Oooh that stings!

Especially when the other bloke says it's not his fault because he didn't see the car.

Things are changing around this here place.

Birds do it, bees do it
Even uneducated bloggers do it...

I've made the switch to beta. What does it mean?

I don't know, I'm still investigating. Sach has done it and says it's fine, so it must be ok.

But, if you happen to click on a link and my blog has vanished, gone a funny colour or turned into something you don't recognise, then you'll know I've been playing and it's gone a bit wrong.

In the meantime please tell me what you think of my new image. I'm going for a classic and adventurous without being too hard on the eyes look.

And also let me know what you think of the blog!

I've finally done one

For years I've admired the photographic abilities of many of these famous chaps. The way some of them can take a scene that you and I wouldn't even glance twice at and make it into a piece of art always amazes me.

It's a talent I wish I had and I spend many an hour trying to develop that visual sense. I can't objectively describe the qualities that make a magnificent photograph for me, all I know is that sometimes I look at one and I honestly feel as if my heart skips a beat.

In my whole life (all 22 years of it!!!) I have probably only taken one photograph that I really think is a good one. It was taken on 35mm film and I've lost the negative so the only copy I have is a massive poster sized enlargement of it hanging in my sitting room. So I can't show it to you. Unless you want to come round, in which case you'll be very welcome.

But, a couple of weeks ago I took another one that I am truly proud of. This is it. I tried it in black and white too but it's the colour one that works for me.

There was absolutely no manipulation of the image done other than anything the camera chose to do of its own accord.

I hope you like it too.

And do you know what? The Isle of Man is an ok place. It has its idiosyncrasies but all places do don't they? It was very. very photogenic in parts and I enjoyed getting out and snapping away.

So there!

And Hot Chocolate is back. http://hotchocolate.blogsome.com/2006/11/14/uhmm-so/

The cheer of the bloggers must be brought out and used to celebrate this good news:

Yay!

We like her.

FECK!!

Today will be a better day.

Yesterday one of my business partners borrowed my car for a 15 minute journey.

While he was reversing out of the space on our office car park a van reversed into the side of him. The van, which was here to do a pick up from us, had a broken tail light. My car has got about £2000 worth of damage to the wing.

It clearly wasn't my partner's fault. He was stopped and the van reversed into the side of him. The van driver said that he didn't see the car. That was his defence, honestly.

He says that he is going to deny liability. This really pisses me off. Insurance companies here usually can't be bothered to fight with each other. If both parties say that the other is at fault then the insurers invariably end up saying it's a fifty / fifty scenario. So the likelihood is that the cost of this will get added on to my insurance premium over the next few years.

I'll try and stick a picture up of the damage in the next few days.

Sometimes it's hard to find a positive. I suppose at least no one was injured, my car still works and I wasn't driving it.

If I had been driving, whether it was my fault or not, I would have had about 6 months of piss taking here, just for having an accident in my car park.

Smile.

Who do you work for?

People often say to me that I am lucky because I work for myself. I don't see it like that. Lucky yes, work for myself no.

The way I look at it is that I work for a Company of which I am also a major shareholder. I work for the shareholders of the company and I work for the Company's customers and I work for the Company's staff. In management jargon I could be said to work for my internal and my external customers.

In fact, I don't think there are any people who can truly say that they work for themselves.


Doctor, Academic, entrepreneur, salesperson or management consultant. Domestic engineer, photographer or student.

Who's your customer? Who's your boss?

Autumn Colours

I tried to capture some of those gorgeous reds, oranges and yellows that seem to be all the rage with trees and bushes at the moment. There's more on my flickr account if you're interested.

Once in a while we have nice colours here too!

I'm sorry but I have to confess....

Last night I went out for one of those"quiet" evenings with my best mate P. It was just a few beers at our lively local pub. At least that was the plan.

