Lately In The Lankanosphere

Yes, it's back. It's been a long time since the last "lately" post in these parts, mostly because there just hasn't been much in the Lankan blogosphere that's caught my reading eye. Most of my regular reads have gone quiet or now prefer to splash out quick 140 character tweets or Facebook status updates, usually saying how much they hate Facebook's latest look, instead of sitting down and putting the effort in to write sntces + wrds tht arnt abbrvted.

Many of these former bloggers are so outrightly selfish that they concentrate on their own lives, never thinking about the enjoyment of us, their readers. And Kottu has morphed into more of an aggregator than it ever used to be. Say what you like about fixing the most read lists but there used to be a sense of interaction and community on Kottu that's no longer there. It's become like a band that have split up but get back together now and again to do a tour just for the money.

And then this week there was a shift in the Earth's vibrations, a sneeze in the Lankanosphere and my interest was captured.

First Java Jones whacked one out. Then he wrote a post. There are many blogging youngsters who are unaware of the legend that is Java Jones, of his widespread influence among many of us, not to mention that he's a cat only matched in coolness by TC. Or Huggy Bear, but he's not a cat. As a young up and coming blogger all those years ago I'd read Java's posts and wish I could write with his fluidity and sheer fucking sense of craziness. They tell me that copious amount of drug taking helps with this.

These days JJ has semi retired and spends most of his time living in the hill country. He blogs only occasionally and spends the majority of his time practicing the vuvuzela. He's one of only a handful of professional vuvuzela players in the world and is a first call session player for most of the world's top gigs. He'll deny it though, he's humble and bashful like that. You thought it was a saxaphone at the beginning of Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street didn't you? Well it's not, it's JJ, doing his vuvuzela thing.

His post is only a brief one, on his thoughts on the Wikileaks cable saga, but worth its weight in gold and it got my attention immediately. I urge you to check it out and comment demanding that he writes more.

Then Dramaqueen, usually as elusive as a huge big invisible and soundless monster who's decided to have a game of hide and seek, decided to spurt out not just one, but four posts, all in one day. Somewhere in there lurks a joke about four poster beds. I wish I was wittier, as you do probably. About me I mean, not about you. You probably think you're quite funny as it is.

The thing about DQ is that she's funny, in a slightly animal loving and sensitive way. I can imagine that an evening with her, involving drinking games and farting would be incredibly good fun, until the point that an innocent fellow cracked a joke about killing cats or breeding Christmas trees for commercial reasons. Then all hell would break loose and the farting would stop.

Grab yourself a few minutes and read her posts, my favourite is this one, the story of her first full body massage. (insert smutty joke here......) Any girl who can write about farting gets my vote every time.

DD also came out with a quickie. His blog isn't one I find easy on the eye, what with its various adverts blaring out at full volume all the time, but I'm always keen to read his perusings. The latest one is entitled the £600 haircut and it's about, well a £600 haircut. At first glance I saw the opening picture of him and assumed that he was showing us the "before the haircut" situation.

"Not a problem" I thought, a decent hairdresser should be able to tidy up that mess and do great things with it. I read on and, without giving too much away, I'll only say that I hope DD got a receipt!

Also catching the RD eye lately has been this new blog called I am. I've mentioned it before but it deserves another shout. It's an eye and earcatching combination of images and narrative, all about Sri Lanka's regional identities, told through the eyes of some highly thought provoking characters.

Dominic Sansoni himself told me the other day that it's much, much harder than it appears to put images and sound together and come up with something so special. I noticed that he was talking to his mouth was actually making the movements for the word before the one I was hearing. So it must be true then. Check it out and see for yourself.

Groundviews has gone to the shops and got itself a sexy new look for the festive season. I must admit that I can't figure out if the logo is new or if it's always been there, but I wonder if Sanjana, at the merest hint of a rights violation, rushes into a phone box, does a spin and emerges with a T shirt with the GV logo on, some extra fast slippers and his pants on the outside. Actually, as I think on it I realise that's how he was dressed last time I met him anyway. Presumably he must have been rushing to an emergency.

This post by Michael Meyler tells us Suddhas about the word "goday". I just wish I was able to pronounce it correctly without you guys looking puzzled and then laughing at me once you realise what I'm attempting to say. The esteemed Mr Meyler tells us that the nearest word to "goday" in contemporary English s the word "naff".

With the utmost respect to him I disagree. I reckon it's "chav" or "chavvy". Just ask the Auf, he'll back me on this. And talking of the Auf I've heard it on good authority that there may be a little bit of Auf love in the air. I won't tell you who's involved but let's just say that myself and Pseudorandom are currently busily writing our speeches.

The Indi.ca channel has been particularly busy of late. He points out in this post that the noughties is almost over. The fact had escaped me until I read it. Bloody hell, that's another decade gone. In my life it's fair to say that it was a pretty big one, how was it for you?

Rajaratarala, him with all the As, published this post, all about eggs, chickens and the possibility of them being imported for the festive season. Clearly it's a chicken egg situation. That's all I have to say on the matter.

That's pretty much it for now. If you want more you know where to look. It's ever so slightly awash with posts on how to make your blog look like a Christmas tree, film reviews or out of focus pictures taken on someone's mobile of Murali dancing at a party but, once you filter through all of that stuff, there are some gems to be found.

As they say in France, this isn't goodbye, just bonjour.

RD

The Sandwich Is Missing, Long Live The Queen

Remember that Sandwich lady, the one who we all read? The one who won prestigious awards and was a bit mad?

Well she stopped blogging and I'm one of the many who've missed her and her random ramblings. Apparently she's been off discovering new avenues and rebranding herself, doing paradigm shifts and other specialised gear changing techniques.

Why am I telling you all of this?

No reason really, but I discovered a new blog yesterday. It's called "In the Lost Queen's Eyes" and it has a warming familiar and comfortable ring to it, a bit like a favourite old mobile phone that's been left in an airing cupboard a bit too long.

Check it out. There's a link on the left too, one of those ones reserved for special people with special blogs.

And Now We Are 2010

You'd think that my first post of the year might be one of those humorous and stimulating ones, regaling you with stories of my festive period and the incredible things that happened to me and my loved ones.

No, not because those things didn't happen, more because I'm lacking in inspiration. It's an interesting concept to me, not so much about what has happened but more about how a person views the events and is able to narrate them afterwards.

Here I am, back at my desk and about to deal with a bit of a work crisis that has loomed up out of the calm and quietness that was the past week or so. If I had a penny for each time I've thought that life would be easy if it wasn't for staff or customers I reckon I'd have about twenty four pence, sadly no way near enough to retire on.

The Lankanosphere is predictably filled and dominated by posts about the presidential election. Some are interesting but mostly I find myself feeling fortunate that I'm not a voter there. Why? Because neither candidate would be my choice yet not voting seems a waste. I don't envy you lot, I really don't.

I went to Scotland you know. Me and C drove up there to spend a few days with her friend. It was a nice and relaxing time with good company and fun and laughter. Edinburgh was covered in snow like one of those Danish Christmas cards. The drive there and back was fun and hard in a concentrating all the time sort of way.

At one point the driving machine told us that the outside temperature was seven degrees in the negative. The roads were mostly clear and gritted but demanded my attention at all times. The drive from Edinburgh to the motorway was about an hour's worth on an A road that was a mixture of every driving condition you can think of, except heated ones of course.

The snow laden scenery was spectacular. There were so many points at which I wanted to pull the car over, get out and take photographs but stopping on a narrow road in those conditions might have resulted in some fantastic pictures at a very high cost. We made do with C taking some picture on my phone.

The trees looked like intricate sculptures, the heavy snow making each one droop with an eyecatching delicateness. I reckon that God, should he or she exist and should he or she ever get bored of running everything, could easily get work as a sculptor or pehaps even an interior designer.

At one point we drove through a small village and just about every house had ginormous icicles hanging down from the roof. They were deadly and beautiful looking things, maybe like some would describe Angelina Jolie, not me though as she's not my type.

The trip also gave me a chance to fully road test the new Kindle. It passed the extensive range of RD tests with flying colours and I finished my first Kindle book, the third in the dangerously addictive series by the late Stieg Larsson. If you fancy a good thriller chock full of interesting but at times stereotypical charcters, then I'd recommend you go out and buy yourself the first of Mr Larsson's books. Whatever you do make sure you start with the first one and then move through the next two in order, trust me on that one.

Then, we get back and I find out that TMS has only gone and retired. What the WTF? as the youth these days say, when they're not writing Lankan political posts. It sounds to me as if she's about to embark on a journey, not one to Edinburgh in the snow, I mean one of life's ones. I wish her well and thank her for the words and for letting us into her mind, just a bit.

I'll be off then. I really must get on with the award writing stuff too.

PS - It's my birthday, keep it quiet though.

Lately In The Lankanosphere....

