I reflect all the time because I'm a Mushy Nudnik

So, a while ago HBO announced they would no longer televise boxing after something like 45 years. Huge announcement. Big time statement for television and internet streaming type networks. ESPN got all these fighters assigned to exclusive contracts and will pay 'em a gazillion $ to fight on streaming platforms... new streaming platforms...blah blah blah. I don't like it. I want my boxing on my cable. And I will share why because I'm reflective:

Watching boxing was one of the things that bonded me with my Father. While I loved my Dad (and I'm sure; he loved me) he was a difficult guy to get along with.  There was always something to argue about when it came to Dad and I. Stuff like:

• Ethan your cholesterol is too high!
• Ethan, you haven't been going to the gym enough! 
• Ethan, why are you dating that girl!?
• Ethan, why do you make stupid decisions!?

 So the thing with Dad was there was always love, and fun, but on his terms. That was just the guy he was. I'm not saying there weren't good times, they were just confusing and good. Anyway, I digress...boxing...

There was this one night, I came home (i was in my mid 20's, post college, living at home. No $, no job, etc.) My Father is sitting there in front of the TV like an inch away from it because he was deaf. He's got Spanish (Univision) TV blaring. He didn't speak Spanish. He looks at me and takes his glasses off - - I instantly know he has something serious to say, when he took his glasses off it was on like Donkey Kong.

"I want you to listen to me for a moment, will you just listen to me for a moment, Ethan?"

I said I would listen. My question about why he was watching Spanish television was dismissed with a wave of his Talmudic hand.

"Listen this is Boxing from the LA Forum. The fights are fantastic, and the fighters are just out of this world. It will blow you way like nothing you've seen before, trust me."

 I was skeptical but decided to hang in there when Dad said the following:

"You know how we go to theatre, to Broadway all the time? Well, this is theatre like nothing you've ever seen. It's Shakespeare. Passion like nothing I've ever seen before. Good against Evil, and more. So listen to me, please, please watch it with me."

 And wouldn't you know it, he was right? I was blown away. And from that Univision Moment, I discovered a new passion, I realized saying "That guy has a lot of heart", and "Fighting in a phone booth"were compliments of the highest type in the Sincoff Family."

And with this (now mutual) love of boxing; Dad and I had something we would not fight about.  There was no discussing of my weight, or my cholesterol, or my choice of relationships, or spending.... there was this silence on the phone, as the wheels turned in his brain down here in Florida, and in my head up in Jersey....trying to find something in common to not argue about, to be in unison on......

"Hey isn't that devastating body puncher from _______ (Mexico City, Puebla, Argentina, etc.) fighting tonight? That's going to be good, don't you think?" 

And instantly,we were in agreement. Of course there were the late night phone calls during the fights where we would shout at each other, and voicemails where when I was out on the town, my father would scream about what I was missing...

So, simply put, Boxing on HBO was a very special thing that Dad and I shared. When we talked boxing (and politics, too to be fair), We connected on it, there was only love and respect.  

That's why not having boxing on HBO means the end of something, much like Dad not being around anymore.

Dad was a good guy. He tried. He had alot of heart, you know?

 

The Jam - Town Called Malice

Pretty much no other song signifies "England" to me. When I think of the UK, I think of this bass line, and that keyboard intro, and Paul Weller immediately going to Pop Marxism and Working Class Struggle, I'm hooked. And the lyrics! Listen to this great lines about empty milk bottles, runaway buses, and hanging old love letters on line to dry.... it breaks your heart, and then you get fish and chips.

Other than maybe a couple Billy Bragg songs, I can't think of a band/performer like Paul Weller/The Jam who combined fantastic rock songs about love, and also fill them with a sense of the class struggle. Brilliant. Enjoy x.

The Jam - That's Entertainment

That's Entertainment!!

Please allow me to introduce myself

So, it's been a while then, eh? A perusal on the right hand side of the blog will show you that I've been doing this blog for a loooooong time. More off than on, sadly.  Of course, I was doing the podcast for a while, and had some awesome people on, and great chats. However: A) I found out I found myself far funnier and interesting than my guests or non-existent audience did B) Once I started working, I found I did not have time to seek out guests, prepare for a show, and be "on". It's hard to be "on" when you're me on a regular day, ya know? :)

So if you want to seek the podcast out, please do so, I'm proud of it. However, note it is not safe for work and I sometimes discuss highly inappropriate material...and I curse like a sailor, so please, be ok to handle the F Bomb and perhaps even the MF bomb a few thousand times.

So  I've decided that I'm gonna be a BIT less sharing than I have in previous versions.  However, I think I need to introduce myself:

I'm Ethan. I'm 48. I have a great wife named Vicki and a great son named Tobin who is 10. They are awesome and deserve medals for putting up with me as I can often be a dick, and a pain as I struggle to navigate the whole adult, what do I want thing. It's funny how sometimes no matter how old you get, you still feel like the little kid who is looking for the adultset to stop the bullies at the playground.

I went back to school and got a degree in something and I now work where I talk to alot of people about lot's of things.  I'm never gonna put anything directly from work on here, at all; info will be altered so art is not imitating life  so much, or whatever. I've been burned before by someone finding out something about a blog post....so ....

I talk to people, and they talk to me, and I don't work in sales and marketing. So that's all the detail you're going to get directly from me. I may say "a person said something interesting to me" etc. However, no one I encounter on a daily basis talking and connecting with is referenced here. So,, there.... sometimes I even talk to a couple of people at once (big sales seminars).

So, that's about it for right now. I think I've discovered less is more when it comes to blogging. I mean do you really want me to write pages and pages? I can, but I shall resist. What am  I gonna write about? Life, nothing about work, laughing, struggling, whatevering...... So come on take a look why don't you? I'm gonna try and update this regularly. I am not good at the artistic side of things so the blog may look a little lame, but there you go. Ok. More later!