Holiday Grab Bag

deetrakt · #1 December 20th, 2005, 01:51 PM

Here's the deal--I've assembled some muscle pic scans suitable in scale/shape for use as desktop images, etc. Three or four posts' worth. Some greats of past and present and a few quirky choices just to mix it up. Nobody will like all of them but everybody should find something to his/her taste. Happy Holidays!

Starting off, we have forum fave Mike Mentzer, Branch Warren, Victor Martinez, Gustavo Badell, Jay Cutler, Markus Ruhl, Kevin Levrone and Mentzer with Arnold:

http://photobucket.com/albums/a282/d...G/mentzer1.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/a282/d...G/bwarren1.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/a282/d...icmartinez.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/a282/d...tavobadell.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/a282/d...SG/cutler1.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/a282/d...markusruhl.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/a282/d...G/levrone1.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/a282/d...tzerarnold.jpg

Gymini29 · #2 December 20th, 2005, 07:40 PM

great picture of jay cutler, but....

can his eyebrows get any more tweezed??

gymini29

mango · #3 December 20th, 2005, 10:52 PM

I believe the holiday you're referring to is called Christmas. If I hear that ubiquitous and meaningless word holiday again I'm going to barf in my eggnog. And if I hear another tv commercial bastardizing a Christmas carol to sell a Honda or some other crap I'm gonna get a gun and I'm gonna...

ashleydelfin · #4 December 20th, 2005, 11:46 PM

To be fair, the bastardizing of Christmas songs is not new. And then there's the bastardizing of non-Christmas songs into Christmas songs.

Anywho, I found this guy while surfing the net the other day. His name is Clifford Barnes, he's 22, a musclemania junior, and Australian.

You could say the image does not fit the thread, BUT he's already on my wallpaper. *sigh* And Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Joyful Hanukkah, Jolly Yule, Feliz D?a de la Virgen de Guadalupe, Felices Posadas!!

mango · #5 December 21st, 2005, 01:19 AM

Christmas, like New Year's is a big holiday. It doesn't need to share it's spotlight with any other holiday. Certainly not one invented in my lifetime on a college campus, nor a minor Jewish holiday, nor the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, nor Yuletide. Yule is the name for a whole week that begins on Christmas. But at least it's culturally relavant to those 95% of us who grew up blinded by Christmas lights. Tradition, like any language on earth minus Esperanto doesn't need religion to prop itself up with. It just is until people decide it isn't anymore. Christmas is the red letter day in northern European and North American calendars. It's our Easter, our big New Year's. Other peoples can celebrate their holidays. Leave us the ones we were born with.

dancer56 · #6 December 21st, 2005, 03:19 AM

AND VISIONS OF SUPERPLUMS DANCED IN MY HEAD. . .http://members.aol.com/flexbroker/mdragna.html

deetrakt · #7 December 21st, 2005, 04:26 AM

arpeejay · #8 December 21st, 2005, 04:38 AM

So are you channeling Bill O'Reilly as joke or because you believe this crock o' hoeey? Just curious.

In a fine holiday spirit...

Richard

Quote:

Originally Posted by mango

Christmas, like New Year's is a big holiday. It doesn't need to share it's spotlight with any other holiday. Certainly not one invented in my lifetime on a college campus, nor a minor Jewish holiday, nor the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, nor Yuletide. Yule is the name for a whole week that begins on Christmas. But at least it's culturally relavant to those 95% of us who grew up blinded by Christmas lights. Tradition, like any language on earth minus Esperanto doesn't need religion to prop itself up with. It just is until people decide it isn't anymore. Christmas is the red letter day in northern European and North American calendars. It's our Easter, our big New Year's. Other peoples can celebrate their holidays. Leave us the ones we were born with.

mango · #9 December 21st, 2005, 07:19 PM

I loathe O'Reilly. I loathe Republicans and fundies. I also loathe trendy changes to the language and to custom which usually spread because no one's taken the time to pay attention to anything except what sounds cool. I hate substituting meaningless words in place of those redolent in layers of meaning. I hate the Holiday that dares to put it's faded jeans covered ass on Santa's antique red velvet throne. It's not that Christmas is all that, it's just that what's replacing it is none of anything.

mango · #10 December 21st, 2005, 07:21 PM

Oh yes, one more thing, Dragna can put his butt anywhere he wants and I'll never complain.

glammaman2000 · #11 December 21st, 2005, 08:44 PM

...&may Herakles;the much-suffering,martyred Son of Zeus;the demi-god made God;grant you a seriously pumped-up New Year!!!!Cheers!

dancer56 · #12 December 22nd, 2005, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mango

Oh yes, one more thing, Dragna can put his butt anywhere he wants and I'll never complain.

Preferably right BEHIND mine with sugar STALK pumpin. ALOHA baby!!

deetrakt · #13 December 22nd, 2005, 03:31 AM

LCathson · #14 December 22nd, 2005, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glammaman2000

...&may Herakles;the much-suffering,martyred Son of Zeus;the demi-god made God;grant you a seriously pumped-up New Year!!!!Cheers!

