Post Weekend Wind Down

Sorry about the non posting the last  two weeks. Been kinda busy a) preparing for the move to the new house, and b) rocking and dealing w/ the stuff that those in the know  are aware that I'm working on.  I really don't want the world to know. So, feel free to email me offline, and ask.  Perhaps I'll share.  I've always been an open book; however, with the advent of hindsight in my middle age, I realize that this is perhaps not the best recipe to live in the world.  So, I'm learning to keep some of my cards closer to my chest.

We are almost ready to move.  The big move happens on Dec. 8th, next Saturday.  We are moving to our new house, our first house that we have every purchased.  Crazy wild time.  Worked long and hard to get here.  Glad that it's a  funky house, w/ a totally chill backyard. I can really see BBQ's back there, and Wintery Saturdays (like 60 degrees here) that we are all chillaxing, and drinking some sasparillas!!  It's part of the growth process, this house owning thing. I have a wonderful wife in Vicki, who has quite the vision for the new place.  I'm excited to see where it's gonna go.

No fights on HBO this weekend.  We don't have Showtime, so I did not get to see the Miguel Cotto vs. Austin Trout fight. Reports said it was good.  Perhaps Miguel has been in too many wars.  Father Time catches up to all fighters, y'know??  It's always a sad moment. In some cases (David Izon, Daniel Zaragosa) you see the fighter get old IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIGHT.  That is shocking, and very, very, very sad to see the reflexes go.  They can't take a punch any longer, but they still have heard, that's the only thing they have left. Unfortunately, heart doesn't usually win fights.

I'd be remiss in closing w/o mentioning the birthday party of my big boy, Tobin Sincoff. We had 17 Pre School kids and their parents at a trampoline/game place yesterday called Rebounderz. To say that Vicki and I were exhausted after 3hours of kids jumping, screaming, running, and playing skeeball, it would be an uderstatement!!

Happy 4th birthday to coolest 4 yr old in the world, I love you Toby!!

Pre Thanksgiving Musing; shout out to Antonio DeMarco

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since my last update.  I know that is my typical M.O.  I've been working on some stuff that I'm not entirely comfortable w/ sharing in depth on here.  My friends that I speak to on a regular basis know what's going on.  I don't know if there is a "Big Brother" kind of thing or whatever.  I'm probably alll Conspiracy Theorist as I'm a "Red Diaper" Baby... :-)... If you know what's going on, you know. If you're a friend, and you've got some concern about what I'm referencing; give me a call/email/IM. 

Suffice to say I have some clarity, and I've had some "A-HA" moments this week.  It's something that you should always strive for.  I mean, for a long time; I've just kind of kept on truckin'.  Not necessarily in my family life, but in other aspects.  It feels great (challenging) to have a few reflective moments. Good stuff.  I highly recommend it!

I have to quickly mention that I watched both Boxing. and MMA last night. Couple of quick thoughts:  I'm getting VERY old; as I could not stay up for the main event @ UFC 154.  I heard Georges St. Piere vs. Carlos Condit was a match of the year candidate.  I also heard Johny Hendricks' KO of Martin Kampann in 46 seconds of the very first round was pretty incredible too.

Alas, your humble blogger was too tired.  Couldn't hack it.  I saw a few of the undercard fights.  They were pretty good. A lot of decisions.  Nothing that totally stood out that I can comment on.  In short, there seemed to be a couple of Canadian fighters (fights were held up in Montreal) that got clobbered by Non Canadian fighters.  That's the way of the fight game, sometimes. I am not a great sports analyst as I can't stay up past 11:30 anymore, however!

As for boxing,  I caught the Adrien Broner vs. Antonio DeMarco fight. Broner is  a guy from Cincinnatti, Ohio. He's being groomed as "the next big thing".  He comes to the ring w/ a posse, and there is a guy who brushes his hair pre and post fight for him.  As a result, I have a kind of dislike for the asshole.

However, I gotta give props where props are due.  Broner delivered a beating to Antonio DeMarco.  The type of which I have not seen in a long fucking while.  He probably is the next big thing.  He has power, speed, attitude, and can be quite marketable to African American fight fans, much like Floyd Mayweather  has been in the past.

I title this post in part to Antonio because I saw a ton of heart when I caught the replay on HBO this morning.  I have seen it 1,000,000 times in the past.  A tough, tough Mexican fighter; who moves straight in, w/ no movement (head, body, etc.) he will take 6 punches to deliver 1 to the body.  He comes forward, and forward, until he can't do it anymore.  Sometimes, they win, sometimes they don't.  However a fighter  like this guy always makes an entertaining fight, though he is  of linmited talent compared to Broner.

He is an example of why I love Mexican fighters.  Why my Dad used to watched the old LA Forum Fight series on Telemundo/Univision to discover the new Mexican fighters.  Thank you Dad for turning me onto Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel, and Raphael Marquez, and even Jorge Paez. They did a piece on DeMarco prior to the fight and he said that he grow up homeless, on his on,on the streets of Tijuana.  He used to pick thru garbage cans to find food. He turned pro at 14.

