Jan 17, 2009
“Okay, let’s take this nice and slow and no one will get hurt. Put the sword on the ground and back away.”
The policeman was shouting out his orders and he was quite serious. I suddenly realized that I probably shouldn’t have been cutting apples on the sidewalk in front of my friend’s restaurant in Flushing, Queens — with my samurai sword! But the Daily News photographer didn’t think anything was unusual, and I was having so much fun doing the demonstration that I never imagined that it might be considered dangerous (and pretty stupid)!
Dec 23, 2008
I love dogs…tail-wagging dogs, rub-my-belly-please dogs, enthusiastic dogs, loyal dogs, always-willing-to-please dogs. Some of my blog readers may recall that I once broke the record for the most jumps on a pogo stick in a minute while holding a cute dog named Suki in one arm, in front of Scotland’s famous Greyfriars Bobby dog statue.
During a recent trip to Vermont to attempt a stilt-climbing record attempt up Mount Equinox, I was delighted to see a sign in our motel’s lobby:
Dogs are welcome in this motel. We never had a dog smoke in bed and set fire to the blankets. We never had a dog who stole our towels or played the TV too loud. We never had a dog that got drunk and broke up the furniture or punched holes in the walls. So, if your dog can vouch for you, you are welcome too.
And sure enough, the next day, I met a super energetic Cocker Spaniel in the parking lot who had obviously vouched for his owners!
Anyway, I gave that introduction about dogs just so when you heard about my latest record you wouldn’t think I was totally crazy! When the 2009 Guinness Book came out in September, a new category caught my attention: catching the most Maltesers in a minute in your mouth thrown from 15 feet away. (Maltesers are the British version of chocolate covered maltballs.) This record seemed quite beatable because my friend Bipin and I hold a similar record for the most grapes caught in a minute. But, to make it more challenging, I instantly decided to attempt this record with a dog on my back!
Nov 11, 2008
“This building is in danger of collapsing! Everybody must evacuate this building immediately!…”
Please forgive me for not blogging recently – I’ve been tied up with moving the health food store and stationery stores that I manage. I suppose by now, I shouldn’t be shocked or surprised by any new challenge that arises on Parsons Boulevard.
Jul 24, 2008
My spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy, is a relentless advocate for newness, always seeking fresh and creative ways to express joy and aspiration. For me, this inspires me to look for new and different types of Guinness records, sometimes beyond the fitness categories (star jumps, sit-ups, etc.). Lately, I’ve made a few forays into categories that have led to some interesting failures:
Category: Slicing apples mid-air with a samurai sword. Result: A sliced finger and, somehow, I managed to stab myself in the stomach.
Category: Continuous rotations on a giant gyroscope. Result: After 10 minutes, I had to quit for fear of losing my lunch. (I later realized eating an entire package of Swiss cheese just before the practice was probably not a wise thing to do!)
Category: Smashing watermelons with my forehead. Result: One bruised forehead, a giant headache and not a single smashed watermelon!
Fortunately, Sri Chinmoy would always remind me that failures are the pillars of success. “Never give up!” is one of his favorite mantras. After some more experimentation, I finally discovered my talent for eating garlic! As the manager of a health food store, I’ve learned of the great health benefits of garlic, but shied away from it because of the odor issues. I have to talk to people all day and I don’t want to torture them with garlic breath. There is an old New York saying, “Three nickels will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat”! Anyway, I decided to throw caution to the wind and look into breaking the garlic eating record.
May 23, 2008
Recently, I set my 199th Guinness record (since setting my first record in 1979). My friends thought that I should do something special for number 200 and, while I would have preferred to keep the whole thing low-key, my pesky pals wouldn’t hear of it. Unfortunately, over time, they began to convert me to their point of view.
Normally, I don’t do the records in any particular order, but now for number 200, I became picky. I had been training for a gymnastics record, but decided that it wasn’t joyful enough. On the other extreme, my friend Bipin and I had been practicing for the record for the most custard pies thrown in someone’s face from 10 feet away, something that was maybe too joyful-at least for me, maybe not for Bipin! There had to be something in between.
Then, the perfect event dawned on me. I would attempt to break my 200th by spinning an 11.5-foot diameter hula hoop the most times in a minute. It was fun and it was appropriate for a number of reasons. First, my 100th record also involved a giant hula hoop, a 16-foot hoop which was the world’s largest at the time. Second, the 11.5-foot hula record made sense because it was a worthy challenge. You see, I had been training to break this record for almost 2 years!
The record was set in 2006 by a Spanish woman who was able to spin the giant hoop 62 times in one minute. I saw a short clip of her attempt and, with flawless technique, she made it look easy. I was inspired to try. My technique, however, was not that great. I compensated by constantly whipping my body into the hoop to transfer energy from my abs and legs. Whereas the Spaniard’s style could be compared to that of a ballet dancer, I looked more like a bear trying to do the cha-cha!
