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The
following is the Gillinator's account of the VIP experience at the Arnold
Classic Fitness Weekend 2001. Armed with tickets to every event over
the weekend, a camera, and (most importantly) a working pen,
I set out to take in as much of Arnold over the weekend as humanly possible!
The results were extremely successful, as you will see...
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Day
1: Friday, March 2
I had flown in to Columbus the previous day in order
to beat the crowds and spend some time with my family, who would
see little of me the rest of the weekend. This morning I wake up
and prepare all of my supplies: maps, schedules, tickets, cameras,
newspaper, and my T2 Ultimate Edition DVD which I brought
in hopes of the ultimate autograph!
12 PM -- I leave my parents' house in good ol' Ashville,
Ohio, in order to pick up fellow Oak Fan Randy Jennings, who was
flying in all the way from California. This meeting was of great
significance since we had communicated by e-mail over the past 3
years, but never met each other in person until now. It was truly
the meeting of the Oak Minds, and we shared an instant comradare
as we exchanged stories of our Arnold experiences and our mutual
anticipation about the weekend.
1:15 PM -- We head over from Columbus International Airport
to the Easton Center, the new mall development that Arnold
has some property invested in. He was there for the grand opening
about 2 years ago, and it included a Planet Hollywood restaurant
and a huge AMC 30 Screen Planet Movies. Unfortunately, the
Planet Hollywood Columbus is no more, as we saw first hand
the vacant space where it used to be, and the absence of the movie
memorabilia hanging from the ceilings. I guess Columbus is just
not a Hollywood kind of town. Before leaving, we stopped at Mozart's
Cafe, a pastry shop that Arnold frequents when he's in town,
since it provides "A Taste of Austria". When asked if
Arnold had stopped by, the worker there said he has never seen him.
Poor bastard, I thought as I munched on my yummy German Chocolate
brownie.
2 PM -- Somewhat disappointed by the lack of Arnold presence
we found at Easton, we decide to "quit screwing around"
and go straight to the main event: The Fitness Expo! For
the 2nd year, it is at the Columbus Convention Center, and
has expanded massively from it's former location at Vets Memorial.
We drive around in circles for a while in search of parking, and
at one point find that we are driving down "Gay Street".
Horrified by this omen of anti-manliness, we quickly turn off of
it, onto the much more appropriately named "Oak Street".
2:15 -- We finally park and walk through a confusing series
of hallways and escalators to finally arrive at Da Place! The enormous
convention hall is filled with crowds even on this first day. We
first do a perimeter walk of the hall to get our bearings and look
for any of the signs that Arnold is around: cameras flashing, commotion
in the crowd, or security guards gathering. We see none of these,
so we proceed to do a walk through of all the booths, looking for
anything we can grab with the Oak's distinctive face on it, munching
on bad tasting protein bar samples as we go. Here's the run down
of the best booths from an Arnold Fan's perspective: |
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Lou
Ferrigno
"Hey
Louie!"
One of Arnold's close friends from his bodybuilding days is Lou
Ferrigno, known to most as the Incredible Hulk, but Arnold fans
know him from Pumping Iron as a competitor who Arnold is
mercilessly psyching out: "You know, in two months, you
would be ready... but then of course, I'd get bigger too."
Louie was there the whole weekend ready to shake a hand and
sign a personalized autograph. As you can see, he is still very
pumped up as well as a friendly guy. We stopped by several times
during the expo to say hi to Louie.
For more on Lou, visit www.louferrigno.com |
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Schwarzenegger
by Butler
This
booth was by far the best one for the Arnold collector. You could
purchase posters and original prints of George Butler's photographs
of Arnold that were taken
at
the peak of his bodybuilding career in the seventies. You can
view many of these prints online at www.schwarzeneggerbybutler.com,
but here at the expo they had hundreds of photos that I had never
seen before, some very artistic and others very amusing. They
also sold t-shirts with some of the more well known prints on
them, but here's the crowning glory: the Pumping Iron video
and book were for sale for a pumped up price of $500 each! Good
thing I've already got my copy! If you're interested in obtaining
this fascinating documentary for much less, check out pumpingironvideo.com
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Physical
Magazine
Want
a free magazine with Arnold on the cover and a 12 page article inside?
So did I! This was the official magazine sponsor of The Arnold Fitness
Expo, so they were giving out as many free copies as you wanted.
The article itself is a fast read that covers a condensed version
of Arnold's life, as well as an interview with Arnold revealing
some of his basic training principles and his perspective on bodybuilding
today. Very good reading indeed! |
Other
highlights of the Expo were the other bodybuilding magazines,
which were selling some of their classic Arnold tribute issues
and posters, the Hummer area where you could have a seat in the
Oak's favorite mode of transportation or buy one for around $80
grand, and of course, the Inner City Games booth, to pick up brochures
on Arnold's favorite charity and make a donation.
4:30 PM -- After seeing all the booths, but still not seeing
any sign of Da Man himself, we decide it's time to depart for
the day, for we still have one stop to make before 5... to visit
the Mott's Military Museum which now houses one of the Oak's most
rare artifacts: his tank!
Onto part II of this continuing
chronicle...
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