In short, what are you gonna do to a guy like Antonio, or Erik Morales, or anybody from Districto Federale? You gonna hit them?? They have been hit, and stomped all their lives, grew up on the streets, hungry alone, etc.  Hitting them is not gonna stop them.They are going to move forward, and move forward, until they either take you out, or they are gonna get stopped trying.  Just incredible, incredible heart. Heart.

It's for that reason, that I give a shout out to a fighter like this guy DeMarco. Tough as nails,perhaps limited talent, and  almost too much heart, he came forward, and forward until his corner threw in the towel.  I would  watch him 500,000 more times on TV if they put him on.. While he lost the fight, and was outclassed, he's the fighter I'm blogging about tonight.

As far as Thanksgiving is concerned:  It's coming up!! Vicki, Toby and I are getting very excited for the arrival of Mary the Lawyer! She's going to be flying down from Philly on Tuesday.  Vick has her whole menu planned out, and it is a very ambitious one!!  PA Dutch Potato Filling,  Maple Glazed Turkey, Bourbon Glazed Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potato Biscuits, Oven Roasted Broccoli, and even a maple pecan pumpkin pie are planned for the menu.  Almost too much food! I'm psyched for it.

Psyched to have a "boys" night out at some point w/  my 2 favorite girls too!!! Mary will also be doing the podcast w/ me live on Thanksgiving day for a few!! Good stuff. Sometimes it all falls into place!!

 

 

Obama is still a Long Legged Mack Daddy!

Just wanted to get on here really quickly so I can muse for a moment on the election and stuff.  First off, podcast is going well.  I actually own the domain name www.oneguytalkingpodcast.com, so we are on the verge of podcast domination!! Good stuff. Again, gotta say thanks to the people who continue to agree to participate as guests on the show, as well as friends and family who have gone into the chat room, and called in w/ questions.

Now. Onto the election really quickly.  To say it has been an emotional couple of months since my Dad died would be an understatement.  He really wanted to participate in this election. He phone banked w/ me for The Prez ("Ethan, I'm voting for the guy, but this is FUCKING boring"), and we would watch MSNBC together here in Jacksonville, and agree w/ Reverend Al Sharpton as he eviscerated the Republican candidates.

Dad hated Mitt Romney, and was so looking fwd to seeing him go down.

How the night progressed was a testament by how the News builds up a contest.  The Nate Silvers (and Vicki Sincoffs!) of the world had called this for the President by a large margin a long time ago.  However, news needs to sell, especially you are Fox News, right?? You gots to have a race.

In the end, much like Bush did to Kerry, Obama kicked Romney's ass.  Mandate. look at the #'s. "Boo-ya" etc.  If your party refuses to acknowledge demographics (gender, ethnicity, race) as well as make social issues prominent part of your party platform, you will drive any middle of the road Liberals who might even consider voting for you.

Leave Religion for those who lead places of worship on Fri/Sat and Sundays.  It should have no place in contemporary politics.

Looking forward to moving past this day as it's a huge emotional ordeal. Loving the memory of my father. He'd be sooooooooooo laughing at the Conservabots today as they nervously spew excuses on how they miscalled this race, and  Romney's staff FUCKED up so much!

Puts a smile on my face thru the tears.

Oh, and Congrats to President Obama (and the Obama family)!

And into the dustbin of history go Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan!

I swear I'm not Rupert Pupkin, but Kristine Levine is Awesome!

The One Guy Talking Podcast continues to grow and grow. From The Lovely Julie Kedzie, to Metal drummer turned DJ Extrodinaire, DJ Elise, it's been rocking.  I'm totally up for having male guests on, or "People w/ Dicks" as Vicki would say.  I swear I'm totally up for male guests!! Anyone out there w/ schtick, a band, a cause, whatevs....REACH OUT

However, I digress. I've always been a fan of Doug Stanhope for a while. It's seldom you see a comic that is kind of "real", "on edge" etc.  I've really dug his appearances on Stern, and his One Man Show from NYC.... I could less dig his support of Ron Paul, but who am I to kvetch, right? :)

Anyways, I follow Doug on The Twitter.  A couple months ago, he posted an editorial he wrote about this gal, Kristine Levine who was doing a one woman show at The Edinburgh Fringe called "Fat Whore".  Well to begin, first impression was she didn't seem (that) whorish, OR Fat, for that matter! But hey, every comic needs to have a gig as Lenny Bruce once said.

Case in point, this chick is very funny, very feisty, very sweet... very real.

