Ali Museum

You meet interesting characters through video work. I walked in to an automotive dealership today to get an interview for the Blarney Breakfast video (see previous post.) As I waited in the lobby, a stone Torah caught my eye. It bore a plaque commemorating the hard work of the man I was to interview. I noticed other awards hanging on the wall. I wondered why this guy was working at a car dealership. Then he came out.

He was dressed in a blue button-down, cowboy jeans, a studded belt and blue shoes bearing images of wolves. His curly salt-and-pepper hair was slicked back, but the lower ringlets bounced just above his shoulders. It was a striking image, and it gets better.

We went to the inner sanctum of the dealership, where I started to notice Mohammed Ali memorabilia. There were gloves, pictures, tickets, metal fists, all bearing signatures. The crown jewel was a life-sized Ali sculpture, standing in an 8'x8' ring surrounded by other sculptures which I was too overwhelmed to take note of. This was a full on museum. And that was just the hallway. His office, complete with a mini-chandelier, had more framed items, books, and a copy of that movie "Ali" on VHS. The entire office and surrounding area had been consumed by one man's obsession with Ali. He sat down, did the interview, and I left. What a morning.