I’m one of two co-hosts for a new CNBC reality competition series called “Crowd Rules.”  The format is really simple.  Three small business make tell their stories in front of a crowd of 100.  With a $50,000 prize on the line, the entrepreneurs must convince the crowd that their business would get the biggest boost from a win.

My Twitter feed lit up this afternoon with the news that my friend and colleague Ali Velshi is leaving CNN after a 12-year run.  This, briefly, is the story of how that run began.

I feel obligated to add another profession to my resume after being forwarded a tweet this weekend. Now my CV will read: news anchor, trivia host, Cupid.

So there’s an exciting new incentive to buy tickets for TrivWorks’ Ultimate Choose-Your-Favorite-Decade Trivia Showdown on Wednesday, March 20, and it’s only five words: New. Kids. On. The. Block.

Have you seen this Jeff Gordon Pepsi Max “prank” video? I’m convinced the “salesman” was in on the gag. The premise is this: NASCAR star Jeff Gordon puts on some makeup and a fake beard and goes to a car dealership to test a car as a rescerved, middle-aged, kind-of-bad-driver guy.  Little does the salesman know what he’s in for.

Today’s Starbucks Alter Ego comes from a man named Johan. He writes: “Whenever I think there couldn’t possibly be any more variations of ‘Johan’  out there, the baristas prove me wrong!” Here’s his moniker from this morning.

I’m off to Canada for a few days to host an event at my alma mater, the Alberta School of Business. I’ll be the MC at the Canadian Business Leader Award dinner, where Pat Daniel will receive the 2013 prize. While I go back in time to my university days, we’re going to take a few days off from Pat’s Papers. There will be no Picks Thursday, March 7 and Friday, March 8. We’ll be back to our regular schedule on Monday, March 11. Have a great lo(ooooo)ng weekend.

Mila Kunis is so nice, she’ll even help out a struggling reporter who’s trying to interview her. Check out the actress walk her nervous interviewer through an awkward 6 minutes.

In a sequel to my public service post of 2011, I’ve calculated the refill amounts that will prevent the frustration of having a few cents stranded on your pay-per-ride Metrocard.