So I reach out to her via her Twitter handle @kristinelevine.  Not expecting a response I said;  "would you do my podcast, here's the link, and I'm not a stalker" Not only did she favorite my tweet, but she agreed to come on the show!!  I was like all "hey, I'm no Joe Rogan, or Kevin Freakin' Smith.  This is something I'm trying to build as a creative hobby as I desparately cling to early middle age LOL.  She was still cool w/ it

Even though we couldn't get Mary The Lawer on to talk sex offender stories vs. porn clerk stories . Though a quote from Mary was "I loved her C*M stories" when we texted after Kristine hung up.  Kristine answered all my questions, and she wasn't bored by my newbie interviewing skills. I DID take notes to prepare

She's a sweetie, and very, very, very patient w/ my King of Comedy like obsession,... I swear I won't tape Jerry Lewis to a chair, Kristine! LOL

She and her buddies Morgan Preston, and Andrew Oullette are doing something called "The Biggest Tour Ever EVER".. Amazing, they are doing 50 cities, 50 states, in 50 days.  There are some f'ng states I have no desire to go to as I think they don't have Jews in them.  However, props to them for bringing some comedy to the hillbilly masses!

They are coming up the East Coast now.  Tallahassee tonight, Savannah, Ga tomorrow, Virginia, Maryland, I think Mary The Lawyer is gonna see 'em in Wilmington, Del.  They play Elizabeth, which is kind of a shithole town, but at least it's next to Newark NJ and they can go to the Ironbound for dinner.

East coast  friends, and readers, go see these 3. They are on an insane journey, but one you got to support.  In this era of shows like "Whitney" and "2 Broke Girls", go see 3 comics that bring it, that are as real as the jobs and lives you left behind when you walked into the bar/venue to see 'em. 

On a side note, I don't think I mentioned it last week, but I gotta give props. As any readers would know, my Dad, who passed away at the end of August made me a huge boxing fan (and I turned him into a huge MMA fan). Well there was a fight on 2 weekends ago, Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado that was one of the most incredible fights I've ever seen.  To say that I reached for the phone to call Dad to ask him if he was watching was an understatement.  I knew he would have dug it.  Both fighters proved that when done  right; boxing is art, poetry , the real deal, passion.

In closing, Thank you Morgan and Andrew and Kristine for being real. Kristine you were very nice hooking me up w/ an interview

Shout out to Julie Kedzie, and Musing on being a new homeowner

I feel bad that I don't post as often as I should here. This blog has helped me go thru many highs, and lows during its' many years of existence.  It's taken me through sucky jobs, and many good things at the same time. A marriage to an awesome, gorgeous chick in Vicki.  A fantastically super smart, handsome little boy in Toby.  A lot of time  has passed since I started this blog. There have been a few years where I have not posted at all/posted very little.  That's a bit of a bummer.  I owe the readers (all 3 of you) a few more posts a month! I'm still gonna shoot to do that!

There is alot, alot, ALOT of groovy news to share.  To begin, Vicki, Toby and I  are now homeowners! We found a funky, brick place in the suburbs, w/ high ceilings, 3 bedrooms, and a KOI POND in the back yard.  It's a hyooge step in my emotional growth.  I'm very scared. However, it seems like we can do it!!  Not seems, but it's an actual reality. I'm looking fwd to having our own place. One that we can put our personal stamp on, and enjoy.  You gotta see the community we are moving into. I know it may seem weird to fall in love w/ a house AND the community pool (w/ killer water slide) that is around it, but that is the case!

Very excited about the house!!  Scared but excited.  I don't know if my Dad would be proud, or think we are crazy.  However, we seem to have all of our ducks in a row!  Fingers crossed on the inspection going well this week!

As far as The One Man Talking Podcast is concerned, it's going very very well.  You know it's amazing. While I LOVE boxing, and MMA, I don't envision my show to be a sports podcast. That's been done/is being done by very talented people like Mauro Ranallo, Ariel Helwani, etc.  I talk about stuff (politics, humor, life, MMA, Boxing, love, family, etc.) that I'm interested in.  I've reached out to alot of celebs, actors, authors, (Damien Echolls, Ray Banks) to come on the show, and hang out. The only people to come on have been in the MMA world.

And now, as far as my great guest was concerned:

I was very fortunate that the lovely Ms. Julie Kedzie was nice enough to come on the show, and promote In Victa Fighting Championships 3, where she was doing the announcing for that show. I have been a fan since the Gina Carano fight. We'd chatted a few times via Twitter, and she couldn't have been a nicer gal (though she did get mad at me when I kind of dissed Nick Diaz, but that's another story lol )  I envisioned the interview as this: everyone in the fight world knows she's awesome, that she kicks butt. That she trains hard; and that she is a member of Team Jackson-Winkeljohn.

However, did the general public know that she is very fetching ("easy on the eyes"!) and funny and whip smart? I dunno, but that's the angle I wanted to show in this interview.  Julie seemed to have fun. We talked about everything from MMA, to David Bowie (we both dressed as him for Halloween!) to dogs and cats! It was a blast. I thank Jules for her time!  In fact, she has 3 new fans. 2 people called me and said "Hey I'm totally watching her fights from now on", as well as a friends' 9 yr old daughter said Julie was her hero!  :)

So, Thanks Julie! I encourage everyone to support her sponsors! If you're in New Mexico, support Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA,  peruse her sponsors page, and buy t-shirts, and browse the websites that are linked on her sponsors page!

Who knows, maybe sometime that Mary The Lawyer and I do  a segment called "Is it legal or illegal?!?!" on the podcast, we may get some callers from the MMA world of Albq on the phone!!