One Guy Talking

Hey Kids, Happy Hanukkah!!

2011-12-23T19:15:00.003-05:00

Well howdy everybody. Perhaps I have been a bit remiss in not posting since my initial entry since we've moved down to Flo-Rida. I really do apologize. I hope that my friends and compatriots in climates much colder than I am in are enjoying their respites from Winter!! Soon enough, y'alls will be getting your sidewalk salts, and your snowblowers set up,your ice scrapers, and your DeIcer (if you will). I feel for ya, I truly do.

It's 80 plus degrees here today in Jax! Gots to love it. Reason enough to move down here!! Got to work on all the hyoooooge bible fans, and the Right Wing Fascists, but one thing at a time! My Dad says that "you don't move down here for the intellectuals, or for the liberal politics!!!" You really have to represent that!!! I do dig never having to worry about snow here again!!!

We had a good Thanksgiving. Went down to my Dad's w/ the family. Unfortunately, Toby was not feeling well! Vicki offered to stay home at Dad's with him, while I went out w/ Dad, Aunt Cynthi and cousin Sherri and her husband, David! It was the first time since I saw Sherri and David since my wedding 8 yrs ago. We had a great time laughing, telling stories, and making fun of all the Republican candidates vying for the nomination

"NEWT GINGRICH" â a Bad Lip Reading Soundbite - watch more funny videos

Do you folks have Mitt Romney fever as much as I do?? What a well thought out individual, who is so sincere in his convictions, huh??!

Going off to Pennsyltucky come Dec. 28th to see Shirley K. (my M-I-L. Psyched to see her!) and the Divine Ms. Newcomer (and Family!!). Shirley is actually flying back with us to enjoy some sunshine and mild weather. First time flying for her. Soon enough she will be a pro at it, and flying down all the time. Simply because she can, and she deserves nice weather!!

I've been really really bad.. There's this thing about Florida

2011-11-16T21:43:00.001-05:00

In not writing anything the past several months! There is soo much to catch up on. I really enjoyed doing this whole blog thing, and I don't know why I have not been posting. I think a portion of it had to do w/ m. getting really bummed whenever I would vent like I used to . It's like, I have a pretty groovy life, why should I act like I'm miserable, y'know?? As a resut I came to a decsion where I just would not post while I worked on some things in my life.

I"m happy to report that there has been some exciting news in the past several months that I've been absent from blog land!! We've moved to Florida. Jacksonville, to be precise! We moved back in July. I'd been looking for a job in a warmer part of the country for quite some time! The past winter was just waaaaaaay too intense for my liking!! Vicki turned to me and went "Find a job where there is F*cking palm trees!"

I'd been looking for a gig in the South for quite a while before that. I just wanted to get to a place where I was closer to my Dad, and that had a better climate. I mean, why can't Tobin have a relationship w/ his Grandfather, right? Nothing wrong w/ that! I wanted Dad to be more than just someone T saw on Thanksgiving, and once during the summer!

So I began to send my resume out (and out, and out and out). I interviewed all over the Southeast. From Florida, to Alabama, to Georgia. I went on several interviews, until I landed the interview at this large retailer that eventually gave me a job offer. They offered me the job on a Monday night, and I flew down on a Thursday, and found an apartment 2 days later.

3 weeks later we had a move planned, and we were on the road to Jacksonville. 2 cars, a wife, a son, 2 dogs, and a (sickly) cat all made the trip down. We all made it in one piece too.

The lifestyle down here is pretty chill. I do dig that it is the middle of November, and I'm wearing shorts and flip flops right now. While I still struggle w/ depression and emotions, it is not as intense. There is truly something about a warmer, sunnier climate making me feel better! There are tons of evangelicals, and conservative Republicans down here, but what can you do.

Tobin and Vicki love it here! Tobin will be a surf and skate punk in no time. I totally can see him borrowing my Black Flag tapes at some point!

More blogs will be appearing now that I'm back in it!

Props to:

Vicki and Tobin for being the greatest Wife and Son ever!!
Alfredo Angulo and James Kirkland for having the best fight I've seen in years on HBO last weekend.
Canary in the Coal Mine for putting on a great show @ Mojo #4 the other night! It is soo awesome to move to a new place that you fear may be totally conservative, and to find a great band that can make the "scene" a littler more groovier!!

I suppose I should blog one more time before Christmas

2010-12-23T10:43:00.002-05:00

Not too much going on here. The Sincoff family is preparing for its' trek to Grandma's house in Pennsylvania. Should be fun to see my mother-in-law, and Vicki's side of the family for a few. It's a total "Over the river and thru the woods" kind of trip. So, it's season appropriate. Should be good fun to get out of Jerz for a few days, anyway.

Work has been crazy busy. Another reason why I have not been posting as much of late. Every person and their sister brought down some invoice or another that needed processing. Alas, that is exactly the kind of stuff that hits my desk. It has been keeping me on my toes!! Thankfully, work is shut for a few days. I'll be able to max and relax & recharge the ol' batteries!!

Couple of the highlights of the PA trip (in addition to seeing my very groovy mother-in-law) will be not only the chance to see the FANTABULOUS NEWCOMERS on a couple of different occasions, but the yearly visit home of M from Hamburg, Germany. She's a cool chick. It'll be good to see her!!

Other than that, I'm spending time w/ V and T, working on being happy, and enjoying the holiday season! I hope everyone else does too!

The Work Christmas or Holiday Party

2010-12-07T16:41:00.005-05:00

My work (the "drugplace") had its' Holiday party today. I just got back from it. It was a not bad affair actually. It was over at the Chart House Restaurant on the Hudson River in Weehawken, NJ. Like 100 years ago, I used to work across the street at Qwest. Being back on Harbor Blvd. brought back alot of memories. Alot of fun times were had at Icon CMT/Qwest. A great group of talented people were there. Some jerks too. All in all a good place.

Anyway, back to the party. It went well. Usually at these types of shindigs, you have to take a breath, and figure that you need to just relax, and enjoy yourself. As such, I actually got myself out on the dance floor and shook my moneymaker!! I represented the uncoordinated, Nice Jewish Boy posse while dancing to such gems as "Oh What a Night (1964)" by The Four Seasons and "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson. I think I truly represented as a result!

The best part of the whole party was seeing one of the executives dancing mightily to The Rolling Stones "Start Me Up". That alone was not too crazy. However when I listened to Mick and Keith's lyrics, I realized that they sing about necrophilia at the end of the song ("...you gave a dead man c*nt..."). That makes you see your co-workers in an entirely different light, let me tell you. Especially when they are a power executive type!

Other than the party, I'm hanging in there. I got home a little early from work, so I can write this. I'm gonna go walk the doggies, and chill out w/ Vicki and T. I'm waiting to hear some news about a project I'm involved in. Waiting to hear news when you want feedback is the hardest wait ever!!! I wish you could know stuff instantly, but alas you can't. It's t one of the harder lessons of adulthood that you can't make people work on your schedule sometimes, but that sometimes you have to deal with everyone elses' time frame. Bummer!!

Another Turkey Day is Finito!!!

2010-11-28T20:08:00.010-05:00

Well, I just had to write a little something while my Dad is here visiting Tobin, Vicki and I. To say that it has been a good visit has been an understatement. While I would not recommend always having an elderly parent hang around your house, asking for food and beverages, Dad has been a perfect gentleman.

We've totally just hung out, and had a good time. Dad flew in last Monday, and has been here the whole week. We haven't done anything too rock n' roll. However, we were really busy w/ the Thanksgiving preparations. With both the layout of the table, and the actual preparation of the bird, my gorgeous wife, Vicki totally outdid herself!!! It was an amazing day, it really was a day where I actually took some time, and was thankful for friends and family.

Our West Coast chill friends, Abi, Andy (of Boy's Night Out Fame!!) and Aidan came over for the day. Football was watched, Turkey was eaten and many, many laughs were had, big time. In fact, I think that the day really could not have gone much better. There were no arguments, there was a lot of laughter and delicious food was had. What more could you want? The only thing that is slightly lame is that it's back to work tomorrow!!! I originally had the whole day off to take Dad back to the airport as he is flying home tomorrow.

Dad's visit was quite memorable. He gave Tobin his Hanukkah/Birthday present, which was a train set!!! It's great to see Tobe say "Choo Choo Daddy, CHOO CHOO" all the time. Vicki put it together, and he is LOOOOOOOOVING playing the conductor. Right now, the train clang clang clang noises are reverberating in my head :) Aaaah the joys of parenthood!!!!! In all seriousness, it's great to see Tobin to have such joy on his face!!! It makes all the aggravation of everyday life all worthwhile.

It's going to be sad to say goodbye to Dad tomorrow. I'm not good w/ goodbyes as it is. As we both get older, the distance between Florida, and New Jersey seems deeper, longer, almost a continent away. Getting older, and time going bye is the name of the game, I guess. It does not make it any more easier to deal with, however!!!

Congrats go out to Juan Manual Marquez and Michael Katsidis who fought a GREAT fight on HBO last night from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. JMM came out on top, but Katsidis has nothing to be ashamed of, he showed alot of heart!!!!

Boys Night Out will rock and bring the Fury!

2010-11-19T18:33:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting here at home decompressing for a few. I'm psyched for several reasons. Not only is it Friday, and the end of a grueling work week, but I've scheduled a rocking Boys Night Out w/ my buddy Andy (The Professor) Elliott! All sorts of shenanigans will be done at some point this evening. I do know we are going to shoot some pool, and maybe get a burger or something. The Village of Hackettstown will not know what hit it once these two hip guys hit that town.

The Womens (Abi and Vicki) and the Chillun's (Aiden and Tobin) have been put away for the evening! Dinners are being prepared, sheets are being turned down in their bedrooms. NW Morris County had better issue some sort of advisory warning for the metaphysical, thermodynamic event that is going to hit it in about 90 minutes!!! We are talking MASS PANDEMONIUM as Elliott and Sincoff have their Boys Night out!!! God Save the State of New Jersey tonight.

Lock up your valuables, Morris County!! Gird your loins!!! If you have fair haired daughters, hide them away! In all seriousness, I'm soooo looking forward to a night out. Haven't had one in like forever. It should be pretty fun. I'm gonna behave myself. I have to, as I'm driving. Besides, I don't want to party that much!

Anyone watching the UFC this weekend? Who you picking? Lyoto Machida, or Quinton "Rampage" Jackson? For me, I gotta go w/ karate over the Man who howls at the moon a la The Junkyard Dog!!!

Zombies Rule, and Tobin likes Caillou!!!

2010-11-06T10:06:00.004-04:00

We had an as always interesting visit to Pennsylvania this past weekend. We got to spend some quality time w/ my mother-in-law, Shirley . She and Vicki and I took Tobin to the Harrisburg Mall for trick or treating. Tobin was dressed up as a puppy dog. I'm not sure if Tobe got the while trick or treat concept; but he did dig some of the twizzlers that he got, I can attest to that!

We also got to spend some time with our favorite peeps, The Newcomers! Shirley watched Tobin for us on Sunday and we met up w/ them in Harrisburg for a meal at an Italian place. We had a nice meal, some pasta and some wine. It's always relaxing, and fun to have a meal w/Kayly and Nate as they both really make me smile. So, we relaxed, laughed, had a great meal, and got ready to watch the Zombie apocalypse that is "The Walking Dead" on AMC TV.

What a great show! Basically (based on a graphic novel) this Sheriff's deputy gets shot in the line of duty. He walks up some period later in the hospital to find not only piles of dead bodies everywhere, but zombies walking the earth, yes, THE UNDEAD!!! I enjoyed the arc of the first episode, and I'm looking forward to the 2nd episode tomorrow night!!

It's been an ok week since last weekend. Tobin has decided he loves Sprout TV and Caillou.The show is basically about a precocious little kid who lives in Quebec! I don't get the big time allure of time, but then I'm not an almost 2 year old little boy. The show mellows him out however, and that's certainly a good thing!!

Tobin also has been watching "The Wiggles" alot on Sprout TV!! The Wiggles are basically the Monkeys, but for toddlers', and little kids. They don't even warrant a hyperlink as I SO don't get them, and find 'em insipid :)

Friday, Friday!!

2010-10-29T08:16:00.004-04:00

This has been one of those weeks where nothing particularly bad, or stressful has happened. Thankfully, I can honestly say that getting to Friday has not been too much of a chore! I'm still trying to rock my lightbox as much as I can, and I'm getting some results. I'm working hard in therapy, and trying to stay positive. The change in seasons, and the days getting shorter has historically been disastrous on my good vibes!! I'm just trying to do the best I can to stay away from that negativity.

Vicki, Tobin and I went outside last night after I came home from work to play for a bit. It was fun to watch V and T draw pictures of pirates and pumpkins on the sidewalk w/ chalk. I think we have a junior pirate in training w/ our youngster in that he seems to love putting things on on his head that seem like hats to him, scowling, and saying "pirate"! It's very cute. I'm sure Captain Jack Sparrow would welcome the young apprentice. However, Mom and Dad Sincoff don't want to send our youngster off to sail the high seas just yet!!

Howsabout those UFC fights, huh? Was anyone else surprised to see Brock Lesnar get so dominated by Cain Velasquez? That cut that opened up under Brock's eye w as the grossest thing ever!! The rest of the card was ok, nothing too spectacular. I felt Jake Shields looked totally unspectacular in his UFC debut, but that's just me playing armchair sports guy!! In actuality, I think he lost to Martin Kampann in that one. I felt that Diego Sanchez looked fantastic in his return to form against Paulo Thiago!

We're off to PA this weekend. Off to the land of Chocolate and friendliness for a weekend of seeing my mother-in-law (hi shirley!) and the Newcomers (Hi Kayly and Nate!). It's also Halloween, so everyone have a safe and Spooktacular time!! We are dressing Tobin up as a Puppy Dog, which should be cute! I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get back.

My little boy got a haircut!!!

2010-10-22T09:49:00.006-04:00

Look how gorgeous my favorite little boy looks:
That's right! Tobin got his first haircut yesterday! Being in the workforce means you have to miss pivotal "coming of age" stuff like this!! Tobin really knows how rock a new haircut!!! Look at how handsome my little guy looks. It makes me feel bad that I was working when this happened. But, what can you do? One has to pay the bills right?

In some of my fantasies, I totally do a Michael Keaton, "Mr. Mom" thing at some point. I'd love to stay at home and raise Tobe, while Vick goes back to work. I don't know if that will ever happen . I would love to put on "Twist And Shout" and just dance around while vacuuming!! I mean, if I could hit the lottery or something, THAT would totally rock. Alas, til that day when the money is literally raining @ Casa Del Sincoff, I will be a hard working, procurement professional!!

Who else is psyched for UFC 121? Will Brock Lesnar beat Cain Velasquez? What do you think?

I'm Beginning to See the Light

2010-10-17T16:23:00.004-04:00

No, I haven't joined some reformed version of The Velvet Underground!!! (My subject title is also the title of a Velvet Underground song). I've started doing Light Therapy via a Light Box. For ages and ages, Ive dealt w Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Basically, when the days get shorter, and it's darker for longer periods of time; I get down in the dumps. My mood swings get just horrible. I have really low lows, and it's just sometimes really bad.

Well, cue a suggestion from my brilliant, gorgeous wife, Vicki. and I've started staring at this Lightbox device each morning before work. I can honestly say that my mood has been better, and I've been sleeping better as a result. I look forward to battling this seasonal scourge even more w/ this great device! Sometimes to feel better, you gotta put in some work. If working this this LightBox each day can make me deal w/ the change in seasons a little better, then I'm all for it.

Did anyone else catch UFC 120 last night for free on Spike TV? It was a mixed bag of fights. I thought that Alexander Gustaffson looked like a MONSTER in stopping the very experienced Cyril "The Snake" Diabate. Alexander displayed some great ground skills, and terrific stand up. His dedication to working for the rear naked choke was something to see!! With the punishment Diabate took, it really brings home how tough a business MMA/boxing/combat sports are. Cyril looked like he had been put through the ringer for sure.

The Mike Pyle vs. John Hathaway fight was ok, but nothing great. I DID dig the point when Pyle crucifixed Hathaway's arms, and was raining down punches!!! Other than that, the fight was kind of a snooserooni!! The Cheick Kongo fight vs Travis Browne was of note just because you had to say "What ever happened to Kongo!? There was no fierce display of GnP at all! He seemed to be sleepwalking through the fight.

Kudos have to go to the 2 Co-main event fights. Carlos Condit lived up to his nickname of "The Natural Born Killer"as he destroyed Dan Hardy by KO in the very first round!! He literally put him on ice as they say, and it was awesome to see as Hardy is a bit of a plonker . Not to mention the fact that I love it when the fights are in England (as last night's card was at the O2 Arena) and the hometown fighter loses!!!

Kudos to Michael "The Count" Bisping who won a very hard fought Unanimous decision against "Sexiyama" Yoshihiro Akiyama! It was a great back and forth affair. Bisping was just the better man last night. I was a good boy, I could have logged on and checked the fights to see who won (as we're like 5 hrs behind the UK), but I abstained, and was rewarded by some entertaining fights!!

I'd love to take some of my cool London friends (Do you hear me Natalie & Elliott? Rob & Amanda? Allison & Riord??!) to see the UFC the next time they are in the UK. It would be a blast!!

A whole lot of Non Shaking Goin' On!!

2010-10-13T21:26:00.005-04:00

Boy oh Boy oh boy! Who woulda thunk that if you moved just 25 minutes down the road, there would be such a big difference?? While I was never the hyoooooogest Madison, NJ fan, it did have some positives. It was a walking town. There was a Main Street that you could walk down and check out the stores. There were lights, restaurants etc. People were out and about.

Rockaway, where we moved to is remote and isolated in my opinion. You can't walk ANYWHERE because you are at least 2 miles away from the "downtown" area. Hey, even if you stick your head out the door of your house, you get nothin'. Like total crickets chirping and stuff. I'm getting used to all of this... quiet.... it is kind of wack. I'm not the biggest fan. Since this is the place where I write my thoughts. I figured that I would put it out there.

It's one of the themes I wrestle with. I always, always, always have loved action. and people. Nature is great, but people are cooler, quite frankly. we had to make a move rather suddenly when our landlord felt like reclaiming our old apartment. It was cool to be able to see Neighbor Jones, and Mrs. Perriwinkle ( if you will) and give 'em a shout out & talk about landscaping, or the works of Proust. Out here, in Rockaway Township, there ain't a lot of literary criticism going on, sadly.

However, I'm trying to work through it. The Big Fella upstairs put us out here on Cherokee Avenue for a reason. I'm just working to find out why!!

Shout out to Kayly!!

2010-10-07T23:12:00.002-04:00

Kayly S. Newcomer is such a groovy chick (How groovy is she, you ask?)! She has hipped The Sincoff's to the great BBC America show Law & Order/ UK. Vicki and I watched one episode, and we've immediately become hooked!! What a testament to a great formula that the original "Law & Order" was!!! You have tireless detectives trying to clear cases, and then you have the prosecutor's working on putting the bad guys away for good!! How can you go wrong w/ that?

Factor that in with the fact that w/ "L&O-UK", you are watching a foreign judicial system at work, and it makes it even more fascinating. I mean,, I was sitting there watching the episode going " that powdered wig is like, totally going to fall off any moment"!! Nonetheless, I love watching crime shows, when they are done well. We've totally set a series recording for "Law & Order-UK". Thanks Kayly!!! I (almost) can't wait for the first blizzard of the season so we can have a marathon of this show!!

While I'm talking about TV shows, I gotta give a nod to another show that looks great on BBC America. "Luther" , which about a detective (played by Idris Elba) who may or may not break the law to get his cases solved . It apparently shows a "dark side of humanity". Which for me, may spelled "Homicide: Life on the Street" in the past!! It looks irresistible! So, I can't wait to catch it!!

Work is going ok, can't really complain. I'm slooowly getting settled into my new home here in Rockaway. I really liked Madison in that it had a downtown, and you could walk to it. Unfortunately, it's a little different out here in the farther reaches of Morris County. It's taking some getting used to. However, that's just what I'm a gonna do!! I must say that I am looking forward to a boss free few days of work as my boss is going on vacation as of tomorrow!! WOO HOOOO!!! When Momma Cat is away, her kittens can play!! LOLOLOLOL

Finally the weekend (or Props to Shirley for coming to visit!)

2010-10-01T22:06:00.006-04:00

I'm writing to you after a Friday night "Date Night"!! Shirley, my mother-in-law, has been visiting for the past few days. It has been great seeing Tobin chase after her calling her "Damaw" It's adorable actually. Anyway, Shirley was nice enough to volunteer her babysitting services. It's few and far between that V and I can enjoy a leisurely, solo dinner sans child!

We ended up going to a Spanish restaurant called Jai Alai in Dover. It actually gave the legendary Spanish restaurants in the Ironbound section of Newark a run for the money. The vibe of the place was very chill, w/ tons of Bullfighting posters and Jai Alai paraphernalia abounding. We shared this great mariscada salsa roja. It was basically a seafood casserole in this red wine brandy reduction. It was deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelish!! The Stuffed mushrooms for a starter were to die for.

It was not like the date nights of the Prehistoric Pre Tobin Era :) There was no imbibing in various East Village Watering holes. We were home to Shirley and Tobin by 9:30. We actually watched "The Soup" on E!, and we were in bed by 11:30pm. Rock n'roll right? I'm sure the members of Arcade Fire, and The Black Keys are very, very jealous!

It is gonna be a very social weekend as Vicki's sister, brother, and sister-in-law are coming today to pick up Shirley. One of the props of aging is that people come to pick you up from places. I can't wait til that happens to me in my golden years! And no, I'm not making fun, I actually think it's great!!! Also, Ernie, (who is my former middle school speech teacher) and his wife Eleanor are coming to visit tomorrow!! Should be a blast.

