Oscar video pick of the week: A 1931 film starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper, The Champ is a moving movie that never falls into melodrama or schmaltz. Not to be confused with the half baked 1979 version with little Ricky Schroeder, the original features Beery (in his Oscar winning role) as an unglamorous former heavyweight champion boxer. His sidekick and caretaker is none other than Dink, his nine-year-old son. When The Champ's ex-wife/Dink's mother comes back into the picture, the Champ realizes that Dink needs a stable homelife. He makes a sacrificial decision only to have it backfire. It's a shame the supporting Oscar categories were not around in 1931 because Cooper would have been a lock for supporting actor. He delivers a superbly percocious performance. As it was, the previous year he became the youngest actor (at age 9) to ever receive a lead actor nomination; a record he holds to this day. The youngest actress is Keisha Castle-Hughes who was nominated a couple of years ago at the age of 13.

Jaw dropper? More like jaw catcher: A 13-foot python in Miami, FL, tried to eat a 6-foot gator. It's the fourth such reported incident. Sadly for the python it didn't make it. It was found with the hindquarters of the gator protruding from its midsection. The snakes stomach was filled with the gator's forelimbs, shoulders, and head. The snake apparently exploded; probably a result of the gator clawing at the stomach of the python. Talk about gruesome.

Welcome to America, you're a winner: How's this for the first day of being a US citizen? A Kenyan man took the oath to become a US citizen last Friday. Soon after he played Iowa's Hot Lottery game and discovered he had the winning ticket. The prize: 1.89million dollars. I've often said that in order to win one is usually trailer trash, a ex-con or in this case a new US citizen. My spouse and I play but we are not obsessive about it. We often say it would be nice to win so we can both go back to school and fix up our home a bit.

Enjoy your day,

paul