DUBLIN — Muhammad Ali made a sentimental journey Tuesday to discover his Irish roots, and met distant relatives during celebrations at the local town hall and a nearby castle.
Thousands lined the streets of Ennis, western Ireland, to cheer his motorcade as the three-time heavyweight champion visited the home of his great-grandfather Abe Grady.
Fans adorned streets with red, white and blue bunting and flags, while shop windows competed to display the most impressive posters honoring Ali – including one tongue-in-cheek portrait of him appearing ready to knock out an unpopular Irish politician.
Ali, who is 67 and battling Parkinson's disease, fought only once in Ireland, knocking out Alvin Lewis at Dublin's Croke Park on July 19, 1972.
Ali offered a few playful jabs to cameras but made no public comments and steered clear of throngs of autograph-seekers Tuesday, among them hundreds of kids whose schools closed early for the event. Police blocked off roads and kept crowds in line with railings.
Grady settled in Kentucky in the 1860s and married a freed slave. One of their grandchildren, Odessa Lee Grady Clay, gave birth to Ali – then Cassius Clay – in 1942.
Genealogists pinpointed Ali's Irish links in 2002, but Ali had never visited Ennis.
His visit to Ennis Town Hall was broadcast live on big-screen televisions outside, where locals also took in a live concert by traditional musicians, including best-selling accordionist Sharon Shannon.
A Live Your Life post...and it's pretty funny to me. Something about white people getting buck to crunk music makes me smile...and the almost timid, "naughty" nature in which she speaks about it only amplifies the entertainment.
GYLLENHAAL: Okay. What's your favorite food?PORTMAN: Well, I don't think you can really improve upon Carvel ice cream cake.
GYLLENHAAL: I'm more Baskin-Robbins style myself.
PORTMAN: Oh really? I am so Carvel. Did I just bring us back to 1985 Long Island?
GYLLENHAAL: What song best describes your current state?
PORTMAN: My current state . . . I'm trying to think of a song that feels like sleepwalking. [laughs] I don't know. I've mostly been listening to dirty rap lately. That's sort of my scene.
GYLLENHAAL: Your affection for dirty rap is something that people really don't know about you, which I think is fascinating. You do incredible things for the world, and then you listen to just completely obscene hip-hop music.
PORTMAN: Really, really obscene hip-hop. I love it so much. It makes me laugh and then it makes me want to dance. Those are like my two favorite things, so combined . . . I've been listening a lot lately to "Wait (The Whisper Song)" by the Ying Yang Twins, where the lyrics are like, "Wait 'til you see my dick"--which is just amazing because it's whispered. [whispers] "Wait 'til you see my dick . . . " [laughs] Crazy. So I just listen to it like I'm a five-year-old, like, "Oh my god! I can't believe he just said that!"
LYL - (Live Your Life) I think this will be a new segment on the blog.
“10lbs. 197kts. Very very real I don’t know what fake feel like.$410,000. Hola señor recession proof. With 32 cars.Oldest child 5 and already got 4 million in her own account.I dont do dumb shit like this till I know the fams good. So don’t judge me frm what I buy.Judge me frm what I do.Cuz it’s so many artists that put themself before their family.but thanx yo - T-Pain”
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