Being incredibly bored at work, I have decided to start sharing a few "stories of iron," about various pros I have met over the years. For those that do not know, I have lurked in the Venice realm for quite some time, and as such, have accumulated some interesting experiences along the way.
Our first chapter begins with my initial pilgrimage to the Mecca. I was living near the City of Industry at the time, and though I had read about Gold's Venice for years, I never actually had bothered to head out there. I decided to make a day of it...hitting the Mecca, along with the Firehouse.
Anyways...after haggling the front desk staff to let me in and workout for free, I was on my merry way. The experience was fairly uneventfull until I was close to finishing my workout, when low and behold, Dorian Yates, walked right by me, (leaving the 2nd room on his way to the front).
He met up with a small entourage of fitness groupies, (4 in total I think), near the table/locker area. I decided to walk up to him and introduce myself, after a bit of small talk, I said, "Let me ask you a question. Do you think your involvement in the Skinhead subculture was an assest to your bodybuilding career? What I mean is, did that set the precedent for your work ethic that you later demonstrated?"
He stopped for a sec...seemed a bit puzzled by the question, and said, "No not really, it was more a matter of mates, fashion, Ska/Reggae, etc, I don't think it had too much to do with it to be honest."
Somewhat surprised by his answer I said, "The reason I ask is because when I was younger, I was involved in the Skinhead scene myself, (not the racist contingint mind you, but in the more traditional sense of the word), and I have always wondered if that left a strong impression on your work ethic."
After some more chat in this vein, he remarked that the Skinhead movement in America was much more political in in England when he was growing up, and many people had a misconception about what it meant, but that he always answered questions about it in a forthright manner. He then pointed out, that all the scrutiny about the issue, is what led him to remove the tattoo on his left forearm, (A pair of Doc Marten boots with the Union Jack), covered up.
He then mentioned that he was surprised that there was a large punk rock/skinhead movement in the States, and before he had visited the country for the first time, he really had no idea that its reach had extended this far. He then bragged that the music and fashion started in England, to which I pointed out that the RAmones, and New York Dolls were doing it long before the Sex Pistols, Damned, Etc.
He then said something to the effect of "Yeah...the Ramones... thats a good point... but the Dolls... They wore makeup didn't they?" He had a really sour look on his face when saying that... he was not too fond of the effeminate style of the dolls.
After a little more small talk, Dorian and his legion of fitness bimbos were out the door, and on their way to Max Muscle Venice.
Well there you have it... Dorian was super polite, and a pleasure to talk to. I realize that most of you wont know what to make of this, but like I said.... I was bored. Perhaps there will be more to come...
M!
