Turn around - It's better that way!

Sometimes it's good to turn your back on the view that everyone else is looking at.

Last year was the first time I have come to Sri Lanka without taking my heavy camera bag complete with SLR and 3 lenses and all the film and filters and stuff that goes with it. All I took was my new compact digital camera and a couple of memory cards and a spare battery. The quality of my 7 megapixel small sensored camera was nowhere near as good as that of a 35mm SLR but I could chuck it in my pocket and take it everywhere I went.

The beauty of Sri Lanka is immense. One of my goals is to be able to spend a month or so travelling around Sri Lanka with just my camera and a good friend. Without the "joy" of deadlines and other people we would be able to stop wherever we want, spending as much time as needed to capture the light and scenery. I find the light and natural colours in Sri Lanka are much more vivid and conducive for good photography. In London, the light always seems grey to me. We have a plentiful supply of picturesque scenery in the English countryside but I have never really made the time to take a trip out just for photography.

But, back to last year. I found that, with my pocket camera, I was out taking pictures of things that I would not have done before. There are so many occassions when I would leave my camera bag at home because I couldn't be bothered to carry it around. As a result I actually got some unusually interesting pictures.

One of the things I am trying to do is to look at things that most people ignore. I have sometimes found an interesting scene or a gorgeous photograph by looking at the crowd rather than the performer. I am no Robert D'Oisneau but at least I can continue to learn and try.

Photography, like music, is definitely a lifelong learning curve. I can't begin to describe my admiration for top photographers who can see a picture in their mind and then proceed to create it. It is a vastly underrated talent. I just wish I could do it!

My one piece of advice - Turn around and try to look at that scene through "different" eyes. You never know what you might see!

Jo's fired

Jo Cameron was finally fired by Sir Alan Sugar on The Apprentice last night. I reckon that she probably generated equal volumes of sympathy, admiration, scorn and laughter amongst the audience.

Sympathy and admiration because very few will doubt her genuine passion and depth of character. It was characterised by her tears when she couldn't get the others to agree with her on the calendar they should design to raise money for Great Ormond St. This was a person who really felt passionate about it but just couldn't get her point across.

Scorn and laughter because she has the body language of a character from Tom and Jerry. I am talking about the really great Tom and Jerrys, you know, the ones directed by Fred Quimby. Jo's ability to disguise her true emotions and feelings was only matched by Sir Alan's diplomatic skills. Watching her bite her lip or jumping with joy or crying or punching the air with delight may endear her to viewers of the American programme but it is just not British.

It was her fourth time in the last boardroom scene and as Sir Alan said, "I ain't religious or nuffin' but someone up there is telling me somefin'. " Just like David Beckham in the '98 World Cup against Argentina - she had to go.

Am I the only person to wonder why Sir Alan's boardroom table looks like a swimming pool? It would be much more adventurous if they filled it with piranhas and threw the rejected candidate into the middle of the table and watched the fight.

The programme is getting more interesting as we get to know each person a lot better. I wish we could get to know the real Alan Sugar. I have a strong feeling that there is a genuinely warm and nice person beneath his gruff exterior.

I was disappointed with the way in which the programme portrayed salespeople. As a salesperson myself I know that truly successful salespeople are honest and genuine. The only way to achieve long term success in sales is by actually giving people what they want. The great salesperson is what makes the world of commerce go round!

Funk it!

My funk band is almost ready. We have our first gig next Tuesday and we are primed and ready to go like a top class athlete about to win gold. ( I wish!)

I have been involved with this band for about a year now, but it is only in the last 4 or so months that we have got the line up finalised and have put the finishing touches to our songs. One thing I have witnessed is how hard it can be to get eight people to agree on anything, from "can you do a practice next Sunday?" to choosing our name. It was hard enough in my last band with 5 but this beast is another matter!

It has been a huge positive learning experience for me as I have never been in a band playing originals before. I think I am pretty good at playing covers, learning them is an art that I am comfortable with. However, the world of originals has proved fascinating and hard yet more rewarding in many ways.

