The Sword of Atlantis

[Agent ONE]

Well, with a valk, I AM using it - it's a toy, and I like to fidget alot, so playing around with them is nice.  Such is the purpose of a toy.  And I'm only spending about $50 on it.  No big loss.

Now I'm just guessing hear, but I assume the majority of the board-members here are middle-income types with or without families who can only afford the multi-hundred thrills on rare occassions, maybe twice a year.  Now when I was getting the Highlander catalogs(my step-dad bought me some stuff from those guys one birthday and they didn't stop sending them it we changed our address  ) they were selling them for like $300-400.  Now that isn't too bad, but it seems alot for what will amount for most people to be a wall ornament.  Now A1's saying he has one that retails for $1500?   An expensive hobby.

...

320888[/snapback]

Its not really a hobby when all I wanted was that one sword, and now I have it. I am a Conan/Schwarzenegger fan. As far as I am concearned, that one sword is an entire collection.

[Agent ONE]

I shave my chest, maybe that is making it look different.

320862[/snapback]

Hey, hey, hey, HEY! TMI! I don't need to know that about another grown man.

Seriously though; what do you recommend to get rid of the dreaded "love handles"? I've been hitting the gym [not faithfully, mind you] for the past couple of months, but I've been trying to get rid of mine since college [longer than I care to admit].

320929[/snapback]

I instruct people on how to shave their nut sacks in my blog... LOL

The following is ALL you need to know on the subject of losing bodyfat:

Building muscle changes your metabolism, it makes your body a more efficient machine. This makes losing body fat a much easier task, but only if you have awareness of what you put into your body. The comments that follow set out a simple set of guidelines for PHS Clients who want to get the most out of their strength building effort. Yes, a simple set of guidelines? Contrary to what many diet authorities would have you believe there are only 3 things ANY individual must know in order to control body fat loss.

1. Knowing how many calories you need a day to maintain your current bodyweight.

2. Knowing what you are actually taking in (eating) per day on a consistent basis.

3. Knowing the ratios from Fat to Carbohydrates, to Protein you are taking in per day.

Most people think that counting calories is just a waste of time, or too time consuming. Well, you have to ask yourself, ‘how bad do I want that perfect body that I dream of?’ Using a calorie counting book that can be found at any book store, or even a computer program to assist you in counting the calories you take in, and the entire process will take no more than 15 min per day. The best software program is approximately $30 and available from www.fitday.com, but you can use the FitDay diet tracker account on their website for free, which serves the same function as long as you remain connected.

Calculate how many calories you need a day to maintain your current bodyweight.

Estimating the caloric needs for women requires the multiplication of the current weight in pounds by 15 if you as an individual are moderately active and by 13 if as a woman you are typically inactive. For example, Marie-Jeanne (a fictitious person) weighs 130 pounds and leads a typically inactive life. Her ballpark daily calorie needs are 130 x 13 = 1690 calories. The caloric need for men is slightly different, as they need to multiply their bodyweight by 16.5 if they are moderately active, and by 14 if they are typically inactive. For example, Paul (a fictitious person) weighs 187 pounds and leads a typically active life. His ballpark daily calorie needs are 187 x 16.5 = 3085 calories.

How fast can I loose body fat?

These examples are the calorie recommendations for the two fictitous people to remain exactly the same weight. Too lose body fat they or in your case, you need to choose a goal of losing 1 lb or less per week. More than one pound per week forces the body to think its starving and there are many negative aspects of this so never more than 1 lb per week is recommended. There are approximately 3500 calories in a pound of body weight. So, if you create a 3500-calorie deficit through the course of a week, you will lose one pound of body weight, all fat and no loss of muscle. This works out to a deficit of 500 calories per day.

What kind of things should I eat, and how often?

