This figurine is pretty funny to me.
It reminds of a childhood friend who was a fighter type.
Whenever somebody got on his nerves, he would bellow out in his machismo way:
I kill your whole family with one punch!
Honestly, it wasn’t all that scary a threat even as it echoed.
But it was comical when everyone else would mimic the saying at the slightest annoyance.
Kids are people too, wakadoo wakadoo! 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
A quote from my role model Rocky:
It’s not about how hard you hit.
It’s about how hard you get hit.
And keep moving on.
That’s how winning is done.
Go Rocky!
And by the way, you should hit pretty (i.e. very) hard also. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So swimming in the pool, I meet little 7-year old Jonah.
He sort of made himself known to me when he decided he wanted to race me on the swim board.
I was going just a little faster–and I reminded him that I had a key competitive advantage, fins.
He said, “Darn I should have brought mine!’
He asked how old I was, and I said a little older than you.
Not satisfied, he pressed the question, saying “I can tell you are an adult.”
So I had to cave and admit that, and pointing to my heart, added that “I am young at heart.”
Jonah’s in 1st grade, and wanted to know what grade I was in.
His guess was 4th grade, and I said “That’s about right.”
Jonah is from New Orleans visiting his grandmother for Passover.
She was watching him in the pool and smiling with grandmotherly nachos, ear-to-ear.
I told Jonah to make sure to treat his grandmother nicely.
But Jonah at this point had jumped into my swim lane and was in mock superhero fighting mode, and said “I want to punch you.”
I thought to myself, hmm it’s not only my wife that feels that way (LOL).
Anyway, it was clear that I had made a new friend with Jonah, who was off bobbing up and down in the water well over his head.
Bye Jonah–have a good time visiting for Passover.
(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
We hit the boxing gym last night for a little tour.
Guys and gals working out on the punching bags, mitts, and pads.
It was great to see the energy–push ups, sits ups, weaving and jabbing, kicks, and more.
They even had an Israeli self-defense class, taught by what I believe was a non-Israeli–that was a little strange.
I asked one guy who looked like he’d been around the block there, if he was one of the instructors, and he told me how he’s been boxing for 30 years.
Curious, I said “What did you do before boxing?” He said, “Fighting! I’ve been fighting my entire life.”
Anyway, whoever is laying around the house in front of the boob tube day and night–you need to get out and try some moving and shaking.
Great stuff, and right in the mold of my role model, Rocky! 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I remember as a kid, my grandfather lived down the block from us on the Upper West Side in Manhattan.
He was old and not in the best of health with a heart condition, hearing aids, and more.
One day, he was coming home from the bank, and he went into the elevator in his building.
He was followed by a punk, who after the elevator door closed, proceeded to grab my grandfather and choke him until he was unconscious.
The thug took his wallet and left my grandfather on the floor of the elevator.
Now, today I saw on the news about the Knockout Attack Game–and some “game” this is.
The attacker runs up behind the person unbeknownst and with full force slams their fist against a person head, knocking them unconscious, and when successful, this is done with one punch!
In other cases, an entire gang will attack, punching and kicking a victim until they stop moving.
While I couldn’t locate the exact video that happened in a neighborhood in NY to a Jewish woman, this video of an attack on a Muslim girl in London about a year ago, approximates it very closely.
While some victims of these attacks end up with broken jaws, skulls, shattered teeth, internal injuries, bleeding and more, others are not so lucky and end up dead.
I never forgot what happened to my grandfather and the cowardly schmuck that attacked this old, helpless man–but at least, he apparently did it for the money.
In these knockout attacks, when they ask the attackers why they do it, the response is for the fun and laughs.
What a commentary of our society, when people brutally attack other people–not for money, revenge, self-defense, or principle–but simply to see others needlessly suffer and to take a form of intense joy in it.
Perhaps, there are certain crimes for which the L-rd above must look down and mete out his own version of justice, in a way that restores order to this world of hope and despair.
I was reminded this week of a kid I grew up with who used to get so angry, he’d say sort of half-seriously at the target of his wrath, “I’m gonna kill your whole family with one punch!”
In this context, here’s something that really happened to me this week…
This guy I know who frequently has a temper was getting angry about something again.
And I said to him in a friendly way, “What’s wrong (now)?”
He says, as if I should know all his frustrations, “You’re kidding me, right?”
Seeing that this happens fairly often with him, I say, “You know you have an anger management problem.”
He says all frustrated with me, “I’m gonna punch you right in the face!”
I said, “You see what I mean.” 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
andyblumenthal 