There are times when I read the Lankan blogs and think that there's a desperate need for a "lately" purely because of a huge volume of posts that I find highly stimulating or interesting.

Frankly this isn't one of those times. All of you see me after class. There has however, been some good sparkly stuff floating around, bits and pieces from the expected bloggers and quirky stuff from the less expected, perhaps the ones that I usually don't read. Here are some of the best bits.

Darwin, who has become a bit of a Godmother of the Lankanosphere, by hovering away in the background, not posting that often and then writing gems when she does, has given us this thought provoker. The best words are those used by Darwin. They go like this

"Seriously. This is the cheesiest, creepiest, weirdest engagement announcement I have ever come across."

And she's right. Check it out. I commented, saying that there was something cute about it. The more I think about it the less cute it feels. I feel sorry for the husband to be, but perhaps they deserve each other.

Blogaversary wishes have been winging their way across to the land of the rising Sun for JapSach, who's celebrating a year of writing his blog. I remember the days when he was young and unknown. My how he's grooown! I left a comment on one of his posts, to say that I'm a bit envious of his adventures in Japan and he thought I was being sarcastic. I wasn't. I really enjoy reading his blog and of his discoveries and adventures, thundering typhoons included.

There's been a tag doing the rounds, one about five friends bloggers have made through their blogs. I was tagged by TMS in her post about it, for which I'm rather grateful. I thought about writing my own post and naming my five friends but I haven't. Why RD, but why? I hear you shouting. Well it's because I've made many friends and writing about a mere five would cause fights and bad feeling among the people left out. DD wouldn't be in the top five, that's the only certain thing! I reserve the right to write one of these posts at some time in the future though.

Lady Divine's post about the subject should probably win an award for meeting the most bloggers. I was omitted owing to a technicality; that we've never met, though that same technicality didn't prevent our LD including DD in the list. It's like she's like kinda met everyone like. Kinda.

St Fallen has contributed his piece on the matter here. I can't quite figure out who started it and where this particular tag is now but it's a good and enthralling one, seeing who's met who and exactly how much they love each other.

A Virile Nagalingam, a blogger who I often read but don't think I've ever mentioned has kicked out two contrasting and nifty posts. First came this one, about Indian food, though AVN makes us wonder if there is such a thing. He points out that so many are quick to label food that originates in the subcontinent as being "Indian" despite the fact that there are huge differences between the food from different areas of the country.

The average Brit does exactly the same thing. Here in Londinium an Indian restaurant is an Indian restaurant. There is little distinction made between a South Indian one compared to a Northern one, let alone between errm, well, you know. But are we wrong to generalise like this? The closer you get to a place the more specific the geography becomes no? In England it's fine for me to say my parents are from Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka I need to say my Dad's from Gampola. In Gampola I need to say where the house is. And on we go with that spiffing illustration.

Secondly from AVN comes this post. WTF, OMG and OMWTFG. I haven't a clue what he's talking about. At one point, late in the first paragraph I thought I understood something. I was wrong though. I finished reading and thought that I'd like to be able to write like that, then realised that I don't know if I'd like to write like that, because I can't figure it out. Cool. See if you can.

In the land of Indi.ca there have been some goings on. This tour of a handloom factory is an interesting couple of minutes, or coupla minutes as Indi would no doubt say. I guess it's not actually a handloom factory as such, they don't make handlooms there, but they weave and churn out sarongs and shirts. Check it out, if you're thinking of investing then buy the place too, you can you know.

Rajaratarala, that farmer geezer who everyone reads, is back with a couple of quick and readable posts. I like him, he's the sort of chap I'd love to have a drink and a chat with. But, to my Suddha vocals his name just has was too many vowels, well As, in it. I'd find it easier if he was called Roger or something similar. Either way, whether it's Roger or Rajaratarala, I think he's got most people on his side and wishing success in his direction.

On a slightly serious note this post, on Chitrangi's blog, intrigued me. It's a story alleging Police brutality in Sri Lanka. I don't think it's the first, nor methinks will it be the last. The bit that really grabbed me was when the fellow says this:

"They asked me why I had assaulted a woman. One of them dragged my shirt color and started to assault me using their hand and legs. I told them that the said woman is my wife. But they didn’t listen to me. They assaulted me further."

I don't condone the alleged violence by the Police, I don't know if it's true anyhow. But is the writer's defence, that it wasn't an assault because the woman concerned was his wife, for real? He doesn't tell us exactly what happened but it seems mad. By my standards assaulting people is wrong, whether they're married to you or not. Please have a read of this and tell me if you think I've misinterpreted the post.

Amila Salagado, the man who knows more about birds than Dominic Sansoni knows about tying sarongs, has been out and about with his sparkling new lens. So far the results have been disastrous, as you can see here with his abysmal failure to get a single bird in focus. Amila, I'll step in and offer to take the lens off your hand if things don't work out better. I'm kind like that you know. You can pay me when you've got the money.

As we come to the end of the journey, maybe not a journey but more a little stopover in the Lankanosphere, we get to the best bit. It's him, some people know him as Cerno, all I know is that the Stig worships him. I must warn you that things could go a bit oooer here, it's Sunday night, though you'll probably be reading this on Monday, and I've got Zombie by the Cranberries blasting out. It's on my "energetic" playlist and it's fanfuckingtastic, as I'm sure you know.

"In your head, in your head, they're still fighting" sing along now.

So anyway, Cerno wrote this post about elephant watching and his discomfort with it. It's an engaging one that puts across a view many wouldn't consider. In its own right it deserves a place in this "lately". But then, with that splash of inspiration only splashed about by people like Cerno he follows up with something even better, funnier and more mind blowing. I'd try to describe it and attempt to quote something from it but I'm not worthy and I might get trampled by a herd of angry elephants. Go and read it, click on the link and prepare to be unprepared.

If there was a fellow with a project to compile a book of great Sri Lankan blog posts, then these two MUST be in it.

Lastly we had the first edition of the Kottu Mag out with yesterday's Sunday Leader. I've seen it on Indi's blog but the cover I see on the Sunday Leader page consists of a link to Kottu itself, which I glance at once in a while anyway. I really like the cover, I think it's eyecatching, which is good. It's big, it's mainstream and it's positive. What will come of it, how it will be/has been received I don't know, only time will tell.

That concludes our stopover. The weeks begins and I wish you a good one, filled with all seven days and some smiling and laughing.

RD

Lankan Advertising - Bloggers Are The Answer

Talking about advertising in the Lankanosphere's a risky business. One wrong word and there'll be a gang of creatives chasing me down the street brandishing their MacBooks in a threatening manner. Hair dye and tattoos will be flying all over the place and it'll be the only time the many pairs of Nikes ever get a run.

Comparisons, like I believe a good buriyani should be, are fruitless. I know that people chuck raisins and all sorts on a proper buriyani but, as far as I'm concerned, fruit is for fruit salads and desserts. And I try not to compare so many things in Lanka with things in the UK, it serves no purpose and does no good. It's far better to try to accept things in each country as they are, with none of that getting hung up on why x might cost so much more in Serendib than it does in London yet y costs so much less.

Sometimes though, I just can't help it and the world of advertising is one such instance. I peer, gaze and observe the Sri Lankan above the line advertising with curiosity and interest. I wonder why, how and what makes the press, billboard and TV ads work there (here) compared to how they'd work in the UK. Is it unfairly patronising to say that the Brit consumer is more advanced in terms of his exposure and mindset towards advertising?

The great love God Jack Point wrote this post only the other day about some of the radio ads hitting the Serendipitious airwaves at the moment and I think many feel the same about ads on other Lankan media.

If it is patronising then I offer my apologies, but it is what I feel. It's also coupled with my feeling that the UK has one of, if not the most, innovative and imaginative ad industries in the world.

There are two distinct and segregated markets within Sri Lanka. For the sake of convenience I'll call them the rich and the poor.

The rich, that Colombo 7 international crowd, often educated overseas, well travelled and with more disposable income than the entire population of Monte Carlo, are well used to Western consumersim and advertising. When they have to they shop at Odel and wouldn't be seen dead in Majestic City unless it's to go to KFC.

There is one fellow, who used to live in Dehiwala but hasn't been seen for a few months, who makes up the entire Sri Lankan middle class. The rest of the people are the poorer and lower class chaps, the "man on the street" who the advertising on the street is aimed at.

Looking at the Lankan ads made me realise that, if the agencies have got it right, an assumption I'm happy to make but many might argue with, the man in the street is a sucker for the celebrity endorsment. Every other billboard seemed to feature the image of a cricketer beaming at me and waggling a chicken sausage temptingly. The next one would be the same cricketer swigging a bottle of Coke or any other soft drink you care to name, the next would be noodles, oodles of them.

In fact it's a surprise that Mahela and Sangakkara aren't a couple of fat blokes who permanently need a runner, what with the amount of Coke, chocolates and general crap they quite clearly eat all the time. A diet of all that rubbish is evidently not helping Mr Sangakkara at the moment, that's for sure.