And a very happy Rural Dionysia to you.

Leland

mango · #15 December 22nd, 2005, 03:55 PM

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Now what's so complicated about that?

mango · #16 December 22nd, 2005, 04:06 PM

I love the shot of Mentzer and Padilla. I was in love with Padilla, from a distance, three decades ago. And saw him once at a contest in San Jose. He seemed to notice my boyfriend, who was also short and a bodybuilder, c'est la vie.

LG2005 · #17 December 22nd, 2005, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mango

I loathe O'Reilly. I loathe Republicans and fundies. I also loathe trendy changes to the language and to custom which usually spread because no one's taken the time to pay attention to anything except what sounds cool. I hate substituting meaningless words in place of those redolent in layers of meaning. I hate the Holiday that dares to put it's faded jeans covered ass on Santa's antique red velvet throne. It's not that Christmas is all that, it's just that what's replacing it is none of anything.

Ah, somebody I can appreciate.

glammaman2000 · #18 December 22nd, 2005, 08:20 PM

"Season's Greetings"&"Happy Holidays"go back to when I was a tiny tot&I'M OLD!They significantly pre-date blue jeans as all-occasion wear.I always found"X-mas"the more offensive term.It seemed to imply negation.

mango · #19 December 22nd, 2005, 11:51 PM

I'm 55. When I was a kid we were Christmas'ed to death. The Holidays were Christmas and New Years, a week apart and all vacation time in between, if you were in school. The Holidays has become the Holiday, which is a euphamism for Christmas. Christmas is usually overdone but what can you do when people insist on pinning too much on one day. Changing the name to something innocuous doesn't change that. The best thing about Dec. 25th are the customs that have grown up around it. Most of them are for kids but we were all there once. I resent disrespecting Christmas by hiding it behind a meaningless facade called the Holiday, as if we were embarrased by all the old fashioned sentiment. We don't have anything to be ashamed of. Christmas is a grand old celebration with pre-Christian roots but you can't take the last 2,000 years out of it without reinventing the whole thing from scratch. We're going to end up with two New Year's Days a week apart until someone bright realizes two in one week is one too many.

dancer56 · #20 December 23rd, 2005, 03:31 AM

http://www.bodybuilders.com/milos.htm

deetrakt · #21 December 23rd, 2005, 05:06 AM

Mdlftr · #22 December 23rd, 2005, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glammaman2000

"Season's Greetings"&"Happy Holidays"go back to when I was a tiny tot&I'M OLD!They significantly pre-date blue jeans as all-occasion wear.I always found"X-mas"the more offensive term.It seemed to imply negation.

With full respect for your good intentions: "X-mas" is an abbreviation for "Christmas". The "X" in this case is from the tradition of substituting Christ's name with the symbol of the cross= "X"

It's a theologically valid (and respectful) abbreviation.

Mdlftr

falseyedee · #23 December 23rd, 2005, 11:31 AM

on the subject of "christmas", last night i watched "unwrapping christmas" on the history channel. it was a look at the history and origin of christmas holiday traditions. i kind of new that most of what we've built around the holiday is a sham, but wow. i didn't realize that most of our most strongly held traditions are only about 100 years old. didn't know, for instance, that the puritains were so anti-christmas that it was actually outlawed for a while and that it was such a minor holiday that congress actually met on christmas day up into the 1850's. generally in the early years of the u.s. the holiday was seen as decadent and papist.

the whole "family centered" holiday thing was actually a victorian reaction to the increasingly violent christmas riots in big cities. it was the christmas riots of 1827 or 28, i can't remember, that gave rise to the founding of the nyc police force. the victorians changed the drunken, partying nature of the holiday in order to deal with their own middle class guilt about the poor and as a way of taking away the more "unseemly" aspects of the way the holiday had been celebrated.

this isn't to say that the various bits and bobs of christmas weren't used in different countries. many of the traditions are continuations of pagan traditions related to the solstice celebrations. but the way americans celebrate the holiday is really a very modern construction.

on the other hand, festivus, the holiday for the rest of us, which came to light in an episode of seinfeld in 1997 is becoming a new substitute holiday for thousands of people. created in 1966 by the father of one of the seinfeld writers, it's taken hold in a way no one had expected. there is even a company selling festivus poles. while i find the airing of grievances and the tests of strength both unnecessary and unseemly, i applaud the anti-materialistic nature of festivus. today is the "official" festivus day.

today we live in a very multi-cultural world, especially those of us in big cities, where the holy days and holidays of various groups, ethnicities, religions, et. al, coincide at this time of year. frankly, i find most of them ridiculous and sappy, but they have meaning for others. i'm not offended if somebody wishes me a merry christmas, though i don't observe that particularly religious aspect of the season, but some people are. isn't it easier, more polite and more inclusive to wish somebody a "happy holiday", which ever one it is they're observing?

if not, a
happy festivus!
happy christmas!
merry giftmas! [the holiday i celebrate]
happy hanukkah!
merry solstice!
and a very cool yule to you all!

deetrakt · #24 December 23rd, 2005, 11:59 AM

[QUOTE=falseyedee]
today we live in a very multi-cultural world, especially those of us in big cities, where the holy days and holidays of various groups, ethnicities, religions, et. al, coincide at this time of year...........isn't it easier, more polite and more inclusive to wish somebody a "happy holiday", which ever one it is they're observing?

