The Joker

One movie is sweeping the box office this summer, “The Dark Knight.” The latest Batman installment from Christopher Nolan’s revitalized franchise is bigger and better than even I personally expected. The story is good, the action is good, and most notably the characters are excellent. Although the movie is centered on the caped crusader, the character who really keeps you fixated on the screen is the frightening Joker played by the late Heath Ledger.

Ledger’s Joker is a vast departure from Jack Nicholson’s version in 1989’s “Batman.” While Jack portrays the clown prince of crime with a silly goofiness and clearly defined clown makeup, Ledger makes the Joker dark, scary, and psychopathic. His hair is green, greasy, and unkempt. His makeup is flaky and smeared mightily across his face. It looks as though a madman or a two year old applied his red lipstick and the black halos around his eyes. The transformation of Ledger, an actor who started years ago as a teen heartthrob in “10 Things I Hate About You”, into a unrecognizable lunatic is incredible. He changed his movements, his voice, and his laugh in order to fully become the Joker.

The Joker is not an intriguing character just because of his physical mannerisms, but also due to his mindset. Most people’s actions are shown to be driven by common motives such as love, power, money, or revenge. The Joker doesn’t appear to be motivated by any of these things. He wants to create mischief and chaos simply because he enjoys it. He laughs at the best laid plans of others around him and revels in exposing society’s hypocrisies and denied truths. Alfred describes the Joker best when he tells Bruce Wayne, “…some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

When the movie debuted, I was watching a History Channel show about Batman’s psychology. In one segment, they decided to focus on the Joker. They talked about how Batman and the Joker serve as counterpoints to each other, especially with their philosophies. Batman is a man who was scarred by the senseless murders of his parents at a young age. His hurt leads to anger and a thirst for revenge. He believes that the world is divided between good and evil, justice and injustice. He feels he could be an agent of influence who sways the world’s balance between these extremes toward what is good and just. The Joker on the other hand doesn’t believe in justice. He thinks that the world is simply chaotic and unpredictable. His shocking actions further illustrate and contribute to this overall mayhem and chaos. To the Joker, the world and life are just a big joke. So he figures he may as well enjoy himself while exposing and laughing at others.

His biggest challenge is Batman. The caped crusader is very steadfast and true to his principles and beliefs. The Joker’s goal is to break him down and show that the structure of his philosophy is flawed. The Joker figures that Batman’s actions are all for nothing. If there is no sense of justice or good in the world, then there is no point for Batman to even exist. This is the ultimate opposition to Batman’s philosophy.

Olympic Spirit

That time has returned. The time when soccer moms, the elderly, and even small children become experts on subjects such as how many points are deducted for a hop step on a gymnastics landing and what makes Michael Phelps a superhuman swimmer. Yes, the time of the 2008 Summer Olympics have arrived.

The Olympic Games is one of those events that captivates minds the world over. Its reach is far and wide, crossing boundaries of culture, language, age, and gender. For a rare occasion in the summer heat, the best of the best from around the world congregate to compete and bond.

While there is an element of global brotherhood, there is also the inherent presence of competition. The Olympics is one of those occasions where people rally behind their nation for good old fashioned bragging rights. In the past, the Olympics have served as a peaceful parallel to the struggles and rivalries waged in the real world. Who could forget the race between the USA and the Soviet Union for the most medals? What about those unforgettable head to head clashes between the superpowers in sports such as basketball? Despite being a sporting competition on the surface, the Olympics have always served as a stage for making statements and for proudly representing one’s country.

Even though it may sound jingoistic and sentimental, I feel a stirring as I sit and listen to “The Star Spangled Banner” and see our champions softly singing the lyrics. It’s hard for me not to feel a great sense of pride in our country, in our team.

The decades have passed and many things have changed on the Olympic landscape. First of all, the rival has changed. Now instead of the Soviets, the Americans are vying with the emergent Chinese for medal supremacy. Also the statement at these 2008 Beijing games is very different than before. The overwhelming message of these Olympics is that China has arrived as a major world power. Things going forward in the next twenty years will be very different than to what we have grown accustomed.