In other places there's a smiling old bloke persuading us to buy a biscuit that he loves, or a harrassed housewife struggling to juggle the demands of a busy worklife with feeding a couple of insanely happy, smily and unmoody kids. Of course the answer to all her woes is chicken sausages, noodles and salad all washed down with Coke and chocolate. How ridiculous is that? I ask you, who eats salad these days?

You Lankans are yet to find out about the perils of salad, what with all the censorship and all but, in some parts of London, possession of salad is a serious offence. Some burger places try to hide it in between the burger and the bread but it's rare and discouraged.

But, criticisms aside, people are the attraction in Sri Lankan advertising, unless of course these ads don't work. So I reckon the time has come to get bloggers involved, to decide which bloggers would suit which products.

For starters I think the combined power and sheer wordiness of the Lankan blogging diaspora, yes me included, should write about ninety nine per cent of the tourist board's copy. Ask DD to write some prose to get Suddhas to Serendib. In fact, forget Small Miracle and Land Like No Other, let's use Suddhas to Serendib as the slogan. They won't know what it means until they've been anyhow.

And there are other products that are crying out for the endorsment of the more well known members of the Lankanosphere.

If you sell maps, or own a small search engine with lots of Gs and Os in the title then you need.......... Cerno to endorse your product, though many think that this has been going on for a while as it is.

There are vacancies that need your input. I'm thinking condoms, the extra large ones as well as the extra small. Who could step up to the challenge in the blogosphere?

Dodgy clothes, any suggestion?

For a small fee, perhaps a lifetime's supply or similar, I'd be willing to advertise Barefoot sarongs. I just thought I'd mention that one now.

Ladies' products of the, ahem, you know, feminine variety, who'd appeal to you women, who'd make you switch brands?

Drug awareness campaigns, who could be the figurehead, the person who'd make kids want a clean and drug free life?

Ideas would be most welcome.

Have a spiffing Monday and an even more fantastic week.

The Meet Up - The Story

The great, or not so great, Lankanosphere blogger meet up finally happened last Friday. I feel, in my position as the thingamajig, some might even call me the whatshisname, of the Lankanopshere that I owe it to you to give a brief outline of events, people and the evening in general.

You know, one of the things about my mixed up identity is that, where timekeeping is concerned, I'm strictly a Brit. I just struggle to take that Lankan approach to the time of something and an always early. Even, as on Friday, when I try to be cool, Lankan and lateish, I end up early, uncool and British.

A start time of 7.30 PM saw me and C stroll into the wonder of the Barefoot Garden at about 7.10 on a balmy, rainy and warm Colombo evening. I know it gets its fair share of "exclusive" press and that, from a balanced perspective, the Barefoot Cafe is out of financial reach for the man on the street but I adore it and consider it one of my top five places in the world.

We eased in and sniffed the air. It was delicious, that mixed aroma of the Galle Road, the sea, the rainfall and that heat as it wafted its way around. Rain does something to green things, that's the technical side.

I was a bit worried though. I didn't want to give the impression that I was hosting a big get together, like I was a King, or even a Rajapakse, meeting and greeting people. I wanted just to organise a bit of a meet while I was in town. And, truth be told, TMS was the person who had kindly done most of the organising in terms of getting people to attend. She'd been emailing and calling people and I'd just swanned around in the hill country and sent the odd text asking people if they fancied coming on friday. Not that swans can text.

But I was concerned. Would this be an evening of non attendance? Would the crowd be tiny and geeky?

We sat down and then Java phoned me. He didn't know that we'd sat down though, I just added that in for effect. My initial fear that he was calling to cancel was allayed as he said that he'd be there in a couple of minutes. That, in itself was good enough for me. He arrived, followed closely by Dom and Naz and Kaiser Sebastian Posingis. And here I must apologise, for as I regale you with tales of who turned up and the like I'm sure to forget a blogger or two. It's only because I was rather excited to meet so many.

We had Nisadas and a friend. Now I must confess that I'm not a regular over at the Nisadas place, though have read it a bit. But, from an almost casual remark I discovered that his friend was actually Angel with a Pitchfork, the Doctor blogger whom I think many of us read regularly. To use the correct Lankanistic approach I should really say that she's actually the Doctor (Mrs) Blogger we all read regularly.

Then there was T, the Dance in a Triangle T, not the Gypsy T, and the blogger formerly known as Child of 25, along with their bubbling sexual tension. I'd bumped into them the previous week so this wasn't our first meeting but I was pleased they were there.

TMS of course was there, along with Jade and St Fallen. TMS was exactly as I'd expected her to be. We'd emailed, texted and communicated in all ways except that so old fashioned face to face one. This was our first meeting and, I think it's safe to say, TMS was suitably impressed with me.

St Fallen slouched everywhere and was ever so slightly different to the way he portrays himself through his writing. I guess that's what these teenager fellows do these days but conversation with him wasn't what some might call effortless.

The Blacker bros were there too. It was the first time I'd actually met TKRP and I hope not the last. At one point I looked at the fellows and their heads reminded me of a couple of snooker balls. There's just not much in the way of hair going on and I pity the unlucky person who goes around town with the title of "hairstylist to the Blacker Bros".

It was a bit awkward to introduce people to each other when I didn't actually know them, I'm not good with these things, and the big barrier caused by thinking you know a person when you actually don't was sometimes evident. We could have done with some name badges, special ones with the person's real name, their blog name and also a link to their blog would have been handy.

At one point a bloke arrived and told me he was the Jester. I feel so bad to confess but I thought he meant Jerry, the Jester of ASOB. Only later did I discover that he was actually Jack Point, the Court Jester. JP's one of my old and much liked regulars and I wish I'd had more time to listen to him and talk to him. So sorry about that JP, I hope we can meet again. Tall, dark and handsome eh? Well I've heard it said that it's not only you that thinks so, you charmer. You have fans, female ones.

Java's famous and often blogged about friend Mr Zippy was there too. I was disappointed in him to be honest. With a name like that I'd expected a punky and edgy chap, with zips all over him. Turns out he's called Mr Zippy because he owns a Zippo lighter. I've decided that I want to be called Mr Briefcase from now on, maybe Mr Biro, though not because I invented the thing.

Later in the evening Indi ambled in casually in his understated I hardly ever wear shoes way. I was glad about that as no Lankan bloggers' get together would have been anyway near complete without him, even if his sentences are sometimes missing a word or two, kinda.

The new drummer arrived as well. That was great for me, we got to talk about drums, drummers, sticks and pedals. He even asked me for some advice and I had to pretend that I was a proper and good drummer and make stuff up. I think I managed to fool him.

There were some notable absences, people who I would have loved to have met and people who I'm sure would have loved to have been there. DD, you were one of the most popular subjects of conversation and, though not there, your presence was felt.

The Gypsy and Amila Salgado were sorely missed though I was lucky to have met them both before. Cerno was absent but had sent a sick note in beforehand.

All in all I think the evening was a success, though I'm blissfully ignorant of the expectations I had beforehand. It's funny to say so but I met some people who I'd already considered friends and just had a bit of a laugh.

Thanks to all who came, particularly to TMS for the publicity and Dom and Naz for the venue.

Oh, some of us ended up at R+Bs later on. Me and Java played pool.

He thrashed me.

Which probably proves that the bidet spray is the way to go.

How To Understand Women

TMS' post, about what women want, inspired me to write this. It's a breakdown of all the things I've learned over the years on how to understand women:

Lately In The Lankanosphere.....

My new tat is almost fully healed. It's not really to do with the Lankanosphere, I just wanted to tell you.

On the blog side things have been active, but active in a strangely new way. The old regulars are quiet, with just the fewest of exceptions. It's an interesting thing to observe some people come and go with their blogs while others come and stick around. Some don't even come but I haven't seen that many of them.

There have been a couple of interesting Groundviews things. The first was this interview of Tracy Holsinger with Sanjana, her of the theatre and stuff. I found it to be quite informative and entertaining and it makes a change from politics, meccano and other serious stuff normally on Groundviews.

It's not often I rant and rave, yet I feel a need to here. I tried to concentrate on the interview, honestly I tried my damndest, but I failed. Sanjana is a bloke with a brain about thirteen times the size of mine and he knows how to use it. I like him. Obviously he likes me. But those slippers!! Why??

I couldn't concentrate, I struggled to focus and I expected the fashion police to burst in at any moment and cart him off. I've figured out what had happened though. There he was, all smartly dressed and ready for the interview, about to go and sit down when he realised that he'd forgotten his Gucci loafers. In the rush he just had to grab what was around. And what was around was the slippers on his ninety six year old Uncle, there for the day to watch his nephew in action.