Nutrition specialists use a ratio of 50-35-15, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. With a balanced diet, it is best to eat five meals per day, and optimally, each meal should consist of the ratios given above. Many people make the mistake of eating at a caloric deficit, but eating things that ensure fat storage, thereby not making any progress. Staying within the ratios is important and making sure you are tracking EVERYTHING you eat is equally important. Someone who has a Chicken Caesar salad for dinner, thinks they did great, but if they had 4 glasses of wine with the salad, that would be seen as a horrible meal as wine is digested as refined sugar, no different than candy. Never skip a meal. When you do, your body goes into starvation mode, meaning you start to use muscle as fuel and to make things even worse, your body will horde the next meal as fat (which is really just your body’s storage mechanism) as it thinks you will have to wait a long time again for a meal.

You can do this, lose body fat and gain muscle at the same time. You are in control!

[Agent ONE]

dood, calm down or that vein in your forehead is gonna pop! 

nice sword.  take more lessons from conan cuz you are holdin it wrong 

320916[/snapback]

Take a closer look... The sword is just for looks, my body is the real killing machine.

[Zentrandude]

a1 is a lefty? not surprised he shaves his chest. he lifts weights after all, need to lighten the body so he can appear to left a couple more pounds

[Agent ONE]

a1 is a lefty? not surprised he shaves his chest. he lifts weights after all, need to lighten the body so he can appear to left a couple more pounds 

320972[/snapback]

I am both.

[striderhiryu]

cool sword A1, and by the way thanks for the advice you posted.

wished i knew some one who could build me a cypher (think of it as a tonfa with a really sharp blade) , i was talking to a friend in laredo texas who like to collect swords and even manages to build some combat knifes but it seems the design might be hard to handdle. so far i only have katana, wakizashi and tanto, and nunchuks, all ready for combat.

have you tried to do some of the tricks arnold pulled out in the movies like in conan the destroyer when he was ambushed by soldiers who where after the princess, and at a point he faced a fairly skilled one then he spinned the sword and passed it from his right hand to his left hand behind his back. in the movie it was not a quick move however it looked cool, but if you can manage to do it faster it will look better.

i think people collect swords because some people are aware of the beauty of those things, yet there are others who do not collect them for that reason but rather to learn to use them for their true reason to be. a sword that is not used with respect and only to play is a dead sword and has no spirit in it. i know because i do use them for their true purpose in self-defense. i actually once used one to scare off some junky who managed to get inside my house and was trying to get open my car, however i felt pitty for the bastard and did not strike him.

[reddsun1]

Thanks for the advice guys. I've always wondered why we've got that "evolutionary faux pas" working against us, so to speak; i.e. the body uses muscle first, then fat when it thinks it's in "starvation mode." After all, wouldn't that poor ancestor of ours struggling to survive on some barren plain need for his body to process that vice-versa? If you're starving, aren't you gonna need all the muscle you can keep in order to be better able to catch the next meal? Oh well...but enough rambling.

Conan! What is best in life?

Crush your enemy, see him driven before you, and hear the lamentation of his women!

Edited August 18, 2005 by reddsun1

[Axelay]

It would seem that I have become a HUGE fan of the first Conan movie after finally seeing it reel-to-reel for the first time this year. For reasons I can't quite understand, I used to be absolutely loath to watch it. Now I watch it every single time I see it on HBO or Cinemax, which is quite a bit as of late. I have got to find the soundtrack. I have to admit, though, that I refuse to watch the second Conan movie because it just doesn't seem... right.

Now, my question. I read on IMDB that the runes on Conan's father's sword say something like "Suffer no guilt, ye who wield this in the name of Crom." (Absolutely awesome.) I was wondering if the runes on Conan's sword mean anything, or if they are runes at all?

[dr_vandermeer]

Hey A1,

I guess this means you are just about ready to take on Santa Claus right?

Rob

320857[/snapback]

Loincloth and all.

[Ghadrack]

Sword looks good in the pictures, congrats on the find!.

I imagine that A1 laughed himself to sleep last night thinking of the mere mortals, critiquing his photo then using a roll of flab for a blanket.

[Agent ONE]

Sword looks good in the pictures, congrats on the find!.