We had a pleasant and enjoyable night just shooting the shit, eyeing up girls, wishing we were younger and singler and all that sort of thing. We talked extensively about the Powerizers that I mentioned here.

http://londonlanka.blogspot.com/2006/11/boys-toys.html

and are very seriously thinking about getting these babies. It could be fun and dangerous!

I staggered home well after midnight with rather too much Stella Artois inside me. I had one of those incredibly good drunken meals, the type when you are hungry and pissed, but not so drunk that you aren't bothered about food. I had made a chicken curry on Sunday night, as all good Asians do when we return from a holiday that is free of spicy food. I had the leftover chicken curry and about half a ton of mixed fried rice. Bargain!

It is true that some wisdom comes with age and I have learnt that mixing my drinks is the best way to have an evil hangover. So I try not to.

This morning I woke up feeling groggy, but not disastrously so. I showered, shaved and made my toilet. Then I sat on it.

Then I woke the wife, who had left our bed at some point in the night and gone to another room to sleep in a spare bed. I have a vague recollection of her shouting at me in the night, something to do with snoring. Then I woke the kids, said goodbye and left. All in all it was my fairly usual morning routine.

The drive into work was the special bit. It's a frosty, sharp and icy morning here. The temperature, courtesy of BMW in car electronics, was 2 degrees C. Everything looked gorgeous.

For the last few days I have been observing the autumn colours and thinking, or trying to think, of photographic opportunities. It has felt as if all the ingredients have been just not quite there. Suddenly this morning it all fell into place.

All the trees looked stunning, the shades of reds, oranges and yellows combined with the frosty morning light made me feel as if I was driving through a painting. A nice one too. I had no hangover and it was one of those "glad to be alive" half hours.

On the CD player I was listening to the setlist that I have to learn for a gig. Theena, if you're reading this I can only apologise. I know that many will never take me seriously as a musician ever again but I'm going to stick my head above the parapet. I have to confess that........

I really, really, really like............................."Hole in the Head", by the Sugarbabes.

It's out now. I feel better for it.
It's a song that I have to learn, not very challenging from a drum angle, but I just think it's a great kicking grooving little pop song.

Also, for anyone interested, I bought two of those Cubeworld things for the girls yesterday. They're brilliant things. Go get some and you'll thank me for the recommendation.

Also I must admit I felt a pang of woe when I read this:

http://landlikenoother.blogspot.com/2006/11/top-20-blogs-of-sri-lanka.html

and discovered that my blog wasn't mentioned. Then I realised that I wasn't listed on Technorati. I am now. I don't know what effect it will have but it seems to be the done thing.

Like one of the nominees who claps the winner at an awards ceremony I'd like to pass my congratulations on to the top 20. Most of them are blogs I read regularly and clearly others do too.

I'm off now. Have a good Friday and a good weekend all.

And please don't tell anyone about the Sugarbabes thing.

Boys' toys

I'm an unashamed gadget freak. I adore useless toys, in fact they're almost as good as useful toys.

From iPods to G shocks, from credit card shaped multi function tools to multi device LCD remote control units I've got them all. Rhythmic Towers is so full of gadgets that I have to hide them at work to stop the wife seeing them. Women object to these things you know, something to do with wasting money.

Now that I've told you that you can imagine the damage that one of these "gadget" magazines can inflict on a person like me. There I was, sailing along happily and thinking that I had the almost latest of everything, when this magazine found its way into my Tesco's basket. What have I discovered?

Well I'm ok on the camera front. After buying three of the babies in the last year even I think I've got that area covered. Although these new Samsung cameras with the innovative cross hair menu system do look appealing.

I need a new iPod as a matter of urgency. My one is now 2 generations old. It doesn't even have video. It's got a so yesterday 60gb drive, which means that, with 5000 odd songs on it, I've only got about 35gb of free space. I need that extra 55gb of free disk space and of course I am in desperate need of the brighter and bigger screen to view all the photographs which are on my iPod and I never view anyhow. The battery life on my current one is a paltry 10 hours too.