Next on Groundviews was this. It's a response to another article about post conflict Colombo society, but it seems to be much ado about nothing, not to be confused with much adoh about nothing. Having perused it with my expert eye I think the original article clearly talks about Colombo's upper eschelons, the moneyed types who eventually get arrested for some fraud then suddenly need medical treatment overseas. It's not about the everyday man or woman at all.

The article on Groundviews says this:

"The author needs to be reminded that next to every man is a woman who is his equal and his strength. Our women underwent immense hardships for Sri Lanka to win this war, but their war has not ended. For once, look up and notice who are organizing the aid drives for IDP’s now, who ensures that the entire family is fed and who will bare the sons that will lead our country into a brighter future."

It's mad and contradictory. Why? Because it's saying that women are the equal of men, that they are as strong. I agree, but then why say that it's their sons who'll lead the country into a brighter future? And, while I'm on a roll, "bare" should have been "bear". So thare. Yes, Girl RD is still around.

The Kottu stats indicate the Thekillromeoproject is the author of this month's most read post. It's about David Blacker wearing womens' clothes I think. I find it a bit hard to make sense of but it's getting hits.

Talking of David Blacker there's also this captivating interview with Dayan Jayatilleka. It's rather good, specifically because the questions are unusual and the answers are interesting. Check it out.

For me food has very much been flavour of the month. I've been watching a programme here called "Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey". You'll be surprised to know that it features Rick Stein, a celebrity chef. Well last week's episode was almost entirely in Lanka. We were shown Galle, Colombo, Geoffrey Dobbs' place and other bits and pieces. It made me pine and has prompted me to look at a few Lankan related foodie blogs.

One of them is this one called mommythecook. It's written by a lady who's Lankan and lives in the US. It's not entirely about Lankan cooking but has a mixture of tales about recipes, food and life in general, all told from the point of view of someone who very obviously has that passion for Sri Lanka.

My other mouthwatering discovery is rice and curry, the blog not the food. It's written by an American Lankan called Skiz or S.H Fernando Jr to give him his proper moniker and it's a little bit special. There are recipes galore, all of Sri Lankan dishes and the photography and the prose are positively eye catching. There's also youtubes of a programme called No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain that our blogger was heavily involved in. Check this link for more.

Both the blogs are currently conspicuous by their absence from the Kottu blog roll, something I think the esteemed janitor might want to change. Incidentally the Kottu blog roll is also conspicuous by its absence from the front page of Kottu as it's now got its own link and page.

Continuing with the food theme Mr S has written this provocative little gem on some of Colombo's street eating joints. I quite like it when he writes about the lighter side of things, it adds a certain amount of shade to his blog that the rest of us are simply less able to do on our own ones.

All of these foodie blogs and posts have reminded me very much of how we diasporic types cling to our food as a means of staying connected to our heritage and country. I guess when you live in Lanka you don't think so much about the food, you just eat it and enjoy. For the rest of us it's a tangible link to Serendib. It's even got me thinking that I might add a food blog section to the links here on LLD.

Excuse the length of this one Missus, I've just noticed that there's a lot more to cover and I've already written a hell of a lot. If you're the type who's going to leave one of those comments about my blog being boring them you might want to do it now, exit and go and play solitaire or something.

I was interested on the link on this mini post by Dominic Sansoni. It leads us to an article in the New York Times lamenting the decline of photojournalism as a business, at least in its known form. I do wonder about this, the way in which modern technology, mobile phone, laptops, the internet and the way we're all so connected so quickly has impacted the professionals who gave us the news in the past.

Photojournalism, if it dies, won't be the last or the first industry to be killed off by technology and progress. Or on the other hand, if it does indeed die, will it be because it failed to change and adapt to the things going on in the world of communication?

Did I mention holidays? They're all at it. DD is off browsing in gun shops, eating burgers and driving on the wrong side of the road, which could easily be a normal day in many less salubrious parts of London but is in fact happening in the grand ole US of A. You can see some of his not quite good enough to become my photo of the moment pictures here.

JapSach has just returned from his little sojourn to Italy and you can see some very beautiful photographs of his adventures here.

Penultimately we come to everyone's favourite Gypsy, that Bohemian one. I'm aware that I go on about her but it's because I think she writes well. Every time she publishes a post I'm one of the many who reads it and thinks. That's a gift, as is one of those things wrapped up in colourful paper on your birthday.

She wrote a little postet about things. In a "you had to be there" way I can only say that you have to read it. It reminded me that the war may be over, but it's not over.

And finally we come to the Lankanosphere's blogger of the moment, Saintfallen. As I write this he's currently occupying three of this week's top ten Kottu posts as well as one of the top five for the month. I won't link to one specific post, just to his blog in general. Go and have a look if you aren't one of his regulars already. It's the variety of his posts and the depth in his blog that grabbed me, there's something fresh about his approach. He reminds me of a much younger Cerno.

Oh, and really finally, the master himself has got a brand spanking new theme, all spangly and glittery. As he says himself, check it out.

That's it from me, I bid you all a fine week out there in Lanka, the US, Australia or wherever you are.

RD

Lately In The Lankanosphere.....

After some time since I've even felt like writing one of these things have started to pick up in the Lankanosphere, that Kottu world we all know and love. Many of our favourite Sri Lankan bloggers have been mysteriously quiet and seemingly replaced by a bunch of wannabes, all trying their best to be controversial and getting lots of positive comments from anonymous readers.

'tis a weird phenomenon this, though I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a phenomenon that isn't weird. I reckon most of us get negative, downright nasty and bitchy comments from people who hide behind anonymity, then we get intelligent and eloquent ones, though often disagreeing with our opinions, from people who are prepared to give their identity, even it's their blogging identity.

A select few blogs seem to get nice comments, those that agree with their opinions and offer words of praise from anons. Why on earth is this? I really can't figure it out.

But in the space of the last week some of the old favourites have kicked out a few little gems. My intention is to tell you about the ones I've spotted, read and liked. This could be a damn long post, one of those ones that you'll get quite bored with, perhaps not even making it to the end. I apologise for that, but needs must and whatnot.

The first and most eye catching post has been this one by the Gyppo, G12 or simply The Temptress as she probably should be known from now on. The furore surrounding the issue has even spread over to Groundviews, where only the most serious things are to be found. Support for G12's views has sprung up all over the place and, according to the recipient of our Gyppo's letter, support isn't the only thing that may have sprung up.

The serious message in these things is actually about people taking responsibility for their actions, not blaming their behaviours on the way someone is dressed/looked at them/blinked in the sunlight etc. On the other hand if "temptation" in young boys and priests means that they'll rush home, lock their bedroom door and do some serious monkey spanking then that's quite normal isn't it?

Both the Sachs have been chucking stuff out into the blogospheric world. Firstly JapSach has celebrated the milestone of getting 10,000 hits so congratulations to him over in the land of the rising sun. On the subject of blogoversaries (copyright Cerno 2008) Kalusudda has also hit the one year mark with his blog and many have wished him on this auspicious occasion. He's off sailing at the moment and the members of the Lankanosphere are holding our collective breath waiting for his safe return.

The cynical Sach has been bravely battling exams, illness and road closures. There's barely anything I can add to that except a get well soon or a good luck. Or both. I guess the biggest incentive for her to get better is the thought that the Poet fellow might come over and nurse her if she gets any worse, with his "special" thermometer.

Java's back with a little postlet on the subject of decriminalising marijuana, a genuinely interesting topic. There are few people who would present a case that a bit of a smoke now and again will actually do a person any long term harm whatsoever, but I do wonder if many can put forward a reasonable argument that enjoying it doesn't increase the temptation in people to try harder and harmful drugs. Either way it's good to see Mr Jones back with his idiosyncratic and stimulating words.

TMS became TMTMS for a while but has returned after Special Agent Cerno put out an APB. It seems she was holed up in Unawatuna, or Oonerwartooner, as it's correctly prounounced. She's more poetic and mysterious than ever before and can be seen in a play all about marriage, sexuality and love you know.

Lady Divine, her with the biggest blog roll ever (check it out) wrote a simple one line, one sentence post that got a bit of attention. It made me think, all about perception, different views and perspectives I guess. The comments made it clear that her blog is one of the most followed and popular in the Lankanosphere. We all love to know what's happen in the Divine life.

Cerno created one of his mini masterpieces, in which he cleverly uses acronyms and brain power to produce something that makes the average reader pause and wonder if it's true, before realising that it's about as fact based as a salesperson's weekly report. You can spell "weekly" as "weakly" if you want there, it's the same thing really.

Indi tells us in a quickie that there's this forthcoming lecture on Ravana and Ramayana. This PDF thing, published by Perera Hussein looks to be a good idea. I've found, whenever I'm due to hit the motherland, that there's a distinct lack of readily accessible information about forthcoming events in the metropolis. However, a whole lecture on Ravana, nice bloke and great writer though he is, seems a bit excessive. These days he hardly ever writes in his blog. And I can't find this Ramayana one even listed on Kottu.