I imagine that A1 laughed himself to sleep last night thinking of the mere mortals, critiquing his photo then using a roll of flab for a blanket.   

321278[/snapback]

Dude, thats EXACTLY what I thought.

[phoenix01]

I assume that this is the Albion Armorers of Wisconsin sword. If so, a review of the sword can be found here. Conan the Barbarian Atlantean

All the Conan swords offered by Albion can be found on their Film Swords website at www.filmsword.com/conan

Be warned, they are all expensive.

[ManxoChu]

The Sword of Atlantis looks great, A1. I was wondering though if you could give a shakedown for us mere mortals; y'know, how it feels in your hands when swung or brandished like in the movie. Does it feel solidly built? No loose pieces? I know you already said it's not battle-functional but could it take any abuse at all? Any weight in the sword at all? My bastard sword is a bit hefty at three pounds (I know I can hear you laughing so I'll ignore it for now) but after swinging it for a few minutes I don't notice the weight at all unless the movements aren't fluid.

[Agent ONE]

It would seem that I have become a HUGE fan of the first Conan movie after finally seeing it reel-to-reel for the first time this year. For reasons I can't quite understand, I used to be absolutely loath to watch it. Now I watch it every single time I see it on HBO or Cinemax, which is quite a bit as of late. I have got to find the soundtrack.  I have to admit, though, that I refuse to watch the second Conan movie because it just doesn't seem... right.

Now, my question. I read on IMDB that the runes on Conan's father's sword say something like "Suffer no guilt, ye who wield this in the name of Crom." (Absolutely awesome.) I was wondering if the runes on Conan's sword mean anything, or if they are runes at all?

321232[/snapback]

I dunno. I just know I have never seen a sword that looks that kick ass.

[Agent ONE]

The Sword of Atlantis looks great, A1.  I was wondering though if you could give a shakedown for us mere mortals; y'know, how it feels in your hands when swung or brandished like in the movie.  Does it feel solidly built?  No loose pieces?  I know you already said it's not battle-functional but could it take any abuse at all?  Any weight in the sword at all?  My bastard sword is a bit hefty at three pounds (I know I can hear you laughing so I'll ignore it for now) but after swinging it for a few minutes I don't notice the weight at all unless the movements aren't fluid.

321312[/snapback]

Its solid, but HEAVY... 12 Lbs.

I looked at the stats of the non-decorative version that phoenix01 posted and it only weighs 7 lbs. THAT blade is the real deal, mine is just for decoration... You pay an extra thousand for the real blade, and since I am not planning on killing anyone with the sword, decorative is good enough for me.

[Nightbat]

I want This One!

from Filmswords.com:

The runes on the blade were in a runic script invented by Ron Cobb, and Ron says that they have no meaning. In Conan the Destroyer, the same runic inscription was reproduced on the scabbard Conan used

Edited August 18, 2005 by Nightbat

[Sundown]

i.e. the body uses muscle first, then fat when it thinks it's in "starvation mode."  After all, wouldn't that poor ancestor of ours struggling to survive on some barren plain need for his body to process that vice-versa?  If you're starving, aren't you gonna need all the muscle you can keep in order to be better able to catch the next meal?

321193[/snapback]

That got me wondering too, but I'm guessing that we burn muscle before fat in "starvation mode" because muscle itself consumes energy even when we're inactive. In order to deal with that, our bodies limit energy use by trimming down the amount of extra muscle we're carrying around, so we're not wastefully burning all our fat away sitting around waiting for our next meal to walk by. I suppose that after trimming down our muscle mass to more efficent levels, the body switches back over to burning fat. Neat trick. Agent One probably knows a whole lot better so hopefully he'll correct me if I'm off here.

-Al

[KingNor]

if i looked like that i'd walk around shirtless with a big sword all the time (and not even care)

[Agent ONE]

i.e. the body uses muscle first, then fat when it thinks it's in "starvation mode."  After all, wouldn't that poor ancestor of ours struggling to survive on some barren plain need for his body to process that vice-versa?  If you're starving, aren't you gonna need all the muscle you can keep in order to be better able to catch the next meal?

