The anglo indian standup comedian turns 39 today. More info on (I dont need to say anything ya??) :
Happy B'Day Dude... In your words... "Be a Man.. Do the Right thing!!"
Happy B'Day Dude... In your words... "Be a Man.. Do the Right thing!!"
A young man goes into a drug store to buy condoms.
The pharmacist says the condoms come in packs of 3, 9 or 12 and asks which the young man wants.
"Well," he said, "I've been seeing this girl for a while and she's really hot. I want the condoms because I think tonight's the night. We're having dinner with her parents, and then we're going out. And I've got a feeling I'm gonna get lucky after that. Once she's had me, she'll want me all the time, so you'd better give me the 12 pack."
The young man makes his purchase and leaves.
Later that evening, he sits down to dinner with his girlfriend and her parents.
He asks if he might give the blessing, and they agree. He begins the prayer, but continues praying for several minutes.
The girl leans over and says, "You never told me that you were such a religious person."
He leans over to her and says, "You never told me that your father is a pharmacist."
The pharmacist says the condoms come in packs of 3, 9 or 12 and asks which the young man wants.
"Well," he said, "I've been seeing this girl for a while and she's really hot. I want the condoms because I think tonight's the night. We're having dinner with her parents, and then we're going out. And I've got a feeling I'm gonna get lucky after that. Once she's had me, she'll want me all the time, so you'd better give me the 12 pack."
The young man makes his purchase and leaves.
Later that evening, he sits down to dinner with his girlfriend and her parents.
He asks if he might give the blessing, and they agree. He begins the prayer, but continues praying for several minutes.
The girl leans over and says, "You never told me that you were such a religious person."
He leans over to her and says, "You never told me that your father is a pharmacist."
Ok ok.. I just had to put this up. Not that I'm engulfed in Brothel's or anything, but this is just to hilarious. The way the cookie crumbles, is just unbelievable.
After my last post, Last night while watching a Political Discussion on ITN, the JVP Parliamentarian Anura Priyadharshanayapa shows a lot of pics and says that the accused "Kumari Cooray" (brothel owner) is a staunch UNP'er, her husband was an old UNP dude, and has been sited with J.R., Premadasa and invited Karunasena Kodituwakku to the so called home in Palawatte.
However I figured it was Mr. Somawanasa's younger sister that was in question. According to Mr. Priyadharashanayapa it’s the eldest sister.
Lets see what happens next.... :)
Continuation of my previous post.
Yesterday on Sirasa News First, new issues were highlighted, showing a row at the "Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha" meetings regarding this issue and an angry UNP Paliamentarian speaking at Parliament as to why they dont disclose the identity of the politician in concern, and say "Majour Political Party". He was pissed coz when you say Majour Political Party there are only 2. SLFP and the UNP.
Anyway, people who can lip read sinhala could hear him say "Somawansa Amerasinghege Nangi (Younger Sister)".
With all this happening one of my friends couldn't help but comment on the Women Arrested. Saying "Fit Badu". :)
Anyways I think Sirasa news is the program to watch. It's soo freaking Hilarious. It's like the Sri Lankan version of "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewert. (If you watch it with a applicable sense of humour).
A woman takes a lover home during the day while her husband is At work.
Her 9-year old son comes home unexpectedly, sees them, and hides in The bedroom cupboard to watch. The woman's husband also comes home.
She puts her lover in the cupboard, not realising that the little Boy is in there already.
The little boy says, "Dark in here."
The man says, "Yes, it is."
Boy - "I have a football."
Man - "That's nice."
Boy - "Want to buy it?"
Man - "No, thanks."
Boy - "My dad's outside."
Man - "OK, how much?"
Boy - "$400"
In the next few weeks, it happens again that the boy and the Lover
Are in the cupboard together.
Boy - "Dark in here."
Man - "Yes, it is."
Boy - "I have football boots."
The lover, remembering the last time, asks the boy, "How much?" !
Boy - "$600"
Man - "Sold."
A few days later, the boys' father says to the boy, "Grab your boots and football, let's go outside and have a game of soccer.
The boy says, "I can't, I sold my ball and boots."
The father asks, "How much did you sell them for?"
Boy -"$1,000."
The father says, "That's terrible to overcharge your friends like
that. That is way more than those two things cost. I'm going to take you
To church and make you confess."
They go to the church and the father makes the little boy sit In the confession booth and he closes the door.
The boy says, "Dark in here."
The priest says, "Now, don't start that sh*t again. You're in MY cupboard now"
---------------------------------------------------------------
Ok.. firstly neither am I a Sirasa Fan (although I love the MTV porgramme's) and the last thing I am is a JVP'er.So now that's clear everybody know the row between the two. If you dont, VIC's the man to ask. So now JVP have come back at Sirasa calling it "Koti (Tiger=LTTE) Sirasa". So if you guys have been watching the news yesterday or day before, you'd have seen a big publicity given to a Police raid on a brothel.
Why? I mean these are done on a daily basis. And then re-opened and patronized by the same cops. So why make such a big fuss, featuring this brothel on two occasions? Any guesses?
Turns out that the Owner of the so called brothel, is none other than Mr. Somawansa Amarasinghe's (One of the JVP Leaders) sister, according to an email I received and the hinting on the news.
Turns out that the Owner of the so called brothel, is none other than Mr. Somawansa Amarasinghe's (One of the JVP Leaders) sister, according to an email I received and the hinting on the news.This is not to support Sirasa or anything but, just funny of how people can dig up some sort of dirt, and feature it on "Prime Time News". These guys are turning out to be like the Leader (Sunday News Paper).
The much awaited post (after my take on the 1st leg) is finally ready for publishing. My apologies for not coming through sooner. This was not due to "Hang Over" problems but being drained out on Sunday, and loaded up with work on Monday. The trip yielded as many up's and down's you'd expected from a proper Roller Coaster ride. (I haven't had the luxury of it yet, but traveling in 120 Route Bus is a close second I believe).Colombo-Kandy
Traveled in style. Our group/batch had organized a Bus (not just any bus.. one of those Jet Wing Tourist busses. Breakfast was provided on the bus, and lunch was arranged at Devon. Altogether there were 45 of us, from the batch, so got the chance to talk to most of them, and figure out who's doing what and catch up on old times. Basically nothing to complain about, and this part of the journey could be attributed to the "incline" of the Roller Coaster.
The Match
26-5 Trinity. Doesn't that say it all? I'm sure most of you have read the paper review, watched the match on TV or watched it live. So I won’t go into detail. Except the fact that we freaking lost! I mean the Royal Team looked so disorganized. I think the injury of the Center, Senanayake had a big effect in upsetting the team. Basically as predicted the lack of a proper Place Kicker lost us 8 points. 2 Penalties Nikki (Captain of the side, tried he's hand or foot at kicking) screwed up, and a kickable conversion was messed by Hassen him self. Something Jamaldeen should spend some time on.Everybody looked lazy, or burnt out well before the 2nd half. Forwards didn't secure the ball at rucks or mauls and the line didn't charge the kicks made by the full back. Although the kicks didn't have the power not the height, when going for “up & unders”. Tackles were slow and lacked power. When that "Sean" dude started running it took like 3 guys to bring him down. Not that he's that big, but our guys weren't going low. I attribute the lack of fitness, to the warming up. They warmed up and did their drills for more than Half an Hour I think. Funny part of their drills was that during the tackles, they kept tackling late, which was the same case in the match and in the Pathana match too. Wonder why the Coach hasn't been speaking to the lads about this.