It is so satisfying to listen to the eight (ish) songs we have written and know that I have been responsible for creating as well as playing the drum parts. It feeds my ego and I am not ashamed to admit that. To hear a song and think "I came up with the idea for that break" or similar makes me feel like a real musician.

I always find that rehearsals are more focused when a gig or something similar is imminent and last night's one was no exception. We have one more rehearsal on Sunday night then the big one is on Tuesday evening.

I know I am biased but there are moments when I get chills down my spine when I hear us in full flow. There is something special in hearing 8 people making a noise that some would call funk. The 3 piece horn section are all great individual players but, more importantly, play and harmonise superbly together. The bassist, the percussionist and me (drums) are beginning to sound and feel like a well grounded rhythm section. The singer, Debby has a lovely and powerful voice and the guitarist seems to be able to play anything and make it sound genuine.

More significantly I think we are now sounding like a band. All great bands have synergy and I think we are beginning to have some of our own. There is plenty more work to do but the gig is the first step on that route.

So, if you're around and free please come. It is at the Cellar Bar in Bracknell on 4th April at about 9PM. We are called Mimosa. I know that may be hard if you are in Colombo but I'd still love to see you there.

Penny farthing in Twickenham

Once every so often a good photo opportunity smacks me in the face and screams "take a picture of me please".

This is one such opportunity. It was made even more memorable by the fact that I had my camera with me when it smacked me in the face. This sort of thing happens to me about once every 10 years. I suspect it happens to truly great photographers about once every 10 minutes. As Jack Nicklaus (I think) once said " the harder I practice the luckier I get".

Sexy Beast!

My car. I like it. Except the idrive!

Of the ipod and other great designs

In my middle age I am becoming a lover of great design. I am not an artistic person by nature I know some things I think that have great design and some things that I think have bad design. I don't know why but I know what they are.

Back to the ipod. It is sexy. Ipods are not the best MP3 player available. Those hi fi afficionados are continually talking about the
iRiver having better battery life or the Zen Micro being able to withstand the force of an elephant standing in stilletos on its screen. But I think they are missing the point entirely.

The ipod is the one to own. Pick one up, use the clickwheel, feel it in action. It has changed the way we look at music and taken it to the next level. I say that is good.

When a consumer item becomes a generic term then I think it has truly made its mark Think sellotape, ipod, Dyson. We all know what they are and what they do. One of my most admired designs is the Dyson. Here in the UK we often talk of Dysons as a generic term. It is the only item I can think of whereby a brand name has replaced another one as a new generic term. Hoover is old fashioned here. Get a Dyson.

A few months ago I bought a thing called an ideck. It is essentially an amplifier with speakers for the ipod to plug into. There is something about its design that I rather like. It is simple to use, it works brilliantly and it looks great.

I am lucky to drive a BMW. It's a lovely car and is designed by German geniuses (or is that geniie?). But it has BMW's idrive. I am sure that someone at BMW, presumably an ipod owner. thought it would be a good idea to incorporate some of the principles of the ipod clickwheel and menu system into a car. After all, what could be better than replacing 25 buttons and switches on the dashboard with just one big one and a screen. Nothing actually, as long as it works.

My idrive is great when it works as intended. But, more often than not, it is sluggish. I ask it to do something, it thinks for a while, then thinks a bit longer, finally deciding to go ahead and do what I have told it to do. By then I have inadvertently told it to do something totally different because I have got pissed off with it, tried to cancel everything just got it confused. Then - BAM!
In a third of a nanosecond my idrive has perfectly done everything I have told it to do in the last 3 weeks. So I am driving along with Celine Dion at full volume, whilst checking my oil onscreen, while cold air is being blown at my face when it is minus 5 degrees outside. Meanwhile the satnav is planning my route from London to Copenhagen when I only want to go the local shop to buy some bread.

So Mr BMW idrive designer. I think you have seen the ipod and thought "aha we could use that idea in a car!" Good thinking, now just make it work.....please!

