Teringat Thomas dan Uber... - Updated

Posted by alwaysalia | Labels: | Posted On Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 8:33 PM

Yaah...kalah...:(

Ah, the beauty (or pain?) of sports. You can use mathematical logic for past matches, but when the umpire blows the whistle to start a game, do expect the unexpected.

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Teringat Thomas dan Uber...

Posted by alwaysalia | Labels: | Posted On Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 10:12 PM

Mungkin agak telat untuk membahas kejuaraan Thomas dan Uber yang diselenggarakan beberapa bulan yang lalu, tapi tadi pagi saya membaca sebuah headline di koran "Markis/Hendra ke Final (Olimpiade Beijing)", dan tiba-tiba teringat bahwa dulu saya sudah ada rancangan tulisan di kepala tentang pertandingan Thomas/Uber, tapi berhubung tidak sempat menulis dan lama-lama jadi outdated, saya lupakan saja.

Waktu itu Tim Uber Indonesia kalah dari Cina di final, sedangkan Tim Thomas kalah dari Korea Selatan di semifinal. Kesimpulan saya dari dua hasil ini adalah: keduanya sama-sama hasil yang tidak diharapkan!

Yaitu tidak diharapkan kalau Tim Uber melaju ke final, dan tidak diharapkan Tim Thomas terhenti di semifinal.

Jadi, Tim Uber Indonesia bahkan tidak diharapkan bakal mengalahkan Jepang di pertandingan awal, tapi kenyataan berbicara lain. Tunggal putri no 1 Indonesia yaitu Maria Kristin hanya ada di peringkat 19 dunia, sedangkan peringkat 1 ganda putri Vita Marissa/Lilyana Natsir ada di ranking 9 dunia. Apalagi teman-temannya dong, peringkat 34 lah, 48 lah, dll.

Dan ternyata setelah melewati Jepang Tim Uber Indonesia mengalahkan lawan-lawan berikutnya dengan cukup mudah, dengan penampilan terbaik (versi saya tentunya) di semifinal melawan Denmark. Yaah kalau dilihat ranking pemain-pemain Denmark, memang tidak sebanding dengan Indonesia. Dan lagi mainnya huebat! Susi bahkan menyimpan Vita/Lilyana dan hanya memasang Jo Novita/Gresya Polii yang di ranking ke 30-sekian dunia dan menang! (well, lawannya sih peringkat 70-sekian gitu hehehe tapi tetep keren lah maennya euy).

Nah, mungkin, setelah melihat kemenangan Tim Uber yang "agak mudah" di semifinal, Tim Thomas yang akan menghadapi Korea Selatan di semifinal keesokan harinya berpikir "HARUSNYA sih menang". Padahal menurut saya kunci kemenangan Tim Uber bukan mindset HARUSNYA-sih-menang, tapi HARUS-maen-bagus.

Dan jujur saja, saya sebagai penonton yang melihat kejayaan Tim Uber langsung di Istora juga terbuai dengan pikiran itu. Kalau kamu cukup sering menonton kejuaraan Thomas, kamu juga bakal tau kalau lawan selain Cina dan Denmark sama dengan lawan mudah. Sebenarnya sih pemain Korea tidak jelek-jelek amat, tapi mereka tidak ada tradisi melaju ke final Thomas, dan menurut saya statistic does matter.

Dan begitulah saudara-saudara. Main dengan pikiran seperti itu, pemain Indonesia malah berhadapan dengan tim Korea yang ternyata bermain sangat bagus. Sony Dwi Kuncoro yang turun pertama tampak kaget, dan berusaha bermain bagus, tapi malah agak maksa (HARUSNYA-sih-menang), dan akhirnya kalah. Setelah itu giliran Markis Kido dan Hendra Setiawan. Memasuki lapangan sebagai ganda putra terbaik dunia (yang baru diumumkan sehari sebelumnya, damn... IBF tidak tahukah, orang Indonesia gampang gede kepala gitu looh..), tentu saja pikiran HARUSNYA-sih-menang mengisi kepala Markis/Hendra, apalagi kepala saya. Daaan ternyataaaa....kalah jugaaa!!:(

Pertandingan berikutnya tidak perlu dibahas. Wajah Taufik Hidayat yang menangis muncul di TV-TV. Saya tidak peduli. Bagi saya yang salah adalah Markis/Hendra. Ranking 1. Siapa yang tidak berharap?! Huhuhu...