Now, if we could only get the Giants to beat the Bears tomorrow night on NBC, we would be batting 1000!!

Root Canals and UFC 119

2010-09-25T18:24:00.009-04:00

I'd been having this really bad tooth ache of late. So much in fact, that I was totally getting the dull, throbbing ache throughout the right hand side of my mou(f)th. I figured that I'd chipped a tooth or something stoopid like that eating ice (as I'm won't to do). It had digressed to the point that I had started to swig whisky as a little Jack never hurt anyone.

I finally got fed up Thursday night, and went to the ER to hopefully get some painkillers to last me through the night til I could get to see my dentist. Thankfully, they were very brief at the hospital over there in Denville (in fact, to show you how focused I was on getting painkillers, I could not even tell you the name of the hospital!!LOL), they gave me a once over, and promptly gave me some Oxy. Thank You Easter Bunny, Buck buck!!!!

I wake up on a cloud Friday morning, and I promptly pop another pill on the way to work. I call the dentist, and they immediately say that they can see me in an hour. Thankfully, I can get to my dentist from work very quickly. I get over tehre, and it turns out that I need a root canal!! I'm already chilled from the Oxy I took, so it was the most pain free, comfortable root canal on record!! IN FACT, I almost fell asleep a couple of times in the middle of it, can you believe that?!?!?!

Having a great, mellow weekend here at the Sincoff ranch. We went to Lowes, and did some home shopping. Vicki actually purchased some hedge clippers, and a Shop Vac to help vaccum up the acorn problem that we have!! hard to believe that we have sooooooo many acorns, but alas, 'tis true. Sadly, we discovered that our electric lawn mower that was here in the shed does not work as it totally conked out in the middle of what we were doing :( we are gonna have to actually buy a lawn mower now, sad!

Just came back from taking Tobin to the local playground. I tell you, there were some high school girls there he was TOTALLY putting the mack on!! There were thousands of littl ekids his own age he could have hung out w/, but he totally made a bee line for these girls, and just sat right next to them. It was quite the performance!!!

Psyched for UFC 119 tonight. It's coming out of one of the most unhip places in America in Indianapolis, Indiana. I think there are very few places that I will never go to in life. Indianapolis, and Oklahoma City are just two towns for example that I can go to my grave w/o seeing. Sad, but true, right there. Anyway, they have a pretty good card coming out tonight.

As I've said previously, I buy a PPV card based on how deep it is, how many good fights are on the televised portion. You start out w/ Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens, and you got me hooked right there. Guillard has always been explosive, and always been flawed. However he has recussitated his career by starting to train w/ Greg Jackson. I Go with the Young Assassin in this one!

In Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham you get one of those classic Old Lions vs. Young Turk duels. I always go with the youngster. Even though Sherk needs a win big, I don't think the former lightweight champ will be able to turn back the clock and shock the world. I also think that you have to look at how Sherk did (not wel) against Frankie Edgar in his last fight. You so totally can not turn back the clock and beat Father time.

Matt Sera vs. Chris Lytle is a great fight. Just a fun popcorn fight. Both guys really fight from opening, to closing bell. They never give up. Lytle is often in fight of the night on the PPV's he is in. He does not always win, but he never gives up. In fact, this is a rematch. They fought each other like 5 years ago. I gotta go w/ "Lights Out" in this one!!!

Of course we have our main event in Frank Mir vs Mirko Cro Cop. Mirko was such a feared dude when he fought in Pride FC in Japan

Since that time, he's shown nothing in the UFC. Zero, zilch nada, niente!!! He looks like a boring, old man. Slow and just not into fighting at all. Frank Mir is coming off a loss to Shane Carwin. He's gotta come back strong, and hungry. I totally pick him to choke out Mirko in Round One!!

Birthday Party was a Success!!

2010-09-21T20:50:00.006-04:00

Well, it can now be told how successful my awesome wife, Vicki was in pulling off "the party of the year" up here in Rockaway Township!! Not only did she hold her liquor well, she looked GORGEOUS doing it as well. Look at this groovy picture of my wife. She's drinking a glass of wine, and probably multi tasking at the same time!!!

All of her Hors D'Ouvres were amazing. Her fried ravioli was to die for. It was the perfect mixture of zesty and sweet. Her samosas that the made were awesome as well. So often you will go to a party, and there will be no food there but tons o' alcohol. Well, it certainly can be said that there was both food and drink at my shindig. Thanks Vick for all of your help

The cake was awesome, and very appropriately labelled I think since we just were at week 2 of the NFL Season!! If only the Giants had beaten the Colts in the battle of the Brothers (Peyton vs. Eli Manning) Alas, I think that if Eli and Peyton played each other 10 games in a row, Peyton would win each game. He's just that much better an athlete!! Doesn't make for a fun game to watch, though :( we had it turned off by 9pm, so we could watch the premier of the very awesome "Boardwalk Empire" on HBO!!!! Steve Buscemi has outdone himself again

There's something about the world of the gangster that still resonates, still fascinates. Martin Scorcese described it as the dark side of the American Dream. What if you lived your life as if the rules did not apply to you? It's a fascinating concept that's for sure !!!

Look how delicious this cake was. In fact, I had some helpers who were ready to blow out the candles in case I could not perform my duties in a decent manner.

Thanks to all friends like Rachel M. , Rollie Fingers Rockstar, Kayly N. Belynda and Jarrid, Mike C. and Mary for showing up for an awesome partay. It's great to have friends like you guys around!!

Home, this must be the place

2010-09-15T23:40:00.004-04:00

Well, I made it through the birthday. Although we will be celebrating this weekend w/ an awesome shindig at our house. Friends from far and near will be coming to help me give myself a shout out!! The awesomely cool Mary Foy and Kayly S. Newcomer will be coming all the way from Pennsylvania. It's always awesome to see those 2 kids, and I promise that I will not be sooo belligerent about the State of Israel. In fact, I promise to Kayly that I will not even voice my opinion on the Israeli settlement issue (although, you'd be surprised), or anything like that !! I'm that magnamimous a party host!! :)

It's weird saying it, as I usually look for the hole in the silver lining, but this place here on Cherokee Ave. is starting to feel very home-like. Vicki has done a great job (and I'm sure that Tobin helped "manage" the tidying and unpacking!) of getting stuff done while I'm at work. She''s amazing. Just a great wife and Mom. I don't say thank you enough to her. She's the best; I'm just so lucky. Thanks for doing your thang, Vick!!

We've met a few people in the neighborhood also. I'm not saying I'm gonna invite them over for the next UFC PPV yet, however. People seem to go out of their way to say hello and talk to you, and they seem to really mean it. There are alot of little kids in the neighborhood. I plan on trying to get Tobin outside as much as possible so he can meet folks, and form his toddler posse out here. I don't want to diss Marcellus, however!! Belynda's little boy is his main man, and those kids are gonna remain BFFs!! They get on so well together! I hear it's very cute to watch.

Work is going ok. Nothing either too bad, or too great going on. Just one foot in front of the other, really. You can develop a way of just keeping your head down, and getting through tyour work day. I'm not saying I didn't wish that work was a bit mor fulfilling or whatever. It's called work, after all as my Dad would say!! It's a bitter pill to swallow, to realize that, but what can you do?

Well, what you can do, is blog to get your creativity out!! That's just what I'm doing here!!!

It's amazing how quickly UFC has put out a better product than boxing. I caught the last HBO "Boxing After Dark", and it was such a snoozer. I remember the days of Kennedy McKinney versus Marco Antonio Barrera on HBO. Sadly those days are gone . UFC knows how to market their fighters, make them stars, so they are the reason you watch/buy the fights. Somehow, boxing has seemed to get lost along the way.

I'm not sure if it if the lack of true personalities in boxing, or what.. However, it is evident. I dont know about you, but I'd gladly watch Frank Mir fight Mirko Cro Cop rather than Sugar Shane Mosely fight Sergio Mora!! I mean puhleeeeeze. Somebody give Bob Arum a smack, and wake him up. Bob, and Don King need to start working hard to catch up to MMA! They're totally getting left behind in the dust!

40 and still (Fairly) Fabulous!

2010-09-10T18:08:00.003-04:00

Jesus Christ, guess I had a birthday yesterday, huh? I hit the big 4-0 yesterday. It was a very mellow, fun time. I'd had alot of trepidation in me as the date approached. However, what can you do, you can't escape it, right? I just have had issues, that I work on in therapy about just where all the time went. I love being a Dad, and a husband; but where did all the years go??

Vicki surprised me 2 days ago by saying "Hey, the diaper bag is really heavy, why don't you help me unload it". Well, dopey me, I thought it truly was heavy (which, hey, it was). So I found my bday present inside!! She got me one of those "Nook" eReaders. I love it!! I think it's so amazing to have a device where you can store up to 1500 books in one place! How about that!

I promptly downloaded my first book, and I'm in the middle of reading "The girl w/ the Dragon Tattoo". Pretty good Scandinavian thriller so far. That Larsson dude had alot of talent! He left us too soon (He died at 50!). In all seriousness, stuff like the Nook opens up reading to a whole different generation. Though I still feel reading is a visceral pleasure at the same time. So, we will see. As long as people keep reading, it's all good, right?

Yesterday at work, my co-workers got me a cake, and sang Happy Birthday. It was a nice touch. Not every workplace does that. So it is nice that they do that. Then Vicki took me to a local place here in Rockaway for dinner called "Potbelly's" Good food was had by all, And the adults had champagne.

So, as I have hit my 40Th year, I can ease back, and work on being a loving , open husband, and a giving Father as well. I will keep on trying to work on being a better human being to Vicki, Tobin and those around me!!!

So Far, So OK

2010-09-06T10:11:00.002-04:00

What, you expected me to say everything was great? :) I'm a cynic, c'mon guys, you know me better than that. In all seriousness however, the move is going really ok. The new place is starting to feel like home (A LITTLE BIT). The move started on Wednesday at around 9 a.m. when the movers got to the Madison place. I was immediately put off a little bit when the boss mover told me that some of our stuff was not going to get moved as we had not packed it yet.

I don't know if you've tried moving with a toddler in tow, dear reader, but it's very tiresome and consuming. You just have to set reasonable expectations and just deal. Neither Vicki or I have parents that are right next door (and in some cases, Thank god for that as I would not want my dad next door! LOLOLOLOLOLOL) So you do the best you can.

And in our case, we asked the landlord if we could carry on moving out stuff out on 9/2 The Thursday. They were nice enough to say yes, so we did do that.. Finally, we are all moved out. We're a little stir crazy as we will have no TV or internet access til Thursday!!!! However, the place is starting to feel ok. I'm actually writing this to you from work, as I went in on Labor Day to empty out my email so I could start the work week tomorrow on a clean slate!!!

That's another thing about the move, I needed to take an extra day off (had originally taken Tues and Wed Off), as the move was a nightmare. So, I called out work here at the drug place emporium on Thursday. Needless to say, that did not go over too well w/ the big boss men and boss women. Suddenly, I'm a rebel all over again. Oh well, what can you do. Gotta do it rock n'roll style just Like I always do, that's for sure!!! I'll hang in there as always!

Can you believe that on 9/9, I'm gonna turn 40 years old?? Crazy. Never thought I'd get here. I find myself feeling a little scared, but fairly centered about it. Not too depressed or anything. We shall see how far that feeling continues!!!!

Moving Day!

2010-09-01T08:53:00.002-04:00

So, I am sitting here awaiting the moving guys to move us to our new abode. Boxes are packed, trash is bagged, and we are just awaiting the dudes who do it for a living. I can't say that this is a pleasant experience all of our animal s are uptight and know something is up!! I wish I could tell 'em that they are ok. There is something unique about moving, and universal about the experience. No one likes it, no one enjoys it, and it bums everybody out!!

I must give a shout out to my dear wife Vicki for hanging in there and being such a great leader in this endeavor! She's the best. Where ever we end up is home as long as I'm with you and Tobin, babe!!

Grrr Anxiety!!!

2010-08-24T00:48:00.004-04:00

I'm a twisting and a turning w/ anxiety right now. It's 12:50 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, and I'm wide awake, and so uncomfortable in my own skin right now. It's not that I'm depressed, because I'm not; I'm actually quite happy. I've just been really tense lately. Everything at home, and at work is going fine. Yet, I feel soooo uncomfortably awake and "UP" right now. It stinks. I don't now what I'm gonna do to get sleepy. This is why people self medicate. Something that I'm not going to do. That I do know.

I blogged about UFC being this past weekend. How incorrect I was! It's THIS weekend!! So, Mary Mary from Philly is coming up Saturday for fun and frolic and anaconda chokes. I soooooo hope Randy Couture decks James Toney!! Fingers crossed. It's truly amazing how MMA has surpassed boxing as a brand nowadays. I can only think of one or two boxers who can now make me watch HBO.

I remember back in the day, when HBO's "Boxing after Dark" started, there were some classic fights! Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Kennedy McKinney MADE me a boxing fan. What a friggin' classic that one was. If I still have my druthers, if we have another baby boy, we're naming him either Marco, or "The Baby Faced Assassin"!!!! I don't know if Vicki will be too happy with that, however.

Nowadays, HBO has a barren boxing scene. They had some boxer from Connecticut on last weekend, and he practically put me to sleep!! He was 'orrible as the British would mispronounce! At least the fighter he was fighting was Haitian, and now lived in Montreal. Now that's a great combo!! The Haitian Canuck actually won the fight, in his home territory too up in Montreal. So good for him, right?

UFC has managed to make their ppvs and specials an "event". I know that watching it live was so very special when we went back in 2007. I would love to go again as well. Maybe that will happen one day. Seeing Chuck Lidell vs. Wanderlei Silva just rocked my world. Still does!!!

Had a great, busy weekend w/ Vicki and Tobin. We are busily preparing for our forced Exodus (hey, we're Son's and Daughter's of Israel, right?) to Rockaway Township. I'm looking forward to the move being over on September first. I'm optimistic that it won't be that painful!!!! We went to a great garage sale that our friends' Amanda and Ray threw up in Passaic County. Even bought some Cd's and a Cat in the Hat doll for Mr. T!!!

So, we've made it to Tuesday, which is halfway to Wednesday, and then the week of work is pretty much done by that point, right??? That's what I keep telling myself!!! Congrats to Lisa and Caleb for their surprise nuptials. They're good kids and I wish 'em well!!!!

It's the weekend, Y'alls!!

2010-08-19T21:55:00.004-04:00

I sit here writing this on Thursday night, but for me, 'tis the end of the week!! I have taken Friday off for various moving and shaking strategy type dealings. We're talking 007 type intrigue. Games of baccarat, martinis are gonna be shaken and most definitely not stirred, we are talking literal rock n'roll excitement for my long weekend. Actually, I hope to rest a little, and to go with Vick and Tobe to the playground to watch him run around a little bit. He is growing into SUCH a little young man right now, it's awesome, and scary :) where does all the time go???

We have had the mysterious Auditor dude "A" in from the corporate office. He is very Germanic and very demanding. His reputation preceded him, with his demand for outrageous documentation, and his blood curdling critiques of internal processes'. I had my first run in with him today (it is a good thing he did not see I was checking my gmail account when he walked up) I think I held my own with him in the grand discussion. I am not saying that I am gonna come out of the argument unscathed, but I think he left my desk with a respect that there is a Procurement process and presence at F Parsippany.

Occasionally, it feels good to know what you are talking about! Prior to my arrival 3 years ago (good grief), F had just failed an audit led by Mr. A. It was that failure that created my position, and then led to me getting hired at F. So, in a way I should have taken him out for a beer or something. However, I will merely accept the fact that my answers were good enough for him. It was onlly 15 minutes of discomfort, which in the grand scheme o'things is really nothing!! So Yay Team Ethan!!!!

I'm psyched for UFC 118 that is coming up this weekend for a few reason which I will decribe: First off, you have the rematch between NJ's own Frankie Edgar taking on BJ Penn for the Lightweight Title. While I did not watch Edgar - Penn 1 in Abu Dhabi, I heard it was a tight, close fight that Edgar used his wrestling skill to literally grind out a decision. Sounds like I'm a gonna root for the Jersey Boy against The Prodigy!!!

Also, we got Randy "The Natural" Couture vs. James "Lights Out" Toney. James is making his MMA debut after what sseems like 100,000 years as a boxer. I've had an issue w/ Mr. Lights Out since he beat one of my main men Vassili Jirov on HBO a few years ago. I hope Randy uses his GnP and literally rips James apart. I hope to report that just this happens!! You add Marcus Davis vs. Nate Diaz (who literally can NOT speak English, I swear he has marbles in his mouth! Nick, his brother, is the WORST, btw. Finally Ken Florian vs. Gray Maynard make the UFC entrance into Boston a card that you can not miss!!

Life has been going pretty good. I wish Tobe would get to bed a little earlier, but all in all, I'm very happy. Everyone is healthy, and everyone is working towards the future!! I should have some more news about the future stuff soon!!!!!

Forgot to tell you about the other action going on

2010-08-14T22:39:00.002-04:00

It's funny. I usually use this blog as a platform to say "I hate Republicans". Or "professionally I could rock more" or " I love Nate and Kayly Newcomer"! I sometimes forget that real life stuff, not the imaginary life stuff of Coheed and Cambria songs actually happens!! Stuff that you actually could use a blog to vent with. Perhaps I am an airhead, I don't know.

For lack of dramatic buildup, I came down the stairs of our apartment last Saturday. I was gonna rock a bagel run. As The Sincoff's like to bring in breakfast on a groovy Saturday morning. I see this note left by our lovely landlord. In a nutshell, it says something along the lines of "there was a fire alarm that inadvertently went off the other day. The firemen and cops came, but there was nothing wrong. However, zoning laws we were made aware of make it impossible for you (us) to live here anymore".

So, we have to leave this apartment by the end of September! Can you believe those appples or what!!!!!???? If there is anything that I hate more than anything, it is moving. I hate the packing, the purging of stuff, the taping of boxes, the moving of boxes, the sweeping and the preparation. It all sucks. However, I know Bicki and I will pull it together, and make a good move possible. In fact, we are on our way to that already!

We even saw 4 apartments yesterday thru a realtor. 2 in Chatham, and 2 in Rockaway Township. The first (across from Towne Tavern) was a bit too small, and in too industrial an area (but nice). The 2nd Chatham one was an absolute dump. The first Rockaway one was a nice small 2 bedroom house w/ a fenced in yard, but only a washer/dryer, no dishwasher. the final place was a 3 bedroom house, w/a back yard, storage shed, laundry room area, and dishwasher w/ a washer dryer as well. We liked the space, there was even a play area for Tobin.

He kept on running around the place and clapping, saying "yay"!!!!!! I'll keep you posted, but that place looks good.

Having a good weekend otherwise as well. Got my hair cut, and I'm ready to rock the work force tomorrow as our auditor is coming over from Switzerland on Monday. Being the rocking, diligent employee I am, I'm going in on Sunday to prepare! Go me, right??

Other than that. Life is pretty ok. I'm trying some new variations of my meds out, and it seems to be evening out some of the valleys I seem to fall into emotionally. It's always a struggle for me to stay w/ my head above water emotionally. However, with going to weekly therapy appointments, it seems to help me deal w/ the real world, and my place in it a whole lot better!1

Monday Blahs

2010-08-09T23:17:00.003-04:00

Well, at least another Monday is in the history books again. It's not that when Monday comes around, I get particularly more depressed than I do any other day of the week. However, I gotta say, there is a certain routine ness, a certain grim return to the norm after a weekend respite that makes it a bit of a bummer.

Factor that in w/ a work place scene that is a work place scene, and you have an equation for being somewhat bummed about Mondays. I'm not talking about being bummed like that girl in San Diego who shot up that school, and was immortalized in "I don't like Monday's" by the cBoomtown Rats. THAT'S a bit extreme!! I do wonder if she realized how famous she was gonna be when she uttered that line!?

Had a groovy weekend w/ the Newcomers and Vicki in Pennsyltucky. My Dad actually reprimanded me for calling the Newcomers "The Newcomers" in that he thought I was characterizing their friendship, and not just referencing their last name!! that's funny! Good one, there Dad!!

Had an "eh" da y at work, and now it's back into the bosom of the old family !! I gotta give a big shout out to the kids at Kashi Foods in that they make a great product! I had one of their frozen lunches today that was amazing, AND we had a pizza that they make for dinner that was awesome as well!! Good stuff!!! Sometimes life has some amazing moments, and you don't even expect it!!!

We are back from Flo-Rida!

2010-07-19T23:20:00.003-04:00

The trip was a fantastic success!! Tobin had a blast getting to know his grandpa. His grandpa actually behaved himself!! Tobe ran around like crazy through Dad's apartment, moving everything all over the place. Even the broom and the plunger!! In all seriousness, the first day, we brought him over to the pool that is in my dad's complex. We put Tobin in the water (I'm holding him, of course) he literally goes "weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" w/ this big smile on his face :) He then leaned in to give me Eskimo Kisses. Made my day, man!!

Other highlights of the trip included a trip to the Brevard County Zoo. Tobin got to feed a white tailed deer, and some goats, and he fed Rafiki the Girafe as well!! What a blast!! Vicki is a fantastic groovy wife, and Tobin is becoming quite the little man already! Where is all of the time going ???!?!? The only semi negative thing about the trip (aside from Brock Lesnar getting off the canvas at UFC 116 to tap out Shane Carwin!) were the flights!!

