TheBodyguard’s BodyBlog

As I walked through the massive doors of The Orleans Hotel and Casino who’s facade was that of fond memberances of Bourbon Street I felt the Buzz even at this juncture of two days before the festivities the excitement was in the air!

Glimpses of the occasional tiny fitness competitor zipping betwen the blue haired grannies at the slots or the massive European athletes sneaking a smoke on the gaming floor were spied amongst the chaos of the Casino Backdrop decorated with Huge Banners Welcoming all to the Olmpia Weekend the slots were topped with Olympia Headers Video screens continuously played clips of past Olympias inbetween promos for Casino events huge placards greeted you at every major corridor listing the scheduled Olympia Events etc.

Yes this was going to be a grand experiance at check in when the staff found out I was there for the Olympia Weekend they couldn’t have been more professional or accomodating as I looked down at my Commemorative Olympia Rm Key yes that is right Olympia Suite Rm Keys how class and cool is that I felt like a child again.

I had the rest of the evening and a full day before the events began and I had every intention of making full use of it enjoying as much of the Hotel/Casino and the Vegas strip as I could. Major Kudos to the Hotel who had provided through one of their restraunts a Competitor’s Menu which was more than BodyBuilder friendly.

Many curious hotel guest and vistor to the strip stopped to talk and ask me about BodyBuilding and the various activities as well as the occasional drunk woman who’d wanna touch me but we aren’t gonna talk about that, just glad it didn’t happen more than it did but hey it’s Vegas and alcohol does flow. At any rate tonight and tomorrow are all about relaxing having fun in anticipation of the Upcoming Olympia Weekend a day and a half away.

After unpacking I decided to have dinner then make plans for the evening and the following day.

To be continued…………..

From the encroaching Winter climate of Denver to the searing heat of the Nevada desert my plane arrived at McCarran International Airport having survived another bumpy flight sans the over zealous flight attendant maybe my luck was starting to change and I was back on track to having a great week.

I manuvered through the airport unfettered picked up my luggage and headed down to hail a Taxi so far so good as my luggage was being placed in the trunk within a few mins of me stepping out of the baggage claim.

Next thing you know I was heading toward my VIP Suite at the Orleans Hotel and Casino. The Orleans offers 1,886 beautiful oversized rooms/"Petite Suites" with separate sitting areas. Spectacular views face the glittering Las Vegas Strip or the sweeping mountain panoramas surrounding the Las Vegas Valley. Free shuttle service is available to their sister property The Gold Coast as well as the Las Vegas strip.

As the Taxi pulled away from the curb night had fallen across the dry heat of the desert and the darkness became iluminated by the sprawling Vegas Strip lit up like the fourth of July all across the face of the globe Vegas is known as Sin City harkening back to the influx of adult entertainment centers which drove the other large gaming centers like Carson City and Galvaston under and of course the colorful characters such as  Bugsy Siegal, Myer Lansky and Howard Hughes and numerous acts to many to name from the Rat Pack to Terry Fator.

But this weekend was diferent as we sped down the strip I looked out my window to see a glittering animated digital Billboard with Jay Cutler smiling down Professional Bodybuilding Had Invaded and taken over Vegas Baby! not organized crime. This weekend was about the "O"

And the experiance of a life time for me was about to unfold.

To be continued……………

On September 22nd 2009 with bags packed and Boarding passes in hand I boarded a Plane at Detroit Metropolitan Airport to wing my way half way across the country to immerse my self in the world of Professional Bodybuilding and and other Fitness Related happenings as a VIP during “Ultimate Nutrition presents Joe Weider’s 2009 Olympia Weekend.”

Manuvering through the airport and the TSA check points went smooth as did the boarding process but the flight which would take me into Denver for a hour layover was racked with turbulence and me trying to find comfort in the tiny seat which definately wasn’t designed for above average size people and definately not a weight trained physique.