Other than that the car is almost perfect.

James Brown's shoes

Uncle V looks like James Brown. There is no doubt about this. My brothers and I have talked about this at length and the likeness is beyond question.

Uncle V could not be less like James Brown. He is an old and good friend of my parents. He is Sri Lankan, lives in London and I have known him most of my life. He is a really nice man, quiet, polite and very successful in his field.

A few years ago he was at my parents' house for my Father's birthday party. There was music, rice and curry, some dancing, some alcohol - you know, the usual stuff that goes with these kind of events. At some point in the evening my Dad noticed that Uncle V was sitting on a chair and had taken off his shoes and put them on the floor next to his feet. He was half asleep.

For those of you that don't know this, Sri Lankan men are programmed to try to get into this state after a certain age. It is a state of contentment, caused by alcohol, food, good company and often some baila. One of the important characteristics of this state is that, when nudged or spoken to, the man must pretend that they were fully awake all along. It is also imperative that they respond with a noise such as "aaahh" or "mmm" or "uurgh", when spoken to.

I think it is a uniquely Sri Lankan trait, but I would love to hear of any other nationalities that exhibit this state. At the age of 40 I am happy to say that I feel I will have many good years ahead of me with this condition. I have seen it start in men who are in their twenties but I have also seen men in their sixties who show no symptoms of this.

So Uncle V was happily in this state when my Dad saw his shoes. He also noticed that Uncle V's shoes, the black smartish slip on mocassin type, were identical to a pair that my Dad owned. Identical that is, apart from the fact that my Dad takes a size 6 shoe and Uncle V looked about 4 sizes bigger. It had to be done. One of my brothers, my Dad and myself with Uncle V and some identical shoes was a deadly combination. Someone ran upstairs to get the smaller shoes and swapped them with Uncle V's ones whilst he was "fully awake".

Later on, Uncle V stood up to "make a move". Please bear in mind at this juncture that he looks just like James Brown and we often talk about him using terms like "ooww" and other James Brown expressions in our language.

He starts to put "his" shoes on. My Dad, my brother and myself are practically doubled up with laughter already, but Uncle V does not see this. He clearly realises something is wrong as his shoes feel a bit tight, so he looks down. No problems there, he sees that the shoes are his so continues to force them on. We see a look of confusion, pain and sheer "what the bloody hell?" on his face as he gets the shoes on. He pushes and forces them on, safe in the knowledge that they are definitely his shoes. He does some sort of dance and then proceeds to walk whilst in considerable discomfort.

By now we are in absolute hysterics. You know that point where you cannot laugh any more. well that's where we were. We confessed to Uncle V who told us

"My God I thought my feet had swollen for the heat or something".

It really was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I felt a need to share it.

And we did give him his shoes back.

Don't think of some elephants bathing

You just couldn't help yourself could you!

A couple of weeks ago I was on a training seminar called "Inspirational Leadership". It was presented by a chap called Robin Fielder who is MD of his Company, LDL. One of the topics covered briefly was the power of positive thinking. Robin demonstrated how the subconscious mind cannot deal with negatives. So, if I tell you not to think of a green pig the first thing you will probably think of will be a green pig. I have done rather a lot of research into this and have found that the theory applies with yellow pigs, red ones, blue ones and also even with other animals!

This bit of knowledge is something I have been aware of for a while but have only recently begun to actually put into practice and it is powerful. I am trying to keep my mind positive and I am doing it by thinking of ways I want to behave, not ways in which I don't want to behave.

For example; thinking "I am happy" is infinitely more powerful than thinking "I am not sad". Give it a go.

If you get offered the opportunity to go on anything by Leadership Development I would thoroughly recommend it.

Just don't think of some elephants bathing!

The big Kottu meet up

Pic courtesy of Juavenita










This finally happened. After a few postponements they did it. I am continually fascinated by many of these blogs and the people and places they talk about.