I stumbled upon this newish blog, one that's all about attracting people to Sri Lanka. It's been around for some months from the looks of things but hasn't been updated very often. I really do hope that whoever writes it can get the momentum up and keep it going as it has the potential to do some very good things. I've chucked a link to it from my blog and will keep my fingers crossed, except when I'm drumming.

In a comment that I didn't publish because it contained so much insulting crap I was accused of being the writer of the blog. It's actually quite a compliment to have to defend myself against that kind of accusation but honestly, it's not me. So there. With knobs on.

This particular post about Barefoot caught my attention. It's also caused a few arguments on the old issue of Barefoot being for people who have money or are the Colombo elite and therefore not for the general people of Sri Lanka. This one, over at My Space (aka SOB), is one of the posts. My opinion on the matter is that the Foot can hardly be described as a place frequented by all and sundry but it's definitely become an instrinsic part of Colombo's cityscape. Which shops, institutions, or activities in any society or country are actually enjoyed by all anyway? Probably just sport and music in most, Tesco in the UK of course, but they don't have jazz on a Sunday afternoon.

In a visualt styley I must direct you to Sebastian Posingis' eye catching latest batch of photographs. The one called Sri Lankan Hills, a picture of, erm, Sri Lankan Hills, is only aptly described by one word; absofuckinglutelyfanfuckingtastic. I've spent far too much time staring at it, at the incredible array of shades and the timelessness of it. I bet he's got a really expensive camera. Maybe even one of those ones with lenses that come off and a built in flash. Yes, he really is that good.

And really lastly Kottu now has the top ten posts for the week displayed insted of the top five.

I think this is good news. I just don't know why.

Have a spiffing week all.

RD

Five Words, Five Bloggers, Some Tag

It's been a long time since there was a good old game of blog tag so I thought I'd start one. It's easy to play and anyone can join in providing they've been tagged. But even if you haven't been tagged feel free to whack one out.

It's my game so I make the rules, they go like this:

You write five words to describe how you feel about recent events in Sri Lanka.

You tag five bloggers.

You sit back and relax.


Mine are:

1. Hopeful

2. Positive

3. Optimistic

4. Sad

5. Exhaling.

I herby tag:

1. The Gypsy (Bohemian)

2. The Sandwich (Missing)

3. The T (Triangular Dancing Variety)

4. The Sudda (Kalu)

5. The Vice (unversa)

Go.

Well Known Bloggers And Little Known Facts

You probably didn't know this but:

1. Electra is one of only three people in Sri Lanka who know the recipe for the yellow sauce on Elephant House hot dogs.

2. Dominic Sansoni is scared of fridges, except Electrolux ones.

3. VIC was a ball boy at the Wimbledon Mens' semi final in 1992.

4. Four years ago David Blacker was mugged by a gang of dwarves in Yala, block two. They stole his wallet. They've never been caught.

5. Java Jones auditioned for the part of Magnum P.I. He came second, to Tom Selleck.

6. The Missing Sandwich sang backing vocals on Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Outta My Head.

7. Jerry, from the insane mind place, only travels in red tri shaws on Poya days.

Lately In The Lankanosphere

Things have been busy, different, interesting, good, bad and downright ugly. Now that, as a film title, would have been a mouthful wouldn't it?

A friend asked me for some advice about something this week and one of the things I suggested was the use of mindmaps to help her. Now I can't explain mindmaps because I'm no good at that sort of thing, but I can tell you that the mindmap for this "lately" post is a complex and messy looking one that resembles a dismantled black string hopper, with some lumpy bits. If I ever have to make a choice in my life between mindmaps and string hoppers, as many chaps have to, it would be a tough one indeed.

This means that you might get a nice and meaty and interesting post with lots of good things about the Lankanosphere or you may receive a pile of disorganised words, with random links here there and everywhere and no real cohesion, structure or point. I think we both know that it's going to be more of the latter, not latte, that's coffee. But, either way it'll be a long one, so you may well be better off doing some work and reading this later.

The current situation in Lanka permeates into the Lankanosphere like sothi on that very same string hopper and that's about the only level of agreement anyone will get from all of us blogging types. It's natural that the Sri Lankan blogosphere reflects what's going on in Sri Lanka and it's therefore natural that the atmosphere is different to normal, whatever normal may be.

Indyana asked in this recent post why there are hardly any blogs being updated these days and I think, if she's talking about the Sri Lankan blogosphere, that it's simply because of what's happening in the Country, the fact is that it makes everything else pale into insignificance, and quite rightly too.

The bloggers writing about politics, war, peace and conflict are presenting a plethora of opinions and views. I think it's better if I don't tell you my judgement but just pass on the links and information on some that have caught my eye.

There's David Blacker with this rather splendid article he originally wrote for the Times of India. It's a response to the famous, or infamous, article written by Arundhati Roy that has attracted much comment and criticism by so many.

DD wrote this piece that revealed a side to him and his views many of us haven't seen before. It's thought provoking and one of the comments left there said something like:

"Why don't you go and help the IDPs instead of eating/drinking/shopping (delete as appropriate)?"

I've seen this kind of thinking a lot lately and I've pondered on it too. It seems to me that many are saying that it's far more important to give help and aid to the IDPs today and tomorrow than it is for people to plan and think about what's actually going to happen next week or next year.

My take on it is that balance is needed, that we must do both.

And talking of people helping today Indi has been involved with ACT Lanka in getting supplies and aid up to the Vanni. You can read about it here and here you can read about ACT Lanka, donate and learn more here. Please check it out.

On the far less serious side of things there's a bit of a party going on at a mystery address soon. It sounds like it will be fun and I'm looking forward to it, particularly that game Dinidu was talking about with the blindfold and the cucumber.

We have some music things to report too.

Cynical Sach and T have both put up posts showing the new video from Thriloka. I've heard so many great things about Thriloka, in particular about their young drummer, but have never been in Sri Lanka to witness one of their gigs. This video left me seriously impressed with the drummer, he grooves and plays with a feel that would be the envy of many. In comparison to this guy I'm such a bad drummer that I wouldn't even be allowed to envy him.

If that doesn't float your boat check out the Lily Allen video in Sach's post. There's something so quirky about it and it's one of those videos that makes the song so much better than it actually is.

Then, while we're on the subject of drummers, there's the new drummer in town. He's called Heshan and he's mad about music. I'll be reading him regularly, but I'm not sure this drum related blogging thing will catch on.

Talking of Sachs, which I was before, the almost Japanese one wrote a nice post here, on hypocrisy. He asks us what makes a hypocrite, a question that probably has no definitive answer but an infinite number of answers. He can also spell hypocrisy correctly, which gets my admiration as it's one of those words I always stumble over.

The Whackster's out and about and asking about blogstitution. He asks if we're all just prostitutes for attention, the only problem with his question is the extra T he put in the word "prostitute". I think we're all partly motivated by recognition, but how far up recognition is in each of our individual list of motivators is variable.

Cerno continues with his T100SLSLBP, but things are slowing down. You can keep it going by nominating posts and writing posts, if you can read and write of course.

The Right Honourable C also tells us that he's given up Linux and his fuel account at Shell. It's a strange lapse in concentration from him. I don't think anyone really cares about Linux as Charlie Brown isn't popular these days and we certainly don't care where he buys his fuel from.

On the positive side he did announce the good news that Unbound Urchin, that young guy who made such an impression in the Lankanosphere and then vanished quicker than you can say "can say" is back with more blogging. It seems that the chap has moved to London and I for one hope he'll continue to write on his blog.

Also, after the understandable turmoil it looks as though Jade has decided to return to the Lankanosphere, something that almost everyone will be pleased about. We like her, even though she sees ghosts and likes Travis. I see ghosts too. Only the other morning I saw one in my toilet. When I went to wipe there was no trace of it whatsoever. These things fascinate me you know.

What else?

Electra's back with some posts, this one I found particularly mindgrabbing.

The Gypsy wrote another of her poetry that isn't poetry type posts. Just read it.

I'll tell you a little secret about Gyppo if you promise not to tell anyone. She writes every single one of her posts in exactly two minutes and fourteen seconds. No more and no less. That gives you an idea of how clever she is. She told me this, so it must be true.

And I think I'll wrap up there.

Oh, I nearly forgot. Those blind chaps have got some new pictures up from India and the Maldives. They're good, in fact they're better than that, in a "I think I really should give up photography when people can be that good at it" sort of way.

Have a very nice weekend all.

RD

The Lankanosphere - So This Is Progress?

Recent events have been "interesting" haven't they?

I use quotation marks there for two reasons; first is that I tend to use far too many of them anyway, like commas, which I'm fond of. Second is that not everyone has found them interesting in a positive, good or nice way.

I'm taking the positive approach and concentrating on the good things, that to me is the way forward, in life as well as the smaller issues.