The Stage is Set for the Baby Boilers

As a young kid, I remember the years when Purdue and Indiana were almost always at the top of the Big Ten standings. Those were the times that the legendary Bob Knight and the scowling Gene Keady prowled the sidelines. Those were the days when Calbert Chaney, Alan Henderson, Brian Evans, and the school boy superstar Damon Bailey wore the proud cream and crimson. They faced off against the likes of Glenn Robinson, Cuonzo Martin, Brad Miller, Chad Austin, and Brian Cardinal in the old gold and black. Most years in the early to mid nineties, the IU – Purdue basketball games were a heated rivalry between two good teams. They played not only for bragging rights in the basketball crazed Hoosier state, but also usually for a Big Ten title. At that time, the rivalry was closer in recognition and importance to North Carolina and Duke.

Oh how times have changed. Purdue fell into a horrible slump of losing since their 2000 elite eight appearance under Gene Keady. IU, meanwhile continued to be respectable (even making the 2002 title game vs. Maryland), but were never quite the same after the legend Bob Knight was fired. The upper echelon of the Big Ten was filled by teams such as Illinois, Michigan State, and Ohio State. While the rivalry remained important to Purdue and Indiana, the national significance faded. This was mainly due to Purdue stumbling and Knight’s departure.

This year has been a return to that feeling I had as a young fan. Coach Matt Painter took over in a succession plan for Gene Keady and led the Boilermakers back to the NCAA tournament last year with seniors Carl Landry and David Teague. He then pulled off a stunning coup by landing the Big Ten’s best recruiting class and one of the best ones nationally with the Fresh Four (JuJuan Johnson, E’Twaun Moore, Robbie Hummel, and Scott Martin). All four players hailed from the state of Indiana and were widely regarded as four of the nation’s top 75 high school basketball players for their class.

The fresh four’s impact has been immediately felt. After Purdue struggled early in the preseason with losses to Iowa State and Wofford, they have come on strong in Big Ten play. They have shocked everyone by going on an eleven game winning streak and posting a league leading 12-1 record with their lone loss coming at Michigan State by three points. Counting key wins over ranked Michigan State and twice over Wisconsin, Purdue has seen awesome contributions from many players in their balanced attack. Freshman Robbie Hummel has shown himself to be a versatile jack of all trades while E’Twaun Moore has emerged as a smooth scoring threat. Sophomores Keaton Grant and Chris Kramer have also stepped up. Kramer remains the young leader of the team playing smart basketball, strong defense, and exhibiting incredible toughness. Grant is quite possibly the Big Ten’s most improved player showcasing a three ball this year that has proven to be deadly. Overall, Purdue has been one of the most physical teams and they play great, suffocating team defense. People expected them to compete for the conference crown a year or two down the line, not right now. But the baby boilers have arrived earlier than expected, and they are wise beyond their years.

Indiana meanwhile has had a great season themselves. They enter the game 21-4 overall and 10-2 in the conference. They have been led by the Big Ten’s most potent one two punch, D.J. White and Eric Gordon. White is the senior stalwart and resident inside enforcer for the Hoosiers. He’s had a great year averaging around 17 points a game and is considered by many to be the front runner for Big Ten Player of the Year. Gordon is another in a long line of Indiana high school greats. The freshman phenom leads the Big Ten in scoring this year and can just hurt you in so many ways. His talent level is so great that he is certainly a one and done player to the NBA.

IU has faltered some this year. They lost at home to a surging and now ranked UConn team. They have lost twice to Wisconsin. However, they have shown they are still a good and dangerous team. They most recently routed a ranked Michigan State at home, mostly without the services of D.J. White due to a knee injury.

This game means so much. It is the only scheduled meeting between two bitter instate rivals. It is probably the most influential game of the conference championship chase. The winner will not only earn state bragging rights, but most likely Big Ten supremacy. The feeling of old has returned, and the stage is set.

Go Purdue!

Bobby Fischer (1943-2008)

Like myself, I think most young Americans who learned the game of chess came to revere and idolize Bobby Fischer. What wasn’t there to like about his Chess skills? Fischer started off as an astonishing prodigy whose accomplishments were never seen for someone so young. He later fulfilled his potential by taking on the Russians and becoming the first American World Champion in Chess. He played an open, attacking style of Chess characterized by ingenious tactical maneuvers. Bobby Fischer was to young chess players what Michael Jordan was to aspiring basketballers.

