What’s Going On

I have been looking forward to this week for months. Metallica is finishing up their North American Tour in support of their Grammy nominated new album Death Magnetic with shows in Chicago and New York. I am friends with drummer Lars Ulrich, so I have the privilege of getting great seats and passes to their shows (thanks Steve!).

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Attending the inauguration of our 44th President made me feel inspired and hopeful. My wife and I went as guests of the MBA’s political action committee (MORPAC) — and we felt like we witnessed history. The group we were with consisted of both democrats and republicans (and at least one libertarian) but all were moved and awed by the magnitude of the event.

One of the best quotes summing up the event: “What was once the ultimate impossibility will become the reality against which future generations will measure the magnitude of their aspirations.”

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The best things about conferences are the unexpected and unplanned meetings.

Last night at the CMSA/MBA Capital Markets Conference in Washington, DC, I enjoyed an experience that restores a bit of hope: a illuminating dinner with three CMBS experts, each with his own insight into saving the market.

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I spent the day Fishing and Crabbing off of the Marin coast in the “High Tide” -– my 28 foot long, twin engine MasterCraft X-80 that can usually be found pulling us around on a wakeboard. Not today: We took up the carpets, loaded my 4th and 2nd grade kids, and got my buddy who actually knows how to fish to be our guide.

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I’m in London this week for the annual European conference of the Commercial Mortgage Securtization Association (CMSA).

The media have been focused on the presidential race, but, when it looked like Obama was going to win, and we left home in Notting Hill to go join “the masses,” we found the streets mostly empty. Granted it was already 2 a.m. Wednesday morning local time, but I thought we might see more activity.

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