321193[/snapback]

That got me wondering too, but I'm guessing that we burn muscle before fat in "starvation mode" because muscle itself consumes energy even when we're inactive. In order to deal with that, our bodies limit energy use by trimming down the amount of extra muscle we're carrying around, so we're not wastefully burning all our fat away sitting around waiting for our next meal to walk by. I suppose that after trimming down our muscle mass to more efficent levels, the body switches back over to burning fat. Neat trick. Agent One probably knows a whole lot better so hopefully he'll correct me if I'm off here.

-Al

321357[/snapback]

You are exactly right, except about the switching back part... When someone is in starvation mode (3 hours after a meal) their glucose stores are gone and they start to use muscle as food... This doesn't reverse no matter what the muscle to fat ratio is. Moral of the story is don't skip meals. I eat 6 times a day.

[Agent ONE]

if i looked like that i'd walk around shirtless with a big sword all the time (and not even care)

321369[/snapback]

HAHA, thanks dude you made my day.

[reddsun1]

i.e. the body uses muscle first, then fat when it thinks it's in "starvation mode."  After all, wouldn't that poor ancestor of ours struggling to survive on some barren plain need for his body to process that vice-versa?  If you're starving, aren't you gonna need all the muscle you can keep in order to be better able to catch the next meal?

321193[/snapback]

That got me wondering too, but I'm guessing that we burn muscle before fat in "starvation mode" because muscle itself consumes energy even when we're inactive. In order to deal with that, our bodies limit energy use by trimming down the amount of extra muscle we're carrying around, so we're not wastefully burning all our fat away sitting around waiting for our next meal to walk by. I suppose that after trimming down our muscle mass to more efficent levels, the body switches back over to burning fat. Neat trick. Agent One probably knows a whole lot better so hopefully he'll correct me if I'm off here.

-Al

321357[/snapback]

You are exactly right, except about the switching back part... When someone is in starvation mode (3 hours after a meal) their glucose stores are gone and they start to use muscle as food... This doesn't reverse no matter what the muscle to fat ratio is. Moral of the story is don't skip meals. I eat 6 times a day.

321377[/snapback]

Well put, gentlemen. What you say makes good sense. I have found I do better keeping the weight off when I "snack" multiple times throughout the day, rather than eating a big lunch, big dinner, etc.

[Roy Focker]

I showed your pic to a girl. Her words on seeing it was, "If he's was any bigger he'd be a freak." Are you planning to keep getting bigger?

As for those six meals a day what do you eat?

[Sundown]

You are exactly right, except about the switching back part... When someone is in starvation mode (3 hours after a meal) their glucose stores are gone and they start to use muscle as food... This doesn't reverse no matter what the muscle to fat ratio is.  Moral of the story is don't skip meals.  I eat 6 times a day.

321377[/snapback]

Really? Well I imagine that the body has to switch to metabolizing fat at some point, or someone in "starvation mode" would suffer complete muscle atrophy and be incapable of even basic movement before he began to lose some of the fat. There's gotta be some switchoff point before the muscles are completely digested... or else starvation would leave us quivering and invalid blobs of fat at some point.

For those six meals, are they pretty small portions? I've noticed on a trip that Europeans seem a whole lot thinner and fitter than Americans, and it's not that they don't eat much or don't know how to enjoy food. It's that they don't eat gigantic portions and instead favor a variety of smaller courses over a huge helping of fat, grease, and carbs in one sitting.

-Al

[reddsun1]

You are exactly right, except about the switching back part... When someone is in starvation mode (3 hours after a meal) their glucose stores are gone and they start to use muscle as food... This doesn't reverse no matter what the muscle to fat ratio is.  Moral of the story is don't skip meals.  I eat 6 times a day.

321377[/snapback]

For those six meals, are they pretty small portions? I've noticed on a trip that Europeans seem a whole lot thinner and fitter than Americans, and it's not that they don't eat much or don't know how to enjoy food. It's that they don't eat gigantic portions and instead favor a variety of smaller courses over a huge helping of fat, grease, and carbs in one sitting.