The Trinity side looked far superior and looked with brains on top of their shoulders. Made far lesser mistakes and made good the opportunities they got. The working of the line was pretty good, with the wingers cutting in, unlike our chaps who were caught thinking and getting tackled in the process, lack of forwards to support and eventually turning the good ball over.
Clearly this part can be attributed to the "down" side of the ride.
For those Automobile fans : A Ducati, Black Hummer and an RX8 were among the Vehicles that caught my eye.
Here are some reviews :
• Shanaka (You need to organize that site mate, or start you blog mate)
• Sunday Observer
• The Nation
And the much awaited 2nd Leg Video off MTV/Sirasa TV (as I mentioned in my earlier post, download this fast, as they might take it off soon)
( Best Viewed on 360 X 288 Pixels Resolution Screen Size, To enhance Picture Quality Connect Your PC's VGA LINE OUT to your TELEVISION LINE IN )
Grounds-Bungalow
After being heart broken during the match, the consolation was some sort of a fireworks display. 100 bucks seemed ok, considering the fire works. Anyway, the deal was I come to Kandy with one set, and stay the night with another set, thereby getting to spend time with more buggers, and in the end have more fun. Well the start to that wasn’t' that great. Why? The Van that they came had broken down on the way, so it was in the garage.
That meant we had to walk from the Grounds to Cargills, to stock up on essential items. Funny thing was, there were only few people that we didn’t know, each person I bumped into at Cargills was from Colombo, like the entire place was filled with them. Wonder whether it's the same feeling people get when they go to places like Melbourne?
After filling up on stocks, decided to grab dinner from the next door KFC, as the lunch at the Bungalow ended up being too authentic (looking at the card they gave us, it doesn’t say anything of Authentic Chinese, only Traditional Sri Lankan & Western Cuisine) for the liking of my friends. After that it was a bloody long walk, in the night back to the bungalow, with stocks in hand, and my heavy bag. Walking around the Nuwera Weva, in some what darkness and the incline and decline of the hills, could be definitely attributed to more downward slopes in the Roller Coaster ride. To add to it, once you get there you realize that the Mobile Signal of all three operators, is only available in the garden at one particular spot. :) Need I say more?
The Night
Hmm, since we did not have transport to check out any night spot in Kandy, we decided to stay in and get high. It was fun, watching each other getting high on their own potent nectars, from Martini (Yes, one dude drank a whole bottle of it, don’t ask why?) to Smirnoff to White Rum and a bit of left over OR. As is always the case we found the shandy running out, why because some dude bought like 7 bottles of Coke at Cargills, and finished their stock. I'm pretty sure we sang the chorus's of pretty much every song we could think of from English to Sinhala, with the accompaniment of one of our chappies strumming away at a guitar till he's fingers were numb. This point of the trip can be attributed to the highest point of the ride. Felt we were closer to heaven at that moment (no no, I wasn't that high, and didn't get myself blind drunk). It was called a night around 3am, although many of the souls were knocked out before that.
The Morning
I woke up around 6am. No hang-overs as I was well within the limit. One of our buddies who was called upon for some emergency “rolling” had to leave early, to catch up with his set. After saying bye to him, I got out my IPOD, looked around at the rest of the buggers fast asleep. The dude at the Bungalow was cleaning up and asked me how the night was. I told him it was good, and asked him whether we kept him up with all that singing. He just smiled. Offered me a cup of tea and started chatting, asking me what I do for a living where I am from etc. He then got on to say how there were lots of people from Colombo in the City last evening, and lot of nice girls and how he could tell they were from Colombo. So I asked him How? He was telling me by the way they dressed. Supposedly Kandy is more conservative, girls don’t dress in tight/mini skirts to go to Town. Only when they go Clubbing or similar sort of places. The disadvantages of a small town, is everybody knows everybody and rumors spread fast if you wear something short, or do something not so conservative. :)
After that, I strolled down the road for a morning walk. Funny thing was people kept staring at me, that is when I realized I was still wearing my skinny and shorts. I don’t think many people in Kandy are use to seeing a Hairy bugger walking in the morning with an IPOD. I ended up near the Nuwara Weva (Kandy Lake), and was chilling on a bench, my god the atmosphere was so serene, no hustle an bustle of the City, (maybe coz it was a Sunday) little kids dressed in white going to Sunday School. I decided I need to live in Kandy. Soon a "Bulath" (Beatle) selling dude pushed his cart and started selling. He seemed to be a regular coz all the people passing by smiled and said "Good Morning" and gave me a weird look. I came to the bungalow a good one an half hours later to find about half of the group awake and chatting about the previous night, while one by one the others got up, some complaining about Hang-Overs and others still High.
This part was the lateral movement from the previous highs reached on the Roller Coaster.
Kandy-Colombo
Just before we left, we got the bill. Realized that the bed tea, served on a table cost 30 bucks each, the string hoppers, pol (coconut) sambol, potato and fish curry cost each person 250 bucks. Need I say more?
The van was fixed, in the sense the alternator had got fried. So the driver had charged the battery over night at some other joint, and hooked it up, disconnected the everything that could kill the battery (Brake Lights) and we drove off to Colombo without A/C as well. Did I mention that I got stuck on a jumper seat from Kandy to Colombo? Oh yes, my butt didn’t find that too entertaining specially a big bugger like me self. The repercussions of that ride were felt all through out the next day I tell you. So you would guess that coming back was a bit of a Low.
There, that’s the end to the Roller Coaster Weekend I had. Hope you enjoyed reading it.
The Trinity side looked far superior and looked with brains on top of their shoulders. Made far lesser mistakes and made good the opportunities they got. The working of the line was pretty good, with the wingers cutting in, unlike our chaps who were caught thinking and getting tackled in the process, lack of forwards to support and eventually turning the good ball over.
Clearly this part can be attributed to the "down" side of the ride.
For those Automobile fans : A Ducati, Black Hummer and an RX8 were among the Vehicles that caught my eye.
Here are some reviews :
• Shanaka (You need to organize that site mate, or start you blog mate)
• Sunday Observer
• The Nation
And the much awaited 2nd Leg Video off MTV/Sirasa TV (as I mentioned in my earlier post, download this fast, as they might take it off soon)
( Best Viewed on 360 X 288 Pixels Resolution Screen Size, To enhance Picture Quality Connect Your PC's VGA LINE OUT to your TELEVISION LINE IN )
Grounds-Bungalow
After being heart broken during the match, the consolation was some sort of a fireworks display. 100 bucks seemed ok, considering the fire works. Anyway, the deal was I come to Kandy with one set, and stay the night with another set, thereby getting to spend time with more buggers, and in the end have more fun. Well the start to that wasn’t' that great. Why? The Van that they came had broken down on the way, so it was in the garage.
That meant we had to walk from the Grounds to Cargills, to stock up on essential items. Funny thing was, there were only few people that we didn’t know, each person I bumped into at Cargills was from Colombo, like the entire place was filled with them. Wonder whether it's the same feeling people get when they go to places like Melbourne?
After filling up on stocks, decided to grab dinner from the next door KFC, as the lunch at the Bungalow ended up being too authentic (looking at the card they gave us, it doesn’t say anything of Authentic Chinese, only Traditional Sri Lankan & Western Cuisine) for the liking of my friends. After that it was a bloody long walk, in the night back to the bungalow, with stocks in hand, and my heavy bag. Walking around the Nuwera Weva, in some what darkness and the incline and decline of the hills, could be definitely attributed to more downward slopes in the Roller Coaster ride. To add to it, once you get there you realize that the Mobile Signal of all three operators, is only available in the garden at one particular spot. :) Need I say more?
