Music I like is too “strange/weird” for most adults. Most of it are in languages I don’t understand (not modern Sinhala or English). Triggering an instinctive “what’s that?” from whoever hears it. Short answers like “Tuvan throat singing”, “Baul music” or “an avant-garde Ukrainian folk song” are not enough. The inevitable prune faced expression forces … Continue reading Strange music ...

Mention Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Sri Lanka and the retort is that the country needs it. Because natural intelligence dried up long ago. Then we are back to cricket. There are variations of the “lack of intelligence” insult. All desecrating the achievements and intelligence of countless ignored heroes. Yet AI is neither a joke nor … Continue reading Artificial Intelligence ...

I bet you have NEVER read one THIS self centred. I certainly haven’t. I don’t write such blog posts. But this “issue” is at the point where someone MUST say something. That someone is not me. So I end up writing this. So what’s the fuss? If you ask me, “The Problem” is a silly … Continue reading Most self ...

Not many people remember Google these days. Most need to look it up. A sad irony for a company whose name was once a verb for that very act. Now it is a historical foot note. An academic short hand for dominance killed by ecological shifts. At its peak, Google’s algorithms defined human knowledge in … Continue reading Remember Google? →

I left Italy when I was sixteen. It was just after the war. There was nothing to eat. Everything was damaged, broken. Our ship stopped in Ceylon. A place call Gorl. There was this fellow loading pineapples onto the ship. It was the first time I saw one. I asked him what it was. He … Continue reading Migrant’s Pineapples →

Curfew. An adult word. Floats across the power cut dark to the veranda. To us kids sitting around the carom board. Lit by a candle on an upturned Milo tin. Curfew. A thrilling word. It means no school. Waking late. Street cricket. Assorted fun with the gang along the lane. My ears pick up other … Continue reading Curfew, moonlight, and Sri Lanka’s War →

This is the last book recommendation post for Yudhanjaya Wijeratne. It’s under three minutes of reading time. So you have more time to read these books. Or the first and second posts of book recommendations. Why bother with all this? These posts are not guerrilla marketing. I’m not a fan boy. Just someone whose been … Continue reading Reader’s book ...

This is the second book recommendation post for Yudhanjaya Wijeratne. The first post makes the necessary excuses about the motive for writing this. In the interest of keeping each post under three minutes of reading, I broke up what I wrote in to thirds. The Dwarf by Pär Lagerkvist This is first person narration that … Continue reading Reader’s book ...

Yudhanjaya Wijeratne wants book recommendations. Or so my spies, terrified informants, and omnipresent digital surveillance AIs tell me. So here’s the first of the recommendations. Written using time I don’t have. Why I’ll explain in the next post. Suffice it to say that Yudhanjaya is an important enough author. Important enough for the voices in […]

It’s been a while since my last post on Sri Lankan vehicle graphics. As with any element of Sri Lankan public culture, tradition demands that change happens an imperceptible pace. Giving the reassuring effect that nothing changes. Before the next storm kicks us in the face. The floral swirls of traditional Sri Lankan truck art […]

I measure distance with travel time. Not by fixed the impersonality of metres and kilometres. So my perception of distance is fluid. Stretching and shrinking based on where I am, where I am going, how I’m going, when I travel, the parking or available transport, . So my idea of the “distance” from Colombo Fort […]

They built Sri Lanka’s bridges, roads, power grid, dams and other infrastructure we take for granted. You may have heard a few names – Wimalasurendra, Kularathne – in passing. The rest never got the recognition required to be forgotten. Yet their work still stands. Despite a decaying state bureaucracy poisoned by Sri Lanka’s feudal politics. This […]

This aerial view lapse video shows how the Meethotamulla rubbish mountain grew over time. It looks like the spread of a malignant growth. Here’s the video for the impatient.: It went from this in 2004: to this in February 2017: I put this video together using screen grabs from Google Earth. Which has a large […]

There is an interesting line of Sri Lanka Air Force combat aircraft and helicopters (possibly helicopter gunships) on Google Maps (satellite view). In the tradition of my old Google Earth Posts I have included included a screen shot. For the nosy types, here’s the Google Maps satellite view link. Both show a tight line up […]

Social media like buttons are conversation killers. They reduce engagement to a lazy gesture. Just grunt your approval and shuffle on. Each passing month reinforces that “feeling”. It is satisfying to see a few stars pop up after a post. Yet it indicates a barrier to conversation. These days it seems to take more effort […]

These days I drop the offspring units at their schools. It’s a consequence of my new schedule. Though I would rather like to brag that my secret short cut skills had something to do with it. To keep the critters quiet, I’ve devised a play list that’s off the main stream road. Here’s a sample: […]

I was an emergency bird sitter over the weekend. Delighted offspring units told me my new status when I staggered home from work. The cage with it’s chirping prisoner was already on the living room floor. I was not delighted at all. As a vegetarian I don’t like animals. Beyond that, I feel that life […]

Drawing the human figure is not a talent. It is a hand-eye coordination skill. Systematic instruction and lots of focused practice will get any student drawing representations of the human form. Even a talentless shit like Cerno managed it. The proof is in the Flickr gallery at end of this post. Using skill to create […]

What I learned by going to an Old Boys' Association AGM. An education in itself.

I posted my first post on this blog a ten years ago today. Since then I managed to squeeze out posts on a regular basis. Twenty in month when I was time rich. One a month at my current ebb. Ten years of regular practice should improve any activity. The only improvement I admit to […]