If you watch “Searching for Bobby Fischer”, you see his youthful brilliance on display with the various historical clips. There are multitudes of pictures of the young Fischer playing adults. There’s the video where the youngster walks around a room with ten chess boards and plays ten seated people simultaneously. At 13 years old, he became the youngest US Junior Chess champion. At 14, he became the youngest US Senior Chess champion. At 15, he was at the time, the youngest player to ever attain the Chess rating of Grandmaster. Fischer’s display of precociousness is amazing

Despite his life as a young prodigy, Bobby Fischer is probably best known for his adult exploits. In the early seventies, Bobby Fischer went on an electrifying run of 20 straight official match victories. This ultimately led him to the showdown in Iceland with Russia’s Boris Spassky for the World Chess Championship. There in Iceland, Fischer shocked the world by defeating the incumbent Spassky. He became the first American to earn the distinction of World Champion, breaking the dominance of Soviet champions that lasted a quarter century. His win resonated on multiple levels. Many saw Fischer’s triumph as a symbolic US victory over the Soviets during the cold war. Also due to the match’s media coverage, interest in the US for Chess exploded and peaked in the mid 1970s.

However, after his defining victory, Bobby Fischer’s career effectively ended. He forfeited his World Chess Title in 1975 after he refused to agree to a title defense. Fischer then became a recluse the world over. He only later emerged to play Spassky in a 1992 rematch held in Yugoslavia. It was this move that made him an exile from the US due to the match being a violation of the UN sanctions on Yugoslavia at that time. Ultimately in his twilight years, strange behavior such as Fischer’s extreme comments on Jewish people and on the 9/11 US attacks came to define his image. Many people came to question his sanity.

Despite his eccentricities and his extreme comments, I choose to remember Bobby Fischer for his great talent and skill. I see him as one of those rare human beings who achieved mastery in his favorite pastime. His talent and achievement stand mighty like the Colossus, inspiring those who come after him to match his brilliance and style.

Post Marathon: Survivor

There are times that nature humbles us. One of those days was last Sunday, the day of the 2007 Chicago Marathon. The marathon is held in October and typically sees temperatures of 40, 50, or 60 degrees Fahrenheit. This last Sunday at the start time (8AM), we were greeted by a temperature already in the high seventies. The day was bright and sunny and the humidity would be over 80 percent. All of this added up to a recipe for disaster. Before the day was over, runners would be subjected to a beating sun, high humidity, and temperatures reaching 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

We all knew it would be a hot day, but I honestly didn’t anticipate what the conditions would actually feel like. Apparently many others didn’t anticipate either. The weather took its toll. All runners had slower finishing times (even the Elites were lagging last year’s finish by 5 minutes or so). 250 people were treated by medics along the course, 50 people hospitalized, and one man died due to a heart defect. My friends told me stories about runners passing out on the sidewalks, runners vomiting in alleys, and runners dropping like flies from the race. At noon (4 hours after the start), the marathon planners officially canceled the marathon due to the heat. Evidently water supplies and available medics were running short. Any runner who had not passed the halfway point by this time was stopped and bused back to the finish. Other runners who were further along the course were told to walk the rest of the marathon.

The heat also affected yours truly. I started out the race running with a group of people from my CARA training group. We busted out and hit the first few miles running at a 9:30 pace. Eventually I lost sight of the group at the second aid station in the mass of people. I had decided at that point that being sufficiently hydrated was more important than staying with the group. If I had to, I was perfectly prepared to run alone. At that point I think I settled in close to a 10 minute per mile pace. I felt pretty strong. I luckily ended up meeting up with my group again, but once again we would part ways. After that, I would only see individual group members along the way. I continued at the 10 minute per mile pace which carried me across Addison in Wrigleyville. I headed South through my home neighborhood, Lincoln Park, still going strong. In fact, I hit the half marathon distance at 2 hours 13 minutes which isn’t bad. I was feeling pretty good until shortly after mile 17. After passing that marker my body didn’t feel so well. Earlier even though I had good rhythm, I felt my heart rate starting to climb. It certainly scared me because I was wondering if I should drop out of the race or not. However, I continued on and did the thing that seemed most natural: I began to dump cups of water on my head as I passed the aid stations. I suspect I was overheating. This would definitely cause my body temperature and my heart rate to increase. The water seemed to help tremendously by cooling me down. However, even with this tactic, I decided I needed to slow way down and take a walking break in order to give myself some rest. I timed my walking breaks, not wanting to devote too much time to them. I decided that I would do intervals in order to finish the race. I would walk 5 minutes and then run slowly for 10 minutes. This seemed to work pretty well. However, each time it became harder to run. Evidently my posture must have been slouching because my mid/lower back muscles began to ache. Also I found it harder to breathe since there was pain in my back from expanding my rib cage.

