Author: admin-ashrita
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Never Give Up
February 2005 An acquaintance of mine was in a taxi in Nanjing, China, the other day and out of the clear blue the driver turned around and exclaimed: “I saw your friend shopping on television!” Needless to say, this acquaintaance immediately became quite nervous and figured there was either a serious language problem or the…
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Having a Ball on the Great Wall
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But don’t get me wrong – I have gotten respect in my life – at least twice that I can remember! A few years back, I was dog-sitting a wonderfully gentle but impressive pit bull. We went out for a walk one day and as we passed a neighborhood teenager and made eye contact,…
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Just A Minute
October 2004 Photo: Ashrita practicing in his kitchen. It is said that failures are the pillars of success. I guess I learned the hard way the truth of that statement! Just after the orange nose-push adventure I was invited to go to England to break a record on a T.V. show commemorating the 50th…
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The City of Light
Photo: Ashrita hula hooping at Uluru, Australia in January 2003 One of the advantages of breaking a Guinness record, as opposed to participating in other athletic competitions, is that you have the freedom to choose the date and venue of your event. The more creative you get with choosing the location, the more opportunity there…
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A Day at the Spa
I’m just hoping that my friend Durjaya Pliske doesn’t find out when or where my next record attempt is going to be. Don’t get me wrong – you can’t find a nicer guy, but whenever Durjaya shows up to one of my events, something unusual happens, and it invariably involves butterflies! Durjaya is a professor…
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Perfect Conditions
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The conditions for breaking a world record are never perfect, but I wish they could sometimes be just a little less imperfect! On the other hand, having to face the added challenges may be a good thing – they compel you to intensify your determination and concentration. I know in my case, at least, the…
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Milk Bottle Balancing
You have to walk as far as possible while balancing a full, old-fashioned pint glass milk bottle on your head. You can stop to rest or eat but the bottle can never leave your head. You are allowed to adjust the bottle twice an hour. This is one of my favorite records because you look…
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Landrowing
In Bali The idea for landrowing came to me during a boring training session on an indoor rowing machine. “Why not put wheels on this thing and tool around the neighborhood?” I wondered. So I called up my friend, who is a welder, and we went to work on transforming my brand new Concept II…
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Pogo Stick Jumping
This is an intense event because the pogo stick is simply not an efficient mode of transport, although it’s lots of fun. I first set this record in Antarctica. I was in South America and the Argentinian Air Force graciously allowed me and a couple of friends to hitch a ride there on a military…
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Somersaulting
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This is a grueling event – don’t try this at home! You are allowed 5 minutes’ rest after each hour of rolling. The unofficial rule is that you must roll continuously, but you are permitted brief stops to throw up! Unfortunately, I had to avail myself of that rule — many times! After breaking the…