A certain person with a specific one liner of a post made me think about these things. There are blogs and bloggers out there who inspire, interest me and teach me things and this fellow is one such person.

When I stepped gingerly into the Lankanosphere just over three years ago it was much smaller than it is now. It had the atmosphere, if a virtual world can have an atmosphere, of a small club, a bit like the Capri Club that our fathers (and Java) used to frequent.

Everyone knew everyone and the well known and most popular bloggers could easily fit around a table in a garden cafe somewhere, and often did. As I joined the club in my fairly relaxed and leisurely way I was amazed and delighted by the generally abundant way in which I was welcomed.

The well established leaders were nice people and would comment and correspond with me, there would be some spats (not to be confused with sprats), some insults and mud slinging but it had a certain air of maturity and respect about it, mostly.

What struck me most was that all the Sri Lankan bloggers I met, though their views may have been contrasting and their mindsets different, demonstrated an appetite for knowledge and a desire to learn, characteristics I'd like to think I share.

Three years in the Lankanosphere is about the equivalent of thirty years in "real" life I reckon. That's how much things have changed in what to most is just a short time. It's like a little and friendly football club that used to play Sunday league for fun but has developed into a fully fledged professional club in a few seasons and is now facing a new set of circumstances.

I wonder how the Lankanosphere, largely driven and reflected by Kottu has grown in terms of numbers, both readership and blog membership in the recent past. Indi may know that sort of thing but I suspect the increase has been large and fast, like one of Dominic Sansoni's lenses.

And perhaps the amount of bad stuff going on is merely a by product of the growth. Perhaps there was always half a percent of people on Kottu, or in the Lankanosphere who wanted to behave like that, but it's only now that half a percent actually equals a whole number.

Perhaps, as the the Lankanosphere moves into the next level, this is natural, expected and progressive.

I'll continue to believe in positivity and good things, as I'm sure will TMS and many others. I'll continue to be inspired by and to learn from some of the great friends I've made.

But what do you think?

Are these things just natural symptoms and understandable residue from the Lankanosphere's huge growth?

One thing's for sure. In the words of the great and leather clad Johnny Nash:

The more that I learn the less I know.

Enjoy the weekend all. Because I said so.

Blogstitution - The Meaning Of

Well, I thought it was my word but a quick google search proved otherwise. Such is life.

However, for the benefit of those who are in doubt, here is my definition of the word that I'm rather fond of. I'm more fond of String Hoppers than blogstitution but less fond of Wattalapam, that should give you an idea of my positioning:

Blogstitution - To use "cheap" tactics in order to gain readership and/or hits for a blog. The tactics can range from talking about sex or sexually related subjects to trying to antagonise well known and popular bloggers in order to stir up a storm. I suppose, as a chap does suppose, blogstitution is using negative means to garner popularity. And, as an aside, I'm not sure what the word "garner" really means, so apologies if I've used it inappropriately. I'm hardly an authority on words and definitions anyway.

That clears that one up I think.

Be sure to check LLD tomorrow where I'll reveal some juicy insider gossip about Dinidu, Gyppo and TMS.

Lately In The Sri Lankan Blogosphere.....

The regulars have been quiet and the quiet ones have become regular.

Plenty of juicy posts, delightful nuggets of prose and paragraphs of love have been spurting our way in recent days. There's also been the usual batch of mediocrity, name calling and "ooh look how clever I am because I can insult you" type of stuff going around. Here, my blogospheric friends, are the ones that have caught my eye.

I'll leave it to you to decide which category to place them in, you're more than capable of that by now. Just be careful, this kind of power can be dangerous in the wrong hands. Remember Dinidu's religion posts?

The first blog I must, must, must mention is the Gypsy Girl's one. We know not who she is but she's given us a big clue by dropping the bombshell that she was in Hamlet at Elsie's Bar. It matters little though. She may be a thespian but I'm an open minded sort of fellow and what people choose to do behind closed doors is their business. As long as she continues to create posts like this one the rest of us will continue to hang on her every word. In fact I liked it so much I nominated it for Cerno's T100SLBPBP.

In an unusual situation I've reached a crisis of segue possibilities. My mindmap for this post shows clearly that I have the option of moving seamlessly into a bit about Cerno but also the bit about all the actors in that play and their posts.

I've decided to go with Cerno, for he is the master.

T100SLBPBP continues to move forwards though it's fair to say that interest looks to have tailed off slightly. Maybe that's because we all feel we've done as much trawling through the Sri Lankan blogs as we can stand, but Cerno's responded by introducing the concept of the best political post you have read into the melting pot. It's a great idea, the Sri Lankan blogosphere, which I think I'll start to call the Lankanosphere, is in itself a melting pot of a huge assortment of political posts, for all the obvious reasons.

I run the risk of death by metaphor and simile here but I'm going to dive in anyway and say that it's not just a huge melting pot of political posts but it's also one that's positively boiling over. Can a melting pot boil over? Probably if it contains some kind of unusual element, I'll ask K, she'll know.

Yes, going back I'm pleased with that "Lankanosphere" moniker. I might copyright it and make millions from other peoples' use of it in the future.

Over in the Divine world of the Lady there are qualifications, pats on the back, changes and surprises. The change refers to the icon, which has now become a sparkly and rather gleaming fresh looking young thing, just like Lady D herself! She has also passed her CIM exams. Passing her CIM does sound a bit like a painful medical procedure but I'm told by intelligent people that it's nothing of the sort and is all good.

It sounds all good for the good Lady D, yet she says she's missing something. I send my positive thoughts.

Oooohhh, the new stuff that has grabbed me goes a bit like this.

This guy, Nibras Bawa, who I think is fairly well known, has created ad industry shaped waves with some of his diatribes. His blog has the longest "introduction to myself" bit I've ever read and, though he may be very successful at what he does, he also appears to be his own biggest fan.

In a nice short period of time he's slagged off his own staff and his own industry. His coup de grace is this entirely homophobic post. Some of the points he makes may have some relevance, but, when they're made in a fog of homophobia and personal insults, it just makes him out to be a blinkered and prejudiced twat.

The thing about Mr Bawa, and I publish his name only because he does so himself freely, is that he writes well and loves his mum. To use the old cliche I would respectfully suggest that he considers more carefully who he shits on on the way up, he may need them on the way down. I sincerely hope that the guy is as good as he thinks he is.

Interesting blog though, check it out. After you do I also suggest you take a peek at what's going on in the world of ViceUnVersa. This post is a sparkling and heartfelt reply to someone who has laid into the Lankan ad industry and well worth a glance. There was also one of DD's crytic serial posts going on, all about red dots. I was totally lost until I saw the last post in the series, now I'm only half lost, or half full, depending on how you see the glass, you know, that one that could hold twice as much.

The luvvies are out in force like a pack of strange animals that have been released into the wild and are struggling with things.

After the success of Hamlet at Elsie's Bar they've bonded and are now missing each other. If you've ever been in a band or done anything that involves close and intense teamwork you'll understand. TMS' post here, giving her thoughts about everyone is touching and heartwarming, as is the Gypsy's one here. But they miss the point.

We, the readers want dirt. We want to read the blog post about the one member of the cast that everyone hated, the one who would have been bullied at school. We want to hear how he smelled a but funny and how he was a total tosspot. Oh yes, that's what we want.

And on the Darkside of things our Gehan has punched out a nice post about blogging relationships and how many members of the Lankanosphere know each other. I've met many of them, have made some good friends and find it a stimulating and fascinating experience. I'm continually puzzled by people who want to keep themsleves hidden, though I understand why people want to remain anonymous.

Well, if you've read this far you'll be pleased to know there are only a few more blogs to mention.

I don't know exactly why but I feel a slightly fatherly, or perhaps POUly need to give this new blogger a helping hand. She seems desperate to build up a readership and keen to move her blog onwards and upwards. There's a mix of interesting posts and slight blogstitution going on, and that's another new word I've come up with, how cool am I?

Blogstitution - When someone blogs about sex to get readership.

I like this little drawing thing and I read the post about doodling and the psychologist with interest. But, the "Do you masturbate?" post was a bit too contrived, even though I felt a need to throw my hand in.

I'll leave you with two pieces of brilliance. Dinidu has put out this poem, that he's going to read at tonight's open night thing. It's passionate, hard hitting and it's got rhyming lines. That's a poem I can understand. Over in the Big Apple T has written one of her beauties that speaks for itself.

Those are the just some of the things in the Lankanosphere that have captured my attention lately.

As usual there are a lot more good things that can be found on Kottu, but you knew that already, didn't you?

Of TMS, Boys, Balls And Belts

TMS wrote an interesting post the other day about others peoples' perceptions of her. The theme of it is that she feels she is a tomboy, though it's written with her customary lilt, with much more detail and using words like "magnanimous". Class.

Now I've never met TMS in person, though I do feel as if I know her quite well. We communicate regularly by email, we're FB friends and she frequently sends me naked pictures of her, but I've never actually met her face to face so I can't really say whether she comes across as a tomboy or not.