The new iPod shuffle, the world's smallest MP3 player, will have to be bought too. Just look at it.

Then there's the matter of my phone. The old Motorola RAZR thing is a sexy beast but it's a bit, you know, last week. There's this new one coming out by Xcute, whoever they are, with a 6 megapixel camera. It's got MP3, 20MB internal memory, 30 frames per second video and a TV out thing to view on your TV. It makes phone calls too.

What better way to tell the time than on the new Casio "24" range of watches? The red one looks like the one for me, it's probably got all sorts of functions but the only ones I'll ever use are the time, date and the world time zone thing, so I know the time in CMB. 100m and 200m water resistance is handy, but if it will work in the shower and the average hotel swimming pool, then that's fine for me. Does anyone else play the game when you try to make the stopwatch stop so the hundredths of a second bit says "00"? After some trial attempts I can usually do this and accurately stop within about 5 - 10 hundredths of my target.

Another thing that I was taken by is these big feet stilty springy robocop type things. Personally I think my description says it all, but they're a pair of scaffolding looking things that you strap to the bottom half of the leg. The blurb says you can "jump u to 2m, leap 3m for every stride and run at speeds of up to 20 mph." I really seriously need some of these. They're called Powerizers. As far as I'm concerned they are an essential for modern day life.

The new Logitech "Entertamer" multi device remote control looks damn sexy. Apparently you can tell it to do something like "watch a DVD" and it will automatically turn on the TV, DVD player and set the channels and all the other settings for you. How many times have you been caught short, trying to watch a DVD but you can't find the remote for one device, or you can't quite remember which button to press to get the TV on the AV channel? Well, this baby could solve all your problems.

The digital photo frame looks like a handy object too. I could download pictures straight from my camera and they'll be displayed on this nice looking silver edged device. I could put it on my desk right next to the binary clock with its blue blinking lights.

The best things I have seen, the things I am going to buy ASAFP, the little beauties I know my children will love and I'll have to pretend to like too, just to join in you know, are called "Cube World".

They're little coloured boxes with a kind of LCD screen on them. Each screen then has a LCD stickman character inside it. Apparently as you tip or roll the cube the character inside it reacts by falling around the cube. The piece de resistance is that, when you place the cubes next to each other, the little men interact and visit each other's homes. How great is that?

Here's a small teaser for you. Not a chocolate coated honeycombed centred confectionary piece, that's a Malteser, just a little question.

Out of all the items I have mentioned there is only one that I really wouldn't buy.

Which one is it?

Saddam on pay per view?

If, just if, Saddam Hussein's hanging was to be broadcast on pay per view TV it would easily be the biggest pay per view event ever, of that I have no doubt.

But would you watch it?

I'll tell you now. I would. I'm against capital punishment but my curiosity would get the better of me. I don't know whether I'd watch it all or if I'd be too disgusted and would turn off.

What about you?

Let me know.

Americans, kids, sushi and sandwiches.

I set off last Thursday morning with my two lovely daughters to Gatwick airport for our big adventure to the Isle of Man. The jourmey to Gatwick was uneventful, we listened to a combination of Lily Allen and Nelly Furtado, it was all the "lys" really and a good time was had by all.

After we had checked in and gone through to airside both my daughters decided they were on the verge of death due to hunger. As a parent I should have realised that this happens, it was about 65 minutes since they had last eaten so things were pretty desperate. Another few minutes and there could have been a phone call to one of these child helpline things to report the cruel and heartless treatment by their Father.

As we only had around 20 minutes before we were due to board I told them that we wouldn't have time to have a proper meal and would have to grab a sandwich or something else quick.

"Dad, I don't like sandwiches", the 10 year old said.

"What do you mean you don't like sandwiches?"

"I don't like them" she said.

"What, you don't like any sandwiches?"

"No, none at all."

"But you have them in your packed lunch at school". I had spotted a weakness in her plan.

