As some of you who follow my blog know I am interested in the arts and culture of the Himalayan region. In July 2006, I had been a witness to similar dance performances at the Phyang Tsedup festival in Ladakh, India. The Rubin Museum of Art which I am member of is opening a new exhibition on Sept. 19: The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan. The opening celebrations include ritual dance performances from Sept. 13 – 21, 2008 throughout the boroughs of NYC. I caught up with one at the South Street Seaport on Monday afternoon. Supposedly, just by being a part of the audience I was accumulating merit and getting closer to enlightenment;)
Cham is the ancient ritual dance of Tantric Buddhism performed at religious festivals in Bhutan, the last Himalayan Kingdom. The dances typically impart moral instruction or illustrate teachings. An hour-long event was performed by a group of twelve monks from the monastic fortress in Trongsa. It included two common dances: TUM NGAM (Dance of the Terrifying Deities) and SHANAG NGACHAM (Dance of the Black Hats With Drums). They both feature wrathful deities that destroy evil demons – greed, ignorance, pride, and other spiritual poisons – that stand in the way of our reaching enlightenment.
More photos will be uploaded over the weekend…
UPDATE (Sept. 20th, 08): My flickr set of 20 photos from the performance is up: Cham - Ritual Dances of Bhutan (2008).
UPDATE (Sept. 30th, 08): I just realized that I had shot a short 23-second video clip of the Cham dance performance. Check it out, it really gets you closer to the actual performance. I need to do more of it: Cham - Ritual Dances of Bhutan video. Plus, you can also see it in my Video section of the blog.
September 19th, 2008
Posted by
Rich |
Arts, Bhutan |
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Posing with Karno, originally uploaded by Rich.
As for myself, I’m glad I found about this on Outside magazine blog beforehand and did go down to watch him run. I stopped by 5 times during the past two days and was amazed by his total coolness, always smiling and appreciating his fans. He really is a great ambassador not only for ultra-running but also for living healthier and more fulfilling life, in general. Simply put, he is the dude! I’m glad I had a chance to meet him and shake his hand. Plus, it was interesting to chat with similarly ‘endurance-obsessed’ folks cheering him on or with random passerbys who couldn’t believe what the hell was going on. So, go get out there: run, cycle, swim, do whatever it makes you tick and happy and live it out… If you are not ’suffering’, you are not living!!!
PS: Read his books, they’re truly inspirational!!!
- Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner
- 50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days — and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!
September 18th, 2008
Posted by
Rich |
Fun, Racing |
one comment
Dean with the Team DEAN, originally uploaded by Rich.
The night before he hit a rough stretch, diarrhea and dehydration. He had to get an IV shot but still is up and running. Don’t worry, he is safe and knows what he’s doing… So, the record won’t be broken but he wants to complete the whole 48 hours, even if he has to “crawl”… It is about surviving now… GO DEAN GO!!!
He’s tough as nail. I have to give it up to him. True to his motto, not just for running but how to live your life: “If you can’t run, then walk. And if you can’t walk, then crawl. Do what you have to do. Just keep moving forward and never, ever give up.”
September 18th, 2008
Posted by
Rich |
Fun, Racing |
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Info plaque, originally uploaded by Rich.
BTW, I’m typing this from across the ABC building at 7 Lincoln Square. I’m sitting in a Starbucks coffee shop and watching Dean’s run right now. Time to get up and get more pictures;)
UPDATE: On my way home, I passed by shortly before midnight and the board was showing 90 miles and 14 hours and a few minutes!!! That’s well ahead of the record pace. With a little luck, he might even break 300 miles. Wow…
September 16th, 2008
Posted by
Rich |
Fun, Racing |
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Today afternoon I passed by the ABC studios on Columbus Avenue and 67th street in New York City. And who do I see running on a treadmill in the ABC lobby? Dean Karnazes. To anyone who is into ultra-distance running* he is a well-known name. He is the “Lance Armstrong” of the running world. Among his biggest achievements is winning of the 2004 Badwater ultramarathon which takes place in Death Valley is considered “the toughest footrace in the world” (All 135 miles of it!). Here, he is trying to break the individual Guinness World Record for the longest distance run in 48 hours on a treadmill (240.11 miles). It is broadcasted live by ABC and followed on “Live with Regis and Kelly” show.
I found out about him for the first time in 2007 while flipping through pages of the Outside magazine. I liked what I was reading, esp. his attitude and outlook on running, outdoors, training and life in general. I grabbed his first book, “Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner”, and read it cover to cover in one sitting. Currently, he has a second book out called “50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons In 50 Days – And How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!” which I read not long ago, too. The title of the book says it all: 50 marathons, 50 days, 50 states!!! Physically, mentally and logistically, too, that is just unfathomable. He succeeded and ran the last leg of this 50/50 “super-run” during the New York City marathon, in 3:00:30 hours. That’s amazing time, after running one marathon a day for more than two months. Unbelievable!!!