Tobin did really well with certain portions of the flights, and others he just didn't. Luckily, on the flight home, there was a very attractive Indian lady sitting accross the aisle from us. he was very into her! Also, there were some high school girls going on a class trip (I think they were connecting to a flight to the UK out of Newark. He LOOOOOVED THEM!!

In the end, we did get home ok, thankfully. I think I'm just now getting my strength back!1

Finally before I get outta here, I gotta give a shout out to Degrassi on Teen Nick! Season 10 debuted toinght. They are calling it "The Boiling Point" They are gonna run a new episode every night Monday - Friday!! They started it off w/ a special 2 hr premier!! LOOOOVED every moment of it!!!! Spinner and Emma; how 'bout that!!?

Flo-Rida

2010-07-04T00:57:00.003-04:00

So the Sincoff posse has been down in the land of the endless buffet since Thursday evening. It took forever to get down here. Continental did not let us have direct flights ( I won 2 gift certificates thru work @ our Christmast party). So, alas, we had to fly to Cleveland, and then transfer planes after waiting for 3 hours to get to Orlando. Poor Tobin was waaaaaaaaaaaaay wore out by the time we got here!!

He has charmed the pants off of everyone, however!!! He has been dishing out his killer smile, and making his eyes twinkle big time. Various young waitresses, old ladies and my Aunt Cynthi are all captivated by his come hither look!! In all seriousness, it's awesome to see him have so much fun. He reall enjoyed the pool as well!!

Dad and I took him to the park today to give Vicki some "down time". It was awesome to see Mr. T just run and run and run! He came home and promptly took a nap! He is a sweetie :) I love him soooooo much. I just wish he did better with his bedtime!!

Just got back from watching UFC 116 w/ the Daddy-o. Bummed that Shane Carwin did not win. However, he should have finished Brock off in the first round!! If you knock some one down, you gots to capitalize!!

Off to the zoo tomorrow!! They feed the alligators on Sundays (well I'm sure they feed them everyday, but tomorrow is open feeding for public viewing!! Can't wait.

Props to Lil' Old Me!

2010-06-21T19:14:00.002-04:00

So we celebrated my 2nd Father's Day yesterday. I can honestly say that Vicki outdid herself the entire weekend! I could not ask for a better wife, and partner in crime!! The weekend started by some frantic cleaning on our part. We had our pals Caleb and Lisa over for brunch on Saturday.

I really think we fixed the place up decently. It was totally dealable! Vicki made this amazing breakfast tart that was just to die for!! All in all, it was a great brunch w/ great company. Tobin was quite the little host, and it's amazing to see him thrive!

It's funny, as Sunday was "my day", I got this great card from Vicki and Tobin, time to take a nap, and time to read in peace!! Could you ask for more?? I don't think so!! I try really hard to be a good husband to Vick, and a good dad to Tobin. I hope that I do well. I'm very self conscious of trying to be a good Dad, and it's something i strive for. Tobin certainly seems to have fun with me, so I must be doing something right!!!

I adore that little boy. I would do anything for him, and I just love being his his dad! I look forward to many more Father's Day celebrations w/ V&T down the road!!

What don't kill a nigga, MAKE a nigga

2010-06-09T21:22:00.005-04:00

So said the late, great, rather hefty Notorious B.I.G. It's a lyric. Don't think I'm being all racial as Ali G would say. I think it's a appropriate lyric for those of use out there, dealing with ups and downs in life. For with every up, there seems to be a down too. Seems to be a lot of struggles out there!

Things are great at home. I've been taking Tobin to the playground alot and he is loving it!! He had the run of the sandbox yesterday all to himself!! He was sooooooo psyched. I was pretty psyched to watch him! I was also glad to give Vicki some time to herself!! We have also been doing bath time at night, and we're having a blast establishing these Daddy/Son rituals. It's amazing how these things bring a smile to my face.

Yet at the same time, I do struggle w/ dark moments. In fact I was just talking to my therapist about this today. I have a great wife, who is awesome, and sexy and funny... I have this amazing little boy, who can light up my world, and I am amazed at how he is growing... yet there are moments of real depression that I have to surf through.... Crazy, huh?

Crazy stuff has been happening @ the old drug workplace. The Grand Poo Bah of my area, the one who once said I was not a good employee, and gave me a horrible performance review, and made sure I got no bonus for the year suddenly got fired last week for poor performance!!!! Yup. You read it right, and yes, Ma'am that is irony dripping off of this paragraph!!

The Big Big Poo Bah from Europe said so eloquently "this is the last day of the _____" Inserting Grand Poo Bah's name into the space there. I thought it was a weird, and anti climactic end for a guy I could have told 'em was an empty suit some 2.5 years ago when he interviewed me! When you walk into a Poo Bah's office, and he stares (no joke) at your resume w/o saying anything for 4 minutes, and you, the candidate have to begin to interview yourself; you know he's a little meshuggeneh.

I also have to mention my old friend, let's call her S that I have known for a long time. She is a dear, close friend. In fact, I jokingly say that S is my favorite person that I never, ever see! LOL Anyways, I got a call from her the other day. She sadly told me that her husband, let's call him B of several years (10?Plus some dating in college before that) had decided to leave out of the blue.

I will simply say that B's actions have left me really saddened, in a multitude of ways. I don't know what he is looking for... I totally don't dig how he handled it. I KNOW that he can not be looking for someone else more sassier or better looking or kind, for S is all of those attributes and then some. In fact, I quoted the lyric from the title of the blog post to S today! She is hanging tough in the Pacific NW, and I know she will bounce back and overcome this, and be resilient because that is what she is all about!

It wouldn't be a blog post of mine if I did not reference MMA. Does anyone really even care about UFC 115!? What a horrible card! I mean Rich Franklin vs. Chuck Liddell??!? What is this, 2004??? Both of those guys are dinosaurs. Adding Mirko Cro Cop to the card would be great if it were 6 years ago as well. Alas those ships have long since sailed!! Suffice to say, I do not think I will be getting this PPV.

Tobin Sincoff is a rock star!!

2010-05-24T18:35:00.012-04:00

Tobin was the center of attention for both Saturday and Sunday. It was such a blast!! Saturday we drove out to Brooklyn for the day. We saw my Aunt Eileen and Uncle Joe. They hadn't seen Tobin since his welcome home party in January of 2009. He loved running around (and around and around) their house!!! Non Stop he was, from the living room, to the dining room to the kitchen, and even up some of the stairs

Now, Joe & Eileen are the 2 closest relatives to my family on my Mom's side. Joe & Mom were 1st cousins, but always acted like brother and sister. Hence Uncle Joe, & Aunt Eileen. I've always been close to them, and their kids. It was Joe being a professor of History that encouraged me to major in History, he really made the subject approachable. Eileen was a life long teacher in the elementary school system of New York City. 2 great people.

Did Tobin love them!! :) He totally rocked Ocean Parkway, and then he had a blast @ Marine Park which was just down the road. He ran around from the moment he got there, til the moment we dragged him out of there (where does he get his energy). As I watched Tobin scale a foam octopuss; It got me thinking,

How come adults search near and far for that kind of elusive happiness?

We never seem to quite grab it, no matter how much good stuff (family, love, wealth, iPad) we have.

We try therapy, medication (legal and illegal), some of us drink, some of us abuse ourselves in other ways. It's fascinating, and makes you think. Perhaps it's the work thing coupled w/ the aging thing; but as we get more stressed in life, it becomes harder for us as adults to find that spiritual foam octopuss. Perhaps we can get back to that state of glee somehow.

Uncle Joe kept on going to Tobin; "Boy, would your Grandma have been crazy about you". Of course, that got me thinking about my Mom, who has been gone a long time. It's true, she would be soooooooooo in love w/ Tobin as her grandson, I smile now thinking of it! She would have made such a fuss over him. I get a kick out of that :)

Sunday was spent brunching w/ Rachel M., Rock Star Rollie & the lovely Susannah in Jersey City. Again, Tobin had the flashbulbs popping, and was the star of the meal!! Susannah and Rachel had their cameras going so fast, it was like some sort of movie premier or something! We laughed, caught up, and no one counted any calories :) Topped that off with a great evening w/ a killer episode of "Breaking Bad"!!!! Life is pretty good.

UFC 113 Results - Ethan doesn't do too badly at picking the winners!!

2010-05-13T13:25:00.008-04:00

So, I'm thinking that if I ever decide to leave the purchasing world , I can get one of those jobs on ESPN.com or one of the plethora of MMA website where I can prognosticate my face off!! I think I can go Mens Wearhouse, get myself some suits, and some French Cuff Shirts, and put one of those headset microphone thingys on my face and just rock it!! No one speaks w/ passion on boxing and mma like I do! I think I can just really speak well on the topic. Until Dana White calls , I can only feel confident in my ability while waxing philosphical here!!

I'm soooo ready for my closeup, Mr. Demille!! When is the UFC or Strikeforce gonna call me??? Will it ever happen????? I could so call a fight, and interview the particpants!! Can't you just see me joking w/ Frank Mir, and joshing Jose Aldo??!??!

I picked 2 of the PPV fights correctly, so that was a good thing! Josh Koschek did indeed beat Paul Daley w/ his superior wrestling skills (not to mention Daley's sucker punch after the fight which cost him a job w/ the UFC), and Matt Mitrione did beat the farce (and ratings grabber) named Kimbo Slice. Dana White, being the gangster that he is, immediately fired Kimbo after his losing effort!

Of course, I was way way way waaaaaaaaay wrong in my prediction of the main event!

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua totally dominated and KTFO'd Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida in the very first round!!! It's funny how quickly the tide can turn in the fight game! Just a few weeks ago, people were talking about "The era of the Dragon"!! Now, of course, it's Shogun's Time!!

On the home front, things are groovy. Tobin is just amazing(even though he got cranky at Rob's Bistro last night!)Vicki is one amazing wife, let me tell you, I always have to give her major, major shoutouts all the time!! She is the greatest Mom too. Just the best

Lulu and Fred Sincoff are still 2 dogs w/ attitude!!! They are groovy puppy dogs. They have been under the weather lately in that they got into the garbage, and they ate some bad turkey breast! Poor Lulu has been wimpering for a couple days. She is just now starting to feel like her sassy puppy dog girl self :) At least she is back on the mend. Fred must be a little younger in that he was under the weather for just 24 hrs!

In other fights/MMA news; we have "Strikeforce Heavy Artillery" coming up on Saturday night on Showtime!! It's a fairly okish card w/ some interesting fights/fighters. Andrei Arlovski is fighting, which should be fun (although Vicki said "I could fucking beat him now! Fang mouthpiece or no fang mouthpiece!!") as is Holland's favorite son, Mr. Alistair Overeem. Who, not only is Dutch, but he's black! Which totally rocks! Here's hoping he passes the pre and post fight urinalysis (big steroid rumors) and that he beats the former Sam's Club worker in Bret Rogers!!!

I'd be remiss to not mention we had a rocking picnic w/ Caleb and Lisa!!!!! :) Two groovy new friends! The Sincoff's are rolling "nothin' but 7's!!!"

Shout out to the Mom's!

2010-05-06T23:52:00.010-04:00

Well it's been a gorgeous week here in the Lovely Jerz! There's nothing that gets the ol' serotonin pumping like a few days of nothing but sunshine! Vick, Tobin and I were at a wedding in Pennsyltucky last weekend. It was a fun, interesting time. I'm fascinated by this whole line dancing craze, don't get it... cowboy hats... in Pennsylvania..... kerazy. However, Vicki's niece and her hubby are good people so it was groovy to see them and do that. Although I did not agree w/ the pastor preacher dude saying that marriage is only between a man and a woman.... what can ya do? It wouldn't have been my choice of rhetoric in the middle of a fun, joyous moment :)

We have a very special weekend coming up here. Of course, it's Mother's Day on Sunday. It's holidays like these that of course make me very sentimental for my Mom. I can't believe she has been gone for over a decade. At the same time, I'm moving onto a stage in my life where I have a family of my own. She would have been proud to see how great Vicki is (and she is amazing) as a Mom. As they say "the kid can pick 'em"! I certainly picked the Greatest woman in the world to have a child with, and to raise a family with. Vicki, you are my rock, and the anchor of this family!! I love you babes :)

In honor of Mom's Day, I'm gonna let Vicki pick out a menu, and I'm going to cook on Saturday night!! Should be fun. Maybe Mr. T will even go to bed at a reasonable time so we can have a glass of red wine or 7! I'm totally looking forward to Mother's Day. Should be a blast!

Not only is is Mother's Day weekend, but there is a UFC Card, UFC 113 up in one of my favorite towns, Montreal, Quebec Canada. It's a pretty groovy MMA card. Now, I judge a card by how "deep" it is. For example, ok, the headline fight is good, perhaps the co-main event is good, however, are any of the prelim fights on the card good? That is often the deciding factor if I get a PPV or not.

Even though Vicki's boyfriend, Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida is fighting, we will not be getting this PPV as it will interfere w/ the Mom's Day festivities. I just thought I would give you a break down of who I thought would win:

I just thought I'd break down the big fights on the card really quickly:

Lyoto is fighting Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in a rematch of their controversial first fight from October of last year.

I thought it wasn't as controversial as they made it out to be. Yes, it was a close decision, and it could have gone either way, however it went to Lyoto. I see Shogun as being the better aggressor, but Machida is the better chess player, point counterpoint. He's a brilliant tactician. So I pick him to win a decision.

As for Josh Koscheck vs. Paul Daley.... two guys who can bang.. and of course, Daley is Black AND British which is a rocking combination...However Koscheck is an excellent wrestler. Kos will win in the 2ND round via Ref stoppage due to GnP.

As for Mr. Kimbo Slice....

Who cares? He seems like a nice, humble guy, but he is the MMA equivalent of car crash material! He has no skill, just charisma and a punch!! So, let him and Matt Mitrione slug it out and go crazy. I'm sure it will be fun, and fascinating in the same way a horror film is cool!

Happy Mother's Day to all the great Moms' out there! Vicki, you are the greatest wife and Mom a guy could ask for!!

Watch out Gina Carano!!!!!

2010-04-30T14:47:00.002-04:00

Vicki and Kayly never break their submission holds until the Ref pries 'em off you!!

Never get Kicked by Jose Aldo!!

2010-04-27T19:49:00.006-04:00

I have to write about the WEC ppv extravganza. They did a great job in offering their first PPV event. However, the one thing I have issues with, is that they did not do any justice to the brand! WEC was not referenced at all on the PPV. It was only billed as "ALDO vs. FABER"... Now, Dana White can talk all he wants about how he was able to get stuff on Spike and stuff w/o having to piss the Versus Network off.... However, I don't buy it. You don't do your brand justice by burying it like that.

The fights were great!! Mike Brown lost his 2nd fight in a row. He got KTFO'd by Manny Gamburian of all people! Perhaps Mr. Brown should think about doing some nuclear fision research as Manny was never known as a big puncher. Scrappy yes, tough, yes.. but KO puncher no!!!

Aren't you glad you did not have to fight Jose Aldo?! You coulda been Uriajh Faber, and your leg would have looked like this!!

What can be said about Jose Aldo's performance except that who can beat this guy. Especially when Uriajh Faber was considered a world beater, and Aldo went thru him and made it look easy. Take a look at this leg picture:

Vicki was having a girl's weekend in Harrisburg, PA as this event was going on Tobin and I got to spend the entire Saturday into Sunday together!! He's an amazing little boy, so handsome and he makes me proud! He was a very well behaved boy, even though he tried to steal everone's shoes at the sandbox at the playground!!

Genki Sudo not only is the Man in the ring, but he rocks as well!!

2010-04-16T10:48:00.001-04:00

Hooray for the weekend, and stuff!

2010-04-09T16:16:00.005-04:00

What a banner Friday we've had so far here at the workplace! To begin, Thursdays are the new Fridays. There is nothing better than getting Indian food, and then watching "The First 48" on TV. Man, do I love that show. It's weird, sad, and frustrating to see how easily we kill each other w/ not a thought at all. Check the show out, and see how doggedly these homicide detectives pursue each case.

I had the Tandoori mixed grill and Vicki had a delicious Botti Kebab. We had 2 different kinds of Nan which rocked! Great meal. I even got to take Tobin on a little walk. It's a blast to bond with him like that. I love seeing him stick his bare feets up in the air, and letting the wind hit them, he shrieks w/ glee. It's pretty awesome.

It was a very special lunch time here at the drug place as Vicki and Tobin met me for lunch, and then I showed them off to my office :) THAT was alot of fun! Tobin had a blast running around so much that he passed out when he got home!! I love the attached pic:

It's another big milestone event as we are heading to synagogue for Tobin's naming ceremony. it's a big event, a milestone in any young Jewish boy/girl's life. I'm getting teary eyed thinking about it! I will make sure that you guys get a full report for sure!!

There is a UFC PPV this weekend, but the card does not do wonders for me. BJ Penn, and Anderson Silva are fighting (in separate fights) and they totally dominate their oponents, always. They are such skilled athletes that no one can even come close to them. As a result, I'm gonna abstain from watching this one, and I will get the updates online from one of the MMA websites.

The cool(ish) thing is that this is the first card in Abu Dhabi! How cool is it that the UFC has come to the Middle East?!?! Pretty groovy stuff seeing this sport grow so much. AAAAH, I remember when no one was into mma! Hey, it's cool sometimes when stuff you dig catches on, y'know?

Before I sign off I have to wish a Happy Soon to be Birthday for my gorgeous wife, Vicki. Honey, you are the most amazing, gorgeous, kind, funny, fierce Wife and Mom! I love you tons xoxooxo

Gorgeous Weekend

2010-04-04T23:20:00.002-04:00

Has been had here El Casa de Sincoff!! We had 3 full days of sunshine!! How can you beat that? It was just awesome to get Tobin to the playground for 3 full days in a row where he could run around like crazy and just flip out. It was awesome to see him enjoying the sunshine, smiling, and trying to climb the jungle gym!! He gets this great look on his face, where he is totally over whelmed with joy and he is just bursting w/happiness. It makes everything worthwhile when I see that.

It was great to have such a nice weekend after a truly rainy, yucky week; and the horrible stuff that happened the week before that. Sadly, Galen, my father-in-law passed away. He had fought esophageal cancer for 2.5 years or so. He was such a good guy, he always made me laugh. He and Shirley sure made a great daughter, one that I love very much. I'm very thankful to him and his role and shaping Vicki's view of the world! He will be sorely missed!!

It's funny, about my current workplace :) I will not name it anymore, either forwards, or backwards. There seem to be a few co-workers that read my blog, as my address counter tells me. One of my favorite co-workers who is very talky, walked past me the other day and said "Hey one guy talking" or something to that sort..... Hmmmmmmm

It's not that I'm working on anything too crazy here, y'know??

All in all, this weekend ended up being the kind that makes you happy, reaffirms your belief that life is ok, and keeps you hanging on!!

Rain Rain, go away!I

2010-03-13T15:36:00.004-05:00

I'm sitting here in Central Pennsylvania listening to the rain come a crashin' down. The wind is howling, and the is shaking. To put it mildly, the weather really sucks outside!! However that will not deter Vicki and I from going to H'Burg tonight, and hanging out w/ the Newcomers!! They are our amigos in crime, and a trip to Vicki's parents is not complete w/o seeing them!!

Hopefully the wind will not blow our car off of the road tonight! I think we're gonna be ok, though!! I'm psyched for some good Pan Asian/Vietnamese cuisine tonight!! Should be a good time. I need the talk to the Newcomers aside from eating dinner w/them. I need 'em to roll up their sleeves, and give me real "war room" like advice!! It'll be much appreciated!

For my friends who follow boxing, you know it is the night of "The Event" I'm a big Manny Pacquiao fan. Joshua Clottey is a tough, durable fighter from Ghana. I've never seen him hurt. However, he's not a spectacular fighter. Manny Pacquiao is a spectacular fighter, one who is truly special to watch!! I think you will see a late round stoppage victory for Manny tonight at the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

Man, it's raining so much outside that one would think that Captain Ahab, and Moby Dick are gonna float by any moment now!! This "land lubber" is gonna go now, and begin to get ready for tonight!!

So, from Negative Stuff comes positive Stuff

2010-03-11T22:21:00.002-05:00

I originally was going to make this post about how certain things suck at the old place of business. However, I'm working on not being so bummed.

There were all these open sales positions opening up at my company. And I was encouraged to apply. I really put myself out there, studied our products, I went out in the field for a day w/ a sales rep and everything. I know I could do that job. I was getting psyched for the interviews for the rep positions. I truly felt that I was an expert in our product knowledge.

Lo and behold, I get the word that they were not interested in pursuing me further! I had spent time a way from my family, trying to make a career transition. I did everything I was encouraged to do; I networked, I schmoozed, and I hustled (and flowed) . Then, they decided "to go in a different direction". My aggressive nature had "turned pepole off". Can ya believe that?? We're talking about sales here!!

However, things are looking up. I'm not only embracing my current role (cos hey, what am I gonna do, right?) things are looking up outside of the place as well, for reasons I can go into later. All is all, I can say that it takes guts to try and make a career change; and it sucks to be rejected by the same people who encouraged you to apply in the first place.

I took a deep breath, looked at Vicki, Tobin and the rest of my family. Everyone is hanging in there. Maybe things are not perfect from a life perspective, but they are pretty darned good. Hey, there's a new UFC next week too!! So things are looking groovy. I still know that I could be the #1 sales guy in the country, btw. I'd would never buy my suits off the rack, either!!

So did everyone have a good Valentines Day????

2010-02-15T22:48:00.002-05:00

I had a great one, thanks. It was awesome because Mr. T got to say home for once :) Aunt Susannah came over from Brooklyn, and actually babysat for us!! We went to the new(ish) place, Rob's Bistro that's on Main Street in Madison. The food is just great. Really enjoyed the ambiance. We both had a lamb shank that was just the best!

