THE ICE MAN

I cannot believe a diabolical killer of more than a hundred people inspired me to write this. Yet, here I am writing about Richard Kuklinski – A mafia hitman with a double life and one of the most notorious killers of all time. He murdered his victims brutally, ingeniously and without the slightest remorse.

I just finished a book on him by Philip Carlo titled “The Ice Man.” The book is gripping to say the least and it led me to watch his interviews on the internet. (Search and you’ll find enough videos and information on him).

Richard came from a family that gave him no love, just severe abuse and trauma. Outside of home was no better as he was targeted by bullies, one of whom he did end up killing. He simply did not experience anything “good” that he can look back upon, no family, no love, no friends, no mentors – and the result? No emotions but an all consuming rage and twisted perceptions of people and the world.

Around this time, I was also watching motivational speaker Ben Zanders talks. In one of them he says that make it a habit to give everybody an A grade - from Taxi Drivers to waitresses to mother in laws. In his eyes, everybody is an A student.

Also, I was reading about Anne frank and her quotes on life that inspired me put them up on February’s blog (I do go all over the place eh?)

Anyway, I was thinking what A would I give Richard Kuklinski and I realized I do not have an answer to that question. Only Richard can answer that had he had help to look within himself at the right moment.

I will not excuse or support a single killing here. I do feel he deserved what he got in the end…a long stint in prison. I am just looking at this man from different window.

I would probably give him an A for his care and concern for his family (wife and three kids) in his own screwed up way…considering he never knew what it meant to care for anyone.

I would give him an A for his calm demeanor (devoid of emotions one may say, but enviable nonetheless).

I would give him an A for mostly killing the scum of the earth most times (though not an excuse to play the god of death)

I would give him an A for sparing women and children.

I would give him an A for his generosity that we get glimpses of when reading the book.

If I could make up five alternate careers for him based on what I read and heard if he was made differently and if he was inclined to take the right path, then these would be it:

1. A counselor – who better to understand disturbed individuals than a person who has been disturbed himself?

2. A pediatrician – for his detailed, organized, methodical ways and attitude towards children.

3. An Actor – His sense of humor, his looks would have suited certain types of roles.

4. In the police force – His risk taking behavior, fearlessness, wanting to put a wrong right with the right intentions would have made him a reliable cop or some kind of an agent.

5.A bouncer at a bar…on second thoughts maybe not.

As Anne frank says, "Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness."

So most of all, I WISH I could give him an A for using his above strengths for channelizing his basic goodness.

Makes me wonder what he would have ended up as.

Maybe not on as an article on this blog ;)

I love Anne Frank. Some of my best pick me ups are when i read about her views on life and everything that goes into it.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.”

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”

“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.”


“I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.”

“No one has ever become poor by giving.”

“Because paper has more patience than people. ”

“Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.”

And i know this works....

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

I sometimes see a lot of funny, amusing, inspiring sayings, quotes here n there. Thought I’d write in my top three for the month:

“The best cure for a short temper is a long walk” – painted on placard in the park where I walk regularly. Truer words were never painted methinks:)

“Common sense is not so common after all” – From a T-shirt worn by a guy. ( LOL!)

“What we call meditation is just an unsuccessful suicide attempt” – from a book. (Am at a loss for words to comment on this!!!)

This is the last of the lot for 2013 and by one of my favorite authors. I like the guns n roses thought in the poem;)

Ruskin Bond –

If mice could roar

And elephants soar

And trees grow up in the sky;

If tigers could dine

On biscuits and wine,

And the fattest of men could fly!

If pebbles could sing

And bells never ring

And teachers were lost in the post;

If a tortoise could run

And losses be won,

And bullies be buttered on toast;

If a song brought a shower,

And a gun grew a flower,

This world would be nicer than most!

"Mike Teavee..." Roald Dahl

So true! I always preferred books over TV and I wish many others did too!

The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set --
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink --
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

I soooo love Poems by Spike Milligan. I would love to visit this land:)

In The Land Of The Bumbley Boo

In the land of the Bumbley Boo
The People are red white and blue,
They never blow noses,
Or ever wear closes,
What a sensible thing to do!

In the land of the Bumbley Boo
You can buy Lemon pie at the zoo;
They give away foxes
In little Pink Boxes
And Bottles of Dandylion Stew.

In the land of the Bumbley Boo
You never see a Gnu,
But thousands of cats
Wearing trousers and hats
Made of Pumpkins and Pelican Glue!


Chorus
Oh, the Bumbley Boo! the Bumbley Boo!
That's the place for me and you!
So hurry! Let's run!
The train leaves at one!
For the land of the Bumbley Boo!
The wonderful Bumbley Boo-Boo-Boo!
The Wonderful Bumbley BOO!!

I was searching for some stuff on gratitude and this is what I ended up with! Yep! I am glad my nose is where it is and for a whole lot of other stuff too!!:)

Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face
by Jack Prelutsky

Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,
for if it were where it is not,
you might dislike your nose a lot.

Imagine if your precious nose
were sandwiched in between your toes,
that clearly would not be a treat,
for you'd be forced to smell your feet.

Your nose would be a source of dread
were it attached atop your head,
it soon would drive you to despair,
forever tickled by your hair.

Within your ear, your nose would be
an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
your brain would rattle from the breeze.

Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,
remains between your eyes and chin,
not pasted on some other place--
be glad your nose is on your face!