The Night
Hmm, since we did not have transport to check out any night spot in Kandy, we decided to stay in and get high. It was fun, watching each other getting high on their own potent nectars, from Martini (Yes, one dude drank a whole bottle of it, don’t ask why?) to Smirnoff to White Rum and a bit of left over OR. As is always the case we found the shandy running out, why because some dude bought like 7 bottles of Coke at Cargills, and finished their stock. I'm pretty sure we sang the chorus's of pretty much every song we could think of from English to Sinhala, with the accompaniment of one of our chappies strumming away at a guitar till he's fingers were numb. This point of the trip can be attributed to the highest point of the ride. Felt we were closer to heaven at that moment (no no, I wasn't that high, and didn't get myself blind drunk). It was called a night around 3am, although many of the souls were knocked out before that.
The Morning
I woke up around 6am. No hang-overs as I was well within the limit. One of our buddies who was called upon for some emergency “rolling” had to leave early, to catch up with his set. After saying bye to him, I got out my IPOD, looked around at the rest of the buggers fast asleep. The dude at the Bungalow was cleaning up and asked me how the night was. I told him it was good, and asked him whether we kept him up with all that singing. He just smiled. Offered me a cup of tea and started chatting, asking me what I do for a living where I am from etc. He then got on to say how there were lots of people from Colombo in the City last evening, and lot of nice girls and how he could tell they were from Colombo. So I asked him How? He was telling me by the way they dressed. Supposedly Kandy is more conservative, girls don’t dress in tight/mini skirts to go to Town. Only when they go Clubbing or similar sort of places. The disadvantages of a small town, is everybody knows everybody and rumors spread fast if you wear something short, or do something not so conservative. :)
After that, I strolled down the road for a morning walk. Funny thing was people kept staring at me, that is when I realized I was still wearing my skinny and shorts. I don’t think many people in Kandy are use to seeing a Hairy bugger walking in the morning with an IPOD. I ended up near the Nuwara Weva (Kandy Lake), and was chilling on a bench, my god the atmosphere was so serene, no hustle an bustle of the City, (maybe coz it was a Sunday) little kids dressed in white going to Sunday School. I decided I need to live in Kandy. Soon a "Bulath" (Beatle) selling dude pushed his cart and started selling. He seemed to be a regular coz all the people passing by smiled and said "Good Morning" and gave me a weird look. I came to the bungalow a good one an half hours later to find about half of the group awake and chatting about the previous night, while one by one the others got up, some complaining about Hang-Overs and others still High.
This part was the lateral movement from the previous highs reached on the Roller Coaster.
Kandy-Colombo
Just before we left, we got the bill. Realized that the bed tea, served on a table cost 30 bucks each, the string hoppers, pol (coconut) sambol, potato and fish curry cost each person 250 bucks. Need I say more?
The van was fixed, in the sense the alternator had got fried. So the driver had charged the battery over night at some other joint, and hooked it up, disconnected the everything that could kill the battery (Brake Lights) and we drove off to Colombo without A/C as well. Did I mention that I got stuck on a jumper seat from Kandy to Colombo? Oh yes, my butt didn’t find that too entertaining specially a big bugger like me self. The repercussions of that ride were felt all through out the next day I tell you. So you would guess that coming back was a bit of a Low.
There, that’s the end to the Roller Coaster Weekend I had. Hope you enjoyed reading it.
Ok it's the Bradby Weekend, and many of you will be heading down for the Game, so I believe this might come in handy. Even if you don't please bookmark the page, so it'll be around for the next Rugger season (providing that you don’t reformat your machine).
Objective :
Make the geek in you, sound like the "Ultimate source of Rugby Knowledge" and make you the cool dude. (I cannot guarantee whether it'll get you chicks. Your looks will have a big say in that.. await a post on how to improve your looks)
Assumptions :
In order to follow the command's you'll need a prior understanding of the game. For eg :
a) Ability to tell your team from the other.
b) Ability to tell the Referee (referred to as Ref in the rest of post) apart from the players .
c) Tell the linesman (the dude in shorts on either side, with a flag in hand, no they are not cheerleaders of either side) apart from the security personal on the side lines, and maybe the Sirasa TV crew.
d) Relative understanding of positions. (No not the Kamasutra and When I say hooker, I don't mean Russian.)
Finally.. Things to Shout Out :
1. "Support", "Forwards", "Over It"
This is when your boy gets tackled and a bunch of players are trampling his genitalia. A common incident that happens in regular intervals. You wouldn't look out of sorts by shouting this.2. "Off Side"
The difference between off-side and on-side is a fine line that even the Ref, has trouble defining. Therefore feel free to shout out, at usual junctures of the game. (Obviously not during a stoppage of play though. Eg - Half Time)
3. "Holding On Sir", "Not releasing"
Unlike no 1., please feel free to shout this out, when the opponent’s boy gets tackled (with the ball of course, would be rather embarrassing if he appears not to have the ball with him). Please make sure that you give ample time for your boys to go about trampling the Opponent.4. "Work it down", "Pass it down"
This never happens, because the coach and the players beg to differ, but the "ultimately cool" thing to shout. Make sure you shout it out when the ball is given to those skinny legged players that stand in what would looks like a line across the field. Hence the word "line".5. “Get-em”, “Bring him down”, “Deepan Okata”
When an opponent starts to run with the ball. This doesn’t mean that they are going to wait till you shout the above to tackle the chap. But after hearing your encouragement your team might decide to treat him in a "friendly manner" while tackling him.6. "Shove Royal" - assuming your an RC supporter.
This is when a bunch of the fat buggers (Fat Doesn't mean they look less sexy, it's actually more - for the women folk out there) from your team get together and seem to run into a bunch of your opponents. The players must be on their feet, and must continue to curse each other while the Ref isn't looking. The moment they drop to the ground, find it applicable to shout something like "Out it".7. "Send Him Out"
When a Ref pulls up a player for a friendly chit chat and discuss the day's proceedings, maybe ask the bloke whether he has any cute sister's, shout the above at the top of your voice. Oh BTW, make sure the player in concern is not wearing the Jersey of the Team you happen to support. If the Ref hears you clearly, he will take the opportunity to flash something yellow (I meant a card.. lol), and send that chappie for a well deserved break.8. "Referee Hora"
When the Ref doesn't hear you in no 7, or the situation in no 7 is happening to one from your team, or if your side is losing shout it out. Specially if a Sirasa TV Camera Crew is nearby. If frustrations run wild, and you find throwable objects nearby don’t be shy to aim at the linesman. The cardinal rule is not to get caught. As soon as the crime was committed, look at the people around you to avoid suspicion. More information can be gathered by speaking to your friends at Thurstan and Isipathana.9. "Good Touch"
When a boy on your side, is about to make an attempt to kick the ball away, you can shout this out in encouragement so he'd stop eyeing the cute chick in the grand stand and remember to kick the ball out, even though it doesn't seem to travel that far, make sure you applaud and try to figure out who the bloke was eyeing. (That might be your GF with her Rich Parents, while your stuck in the Concrete Tiers)10. "Ball Out"
This is when a scrum, that is when the heavier dude's of the teams face each other and appear to kneel and pray for the ball to come out their way, technically speaking the Ref, doesn't like them resting their knees. As soon as you see the ball bubbling out on the opponent's side, shout this out. Not that anybody on the field will hear you, and turn this into an opportunity. It will simply appear to the people around you, that your on "top" of the game.BONUS : "Brian Homa"
If the Rugger match has been rated as popular as the "Sirasa Super Star" programme, you might find the likes of Mr. Brian Thomas giving an introduction prior to the start of the match. Feel free to shout this out, with an opportunity to be selected for the next “Sirasa Super Star” star search. It would be ideal if you could get a friend to shout out "Tell us something we don't know" in unison.
