Dec 29, 2006
In my last blog I mentioned how helpful the assistant to the Turkish city of Belek was in my quest to get permission do a record at the famous ancient Roman amphitheatre at Aspendos. I found the affable fellow in the restaurant of the hotel I was staying at. He was having lunch with his staff and he invited me to join them. Something unusual happened at the lunch that I wasn’t sure was worth mentioning. But here goes!
I introduced myself to everyone at the table and showed them my photo in the 2007 Guinness Book. After seeing the page, the assistant to the mayor got very excited and he immediately began making calls to find the number of the mayor in charge of Aspendos. Although he was talking in Turkish, I could tell that he got the number because his eyes were roving the table looking for a piece of paper or napkin to write on. Everyone had already finished eating and there were no clean napkins around, but bananas must have been served for dessert because there was an empty peel on the plate in front of him. Sure enough, his eyes finally settled on the banana peel and he wrote the number on the peel!
Dec 23, 2006
Sometimes I’m totally amazed by how well things actually work out! I really feel that God’s Grace has a lot to do with it and, in this case, with the magnanimous heart of the Turkish people.
A bunch of friends and I are vacationing in Antalya, Turkey and, although there are so many exciting possible places to break Guinness records here, I didn’t want to think about it until I was actually in better shape. There was a record for balancing the tallest object on one’s chin for 10 seconds, but frankly, my practices weren’t going that well.
Then suddenly, one morning, I had an excellent practice and I was ready to begin the search for a venue. My friend, Homagni, had been raving about the 2,000 year-old Aspendos Roman Amphitheatre he had visited, so finally, I looked at a photo of the ancient site. It was incredible!!! I just had to do the pole-balancing record there, but how could I get permission?
Sometimes I’m totally amazed by how well things actually work out! I really feel that God’s Grace has a lot to do with it and, in this case, with the magnanimous heart of the Turkish people.
A bunch of friends and I are vacationing in Antalya, Turkey and, although there are so many exciting possible places to break Guinness records here, I didn’t want to think about it until I was actually in better shape. There was a record for balancing the tallest object on one’s chin for 10 seconds, but frankly, my practices weren’t going that well.
Then suddenly, one morning, I had an excellent practice and I was ready to begin the search for a venue. My friend, Homagni, had been raving about the 2,000 year-old Aspendos Roman Amphitheatre he had visited, so finally, I looked at a photo of the ancient site. It was incredible!!! I just had to do the pole-balancing record there, but how could I get permission?
Dec 19, 2006
Last week something really embarrassing happened during one of my training sessions. Please remember, before you get the wrong impression, that I’m normally a very polite person! Lately, I’ve been working on the record for keeping a children’s top spinning for a mile. You hit the top with a small whip to keep the top spinning and moving, then run after it and hit it again. The big challenge is that the top is not allowed to stop spinning for the entire mile.
I’m currently on vacation in Antalya, Turkey and I was at the lower level of the Sheraton Hotel in the middle of a top spinning practice. I was hitting the top along the long corridors, determined to keep the top spinning for half a mile. I had be careful of the occasional well-meaning guest who, upon seeing the top on the ground, would attempt to pick it up and give it to me, but otherwise things were going well. I was sweating profusely, my knees were all scraped up, but the top was still spinning.
As I neared the bank of elevators, I smacked the top with the whip and the top went flying. Suddenly, the elevator doors opened and the top spun right into the elevator. I couldn’t believe it! In the intensity of the moment, without thinking, I ran into the elevator screaming to the shocked guests not to touch the top. As I frantically swung my whip at the top, everyone huddled in the back of the elevator. Somehow I managed to get the top, still spinning, out of the elevator just before the doors closed and I continued my practice!
It wasn’t until later that I realized that I had prevented those poor people from getting off the elevator and, not knowing that I was training for a record, they must have thought I was a raving lunatic!
Nov 29, 2006
After reading of this record experience, you may think that the record was over easy, or that my brains are scrambled, or maybe even that I have become a bit egg-centric. Egg-centric? Eggs-actly!
On a more serious note, one of the many things that I have learned from my spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy, is the importance of concentration. In order to be successful at anything, concentration is essential. I’ve always admired my teacher’s tremendous ability to be totally one-pointed. This ability is especially evident in his creative activities such as writing, composing songs, or painting. In fact, the first record I ever attempted was in honor of Sri Chinmoy’s completion of 16,000 paintings in 24 hours. I happened to be present for the entire event and I was amazed at my teacher’s capacity to paint practically nonstop without letting anything distract him.
Now back to this record effort. Most of the records I pursue usually involve some degree of concentration and leave me eggs-hausted, but I recently attempted a feat which was almost exclusively a test of mental focus and eggs-actness rather than physical endurance. This record had me walking on eggshells for weeks: the record for balancing the most eggs on end simultaneously. Okay…no more egg-stuff. I had never actually tried to balance an egg on end before but, as a kid, I heard that it was only possible once a year, on the day of the vernal equinox. However, I recently read in the Guinness Book that it was a proven fact that eggs balance the same regardless of what day it is, vernal equinox or not.
Aug 12, 2006
Some Guinness records, which seem absolutely ridiculous on paper, turn out to be exceptionally difficult when you actually try them. The orange nose push, pushing an orange with your nose for a mile in the fastest time, is a perfect example. When I first saw the photo in the 2004 Guinness Book of the guy setting the record, my immediate reaction was: ” No, I’m not trying that – it’s just too weird.” And that’s coming from someone who has pogo stick jumped underwater in the Amazon River and walked with a milk bottle balanced on his head for almost 24 hours!
