains in Philly.

Greater DC Cares

Thank you to my friends that showed up last night at the Greater DC Cares event at Park on 14th St.  I was fortunate enough to be one of the ten recipients of Greater DC Cares’ inaugural 2008 “Class of Change,” honoring DC’s rising leaders in philanthropy.

It was wonderful to have close friends, co-workers, mentees, non-profit friends, etc in attendance.

To me, the most important thing about being recognized is that it allows us to further promote and raise awareness of the non-profits we work with … it’s so important to “give back,” to mentor and to provide community service.  It helps to create a more level playing field.   The more we do this, the better our community can and will be.

I’m grateful to all for your help, support and involvement.

A special thank you to Ted Leonsis and Mario Morino, my two philanthropy mentors, for ”showing me the way” over the past 10+ years.

Favela

As I wrote in my blog about the visit to Brazil, I was definitely impacted by the tour of the favelas in Rio de Janeiro.  What’s a favela?  Per Wikipedia, a favela is the Brazilian term for shanty town, or as they say in the US, a ghetto.  The apt description per Wiki is that a favela is constructed from a wide range of materials — from bricks to garbage.

The conditions are almost indescribable … one needs to see pictures, videos or actually visit in person.   I went to the barnesandnoble.com site to purchase a couple of books and dvd’s to learn more about the favelas.

Apparently, 1out of 4 or 1 out of 5 Rio citizens live in a favela.   The conditions are so horrid … the personal hygiene must suffer dramatically.

Why do I care so much?  Because I’m very active in working with inner-city children in DC from less-privileged backgrounds.   I see the vicious cycle that occurs when a teen-aged girl gets pregnant, has no support from a father, and then tries to raise the child w/ limited funds.  The more that others can to help create a level playing field, the better off for all.

Unfortunately, in the Rio favelas, although one can try to give and donate, apparently the youth won’t get the funds – the parents or older siblings will take it (according to the tour guide).  Fortunately, in the US, one can help support urban youth (by helping w/ their high school education, college test preparation, applying to colleges and mentoring throughout their collegiate years).

I’ll write more after I read and watch the books and videos about the favelas.

Sports Sunday!

For those that know me, I love Sports — so y-day was a great day.   After taking a 10-hour flight back from Brazil, I arrived at Dulles at 6:00 am y-day.   I slept for a few hours on the plane … then got a two-hour nap at home before heading to play a baseball game in our adult baseball league at 11:00 am.   Despite the lack of sleep, I was excited to be playing my favorite game … we won 19 – 3 and I went 3 for 4, including the furthest hit ball in years (a 330 – 340 shot to left).

Then, I made it home for the Skins – Browns game at 4:15 pm.  I was so tired and bored that I fell asleep in the first half, but then watched with glee as they held off the Browns for a 14 – 11 nail-biter.

But, that wasn’t the end of it … there was Game 7 last night of the ALCS between the BoSox and Rays.  There are very few things more exciting than a Game 7 in the play-offs.   And, last night’s game lived up to its hype.  What a great performance by the rookie pitcher, David Price, in the 8th and 9th.  Wow.

What a great day in Sports!

Brazil

After not posting for a long time, I’m going to try to write on a daily basis – or at least a couple of times per week.  What’s new?  I just got back from a terrific week of vacation in Brazil … in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo.

It was my first visit to South America. I loved it there … the people, the beautiful beaches, the futbol match at the legendary Maracana Stadium, the view from Christ the Redeemer (one of the seven modern wonders of the world), the food and drink, etc.  Also, I was completely blown away after taking a tour of two of the favela’s in Rio — it’s hard to describe it in words — one needs to be there to witness it.

I can’t wait to go back!