I had run well during the first two thirds of the course. However, the last nine to eight miles were just brutal. At that point I wondered if I would want to run a marathon again. I wondered if I would ever finish. Despite this, I knew one thing at the time. At the very least, I could definitely walk my way into the finish. So I struggled through the colorful and festive neighborhoods of Pilsen (Latin flavor) and Chinatown. I struggled to run through the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology. However, no matter if I was walking or jogging slowly, I was still progressing. I had come to finish this race, and I would crawl across the finish line if that’s what it came down to.

When I reached Michigan Avenue and headed toward the finish, I was severely focused. As I ran, I breathed deeply to soothe the pain in my back and ribs. I stared at the ground in front of me, charting my progress by passing small landmarks like street markings. I was doing anything I could to inch forward. It was at this point before reaching mile 24 that the cancellation announcement came from police and marathon workers. For those of us this close to finishing, they just advised that we walk it out. I did for the most part although I ran some of it. It was a shame though because I felt I was gaining a second strength. I should have just kept running consistently. After what seemed an eternity, I finally neared the finish. I walked most of the way at a brisk pace hoping I could finish in less than 5 hours. I realized as I came closer that my goal was slightly out of reach. Obviously I was disappointed, but nevertheless I ran out the last 100 meters across the finish line with my arms held high.

Despite breaking down and walking a lot of the last 8-9 miles, I had done it. I had finished the Chicago Marathon. My chip time was 5 hours 00 minutes and 46 seconds. This wasn’t too far from my goal of a sub 5 hour marathon.

Honestly, completing the Chicago Marathon in these challenging conditions was the single hardest thing I have done in my life. To finish, you had to be a survivor; a person determined to keep moving forward despite the pain and the doubt. I questioned myself, but knew at the very least I would finish. It was this belief as well as the people supporting me that had kept me going.

When I arrived back at the CARA tent, I saw some of my group members. It turns out most of them also had a lot of trouble with the heat. In fact most of them finished in the 5 hour range as well. I also later found out that 10000 people chose not to run the race at all while another 10000 people started, but didn’t finish. Collectively 20000 people of 45000 never finished. As my Uncle said, “well at least you finished in the top half.” Considering all this, I realized that my performance hadn’t been that bad. In fact, it took a lot of guts and determination to even finish the race on a day like this. I can’t be disappointed about my effort and my toughness.

Overall, the Chicago Marathon is a magical experience. Never have I had the opportunity to see a whole city come out to support an event and the people participating in it. It was wonderful to hear the spectator encouragement (especially when they could shout out your name from your nametag). Also it gave me a chance to see some of the city’s neighborhoods and its people up close. I highly recommend this race as a goal for anyone I know.

As I close, I would like to give thanks to many people. First I give thanks to my family and friends who tracked my progress and sent messages of encouragement and support. I was truly surprised by the outpour you gave. It went a long way on race day. I also give special thanks to the people who made out on the course to watch me run and finish (my Dad, Sarin, Ben, Chris, Scott, David, Rich, Arjun, and Dhaval). It was a tremendous gesture. I also want to thank my CARA group members and our pace leader, Tom. They were there with me for four months of early Saturday morning long runs (including the 20 miler). Without them, I don’t think I could have ever arrived at the finish line. Finally, I want to thank all of the volunteers, organizers, and spectators. They made this an outstanding occasion.

