Like so many diasporic Sri Lankans I watched it, even staying up late (by my currently low standards that is).Did I think that the first programme was a good thing? Yes. There's a line, a quandary, a grey area after any conflictual situation. And it's about what we should just put behind us and forget or accept and what we ...
...I watch this it makes me grin like an idiot. There's something so optimistic and joyous about it.I challenge you, see if you can watch it without it putting a smile on your face!
So I'm back in the UK after a glorious two weeks in Serendib. Yesterday was a lucky bank holiday Monday. Bank holidays are a bit like Poya Days except they don't happen as often, the weather's always shit and we don't drink as much.I had hoped that the extra day would give me a bit of time to get prepared ...
It was a normal Saturday morning in September 2015. Normal except for the fact that my Dad had just died. He actually passed at around 6am but, by the time all the official declarations had been done and the undertaker had arrived, it was around 9.30 when we carried his body out of the house into the hearse.There was ...
So I'm back after a week's R + R in the motherland. It was good, with a capital S, but this monsoon business is a bit of a dampener isn't it? Grey skies and rain should be banned, does anyone actually like them?There's much to tell you. Firstly I can't believe that it's Thursday already, that last Thursday I was ...
You know me, I'm not a violent type. If I was, then my lack of technique would deem me to be an unsuccessful one. But now and again I come across a chap, or some fellows, who bring out David Blacker type feelings in me. By that I mean I just want to beat them up, not other things along ...
I’m currently in Colombo, probably feeling like most people; a mixture of heartbreak, confusion, loss (for the many lives as well as the peace we’ve got used to) and, I’m sorry to say, relief that myself and my loved ones are okay.I’m old enough to have lived through many terror related incidents, from being here in July ‘83 to ...
Paddy (similar to rice) grows in the hill country of Sri Lanka, a small island just underneath India and run by China. White flags made of old material like T shirts, trousers and sometimes even sarongs; a traditional form of dress worn by locals and tourists, fly in the traditional manner. Ancient hills, soon to be demolished to make way ...
Yes, a bit of an attention grabbing headline I know. But still, we're here now.I have a question for you; why is it that women, or females as they're often referred to, continually congratulate each other on their beauty and looks (mostly on Facebook admittedly) whereas as us blokes never do?Time after time I see photos of ladies and time ...
I had to look up the spelling of "dilemma" for it's a word that has foxed me for some time. Well, the thing is that it hadn't foxed me, I always knew how to spell it. Every single time the need arose I'd whack it our effortlessly. And then I saw it written somewhere, no doubt by one of these ...
I'm quite fussy about my words I am. I'm not very good at them, nor do I proclaim myself to be some kind of authority on all things wordy (except in private of course), but there are things I like and things I abhor.I like a good apostrophe, one thats' thrown in at the right place (did you see what ...
........or should that be "On Indecision"? I'm not sure. I read a quote the other day from Brian Tracy, the less well known brother from International Rescue. It was a quote that struck a chord with me, enough of a chord for me to write it in my Barefoot notebook, on the newly created quote page. It goes like this:"Decisiveness ...
As if to remind me that I haven't been blogging enough lately I sign in to Blogger to write this post and discover that everything's changed. It's all a bit weird and all sorts of nice friendly features that I'd grown accustomed to have vanished. Progress is good, but these people, Google, Facebook and their counterparts could do a far ...
Ever since I was very young I've loved reading. I'm quite good at it now and able to recognise most words I come across, occasionally even knowingwhat they mean.I'm also a firm fan of the Kindle app on my ipad, something I blame squarely on divorce. You see I owned hundreds of books. Some were bog standard high street ...
I got talking with some friends in Singapore the other about kids these days, their devices and their constant connectivity. I don't know how well you know Singapore but every time I visit I'm struck by the total immersment in smart phones across just about every age group. Get on the MRT and you'll see teenagers, young adults and ...
Monday morning and I'm back at my desk after a week in the motherland. Damn. Yesterday was evidently my honeymoon period of being back. The weather was lovely in that very British clear blue sky with a crisp cold to the air way, I was pleased to see K, who popped round to see me and, though I missed C, ...
In my quite bald head it only seems like about one, at most two years ago when I told you that I was investigating the idea of having a hair transplant here.But no, on rereading that post I've now realised that it was over 5 years ago, which might explain a lot!I promised to keep you posted, so finally I ...
I was asked earlier why I haven' t written a blog post for such a long time. I cobbled together some sort of answer, along the lines of "I've been busy...I haven't got many things to say about Sri Lanka at the moment....Yes, yes I must write something soon....but none of the 'regulars' are blogging much these days anyhow".And it's ...
So we've brought in a consultant at work in an attempt to sort out some issues we've been having and improve some other things.By nature I'm cynical of consultants. Just the word makes me think of expense without return and people who swan around blowing hot air and theory but don't produce. I hope this chap will be different though. ...