She tells us in her post that she drinks more than many men, swears like a trooper and she smokes like a chimney. Also she's frequently the only girl out with men when they go out for a drink.

Our favourite spell casting thespian goes on to say:

"Because deep down all I really am and all I’ll ever really be… is one of the guys. A man with boobs."

Well TMS you inspired me to think, as you often do with your writing, and this time I contemplated and cogitated about what it meant to be a boy, apart from the obvious and old fashioned physical business about willies, vaginas, breasts, periods, babies and beards, all so last century.

Like everyone in the world today I spend a lot of time watching reruns of Friends. I often think that there must be African fellows, living in the remotest little villages in darkest Africa, who haven't the faintest idea who Barack Obama, or maybe even Mervyn Silva is, yet they know all the intricacies of Ross and Rachel's relationship and were as happy as the rest of us when they sailed off into the sunset at the end.

I can never remember which one it is but there's definitely one series that's no way near as funny as all the others isn't there? I think it's about series 7 or 8 and I should try to figure it out some time, but each time I see one of its episodes I groan a little. But, that's by the by, the thing is that the writing of Friends is one of its many strong points and each character contains elements of the ideal man and the ideal woman.

Every man wants to be a combination of Chandler's wit, Ross' intelligence and Joey's sheer boyishness and ability to bed women. Every woman wants their personal combination of the three girls. Though every man wonders what on earth a woman would want from Monica or Phoebe.

And boyishness is something that only true boys understand. It's well documented that I like shopping and use moisturiser but I still think I'm all man, perhaps with a couple of female strands floating around in my DNA.

Being a real man isn't about drinking with men, smoking or using bad language. No, being a real man is defined by two main things; understanding the joy in scratching your balls and getting joy out of a totally useless gadget.

I could write a post about scratching balls but frankly that would be easy. I could make you chuckle with humorous tales of gonad itching and the comments would flood in and I might get in Cerno's book. But I'm going to take the road less, er blogged about, and tell you about gadgets, one in particular. The one I bought on Saturday, the one that gives me a manly feeling each I look at it.

I went to Richmond for a mooch around the shops and to buy some mens' things; shampoo and cream for my nails. And, while mooching I looked at belts, brown leather ones. I'm not a label person these days, I tend to buy things that I think look good on me. Unless the label is Superdry of course, then I tend to love it because of the brand, but other than that I won't fall for all this "buy me because of my branding" stuff.

But for some months I've had my eye out for a nice brown leather casual belt. I've got one already and I wanted another, I like to live on the edge. In Sri Lanka I was disappointed in Otara's selection, that would have been my first option, so I just thought I'd keep looking in a non urgent way.

There I was, walking through a department store, we have more than one over here, and a brown leather belt caught my eye. It was thick dark tanned leather. There was no fancy stitching, no loud patterns and it had a simplistic buckle. I also noticed that it's made by Ted Baker, a label that's quite British and quite expensive. It had a price label on it, and it said £35, a shitload of money for a belt I thought.

I looked at the thing. I tried it on and was fascinated by its design. You see it had no holes and no spikey thing in the buckle to put through the holes. The buckle had a clever thing that held the long bit of the belt in place on its own, giving the belt a sleekness that I liked. But, the longer I looked, the more I deliberated, the longer the price remained at £35, a shitload of money for a belt I thought.

My staring at the belt, turning it in all directions and generally acting like a bride to be choosing a wedding dress, was making me a bit stressed. Am I turning into a girl? Maybe I am to TMS' man with boobs a woman with a willy. Maybe the shop assistant was looking at me thinking that I was a drag queen, a woman or a shoplifter. Or all three, or any two from the three.

And then I saw it, the clincher, the USP and I reacted in the way that banished my fears and made me realise I'm not a woman with a willy or anything like that, I'm a man, apart from the strands of female DNA. Yes, I'm all man, with a huge throbbing drumstick.

There was little label attached to the belt and it explained, in trendy marketeer's speak, that the buckle incorporated a....bottle opener. That was enough for me. I bought it and would have willingly paid twice the asking price, a shitload of money for a belt I thought, but not one with a bottle opener.

Not once in my 24 (plus a few) years have I been caught short without a bottle opener. I have a friend who can open a bottle top with his thumb and a disposable lighter and that's without using the flame, but it's just not something that has ever bothered me.

If I was stuck in the situation I'd just smash the neck of the bottle and drink away. I guess the only time this might be a major problem would be if I was stranded in a marshmallow factory with just bottled beer and no opener. Then smashing glass would be hard to do and I might die from thirst. The death would be even more painful if I had started to eat the marshmallows, which I would.

But I had to buy the belt. And now I know that I'd live if the whole marshmallow factory nightmare ever did happen to me. Unless I was wearing the old belt of course.

I spend a lot of time glancing at this belt and, as I look at the buckle with its built in opener, I feel a sense of joy that only another man would understand.

That's what being a man means. Joey would understand. Girls don't.

And scratching balls.

The 2008 Blogging Awards - The Best Overseas Blog

It's like Wimbledon isn't it, as we move into the second and final week of the awards and the tension, excitement and boredom build to previously unknown levels. We have five more awards to go and will finish off with the much sought after Blog Of The Year title.

Today's award, for the best overseas blog, is accompanied by yet another genuine guest judge in the form of The Missing Sandwich. It's an award that goes to the best Sri Lankan blog that is written overseas, as in overseas from a Sri Lankan perspective. Simple really.

The Missing Sandwich is one of the best, and most well known, bloggers in Sri Lanka. In her spare time, when she's not writing adverts, appearing on TV herself or being featured in the newspapers, she likes to organise Olympic Gaymes and act in plays. So, to get her along here for a bit to help out with the judging is something I'm quite chuffed about. Let's get started shall we? The nominations for Best Overseas Blog are:

1. Viceunversa - We all know of and probably read DD's blog. It's made up of about 60% advertising and creative world things, 40% Sri Lankan bits and pieces and then about another 30% of random things about life, DD's in particular. The fact that its content adds up to 130% proves how interesting it is and it's almost always in Kottu's top posts.

2. Indyana - I did think twice about including this in the awards. Purely because Indyana now resides in Hong Kong and writes little about Lanka. But, she used to live there, she has a strong Lankan connection and, what the hell? I like her and she's brown too. She continues to regale us with tales of her kids, her husband and the life of an Indian in HK and I know many in the Sri Lankan blogosphere read the tales as they unfold.

3. Darwin - The first winner of the blog of the year award has been a little bit quiet of late but she can be relied upon for ongoing quality, some ongoing ranting and the occasional hilarious sheep related story. I mean the story is hailarious. not the sheep. Well, I suppose it might be a funny sheep but I don't know. She's always opinionated but never afraid to give her opinion. Cool. And I mean Darwin there, not the sheep.

4. Ian S - Formerly, and still often, known as theonetruecoolguy. Ian's is one of those blogs that I feel I've grown up with, rather it's grown up with me. Over the years we've followed our management consulting, charity working intrepid blogger as he's visited, worked in and studied in country after country. From Sweden to Nepal it's been fun and interesting and I hope the adventure that is Ian's life continues to be reported online. I'm still unsure about the white suit though.

5. T, or Sosnazzy or Dance in a triangle - I'm never sure with these bloggers who change their names what to call their blog, but T is the name of the writer for sure. She's an alien in New York, though seemingly legal, and over the year has narrated stories of drunkeness, boys, weddings and the life of a girl who works hard and plays hard and writes a bit. She basically does everything that I know my kids will be doing in a few years' time, but I hate the thought of it.

6. Kalusudda - He's the first and only newbie in this category but thoroughly deserved. I'm a firm fan of KS and I think that a person who comes up with the idea of writing about other blogs in a positive light is to be commended. Sorry Darwin, I don't want to go on too much about it though! It's been good to watch KS' blog develop from one that only commented on other blogs to one in which he also now tells us about his own thing. But, he's been quieter than a quiet thing in a church lately and I hope he gets back to us soon.

There you have it, those are the esteemed nominees and I'll pass things over to TMS for the award and her few words:


"I can't believe I didn't make the connection between T and Dance in a Triangle! She's my shoo in for the winner. An almost 23 year old, Calvin loving, alcoholic with a reluctant bohemian streak. The thing about her posts are that anyone can read them and find something to nod, chortle or snigger about. She's got that knack of being able to double relate. What do I mean by that? She's relates her stories and anecdotes in a way that others can relate to it ofcourse. This girl is going places and I don't just mean in the New York sense of it.

Close seconds are Indyana and Darwin. Darwin's blog is in dire need of a facelift though. Indyana comes in 2nd too I guess. She writes so well and comfortably that you can't help being drawn into her posts.