After the race, I walked home down Armitage Avenue with Scott. I was still wearing my running clothes, bib, and finisher’s medal. As we passed, stranger after stranger stopped and congratulated me. I realized then how great of an achievement it was to run this race. It was as though I was a new person who had emerged from the challenge. But in reality, I was the same person I was before. I had just discovered a bit more of myself along the way.

Dress Rehearsal

Three weeks. Three weeks time stands between me and the Chicago Marathon. I have trained and sacrificed the past three months in preparation for this day. Soon it will all be over, and the satisfaction of finishing will arrive.

To get to this point has been a journey of one thousand steps. It started in June when I tackled the first long run of six miles with my CARA group. The mileages gradually increased through the weeks, finally culminating in last Sunday’s long run. That day our group took on the twenty miler. When I want to put the twenty mile run in perspective, I think of it analogously. If the marathon is the big show or opening night, then the twenty mile run is the dress rehearsal. This is the training run that is closest in distance and conditions to the actual race. We never pass this threshold in our training. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, it has been concluded through previous training trial and error that if you can survive running just twenty miles, you can tough out the full 26.2. Secondly, it is always better to undertrain than to overtrain. Training too much usually results in injury. For most people, running more than twenty miles increases the chance of injury without adding much training benefit.

Honestly, I hadn’t given much thought to the twenty mile run in the weeks preceding it. I carried no anxiety over it. In fact, the realization that the twenty miler had arrived really didn’t hit me until a day or two before the event.

I arrived at the starting point, Foster Avenue, a little after 7AM. Since this was a large event that was open to the public, things were a little chaotic at first. However, after checking my gear and waiting in the restroom lines, I was fortunate to find people from my running group. The event was setup so that everyone was divided into starting waves according to their race numbers. Everyone in my group was divided all among the ten minute per mile waves. However, we all wanted to run together as we had the past three months. Luckily our fearless running leader, Tom, was also a pace leader in this twenty mile run. Unfortunately, he was precluded from running due to a biking accident which had resulted in a knee injury. So he was able to substitute one of his running friends into his pacer position. The plan then became to run together as a group behind this pacer regardless of where we were told to start. That’s exactly what we did. We approached the starting line and were told to wait by the CARA workers with the microphones. However in typical Team Run Amok fashion, our pacer just decided to take off and we all followed.

The course took us north initially from Foster to Hollywood. We then turned south and headed all along the lakefront trail toward the South Shore Cultural Center. At first it was chilly, especially while we were waiting to start. However, as the Sun emerged, things started to heat up considerably. For the first half of the run, we ran past the usual things we had seen through much of our training. However, once we reached the area around the loop, we didn’t turn back. We kept on going past the museum campus into the unknown territory of the south side.

I had never seen the south side of the lakefront trail before, but I was pleasantly surprised. I had never expected it to be that scenic or that beautiful. The south side of the path was more pristine and more natural than the more familiar north side. I loved it. At one point during the run, we came around a bend in the shoreline and saw downtown Chicago very far away over our left shoulders. It was one of those moments that just floored you. We suddenly realized we had just run from the north end of the Lakefront past downtown into the southern half of the trail. It was amazing.

We kept pushing on, coming closer to the finish. At about the seventeen mile point, our group began to disintegrate. Some people fell back at a slower pace, most stayed with our pacer, while others including myself decided to push ahead. Eventually I ended up with two other runners from my group.

Even behind the pacer, our pace had been quicker than our supposed ten minutes per mile. Realistically for most of the run, we had been burning at a 9:30 per mile clip. Now that the group had separated out, I was pretty sure I was approaching a 9 minute per mile pace. We kept pushing onward; at this point I began to feel some discomfort. The lower left portion of my right heel began to hurt as my foot was pushing off the ground. However, it wasn’t enough to stop me. I was going to follow through to completion.

My subgroup was quickly approaching the finish. We hit a bend in the path, at which point an event worker told us it was the home stretch. I figured at this point we were either a mile or half mile away. Sure enough, my two cohorts could smell the finish. They started to push even harder and faster toward the goal. I, of course followed suit. When we finally hit the final stretches, the leader of the subgroup went into an all out sprint leaving the two of us behind. Once again, I felt challenged and decided to give chase. I also went into a full sprint, staying behind him. We kept this up until we finally crossed the finish line. We were greeted there by our team leader, Tom, and other people from our group who had finished earlier. According to my stopwatch I finished in 3 hours 13 minutes (I stopped the watch while going through water stations).