Not only was the food great, but it was really a great time w/ Vick. Truly romantic. What a wonderful gal I have in my life. 10 years in a relationship, and married for six, and I still get giddy when I think about her!! She still brings the sass, and keeps me in line. Not to mention that it's hot when she references Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira in a joke! I just think it's sexy that my sweet wife can make jokes about an "Anaconda Choke"!!!! That rocks!!!

In all seriousness, to make this a little like a love letter to Vicki, because she deserves it. Seeing how she lights up around Tobin, is just amazing. Her eyes light up when he walks/crawls into the room. She's the most amazing wife/mom/friend that I am very lucky It's been a great long weekend. I'm sad to go back to work tomorrow :(

We watched a ton of great movies this weekend. Albeit, they were ones that Tobin had to be asleep first for us to watch 'em!! There's these 3 films called The Red Riding Trilogy which is sort of about the Yorkshire Ripper case in the UK in the 1970's and 80's. The 3 films intertwine characters and basically tell the story not only of The Ripper, but the decline of England in the 1970's and 80's due to Margaret Thatcher. Truly compelling film making. Gotta give them a shout out for that!!

Anyway, I'm off to get my beauty sleep! I could post something about the Drug place of work, but I'll save that for another time!

It's the Day after the Nor'Easter!

2010-02-11T16:52:00.002-05:00

I'm so glad I took the day off. The office did not even have a delayed opening!! They ended up shutting at noon, which is like, stupid. I kept my slippers on all day, watched bad tv, and played w/ Tobin (and Vicki!). It's hard to believe that he is over 14 months old now! My son is getting so big. He has the best smile, and impeccable comedic timing!!

It was good to take the day off, I wasn't really missed here at the old drug place. As it turns out, only 20 people or so showed up for work!! After all, it was a state of emergency!! I mean, you're not supposed to go out when that is the case. The thing about yesterdays' snowstorm was that it got worse as the day went on!! Great day to be watching movies and playing w/ an incredible little boy. Just perfect!

Gotta give a quick shout out to an incredible trio of movies Vick and I just discovered. We're big serial killer genre fans. We discovered the Red Riding Trilogy Films about the Yorkshire Ripper in England in the 1970's and 1980's. Of course, we discovered that the 3 films are based on a quartet of books by David Peace, so we gotta check them out next!! Great films. They are more "faction" then true fact. However they are incredible portraits of an England gasping as the era of Thatcher approaches and consumes itself.

I'll write more later, but I gotta tell you that I got myself a pair of new eyeglasses that are SO awesome!! I look like Elvis Costello with them!!!

London is Burning, And I Live by the River!!

2010-01-05T23:47:00.008-05:00

I was having an ordinary sort of Tuesday today. Nothing major happening. Just at work, staring at the old computer screen, making sure time was moving forward, and not backward. I was thinking that nothing out of the ordinary was gonna happen. Then, I made the great decision to go out for lunch. Not only was it a good idea because it broke up the work day a bit, and I had some delicious soup at Atlanta Bread Company (I wonder if Braves Star Chipper Jones has ever eaten at one such establishment?). I heard something about todays date, and how special it is to those of us kids who like the punk rock.

To Begin, The Sex Pistols played their first concert in the USA on this date back in1978. Was it in LA? Boston? Some other major metropolis like Philadelphia you may ask? Nope. It was at some joint called the Great American Music Hall of the South. It was like some shit kicker country place. Way to go Malcolm McClaren w/ booking that concert tour!!

I kid a bit, of course. That "Never Mind the Bollocks" album STILL has a big hold on me. It literally rocks as an album from beginning to end. Of course, things did not end too well for Mr. Sid Vicious, but hey; that truly is punk rock in a way, I guess. hearing that this was the anniversary of the US Tour (Until they had multiple reunion rent show tours in the 90's and 200s, it was THE Pistols Tour), really brought me back to 7th Grade, sitting in my bedroom (and this was 1983/84 mind you), and listening to a dubbed copy of that album on a cassette player.

The other big anniversary today is that "London Calling" by The Clash was released today in 1980. What a great album! I'm not gonna go through the entire track listing or anything. But from the Title Song, to "Jimmy Jazz", to Mick Jones warbling about The Crimean War in a song where he manages to encapsulate The entire fall of the British Empire from a military standpoint, to the hidden gem "Train in Vain"; this album is one of those albums that critics rightfully go crazy for.

I may come off as some old fuddy duddy, but I don't thing very many albums in the past 29 or so years have been as good. (Some Replacements stuff, GnR's debut, Arctic Monkeys debut, maybe). "London Calling" taught me that punk doesn't have to be ALL anger, there can be melody and emotion, and humor (I mean Koka Kola!!) in it as well.

So, Kudos to the late, great Joe Strummer, and the boys, as well as Johnny and Gang!!! Thanks for some great music that still holds up!!!

2010!!

2010-01-02T14:43:00.002-05:00

Well Good afternoon, Dear Readers, I'm baaaaaack!

I've taken some time off from writing the old blog, just did not feel all that creatively inspired. However, my therapist, Dr. Dave,has strongly suggested that I return to the creative out put no matter what. So, you will see my posting on here a bit more frequently than once every 4 months!!

Tobin turned 1 on December 4th. It was pretty wild and emotional. We had a little party for him at the indoor playground at the Madison YMCA. Lot's of little kids running and screaming and climbing on things! It was a blast. My Dad flew up from Florida and we did not even fight that much :) He kept his distance, and I kept mine!!

Special shout outs to Rock Star Rollie and Rachel for staying until the "after party" was over!!

Young Mr. Sincoff has matured and developed at an amazing rate. I'm not saying my son is a genius or anything, but he's developed quite the sense of humor!!! It's pretty amazing to come home from a day at work at gnirreF to see my little boy giggling and jumping up an down when he sees me!! It's pretty wonderful.

We celebrated New Years at the lovely Newcomer residence just a couple days ago (I write this blog posting from the in-laws in PA) . A rocking time was had by all. I needed yesterday to recover. I'm feeling slightly better today, more human and less hung overish. Kayly and Nate really know how to throw a party, and are great hosts. Kudos to them, and even thanks to Ethan Newcomer for letting us crash in his room!!

So, all eyes are on the prize so to speak. It's the beginning of 2010. What does the year hold? Well, The Sincoff family machine will struggle on, and we are hanging in there. I plan on sticking to blogging alot more. It is refreshing to be back on here again.

Weekend Newz

2009-09-05T23:41:00.002-04:00

Well it's Saturday Night here at the Sincoff Ranch. Just a few random thoughts to update everyone (Everyone!? Who am I kidding!?!? Does anyone read this?!?) I took Friday off to make it a really long weekend, what with Labor Day on Monday, and all. I liked taking time off so much that I took Tuesday off as well :) Gotta love that "Puritan" work ethic of mine, right?

Poor Tobe has his first cold ever today. He was up 3 or 4 times in the night last night. Poor little guy has such a congested stuffed up nose. It's nothing serious, he's not really running a temperature or anything. It just breaks your heart to hear 'em cry about anything (your children). I mean this is not like "baby is hungry, feed them, and they will be ok" type stuff...

Saw a Spanish film called "Shiver" on Netflix last night. Kinda cool flick about a kid w/ a degenerative eye disease who has to move to this town where there is not alot of sunlight. Of course, he is an outsider, and is viewed as such by the local yokels. Of course, mysterious murders happen at the same time. Pretty good stuff.

Got the jogging stroller all set. I took it over to the bike store. I'm ready to go jogging with Tobin once he is back to feeling himself again. I really can't wait for that. I hope he will be as jazzed about the experience when it happens as I am thinking about it right now.

So psyched to see the "24/7" franchise back on HBO with the upcoming Floyd Mayweather/Juan Manuel Marquez fight next weekend. I think all sports that are looking for a an audience should look to this show as the premier way to promote a game/match etc.. It truly makes it an EVENT. Painting Money Mayweather as the rich asshole (well, he is, right?), and JMM as the humble, tough Mexican everyman. It's just great stuff. I have respect for both guys, though I'm a JMM fan big time.

Of course we have the next UFC coming up that same weekend too. I'll be interested to see the PPV numbers of both the UFC event from Dallas, and the Mayweather Marquez fight. I love boxing, and I do love MMA also. However, consistently, MMA has delivered the more enjoyable matches lately. Boxing promoters have to be looking over their shoulder

Saw the in-laws in PA last weekend. Went to a great restaurant w/ the Newcomers! It's always great to see Kayly and Nate. In fact, the evening ends, and you wish you could hang out some more!!!

Tobin hits a New Milestone!

2009-08-08T16:37:00.006-04:00

So, I'm sitting my couch this morning, it's a Saturday. I'm enjoying a freshly brewed cup of Sanka (SMIRK! It really wasn't SANKA!! I just wanted to make a 1970's reference here!!)... so anyways, I'm sitting there, and Tobe is playing on the floor on the other side of the room. He sees me, and then army crawls over to me!! It was awesome, and took my breath away. We've tried to recreate the event in the following video

Notice Mr. T. Totally proves he is a Mommy's boy at heart :) (well after all, he's a Nice Jewish Boy!!) If he was not a big fan of his mommy, there would be no need for therapy later on in life lolololoolol psyyyyyyyyche. In all seriousness, it was amazing to be there to see a milestone get checked off the list of ol' milestones that Tobin Sincoff needs to accomplish. Truly a great event.

In other news, I just had my first accupuncturist's appointment today. My presumed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome has been really bothering my hands as of late. They feel heavy, tingly/sometimes numb. It's a scary situation. I met w/ the Doctor there, and she was such a cool lady! She explained how one area of your body may hurt, but that body part has a pathway where energy travels. This pathway can begin at the complete other end of your body!.

To cut to the chase, she Stuck me with about a gazillion needles. No, they don't hurt!!. I even managed to take a nap w/ them in me. I can honestly say, my fingers and hands feel much better. And I even feel really engergized. I am gonna be going 2x a week for the next month. I'll keep you posted!!

When I got home, I had some breakfast. Then Vicki and I took Tobin to the playground so he could swing on the swings :)

Looking forward to chilling out tonight, and maybe watching a "bad" good movie on PPV or something like that. There's a couple bottle's o'wine in the house, and a brand new bag of pretzels!! Sounds like a Saturday Night in Paradise to me!!

Nice Job, Josh Barnett!!

2009-07-23T14:32:00.004-04:00

You're such a fucknut!!

Way to test positive for anabolic steroids for the 2nd time in your career!! This time, you tested positive PRIOR to the fight. You're putting the entire Affliction PPV in jeopardy as a result! Douche... I mean, they are talking about Vitor Belfort fighting Fedor now. Belfort is a Middleweight, and will be giving up some 30 pounds or so! I don't even know how the California State Athletic Commission would even license that!

At a point when Mixed Martial Arts is getting alot of mainstream (Sports Illustrated, ESPN, etc) press, the combination of what Brock Schmucky Lesnar did, and your drug test failure is too much!! You give off the impression that MMA athletes are just pill popping (injecting), and bullying goons! The thing is, Josh is a GOOD fighter, he is possibly one of the best wrestlers I've seen fight; not to mention articulate, and great on the microphone. Just sad.

I hope the PPV card still happens. I'll watch either way,

cos I love me some Fedor

As my wife would say :) I often wonder if Fedor, or Randy Couture is more of her ugly man crush or is it Wandy Silva???!!?!?

Onto a note about a friend, I'm not gonna say who it is, but I have this friend who may read this from time to time. I have recently seen pictures of some of her friends gathering at a function for someone who was once in their life. I'm sorry, but I don't get it. You should have your friend's back. Ya don't embrace someone when they do something douchey. You certainly don't celebrate them.

Ok, I'm off my friend soapbox. I don't even know if the person in question who may read this even agrees with my theories....however I'm sorry. You gotta support your peeps. I would not be that gregarious in my celebration when that person did something soo questionable.

I had this big, mega powerful work meeting today. It was in a hotel and everything. I feel so rocking and so Joe Corporate. If only I had a corporate card to put it on!! I just had a diet coke, but still!! There is something really funny about a roll up your sleeves kind of corporate meeting!

Why can't I post 2x in 24 hours?

2009-07-22T00:27:00.004-04:00

Who can say that I can't? Huh, huh?? I wish I had the cynicism of my good friend, Rockstar Rollie Fingers. Though he is not the infamous Oakland A's relief Ace from the 1970's. I mean if it was Rollie Fingers, what would I talk to him about? His sharp mustache? See RR has the cool stuff happening, stuff that he can vent about. With his rockstar life in the Heights of Jersey City, and the new outdoor Beer Garden place that opened up.. I sure he was there 1 month ago during a pre opening shindig! Seriously, Rollie knows I love him! However, it's fun, and crazy being a parent to an almost 8 month old! Sometimes you run out of time!

I know everyone is awaiting my UFC 100 review. I will only say this, Georges St. Pierre is an incredible athlete, perhaps the best of his generation, and a true gentleman. Dan Henderson was out of line (but SO awesome) in hitting Michael Bisping with that flying forearm after he was already out cold. And Brock Lesnar was a total douche bag of the highest order in beating Frank Mir, and then getting into his face afterwards, and flipping the crowd off!

I mean, you don't get in the face of a guy you beat, and get all macho on him, that's bogus. Not to mention, I think that some of Frank's stand up was working prior to getting taken down, and just viciously pounded out

Why is it that I don't post more often??

2009-07-21T17:22:00.003-04:00

I enjoy posting to this here blog thing, yet I have not been here since the beginning of July! Why is that? I find it so cathartic to post here... Perhaps it is because I have a very energetic almost 8 month old little boy who rocks my world on a daily basis!! :) I get it easy; at least I go to work here at gnirreF to break up my world being rocked!! Bicki has to be there all day!! In all seriousness, Tobin is embracing the world , it's awesome to see how he is growing and adapting.

I wish I knew more about President Obama's Healthcare initiative. I have to find out more about this. I know that the polls are sliding for him, and I keep hearing that this overhaul of healthcare is gonna cost some hyooooooooge amount. However, I really want to know about the meat and potatoes of what he is trying to do!!

Vicki and I have discovered a love of Captain Morgan's Mojito Beverage, as well as their Strawberry Daquiri Malt Beverage. Thanks to Kayly for introducing them to us during our Great weekend at Rehobeth Beach!! They are awesome!! Love embracing our inner white trash!!!

I'm so looking forward to the Affliction Clothing MMA card coming up on August 1st. Do you think that Josh Barnett can stand up to Fedor Emilianenko?? What do y'all think?

Any card that has Renato Sobral on it, I'm there. He can do the stand up, and he rocks the Ground game!

What the Hell is up w/ the Republicans??? Oh, and RIP Michael Jackson too

2009-07-01T23:38:00.003-04:00

Dude,

Why are the Republicans such hypocrites? They can't merely be fiscally conservative; which to a point, I can fathom (i.e. not necessarily agree with, but understand), but when they start trying to say who can marry and who can't, and about prayer in school, and stuff like that... it get's to be too much, y'know?

Which is why it is highly ironic when they Talk the Talk, but are unable to Walk the Walk! Take in point South Carolina Governor, and onetime 20012 Presidential Candidate Mark Sanford. He's big on the family values thing. Why is it he hooked up w/ a lovely lady from Argentina, who does not seem to be his wife (GASP!!)? I mean, Adultery is a private matter, so I don't delight in seeing his families' pain being front page news. HOWEVER, in the same respect, when he acts all mighty, and holy, and these skeletons appear. You have to say "I told ya so" in a kind of happy way!! The fact he admitted to more daliances today makes it even more of a hysterical story.

We lost Michael Jackson this past week on Thursday. I must say, I have never been so underwhelmed by a celebrity death!! I can appreciate his contribution to music, and I certainly remember the "Thriller" era dominating my 7th Grade year.. However, the man became a freak show in the past decade or so. Reality did not get along with Michael Jackson. We'll never really know WHAT the deal was with him. I feel sorry for his kids though. Who are these people who are hanging out in front of his house, and dancing by the Apollo Theatre??! I don't get that.

I am SO psyched for UFC 100 . That is when Brock Lesnar rematches against my main man, Frank Mir. The last time they fought, Brock was streamrolling away like a bull in a china shop, but he forgot how to guard against an ankle lock , that became a knee lock. Frank Mir lost the first minute of that fight.. it was only the last 10 seconds that mattered! Do it again Frank! I'm also psyched to see GSP dominate over Thiago Alves, and I want to see Dan Henderson kick Michael Bisbings butt!

Vacation was a success

2009-06-30T00:14:00.004-04:00

We really gots the best 7 month old on the planet. Not only did Toby make it 4+ hours in the car from Pennsylvania, to Rehobeth Beach, Delaware with nary a peep. He loooooooved the beach, and enjoyed his wading pool! He was the rock star, big time. He also flew 2 1/2 hours to Florida, and flirted and laughed with everyone around him!

He had a great time in Florida visiting hs Grandpa, as did his Mom and Dad! In fact, my father and I didn't argue at all. Thank heavens for grandkids, I guess!!

It was sooo darn hot down there, we could only hang out by the pool in small increments. However, Toby was a big fan of his swim lounge thing :)

We even were down there for Father's Day. It was my first Father's Day. It was incredibly special, and felt like like it was very normal. It put a smile onto my face!!! In fact, the entire vacation was an all around success, we saw my Dad, Toby saw his Grandpa, we did Father's Day down there, saw my Aunt Cynthi, and just had a few good meals out!!

On a pop culture note, it's crazy how all these celebs are dying at once. My friend, and former NPHS'er Amy Jo make a fine posting about the Michael Jackson death deal. All I can say is, what a media circus!! I have never seen a guy w/ so much talent, become this "other" type of celebrity. It was more than like when you stop making new hits, you can always play Vegas... this was an entirely carnivalesque sense of living.... I found the whole hysteria crazy :(

I was saddened to hear about Billy Mays too :( Shame. Guys, you gotta watch your cholesterol, and have your stress test every 6 months!!

Ok, off to bed, more later.!!

ME MY MEMORIAL DAY

2009-05-25T23:17:00.002-04:00

Oh yeah, we're just kicking it here at The Sincoff Chateau (The Ranch, The Compound, The Center, if you will). Enjoyed a groovy Long Weekend here w/ Bickaboo and Mr. T. Went out to Dinner w/ The Family, and Abbie, Andy and Aidan on Friday night. We went to this new Mexican Restaurant; which was pretty good!! My steak had this awesome Lime rub spice deal on it, and it rocked the hizzouse. I even watched my caloric intake (somewhat) and had the second portion of it for lunch on Saturday.

We truly had GREAT weather this long weekend, and that totally rocked my socks off. It makes one MUCH MUCH MUCH happier to be in sunshine, than in lame ass cold gray weather. One day, I will have my wish, and we will live in either the desert, or a tropical setting, cos that is how Ethan Sincoff rolls! LOLOLOL

Gotta mention that I was blown away by Lyoto Machida's win over Rashad Evans from the UFC event on Saturday night. Check it out on PPV, or youtube it if it's available. The era of The Dragon is in full effect!! I never saw Rashad get so dominated before! He went down like he was shot, and landed in one of those totally unnatural angle type deals that wil be a highlight of many many PPV intros to come!!

Shocking end to "Breaking Bad" last night!!!!! That show is the best. LOVE IT.

And we ended the long weekend w/ a little cook out action! How can you beat that?!?! Gotta love the Jamaican Jerk Chicken!!!

Now, if only I can hear some news on the professional front (vague, vague...), life could not be finer!!

I know, I know, I'm SORRY, I'm sorry....

2009-04-14T21:52:00.002-04:00

Jeeze Louise, you have one child, one newborn comes into your life, and suddenly all thoughts of having a creative output like this gets sucked into some other kind of vortex... some distant otherworld type deal.. Things have been flying by. Tobin is getting bigger and bigger (well, within reason; look who his parents are). He just had his 4 month checkup and shots. He is now 13lbs! He rocks.

Vicki, and her BFF Kayly just had a "Girl's" weekend up at Mohegan Sun.... where they drank swanky cocktails, had pedicures, and generally got their freak on. So, it was just Mr. T and Me for the whole weekend! We both made it through ok!! It was an amazing experience having the bambino to myself... He doesn't like to sleep w/o his mommy, that's for sure!! It all worked out in the end.

My workplace at ol' gnirreF kinda blows. The issues that are network wide, are kind of blamed on little old me. See, just when I tell my shrink that I'm not gonna play the victim card, I end up getting hasstled!!! What can you do??? I guess that is what I'm striving to do; figure it out...

We took Tobe to see his grandparents in PA this past weekend. They had a blast hanging w/ him. It's nice to go there, and see 'em... but things (not my in-laws per say, but LIFE in that area) is suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure kinda different.... Eh, again what can u do???? Different Strokes, Right, Mr. Drummond??

SOO psyched that "In Treatment" is back on HBO!! If you have not seen it, check it out... amazingly powerful show. Also check out "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" if you can.. truly a sweet, heartwarming show.

UFC this weekend!! I think the Iceman is gonna get got!!!

So what have we been up to,you may ask?

2009-03-02T00:17:00.004-05:00

Why, Vicki and I have been busy raising our little football hooligan! His Aunt Sarah from Engerland sent this over the other day. He looks like he could be heading out to watch a game at Nevada Smith's in the East Village on PPV or something! Now, all he needs to do is get his parents to watch some games at some point.....