Disclaimer :
Please note that I will not be held responsible for any negative feedback you receive after following the above. If in case you get into trouble, I'm pretty sure that you have missed atleast one step. In doubt please shout out what the others' shout. Find out what team they support prior to this.
I'd also encourage you to count the no of opposition supporters around you, prior to shouting out the above mentioned. A life insurance policy is also a wise option unless you are a hefty bugger that can take a few blows or a skinny bugger that can squeeze through a tight situation. Note - Don't count on your friends to bail you out. Specially the drunk one's.
If any good comes about (I sound very optimistic. Don’t I?) after following my steps please recommend my blog to your friends, who are dying to be as "cool" as you are. I will soon be starting up an Approved Charity where you could donate your life savings towards a movement that would encourage Geeks to be the New Cool Dude's in town.
Contributors are encouraged to add their own things to shout, but would emphasize that I will not be responsible for any negative outcome. If it is positive, I already thought about that, but had to limit my list to 10. :)
Girls and Windows
- Both have a great UI.
- Both consume large resources and do less work.
- Both crash unexpectedly.
- Both are not easily portable on different architectures (environment).
- Both can't work on low resource architectures (environment).
- Both are costly to maintain.
- Both give mostly unexpected outputs.
- Both's working often contradicts with their documentation.
- Both are easily prone to viruses (rumors and doubts) (and they (viruses) do spread very fast in windows based networks).
- In spite of all above disadvantages, both are liked.
Boys and Linux- Both have an average UI.
- Both are robust.
- Both are highly secure.
- Both can be easily modified to support new concepts/features.
- Both are efficient.
- Both are easily portable to any architecture (environment) no matter how low are resources.
- You can easily guess the output for your input (in Linux just open its code, for boys they are mostly transparent by natureJ).
- Both provide large support for development (work environment).
- Both are poorly documented.
Just like a parent would "sweeten" bitter medicine given to a child, Feroze Kamardeen and SLM have mixed Pop Culture with Shakespeare to make it more sellable to the masses of The production of
So.. "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Feroze, not to praise him". Although it may seem like I'm praising the dude during the rest of this post, I'm actually trying to strike a balance (Star Wars style). So I know I'm going to put my reputation (yes I to have some sort of a ding bat one at that) on line for the rest of the post and there'll be a mob gathering to hang me in public (at the crossroads of Kottu), but I do ask you to bare with me, till you come to the end.
No, this wasn't a Modernization of Shakespeare. That would be same theatre companies adaptation of Julius Caesar done in Military Fashion with a Live Newscaster and Projectetion Screens. I kinda liked it. ‘
It's a debate about portraying/communicating 10% of the play to 90% of the audience or 90% of the play to 10% of the audience. One would argue that a single production of the Bard could be done at all these level's making it appealing for all categories of audience's, infact I like to think the production by us (Royal Production of M.O.V. in 96 or 97) managed to achieve some of this. However we must acknowledge the fact that times have changed and it's not an easy task, with the "teen's" of today being influenced by "Jay-Z", "Eminem" and what not, spending most of their time on Xbox's and PS-2's (is the PS-3 out?) , the last thing they're (atleast most of them.. there will always be exceptions) going to find cool is Shakespeare.
Productions in Colombo have become a "Social Event" where people want to be seen, specially the youngsters, and once they don’t understand what's going on onstage (not that they really pay attention to it, they expect it to get up and hit you in the face), they become restless and bring the house down. Inter School Drama Comp (by the I.C.R.C.) and the Shakespeare Drama Comp (by the Y.M.C.A) are perfect examples. The talent (onstage I mean) at these plays are over shadowed by the loud/restless balcony (comprising ofcourse of the very people I was talking about). A show at the "Wendt" is more of a chance to show off your modified car, your new hair do or the new top (revealing being an understatement) you bought, than enjoy a production and be dragged into the world that the Director portrayed. Let's face it!
Yes I know, you are dying to bring out "Checkpoint" and how it's the perfect exception to the above argument. Hmm.. I don’t know but atleast the audience seemed more mature than what I saw at
So in the end, there would have been more people (who don't dig Shakespeare) in the audience that understood what M.O.V was about, all though it lacked the depth the bard would have liked to be portrayed through his lines and replaced them with songs that people (above mentioned) connect with. In the end it's a compromise between people walking off not understanding the play and what was being said, and people walking out (shaking their heads in disgust) saying "this is not Shakespeare". Again you may point that both these segments of the audience may be captured in one production, and the Director in this instance took the more lucrative and easy way out. To that I bow my head humble silence.
Clip on Mic's.
Takes away from a Theatrical experience. The need to project and connect with the audience is gone. One would argue that the actors’ voices needed to be preserved because of the long drawn out performance schedule and the singing. The cast was doubled/alternated this shouldn't have been a problem. The singing should be done by, a chorus (to be discussed later). The use of pick up mic's are understandable but still, the Wendt is a perfectly audible stage. One of the first things we get our chaps to do is Projection Training at the Navarangahala.
Live Singing
I first saw this incorparated in "Noices Off" by the same theatre company (I'm talking about live band, and the whole works, not an unaccompanied soloist). This requires people who can sing. Mind you it's a load of pressure on a lead portraying a role but to add a live performance is a little too much even to a brilliant actor or a brilliant singer, unless your both. If you really want to have live performances use a chorus (that can sing of course) so that the burden is on them. The lead can do a Milli-Vanilli if they really want.
Basics in Theatre
Some of the basics in Theatre were ignored, mostly due to the clip on mic's, where the actors made very little effort to make proper eye contact with the audience and deliver to them. Often were found delivering their lines with their back to the audience. Also the lead actors were upstaged a few times during crowd scenes, where there was too much of movement.
Lighting
It's fancy to use Moving Heads and all that, but they failed to focus on the faces of the actors or the actors didn’t walk up to the light. Hence most of the facial expressions were lost (if they had any). Only during a solo (not soliloquy, but a solo or duet) was a Follow spot used.
Character Build Up
Other things on my head :
Stage - Backdrops and Platforms
I must say the backdrops were beautiful. The stage consisted of platforms forming different levels. The highlight being two platforms on rails, with the ability to move forward and backward. Brings me memories of our production of the M.O.V. where we used Steps and Platforms on wheels. I remember the audience being amazed. (Well actually most of them didn't know they were on wheels, there were amazed that after a quick ‘black out’ those bulky steps weren't where they used to be.) Enough of that, my point was that a good 10 years from that production couldn't the Production Managers come up with something better than a stagnent set of platofrms that moved forward and back?
Costumes
Looked amazing, and in period (according to my knowledge). You'd expect nothing better than that from Sonali White - Haddai.
There you are. I hope this managed to bring some balance to the force, rather than seem like I'm praising the dude for his efforts. Maybe we'll call it a "Pop-corn play" (I'd give 4 pop-corns out of 5) so that there's a clearer distinction from the others (other plays performed in Colombo) that the critics will be satisfied with.
