LIFT LINE - v1.0

Welcome to the first "LIFT LINE" brought to you by LIFT STUDIOS. The LIFT LINE will help report news, views and announcements in the industry.

Ron has been kind enough to provide this space and allow me to spread the love. If any of you have met Ron, you know he is a stand up guy and more popular than some of the IFBB Pros. I had the opportunity to hang with Ron at the IRONMAN EXPO as well as the Arnold Classic. He busts his ass to run this site and it's not his full-time gig. Many people are very supportive and it's that kind of love that will help the industry do great things. As with anything, there will always be haters and some unhappy camper. Try to check your egos at the door and not get your panties in a bunch. If you have anything you'd like to report, share comments or wish to tell me to go f' myself, please contact LIFT.

If anyone would like larger versions of the photos seen here or interested in other photos taken at the Arnold Classic, please email LIFT.

ARNOLD CLASSIC

Thousands of people from around the globe ventured to Columbus, Ohio on March 4-6th. EVERYONE who is a resident in Columbus, that I encountered, loves Arnold and rightfully so. The Arnold Classic is the big kahuna that pumps more revenue into the city's economy than any other event they host. Cab drivers, hotel managers to the restaurant owners - they are all very appreciative of the event and what it brings to their local economy.

The Arnold Expo had a buttload of people in attendance to say the least. There were lines that seemed to never end. If you were one of the unfortunate souls that didn't have a pass or purchase a VIP ticket you could expect a hour or two wait. I made it into the expo fairly quick and positioned myself front and center for the Fitness, Figure and Women's Bodybuilding prejudging. It's nice to be close to the event however it's also disappointing the women doesn't have the following to justify having them on the main stage for their prejudging. I'm sure there are reasons behind this but simple things such as lighting make a world of difference when it comes to judging the show. The lightening wasn't bad - it's simply not the same as the men's. Any whoo - everyone was all a buzz about the new 20% rule for these competitors. It was clear that the fitness and figure women got the memo and followed it - not everyone - but the overwhelming majority did. The female bodybuilders - I'm not in touch with this scene enough to comment fairly, however I thought the women still looked big and didn't seem to decrease by 20%. A couple of the women did come in softer and they appeared to be marked down because of it. The female bodybuilders did all show up conditioned and in shape.

Overall the prejudging was great. Lots of quality competitors who did their homework and their hard work showed. Props to all the women who competed.

JM PRODUCTIONS LAUNCHES - PROJECT DIVA: TRINITY
THE COMIC BOOK

Adela and Jenny pose in front of their new comic book and J.M. Manion shows off 2 years of hard work.

Whenever someone tries to do something new or different all the haters come out of the wood work. I checked out the comic and it's funny and well done. I had a chance to speak with J.M. regarding the comic book and asked how it was received...

I did not get 1 negative comment, nor did the girls. I've even been getting daily e-mail's from people that read it once they got home from Columbus & really liked it. Truthfully, I think we surprised everybody with this being an independently produced comic book. I think most people were expecting art class drawings or something! LOL! Anyway, that's why I hired a professional comic book writer & professional comic book artist. Actually our 1st artist started preliminary drawings & then just disappeared for about 6 months. I still have his prelim's but then the writer, Ian Ascher, knew an artist in New Mexico & he contacted him to see if he'd be interested in the project. Thank goodness he was. You can see the results. Also, all 3 girls got to have some input into their characters too. As I like to laughingly say, I was like George Lucas overseeing the entire project that I funded entirely on my own. Ian wrote drafts & I'd make suggestions, as did the girls, until we got the final project done. In all it was 2 years in the making.

Right now we're trying to get distribution to comic book stores but will be selling them via these website's in the meantime;

www.jmpmanagement.com

www.AdelaGF.com

www.JennyLynnFitness.com

Or if somebody wants to send in a $5.00 Money Order made out to J.M. Productions & sent to P.O. Box 293, Presto, PA, 15142-0293, they can purchase the comic that way too. That prices includes Shipping & Handling.

I'm also exploring the possibility of doing some comic book conventions & of course getting a booth at select NPC & IFBB contests to promote the comic & have the girls there. I think that's what will make the book unique is that these comic book characters are based on real, live IFBB Fitness Pro's that people can come to the booth's & meet.

And yes, we are mapping out the next few issue's too & hope to wrap up the storyline to have a collector's set at least by the 2006 Arnold Classic if all goes well.

Also, if anybody's interested in distributing the comic, please have them call (412) 257-4555 or e-mail me.

Thanks,

J.M