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Posts Tagged ‘leisure’

The UFC has only recently brought mixed martial arts to the mainstream in the US, but in Japan there’s a long tradition of fights pitting contestants from different disciplines against each other. While they’ve only been called MMA or ‘mixed martial arts’ in recent years, the sport clearly has its roots in these early contests between wrestlers, judo fighters and boxers. In Japan, Antonio Inoki’s fights against world famous martial artists brought great notoriety to the still evolving sport.

Before and after his matchup against Muhammad Ali, Inoki would frequently compete against other martial artists in what are widely accepted to be “worked” (ie: having a predetermined outcome) matches. Inoki fought boxer Chuck Wepner, judo Gold Medalist Wilhelm Ruska and world karate champion Willie Williams among others. His most famous match internationally, however, was against Ali.

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Just a couple of decades ago, you couldn’t even watch a film in your own home. The technology didn’t yet exist. Then along came videos and video stores and we all began enjoying watching films at home. Now we can even download movies directly to our computers.

An alternative Seuss book, “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” had an cartoon version that came out in 1966. It followed the book just about exactly. However, the big budget film of “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” from 2000 added many new scenes and events. The film “The Cat In The Hat” which came out in 2003 also made many changes from the book.

A recent film adaptation from a kids book is “The Spiderwick Chronicles” by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. There are essentially 5 books in the series but just the lone film so far. The film follows the venture of a family unit as they move into a new home. The kids find a bizarre old book that leads them to a world with elves, goblins, trolls, dwarves and other creatures. The movie is from 2008.

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Though it is sometimes overshadowed by more famous tracks back East like Churchill downs and Belmont Park, Del Mar Racetrack in Southern California has a rich and fascinating history. Located 20 miles north of San Diego and known for its iconic slogan “Where The Surf Meets the Turf”, Del Mar has not only hosted the best horses and jockeys on the planet but a ‘who’s who’ of show biz elite.

The Del Mar Race Track was founded in the late’30′s by a group of business and show biz elite, including Bing Crosby, Oliver Hardy and Jimmy Durante. During much of the pre WW II era, horse racing ran a close second to baseball in mainstream popularity, so these racing enthusiasts were clearly at the right place at the right time in terms of market forces.

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