These film photographs are hard won victories from my non digital photography days. A time of despairing struggle. Trying to understand the voodoo of F-stop and aperture. Recorded by piles of over or under exposed disasters. Took me years to realise the cause. Technical incompatibilities between my ancient Nikon’s “semi automatic” settings and its Sigma…
The film “Yamu”! pioneered the profitable marketing of Sri Lankan cinema to a global audience. It’s international success story has made the film THE model for “selling” Sri Lanka’s art, literature, music and other “cultural exports” to the world. This view is misguided. It ignores the uniqueness of the film’s success. Which according to wiser… ...
Independence Arcade is the hottest thing in Colombo when it opened. I finally got around to going there in October 2014. It felt like visiting another white elephant. A wound from one more politically connected racket. Its a nasty of me to say. I don’t have any evidence to verify evidence of illegalities. Its just…
According to my calculations Sri Lankan Blog aggregator kottu.org is 10 years old today! The domain name was first registered on March 17, 2005 though that’s not an indication of a “launch date”. Kottu.org has certainly come a long way it lurched onto the scene. Some of us oldies certainly have fond memories of it. Head wear…
One is a photographer. The other is a poet. Each I feel has a rare mastery of her medium. Your attention to their work will be well rewarded. The photographer is Aamina Nizar. I blogged about her years ago. She sort of “went” off line for a while. She’s back with a new WordPress.com blog.…
If reading is a form of travel, Ryszard Kapuściński’s “Travels with Herodotus” is a multifaceted journey. A fund read. An insightful non academic introduction to a literary classic – the “Histories” by the Herodotus. A travel book through the painful days of post colonial Africa. A meditation on the nature of journalism via an ancient…
Photographed this abandoned MG convertible in the Kia Motors garage near Hyde Park (Colombo) a few years ago. Her roof was down. Every inch under a layer of dust. She had been abandoned in the grim cavern of the work shops for a while. Yet she defied her neglect with wordless dignity. Which amplified an…
These are two ancient postcards from the Colombo Museum. Classy aren’t they? No tourist board earnestness about Sri Lanka and paradise. Just a photo of the object. Followed by a minimal caption. The sepia photos and the ageing of the cards makes both timeless. They become artefacts of a different time. Yet there is nothing…
I’m not a optimist. I just secretly hope for the best while preparing for catastrophe. Somehow I managed to avoid the mire of fatalist pessimism despite getting a few stains from it. This post on Yudhanjaya Wijeratne’s blog gives me a bit of hope. On a different note, Maithripala Sirisena’s now-famous 100 Days manifesto seems…
There’s pro blogging. Then there’s typing stuff the voices in your head comes up with and putting it on the web. This blog is in the second category. Of course there’s a middle ground between the two. It’s harder to navigate. Resulting in middling half baked words. Unless you are incredibly disciplined in using your…
Sri Lanka’s pornography industry lobby has endorsed the president for the 2015 election. The announcement has shocked Sri Lanka’s Kama Kala (commercial pornography) industry. A business that avoids the murky waters of Sri Lankan politics. Unconvincing official explanations have only deepened suspicions of election time arm twisting. The instinctive reaction is to blame the government.…
Video of the possible situation in the Führer bunker under template trees. Hilarious piece of satire. Some of the captions are quite long. Pausing to read them is worth while. Possible the best version of the Hitler rant meme I’ve seen in a long time. I usually don’t post youTube stuff people send to me…
This speech by the Ven. Baddegama Samitha Thero gives hope to even a cynic like me. The hope that there are actual Buddhists among Sri Lanka’s monks. Who put their eloquence and the symbolic power of the saffron robe in the defence of human values. Most of the speech is in Sinhala with a short summery in English at the…
Politics Purges of those suspected of links to UPFA defectors (assuming they weren’t plants in the first place) Mithreepala is sentenced to hard labour in solitary confinement or appointed prime minister for his loyalty (if you are into conspiracy theory) Government’s legal position is always backed up by the Supreme Court Ministry or department for…
Its a question that the 2015 presidential election talk seems to avoid. Sri Lanka’s feudal politics is exciting. Economics is dull and dismal. In the minds of many economics has little to do with politics. The king always has money. We have all enjoyed his gifts. Come on, admit it. Even you, who grumble about […]
IF the president looses the election will he peacefully give up power? Become an elder statesmanship on a pension of a sub 100,000 rupee salary? Will his family walk away from their control/influence over large parts of the economy and government? Would the defence secretary go quietly into life as a private citizen? I doubt […]
The US president “pardons” a “thanks giving” Turkey each year. Which raises the question : what was the Turkey convicted of? A pardon is by definition : “The action of forgiving or being forgiven for an error or offence”. For a pardon to occur, the Turkey’s guilt in committing some sort of “error or offence” […]
Sri Lanka’s game of thrones is nearing another season finale. A renegade lord has come out of the shadows. He gathers his troops against his former master, the king. Their manoeuvres thicken the air with talk of wild conspiracies. The traditional rumour pot froths madly. So here’s a really wild one from that pot. The […]
Happy blog birthday to Jack Point, “The Court Jester” of the Sri Lankan blogosphere. His blog jestforkicks is 9 years young today. Making it one of the few still active “war era” (pre 2009) Sri Lankan blogs. Both facts earn Jack Point a place among the gnarled elders of Sri Lankan blogging. Yet I find […]
We put small white flowers into the coffin. I feel the room darken. Stoic aunties start sobbing. Two men in sarongs and high collared shirts appear and lift up the side flaps. The lid is shuffled out from near the toilet. Its ornamental screws are quickly tightened to soft crying in the background. Final punctuations […]