I've been so busy, and sooo "eggshausted" if you will, that I have not posted of late. I truly apologize for that. Things have been kinda dickish at work at gnirreF lately. In short, VP bossman gave me bad review, and told me he did not want to look at my objectives. Then, he has me report to someone new, and now I am being penalized for not having achieved any objectives so I don't get a bonus. Awesome, right?

Also been dealing w/ carpal tunnel issues. I hope that I don't need surgery, but, if I have to; I have to, y'know? I'm tired of tingling in my fingers, and semi paralysis as well.... this is particularly hard when I have to deal with getting work done at said dickish job :(

Tobe is awesome :) He is smiling big time, and he makes this "whoo" noise like a little Ric Flair! Vicki is an amazing Mom. She went to do her knitting/bead stuff today, and I had Mr. T on my own. By the time she came back, I was glad to see her! I don't know how she does it every day!!

I do have some satisfaction that I did much better w/ this parental solo deal than Thursday.

It's an amazing experience all around!

ps: Kudos to Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz for their great fight on HBO last night!

Tobin's Open House Welcome Party

2009-01-26T22:54:00.010-05:00

Before I go give you guys some dish regarding the great weekend we had in the Sincoff house, I have to go back a couple weeks to let you know why I've been so quiet. I've tried to not fall into a rut, and not post. However there have been some events that really made me unable to do so. To begin, I got really sick just after my last post. It was some kind of cold/cough/aches/pain/chills infection thingy. It really, really really sucked! I was on anti-biotics for 10 days, and even then did not feel great until just recently. I was just miserable.

Also, just after I had "gotten over the hump" w/ that deal, I messed my back up big time. I don't know if it was the constant carrying of the baby around, or if I slipped on the ice, or what. My mobility was like ZERO. Thankfully, w/ some chiropractor visits, and some stretching, I am beginning to feel like a human being again.

We had a wonderful "Open House-Welcome Home Tobin" Party on Saturday. Vicki really rose to the occasion, and did a groovy job. She made the best cupcakes EVER. Everything had a baby boy blue theme, and she had lot's of little ducks on everything!! We actually had 25 or so friends and family over . Tobe was a great baby, and smiled for everyone!

There are more pics up on Facebook, so check 'em out.

Before I go, I have to say a few words about the Affliction PPV. What an incredible card! I usually judge a PPV by "how deep the card is". Many UFC PPV's have been guilty of having a great main event, but HORRIBLE undercard fights. I felt that this card was awesome, top to bottom. From Renato "Babalu Sobral submitting Soukoudjou w/ an awesome Anachonda Choke, to Vitor Belfort KTFO'ing Matt "The Law" Lindland (you know someone is KNOCKED out when their leg is spasming as they lay there unconscious) these were awesome, exiting fights. Mega props to Gilbert Yvel for hanging in there against Josh Barnett as long as he did.

He so has to find a ground game however. He does have killer tattoos:

Finally, just some words of advice to Andrei Arlovsky: "Hey, Pitbull; if you are gonna go for a flying knee against Fedor Emilianenko, keep your guard up!! You are gonna get knocked out cold FLAT ON YOUR FACE!!

I will return soon w/ my thoughts on the Obama Presidency, and the long needed farewell to the worst president of Modern Times, George W. Bush

I have been sick...

2009-01-11T23:30:00.002-05:00

Which is why I have not been posting in the past week.. I came down w/ this horrible virus thingy. My chest hurt, and I was coughing, throat was sore, I was losing my voice.... etc. etc. I managed to go to the doctor on Monday afternoon. There were a ton of patients waiting there to be called in the waiting room. I guess it is getting to be that time, really. The whole "winter flu and cold season" thing.

Thankfully, I'm FINALLY beginning to feel a little better. We took it waaaaaaaaaaaaaay easy this weekend, which rocked. We were supposed to go to Pennsylvania for a "Welcome Tobin" party for the PA relatives. Well, we got a ton of snow this weekend. That put the kaybosh on the visit PA thing. It will have to be rescheduled at a later date, as the kids say.

I must give shout outs to a couple of new tv shows that I have discovered in the past 10 days. Even though I've been sick, I can not get enough of the shows "Mamma's Boys", and "Confessions of a Former Teen Idol". They are incredible trashy pieces os television. Everything that is bad about TV, is reflected in these two programs. I'm ok with this however!!

I'm currently watching Tobin try to fight off falling asleep. It is very, very cute :) I wonder where he gets that from??!

The Baby and the Bathwater

2008-12-30T23:46:00.005-05:00

Tobe took his first tub bath today. I actually thought he kind of enjoyed it! He kind of mellowed out in the suds, and did not scream or act cranky!! I actually think it was kind of success. He was a good boy, and let us wash his hair! What a trooper!!!

The UFC show this past weekend was memorable. A bunch of exciting fights. Seeing Frank Mir KO Nog was a big shock. I always knew that Frank could overcome his motorcycle accident, and return to the guy who was the best Heavyweight in the UFC. To see him do it in such a decisive fashion, was amazing. Nog was never in the fight. He seemed slow and just "off". I think all of those wars caught up to him. Sad.

Vicki was very upset to see Wanderlei Silva get KTFO'D by Quinton Jackson. He was wide open, punching wildly, and got caught flush w/ a counter right hook. What sucked also big time was that the Ref tried to pull Rampage off of Wandy, but Jackson kept on hitting him two or three times more..Not good sportsmanship!!

Rashad Evans won via TKO over Forrest Griffin to get the Light Heavyweight title in a semi compelling fight. Griffin had won both rounds when Rashad just destroyed him w/ strikes from the mount position in the 3rd round. Nice to get some new champs!

My ol' skool buddy Mike "The Man" C. came up to check out the fights. It was awesome to see him again. Also, Susannah, a long time close pal of Vick and I came in from Crooklyn to meet Mr. T. It was awesome cool to see her as well. She should come back again!!!

One more thing about UFC 92

2008-12-26T11:19:00.002-05:00

I forgot to say that the 2 other Wanderlei Silva/Quinton Jackson fights were awesome. They were in the Pride organization in Japan, prior to its' bankruptcy. The fights were AMAZING for the most part in Pride. Unfortunately, they did not know how to run a business. The live shows were SO extravagant, SUCH a spectacle, that they just spent themselves into debt. The UFC ultimately bought them for their tape library and dissolved the organization.

So, in honor of that, enjoy this awesome video clip I found from Japanese TV featuring Wandersilva vs. Rampage Jackson #1!!

I'm usually not a techno fan. However the music is SOOOOO appropriate. Dig how many knees my man The Axe Murderer hits Rampage with at the end of this fight! Hang in there, it is worth it!!

Well Ho Ho Ho Everybody!

2008-12-26T00:17:00.006-05:00

Good tidings everyone. Hope all of my Gentile friends are having a healthy and a happy Christmas. To all of my fellow Dead Sea Pedestrians out there who may be reading this: Much respect to you my fellow Son/Daughter of Abraham!!! Go and listen to some Sammy Davis, Jr. Cd's, check your 401k portfolio, and just relax :-)

Well, my Dad left on Tuesday morning. He got home safe and sound. It was great to have him, and just as great to drop him off. My therapist was very apt in saying that "hey this isn't the early 1900's on NY's Lower East Side. This isn't some Schtetyl in Russia. You don't have to live on top of your parents. You have to do for you & your immediate family. Let your Dad make his own way". Some good food for thought, I think.

On a different note, my in-laws, Galen and Shirley arrived today. It's a totally different scene having in-laws over, as opposed to your Dad. They are great house guests (and I'm not just saying that because they may read this). It was very sweet to see how doting Tobin's Grandma and Grandpa were to him!! Galen makes a mean Christmas ham as well!!!

We checked out the lovable "Fred Claus" w/ Paul Giamatti and Vince Vaughn on On Demand tonight as a family. What a groovy Christmas film. I dig VV, and Paul G. I think that Vince has a natural effortless way of performing. I hope that he pushes himself in some of his roles in the future. He can do more!

I'm psyched to see UFC 92, "Ultimate" on PPV Saturday night. My old buddy Mike "The Man" C. (don't know if he wants his last name posted on here) will be visiting us that night here in Madison to watch the fights with me. Our (Vicki and I) friend Susannah may be coming in from Brooklyn as well. However, she's no mma fan. She is coming in more of a "let's see the baby" spirit. Oh, and let's also see Vicki and Ethan" mindset. This is totally groovy, BTW.

The PPV card has several KILLER fights. This is the UFC's "big" "special end of the year card from Las Vegas. It's ironic, because Vicki, Dad and I attended last year's big end of year card. The big fights on the card:

Forrest Griffin is gonna defend his light Heavyweight title against Rashad Evans. Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva is gonna go against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (for the 3rd time!) and Frank Mir is going to go for the interim Heavyweight Title against Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" (KILLER NICKNAME!) Nogueira.

Seeing 2 of the best Ju Jitsu ground fighters at Heavyweight in Nogueira and Mir go at it will be awesome. They both were on "The Ultimate Fighter" this year on Spike TV. Mir came off as cocky, but cool. Nogueira came off as possibly one of the nicest guys ever. I did Mir's backstory in that he was Heavyweight champ, and suffered a catastrophic leg injury while on his motorcycle (he was hit by a car). He was lucky to even survive, let alone fight at an elite level. It's quite an achievement for him to come back, even. I do not know who I will be rooting for the night of the show...

Frank was half of one of my most vivid fight memories. In the Heavyweight title fight in June 2004 against Champion Tim Sylvia, something happened that is still etched in my memory. Sylvia was going to slam Mir, and Mir threw his legs up, and got Sylvia in a perfect arm bar. You literally see the arm pulse w/ the pressure, and then snap!! The ref started screaming and stopped the fight!!! Sylvia didn't even know, and he still wanted to fight. Even though his arm was hanging at a weird angle.

On that note, let me share that video with you, enjoy!

The Return of Murder Incorporated!

2008-12-22T15:47:00.007-05:00

Well I have some new pics to post of the Grandfather visit! This weekend was kind of great as far as seeing my Dad spend time w/ Tobe and really enjoy it. He truly seemed at peace. However, there were 2 major snowstorms over the weekend. The first, on Friday morning sent me home early from work. The 2nd occured on Saturday afternoon. We were basically snowed in all weekend. Happilly, but people are getting a bit testy. Bickaboo was inferring some mega stuff just now when I was on the phone w/ her! "Hey Does Ethan Sincoff have to choke a parent!?!?!??!?" LOLOLOLOL

Sigh, I hope it was not about the cost of groceries, or some such foolishness like that....For the rest of the work day, I'm a gonna think what could have set off the friction? In-laws man, it's a difficult scene. They produced a wonderful son/daughter that you married. However, the In-laws themselves can be freakalicious!! Am I right, all of my married pals out there??

Forget the remake, and rent 1979's "The In-Laws" with Alan Arkin and (sadly recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's) Peter Falk!! I still can scream out "Serpentine" (Cut to Peter Falk vaguely gesturing in a circle while smoking) !! Whenever I get stressed about In-Laws!!!

Hey, In-Laws and Spouses; Can't we all just get along, please?? :)

My Father is visiting his Grandson!

2008-12-20T23:05:00.004-05:00

And he is not even bugging me that much!!! He flew in on Thursday night, and has actually been a real pleasure to be around. Genuinely emotional, and happy to see Tobin. I will post some multi generational Sincoff pictures tomorrow. I know, I know, we are due for some. I just would love to have one of Tobe, Dad and I. I mean that's 3 Generations of Sincoff males who can shoot craps moderately well!!

Friday was wack because I went to work at gnirreF, and by the time I got out of one pointless meeting, the company was cancelling the day already due to the snowfall!! So, no one has to tell me 2x, right? I jumped into our trusty car to go home to spend time w/ Tobe, Dad and Vicki. However, Vick calls saying that a breast pump was on hold for her at the Post Partum Place.

Of course I went to pick it up. Main Street from Madison into Chatham was a parking lot. This is how great a husband, and Dad I am: I parked my car in the snow at the CVS, and walked over a mile to get Vicki's breast pump!! How cool am I??? I hope that future Dad's and Husbands can come accross this blog at some point, and seek out my advice here!!

Dad also took us out for a great breakfast, and then we went to Toyota of Morristown to check out new cars. Regular visitors here will know that our Oldsmobile (or "OldsmoBuick" as Fletch would say) sucked balls, and died 2 weeks ago. Well, lo and behold, we went into the dealership, and did well. My Ma and Pa raised a really heavy handed Goniff, because I got us a decent lease price for a new Corolla!!

To top it off, I'm on my 2nd Jack Daniels & Ginger (for medicinal purposes), and we just saw a unique Holocaust Drama called The Counterfitters. It was totally gripping, it tells the tale about this Jewish con man in Berlin in the 1930's, of course he's a counterfitter, and runs a nightclub. Well the Nazi's come into power, and the "Final Solution" begins. He gets sent to a "special" camp to help with the German War Effort. I don't want to give away too much here. However, if you want to check out another side of the Holocaust, give this movie a chance. I think some of the performances were haunting. It also further adds to my extremely low opinion of Germany!! :-)

I want to leave you with this great picture. Look how much Tobin is copying his Daddy here!! All of that stressing about the Obama Campaign in utero can drive a newborn nuts, I tell ya!!

Tobin Samuel Sincoff Rocks like a Hurricane!!!

2008-12-14T22:29:00.003-05:00

Sorry I have not posted in a few days. A certain handsome young lad has been requesting my presence!! :) In all seriousness, Tobin FINALLY arrived on December 4th @ 4:47pm. The shot you see above is literally his first moment in the world. The doctor leaned over to me and said, "Ok, Ethan, it's the 2 minute warning, get that camera ready!" Lo and Behold Tobin appeared.

The first couple of days were spent at St. Barnabas hospital in Livingston, NJ. The staff was wonderful, and they took great care of Mr. T, and Vicki. We got to go home as a family a week ago today!! Ironically, Tobin and I watched the Giants play lamely against the Philadelphia Eagles, and tonight we are watching the Giants blow a game against the Cowboys!! I've had the past week off of work, and it's been great helping Vicki a bit, and to immerse myself into fatherhood as much as possible.

Fatherhood is amazing. I wish Tobey would let his Ma and Pa sleep a little more at night, but hey; he is a night owl like his parents! In all seriousness, I feel asleep this afternoon in my reclining chair in the living room. Tobin was strapped into the baby carrier that I wear, with his head facing me, against my chest. It was pretty amazing. Eventually our breathing (snoring!?) became like one as we slept there. Pretty incredible.

I would be remiss to not give a shout out to Vicki's BFF, Aunt Kayly who came over from Harrisburg this past week. Kayly, thanks for the company, you were great!!!!

Thanks to various folks for all of their well wishes as well !!! Now, sadly, it is back to work tomorrow!!!

I'm waiting on my Man!!

2008-12-03T13:27:00.002-05:00

Well, the countdown to Tobin's arrival is truly on! I am off officially on vacation as of today, thru December 15th!! The little fella is due to arrive tomorrow at 4pm, if all goes according to plan. To say that I'm blown away and exhausted are understatements. I've been putting in alot of extra time at gnirreF to catch up, and not leave such a mess for everyone. Remember, I write the name of where I work in reverse because they have one of those thingamabobs that let's people in the company know when the company has been referenced on the net. The last thing I need is them finding this blog and seeing me kvetch or something.

My immediate coworkers have been cool, and supportive. Unfortunately, much like John Cougar Mellencamp; I'm always fighting Authority, & the authority seems to win!

The Biggie types there have inquired into some of my late arrivals that have happened recently. The fact that we're in a difficult pregnancy w/a history of previous pregnancy issues(including one that occured while I worked there) does not seem to register. Also, Vicki can't drive right now. Which is another reason I have had to be at her appointments more regularly as of late.

I've provided documentation, so that should quiet the wolves a bit. However I just find it ironic that a company that works in the FERTILITY field should be so negative. What can you do?

However, this blog is not about my late hours that I've been working at the drug place (working til 9pm, and 8:30pm the past 2 nights!), nor are they about the new refridgerator we are waiting on to arrive any moment now from Sears (where our Landlord, and America shops)! Pretty soon, I will be able to hold my little man in my arms!! I am bewildered, scared, excited, and a whole bunch of other emotions!

I wil try and get on here later and blog a bit about my 20th High School Reunion! Vick and I went to that last Saturday!!! It was pretty cool, actually.

Let me leave you with a pic from Mr. T's latest ultrasound on Monday

How CUTE is that Pout???!?

More baby news and Chinese Democracy!

2008-11-26T22:47:00.008-05:00

Well, Vicki had her next to last Ob appointment before Mr. T's delivery. Her doctor said everything is looking good, and we are proceeding as normal. The doctor even said that we can expect to enjoy Thanksgiving, and Tobe will not be arriving tomorrow :) . I had the feeling that he could arrive very soon, but we were told that he is going to wait til at least the weekend. So we shall see. Touch wood, everything is looking great!!

I would be lame if I did not put down my .02 regarding the new Guns N'Roses album, "Chinese Democracy". I've been a fan of G n'R since 11th Grade when JoAnn Kosiak came into home room to tell me that she had gone to see this punk metal band at the (now defunct) Ritz @ 4th and Broadway in NYC. JoAnn always rocked like that.

Well, I listened, and listened to "Appetite for Destruction". There was an urgency, and a sense of the unknown to the bluesy based metal that I heard for the first time on that disc. It still holds up today in 2008. I remember digging their acoustic "Lies" album.. then in 1992, towards the end of my time at Temple University, "User Your Illusion Versions 1 and 2" finally were released simultaneously.

They were classics. You could tell that the band was attempting to stay based in glam punk metal, and broaden their musical palette. They pulled it off amazingly well.

Of course, years passed, and all the other members of the band left. W. Axl Rose was the only remaining member. "Chinese Democracy" has been promised in one way, or another since 1998 or so. People felt that it was never going to be released. Axl would be some sort of joke, who never left his mansion, and he would be the J.D. Salinger of Rock Music.

The album was being worked on , and then reworked. Buckethead joined, and left. Tommy Stinson from the Replacements, and Robin Finck from Nine Inch Nails joined.

Well, the album finally came out on November 23. I preordered it from Best Buy

Initially, you listed to it,and you say "wow, why did this take 15 years?". However, after you put those emotions aside, and actually listen to the tracks. From the opening title song, to songs like "Better", "Catcher in the Rye", "Sorry" and "IRS", the musicianship, the lyrics, and the vocals are unbeatable. This album rocks with an urgency, and a passion that I've not heard in quite some time. It truly is a work of art. Honestly.

As someone who has battled ups and downs, I can kind of relate, in a way what Axl has gone through on the rocky road to making this album. All I can say is that I knew this album would eventually come out. It is amazing, and I' m so psyched for him. Congrats, Axl! I hope the next album comes out sooner!

December 4th is Quickly Approaching

2008-11-26T00:22:00.011-05:00

I would be remiss if I did not post here as December 4th gets closer and closer. I'm so excited about Tobe's arrival. However, I am worried that I will be a good Dad. I have to be honest... I am going to try my best to be the best Dad for this little baby that I can be. However, it is something so HYOOOOOGE that I just am going to have to do it day by day. Vicki is certain that I'm going to be a wonderful Father. It's just my natural sense of feeling insecure that is leaving me feel kooky.

I just want him to get here! I want to wear that baby sling and feel his breath against my chest. I'm even looking forward to the diaper changes (a little bit!). I'm looking forward to the months down the road when we will be able to interact with each other a bit!! What am I gonna do when I can make this kid smile, or giggle for the first time?? Tobey is totally gonna have his Dad in the palm of his hand!!

I'm totally reading Dr. Spock right now. I'm gonna be a very involved Daddy. There is not gonna be any of this "I'm home from work now. I'm the Man, and I'm not gonna help". Nope!! I'm gonna be as involved as much as Vicki will let me!!

I am predicting that when Tobin is a teenager, I soooo am gonna be the hip, go to Dad! Vicki is the disciplinarian in the family :). It is just that as Mr. T's birth is approaching, I'm getting insecure. Why is this? No idea... However, it is something I struggle with. I'm keeping my chin up however!

Gotta show everyone some pictures from the week 37 ultrasound on Monday!!

Tobin is being kind of bashful in the picture above and in this one below:

Much like his Daddy, he is always putting his hands near his mouth!! If I'm not eating something I've always got my hands on my face looking all intellectual like I'm pondering the meaninf of life!!!

Vicki and I kept it so real this past weekend. Our friends Abby and Andy & their little boy Aidan came over to help us with the nursery. Andy and I put the crib together in under an hour!

Aidan did a great job of supervising! He was a real task master. However, Andy and I managed to pull it off:

It looks like I actually know what I'm doing, huh!?!?!!?

I love this particular pic. We're doing a jungle theme for Tobe's room, and this was very appropriate, and sooo awesome that Vicki found it on Ebay:

More pictures will follow very soon!! I have to go to bed now. On a different note, stay tuned for my Farewell notes on "The Shield"..... and speaking of "The Jungle"! I will be reviewing Guns n Roses "Chinese Democracy" very, very soon!!!

Sometimes You Can't Beat Father Time

2008-11-19T23:11:00.011-05:00

I've been thinking about the recent UFC 91 PPV alot this evening. My friend Dina wrote on my Facebook wall that she was surprised I had not blogged about the Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar Heavyweight Title Fight. Vicki and I did not get the PPV. While there were some good fights on the card, and I love Randy Couture; I had a funny feeling that he was gonna be 45 years old this fight.

So many other fights, Randy has managed to turn back time, and look like a fighter decades younger than his real age. This fight was different. Brock was too big, and too fast. First off, it is a crime that a guy who is the size of a truck, like Brock Lesnar can cut from like 300lbs to make the Heavyweight limit of 265lbs. By fight time, he probably rehydrated to 285 or 300!!! Randy was 6'2" and 220, and solid, but it looked like he was fighting a cartoon character.