-Al

321392[/snapback]

Yup, I noticed the same thing when I went to Quebec, Canada. It's definitely a cultural thing, I think. Those French-Canadian gals? Ooh, la la! Some truly beautiful belles up there. Let's face it. Speaking objectively, we Americans can be gluttons. They say a picture is worth a thousand words; well I'd say this one speaks volumes--even if it is a bit of a blanket statement.

[Guppy]

Up til now I thought all this muscle+narcissism kick was a running gag, but now I'm not so sure..?

[buddhafabio]

Hey A1,

I guess this means you are just about ready to take on Santa Claus right?

Rob

320857[/snapback]

he goes for the door knobs. oh wait that was for evles

[mikeszekely]

Up til now I thought all this muscle+narcissism kick was a running gag, but now I'm not so sure..? 

321455[/snapback]

It's a little of both, I think. It's really him, AFAIK, and in a lot people, that'd make for a jerk. A1 plays it off more as amusing, most of the time, as long as you don't take him too seriously.

And about the whole collecting thing, everyone has something they like. For a lot of people on these boards, that includes toys that I would NEVER dream of spending so much on. For some, it's functional weapons, for others, it's merely display weapons. Myself, it's electronics (of which I just added a 52" Toshiba HD DLP TV... ). It doesn't really matter if you get why someone else would spend money of those kinds of things... the bottom line is that, somehow, those things give some measure of comfort and happiness to their owners. If they're putting in their 40 hours a week, you really can't begrudge them that.

[Agent ONE]

You are exactly right, except about the switching back part... When someone is in starvation mode (3 hours after a meal) their glucose stores are gone and they start to use muscle as food... This doesn't reverse no matter what the muscle to fat ratio is.  Moral of the story is don't skip meals.  I eat 6 times a day.

321377[/snapback]

Really? Well I imagine that the body has to switch to metabolizing fat at some point, or someone in "starvation mode" would suffer complete muscle atrophy and be incapable of even basic movement before he began to lose some of the fat. There's gotta be some switchoff point before the muscles are completely digested... or else starvation would leave us quivering and invalid blobs of fat at some point.

For those six meals, are they pretty small portions? I've noticed on a trip that Europeans seem a whole lot thinner and fitter than Americans, and it's not that they don't eat much or don't know how to enjoy food. It's that they don't eat gigantic portions and instead favor a variety of smaller courses over a huge helping of fat, grease, and carbs in one sitting.

-Al

321392[/snapback]

- Fat is the body's storage system... Muscle is the body's engine. When the body is in starvation mode, it wants to reduce the size of the engine, thereby creating a smaller demand over storage over time. There is no practical switch over, it would be close to death.

- My 6 meals aren't small, but i don't stuff myself either.

[Agent ONE]

I showed your pic to a girl.  Her words on seeing it was, "If he's was any bigger he'd be a freak."  Are you planning to keep getting bigger?

As for those six meals a day what do you eat?

321387[/snapback]

Haha... No I am 227 right now, thats the limit... Not ever going over 230, but never under 220.

I prefer to just be a balanced perfect athlete with endruance, flexibility, strength, and speed... Bodybuilders just have strength and size.. Notice you never see Arnold run in his movies, he can't his hamstrings limit his range of motion. Also there are considerations when it comes to my feet and shins in supporting that weight, I get pain at times when I run as my feet have to support a large amount of wieght.

I can see myself getting a little leaner at the same weight.. Thats it.

[Agent ONE]

Up til now I thought all this muscle+narcissism kick was a running gag, but now I'm not so sure..? 

321455[/snapback]

What do you mean "gag" Like I was just a skinny dork that was just mouthy on the web? Nope, I am the REAL DEAL.

[Guppy]

Up til now I thought all this muscle+narcissism kick was a running gag, but now I'm not so sure..? 

