Lately In The Lankanosphere....

You know what? It's been almost six months since I last did one of these. Sorry about that, I blame it on the sad loss of my moving tag cloud, which has now been resurrected, thanks to the Goddess like Amanda Fazani and her highly advanced huge big massive brain.

What's been going on in these months? Well in life there have elections of the Presidential and Parliamentary variety. Much to the surprise of, well, no one really, MR won everything, though he failed to win first prize in the under ten section of the Petersham Flower show in 1976. Oh yes, that was won by me, for my balsa wood ship.

On the Lankan blogging side things have been subdued. I've been pondering on the future of blogs quite a bit and have a draft post about the matter soon to be finished, but it's clear that the old favourites now surface sporadically, a word I rather like to use. Sporadically.

Indi has abandoned the popular post feature on Kottu and the message at the time told us that it was because of misuse. In all honesty I wonder if this has has an effect on the Lankanopshere, at least the element of it that's listed on Kottu. Misuse and click abuse, assuming those are what Indi referred to, are bad, evil and false but Kottu lost a bit of interactivity and a certain sense of friendly competition when those "most popular" posts and blog things went.

I guess that no one has been able to come up with a workable suggestion as an alternative, which might be a huge help to Indi. It certainly seems that Kottu is a bit of a list of blogs these days, too objective for some? Pray tell, what do you think on this?

And talking of the Kottumeister, well he's been off travelling for a bit and has regaled us with some fascinating observations and stories of his adventures. However, I was blown away by one of Indi's pictures, this one here. Check it out, it's special, one of those that makes me feel all excited. On the writing side this post, on Sri Lankan driving made me chuckle like it's going out of fashion and smile in that patronising way, the way we all smile when we spot white people in their van on their way from the airport and see the look on their faces as they witness Lankan roads for the very first time.

Drama Queen, or DQ or Hissyfits, whichever moniker she likes, has been back and as funny as ever. Her post here gives us mere mortals some helpful and brilliant advice on how to deal with the trials and tribulations of everyday life. Among other things she suggests we fight, drink, become a nun, see a psychiatrist, poo or do any mixture of them. Read the post if you want to laugh.

Darwin, probably the best parasitologist I know, has finished her thesis and is sort of enjoying the freedom. Good luck for tomorrow Darwin!

Lady Divine, who recently won the much coveted Blog of the Year award in that highly prestigious awards ceremony, has just celebrated her twenty sixth birthday and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Her mother has been doing her utmost to marry her off but our LD has resisted bravely and is still with us in the world of single people.

And on the same day The Auf, that legendary figure who even Chuck Norris admires, celebrated four years of blogging. It seems that May 3rd is a celebratory day all round. I've had the privilege of getting to know The Auf recently and he truly is one of life's deep thinking but nice fellows. I reckon I could take him in a fight though.

Makuluwo continues to churn out funny posts in her unique style on a regular basis. This post about writing is particularly good but you can pick any one of her nuggets and be sure to get a good dose of hilarity out of it.

T, the Dance In A Triangle T, not the other one, has been getting used to life back in the US of A, but also delving into her memory banks and giving us some stories of her travels in Sri Lanka. This postlet contains some photographs that have captured the Sri Lankan light brilliantly. The bluer than blue skies and the warmth of that sun just seem to shine through. Then there's this post, with its picture of what must surely be the best named Police post in the world. I might ring them just to hear the way they answer the phone.

Of course in recent months the Lankanosphere has been filled with posts on politics, Generals, Presidents and the like. I won't tell you much about them, on the one hand because it all seems so in the past now, on the other hand because you've probably read the ones you wanted to.

It's a bit old but this post by Serendib Isle caught my eye big time. I actually disagree with SI's take on the matter but he's one of those mature bloggers who I always feel I can disagree with without running the risk of falling out or entering into a war of (swear) words and insults about my mother and heritage in general. The graph he has included is very thought provoking and, for me, one of the biggest things it shows is that Sri Lanka's level of corruption is pretty damn high whichever way you look at it or whoever you ask.

There have been a lot of new blogs hitting the Lankanosphere and frankly most of them have been unimpressive in my humble O. There is one that grabbed me by the proverbials as I was doing my usual morning routine of pretending to be doing important stuff at work whilst actually reading blogs. It's this one, called Shooting Up The Place, by a fellow called Geeshan.

He tells us that he's a photojournalist and by golly he really is. The Lankan blogosphere is rife with chaps who can narrate a damn fine story, some even as wittily as myself, and even rifer with other geezers who can paint with light and some glass and some bits with Nikon or Canon stamped all over them. But it's rare to find someone who can do both and Geeshan is one of these examples. Or two of them.

I might be biased for I've always been a sucker for a decent picture set against a black background. Check his stuff out for yourself though, I guarantee you'll like it too. I'll be checking into his blog regularly.

And those are the ones that have captured my imagination lately. Click on the links, peruse the blogs, leave lots of comments on them and argue with people in a polite non name calling fashion. If you want more then set your browser to warp factor Kottu and explore there.

RD

PS - I've just been told that my first prize in the 1976 Petersham Flower Show under ten section is "being investigated". Damn, I knew it wouldn't last. Some bloke with a big moustache has complained that the ballot was rigged or something.