I always feel bad when I see a fighter that I really admire who hangs in there too long, and takes a ferocious beating. Dina said Randy got hit on the ground like 40 times too many. Too bad the referee did not jump in sooner to stop the fight.

It looks like Brock is gonna be a force to be reckoned with in the Heavyweight division. I still feel that the verdict is still out on him as a total fighter, however. Could he beat Nogueira? Can he beat Mir in a rematch? We will see. Until that point, congrats to you, Champ. The "Next Big Thing" has arrived!!

Even now, when there is a fight on TV, be it MMA or boxing, and there is a fighter who is past his prime who gets beat, our phone rings. It is always my dad, and he goes "Ethan they NEVER learn... You can't beat Father Time. They Never get it." It's sad. I can count on one hand the # of boxers who hung it up when they were on top. MMA is still a newish sport, so I can't speak for those fighters. Poor Randy, I hope you are ok, and keeping your chin up! Concentrate on training fighters, and doing your charitable work for returning Veterans w/ head injuries. You've done alot, there is no need to get into that Octagon again.

On a happier note, the Sincoff Nursery is starting to look awesome!! We managed to purge alot of stuff, to clean out the 2nd bedroom to make it nursery ready!! Also, Vicki put down a cool looking rug, and hung lot's of cool jungle themed stuff on the walls!! I especially like the giraffe picture that says "Tobin's Jungle"!! It's the best.

December 4th is coming before we know it!! Vicki and I went to a breastfeeding class at St. Barnabas hospital the other night!! Not that I plan on doing any breastfeeding. It was fascinating to see how to feed your child correctly!! I can't wait to participate and help Vicki out in any way I can!!!

Moving Right along here

2008-11-12T23:17:00.007-05:00

Sooo, we are past the election. The Democrats have soundly defeated Steve Schmidt, and the Republican Machine. We have sent Steve back to Sacramento to watch more UFC. I'm sure that despite running one of the worst political campaigns in modern history, Steve will soon be running some other politicians' life. Either that, or he has planty of time to check out the UFC when they are at the Arco Arena again!!!

Our good friend Susannah came over this weekend to help us work in the Nursery for Mr.T. It was awesome to see her, and she was such a help. She seems really at peace, and full of hell!! I think she is in a good place now!

Vicki finally said "yes" to maid service. The Maids (tm) came in here the other day, and they literally kicked some major butt! You could eat off of the floor here!! I'm totally loving it. Hopefully we can keep it up, and keep the place looking ok. I will try and get some pics up here so you can see how nice it looks!

Dude, I just finished watching Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter", and there is this fighter who was born in Poland, and moved to Canada @ age ten named Krzysztof Soszynski. He is one scary MF'er!!! I would not want to meet him in alley, dark, or otherwise!! In all seriousness, the fight he was in today was over too quickly for me to judge if he is the real deal, or not. However, he seems like he can "impose his will" when he wants to in the Octagon!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Randy "The Natural" Couture against Brock Lesnar at the UFC event in Las Vegas this Saturday! Randy has managed to fight Father Time off, and be a true inspiration. He also seems like one of the most genuine, nicest guys in MMA. So, my hat is off to you, Captain America!!!

We will be at the in-laws this weekend. We will get to see my favorite Pennsylvanians, Kayly and Nate Newcomer!!!! (and Ethan, and Holden, and pets) Hopefully, there will be a little bit o'wine flowing.

A question for Vicki and Kayly to ponder: if you guys dig Keith Olbermann so much, why don't you dig Anderson Cooper? You would think he would be up your alley!!

Post Election Day & a childbirth orientation at the Maternity Ward

2008-11-05T23:58:00.005-05:00

I write this post today still in AWE of the events that transpired last night. While it ended up not being close(ish), I felt that it was up in the air until 11pm, when the West Coast polls closed, and suddenly Barack was over the top with the 270 Electoral votes.

However, upon thinking about it now, the immenseness of it all just blows me away! The states Barack took that Bush had in '04.... I can't name 'em all, but there must have been 9 of them. To see him take Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, FLORIDA, North Carolina (not officially called, but looks that way) , Nevada, New Mexico.. truly an amazing night

There is no way that I can write as eloquently as Vicki, and my good friend, and Vicki's BFF, Kayly did in their most recent posts. However, I too got teary at the fact that sometimes America, and Americans can fulfill their potential. This is something I think we did in choosing the 44th President of the United States. This time, we got it right.

My 81 year old father called up crying last night as well. He was blown away by Obama's victory, and this repudiation of the Republican Party.

53% or so of American voters actually thought that the past 8 Bush years were horrendous, that 2 wars were stretching us thin domestically and internationally; causing thousands of tragically needless deaths, and injuries. That this economic down turn we are in, was the result of a hyoooooooooge increase in the size of Government. Which is not what Repubicans are supposed to be about.

How anyone could still like Bush (most disliked modern day President), let alone vote for McCain and his phony war hero, "Maverick" b.s..... I don't know. Politics are a weird thing to discuss with those on the other side of the aisle..... It's difficult. I, for one, take it personally. I'm not gloating now with Barack Obama's win, but John Kerry's loss hit me terribly in 2004.

For the record, I do not buy McCain as a war hero, or a Maverick, or anything other than a spoiled rich guy (read the recent Rolling Stone article, as Kayly has suggested). However, kudos to him, for at least conceding with a certain amount of class that his campaign did not show during the heat of things. I will give him that .
Some folks, who I like, who are on the right are saying that "they are not working today, cause Obama is gonna pay their mortgage, put gas in their car, and give them free health care". It's sad that they can not find the appropriate words for how special this Election was. However, I won't diss them that much, because they are nice people.... we just fundamentally disagree.

From Joe Louis being heard on all the radios in Jewish and Black neighborhoods during the Great Depression, to Jim Crow to the murder of Emmett Till, to the successes of the Civil Rights Movement to the assassination of MLK, to the Watts and Newark riots... to last night

We accomplished something last night, us meaning us America. Seeing Condeleeza Rice get emotional was amazing.

In thinking about the future, Vick and I did a run through at St. Barnabas Hospital today. We checked out the Maternity Ward, and actually had a childbirth orientation. We got to look in, and see a very red faced, very cute newborn kicking his cute feets. I can't wait for Tobin Sincoff to enter this world.

His mother and I look forward to welcoming him to an America that today, is a little more hopeful, and offers unlimited promise to all who try hard.

My Obama Family Dream

2008-11-02T20:25:00.006-05:00

With the election literally around the corner, I wanted to take a moment, and share something lighthearted that has arisen as result of the Obama Campaign. In watching Barack Obama campaign for the past 20 months or so, I truly feel like I've gotten to know both him, and Michelle, his wife!! I know that this dream/fantasy thing is something that I share with Vicki's BFF, Kayly, as we have talked in depth about it. I wanted to just drop it in here right now:

I think that with the right bit of luck, and some chutzpah, Vicki and I can become close pals of the Obama's!!

They truly seem like the greatest family! It looks like Michelle and Barack are ultra in love, and are great parents to Malia and Sasha. Vicki and I can end up being true pals with the Obama's, we're talking being invited over to the White House and stuff!! ("Ethan, call me Barack. None of this Mr. President stuff.")I see our friendship forming and bonding in the following ways:

1) First, we all gots to get out and Vote on Election Day on Tuesday!! Let's hope everything goes our way!!

2) All things pointing the way the do now, Barack Obama gets elected President of the United States!! Of course, the lovely Michelle Obama, will become our First Lady. Barack will get sworn in on January 20th, 2009!!!

3) Vicki and I will write them a sassy, cute "welcome to the White House/Congratulations" card. In which, we are witty, and charming. We describe our support for the Campaign, and how much Barack's candidacy has meant to us. We also tell the Obama's the following: The next time you come to New Jersey, why don't you come over to our house for dinner!!

4) We conclude the letter by including a picture of Vicki and I, as well as pictures of Fred and Lulu! The pictures of the 2 most loveable Shih Tzu's around will certainly seal this in our favor once Malia and Sasha sees their pictures, how could they resist?

I see the friendship starting out slowly at first. Then, perhaps after a few swings thru NJ, Barack and I will talk sports, and stuff, and I'll make him laugh. From that laugh, and Vicki bonding w/ Michelle and the kids(I think Michelle will love Vicki's sass!), we will get invited to the White House!!

Then, weekends at Camp David!! I tell you, friendships will be formed!!!

Mr. T is Arriving Soon!

2008-10-30T23:37:00.009-04:00

What begin as a regular old day at the old pharmaceutical workplace was jolted into something totally unexpected 2 days ago. Vicki called me at work, after just leaving her OB/GYN appointment. "Guess what?" my lovely bride asked me. "What's that?" said the sharp husband.

"WE HAVE A DELIVERY DATE NOW FOR MR. T!! HE IS GOING TO BE DELIVERED ON DECEMBER 4TH!!!"

It took me a moment to process this information. While, I knew T was coming, there was just a vague date of December 12Th. However, now, with a true delivery date set in stone!! I was blown away! I can't wait for him to come into this world. I will be the best Dad I can be! I promise. It was just surreal to finally get a date, set in stone. I know, that by the time December 4Th, 2008 passes into December 5Th, 2008; Vicki and I will be parents..

It truly is an amazing, amazing fact. I'm ready for the challenge! I am ready to support my beautiful wife to make sure she doesn't go totally insane w/ the demands of motherhood!! I promise :) You may have to excuse me if I seem like my head is in the clouds...... because, since Tuesday afternoon, it truly has been!!! I can not wait for this sweet little boy to arrive!!!

To talk about politics for a moment, I wonder if you guys watched the Obama infomercial? Vicki and I watched. I must say, I found it incredibly moving. The unique stories that were depicted of everyday working Americans really connected. I felt Barack Obama really explained his platform, and his reasons for being President of the United States over Senator John McCain.

I have to be honest, and let you know that the stories brought me to tears. The various stories of Americans, like the elderly retired African American couple in Ohio, where the husband had to go back to work at 75 yrs old (after working 30+ years on the railroad) at Walmart to pay for his wife's arthritis medicine, to the unemployed former Ford plant guy reading to his daughter in Kentucky, to the teacher in New Mexico. It showed ordinary Americans, struggling to keep their heads above water.

My 80 year old father from Florida called me after the program was over, confessing he was teary eyed too. "I think he (Obama) is going to be a wonderful President" he said.... "What an amazing piece of film".... I agree on both counts. Sure, the film was propaganda, but it rang true, and the production values were amazing.

I swear, I am sooooooo ready for November 4th!! I find myself constantly going to Huffingtonpost.com, and fivethirtyeight.com to make sure the polls are still going on Obama's favor..... my head will pop off my head and float away real soon w/ the stress. The day after election day can not come soon enough!!

Aside from campaign burnout, and the arrival of Mr. T soon, the other reason I can not wait to get past Election Day is that finally, after 17 years of waiting, Guns n'Roses "Chinese Democracy" will FINALLY be released!!!!! I wonder why NOW, why 2008 is the year that Axl Rose finally decided to put this opus out!! I must say that I've always had faith that it would one day see the light of day. Vick and I have been to a few of the later day (Buckethead version,and Bumblehead version) versions of the Gunners concerts. Axl still puts on an amazing show.

Mega props to the J.D. Salinger of Rock n'roll for putting this album out. I always knew you could do it, Axl!!!! Thank you :)

I love the Sunday New York Times!

2008-10-26T19:51:00.005-04:00

There is this hyoooooge article in the Sunday Magazine called "John McCain- The Making (and remaking and remaking) of the Candidate". It is an incredibly well done article. Basically, it details the multiple directions, the multiple narratives that the McCain campaign has tried to undertake since the Republican Convention. Apparently, there is hyooooge infighting going on behind the scenes! People are pointing fingers at each other. My ol' buddy, Steve Schmidt (who is described as "glowering" "while smoking and checking his Blackberry") seems to have quite the bit of blame levelled at him.

Couldn't happen to a better con man!! I hope that this race ends, Barack Obama gets OVERWHELMINGLY elected to the Presidency, and Steve Schmidt, and Nicole Wallace of the McCain Campaign will NEVER be able to work in politics again!! I'm sure this is naive of me to think that, however. White collar crime, my friends.... No one is ever "untouchable". I'm sure some GOP thingamabob race will hire Steve-o to manage some campaign. That's alas the way the wind blows in DC.

The people in the McCain Campaign are already sending resumes' out, apparently. Kinda like rats jumping off a ship. Love it. Looooooove it!! McCain was on "Meet the Press" this morning, and swore to Tom Brokaw that "I promise you (Tom Brokaw) that you are gonna be up awful late on election night. We will win this." Chuck Todd, who was on the next segment was like "what Kool-Aid is THAT man drinking?" Todd actually showed a map to the 270 electoral votes where Obama could lose Pennsylvania and Florida, if he had to lose them. He's made serious inroads, serious leads in Iowa, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. Just amazing stuff.

Did anyone else see the cute 5Th grader asking Joe Biden what the Vice Presidency is about in Palm Beach County, Florida? I like Joe's answer, much more than Sarah Palin's. However, why doesn't he mentioned the tie breaking Senate vote that the VP has? Hey, Liberals, keep the faith! You know the writing may soon be on the wall when Karl Rove says McCain has a very steep hill to climb! David Frum, (Mr. Axis of Evil speechwriter) is even writing this election off as well. We shall see.

Of course, Joe Lieberman is now talking about how much he respects Barack Obama!

We have had a pretty groovy weekend. I've managed to chill out, relax, and get some quality nap time in today. I watched UFC 90 Silva vs. Cote last night. There were some decent fights (Thiago Alves vs. Josh Koscheck/Sean Sherk vs. Tyson Griffin) so it was totally worth watching!! However, Anderson Silva, who is one of my favorite fighters, a guy who looks like he is totally dominating his opponents; phoned it in last night against Patrick Cote. Silva ended up winning in Round 3 (first time he has had to go to the 3rd round in the UFC) when Cote tore his Meniscus. However, it was NOT a great performance by "The Spider".

Finally, I have rediscovered a newer version of a show that I was waaaaay into when I was a teen! Yes, I have found "Degrassi-The Next Generation". Yes, I have to admit, it is a guilty pleasure. If you need to kill a half hour, and you want to see the issues that today's (Canadian) teens are dealing with, I totally recommend it. Also, fans of the Original "Degrassi Junior High" will be happy to hear that the character "Spike", yes the chick w/ the Mohawk, is back, is an adult, and HER kid goes to Degrassi now!!!

Yeah, I know I'm gonna be a dad in like, 6 weeks!! I have to chill out sometimes!!

"The World Serious..."

2008-10-22T22:52:00.005-04:00

As Bugs Bunny would say is upon us! However, I am not that into it. I am trying to cheer, for my wife, and in-laws sake for Philadelphia, as the Phillies are playing the Tampa Bay (Formerly Devil) Rays at Tropicana Field. Now, folks familiar to me will know that I went to college at Temple University in Philly. I found it a fun, but tremendously UNDERWHELMING town. This is something that I like to remind my friend Mary about all the time! Nonetheless, I will root for the Phillies, to keep everything mellow on the home and in-law front. Why not, right?

Interestingly, the Tampa Bay Rays, have a Japanese infielder named Akinori Iwamura. I've always been fascinated by the idea of the foreign player playing baseball in America. I know the Japanese have a long history of baseball in their own country, but to play here? In a strange land? How does the players (there are several of 'em in the majors now) live? Do they constantly travel with interpreters? I guess the team has to pay them too, right? Do they try to learn English at all? In a parallel sense, former NY Mets Manager Bobby Valentine now coaches in Japan, has learned Japanese, and loves living there!

Sadly, in MMA news, we saw Elite XC go out of business this week. They had very few good fights, and they promoted that Kimbo Slice farce guy which pissed a MMA purist like me off to no end. Apparently they ran up a $55 million dollar deficit in under 2 years! Crazy, huh?.

Looking forward to seeing Anderson Silva fighting on the UFC card this weekend! One thing about "The Spider", he does not play around. He goes for the kill, either to submit, or knock you out. I've never seen an mma fighter so awesome!

The election news keeps on getting better and better. Huffington Post is saying how the NY Times Sunday Magazine will have a big article about the disintegration of the McCain Campaign, and the "Schizophrenic" Leadership of Steve Schmidt! I LOVE IT!!!! I truly will be working for the Weekend now!!! LOL

Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins keeps on beating Father Time!

2008-10-19T20:07:00.005-04:00

I gotta give a mega shout out to one of my favorite fighters. Bernard Hopkins, aka "The Executioner", who is 43 years old, went out, and DOMINATED 26 yr old Middleweight Champ Kelly Pavlik. Reports show that he basically dominated the entire fight. This does not surprise me. I will always remember his KO of Felix Trinidad at Madison Square Garden in 2001. Trinidad, who is Puerto Rican, had 20,000 New Yorkers at the Garden cheering for him. By the time he was KO'ed, the audience was eerily silent. Amazing sports moment.

Of course, the big news in politics today is that Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President on "Meet the Press" this morning. First, let me start off by saying that I do have some misgivings about Mr. Powell. After all, it was his speech in front of the UN, that made the US case for war in Iraq. We now know that the info he shared was not correct. Whether he literally knew it was incorrect, or if he thought the information was truthful, I do not know. However, it is a blight on his otherwise honorable list of achievements.

I must say that I found his endorsement of Obama incredibly nuanced, and heartfelt. Powell covered all of the bases. You could tell that he truly had agonized over the endorsement. From the ridiculous choice of Sarah Palin as VP, to the whole "Obama is a Muslim" myth, to the robocalls that the McCain campaign is doing (employing the same firm that smeared McCain w/ the black baby out of wedlock myth in 2000!); Powell hit all the bases.

I wish that more of our local, state and national leaders could speak as plainly, and as directly as Mr. Powell did today. He transcended race, political party, and personal agenda today. He deserves kudos!

It is AMAZING, I just found out that the McCain Campaign countered the Powell endorsement of Obama by announcing that Katie Barberia, a TELEVNOVELA actress in Florida had endorsed McCain!!! LOLOL!!!!

A final shout out to Chris Leben for a great fight on the Spike TV UFC card against Michael Bisbing. While Chris came up a little short, he showed tremendous heart, and determination. I hope that not only will he finish up all of the tattoo's that are on his chest, but that he will continue to find success in sobriety!!!

How gorgeous is this wife of mine?? :)

2008-10-17T11:32:00.009-04:00

Look at this gorgeous picture of my wife who is now 32 weeks pregnant w/ Mr. T!! This latest Belly picture was taken last night, and I just had to put it up here. I may be biased, but my wife just looks amazing :)

As she has mentioned on her side of the blog, she can just barely fit behind the wheel of her car!! Pretty soon she is gonna be totally housebound. Not to mention that our street continually is being worked on. That's no fun for sweet, sexy pregnant wives! I wish Mr. T. would take it easy on his Mommy. I've tried to give him a stern talking to thru Vicki's belly, but he has not been listening yet. I will keep on trying. However, nonetheless; VICKI YOU LOOK AMAZING, BABES!!!!

Did everyone catch the debate on Wednesday? I just have to say: THANK GOD THEY ARE OVER!. I just want full speed to election day. I must be not the most perceptive guy in the world, or have no natural instinct for politics. I watched each of the 3 Presidential debates, and the 1 Vice Presidential Debate. I felt that John McCain did well in all of them.

I was trying to be objective, but perhaps a little too objective. The pundits talked about his facial expressions during this last debate, and how he came off as old and desperate. I was kind of embarassed that I did not notice this stuff. Hey, anything that strengthens Barack's case is cool with me!

I thought Barack came off as very Presidential, and very polished. I felt that he confronted McCain about the crowds at his rallies, and the Ayers issue as well. McCain had nothing for him except terse old man type stuff! Fingers crossed til Election Day!

Vicki and I are always worrying about TV shows we like jumping the shark. In fact I may be almost too nutty about this. I was worry as we were watching "The Office", and Jane Levenson was talking about her babies' birth. And, that it was a water birth, she gets asked about if "everything comes out" and she said "Oh yes, even the afterbirth". Creed Bratton, goes, "That musta looked like the Landing at Omaha Beach"

Laugh out Loud Funny!! Hysterical.

"Life on Mars" is still ok. The 2nd episode holds up. Harvey Keitel may just rock in his role.

Shout out to Chris Leben! Hope he wins this weekend during the UFC PPV!!

Starfuckers Incorporated

2008-10-13T23:00:00.005-04:00

Well, apparently the McCain campaign in all of their erratic behavior actually intends for the race to be run this way. All of the hate speech, all of the stop/starts, all of the confusing behavior, they meant for it to be run like this. This is not just me scratching my head in liberal town. Such Conservative luminaries like George Will, Bill Kristol, Peggy Noonan even Tommy Thompson are saying "Hey Johnny Mac (go go go, Johnny) you better change this campaign around."

Former short list VP candidate, Florida Governor (and extremely tan man of Greek Extraction) Charlie Christ chose to go to Disneyworld today, rather than campaign for John McCain :) He said "If I get a chance to campaign later, I'll get to it". :) Can you hear an overweight lady singing somewhere, maybe? Not saying anything til the Republican concession speech on Election night.
However, Mr. Starfucker himself, Steve Schmidt, says that the McCain Campaign is about to pull off a "Rope a Dope"of Ali like proportions. We shall see, Stevie, we shall see. Y'know folks, I have to point out that it is VERY funny that Steve-O is so powerful politically, but he has no hair on his head! Can't Carl Rove do anything about that? Look at those shades perched precariously on his bald dome. Gotta love it!
Had a very mellow weekend. Enjoyed spending time w/ Vicki, and hearing Tobin trying to kick big time. I'm on a big British Mystery kick, and I'm really enjoying the latest John Harvey novel. It's gritty, and set in Industrial Nottingham! Gotta love that. "The Life and Times of Tim" is just laugh out loud funny! I mean, really, really funny.