Singkat kata, memang penampilan Tim Thomas dan Uber unexpected. It's fantastic ladies! For you, gentlemen, only because I was "gede kepala" too that I forgave you. Waktu membaca headline tadi pagi, harapan saya tumbuh lagi. Dan waktu saya sedang menulis ini, muncul berita di detik bahwa Markis Kido dan Hendra Setiawan memenangkan medali emas! Tuh kan, kalian memang nomor 1!

Sekarang tinggal menunggu "calon emas" berikutnya. Nova Widianto dan Lilyana Natsir, ganda campuran peringkat 1 dunia, juga akan bertanding di final besok. Ups, jangan gede kepala ya! Ayo rebut emaaaasss!!
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The Dark Knight

Posted by alwaysalia | Labels: | Posted On Friday, August 8, 2008 at 4:44 PM

When I first saw a friend’s YM status; “Why… so serious? Let’s put a smile on that face” (Joker), I thought it was funny. More my friends put another Joker’s quotes as their YM status. As all people said that Heath Ledger’s Joker is astounding – and rumor has it that he was badly depressed, which led to his death, for taking the villainous role seriously – I decided that I would watch The Dark Knight, although I never regret missing box office superhero movies.

What I didn’t expect is Joker does not utter the words in comic scenes, he says that while putting a knife inside someone else’s mouth, pushing the knife at his left corner lips. It’s a joke only he can understand. His other famous quote that I heard most; “What doesn’t kill you only make you stranger”, is uttered when he put a gun in another one’s mouth. None of these scenes I dare seeing.

But that means praise for Heath Ledger. Is it his sadism and masochism – or his chilling laughs when torturing or being beaten – or the fact that Heath Ledger was depressed and died after the shooting that makes everyone frightened? When I am frightened by a particular scary scene or villain in a movie, I always remind myself it’s just acting and those people will laugh after they finish the work. But Heath Ledger doesn’t give me a chance to remember that. He stunningly appears inhuman. 

His stealing-attention performance reminds me of a chapter in a Japanese comic about acting world. Ayumi, one of the two best actresses in Japan, wants to give a good lesson to a new actress (let’s call her Riyo, I don’t remember her name) who she knows had played a dirty trick to throw her sole equal rival, Maya, out of the acting world. Ayumi then co-stars as a villain in a play where Riyo plays the leading role. Ayumi improves the role to become empathetic and pitied that she shifts the audience attention from Riyo to her. It reaches the climax when Ayumi and Riyo hug each other, with Riyo facing the audience. But it’s Ayumi, whose back is facing the audience, who receives the audience stare. That moment Riyo realizes that she had lost. No one remember her after the play. 

I don’t mean to dwarf Bale’s role here. Heath’s Joker is just being the moon to Bale’s Batman sun in a solar eclipse. Joker is a supporting role, yet Ledger shifts our attention to him.

I don’t watch many superhero movies, but almost all who has watched The Dark Knight agree that it might be the best one. It might also have the best Joker. Movie critics have compared Ledger with Jack Nicholson in 1989 Batman, which I haven’t watched either. But when I first found out that Jack Nicholson was the Joker, all I can think is he suits Joker very well. His devilish smile and neurotic behavior are advantages to play Joker. But Heath Ledger doesn’t have comical and mischievous behavior. That he managed to play psychotic mass murderer that looks nothing like his character leaves the audience stunned. I held my breath more often when I saw him pointing a knife than during the prisoner’s dilemma resemblance scene when many people were about to blast each other. Therefore, unless you can’t stand violence, the Dark Knight is worth seeing, even if only to see the Joker.
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