The venue itself was a place called Barefoot. I use the term "place" for want of a better word. Barefoot is more of an institution (in the nicest possible way). The garden and cafe would count as one of my favourite places anywhere to just sit in and chill and relax in. Incredibly it is situated on one of the busiest roads in Colombo, probably the busiest road in Sri Lanka, yet when you are sat in the garden soaking up the atmosphere, you would never realise it. Barefoot sarongs are just the best.

Have a look here http://indi.ca/2006/03/on-the-kottu-meetup/

I was particularly pleased that Indi has got himself some new trainers. He had a pair stolen from the beach at the weekend and has managed to get straight back into society. Good Man!

Look at the pic though. They all wore blue jeans with black and white clothes. Amazing!! What are the chances of that happening?

You're fired Mani!

On last night's episode of "The Apprentice" Sir Alan Sugar fired Mani. It was the right thing to do. Honestly, if Mani had been proposed as a character on "The Office" I reckon Ricky Gervais would have rejected him for being unrealistic and unbelievable.

I don't know if many other people shared my feelings of "ugh" but seeing Mani grovelling to Sir Alan's son was one of the most cringeworthy moments of TV I have ever seen. It was all teeth and smarmy false laughter. Reminiscent of Rik Mayall playing Rick in "The Young Ones". What a twat! I read a brief bio of Mani somewhere and it said that he is already quite successful in business. Call me old fashioned but I am ever so slightly sceptical of that statement.

I still have my objections to this programme. I think it emphasises a blame culture. The whole theme of it appears to be "Why did it go wrong?", "Whose fault was it?" and "You're fired, because it was you". That is not right.

We need to encourage young business people to take risks and learn from them. That is the only way we can create a business society to compete in today's world. By blaming, shaming and demeaning them we discourage people from taking risks.

It makes for great TV though!

Galle Face Hotel 2005

If you have any idea how hard it was to get my 2 lovelies to stand still while holding hands long enough for me to take this picture then you must be a parent too!

KT Tunstall

I am experiencing indecision. I can't make up my mind on KT. Do I think she is a sexy woman or do I not?

When I see a photo of her I err towards the negative. But when I see her on stage everything is different. She looks great, she writes excellent songs, she plays an instrument or two, she has an exceptional voice and, above all, she looks like she is having a whale of a time.

Proof to me that proper music is not dead, which is nice.

But, is she sexy?

Get a hobby

Last night I felt really pissed off. I can't say why on here, but it would be accurate to say that I felt crap, low and thoroughly dejected. Mostly because of one thing but that is a subject I am choosing not to blog about. What I do want to say is that, after all the people in my house had gone to bed, I watched TV for a while. Nothing relevant, I surfed channels for a bit, caught a repeat of a great, but dark comedy called "Nighty night", which coincidentally, is written by, and stars someone I know, called Julia Davis. After that I thought about going to bed but made myself do about half an hour's drum practice, even though I didn't feel in the mood for it.

Well, after playing for about 5 minutes I totally got into it. My mind cleared and I just enjoyed the feeling of satisfaction I get when it's just me and my drumkit. I sat there, played a very simple groove and just played it for a while. No fills, nothing technical, just the simplest of rhythms - over and over. The power of rhythm is amazing. I could feel myself getting absorbed by the groove, my problems faded away, nothing occupied my mindspace except the drums.

To any non drummers reading this it might sound like I am being poncy. Any drummers reading this will probably know the exact feeling I am trying to describe. Other people get a release from their everyday stresses by doing sport, collecting stamps, drinking or any combination of them all. Or anything else.

When I woke up this morning did all my problems still exist? Of course they did! They were just as large and looming as they were before. ?But I felt better when I was drumming!

Whatever your hobby of choice - go for it. I think we all need one.

Personality types

Something has struck me in the short time I have been blogging and reading other people's blogs. It is this: we all blog and take on the character of the personality we actually want to be.