"That's different" she replied.

"Oh, well we'll have something else then shall we? I was defeated, but not beaten. Or beaten but not defeated. Or both. I blame Joey Tribbiani.

We spotted a Yo! Sushi place and decided to give it a try. I've actually never been to one before, which is remarkable for a Londoner, and the girls were keen on the novelty factor too.

Sushi is a food that I'm trying to get to know. So far I have found some likes and some dislikes but overall it's a food that I can live with. Apart from these sticky and tiny squares of rice, they are not meant for me.

If any of you aren't familiar with Yo! Sushi it's basically just a load of stools placed around a semi circular counter and serving area. Just inside the counter is a conveyor belt which goes around, as these things do. All the food is placed in different coloured dishes and whizzed round the belt. Each dish has a transparent plastic cover on it so you can see what's inside. You grab a dish that takes your fancy and the colour of the dish dictates the price of said dish. Simple and enjoyable.

We sat there for a bit, ate some prawns noodles and sticky squares of rice and then left. It was all uneventful but enjoyable. Oh, apart from the American tourist.

I feel a need to thank Theena for his post:

http://poetlost.wordpress.com/2006/11/01/allo-allo/

He published it a day or two before this happened and it got me thinking about the differences between British and American humour, how those Yanks may well be good at, errm, but they just can't do irony or sarcasm.

Whilst sitting at Yo! Sushi watchng the conveyor belt and thinking about what I would listen to on the iPod on the plane (nothing because I lent it to the 10 year old as it happened) an American tourist came and sat next to me. I knew she was American from her accent and I added the tourist bit in for effect. She may have been living in England for all I know. She looked at me and said:

"Do you know how this thing works?"

The question was presented to me in a tone that pissed me off. There was no smile, no "excuse me", no warmth and certainly no "sorry", which is an essential requirement for any intercourse with a stranger in England.

Politely I told her that one just picks the dishes one requires and pays at the end, with the dishes priced according to their colour. She listened to my answer and then turned away and continued conversing with her companion. Again there was no "thanks" or anything, barely even an acknowledgement that I had spoken. It was one of those moments we have all had when you are treated like a servant, for no apparent reason.

So I turned back to her and said:

"Unless of course you meant how did the conveyor work?, because that's just a belt with a system of pulleys and wheels. I assume they're all electrically driven and that's what makes it all go round."

She just looked at me with an open mouthed goldfish look. Any thoughts I had that she may have actually lived in England and learnt a bit about British humour evaporated at this point. She clearly thought I was being totally serious. She turned to the friend, it was probably George Bush, said something and off they went, muttering.

And that's why Alan Partridge will never be big in the US.

Tried some Black and White

IMG_0400
Originally uploaded by rhythmicdiaspora.

I might eventually get the hang of it!

I'm back and I'm bad. Well quite good really.

Got back this afternoon from the Isle of Man. I had a rather enjoyable time.

I got to put the new (ish) camera through its paces a bit and I'm fairly pleased with the results. The decenter ones are on my flickr account, feel free to peruse and comment if you desire.

I survived a long weekend with my Mother in Law!

Yay!

What's been happening here?

The Island of Serendipity. I don't think so!

I'm talking about the Isle of Man. The place where my Mother in Law lives.

I've been there a few times and, as small islands go, it's not up in my top 10. Come to think of it, it's not even up in my top 50, and I probably couldn't even name 50.

Tomorrow I am heading there with the kids for 3 days. No wife, which is good. She is staying at home because of work. I'll be there with the Mother in Law, Sister in Law and niece, who all live there, and the kids.

I'm looking forward to spending the time with the kids. If any of you are working Fathers then you'll probably understand how nice this break will be for me, not for the kids of course, they'll hate me by the end of it!

There are many places I would rather go but the Isle of Man is the place where my Mother in Law chose to emigrate to. There was a potential silver lining in this dark looming cloud. I realised the other day that it would be a good chance for me to give my new camera a good run out. New scenery, different conditions and, most importantly, the time to go out and take some pictures.

