Lately In The Sri Lankan Blogosphere...

Sshhhh.... it's oh so quiet, as Bjork would say in her Icelandic tones, though I don't know if she's a Kottu regular. She probably checks in once a week or something, in between albums and buying mad outfits.

It's all rather quiet at the moment. Everyone's away doing things in other places and other countries. But, as always, that means a chance to check out some new blogs, or at least ones that are different to the usual crowd, which is nice.

There have been two main topics floating around Kottu in recent weeks.

The first one on everyone's lips coming up on the agenda is good old fashioned porn, the stuff that Sri Lankans can't get online access to anymore, not without greasing a few palms or pulling a few strings anyway. I won't go into detail about the ban, as I'm sure you've all read about it already, but it's kicked off a HUGE amount of posts about the injustice and unfairness of the rule.

It's also given everyone an excuse to chuck out a post or two with that word that rhymes with prawn in the title, thereby gaining readership and hits from all those people that must search for the P word everyday.

The post by everyone's favourite sexual rights activist here explains it neatly. I guess no more online porn for a sexual rights activist is a bummer, rather like Pradeep Jeganathan being told he can't cook or use his camera anymore. I guess that saying something's a bummer to a sexual rights activist is some sort of crime too.

Java's take on the subject is this post. While I'm being politically incorrect I may as well go for it and tell you that everytime I even think of this I chuckle to myself. It had never occurred to me that blind people would have the need for the P stuff, though it makes perfect sense. But it's such a visual concept to me that I find the whole idea of porn in braille quite fascinatingly confusing. Don't you need two hands to read braille anyhow?

The ban has even spawned a blog dedicated to it. The blog of the Pornography Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, is full of well presented advice on how to avoid the dangers of the many rules in place and due to be put in place in Sri Lanka. All Sri Lankan women should read this blog on a regular basis to avoid falling foul of regulations.

Lirneasia has a serious (of sorts) post on the subject with a nice handy list at the bottom of links.

The second big topic going around the blogosphere with the speed of your food arriving at the Gallery Cafe (not) is that of the Hikkaduwa Beach Fest 08, if that's what it was called.

Skurj's (or is it Scourge's) one is one of the best written. But you can read Ahamed Nizar's one, which would win the award for the most detailed Hikkfest post, you can also read this post on my alternate life, a blog I haven't read that much, about it. Alternately, if you can't be bothered to read any of those posts I'll summarise them and tell you what you missed and what everyone did:

Leave Colombo. Arrive down south. Go out to Hikkaduwa and spend ages looking for a parking space. Go to rave, get pissed and stoned while dancing and looking at the opposite sex. Pass out at some point. Wake up, go back to hotel and eat massive breakfast. Sleep. Wake up. Repeat until you have to go back home. Blog about it. That's it. Sounds like a grand time was had by all.

In other of the regular blogs there have been some juicy bits taking place too.

Darwin has returned from the motherland and the people of Glasgow are on their guard again. After several weeks of relaxing they now have to return to watching their behaviour to avoid the full force of a Darwin rant. I had the pleasure of a dinner with Darwin while in Sri Lanka and was disappointed to discover that she really does have a pixelated head. That really is what she looks like you know. Nice body, but a blurry and rectangular shaped head.

The Missing Sandwich put up a post about the frustrations that she feels others feel about the advertising industry. Some people, like me, tried to comment, but it has developed into a war of sorts between her and David Blacker. I'm sure they'll be the best of friends again before you can say "thank God I'm not a creative" but it's an interesting one to check the comments on every now and again.

Kalusudda, who's freezing his little bollocks off in Alaska these days, has been a little quiet. Perhaps it's because his Blackberry struggles in the cold, maybe it's just busy in Alaska. We miss him though. As Dinidu said his blog has become one that we all look at regularly to see what's going on. It's new, perhaps he got the idea somewhere else, but it's new to me and I think it's great.

Over in Canadialand Ian S has, we hope, bought and moved into his new property. The team here at London, Lanka and drums hope that he's happy in the onetruecoolpad. When I say "team" I actually mean me.

Other than those snippets all's fairly quiet in Kottu land. Studenty types are busy celebrating finishing exams, worky types are mostly on holiday and over in the West Country Bea's making a house.

I'll leave you with a couple of Nimmi's beauties, courtesy of viceunversa. Laugh, I nearly peed myself. Really. As did Nimmi. Every Sri Lankan has an Aunty Netta.

Beauty 1

Beauty 2

Oh yes. I'm on facebook now. I've joined you on the dark side. Catch me if you can.

RD