I am always reluctant to sound as if I am speaking for anyone other than myself but I do suspect that my theory is correct for most bloggers. It is simply that we write in the style of the person whom we want to be, not in the style of the person we actually are. The exceptions would be any bloggers who are entirely at ease with themselves. If you are totally content with the way you are then I guess you will blog in your own style, never fearful that you will portray yourself as an idiot.

We all want to sound intelligent and cool!

I wonder which blogs that I read regularly actually portray the author as they really are. Who is hiding behind their "blogger personality". kottu.org is one of the feeder sites that I visit far too often. It contains links to loads of blogs by various people, all Sri Lankan or living in Sri Lanka or with a keen interest in Sri Lanka. They are organising a meet up tomorrow night and it got me thinking about what these people are really like. I would love to go to the meet up, but it is in Colombo and I am in London, which presents a small logistical problem, made worse by the fact that I have a band practice tomorrow night in Farnborough.

Many of the bloggers on Kottu appear to know each other already, they often talk about one another and seem to mix fairly regularly, so I suppose those people would find it hard to be anything other than themselves or they would be exposed pretty quickly. Others may be different. Then there is the type of person who might put across a side to his or her personality in writing that doesn't actually come across when you meet them in person.

So, one of my new aims is to make my blog become a decent reflection of what I am really like as a person.

That's it for now. By the way I didn't get the drummers job in the second band. I received an email this morning, politely saying that I am being kept in mind. I am feeling positive about this. Life goes on and I will find the band I need. PAH!!

Just a couple of pics I am pleased with.

Acts of kindness

Just my opinion, and I don't mean to preach.

I was watching " The Apprentice" the other day. It is a programme based on an American idea in which Alan Sugar, the founder of Amstrad, and a hugely successful businessman, mentors a group of young adults. They are all competing for the prize of a job working with him as his "right hand man" for a "6 figure salary". I believe in the US the programme features Donald Trump. Now, as a business person I have watched The Apprentice on and off. It is a reality show. I hate reality shows. Therefore I have a bit of a fundamental problem with it. I know it is a generalisation to say I hate reality shows but I can't stand the way they get their viewers addicted to watching ,and that is a common feature to all of them. So I actually feel comfortable to generalise and say I hate them.

As if to prove my own theory I watched a couple of the episodes of The Apprentice and now I am well and truly hooked. Hence my problem. Alan Sugar is a business hero, an entrepreneur with incredible success. I am sure that I could learn more from spending half an hour with him than I have learnt in the last 5 years. But, the whole programme seems to be built around the concept of Alan Sugar being a fearsome, aggressive leader who scares and intimidates people. Why? Because it makes good TV!!

That's shallow and false. In my limited experience I have found that there are more successful business people who appear to be totally decent and pleasant people than there are "bastards". By airing programmes made in this manner I think we encourage the attitude amongst younger people that you have to be a bastard to succeed in business, and all the stereotypes that go with that.

Come here, listen to what I am saying. Go out in the world, be good to people, be nice to people, say "good Morning", hold the door open for people and smile. Treat everyone as you would want to be treated. Why? I hear you ask. Because they will be nice to you? Because you might need them sometime? No. Just do it because you want to. Don't expect anything back, just make yourself feel good.

Those days

My first memory of Sri Lanka is when I went there with my Dad when I was 10. It was just the 2 of us and we weren't used to spending time together. I don't recollect much about what I expected from the trip before we went, the only thing I really remember is telling my schoolfriend, Aella Gage, who had just returned to London from a holiday in his native South Africa, that I would come back from Sri Lanka with a picture of me with a snake round my neck.

I never knew what happened to Aella, as is the case with many of my school friends.

When we got to Colombo I can recall how I was totally amazed by the size of the house we were staying in. It is the house of some very close friends of my parents', and also of mine now. It is one of the Colombo 7 houses and one which I feel totally at home in now, as I have been there so many times, and actually throught many different stages in my life. It doesn't seem so big now either!