So I did a quick google to see what kind of photo opportunites can be found in the landscape and scenery.

Try it yourself, it's depressing. Not if you are sitting in Sri Lanka surrounded by beauty and greenery and Rambutans. Nor if you're sitting in London with photo opportunities aplenty on your doorstep.

If you're sitting at your desk swathed in a dull artificial light, surrounded by paperwork and dreaming of sitting at the Galle Face watching the sunset, with your next break being a 3 day event in the Isle of Man, then you'll know how I feel. Oh, and my bro is enjoying himself in NY at the moment.

Spending time with the kids, a bit of fatherly and daughterly bonding will be great.

Even the Mother in Law isn't too bad. As Mother in Laws go.

The Isle of Man.

No drums.

Not!

At least I won't have to pay tourist rates! ;)

I'll be back in a few days' time to regale you with details of my adventures maybe even have some photographs to show. I bet you can't wait.

Yes, you. Sitting in the warmth and tropical humidity of Sri Lanka, eating rice and curry, drinking arrack and soaking up the atmosphere in the Barefoot Garden.

Don't you worry about me will you. I even had to buy a cashmere jumper today. I am told that they're all the rage. It's very soft, very warm and will get very used on the Isle of Man.

AAAAARGH!!

Bye. Back soon.

What rules do you have for yours?

When I started my blog I made some simple rules. I had read other people's blogs for a while and, whilst I hadn't the faintest idea how my blog would look or how many people might read it, I made some "house" rules for myself:

1. Keep positive - I didn't want to be a "moaner". I wanted to talk about good things and not whine about bad things. There are plenty of blogs that exist by attacking and criticising others and I didn't want to take that avenue.
2. Be polite - I have tried to treat everyone with respect. The old "treat everyone as you would like to be treated yourself" adage is one that I firmly believe in. (apart from when brothers are involved)
3. Stay away from politics - There are some things I can claim to have some knowledge about, but politics is not one of them. There are a few occasions when I have skirted around politics but I have generally steered clear. You political brains will run rings around me anyway.
4. Make friends - The old blogosphere is a marvellous place full of interesting and very dull people. I have made many new friends and had many conversations with lots of interesting characters. Nice.
5. Listen - As a young salesperson the habit of listening well was drummed into me. "You've got two ears and one mouth, use them in that ration" I was told.
6. Publish all comments - I publish every single comment with two types of exception; those that are pure spam and the few occasions when someone has accidentally sent the same comment more than once. Everything else is published. So far.That's it.

So, those are my few rules. Self regulated and I know I have broken just about all of them.

What are yours?

Clothes, clocks, climate and covers.

It's that miserable weather time of the year here in the UK and I'm pissed off with it.

I like the deep winter, when it can be cold and crisp and has been known to snow. It's great for photography and there's a certain romantic and Christmassy air to it.

But, this autumn stuff is getting me down. The colours are nice, I'll grant you that. If I didn't have a job, 2 bands and some family I'd try to get out and take some pictures of the gorgeous autumnal reds and browns that are everywhere. Leaves, trees, deer and foxes are all around me; I've got Richmond Park on one doorstep and Bushy Park on the other, even closer, doorstep. Sri Lankan friends come over and get photographically excited by the deer everywhere and stop and stare in amazement at the foxes. We just look at foxes with disdain, who wouldn't if they went through your rubbish every night?

Everything is in limbo. Clothes, clocks and climate are all unsure whether they should be in winter or summer mode. This morning, the first work day after the clocks went back, I woke up to sunlight.

On Saturday I was strolling around Kingston wearing a T shirt and sunglasses. On Sunday I made a fire at home and wore a jumper and an overcoat. ( I was boiling!). I took a stroll down to the river, it's about 5 minutes walk and can be quite picturesque. But I couldn't really get interested or photographically stimulated. I took a few shots of rivers, birds and the like then wandered home deeply dissatisfied.