I've deliberately steered clear of the ongoing discussion of holiday terminology, but what you said, especially the lines above, is so measured and sensible that I have to highlight and second it. While "Happy Holidays" and "Seasons Greetings" may be bland and non-specific, I think it makes sense to use them when you're not sure another term would be appropriate or welcome. That's why, in starting this thread, knowing it could be read by thousands of people, none of whom I know personally, I chose this form.

deetrakt · #25 December 23rd, 2005, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mango

I love the shot of Mentzer and Padilla. I was in love with Padilla, from a distance, three decades ago.

A special Christmas treat for mango:

http://photobucket.com/albums/a282/d.../SG/danpad.jpg

PS At the time of this photo, last year, Danny Padilla was 53 years of age! He's with Lance Johnson, who's about 10 years younger and, as you can see from Johnson's wide grin, a few inches taller (Padilla competed successfully as a pro at 5'2"). Padilla, who had had quintuple bypass surgery the year before this pic, was planning to come back and compete in the Masters Olympia. Don't know if he made it, but he does look remarkably young and healthy.

ashleydelfin · #26 December 23rd, 2005, 11:11 PM

Felices Fiestas!

I got some pics! First of all, Batman as we all would like to see him (got it from a Y!group):
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...atman-1111.jpg
Next, one of my fave guys EVER, Ramon!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...nalphamale.jpg
And as "gift" of sorts, I made some wallpapers (just some collages, really) with pics of Ramon:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...n/Ramon_WP.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1.../Ramon_WP2.jpg

... sigh ...

And I'd like to take this time to wish y'all a Merry Christmas. Hope you've been good, otherwise Santa will only leave you coal! Have a nice Christmas dinner, and if you're cooking remember: chocolate is a MUST for any important occassion (I'm making a chocolate cake with white chocolate frosting myself). Feliz Navidad, guys!

mango · #27 December 24th, 2005, 12:05 AM

I just want everyone to know, regardless of your faith, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and ofcourse a Happy New Year.

deetrakt · #28 December 24th, 2005, 03:57 AM

rockhard · #29 December 24th, 2005, 06:50 AM

Does the Ramon guy have his own web page?

Bull · #30 December 25th, 2005, 10:38 AM

By even participating in this ridiculous "war on Christmas" discussion, we are handing O'Reilly a victory. Nothing is going on that hasn't been for many years. This is just another way for him to distract us from the issues the really matter. I have never watched that festering pustule of a man in my life, yet here I am, addressing something he started. Shows how far his reach has gotten. Scary.

deetrakt · #31 December 25th, 2005, 01:14 PM

(Mistakenly posted here--look under "Muscle Brothers")

Aardvark2 · #32 December 25th, 2005, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockhard

Does the Ramon guy have his own web page?

Right here. Merry Christmas.

glammaman2000 · #33 December 25th, 2005, 02:54 PM

...he's a GOD!I'd been looking for pix of that kid!(that FACE!those proportions!)Thank you&a VERY MERRY Christmas!!!!

hulkmuscle · #34 December 25th, 2005, 03:03 PM

His real name is Roberto Silvestri, and he's a very friendly guy. I've chatted with him a couple of times.

mango · #35 December 26th, 2005, 12:28 AM

I've never watched that Fox guy long enough to catch anything other than he was as noxious as his channel. But infact you are wrong, I called our local paper ten years ago to complain about holiday infiltrating our Christmas day off. They gifted me with a Sunday before Christmas recipe for Christmas Crab. And this doesn't distract me from anything. I don't do anything. And if I wasn't writing this crap I would be doing even less. If anybody has a problem with Christmas Day being a legal holiday they should complain to their state governments which make the laws in this arena. And yes, last I heard we got December 25th off in California at least, in honor of Christmas, not in honor of "holiday". Christmas was yesterday and I hope you enjoyed it. Today is the second day of the Feast of Lights, so for any Jews out there Happy Hannucka! I'm all in favor of giving it legal status so I suggest people stop dumping on Christmas and instead either try to repeal it or make their own favorite holiday a legal holiday, ie a bank, post office holiday. And just because some ideologue wraps himself in the American flag doesn't mean I'm gonna rush out and burn it. Shame on you for watching Fox.

dancer56 · #36 December 27th, 2005, 07:09 PM

IM NOT INTO KIDS. NEVER HAVE BEEN, NEVER WILL BE, I DONT CARE HOW OLD I GET. I LOVE MEN, REAL MEN AND WITH SOME SIGNS OF AGING, BUT IN A NICE WAY. A PEDOPHILE I WILL NEVER BE. CASE IN POINT:http://www.eastcoastmuscle.com/Freeman/