I made a (hopefully) lifelong friend out of the daughter of my parents friends. She is a special person to me and I love her and her husband to bits now. But, at the age of about 10 I found myself spending a large part of my 4 week holiday with her. She came everywhere with Dad and me, travelling to Kandy and Gampola and pretty much anywhere else we went.

This was in 1976 and Sri Lanka and Colombo were very different places then compared to how they are now. There were only 2 five star hotels in Colombo then, the Oberoi and the Intercontinental. Dad used to drop us at the Intercon in the pastry shop - I don't know if it is still there now - and we'd have chocolate eclairs and a coke and wait for him to return. We used to go to the Green Cabin and eat eclairs too. Almost every day, when we were in Colombo, we would go to my Aunt's house in Mount Lavinia. I was showered with love and affection from my cousins. We'd play carrom and just chat and play.

I also remember spending a lot of time at the Wadiya. It's incredible that, when in Colombo, I go there now, 30 years later, with my kids, and Uncle Olwyn is still there, pretty much the same!

Nowadays Colombo is the hustling. bustling city we all are familiar with. I still love it, but in a way I have seen it develop far more than I have seen London develop in the same time. I think it has gone through a bigger transformation than London has in the 30 or so years. I guess I am lucky to be able to know them both well and feel comfortable in them both.

When we got back to the UK I had started my affair with Sri Lanka, I even refused to change my watch to GMT, I kept it on Sri Lankan time for as long as I could. I made lots of friends, I got to know lots of my family and, above all, I got to know my Dad a lot better.

Mind you, I never did get that photo of the snake to show to Aella Gage!

Those days were good!

Auditioning

Tomorrow it will be exactly two weeks since an audition I had. I have been looking for a decent covers band for the last month or so and have still not found the one that I think is right for me.

At the first audition I had I turned up to find I was one of 3 drummers being tried out. It was a bit nerve wracking to sit in the car outside the rehearsal and to be able to listen to the first drummer. He was a decent player, a bit more flashy than me in his style, but sounded competent. I heard him play "Summer of '69", "Angels" and "I Try" by Macy Gray. I had learned Summer of 69 and I Try and felt pretty confident.

When my time came I went in, introduced myself and had a rather awkward overlap with the other drummer as he took down his stuff and I set up mine. The band was a 3 piece - a guitarist, female singer and a keyboardist who was playing bass keyboard parts until they found a bassist. We started to play, first Summer of 69, then I try, then Sweet home Alabama, then I guess why they call it the blues and a couple of others - Play that funky music etc.

It was stange - the band was pretty crap, particularly compared to MLC, my last covers band. The guitarist was fat and ugly and really not the type whom I would want to be in a band with. The singer was ok, female and decent but not great. The keyboardist did seem good, no complaints there.

When I had finished the next drummer was already there. I took one look at him and thought "no way" - he looked old and not right for the role. I left the studio thinking that the job was probably mine if I wanted it. After about a week I had heard nothing so I dropped an email to the guitarist. He replied to say that I hadn't got it and they had given it to the first guy. He did say that he wanted me but was outvoted by the other 2. Initially I was totally gutted, it was the first time I have failed an audition. I got over it, I am still a bit gutted, I mean I didn't get offered it and I probably wouldn't have accepted it. I guess that is the dissapointing thing. They weren't that good!

Since then I have had 3 more auditions. 1 was a guy putting together a "functions" band. I went along but it really wasn't my scene, all Abba and Shania Twain and the plan was to do weddings, parties and the like. I told him that it wasn't for me shortly afterwards.

The one I had almost 2 weeks ago was medium - decent people but they had no great spark - I was impressed with the singer, a lady called Julie - she had presence. I feel that I'd like to be in a band with her but I am non committal about the other 2.

But - I haven't heard an answer yet. I got an email from the chap shortly after. it said nice things - that me and the other guy they tried were the best 2 drummers they had seen out of 8 and they had a really hard choice. I chased him up last week and got a response from his wife to say that he had been ill and no decision had been made yet. I still haven't heard and I think the best thing I can do is crack on with looking. I did have one last Friday, but it was a first get together for a new band and is definitely not going to work, not least because the guy putting it together seemed to be a total tosser to me.