As I have a tendency to dehydrate on flights I had prehydrated well but between the tiny seat the turbulence and the shortest seat belt I have ever encountered my bladder urged me to find relief quickly but of course because of the tubulence the seat belt signs were on so I tried my best to wait it out. Until It just wasn’t going to be a feasable proposition that I do anything other than get up fortunately I thought anyway I was sitting in the very back row and was only about a foot away from the restroom I looked over my shoulder to see if the restroom was clear and it was so I unbuckled and stood up took one step with my hand on the rest room door and this 20 something flight attendant is in my face pointing at me "The SEAT BELT SIGNS ARE ON!" "It is not reccomended that you move about the cabin and we highly reccomend you do what the captain says!" (I might point out the Captain said nothing to the passengers at this point) I looked at her fairly incredulous that she had the gall to step between me and the restroom but I’m a structured individual and understand rules and such so I remained calm and said "I really dont think I can hold it much longer I need to go in there right now." to which she raised her voice and said "Sanding here arguing with me is going to get you no where!" I calmy said "Well Im waiting for you to give me an instruction as to what you want?" as she was right in my face and (I HAD TO P MY BLADDER WAS ABOUT TO GO VOLCANIC!) With all the indignation as her other statements she says "Well I can’t tell you what to do!" Needless to say I went to P. (Question if she couldn’t tell me what to do then why did she stop me in the first place?) I know cause I was on my way to have a great week and we couldn’t just let my flight be a pleasant part of that experiance now could we?

Once sweet relife was  met I settled back into my tiny seat and wethered the bumpy ride into a 50 degree Denver with two inches of snow on the ground to wait for my next flight to Vegas which was far more important than the inconveniance of some flight attendant who wished she had the Captains bars on her shoulders and it’s a lot easier to move on when your bladder is empty anyway!

To be continued………

I had the distinct privilage this year of attending “Ultimate Nutrition presents Joe Weider’s 2009 Olympia Weekend.” 

It was quite the experiance actually I have to say one of the most rewarding of my life, I have been very busy since my return but I will be bringing fourth a series of Blogs sharing my experiances inbetween my busy schedule.

My first entry should come later this afternoon/evening or tomorrow at the latest. In the mean time I am preparing for the gym even the Trainer has to train sometime.

Until then Respectfully yours in Good Health Thomas.

Do you remember the old animated Tootsie Pop commercial where a little boy walks up to the wise old owl and says "How long does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?"

Well this is sort of a follow up to my Blog Entry http://blog.bodybuilding.com/TheBodyguard/2009/09/01/question/

The following question was brought up during conversation with some of my female friends in regards to the post mentioned above as it obviously sparked further conversation tongue in cheek or not.

Question: How long after a new female BodySpace Member’s photo appears in the Newest Profiles Pics section on the front page before she gets her first "I love the fit of your Bikini Bottoms Hon!" Welcome to BodySpace what you need to do is post more pics!" ?

Creepy? Funny? makes you go Hmmnnn?

Maybe a little bit of each at anyrate it’s stimulated some in depth discussions it’s also enlightened me to the incredibly colorfully descriptive language women use when discussing these things.

Back to the question so how long does it take? "A oneee, a twoooo, a Threeee…………………….. 

Bodybuilding is a sport where we wear our uniform everyday it’s a suit of armor made of muscle, to others involved in fitness it’s obvious what we do, I personally have been a Bodybuilder for some 20 + yrs save for a few yrs sidelined by a Drunk Driver but that is for a differant post entirely.

Throughout my life the basic man/woman on the street Jo Blow, Ms. American pie has not recognized me as a Bodybuilder I realize it’s still considered a freak show to some and a fringe sport at best to others despite the leaps and bounds and giant strides we have made.

Yet I usually have recieved a variation of the following "Hey Youre pretty Big!", "do you play football?", ‘What do you do are you a Bouncer?", "Are you a cop?", "you look like a cop!" of course intermingled with these is the inevitable "Make a muscle", "How much do you bench?" and the ever popular query from someone who doesn’t want to sound like they don’t know what they are talking about the generic "So how much can you lift?".

I have also been called Hecules junior, Brutus, Bruno, Bruiser, the obligatory Big Guy etc.

And alot of not so nice insulting and misguide comments as well I walked into a office one day and I swear a woman looked at me and said "So do all those steroids actually shrink your nuts?" as if this was perfectly ok to ask! I have been blindsided by ‘Do you mind if I ask you a question?" "So what’s the deal with Steroids?" "Youre not one of those Body Lifters are you?"