It was a great feeling. We had finished the twenty mile run. The climax of training had been completed. It was time to relax and have fun.

After the run, we waited until the rest of our group finished and then went on to enjoy the after party. There was a live band, lots of running snacks, and even a few free beers haha. We all sat on the grass in the sun and talked amongst ourselves. We found out our leader, Tom, wouldn’t be able to run the marathon this year due to his injury. It’s really sad and disappointing. He is a marathon veteran, and he had been there all through the training to lead us. All it took was one freak car-bike accident to end this year’s mission for Tom. I thought back to last year when I wished I had run the marathon and then had to wait anxiously for this year’s race. However, my past situation pales in comparison to what Tom is probably feeling now. I decided that when I run the race, I will think of Tom and finish for him.

Overall, it was a banner day. The weather and scenery were awesome. The feeling of accomplishment was great. We could all go forward to race day with added confidence.

Lollapalooza 2007

This last Sunday I went to Lollapalooza with my roommate and some of his friends. Overall, I was pretty glad that I attended. I had always had a sense of regret from last year when I didn’t go, especially because my favorite band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was headlining.

This year, I also didn’t initially plan on attending even though my second favorite band, Pearl Jam, was headlining. However, this all changed in the matter of a few moments. A few weeks back, my roommate, Scott, said he knew some people going to all three days. He had then decided to go on Sunday, the day Pearl Jam was playing. He asked if I wanted to go. I checked out the lineup and saw some decent acts were playing that day (Modest Mouse, Amy Winehouse, and Pearl Jam) and decided that this would be worth paying the price of admission.

I had some trepidation about going to the festival because it turned out that Sunday was really hot and humid. I remember last year there was a lot of fanfare concerning how hot it was during the day and people lacking water, etc. So this was in the back of my mind. However, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I imagined. Don’t get me wrong, it was really hot and sticky, but it wasn’t something that a little water couldn’t cure. Plus even though there were lots of people there, it didn’t feel or seem to be overly crowded.

So we started off the day listening to Amy Winehouse. I had really anticipated this one since I had become enamored with her voice as of late. Overall, I thought her performance was really good. She shows a lot of range in her styles, and I love her retro throwback (50s/60s jazzy lounge) sound. I think her voice is great, and that it sounds refreshingly different from most acts today. Scott made the keen observation that Amy kind of sounds like Lauryn Hill (another one my singing favs). I had never really thought it about it, but I think there’s some truth to it.

We then wandered and listened to a few other acts (Kings of Leon, the Wailers). Finally we settled in and listened to Modest Mouse. This show was a little harder for me to appreciate as I really don’t know their songs (with exception of “Float On”). However, it sounded pretty good as well.

Finally, we ventured across Grant Park one last time in order to get positioning for Pearl Jam. It had been four years since I last saw them at a killer show in Indy. One thing was certain from the last time I had seen them play; PJ knows how to rock a live performance. I would definitely say they were one of the best acts I had seen live, if not the best. Well this show didn’t disappoint either. They pretty much played two hours and went through a decent range of their catalogue. Also Eddie Vedder was his usual funny, wisecracking self.

From what I remember, PJ played songs like “Not for You”, “Corduroy”, “Given to Fly”, “Daughter”, “State of Love and Trust”, and “World Wide Suicide.” For me, probably the highlights were when they busted out the old favorites from their first album, “Ten”, with “Evenflow” and “Alive.” The whole crowd was singing along to both of these classics.

PJ came out on stage twice for encores. During the first one, Eddie pulled out “Betterman”, for which the crowd sang the entire first verse alone. Then for the second encore, Ben Harper joined the band onstage to sing an anti war song. Finally, PJ, Ben Harper, and a decent amount of people from the audience were onstage rocking it to a frenetic cover of Neil Young’s “Keep on Rocking in the Free World.” It was a fitting ending.

Once again PJ put on a great show. It’s sweet to see them live. I was kind of disappointed they didn’t play “Yellow Ledbetter”, but how can I complain too much really. I definitely recommend seeing them if you have the chance.