Ian and DD come in 3rd. Although I think Ian needs to blog about something more than work-related stuff. DD... well he concentrates on advertising and politics. Not that I'm one to talk! Although he is utterly ballsy and that certainly makes him a good read even if you disagree with his sentiments.

Kalusudda's blog comprises mainly of holding up a mirror to the rest of the blogsphere. And, though this does have its benefits, one wonders what he has to say for himself."

There you have it, she has spoken and judged and the winner of the Best Overseas Blog for 2008 is T.

Many congratulations T and thank you to the others for the enjoyment they've given me.

RD

The 2008 Blogging Awards - Welcome

Here we are once again. I hope everyone's seated comfortably as I welcome you to the 2008 blogging awards.

After much reading, staring at the monitor and pondering I've finally started to put finger to keyboard. This year I promise you a veritable feast of Sri Lankan blogosphere related anecdotes, awards, frolics and fun. We have a few new categories, some new bloggers and guest judges galore, some of whom might even be real.

The year has been one of peaks and troughs as far as the Sri Lankan blogosphere has been concerned, though I was talking to a hill climbing friend of mine the other day and he said the same thing about life in general. Things have been dead quiet one month, then followed by a hustle of frenetic blogging activity the next. Bloggers have come, particularly those who have read Soixante Neuf's blog, and bloggers have gone.

Some of the old favourites, very old in the case of Java Jones, have gone quiet, almost semi retired. Some have got all loved up and are now putting their effort into sex and relationship related things rather than writing their blog and some have decided that life is to be lived, not blogged about. Others, like me, Cerno, TMS and T have carried on rambling about whatever takes our fancy, stealing humour and doing what we were doing last year, although I mean the year before.

I saw on Indi.ca the other day that he mentioned the possibility of some blogging awards in the future and I'd like to just point out that this is supposed to be a fun thing here on LLD. It's all about blogs I read and visit regularly, about things that appeal to me, me and me. This is no place for genuine objectivity, or intellect for that matter.

In a break with tradition, although I don't know whether doing something twice in two years makes it a tradition, I've decided to be all dramatic and smartarse about things. Instead of one long post, which gets quite boring towards the end middle, I'm going to serialise things. We'll have a category each day, possibly not even on each day if I do a huge poo that I feel is worth writing about, until the last day and the big award for Blog Of the Year.

Everything is written already in longhand in my journal. Well, not so much written but mindmapped, so I know who most of the winners are. The journal is locked away in a secret vault which also contains the recipes for Coca Cola, KFC and the exact scientific formula of the smell at House Of Fashions. Elephant House wanted to put the recipe for their Cream Soda in the vault too, but it was just a scrap of paper with some writing in purple crayon that said

"Vanilla, water, loads of sugar, even more yellow colouring and then some gas"

so I said no, but nicely because I love the stuff.

Without further ado, not to be confused with "adoh", either the magazine or the word, I think we should get on with things. So tomorrow will see the first category and award.

It will be for.....

The Best Photoblog.

Oh, before I go on I should add that, although things have already been decided, I'm still totally open to bribes and will happily give out an award for a small payment. It can be in the form of money, food, drink or just a nice word or two.

Let's move on...

Lately In The Sri Lankan Blogosphere....

It's oh so quiet. Look at the whatsernames..

Java - 1 day ago - But a damn fine letter to Mr Claus nevertheless

Gallicissa - 1 day ago - What a fantastic owl picture though.

Hissyfits - 1 day ago - You do talk so much sense, but must try harder.

Dance in a T - 1 day ago - It must be love.

The Missing Sandwich - 2 days ago - The ice melts

Naz S - 2 days ago - Probably still jetlagged

Sach - 3 days ago - But she's got a new look.

Noorie - 4 days ago - Exams and doolally

Dinidu - 4 days ago - Worrying.

Darwin - 1 whole fucking week ago - Must be TGDBS

Confab - 1 week ago - In a Black Label stupor

Gutterflower - 1 week ago - Please please we want more.

Kalusudda - 1 week ago - Holidays are no excuse

Theena - 3 weeks ago - Come on machan

Ravana - 4 weeks ago - Par for the course, sadly.

Ian S - 1 month ago - It's Nepalling.

Cerno, Indyana and Viceunversa are off the hook. The rest of you, see me in my office after school.

Oh, good weekend all.

RD

Lately In The Sri Lankan Blogosphere...

It's been a while, but since I've started blogging I don't think I've seen things as quiet as they are at the moment, in the Sri Lankan blogosphere at least.

It's as if most of my regular haunts have decided to shut down and only post very, very infrequently. Maybe it's part and parcel of having a blog, that people do it for a while and then get a bit bored or just lose the desire to continue. Perhaps inspiration is in short supply these days, maybe the cost of living in Sri Lanka is so high that inspiration is way down the list of items to be purchased. Who knows?

But there has been activity and some of it has been interesting, a lot of it has been interesting in a highly sex based way, thanks the to new kid on the block, a certain Miss Soixante Neuf. I've written about her and I'm one of many whose interest, as well as other things, has been aroused by her sexual memoirs.

Dinidu's gone and caused a bit of a stir. Nothing big really, he just wrote something that would probably offend anyone in the world who holds any religious beliefs whatsoever. He says that he thinks those who practice a religion are:

"for the lack of a more diplomatic work (sic), stupid."

and this has kicked off an avalanche of comments, if "avalanche" is the right collective term for comments that is. Now I like Dinidu, I like his blog and I would consider him as a friend. But frankly his comment is, in my opinion, stupid. That doesn't mean that I think that Dinidu's stupid, not in the least. I think he's as bright as a button, but his comment and his thinking on that particular issue is stupid.

He has a right to be an atheist, I just find it hypocritical that a person who is a sexual rights activist, which I assume means that he fights for the rights of gay people, can make and believe a statement like that. Presumably Dinidu's all for tolerance unless you're religious, in which case you're stupid. Am I just being all mature and uncontroversial when I say that yes, religion has caused wars, death and volcanoes? It's also brought lots of happiness to many people and caused good things, like Father Ted for one. But people who practice a religion are stupid???!! I don't think so Dinidu. I was joking about the volcanoes by the way. As a rule I don't generalise.

The Missing Sandwich has been going through a poetry phase in recent days. She's worried that the ability to write prose has left her for good and writes one of her brilliantly worded posts to tell us about the worry. If Alanis hadn't totally fucked up my idea of it I'd probably think there was irony in that.

Java reports a heartbreaking story. It's yet another example of some people putting short term profit before the environment. It's in Sri Lanka, but it needn't be, there'll be one of these scenarios going on right next door to you wherever in the world you're reading this from.

Lord Cerno of Cernosville has been churning out his usual eclectic mix of posts. You won't be surprised that my attention was kidnapped by his one about the drumming Gorilla. I don't know about you but I'm never sure whether to write the name of an animal with a capital letter or not. I don't mean "Gerald" as in the Not the Nine o'clock News. I mean "Gorilla" or "gorilla". I think it's the variety in Cerno's blog that I love so much. One day it's that post about that (G)gorilla and the drums and immediately after there's one about building unmanned aerial vehicles in Sri Lanka. His mind really is like a fart trapped in a collander.

Over in Portrait land Electra complains about too many friend requests on Facebook. I understand her problem, I have a similar thing in real life. Oh no, I don't, that was a dream, now I remember. Those lines between reality and dreams get so blurry sometimes.

In Glasgow Darwin's been doing a few things. Firstly she's fallen head over heels for a Mexican, mostly because of his fondness for cleaning. Now we know how to get into everyone's favourite parachutist's erm, good books, just take along a cloth and some disinfectant. She's also been playing in the playground and getting all youthful. She's lucky that she's a woman. If it were a strapping young man like me who had done the same things there'd be a load of worried mothers warning their kids to stay away from me and calling the Police.

Over the pond T has been fruit picking. She's kindly posted a photograph of her lovely pair of peaches for all to see. Worth a look lads, I tell you.

Sach's review of the Thriloka and more gig at Barefoot made me pine for Colombo like one of those dogs locked in a room and forced to listen to a guitarist practicing Sweet Child Of Mine. I've heard from many people about how brilliant Thriloka and the older chaps were and I'm left with even more love for Shiraaz than I had to start with, in a manly hetero drummer's way of course, not that I think gay people are stupid or anything mind.

That's about it for now, at least in terms of my regulars. On a final note I'm missing Kalusudda . I don't know where he's got to. He went away with old Mrs Kalusudda and young Miss Fukuoka, fell down a mountain and survived to blog about it and now he's disappeared without telling us.

Come back Kalu, we miss you. I'm a fan and I think it's interesting to watch how his blog is developing. It started as a very factual record of the blogs he has visited and commented on and it's developed into a mix of that plus a blog about his life and times too. Very different and very captivating.

Have a nice weekend all. I'm off to see the Ting Tings tonight and Billy Cobham tomorrow. It's a drumfest in these parts!

RD