Here are a few Dean’s quotes I love the best and try to live by myself:
If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not constantly demanding more from yourself—expanding and learning as you go—you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip. As a running buddy once said to me: Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: “WOW!! What a ride!”
Western culture has things a little backwards right now. We think that if we had every comfort available to us, we’d be happy. We equate comfort with happiness. And now we’re so comfortable we’re miserable. There’s no struggle in our lives. No sense of adventure. We get in a car, we get in an elevator, it all comes easy. What I’ve found is that I’m never more alive than when I’m pushing and I’m in pain, and I’m struggling for high achievement, and in that struggle I think there’s a magic.
There are more at Dean Karnazes Ultramarathon Man quotes…
Plus, I have more pictures here: Dean Karnazes Live on a Treadmill in NYC!!! For now, I’m just directing you to my front page. Later, I’ll put all Dean’s pictures in one set 
*If you wonder what ultra-running is: Basically any distance longer than a marathon (26.2 miles): 50 and 100 miles, or 50 and 100 kilometers, double marathons, 24-hour races, and multiday races of 1000 miles or even longer. The most famous (and toughest) races in the U.S. are Badwater Ultra (135 miles) and the four races that are part of the Grand Slam of Ultramarathons: Western States Endurance Run, Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run, Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run, Leadville Trail 100.
September 16th, 2008
Posted by
Rich |
Fun, Racing |
one comment
It is amazing how fast PC technology advances. Only two years ago, when trying to come up with a solution to my blogging needs while on a tour around the Himalayas, I had just a few options open. Either carry a regular size laptop (13.3” or 14.1”) or use PCs in Internet cafes. Lugging a 5 or 6 lbs. heavy laptop was too cumbersome and relying on the PC cafes only wasn’t too efficient either, given their underpowered, virus infected machines. Ultra-mobile portables were out of question from the beginning. They were expensive at the time, close to and over $2,000, and fragile. At least for writing my daily reports, I came up with somewhat unique solution: HP iPAQ handheld and a foldable Bluetooth keyboard. Yes, with limited functionality but it allowed me to write anywhere and anytime rather than spending too much time in smoke-filled PC rooms transcribing my notes. In this way, it helped me to save a few bucks, too, as I could upload my reports faster.
Now, look at the same scenario today. With the proliferation of so called mini-notebooks, I can have a light (little over 2 lbs.), cheap (usually under $500) and fully functional Windows XP (or Linux) computer. Not only I can write using fully fledged word processor (I prefer OpenOffice writer) but email, store and organize my photos, too. I’m not even talking about having access to all my usual software and desktop preferences. I can even run Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, my preferred photo software. Although it helps to plug the mini-notebook into a larger external monitor through VGA connection. Seriously, I tried it;) If there is WiFi nearby, I don’t need to juggle any data transfers using cards or external hard drives. All I need is to log in into my Wordpress and Flickr accounts and upload my pictures and stories.
These notebooks are usually extremely power efficient, fairly fast, with small LCD (or LED) screens and cheap too. Personally, I think they are dream computers for long-term vagabonds like myself who cannot afford to carry heavy full size laptops or don’t want spent close to $2,000 for Macbook Air, or similar;) When looking for one I found the most important preferences to be:
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CPU: Intel Atom processors; 1.6GHz, faster than Celerons, draw only 2.5W which translates into smaller and/or longer lasting batteries.
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RAM: 1GB or more, if possible.
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HDD: 8-12GB SSD (solid state disk rather than full-fledged hard disk); no moving parts means less danger of self-destruction at high altitudes, quiet and less power hungry, too. For additional storage and backup, I prefer a light external USB hard drives: WD Passport or LaCie rugged series.
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Screen: 8.9” to 10.0” LED; they are brighter and, again more efficient than LCDs; minimum screen resolution: 1024×600 to allow easier browsing. The 1st generation devices with 7” screens and 800×600 resolution forced users to scroll too much left-to-right.
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Battery: 6-cell, or more; at least 5-6 hours on a full charge.
In today’s market, there are three-four models that look extremely enticing: Just released Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (Dell website), Acer Aspire one (read here, too), MSI Wind and Asus EEE PC 901 (more) or 1000H models. As I’m planning to get one about 3-6 months before the start of my trip (Summer ‘09), I’m sure the above specs will get even better. By the next year, Intel will come up with an updated and faster Atom CPU and SSD capacities will increase to somewhere between 16-32GB, too… Lately, she price wars in the mini-notebook market have been intensifying: ASUS Lowering Eee PC Prices To Keep Up. Competition is always a great thing for consumers;)
September 15th, 2008
Posted by
Rich |
Equipment, Preparation |
2 comments