"True Blood" keeps on getting better and better. It may be one of the most enjoyable hours on TV, period. It's up there with "Mad Men". I'm not sure what the whole Don Draper in Palm Springs thing was. However, it was awesome to see him potentially explore who he truly is.

Hows about Richard Lewis on "Countdown"?? Tell it like it is, Richard!!

What the hell happened to the weekend!??!

2008-10-12T19:47:00.002-04:00

Jesus Christo, it just seems like I got home on Friday night. Here, getting ready to call Sunday done. Soon enough I'm a gonna have to get up for work tomorrow. THAT really sucks. I don't know about you guys, but I wish my weekends were longer. What can you do, huh?

Not too much going on this weekend. I got to catch up on some reading, including some parenting stuff. Quicker than I can say "Bambino", the little one will be here. So, I guess I have to enjoy my weekend sleep-ins while I can!!! In all seriousness, I can't wait for the little one to get here. He was totally pushing on Vicki's tummy today. It was if he was saying "Get me outta here, I'm ready for the world".

:-)

Take your time kiddo, don't rush things!! The world will be here waiting for you. As will your parents!!

Life on Mars

2008-10-10T14:19:00.003-04:00

Before I talk about my new favorite show, I gots to post the greatest video of all time!!! Robert Gibbs, Communications Director for the Obama Campaign LAYS THE SMACKDOWN on Sean Hannity of Fixed Noise!! :O)

I just love him blubbering (he IS very pasty, isn't he??) about how "I am no Anti-Semite!Benjamin Netanyahu blurbed my book!!" It was awesome to see Gibbs really stick it to him! He made me proud!!

Now, on a purely pop culture note, I LOVED "Life on Mars" !!! Any Show that features a Bowie tune as its theme song is rocking in my book. Time will tell if the writers for the show are able to keep the concept going of a police detective from 2008 sent back in time to 1973 by getting hit on the head in an accident. The character of Detective Sam Tyler has no choice but to solve crimes in 1973, in a Police Department (and City of New York) that are VASTLY different than the world he is used to in 2008. In all seriousness, I have not loved a show as much since "Homicide: Life on the Street"

Which, by the way, is the only show I know of that began the pilot episode, and ended the last show of the series with the same line:

"That's the thing about this job, it ain't got nothin' to do with life".

Just brilliant.

"Life on Mars" is worth watching for Michael Imperioli's muttonchops alone!!

Does Joe Lieberman Sleep at Night?

2008-10-09T16:38:00.004-04:00

I found this Yom Kippur letter to Joe Lieberman's Rabbi's to be amazing. I wanted to share it with you. The following is taken from www.huffingtonpost.com:

Yom Kippur, 5769New York City
Rabbi Daniel CohenCongregation Agudath SholomStamford, Connecticut
Rabbi Barry FreundelKesher Israel CongregationWashington, D.C.
Dear Rabbis Cohen and Freundel,
Please forgive the presumption -- not only don't we know one another, I'm the kind of "cultural Jew" who makes even Reform Rabbis weep.
But as far as I can tell, now that Joe Lieberman and his family have moved from New Haven to Stamford, you, Rabbi Cohen, are his primary Rabbi in Connecticut. And you, Rabbi Freundel, lead the congregation where Sen. Lieberman worships in Washington.
Sen. McCain loves Joe Lieberman -- he wanted him as his running mate, if press reports are accurate.
Sen. McCain listens to Joe Lieberman.
Sen. Lieberman is, if you will, John McCain's rabbi.
So I thought I would write to you and ask you, as Sen. Lieberman's rabbis, to talk to Sen. Lieberman about the hatred that the McCain-Palin campaign is encouraging --- and the special understanding we Jews have of how that hatred plays out.
Why this public forum? Because I feel this is an urgent moment for American Jews. And because, in this moment, the men who can perhaps do the most to help us all -- Jews, Gentiles and Muslims alike -- should be identified and challenged to step up and do the right thing.
And make no mistake: Your voices do matter. If Joe Lieberman is the devout Jew he professes to be, you two are the most influential voices he can hear. He'd never listen to me. But to you -- how can he turn away?
I often think about Kristallnacht, that terrible night in Germany when it became unmistakably clear what the Nazis intended for the Jews. Almost a hundred Jews murdered, tens of thousands deported, windows smashed, businesses seized -- and hundreds of synagogues burned. Quite the "November surprise," if you will. But even after this horrific orgy of violence in 1938, there were many German Jews who didn't get it, who thought they were safe, who thought this was where it ended.
Now we know better. We say "Never again." But look around you, gentlemen. History does repeat, and in this case, with spooky echoes of Germany's darkest decade. A bad economy. A search for someone who can be dehumanized and blamed. The cries for "justice". And then....?
How would we recognize Kristallnacht if it happened today?
My fear: It's on the horizon, and coming closer every day.
Today "The Other" is Barack Obama. At a McCain-Palin rally the other day, there was a cry from a yahoo in the crowd: "Off with his head!" John McCain and Sarah Palin have not condemned that man. Indeed, they promise to ratchet up their "questions" about Obama in the final weeks of the campaign. At this point, it seems, they'd find nothing upsetting if the audiences at their rallies showed up with torches and pitchforks.
Jews, above all others, should fear this kind of hate speech. It may start with the demonization of one black man. Then it will move on to greedy Wall Streeters and "Jewish bankers" and a "liberal media" owned and controlled by Jews. [It's already happening: The Anti-Defamation League reports "a dramatic upsurge in anti-Semitic statements" on financial message boards on the Web. ] And then -- it sounds crazy, but it sounded crazy to many Jews in Germany -- the mob will come for us. Because that's where this goes. It's where it always goes. No matter where it starts, it ends with the Jews -- we're the ultimate "Other."
On your synagogue's web site, Rabbi Cohen, I note that you have a large family. Six daughters? Mazel tov. We have only one, but she is as precious to us as your girls are to you and your wife, and the thought of having her wrenched from my hand at some 21st century equivalent of a railroad freight yard -- it wakes me in the night.
I know I am asking a hard thing of you -- to confront Joe Lieberman and ask him to talk to John McCain, and, if McCain won't stop this madness, to call upon Sen. Lieberman to condemn his friend.
But maybe if I make this request both public and personal -- maybe if I invoke the images of Germany, just seven decades ago -- and ask that you do what you can to keep our children from harm, you will see how crucial this moment is to each and every Jew. And how much power you have to help us, all of us, who dare to hope for better from this country but find ourselves, in the middle of the night, awake and terrified.
A healthy and productive New Year to you and yours.
Jesse Kornbluth

Remember, dear astute reader, that the politics of deception, and slight of hand take one's eye off of what truly are the issues and problems facing our nation

Quick Note in the Midst of Yom Kippur

2008-10-09T00:28:00.006-04:00

A hearty shout out to my Sons and Daughters of Abraham out there. Tonight into tomorrow is a very reflective and special time of year in the Jewish faith. I hope we all use the time wisely to reflect on our families, our health, and our nation.

Just a quick note here as I am still getting over the tummy bug as mentioned in my previous post. Not alot to talk about

I mean, I COULD go on for ages about the negative McCain ads, and the attack dog rhetoric of Sarah Palin. However, I can't deal w/ it right now. I"m spent. Steve Schmidt, and John McCain are prostitutes, and should be ashamed of Themselves.

It IS awesome that David Brooks of the Times called Palin a "Fatal Cancer to the Republican Party"... That' s hardcore stuff, "my friends"!!

The debate was underwhelming, but helped consolidate what a master politician Barack Obama is. He bobbed and moved, and was So presidential, so slick. To reference a 1990's boxing icon, he was a true Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whittaker! It was a great performance.

I believe that the McCain "That one" comment and gesture may be studied in years to come when students of debate learn what not to do when debating for the Presidency of the United States.. Much like Gore sighing while debating GW Bush, or Bush Senior looking at his watch while debating Clinton, etc.

On a pop culture note, Project Runway rocked tonight !!!!! Not to mention that I heard "Devil Inside" by INXS on the radio today! Talk about memories....

Tales from a Tummy Bug

2008-10-06T14:59:00.008-04:00

Hello Sunshine,

How are we then?

Sorry about the long lay off, it was not intentional. I was literally FELLED w/ a stomach flu that kept me out of commission from Thursday at 5pm til, well just about yesterday afternoon!! I will spare everyone the gross details.. However we have all been there! A quick shout out to my DW's BFF Kayly for Sharing some of the love from the Harrisburg area when Vicki went to see the View with her!!!! LOLOL

Now, as for the big ol' Vice Presidential debate that happened. In between gripping my tummy in pain (and trying not to kvetch too much. After all, Vicki is carrying a CHILD for Christ's sake!! Don't tell her about nausea!jk), and grimacing; I tride to watch the debate as open minded as possible. After all, in the end, I'm a Democrat. I want a government that helps its' citizens, and I don't believe that the free market let's anything trickle down, EVER to the huddled masses below.

I thought Sarah Palin did well in a totally reading off of cue cards way w/ that winking at the camera and the "say it ain't so, Joe" faux working class rhetoric. I thought Joe Biden turned the engines on in the 2nd half of the debate, and closed strongly. As a result a thought it was a tie, much like the first Presidential debate..

How Happy was I to find out that The press lambasted her!! She got facts wrong, she gave the wrong name for the head general in Afghanistan!! I loved it!! How GREAT would it be for Obama/Biden to win Florida, and North Carolina?????

It seems like my old buddy, Steve Schmidt is getting a bit o'press today. Since it is referenced in the newspaper, I guess I can state it on here. There is a paragraph in the article which describes Steve at a Log Cabin Republican Event, telling them how much he loves his sister, and her partner, and that for the Log Cabing Republicans, that "their time will come".....

I don't get it. A) How can you be gay, and a Republican? It would be like me as a Jew joining the Nazi Party!! The Right Wing of this country has denounced the gay lifestyle! Is economics enough to turn your back on your gay brothers and sisters in getting the same rights as heterosexual couples? B) How can one (i.e. Steve) be a Republican operative if your Party has targeted a portion of the population that includes your SISTER!?!? Shame, Shame Steve... I can understand being conservative economically, but to cash a paycheck from the same people look down on your sister,... I would not do it. Is the money that important? To put the Republican Party above family?

Accourding to http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ , things are NOT looking good for John McCain, btw...

Did everyone see HASSelback go crazy and Whoopi take her on during "The View" today????

GOOD STUFF!!!

I loves me some Rosh Hashanah

2008-09-30T13:18:00.004-04:00

It is Tuesday, and I'm sitting at home chilling out! It is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Today is year 5768 of aggravation, neurosis, guilt and survival for the Jewish People! I may celebrate by getting lost in a desert, or baking some matzos on my back or something :) While Vicki and I are not a synagogue going couple yet in Morris County; we are totally culturally Jewish at least. Who know's what is ahead? I'm sure that with Mr. T coming into the world, we will find a synagogue for the family to join. Hopefully, he can find Hebrew School just as annnoying as I did! LOLOL

Speaking of our Mr. T., I do have some new ultrasound pictures for you, dear reader!! This is from Friday's week 29 ultrasound:

There is some debate in the Sincoff household as to just who he looks like :) I think he has Vicki's nose! Vicki says he has my chin!! I'd be interested to see what everyone else thinks!

What did everyone else think of the debate? While watching it objectively, I thought McCain did far better than I thought he would. However, when I woke up and read a variety of blogs, and stuff online, people were saying that Obama came off as more presidential, and that McCain came off as angry, twitchy, and just; old! hmmmm I guess it is that 1960 analogy of Nixon having the 5 o'clock shadow against Kennedy in their debate that put JFK over the top!

Who woulda thunk that, right??

What the Hell Ever Happened to Mickey Rourke!?!?

2008-09-25T22:13:00.006-04:00

I was thinking that he is the perfect example of a Hollywood star, who (some of the time) made edgy, stylish films in the 1980's. I remember falling in love w/ NYC because of "The Pope of Greenwich Village" and I had an "Angel Heart" Poster on my wall in college. He was such a dickhead that he burned pretty much every bridge in Hollywood. Aside from a few supporting roles here and there , Mickey has been gone for a long time.

I know, I know his face looks fucked up big time. Like, how much plastic surgery can one guy from Miami take?? It seems like Mickey is on the verge of quite the career comeback! I am totally psyched for his new movie "The Wrestler". It was directed by Darren Aronofsky, the director of "Requiem for a Dream" C'mon, I know I'm not the only person who remembers that mind trip!

Apparently, The Mick plays an aging, 1980's star, now broken pro wrestler named Randy "The Ram" Robinson, who invites people into his trailer to watch his 1980's self on a video game, when he is not engaging in indy wrestling matches where he takes a staple gun to his forehead. There is serioius Oscar Buzz (for real). I'm hearing things like "touching performance" and "I cried" from the reviews I've heard from the Festival Circuit.

Good Luck, Mickey! Here's hoping you have a career rejuvination!! I still remember the great actor you can be if you center yourself.

While I'm posting, I gotta give a shout out to my main man Rollie Robeast His musings on the posturing of elected officials is not only written w/ great Jersey gusto, I think he is right on the money!! Way to go, Rollie!

Did anyone catch Letterman's performance vis a vis John McCain cancelling the show at the last minute?? Have you ever experienced (and it can be both good and bad) television, that was so electric (again, both either pleasant or unpleasant) that you: a) can't believe you were lucky to catch it b) you almost thought it was fake because it was so real? Simply put, this was one of those "electric" viewing events! Dave was so on! He literally threw a TON of barbs McCain's way. Awesome.

I would also be remiss to not mention that Sarah Palin kind of had that deer in headlights look while being interviewed by that (not) notoriously tough interviewer, Katie Couric. I think the Palin bump for John McCain may be quickly be a think of the past. I truly feel that even the most passionate Conservative, has to ante up, and say "C'mon now, this gal is not qualified". She really is a joke, right? Savvy, but a joke? Props to Chuck Hagel for saying it loud and proud!!

I have to end w/ some fluff! I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO psyched to see Mr Suede get voted off "Project Runway" last night. I HATED his talking about himself in the 3rd person! I know, I know, Kenley Collins is getting really big for her britches (she is always complaining about how they don't get her or that "this is REALLY hard"), but I hope she mellows out!!!

We are past the mid week hump!

2008-09-24T23:48:00.003-04:00

I see the weekend as we steamroll straight ahead in the distance. It's almost there!!! I can't say that it's been a particularly bad week of work. It has been stressful though. I am doing a whole Grass Roots Populist John Edwards thing at work. When people are not following purchasing policy, I am documenting it, and talking to them about it.

This is all fine and good. Save for the fact that I am going to be talking to folks who could be higher up on the food chain, who don't really care. That's the thing with corporate America. Perhaps the recent problems in our economy truly point it out. High and Mid level folks, folks who can make decisions about things truly don't give a sh*t. I saw it during the internet boom, and I see it now.

And it's funny 'cos it's not like Karma ever works out to get 'em (Well maybe in the dude who led Qwest Communications' case it does; Joe Naccio). White collar crime, man. You wear a tie and have a degree, you can get away w/ lot's of mischief. 'Nuf Said
Of course I am not going to refer to my place of business in name. Those who know me, know where I work... I gots to be swift like that

I went for an appointment w/ my Nurse Practitioner who handles a portion of my therapy, and medication. She was impressed in the progress I am making emotionally. People who know me, who know me a long time, know that I've always battled depression, anxiety and stuff like that.

However with a combination of medication, good intensive therapy, a bit of exercise, some self examination and especially the love of a great wife and impending fatherhood.... I am starting to get a hold on emotions that have long had a hold on me.

It's very cool to wake up in a day to know that I'm finally in control of how I feel; and I can talk myself down from high anxiety moments. I truly can not wait to start being a dad!!!:)

Boy, It's Monday, and my arms are tired!

2008-09-22T19:20:00.003-04:00

I always loved that old "I just flew in, and my arms are TIRED".. Borscht Belt line. I thought I'd use it on you right here. Hey, it's my blog, and I can do what I want. Howard Stern has gone off on how obnoxious blogging is. How people write these tomes, and no one reads them but themselves. I don't think I concur. I feel that putting something up here on the web gives me a sense of connection, and it's kind of creative, and well; fun. So, while I agree w/ Howard on alot(and he DID have Bigfoot on today), I do not concur w/ him about blogs.

It was great to have Ben over this weekend. He is probably one of my oldest friends. We go back to 1990/1991 era when I was at Temple University in Philadelphia. He lived in Thailand for years, and now he's back in the NY area teaching English. I wish we hadn't have drank 2 bottles of wine w/ dinner, but what can you do!?!?

Sunday, Vicki and I went to a friends' engagement picnic/party. It was nice. However, it is now Monday evening, and I need a nap!!!

Post Squeeze Musings

2008-09-20T17:00:00.004-04:00

What a great concert!! It's soo cool to see Chris Difford and Glen Tillbrook together again. Although, I would not have worn that bright yellow suit that he had on. He has the same voice that I remember him to have. They totally cranked out all of their hits. The keyboardist, while no Jools Holland, was amazing. I don't even know if Jools is in the music business these days!

I also gotta say that James opened up, and they rocked. It was great to see 'em back together!

The drive home kind of sucked, as they were doing massive construction on the NJ Turnpike, yet that did not deter us! We got home, and in one piece.

Kudos to Kayly for finding this cartoon for me. I was ROTFLMAO!!!

Tonight, my old buddy Ben is coming over from the city!! It'll be great to see him.

Friday Afternoon

2008-09-19T15:21:00.008-04:00

I had originally started this once before, however I was unable to save it for some reason. Alas let me write again here!!

I am sad to see that the country is going thru such economic doldrums, but at least it is making people see how shallow the McCain/Palin ticket are. Aside from the bible thumpers, maybe Obama/Biden can get some of that working/lower middle class vote away from these 2. It seems like they will do anything to win!!

Can you believe John McCain and the thing w/ Spain??? I mean, how do you confuse Europe with Central and South America? I know they speak Spanish in both Spain, and those other regions, however Spain is NEXT TO FRANCE, dopey :)

Don't get me started on Palin and Hannity either. What a slow pitch softball interview!! They remind me of another Anti-Russian American duo

My gorgeous wife is taking me to see one of my favorite bands of all time tonight, Squeeze! What a great birthday present!!! :) They are playing Radio City Music Hall, that is always a great venue!!

I tried to keep quiet but

2008-09-13T17:28:00.005-04:00

This election is driving me crazy. I am constantly obsessing about it. My therapist says I should just divest myself from it, and show up on election day, knowing that I voted for the right candidate. That's good advice. However, it is hard to remove yourself from the process, when you are totally committed to bringing about change in this country. McCain and Palin are increasing their vitriolic attacks. Obama seems to be taking the high road, which is great morally. However, it does not help you win elections. I pray that the recent aggressive tone of the last 24 hours in the Obama campaign will resonate with the folks out there.

Former Canuck goes baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!

I gotta mention this; I actually grew up with this dude Steve Schmidt who is the "Svengali" behind the McCain campaign. Apparently (and he did the same for Cheney during the 2004 campaign) he has learned the everything that Karl Rove has in his bag of tricks.

Let me just say that I NEVER EVER thought that the kid I grew up with since the first grade would end up being involved in the downfall of America, and Democracy as we know it. It's funny, that the right wing young puppet drones that work for him call him "Patton". I assume that this is after General George Patton; famous WW II General, and like Steve, a notorious blowhard.

However, Steve never charged up a hill, threw himself on a grenade, did anything really memorable, or honorable, actually. All he does is issue lame-ass press releases, type on his Blackberry, and pontificate.

Just to be wacky, I called him last year while he was working with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in California.

We really had nothing to say to each other. However, I just wanted to bust his balls a bit.

"Oh No" he said. "I'm not getting involved in the 2008 campaign. While I have had offers from all of the major Republican candidates (What, no Ron Paul??). I have turned them all down.

I need to spend time with my family."

Typical BS Washington DC Beltway answer.. Next thing I know, 1 week later, I see him dragging his big ass, and bald head out of an SUV next to McCain on CNN. Funny. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that Steve always believed in himself, even when he saved Joanne Kosciak in 7Th Grade when she passed out in 7Th Grade English in Mrs. Alexander's class. Steve knew he was destined for big things, even though most of his classmates thought he was gonna be a normal kid.

I just feel sad that the kid I used to run around with, who barely (debate is open on if he did. Some say he walked, but did not get a diploma) graduated from The University of Delaware. THIS is the brain trust, THIS is the guy who comes up with all of McCain's hate speech? THIS is the guy who Mitt Romney sent an antique chair to saying "I hope you use this chair to sit at the head of my table in my campaign" This dude, is the one who has tainted McCain's campaign with the race card?

THIS is the guy who helped Cheney with his Iraq policy?

Talk about being underwhelmed! What would Tyler the Dog say, Steve?? I feel like I grew up with Satan..

Mind you, I don't mean any of this in a bad way. I just find his operatic sense of pompousness to be a real downer. Let's hope America wakes up soon, and can send back to California to spend some REAL time w/ his family.