On a side note : I came to the realization (at the end of this post, during spell check, I had to, soo many Theartre buff's will be reading this, who are already pissed with me :) ) that I keep messing up the spelling of Mr. Shakespeare. The fact that, there being numerous ways to go about it, being beside the point. : )
Pics have been taken from their photoshoot available on the SLM site.10 or so Muslim civilians were found massacred repairing an Anicut in Ampara. As usual both parties are pointing at each other. Govt is holding the LTTE responsible, while the Tigers have been quick to point out a STF camp nearby. Usual story.
Who ever is responsible, innocent people who were repairing an Anitcut were killed, bringing the hold Mavil Aru situation back to my mind, where the LTTE were holding the anicut for sometime and stopping the flow of water to civilians in the area.
Is there going to be more blood shed for Water?
This Saturday saw the Thomians adding a new word to their Vocabulary. A-N-N-I-H-I-L-A-T-I-O-N! 35-0 (The letters and numbers were brought to you by the Rampaging Royalists - 'Sesame Street Style') This was after they learnt M-A-S-S-A-C-R-E during Zulki’s year where the Thomians were massacred for 38-nil. Thomians have been getting a right Royal bashing consistently with the exception of last year, so much so that, at the end of the game it was just another ‘walk in the park’ both to the Royal Team and it’s supporters. Now to the match proper. Well there’s nothing much I can add as expert comments, except for the fact that the Thomians played pretty badly, didn’t seem to combine as a team, and in my opinion didn’t have any determination or enthusiasm to make something out of it. Why? I saw some of those dude’s laughing away while they were getting thrashed to bits. No I’m not talking about the Thomian Spectators, but the members on the team, I specially spotted a young winger “All Smiles”, I’m not sure whether this was the chap that was supposed to “run circles” around our line, but he seem to be smiling at the few women folk in the Stand.
For those of you who missed the match the Royal team drove in 7 tries, with the Help of some lovely drives from the front row, and a brilliant charge down off a “get out of jail” kick to score tries. What was interesting was the fact that the regular place kicker “Hassen” was rested and all the kicks were taken from the bloke playing full back, which was much to be desired. I’m not sure about the thinking behind the coach’s move to rest the dude, but we found out one thing. Our full-back can’t kick for toffees, and I’m not talking about 40 meter penalties, this was under the post stuff. So much so that, the team hardly wasted time on bring out the “tee”, and let him try “Drop kicking” which wasn’t any help either. I certainly hope the usual kicker is not injured; on the day (Bradby 2nd Leg) as it’ll be an absolute disaster.
Ending on a hopeful note, I got to say that even though Thomians were crap, our boys played much better
Over to you Sophist, for your expert comments, till then you can read the Sunday Observer Article.
UPDATE
Firstly what the hell happened to Blogger? It was down saying Internal Server Error. Not a very friendly message. Scared me to shit, thinking my lost post had some screwed up code. Then I realized that it was the entire server, not only me. Phew!
So anyway hooray the Weekend is here. So can I put my feet up and just chill? Sadly not. I’ve like a gazillion plans. Here are some (coz you didn’t believe me. Shame on you) :
SATURDAY
a) Clean my room - It's a bloody mess.
I’m actually happy that people who have been there haven’t lost them selves. But my DVD collection is shrinking by the day, and I have reason to believe they are lying around somewhere in the room.
b) Software Freedom Day
I hope I get the chance to drop into one of the locations.
c) The Book Exhibition is On..
d) Royal Thora Rugger Match.
Wonder what we can expect from that. Royal is a better team on paper, turned up winners except for their last two outings. Thora haven’t got their act together, so I hear. Haven’t seem them yet. Although they performance this season isn't much to write home about come the Big Day, I'm sure it'll be an interesting one. I've decided if by chance we loose, my phone is off! All my Thomian friends, wont be able to get through... ha ha!!
Hopefully can have revered Shanaka and his expert comments on a Blog post after the match. Come to think of the Irony of the "Sophist" posting on a Blog with the title "The ability to speak does not make *Us Intelligent". ha ha... why didn't I think of that one. :)
SUNDAY
e) Royal College Old Boys Tap Tourney
Must drop in and see what the "Old Boys" are getting them self into. Our batch has been winning the Tourney for some time me thinks.
f) Venice.
Yup going to see what the Bard has got in store for me. 300 bucks a Balcony Ticket, I think is too much, I say... No matter how good the show is.
So anyway hooray the Weekend is here. So can I put my feet up and just chill? Sadly not. I’ve like a gazillion plans. Here are some (coz you didn’t believe me. Shame on you) :
SATURDAY
a) Clean my room - It's a bloody mess.
I’m actually happy that people who have been there haven’t lost them selves. But my DVD collection is shrinking by the day, and I have reason to believe they are lying around somewhere in the room.
b) Software Freedom Day
I hope I get the chance to drop into one of the locations.
c) The Book Exhibition is On..
d) Royal Thora Rugger Match.
Wonder what we can expect from that. Royal is a better team on paper, turned up winners except for their last two outings. Thora haven’t got their act together, so I hear. Haven’t seem them yet. Although they performance this season isn't much to write home about come the Big Day, I'm sure it'll be an interesting one. I've decided if by chance we loose, my phone is off! All my Thomian friends, wont be able to get through... ha ha!!
Hopefully can have revered Shanaka and his expert comments on a Blog post after the match. Come to think of the Irony of the "Sophist" posting on a Blog with the title "The ability to speak does not make *Us Intelligent". ha ha... why didn't I think of that one. :)
SUNDAY
e) Royal College Old Boys Tap Tourney
Must drop in and see what the "Old Boys" are getting them self into. Our batch has been winning the Tourney for some time me thinks.
f) Venice.
Yup going to see what the Bard has got in store for me. 300 bucks a Balcony Ticket, I think is too much, I say... No matter how good the show is.
What is Software Freedom Day ?
One of my friends asked me whether it's a day we can use Microsoft for free? he he.. Sadly not. Microsoft believes that it has done enough service to the World by developing their "Wonderful Software" and charging exorbitant amounts for their licenses is only justifying the efforts put in by their developers. And more importantly free software is not about being Free to purchase, but the “Freedom” to use.
"Software Freedom Day is a global, grassroots effort to educate the public about the virtues and availability of Free and Open Source Software. Local teams from all over the world are organizing events on 16 September 2006."Source - http://softwarefreedomday.org/FrontPage
So the Sri Lankan Team has planned a bunch of activities I'm told. I've taken a copy of their invitation and put it here, so you guys can drop into any one of their locations and get a better understanding of what "Linux" is, and more importantly what it can do for you. I'm not asking you guys to switch. But atleast be aware of the choices out there. Linux has come far, from the days of being the Operating System for "Hackers" who work, typing nothing but Text Commands on a Green Terminal Screen.
On my account I will try my level best to drop into atleast one location, besides the jumble of work I've planned/got for tomorrow. Good Luck Guys!
So called Sri Lanka Army Site : http://www.srilankanarmy.com/
Just after I put up my previous post (Appointment of a Sri Lankan to the ICANN) I received an Email regarding a Sri Lankan Army web site.
I say now is this how the LTTE and their supporter’s are going to dish out mud against the GoSL and it's troops?
a) It's illegal in my knowledge to allow such a false front to operate..
b) Unethical. Not that they care.