321455[/snapback]

What do you mean "gag" Like I was just a skinny dork that was just mouthy on the web? Nope, I am the REAL DEAL.

321510[/snapback]

well by gag I was referring to the narcissism part. I'd never considered how big or skinny you were. But if you like posting nudie pics of yourself on the internet I ain't gonna stop you!

Hey, how about making a Conan porno? Conan the Ballbarian?

[Roy Focker]

I showed your pic to a girl.  Her words on seeing it was, "If he's was any bigger he'd be a freak."   Are you planning to keep getting bigger?

As for those six meals a day what do you eat?

321387[/snapback]

Haha... No I am 227 right now, thats the limit... Not ever going over 230, but never under 220.

I prefer to just be a balanced perfect athlete with endruance, flexibility, strength, and speed... Bodybuilders just have strength and size.. Notice you never see Arnold run in his movies, he can't his hamstrings limit his range of motion. Also there are considerations when it comes to my feet and shins in supporting that weight, I get pain at times when I run as my feet have to support a large amount of wieght.

I can see myself getting a little leaner at the same weight.. Thats it.

321509[/snapback]

Doesn't that have to do with your general body frame? Like someone who's bigger bone can carry more weight than someone who is small bone.

[Agent ONE]

I showed your pic to a girl.  Her words on seeing it was, "If he's was any bigger he'd be a freak."  Are you planning to keep getting bigger?

As for those six meals a day what do you eat?

321387[/snapback]

Haha... No I am 227 right now, thats the limit... Not ever going over 230, but never under 220.

I prefer to just be a balanced perfect athlete with endruance, flexibility, strength, and speed... Bodybuilders just have strength and size.. Notice you never see Arnold run in his movies, he can't his hamstrings limit his range of motion. Also there are considerations when it comes to my feet and shins in supporting that weight, I get pain at times when I run as my feet have to support a large amount of wieght.

I can see myself getting a little leaner at the same weight.. Thats it.

321509[/snapback]

Doesn't that have to do with your general body frame? Like someone who's bigger bone can carry more weight than someone who is small bone.

321602[/snapback]

To some extent, yes. But when one lifts weights he or she can greatly what the sleketon can handle, IE the sleletal structure can change to accomidate an excess need for strength. So even the skinniest of kids can gain a large amount of muscle. The most limiting factor in building muscle for most has to do with hormonal dissadvantages some are born with. Some people naturally make more testosterone, some make less. One great thing a person can do is get their blood tested for testosterone... Provided its low, a perscription can be acquired for injectible testosterone.

[KingNor]

I showed your pic to a girl.  Her words on seeing it was, "If he's was any bigger he'd be a freak."   Are you planning to keep getting bigger?

As for those six meals a day what do you eat?

321387[/snapback]

Haha... No I am 227 right now, thats the limit... Not ever going over 230, but never under 220.

I prefer to just be a balanced perfect athlete with endruance, flexibility, strength, and speed... Bodybuilders just have strength and size.. Notice you never see Arnold run in his movies, he can't his hamstrings limit his range of motion. Also there are considerations when it comes to my feet and shins in supporting that weight, I get pain at times when I run as my feet have to support a large amount of wieght.

I can see myself getting a little leaner at the same weight.. Thats it.

321509[/snapback]

Doesn't that have to do with your general body frame? Like someone who's bigger bone can carry more weight than someone who is small bone.

321602[/snapback]

To some extent, yes. But when one lifts weights he or she can greatly what the sleketon can handle, IE the sleletal structure can change to accomidate an excess need for strength. So even the skinniest of kids can gain a large amount of muscle. The most limiting factor in building muscle for most has to do with hormonal dissadvantages some are born with. Some people naturally make more testosterone, some make less. One great thing a person can do is get their blood tested for testosterone... Provided its low, a perscription can be acquired for injectible testosterone.

322038[/snapback]

i like anime, do you think my testosterone might be low?

[Nightbat]

i like anime, do you think my testosterone might be low?

322043[/snapback]

I've seen Rozen Maiden and liked it

so mine MUST be low