I have worn my suit of armor with pride yet I have often just dreaded the rediculousness of me being my size and looking the part but not being recognized as such and weathered the verbal assault on my manhood and my ego and my conciet etc cause you know we are all vain have small genitals and are dumb as rocks and are so narcissitic we can’t have meaningful relationships and if we did we’d ruin them because we would roid rage our way into a broken relationship!!!!!!!!!

And I admit sometimes I give it right back not necesarily in anger but in a sort of smart assed way admittedly still I wear my armor with pride, yet the recognition usually isnt there unless it’s someone else in the industry.

Several week ago prior to me embarking on a week long emersion into fitness industry related happenings again a story for another blog. I took my youngest son who is 7 to get a haircut the ladies in the shop love him he is always on and the world is his stage he has a enormous vocabulary and lives his life as a superhero fighting the forces of evil from the time he wakes up till he lays his precious head down for the night. He was regailing them with conversation about the latest developments in upcoming Marvel Comics related movies and discussing Transformers and the like.

When in the middle of the conversation he turns around to the woman cutting his hair and points to me and says "That’s my dad he’s a Bodybuilder he looks like a Superhero!"

All of a sudden I flashed back to all of the times I wished someone had just said "wow youre a bodybuilder thats cool!" And I realised that one of the only people who I really cared about what they thought just laid it out for everybody!

Well I guess I’ll still get stupid comments about steroids and I’ll probably always get asked if I wrestle. But I am a Bodybuilder and I wear my suit of armor with pride and and my son thinks I look like a Super Hero so I’ll take the heat cause I’d rather look like a Super Hero to my son than justify my Armor to anyone else.

Take pride in what we do in all the world we are unique we are Bodybuilders and we wear our uniform everyday.

Several days ago I went to my local CVS to pick up a prescription I had filled, I asked the technician what the half life of the drug was (A quick layman’s definition would be A medication’s half-life is the time it takes for the plasma concentration of a drug to reach half of its original concentration. More simply put, the half-life of a drug is how long it takes for half of it to be eliminated from the bloodstream.) I already had a basic idea as I am familiar with this drug but I wanted to check my info against theirs.

The tech looked at me and said "Do you mean when does your prescription run out?" To which I replied "No I want to know what the half life of this particular drug is, could you find out for me please?" After standing there with a blank look on her face she says "I’m sorry I don’t know what you mean" I explained what the terminology meant at which point she still looked befuddled and ran into the back and came out with the Pharmicist the Pharmiscist looks at me puzzled and says "So you want to know when this medicine expires?"

RIght about now I felt the pressure in my head building and out of fear that my head would explode I again explained what the terminology meant, at which point the Pharmacist obviously struggling began the double speak of a politician to talk but not actually say anything in order to apeaze me, I just said "Thank you and walked away"

I later verified my own answer and I was correct but shouldn’t we all be confident that a pharmacist should be able to answer such a question?

Mostly I am just venting a bit but wow if niether one of them knew the answer then what else may they have fudged a answer too that may have seriously impacted someone’s life?

Take care and do your research ask questions until you are satisfied that you have the correct answer, Medication is serious business.

Do you think when any of the BodySpace "Playas" send one of the many female members one of their lame ooops excuse me I meant smooth lines, they realize it very often shows up on the Home Page of BodySpace under recent comments?

I have discussed this with many a female aquaintance both on and off BodySpace and well belive it or not none of them thought it was cute. Most thought it was quite pathetic and probably the nicest or tamest thing they said was "yeah right"  but it was interesting to hear all the available names women have for guys like these.

So what do you think?

I’ll leave you with some of the words of the BodySpace "Playas"

"Until next time keep pumpin hard honey!"

Have you ever checked the visitor stats to your page and clicked on a name to check on who visited you to only find it’s a empty page except for the screen name?

Kinda Creepy hunh?

I haven’t been as active as I have in the past here on BS with the exception of posting pics of my favorite trainee (Amrn65) as I have been busy with differant projects etc.

So having said that I am making an effort to get back with those who have left me comments and questions during my busy time. I will also be honoring those friend requests which I haven’t added yet.

I hope all is well with my fellow Body Spacers so here’s to you in Good Health The Bodyguard