Yes, if you haven't taken a look at the site, it's a nice little front of the Tamil Canadians. Click on any link and it directs to their site. There is absolutely nothing on the site. Except a bunch of links that lead back to Tamil Canadian. This site falsely guides people into the site thinking it's the SL Army site.
Sooner with more traffic to the site (which I have helped by posting their link) it’ll end up at the top of a Google Search.
I hope the Govt, and the ICANN with it's new Sri Lankan member will look into this. It's pretty obvious to any one.
For those of you who are wondering about the actually Army Site it's : http://www.army.lk/
I wrote to both the "Feedback" on the site and to Veri-Sign the dude's operating the .com Domains. I hope they will take some kind of notice.
A Sri Lankan, Mr. Jayantha Fernando has been selected by the ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) to serve as a member of a panel of experts reviewing registry services. I believe this is a great honour for our fellow Sri Lankans. Who know may he'd help me set up my own domain. :)
Jayantha Fernando
Legal Advisor
Jayantha Fernando is an Attorney by Profession and holds a specialized Masters Degree in IT & Communications Law from the University of London, which he completed on a British Chevening Scholarship of the UK Government (2001-2003) He has extensive ICT Legal experience which spreads across Government and Private sector (both local and overseas), with exposure to several areas such as ICT Policy and Legal reforms, negotiating and drafting contracts for large ICT Projects, DNS, IP addressing & Internet resource management. As head of the eLaws program he played an active role in the formulation of the Electronic Transactions Bill, which was enacted by Parliament on 7th March 2006 and also helped in the preparation of the Computer Crimes Bill and addresses law enforcement requirements from 1996 todate. He is presently advising the adoption of a Data Protection Code of Practice.
Jayantha leads several ICT Legal and professional development programs and has overseas experience lecturing and training policy makers and government officials on ICT Legal and regulatory issues. He is also a lecturer at Sri Lanka Law College, the University of Moratuwa and University of Colombo School of computing (UCSC).
In 2005, he was selected to function as the Associate Chairman of the ICANN Nominating Committee and was invited to serve as a member for 2006. Recently he was selected to serve as a Member of the ICANN’s Standing Panel of Experts for the review of gTLD Registry services. Jayantha is a Board member of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution and also serves on the board of LK Domain Registry.
Here's the official announcement on ICANN.
In 2005, he was selected to function as the Associate Chairman of the ICANN Nominating Committee and was invited to serve as a member for 2006. Recently he was selected to serve as a Member of the ICANN’s Standing Panel of Experts for the review of gTLD Registry services. Jayantha is a Board member of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution and also serves on the board of LK Domain Registry.
Here's the official announcement on ICANN.
I'm not sure whether this is also a part of the age old question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Why do women have to match every thing? From Shoes to Handbags, from top to bottom, Eye Shadow to Nail Polish?I'm sure that this post will generate an uproar by all the women folk on the Blogsphere but atleast I'm counting on the guys rallying behind me. he he. This all started with me having to drive my Baby to a Shop in Mount from Col-3 (after work - peak traffic time) to get her Turquoise shoes. Why? because she got a Turquoise bag? Hmm...
For the guys who are wondering what the hell is Turquoise. Check the Wikipedia Definition.
I'm not a fashion guru from Milan, so I wouldn’t know the sense of it, but I tell you being a Guy is very less complicated. Why? When you want to go out :
1. 2 mins before you pull the Jeans or Shorts that are lying on the rack.
2. Grab the first T-shirt from drawer.
3. Pick up your shoes/sandals or Bata and your off.
4. Some times you might stop for a moment to check your self infront of a mirror. (Not me... he he)
The same operation for a girl, would be like:
1. Talk to their GF's to see what they are wearing (not wanting to wear the same thing) also make sure they aren't going to be over dressed or under dressed.
2. Spend the next half an hour in front of a mirror deciding what to wear, which colour etc.
3. Realize that the shoes that match that top are broken and start the process all over again.
.
.
.
.
I stopped at 3, because I realized I might end up writing a book, instead of a Blog Post. he he.
If you guys think, I don’t have dress sense, I'd have to answer both Yes and No. The effort is much less and uncomplicated on my part. Only for Work and special occasions that I bother about matching. ANd that would include ONLY Tie, Shirt and Longs. Yes, I don’t wear Brown shoes, with Brown Pants. The black one's I own, look just fine. Oh yes, I also make a note to wear dark colored socks with dark pants. I know a certain few who dont bother about that either.
Speaking about shoes, how much of them do women own? I'll leave that upto you guys to figure out. he he.. Speaking for my self.. 2 Black pairs (One for Work, the other for Special Occasions) 1 Trainer(Hardly gets worn) 1 Pair of Slip on Sandals and 1 Pair of Batas (Actually my uncle, believes that they belong to him, so it's half-half I guess.)
So it's time for the Judgments... I'm the Typical Guy (as you can see), and my GF.. the Typical Girl. Mars and Venus Story. Anyway end of the day, we like our Women to look Good(I meant Gorgeous/Stunning etc.), so all this complaining is just a "Guy Thing", so you women folk out there, don’t stop what you've been doing, just on my or any other guy's account. Besides my GF is totally grateful for the pains I took, so everything is cool over here.
But, just in case you don't hear from me for a while, that isn't because I switched to "Blogger Beta", most likely my GF clobbered me (after reading this) with her New Hand Bag. :)
In my continuing search for Free Media in my previous post, I found something better than a Rugby Guru's views on the Match. The match it self on MTV (News First) Website. So that the Guru in you, can come to your own arguements. Download this while you can, before they take it off. If possible some one submit it to You-Tube too.
I've been seeing the Blogger Beta icon many times and actually gone through the tour, but scared to do the switch. Today I've finally decided to go ahead, why? The ability to categorize your posts!
Does any one have any experience with this? Pls let me know what I'm getting my self into.
So if all goes well. You'll still see me. If not it's Goodbye to the Blogsphere.
Hope the force is with me, this time!
UPDATE
I decided against it, after going through the Blogspot Blog on Known Issues and the Google Forum.
Issues that concern me are :
- Classic bloggers cant post on Beta Blogs (as the Beta login is based on Google Accounts.. me thinks)
- Beta bloggers cant post on Classic Blogs ( ..do.. )
- Inability to Post Pics at time.
- Cant view the Blog at times.
Today is a somber for many Americans, and humans alike. While taking a moment to respect those victims, it is very important to look at life after 9/11. I'm not talking about how the Americans are going to rebuild the Tower, nor how secure they are 5 years after. You can find that information here.I am talking about how it has affected our lives, miles away. Bush's war on Terror, had it's impact on the LTTE, having some weightage on the E.U. Ban and ultimately showing that Terrorism is not going to be dealt in a Friendly manner.
Along with that many controversies have arisen over justification of War in Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and more interestingly the controversies surrounding the 9/11 attacks. Did American's help/support Bin Laden/His Family, Was Saddham Hussein aware of the attack's and Was the Pentagon hit by a Plane or a Missile?