Exactly a miniscule fraction of a nanosecond after I had turned my camera off and put the lens cap on I heard a roar and saw a gorgeous Ferrari convertible with its hood down speed past me.

Damn!

So home it was. To practice this fantastic set I've got to learn. I was contacted by a great local funk singer who asked me if I was interested in doing a gig with her. It's her first solo gig after Barflyz, her band, split up. The intention is to do the one gig and see how the various musicians get on to see what might happen after that. I said "yes", rather loudly and quickly and followed it with lots of very serious doubts about whether I'm a good enough drummer for the calibre of people and music involved. The doubts are still there but I figure that she wouldn't have asked me if I wasn't good enough and these challenges have to be met head on. Or not.

But she sent me the set and it's a kicking jazzy, funky and latinney piece of work. From Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes to Broken Dreams by Basement Jaxx to Glorybox by Portishead, it's all there and I've got to learn them and nail them. Some of the songs are technically hard and some are challenging in terms of feel but I'm enjoying the learning. There's a few, Superstition, Take your Mama that I already know, which is always handy.

On the subject of music can anyone tell me who won at the battle of the band thing in Colombo?

I can't find the answer anywhere.

And it looks lke the little covers band I had joined has now imploded. The usual musical differences and guitarists and singers egos have been hard at work.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks Anon and thanks Electra

For the last few days I've been having an online debate with someone who has so far stayed anonymous, all in the post I made about local and tourist prices. Initially I thought that I had touched a nerve or angered Anon but, as our debate continued it became clear to me that Anon felt passionately about our chosen subject.

We've had, and are still having, a stimulating discussion. I am enjoying it and it makes a nice refreshing change from many of the online arguments I see online, where there is untold namecalling and personal insults and the like. I hope Anon has enjoyed / is enjoying it too.

Then, Electra has said some kind words, all thoroughly deserved ;), about my band, Mimosa. She has impeccable taste that woman!

http://electra.blogsome.com/2006/10/28/semi-final/

Anon, that was my first smiley, albeit totally fucked up, and all down to you.

So, thanks to Electra for the words and thanks to Anon for the lively and stimulating debate. The best fun I've had not involving nakedness or drums for a long time!

Come in and give your view.

I'd just like to draw your attention to the post I wrote here:

http://londonlanka.blogspot.com/2006/10/tourists-locals-and-sri-lankan-mothers.html

It looks to be drawing a lot of opinions and yours would be welcome.

R

Tourists, locals and Sri Lankan Mothers

I was having a healthy argument with my Mum the other day about the positives and negatives of the Sri Lankan system of charging differing rates to tourists and locals.

Now, you know what these Sri Lankan Mothers are like. In fact the sentence:

"I was having a healthy argument with my Mum the other day"

is full to the brim with innaccuracies, bulging with oxymorons and would probably get me thrown out of many an institution. Or put in one.

First there's the issue of saying "a healthy" instead of "an healthy". I believe that the correct thing is the latter, but the average man in the street, whether it's Duplication Road (one way or two way!) or Piccadilly, won't say that in everyday conversation. The odd very well spoken, prim and proper Englishman will make it a habit to say "an hotel", dropping the aitch. Of course they only exist in PG Wodehouse books and American films. The rest of us talk about a hotel, with a hard aitch.

Then there's the major oxymoron "a healthy argument with my Mum".

You're reading this therefore you may well be Sri Lankan. You probably have had experience of these Sri Lankan Mothers. You may have had or still have one, hell you may even be one (hello T and N). You may be someone who actually knows my Mother. But, whatever your background, there is a very high chance you'll be nodding in agreement, smiling knowingly and feeling rather gulty about it.

These Sri Lankan Mothers are unique. They're like a Matriarch really, only scarier and more Motherly.

And it is against the law to have a healthy argument with your own one.

