born a champion movie

 i watched a DVD movie this morning, a redbox rental, 'born a champion'. i recognized dennis quaid in it, who played a fight promoter. it was about martial arts, and was told through a flashback. the main character's friend was being interviewed on camera. it does include some footage of a congressional investigation about MMA, including an image of sen. john mc cain. i think he was the one that called it 'human cock fighting'. the sport wasn't sanctioned in many areas for a while because it was so brutal, i even recall a segment on '60 minutes' about it that said rules like 'tapping out' made it more humane and acceptable. the movie does well on covering much of the history of the sport, albeit through a fictional character. but i understand it is often easier to tell a story when all or part of it is fictionalized. it starts with the main character flying to the middle east to teach martial arts, and he meets a woman who eventually becomes his wife on the flight. she finds him at his friend's car repair shop. the friend is a man he meets when defending his honor as a car valet. i laughed when i saw one scene being repeated in this movie, it was when the couple would argue, about his wanting to stay in martial arts or needing to make money as a bar bouncer. then he would have a beer at his friend's place, and she would drive over in her VW ragtop a little later and 'all is forgiven'. one time they 'flipped the script' and she is the one that he picks up there. i understand his wanting to stay in the sport, even if just as an instructor, as he admits it is 'the only thing he knows'. it explains the mindset of many in sports, or entertainment in general. the ending is a little predictable, but i didn't mind as it was kind of the ending that a viewer can, and should, expect. 

this was also an errand running day, there were three stops to make once my car was warmed up as a subzero cold snap is happening. it was to target to get winter shoes, then to the post office. four orders were there, including the baseball book 'my life as a fan', an amazon order. the funny postal employee asked me if it was 'animal farm', a book he said he read while in school. i asked if it was by the same author as '1984', checked later on and found out i was correct. then it was to the gas station to return the movie and get lunch. i slept for a little while after getting home and having lunch. then it was out to get my weekly grocery order at aldi. after getting back from there i claimed some meals left in a box near my home. there was ten in all, 6 for breakfast and 4 for lunch and dinner, so it will serve me for a better part of a week. i figured since it was cold outside that they hadn't spoiled. much like before, i think it is sad when i am witness to food going to waste. i claim what i figure is still edible. in this case i didn't claim the oranges or the pieces of bread. i ate the small packs of peanut butter right away. in the evening i watched some more college hockey, the second game of the weekend between st. cloud state and western michigan. st. cloud led 2-1 at the end of the 1st, then i switched from 'fox plus' to CBS to see a show about super bowl commercials. it was the top 20 of the past 20 years, and one of the hosts was former NFL QB 'boomer' esiason. i liked some of them, four in particular were pretty good. two were for budweiser beer, both using songs. there was '500 miles' about a lost dog in one, and 'landslide' about brotherhood in another. and of course famous people are a staple of super bowl commercials. the other two that caught my eye were john malkovich in one about internet domains, and then-NFL QB eli manning in one that was inspired by the last dance in the movie 'dirty dancing'. i watched part of the show on after it, because it started with the band green day playing some of their popular songs. then it was back to the hockey game. it was tied 3-3 when i returned to it. st. cloud led late, 4-3, but western michigan tied it in the final minute of regulation and won 5-4 in the first minute of overtime. throughout the day i picked up 36 cents during my walks.