Yesterday, was the much awaited "Blue Ribbon" as you would call it of School's Rugby. I found my self with my GF, a few friends getting up their by 3pm to catch a good spot, and ofcourse "Park the Car". Yes, this year I found my self financially incapable of reserving tickets at the "Grand Stand", 600 bucks a piece they go for. I say that is way too much. What was more horrifying was to find the "Pathana" match tickets priced at 350 bucks. I say you, it would have been understandable if it were the "Thora" match. Which means I can anticipate how much that encounter is going to cost. So the "Tiers" are comfy enough, till I find a better job, that makes me feel 600 bucks is like toffee's.Over to the match. Being the Royalist I am, I was expecting a defeat. Yes, yes, seeing the way our lad's performed against "True pressure" (@ the Pathana Match) I knew when "Push comes to shove", there's little we could do. But by golly's our chaps put up some Good Moves, surprised the Trinitians and registered the first points. We had more of the ball in our hands, and the forwards kept driving, but kept getting tackled, the line was under-fed me thinks, but then again both the opportunities they got, they fumbled and that mind you was like 25yards into the Goal Line.
All in all I was unhappy seeing the way our guys fluffing opportunities right at the end. It would have been understandable, if Trinity just dominated the game, (like the Last year) but this was really saddening. To add salt to the wounds, we saw a few gutsy moves and runaway points scored by the Trinitians, when I felt our blokes were too tired or unorganized or both to stop them. I wouldn't have minded a 4 point lead going into the 2nd Leg, but 11 points is too much of a dampener. That means we have to make our own fun. he he..
Atmosphere was well alive, with buggers bringing down the "Roof Down". I mean literally, the make shift tents on the tiers weren't fastened enough for a ravaging mob of Royalist's of all breeds, some potent from the "Nectar of God's", shaking and slamming the sheets, just to see them drop one by one onto their very own heads.
Well that's a Rugger Match for you. Over and out.
Here's more on the Bradby (Experts opinion over mine) :
1. Sunday Observer
2. Sunday Times ??
3. Sunday Island ??
?? So much for freaking Free Availability of News in Sri Lanka. All those sites require Registration. Ba-humbug!!
UPDATE
Found this new Paper in town to have a nice web site.
1. The Nation
And for those of you who don't know what the Bradby is, well you can't be living in Sri Lanka, if so "Shame on you". It is a Rugger match played between Royal College and Trinity College Kandy, in two stages (or Legs as we like to call it) one in Colombo and one in Kandy, hosted by the respective schools. The name "Bradby" came about after Mr. E. L. Bradby (then Principal of Royal College) awarded a shield for the match played in 1945, which turned into a two match series and the Winners being declared on the aggregate of the points in both the matches. Prior to the awarding of the Shield both schools have been playing each other since 1920.
Where did I get all this? Well it's common knowledge to any member of the two schools, in addition I had the privilege of Editing one such Bradby Souvenir back in the day.
* Pathana - Isipathana Vidyalaya
* Thora - St. Thomas' College
All in all I was unhappy seeing the way our guys fluffing opportunities right at the end. It would have been understandable, if Trinity just dominated the game, (like the Last year) but this was really saddening. To add salt to the wounds, we saw a few gutsy moves and runaway points scored by the Trinitians, when I felt our blokes were too tired or unorganized or both to stop them. I wouldn't have minded a 4 point lead going into the 2nd Leg, but 11 points is too much of a dampener. That means we have to make our own fun. he he..
Atmosphere was well alive, with buggers bringing down the "Roof Down". I mean literally, the make shift tents on the tiers weren't fastened enough for a ravaging mob of Royalist's of all breeds, some potent from the "Nectar of God's", shaking and slamming the sheets, just to see them drop one by one onto their very own heads.
Well that's a Rugger Match for you. Over and out.
Here's more on the Bradby (Experts opinion over mine) :
1. Sunday Observer
2. Sunday Times ??
3. Sunday Island ??
?? So much for freaking Free Availability of News in Sri Lanka. All those sites require Registration. Ba-humbug!!
UPDATE
Found this new Paper in town to have a nice web site.
1. The Nation
And for those of you who don't know what the Bradby is, well you can't be living in Sri Lanka, if so "Shame on you". It is a Rugger match played between Royal College and Trinity College Kandy, in two stages (or Legs as we like to call it) one in Colombo and one in Kandy, hosted by the respective schools. The name "Bradby" came about after Mr. E. L. Bradby (then Principal of Royal College) awarded a shield for the match played in 1945, which turned into a two match series and the Winners being declared on the aggregate of the points in both the matches. Prior to the awarding of the Shield both schools have been playing each other since 1920.
Where did I get all this? Well it's common knowledge to any member of the two schools, in addition I had the privilege of Editing one such Bradby Souvenir back in the day.
* Pathana - Isipathana Vidyalaya
* Thora - St. Thomas' College
Yesterday was Binara Poya Day, celebrated as a Mercantile Holiday in Sri Lanka. The relevance of this Holy Day is the Starting of the "Bhikkuni Sasana" order for Female Priests and the Start of "Vas" season, where Priests tend to restrict them selves and stay within Temples (atleast in ancient times).More on the establishg of the Bhikkuni Sasana.
To me, a Poya day gives a well earned break. I actually spent the whole of Yesterday, without the Internet. he he. Cleaned my room and did a bit of driving for my mum.
Many economists would beg to differwith me, that Poya Day's cause huge economic loss to this country, and too many holidays in Sri Lanka, blah blah. My point is that, it gives us a chance to get out of the "Rat Race" atleast for one day. We can't do that on weekends, because most of our Weekends are full of plans, from Marketing to Laundry day. An unscheduled holiday in the middle of the week, gives us a chance to just chill out. After all this is a tropical country ya?
5 years since we bumped into each other on ICQ
5 years since we cliqued and thought we were soul mates
5 years since I said "Are we falling for each other?"
5 years since she said "yes".. after a pause that felt like an eternity!
She is the love of my life, my earth angel! and today we are 5!
The Govt of Sri Lanka secured Sampur on the 4th of September. This was seen as a welcome turn of events proving the Govt's Military Power over the LTTE, as many of their attacks in Colombo took center stage in the Media. Unlike the mindless bombings and failed attempts of the LTTE, the Govt chose strategic targets to execute their goal. A blinded one may still argue that a Training Center is still an Orphanage, I will let you decide.Sampur has lately proved to be a very huge threat as the LTTE acquired the ability to mount long range artillery attacks on Trinco Harbour from there. The victory at Sampur I'm sure will prove a Moral Booster for Govt Troops who were being teased and their patience tested all these days by the LTTE taking to account the numerous CFA violations.
A few points from the Govt Press Release regarding the take over are pasted below.
"The entire Sampur area is under the control of the Security Forces and the troops advanced and captured the heart of Sampur town and coastal areas in the early hours of yesterday. Ichalampattu, Kadakaracheru and Kattaparichan were taken under the control of the Security Forces at the beginning of this operation," Defense Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said.As a country our gratitude goes to those Brave Soldiers who sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Unity and Peace of this Country. Let spend a moment for those fallen hero’s as well.
"Our aim is not taking over or occupying the territory but neutralizing the artillery for the safety of civilians. There is the Prima Flour factory and an Indian Oil farm which are located close to the port. These locations and civilians are under immense risk and threat. Therefore we have to provide them security and safety," Minister Rambukwella said.
"The LTTE cadres have been attacking the Security Forces since August 27 from Sampur using artillery and mortars. The Security Forces retaliated the attacks for the sake of civilians, Army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said.
I’ve included a picture posted by a certain “Suren” on one of my previous posts as a Tribute to our Heros.
Managed to catch the much talked about production in town on it's final day - Check Point. Thought provoking to say the least, brilliant production where the Actors did a splendid job I must say as a whole.
Last bus story was a Good one man show! Actor handled the Transitions very fluidly. Although there wasn’t enough gum to pass around.