Why am I writing about this?

Because it has made me think that I have to be rejected from some bands in order to find the right one, I have to keep looking without getting down. I never envisaged a scenario in which I would get rejected by bands that I thought were crap. I always thought that I would go for auditions, think "fuck me that band is brilliant" and then not get the job because they were too good for me. Never in my mind did the situation exist that I would get rejected by people I didn't want to play with. I guess my mind was wrong. I'll find my kicking covers band, I will be out having fun and playing at a pub near you soon.

Watch this space!!

Future History

I just had a thought. In years to come our descendants will no doubt have access to all our blogs. They'll have a very real way of looking at how we used to think, what we used to say and how we all interracted. Our blogs will live on for fuck knows how long. They won't be like paper diaries, they won't decay or get thrown away or burnt, or eaten.

Not bloody likely. Blogs will hang around on someone's hard drive for all to see.

Can you imagine what it would be like if we could read the blogs of our ancestors?

Things to ponder on

Yesterday I felt very pleased with myself, I had published my first blog, complete with 3 entries. I spent a large part of the day looking at this blog to see if anyone had left any comments, or even viewed the thing. Rather unsurprisingly I got no comments and only one viewing other than myself. It was probably someone who got lost in cyberspace and found themselves stranded with me!

I spend far too much time looking at kottu.org. It is a really excellent Sri Lankan feed type site and contains links to a plentiful supply of blogs written by Sri Lankans and others living in Sri Lanka. Many of the bloggers are guys in their late teens or early twenties, and girls, but I use the term "guys" in the American way. Anyway, most of them talk about their chaotic social lives, their ongoing university experiences, their relationships and general things that happened to me 20 years ago. Except the university bit because I didn't go.

Sometimes I feel old, particularly when I look back and realise it was 14 years ago that me and 2 other guys started the company that we now make a fairly decent living out of. Sometimes I feel young. Like when I look at other people of my age and realise that they are living a much "older" lifestyle than myself.

Last night I was practicing and I mastered a new funky groove on the drums. Music and drumming is a whole new world for me, I find it so, so satisfying to learn something new and then try to master it. It involves immense concentration for me and releases me from so much other day to day crap that we all have to put up with. My new funk band has got its first gig in a couple of weeks time and I am full of excitement over that. We have spent the best part of a year rehearsing and songwriting and, all of a sudden, we are about to hit the local live scene. WOW!!

I like to think of myself as a positive person and I sincerely hope that anyone reading this will get to know a bit about me and what makes me tick. If you recognise me, drop me an email.

Thanks

About Me

The title seemed appropriate. 3 of the things I love most, not necessarily in that order, nor are they the only things I am passionate about.

London - I was born here, I live here, I was brought up here, I work here and it is home for me in every way. My parents are Sri Lankan but have been in London since they were much younger.

Lanka - My origins. Both my parents' families are Sri Lankan. I would like to be known as a Lankaphile although I am not sure if that is a real word. I go to SL as often as I can, everything about it fascinates me. The things I love to do in Sri Lanka are the things that most Sri Lankans take for granted - Galle Face Green, Barefoot Cafe, looking at the coastline from Mount towards the Colombo Fort - you know the stuff!

Drums - I am a drummer, it is one of the things that defines me. I feel totally at ease and also absorbed when I am playing. I would never claim to be that good at it but I have done it for a long time and still have so much to learn. To be able to carve out a good groove is a talent few people have and I am continually in search of that talent.

That's me so far.

I wish 

Greetings to anyone who may have the slightest interest in this!

I have been contmplating the idea of my own blog for the last few weeks and it seems that I have finally done it.

The dilemnas of a new blogger are many. What elements of my life will I write about? What will I leave out? How often will I update? Whose identity will I reveal?

I guess the experienced bloggers already know their answers to my questions, but they are exactly that - my questions - and they require my answers.

Give me time - and we'll see what comes of this!