So, the other day it was more of a chat. Well a lecture I suppose. With me as the audience. You're never too old or too wise for your own Mother to give you some advice on how to wear your trousers, how to breathe, how to walk or some other pearl of wisdom.

But, Mothers aside, we were discussing the tourist and local system of pricing that most tourist places have in SL. My opinion is that it's a good thing, in principle.

As long as the cost of living is Sri Lanka is so much lower than in the Western world then I think it can work and achieve all its objectives. Most tourists are happy to pay a more "Western" type of price for the joys of climbing Sigiriya or exploring the caves of Dambulla. The price has to be finely judged as many aren't happy to pay a rate that is, for example, the same as the admission price to Madame Tussauds, even though Madame Tussauds is crap.

http://londonlanka.blogspot.com/2006/04/contrast-between-harrods-and-madame.html

On reflection I would actually pay the same price to climb Sigiriya as I would to enter M Tussauds, but my point is that most western tourists in Sri Lanka do expect to pay less for things than they / we do at home. After all, the low cost of living in Sri Lanka could probably be classed as an attraction in itself.

So, in principle, I'm perfectly happy to pay a bit more to see certain things and stay in certain places than I would have to if I were a local. The Sri Lankan economy gains more revenue, many of the poorer local people are able to see sights and do things that they would never be able to if they had to pay higher prices and all are happy.

There are occasions when I get really pissed off with the tourist rates though. There are times when I have stayed in some hotels and had to pay the full all up tourist rates. Why? Because I don't hold a Sri Lankan passport and don't speak Sinhala. Well I ask you, they're just details. My family and heritage is Sri Lankan through and through, I go there at least once a year and I honestly feel that my cumulative contribution to the Sri Lankan economy is far greater than that of the average "package tour" tourist. Just ask the fellow with the long hair and baldness at House Of Fashion if you don't belive me. As I have got to know more people and made more contacts over the years it's now quite rare that I will stay somewhere and have to pay rate card, but it can still happen and still be annoying. I guess it's a pride thing, not wanting to be classed as a normal Sudda but also knowing that I'll never be a proper local.

So to remedy the situation (for me at least) the GOSL needs to introduce some kind of loyalty card. I need to be able to accumulate points for trips to Sri Lanka, knowledge of people, places and presence of family. I can accept that a lack of Sinhala should be a negative in my Sri Lankanness rating, but it shouldn't wholly negate everything else.

I wear a sarong every night, that must be a big point scorer. I can nod my head the Sri Lankan way to say yes, I can play a passable baila on the drumkit. All these things must count for somethng surely.

Indi, can't you organise some scheme for people who have blogs listed on kottu too. That should be a big points earner.

So different rates for tourists and locals is fine by me. As long as I'm a local, not a tourist.

For the record my Mum thinks that it's a ridiculous system and everyone should pay the same.

She knows.

Six word blog post

I don't want to do that!

The fruit chart

My favourite fruits in reverse order are:


5. Orange - But why is it the only fruit called by its colour? Or is that the only colour called after a fruit? Intriguing.

4. Papaya - A smidgeon of lime and it tastes fine. And it rhymes.

3. Water Melon - Although I never know exactly what to do with the seeds.

2. Mango - Not too stringy please. As a child they were a rare treat but now they are so common that we get them free inside packets of cheese and onion crisps.

1. Rambutan - Number 1 by far

Easy to open, easy to eat and delicious too. No mess, which is a big downside of mangoes for me. I still don't get it with the dodgy bit that is just near the seed, I always end up chewing it for a while and then giving up. The flesh is so similar yet so much better than a lychee. I remember spending 2 days in Yala several years ago and my friend A and I spent hours driving around eating from a big bag of Rambutans that we had bought on the way. We never saw much on that trip apart from a few elephants. I hardly ever see them in the UK, maybe that's one reason I like them so much. I mean Rambutans, not elephants. Although I don't see that many elephants in Richmond Park either.