Loved how the Orphanage/Training_Center was depicted and the symbolism of the Colpetty scene. Auction was an interesting idea, but dragged a wee bit at the end. My friend Boycy suggested a Counter on the back drop for the no of Tamil/Sinhalese or GoSL/LTTE.
The forum was brilliant. The sheer nature of starting something that you wont know how it will end is mind boggling. Although the Characters know their limits well before us, it upto the Audience to set up confrontations in a way that will lead to a Resolution. I felt that the audience was stuck to the traditional school of thought and failed to accomplish the goal, not that it was a must. Although I'm curious to know what means led to the Resolution on that "fateful" day. I'm happy that although we didn't reach a resolution a Conflict within a conflict was pointed out, that being the plight of People like Rajive(an) the Tamil Married to a Sinhalese sandwiched between two Hard Liners. I thought he played his part brilliantly and didn't stray for his Characterization, although the audience was begging for him to slip towards a one side. Hat's off to you mate!
Shanaka (also being called Rambo by Prakash the possible LTTer) was found out of sorts at one solitary point when he said he doesn’t like "JVP and JHU" but continued on his war path, it's difficult to find such war mongers who don’t support the above organizations. Although an interesting point was that he never actually said he likes war, and wants to finish this off through war. Maybe I'm contradicting my self then, but leaves us something to think about. Maybe we should have provoked him more, on how he wants this to end.
All in all GOOD SHOW!! Worth every Penny!! (the best way my little vocabulary can describe the play, rather than getting into all posh posh words)
Last bus story was a Good one man show! Actor handled the Transitions very fluidly. Although there wasn’t enough gum to pass around.
Loved how the Orphanage/Training_Center was depicted and the symbolism of the Colpetty scene. Auction was an interesting idea, but dragged a wee bit at the end. My friend Boycy suggested a Counter on the back drop for the no of Tamil/Sinhalese or GoSL/LTTE.
The forum was brilliant. The sheer nature of starting something that you wont know how it will end is mind boggling. Although the Characters know their limits well before us, it upto the Audience to set up confrontations in a way that will lead to a Resolution. I felt that the audience was stuck to the traditional school of thought and failed to accomplish the goal, not that it was a must. Although I'm curious to know what means led to the Resolution on that "fateful" day. I'm happy that although we didn't reach a resolution a Conflict within a conflict was pointed out, that being the plight of People like Rajive(an) the Tamil Married to a Sinhalese sandwiched between two Hard Liners. I thought he played his part brilliantly and didn't stray for his Characterization, although the audience was begging for him to slip towards a one side. Hat's off to you mate!
Shanaka (also being called Rambo by Prakash the possible LTTer) was found out of sorts at one solitary point when he said he doesn’t like "JVP and JHU" but continued on his war path, it's difficult to find such war mongers who don’t support the above organizations. Although an interesting point was that he never actually said he likes war, and wants to finish this off through war. Maybe I'm contradicting my self then, but leaves us something to think about. Maybe we should have provoked him more, on how he wants this to end.
All in all GOOD SHOW!! Worth every Penny!! (the best way my little vocabulary can describe the play, rather than getting into all posh posh words)
Yesterday saw the last barrier being broken for Petrol, the 3 figure mark. Yep for those of you who didn't know, Petrol is now available at Ceypetco Shed's for Rs. 101 per liter. I think the IOC guy will be selling it for 4 bucks more. So it's time to pull out my trusty Mountain Bike, which I used to call "Knight Rider" ha ha.. and start peddling from Colpetty to Nawala. Who knows end of the day I might lose some extra flab too.
Any other suggestions?
Last Sunday saw the end to exams in my External Degree program . I hope! (Unless I flunked any ones, but I think I'm cool) So an end to exams means, an end to misery!! Yey!! No classes on Weekends, at 7.30am (not that I make it on time).
With that over, I had a very rude welcoming at the Office. Our SLT Modem had decided to Freeze up and say bye to this lovely world. Make matters worse, my Boss was here before me, wondering why he can't check his mail.
Well, response was not that bad from SLT, didn't have to wait long, very helpfully guy replaced the modem, without having to persuade him.
So here I am, after finishing my daily work, reading Kottu!
- "A traffic jam when you're already late
- A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
- It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
- It's meeting the man of my dreams
- And then meeting his beautiful wife
- And isn't it ironic... Don't you think?"
In order for you guys to get any sense out of this post, I'd have to explain a bit of what I do. So go ahead take notes.
Some of you would have already figured out I work in some IT company. That's a head start. My company is one of the few companies who sets up Broadband Internet for Hotels. Our main competitor is an Indian Company operating here. Anyways this starts of with one of existing Hotels wanting more from the system. Myself and my Senior colleague spent over an hour debating with the Hotel's IT Manager (who still doesn't seem to understand how our system operates) about certain reports he wants. We were explaining to him, we simply cant provide them as they are not available in the current system, and got into a long drawn out argument about "Company Policy".
After that we come back, our General Manager is complaining that he's home internet is not working. We've set up an SLT Dial Up on card because the guy hardly has any use of it. So I take his username and check it out on the SLT Site and I get "Account Expired", and no place to recharge the card. So I go through the SLT F.A.Q. and is says can do so. So I call up, and wait on hold for like 10-15 mins and get through to a lady who says you cant Recharge after it's expired.
Obviously pissed off I say go through your F.A.Q's. And she explains that if the card balance is over they can recharge it, but if the duration has expired, they cant do anything about it. Which makes perfect sense, but the wording on F.A.Q suggest otherwise.
Anyways I push her to the bone, and speak to her Supervisor and Manager and all, to get something impossible done. Why? Coz, if I create a new account for my G.M. that means I need to go all the way to Wattala to re-configure it. (Yes, he cant do it on his own). When all of a sudden it hits me, hell these guys are just like me, it's their company policy, the system is set in that way. So I just give up, thank the lady for a patience.
Isn't it Ironic? How you don't want to change your policy, but go all out to change some one else's?
Some of you would have already figured out I work in some IT company. That's a head start. My company is one of the few companies who sets up Broadband Internet for Hotels. Our main competitor is an Indian Company operating here. Anyways this starts of with one of existing Hotels wanting more from the system. Myself and my Senior colleague spent over an hour debating with the Hotel's IT Manager (who still doesn't seem to understand how our system operates) about certain reports he wants. We were explaining to him, we simply cant provide them as they are not available in the current system, and got into a long drawn out argument about "Company Policy".
After that we come back, our General Manager is complaining that he's home internet is not working. We've set up an SLT Dial Up on card because the guy hardly has any use of it. So I take his username and check it out on the SLT Site and I get "Account Expired", and no place to recharge the card. So I go through the SLT F.A.Q. and is says can do so. So I call up, and wait on hold for like 10-15 mins and get through to a lady who says you cant Recharge after it's expired.
Obviously pissed off I say go through your F.A.Q's. And she explains that if the card balance is over they can recharge it, but if the duration has expired, they cant do anything about it. Which makes perfect sense, but the wording on F.A.Q suggest otherwise.
Anyways I push her to the bone, and speak to her Supervisor and Manager and all, to get something impossible done. Why? Coz, if I create a new account for my G.M. that means I need to go all the way to Wattala to re-configure it. (Yes, he cant do it on his own). When all of a sudden it hits me, hell these guys are just like me, it's their company policy, the system is set in that way. So I just give up, thank the lady for a patience.
Isn't it Ironic? How you don't want to change your policy, but go all out to change some one else's?
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