Obligatory Birthday Post

2008-09-09T00:02:00.002-04:00

Well, the clock just switched over to September 9th. I turn 38 years old today. Christ. How OLD is that, man?? :) I remember when I used to hit all of the bars in the East Village, and close them w/ the Miller Man. Thankfully, my life is a little different now. I see that the Little Bambino, Mr. T is kicking up a storm in Vicki's belly. I can't wait for him to get out into this world, and liven things up. I need to teach him the Rampage Howl! LOL

Vicki is taking me out to dinner tomorrow night. We are checking out a Greek/Mediterranean place. She also got us tickets to see Squeeze and James @ Radio City Music Hall next week! She is the most thoughtful, awesomest wife, eeeeeeeeeeever!!

Went to watch the UFC PPV "Breakthrough w/ Andy at Q Time in Parsippany. We shot some pool, and I actually did decently. I need to practice a bit more. However, it was kind of funny, and sad at the same time to see Chuck Liddell get KTFO'D by Rashad Evans. It was a brutal, brutal KO. Just viscious.

What the hell is up w/ this election? I don't want to be all political and stuff. However, Obama vs. McCain should be a no brainer. I just don't get people. Period.

Screw Sarah Pallin, btw.

Post Wedding, and Post Dad visit

2008-09-02T10:23:00.005-04:00

Just dropped Dad off at the airport. It was a fine visit. No weight comments were made, and it was a fine, fine visit. I'm taking today off to decompress, and just hang w/ Vicki. Also, I plan to surf the net a bit, and just listen to Stern a bit. He just came back from a vacation, and it's great to have him back!

Roberto's wedding was fine. It's good to see him happy. His wife seems like a great girl. Aunt Eileen and Uncle Joe looked great. My cousins Paula and Hilary were MODEL GORGEOUS!!!

Long Island is like the worst place EVER to drive to, ever. Bar none.

Some pics of the wedding:

I told Dad to give the finger to the camera, but he did not get it right!!

Vicki showed him how you give the finger while driving!

To quote David Letterman: "We look like a bunch of people who are gonna take Mussolini out!"

Seriously, doesn't Vicki look awesome, beautiful and vibrant :)

Her husband looks kinda hot too!

Dad looking sharp!

Putting on the tux

2008-08-31T12:40:00.002-04:00

It is Sunday, and the whole family is jetting off to Strong Island for cousin Roberto's wedding. Looking forward to putting on the Men's Warehouse tuxedo real soon, and having my martini shaken, not stirred. Unfortunately, I have no license to Kill, but I do have one to ILL!!!!

Dad flew in on Thursday from Florida. It's been fairly uneventful, and a rather pleasant visit. No arguments. He could have complimented me a bit on the bike riding .... but hey, that's just me talking here. It's been great to see him. I've taken a few days off work, so I had Thursday and Friday off, and we have the Labor Day weekend now. So, all is groovy.

It will be great to see Brooklyn's own Uncle Joe and Aunt Eileen; as well as all of the cousins representing. :-) I have to get some batteries for the old digital camera. I'll post some tuxedo pictures on here later!

ps: Sarah Pallin sucks, as does John Sydney McCain ...

Home Run

2008-08-28T23:49:00.004-04:00

Gotta just jet back on here and say that the Democrats have hit a home run with the Convention this week . Joe Biden delivered an amazing VP Speech yesterday, and easily laid out the mistakes that a John McCain administration would undoubtedly bring if the Republicans got elected. Senator Hilary Clinton, delivered the goods 2 nights ago by telling her supporters to go to Barack Obama's side. President Clinton delivered a message that only he could. It only makes me wish that the campaign had not been as ugly as it was.

Finally, Senator Obama's speech tonight was--in a word--amazing. My dad has just flown in from Florida for Cousin Robert's wedding on Sunday. He, Vicki and I sat there, watching this amazing speech, delivered by this amazing politician; and we all had tears in our eyes. Barack delivered the goods: why his presidency will be different and BETTER than 4 more years of George W. Bush, why the Democrats have the answer to Iraq and Afghanistan. How they can deliver jobs, and economic stability not to big Fortune 500 companies, and Wall Street executives, but to ordinary people, who are out there, in the trenches, fighting.

He perfectly laid out why John McCain is wrong and misguided, and what he will accomplish during his presidency, if elected. The pollsters say that the race is dead even between John McCain and Barack Obama. I can't see how, and it unnerves me. It probably is one of the reasons why I like red wine and anxiety medication!!

How the Republicans, who have traditionally been the party of Millionaires, caviar and Golf tee times have managed to co-opt the working people of America, the people who lose out due to bad health care, higher taxes, no jobs, multiple tours in Iraq etc... how the working class voted 2x for George W. Bush, and now maybe John Sidney McCain....I don't get it...

However, I must say in closing, I feel a little better about America tonight. A little bit more positive for our future. Hey, we are gonna do all that we can as far as campaigning, mobilizing, ... that's all Vicki and I can do.... :)

2 years plus later, not too much new, right :)?

2008-08-20T23:17:00.005-04:00

I have returned from the wasteland that is myspace! I just did not rock well with the myspace thing, and I've decided to return to where true blogs are, here in blogger land. It's nice to see that they've hooked up w/ the wacky kids at Google, so props to them for that.

Let's see, what's been going on since we last were on here... Well for first off, Vicki and i are expecting! We are going to be joined by a very healthy baby boy in December, if not sooner. It's funny how life works out. We were in the middle of adopting a baby from Kyrgyzstan, with the idea that we were never going to have a healthy kid biologically. However, the big guy/gal/thing upstairs had other plans for us. We are quite elated on the news. I am talking to Vicki's belly, and loving every kick that i feel.

Also, I have changed jobs. I'm now at a Pharmaceutical company called something that I will not reveal because people get updates whenever it is mentioned on the internet. However, it is gnirreF backwards :) It's right around the corner from the old job, so the commute is the same. Can't believe we've been living in Madison for 2 years now... crazy crazy crazy. The job is ok, I'm going to be there a year come September.

I'm loving the MMA on TV, btw. It's so awesome to dig a sport, before all the other folks dig it!! We took my father to see UFC in Vegas in December. To say that It rocked is beyond words!!! I will write more at some point about the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Quebecois from Montreal, Georges St. Piere, and my dad.. however you gots to wait for that. It's good to be back!

So where the Fuck Have you been

2006-08-12T22:54:00.000-04:00

JESUS CHRIST already, it's like you went away and never left a return address....

So what have the Sincoff's been up to as of late? Well, we've moved, and been on vacation, and stopped alot of unhealthy lifestyle type things!

Wish there was more gossip...

Been a Long time

2005-12-30T00:42:00.000-05:00

I know , I know. I gotta get to gettin' to be one of those "uber" hipsters who posts constantly on his/her blog about their comings and goings. I WISH I had uber hip things to tell you about! Sadly, both Vick and I have been working working and working. Things at the old Chocolate Confectionary place have had their ups and downs

Ups is that I was just (after 1 year of contracting) offered a full time employee gig there. Great, benefits and the like. Downs, is that the work has really, really sucked there as of late. I work for someone new, and they are just piling the work on me. So much in fact, that I have not been able to actually get into the holiday feel or vibe of the upcoming New Years Eve festivities.

Some cool stuff of late: I did get groovy Chanukah gifts: including an Oasis Day Spa package (I gave Vicki one too!), a UFC hoodie (so I can look like Evan Tanner! Howsabout that for a reference NO ONE will get!?), a UFC octagon shaped mouse pad!, Some upscale shaving products, and the piece de resistance, a pair of groovy comfy slippers, and PJ's. Thanks Vick, I hope you enjoyed the pressies I gave u !!

We also saw "King Kong" w/ the in laws in PA. Cried my eyes out. I cried in 1977 at the horrible remake then... and I bawled at age 35 last weekend at this new version. True enough, it coulda been a bit shorter... but that Animatronic Ape gave an incredible performance. He would be welcome to live in our backyard in Jersey City, anytime! Though I hope he would not want to eat Fred and Lulu!

King Kong, if you read this blog (!) , you can feel free to come and eat Zelda the cat ANYTIME!!! LOLOL

2005-12-16T19:55:00.000-05:00

Fred and Lulu Hogging it up for the Camera!

We're the Kids in America (At Marco & Pepe)

2005-10-20T21:47:00.000-04:00

Hey now folks. Thought I'd get online and leave a little posting towards the end of the week. I can't tell you how long it's been since I've posted 2x in 7 days on here! So, you're really get a bang for your internet buck this week. Ol Mr. Sincoff is feeling prolific and stuff. Just call me Billy Faulkner

Had a very interesting weekend last week. I gots ta talk about pleasant stuff because work has been kicking my ass this week. I was just in a 4 hour meeting today discussing all these value savings projects for 2006 that the confectionary business is gonna do. The minutia we discussed was just keraaaaaaaaaazy. Like reduce foil 1mm on all Crunch bars... I'm serious. I want to push a child in traffic after that.

So last weekend, yeah. We saw alterna rock arena stars Foo Fighters and Weezer . A very nice rock show was had by all. Though my wife DID swoon a bit too much during Dave Grohl's Schtick on stage. Who woulda thunk he had all that charasma while the drummer in Nirvana .

Then, after the concert, we were walking Freddie and Lulu. We ran into the cool kids who work accross the street at Marco & Pepe. We finally went out on the beers w/ them. One of the waitresses', Jessica has a fiancee who is also named Ethan (see it's funny because MY name is Ethan, and HIS name is Ethan.. repetition plus time = comedy, folks!) .

This Ethan as it turns out is in this band called The World Famous Crawlspace Brothers . They do country acoustic songs about serial killers. Cool, sardonic stuff. He's a good guy, so I'm giving him a shout out here.

Highlight of the drinking night was when E was arguing w/ this waitress (like in a good way arguing) they were talking about cities going downhill, like urban problems, African Americans and stuff. Vick leans in and goes to me "what are they talking about?" I go, "They're talking about the decline of the Post Industrial American Urban Center". Vick goes "Oh, they're talking about BLACKS"... Hysterical stuff from my sexy liberal wife from Pennsyltucky!

So it was a good night w/ all of the M&P Kids. This week has been a blur of work, work , and more work. Oy Vey, man! Gimme Gimme a vacation.

Thank god the weekend is here!

Ok Enough Already w/ the rain

2005-10-13T23:45:00.000-04:00

Jesus Freakin' Christ. It's been raining for the last 6 days. I just can't take it anymore. Where are we living? Fucking SCOTLAND or something? I don't see any motherfucking MOORS in Jersey City... This rain has been absolutely SOUL SUCKING the past few days. I just am asking for partly cloudy right now. I don't want sunshine totally, I would be happy w/ just SOME rays of light. Though I hear that it will not be sunny til Sunday... Alas, sigh.

Today was the big Yom Kippur. We slept in til 2pm. We chose not to fast this year. I don't really feel like we have anything to atone for.. cos we're perfect, Vicki and I are, aren't we? I have always had MAJOR issues w/ the whole higher power thing... I just would like to see SOME sign of something "else" before I commit to a whole day of asking for forgiveness by sitting in a synagogue w/ no windows open, and not eating as well......

And mind you, I LIKE our synagogue. Just haven't been for the past few months. We will be back however. Just not right away ! I mean, how lame would it be to show up the week b4 the high holy days, and then not come to Rosh Hashanah, or Yom Kippur services?? Would not be cool, right???!

Dude, there was UFC on PPV last friday, AND there was the Corrales vs. Castillo rematch on PPV on Saturday!! I mean, that's why you work, to enjoy it right? Not to mention the coke and the hookers and stuff... Just joking, heh heh heh. Although if there are any 420 suppliers out there that have Jersey City in their delivery sights... feel free to hit me up on the email !

Work has been kinda sucky lately. Not horrible, just sucky and stuff. I have deadlines for a project where I really have NO idea what I'm doing... I'm dancing more than Mr. Bojangles to pull this one off!! Jesus Christ.. I mean can you believe I was in a 4 hour meeting where we discussed, among other scintillating topics , that if we cut down on the fin seal (wrapper edge thingy on a chocolate wrapper) that we might save some $$?? Sweet Baby Christ, y'know? Not to mention they have been draaaaaaaagging out the whole permanent job thing .

I just want a nice high rise apartment w/a doorman. Is that too much to ask??

A little good, and some bad

2005-09-11T17:28:00.000-04:00

So greetings from the JC, muthafucka's.

Since I last talked to you , we've had some ups, and downs. I don't want to really go into detail about the miscarriage, other than to say it happened, and we are dealing w/ it . It really fucking sucked, and it was really unexpected. Vicki is an amazingly strong woman, and I don't know how she does it. I especially don't know how she deals w/ an asshole like me. I'm such a type A fucking morbid person. I'm soooo gonna die of stress young at some point in my 50's.... or maybe not. I'm working on it.

And on a good note, I turned 35 yrs old Friday. We celebrated in style. We went on a drinking tour of Jersey City, which was not bad. Kirk , Dina and John, and Susannah Lever went out. What started out being a questionable evening (ie: some of the people not enjoying their meals, susannah being tired, and uncommunicative) it ended up being a great time. She proverbially sucked it up like a trooper and partied hard.

For the record, the Birthday Boy's Mexican food was pretty good....

Gotta make the obligatory Hurrican Katrina comment and say I was stunned by what I saw on TV. Never has an administration been so transparent in their failures and shortcomings... In the end , it will be Bill Clinton's fault, as everything is according to the Republicans...

"I'm Sorry, but you're Just Not right for our band--INXS, God Bless"

2005-08-11T14:48:00.000-04:00

Have y'all seen the show? It is quite possibly the most fascinating television you will see this summer! It's amazing, and incredible for many reasons. Most of all, it's a train wreck! You have an aging , faceless band, looking for an incredibly charismatic lead singer. Now, INXS was great,... WHEN MICHAEL HUTCHENSE was alive (did you remember he died masturbating?!)

The whole show reeks of desparation, and I love it. The girl singers on the show (none of whom have a chance of winning, btw) are slutty, and wear belly shirts... and the guys are all questionably straight, and either "cocky" or "earnest"... Love it.. Brooke Burke is almost illiterate as a very hot, but very dumb hostess. Dave Navarro looks like he is about to join NAMBLA.. also.

As for the members of INXS, to paraphrase Charlie Manson, "They got old on us, baby".. They are leathery and wear sun glasses inside... and I love each and every one of them deeply, especially Garry Gary Beers!

That catchphrase rocks , doesn't it?!?!?!?? I mean c'mon IT'S IN THE TITLE OF THE TV SHOW!!! WHY SAY IT AS A CATCHPHRASE!?!? :) It will be this year's "Where's the Beef?"

Onto personal news, the baby front is progressing swimmingly . Vick had her 2nd OB/GYN visit the other day, and Baby Sincoff is the size of a pinto bean, and Vick is 8 weeks pregnant. All things going ok, Bean (our nickname for the little one) will be arriving into this world on March 18th. We have our first ultrasound on Monday night. I'm cautiously ecstatic!

It's an amazing feeling, knowing your gonna be a dad. I totally reccomend to you hipster guys reading this (Who reads this but me!?). ...... Go on, The Strokes and Interpol give you permission!!!!

What the Fo'

2005-07-31T15:06:00.000-04:00

So here it is, over a month plus since I've last posted. I bet you think I'd forgotten about you guys. Well, even though I have a horrible cold this weekend, I have forced myself up off the couch to update you on my life and existence in general.

I must cut right to the chase and say that the big news for Vick and I is that we are expecting! That's right, last Wednesday, I was awoken by Vicki holding a positive test going "look at this good news"!! We had our first OB visit the other day as well. All indicators point to this being totally healthy pregnancy, thank god for that .. :) it totally puts a smile on my face. We're both over joyed at the prospect of being parents!

We were also up in Toronto a few weeks ago for Adam Cohen's wedding. It was nice.. Not as nice as finding out you are gonna be a father, but nice nonetheless!

Now, if I could only post more often...

Punk Ass Beeyotch

2005-06-07T00:30:00.000-04:00

Hello there readers of the blog here,

I have been travelling around, making ol' Jack Keruoac look like an agoraphobic. I was in California , in San Diego visiting my ailing Uncle Elliot. It was an emotional visit. I'm so glad I got to see him when I did. My thoughts are of course, with him. It's just a sad, sad story there, and better off expressed at a later point. Just suffice to say the the great writers of Tragedy of our times could not write a more sad story.

Vick and I were also in Florida visiting Dad. We had a good time. Got sunburned, read a bunch of books by the pool, did some swimming and went to the beach. Dad and I did not argue at all, so yay Dad :-) In all seriousness it was a great visit, and I wish we lived closer.. And, that we could move Avenue A to Melbourne!

The post title refers to my former favorite fighter, Kostya Tszyu . He fought a major fight against Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton this past weekend. He took his title, and fought in Ricky's hometown of Manchester, England. Yeah there were 22,ooo screaming Brits there. However The champ, Kostya, quit on his stool between the 11th and 12th rounds . Again, I'm not the fighter, but I truly believe a champ does not quit, he goes out on his shield.

I mean, it's easy for me, but I've dug this guy from since 1996. He's been a great fighter, a real classy act. Champs do not give up.... They should get KO'd. Let him lose his title on his back. Not giving up and throwing in the towel. I mean, love him , or not but Fernando Vargas has lost two fights (to Felix "Tito" Trinidad, and Oscar Delahoya) and both times he got KTFO (Knocked the Fu8k out!) .... He knows about being a warrior. Even though he is a dick.

Kostya, I love ya man, but you're not a warrior anymore. You're a nice guy . Marvin Hagler once said "It's hard to get up and train for a fight when you went to bed the night before in silk pajamas". Enjoy retirement, my man. I will always remember the good fights you had.

Perhaps he was jinxed because that lame ass Russell Crowe was in the audience!? Wouldn't it be funny if that guy "Crow" From MST3K was the lead in "Cinderella Man" ?!?!? Or, even better , the antiquated "Jim Crow Laws"?!?!? HA HA HA HA HA HA . Funny.

Aside from that , Vicki and I are cautiously beginning a physical fitness regime. We bought one of them big blue exercise balls you see at your popular workout places for crunches, and the like. Soon enough, if I play my cards right, exotic male dancer/prostitute may be my calling , if procurement does not play out! LOL . Hey, don't dream it, be it.

Sweet Baby Jesus

2005-05-02T14:52:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I last posted. So sorry about the delay, I'm working on posting a couple times this week, honest injun I am. It's been a very busy, as well as a very reflective time in the House O'Sincoff the past month. As I'm sure y'all realize it's been a year exactly since Samuel passed away. To think that 365 days have passed since our beautiful baby boy left us really makes you wonder where all the time has gone.

So not only have we been reflecting on that a whole lot, but Vicki and I are actively trying to have another baby. So far all of the unprotected loving has ROCKED !! WAHOO :) No conception yet, but I shall keep you posted dear reader, as Vick and I dance the coital tango all the way to Baby Avenue :) In all seriousness, we found out that future babies will most probably NOT have the same neurological, and renal issues that Sammy had. We are very relieved that we can proceed w/o worrying about future generations of Sincoff's having the same illness that Sam had.

Also, just found out that a dear family relative of ours, my Uncle Elliot, is very ill in California. I'm flying out to San Diego next week to spend some time w/ him... Hopefully I can be of some emotional support, we shall see, won't we? Aside from the very sad reasons of my trip out there (I mean, no one should be sick, should they?) I am looking forward to chilling w/ Elliot. Despite him being a right wing Republican, he's a great guy!!

I also was fitted for a tuxedo last week at a major MEN'S clothing store chain... (this was for Ed and Rachel's wedding) , the obese man who fitted me.... kept on saying questionable sentences like; "you have a real wrestler's body", and "you've got a nice football players neck"..... it was very disturbing! I kept on looking over at Vicki, who was shoving her fist in her mouth to keep from laughing!

I also got back in touch w/ my old college budy Mary F. ! Mary and I used to get up to all sorts of hijinx together (of course non romantic hijinx!) and she was a great friend. We had not talked in like 8 years or so..... I don't remember our last conversation, or why we drifted out of touch.... but it's so great to pick up where we left our friendship off! I truly have missed her as a pal !

Vicki and I had an awesome time at the terribly lame "Hoboken Arts and Music Festival" yesterday. The vendors looked to be the same ones they have every year.... "fried dough".... "paintings"... "lemonade"... etc but we did buy some canine cannoli's for Fred and Lulu!

Now, if only the network here at work would come back on, I can get some work done!

End of week blues

2005-04-01T14:38:00.000-05:00

You ever get the vibe where the work day is just dragging, and dragging and DRAGGING??? It seems like time is going in reverse here at the ol' Chocolate Factory today. Not that it is a bad thing or anyting. I'm just sayin' that 5pm can not come here more quickly for my tastes (as cultured as those tastes are!)

First off, as my last posting states, if you have not seen the Pacquiao vs. Morales fight .... check it out. Buy it from a tape trader, watch it on HBO , whatever. If you want to see what makes boxing so passionate... so exciting, so wonderful, please do yourself a favor and check it out. Winning or losing, both are warriors in my book.

Crazy couple of days w/ the whole Terry Schiavo deal. I'm gonna try to keep my mistrust of organized religion out of here for the time being. Let me just say that it should have been a very private family matter, not one decided by the Senate, or our vacationing President. Shame on them for exploiting grief. Having been someone who has had to say "no more procedures" regarding a dying loved one... I know the whirlwind of emotions there.... shame on the Religious Right. . Period . Jeb Bush is lame, btw.

Also, we have Pope John Paul II moving on to that high rise Vatican City loft in the sky. I remember Pope John I who died after like 30 days "on the job"... I was in 2nd grade when that happened. Crazy.

Looking forward to a very relaxing weekend! Susannah is in Oklahoma (seriously, and hey she's talking to me again) , and Kirk is in Beantown.. so it is a total Ethan and Vicki weekend!

Watch out , we're hanging w/ the Shingletons tonight!!