Good morning!
So you know my other blog right.? http://craftinesswhatnot.blogspot.com
Just wanted to let you know. There's a new post on home made pasta. You should try out definitely.
Have a great day!!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Among the pages : American Gods
hat I'm not is a book critique. Err.. Maybe I am. I mean I have spent countless hours discussing this & that book with various people, (i.e, Hubs, sis, my almost twin friend etc..). Does that make me a critique? Does my ability to make a good cheese cake make me Gordon Ramsay? ( I wish!) You get the point.All these being said, I do love, adore books. Books therefore invariably feature in my "things that make me happy list" (hubs and family being in the people that make me happy list). The things that make me happy list contains the following & not in the same order every time.
1. The smell of books.
2. Butter. (Obviously! Have you seen me lately?)
3. Old furniture
4. Dettol soap
5. Garlic.
6. Butter. (did I say that already?)
7. Ginger tea.
See, I'm a very simple person.
In addition, to my delight, I have found out that (contrary to the popular belief) there are a multitude of people in our generation who could not simply survive without a book in their hands.
To come to the point of this blog post I thought I'd share with the world my two pence on what I'm reading.
AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman
I finished this one a month or so ago I think. I have read a few of Neil Gaiman's books in the past & am a huge fan of the Sandman. (thanks to my brother). While I think that Gaiman is a literary genius, this particular book was extraordinary. It is no wonder it has received so many awards.
American Gods centres around an ex-convict named Shadow and his adventures with the stuff of mythology. Its main theme that (As far as I can see it) Gods as we know them will cease to exist as our belief in them wanes & new ones are born when we start believing in new things is indeed fascinating. That is to say, some Gods of olden days have already gone extinct as we no longer believe in them and forgotten them while certain new Gods have sprung up. The Media, Technology etc.
The story follows Shadow as he makes his way through America facing challenges, battling enemies & solving mysteries to his ultimate revelation. He does all these while being in the employment of a certain mysterious Mr Wednesday.
I could not but notice the similarity between the aforementioned theme and of some of the characters found in Sandman.
I'm only vaguely familiar with the persistent Norse mythology in the book. (Having read Sophie's world). Because of this I found this subject very interesting.
Only the connection between Shadow & Mr Wednesday was kind of cliche for me.
Alright, alright. Enough ruining it for you by giving away the story.
If you ever read it, let me know. I of course do recommend it heartily.
Here's what you should do. Get the book. Fill a bowl with something to munch. Find a nook. Hide. Get comfortable. Read.
BookBaker Out.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
On Public Radio
On my way to Colombo from out today I had two strange encounters. One I will recount later. The other heard on a Sinhalese radio station played in the bus was indeed shocking.
This particular programme was announced to be a radio movie. (Obe aadaraneeya guvanviduli chithrapatiya) BAH! What on earth is a guvanviduli chithrapatiya?
From the bits & pieces I caught, first there was a girl who tricked a guy on a motor bike to give her a ride home. (Pick her up & drop her home). Here's the shocking part. Between every two words she used one of the following words. “Ulama, Gona, Ibba, Booruwa, Gon balla “& so on & so forth. And the guy also responded in a similar manner. “Ibbiye, modiye" et cetera.
This was followed by a few songs (Who makes these songs?) after which the next part of the "guvanviduli chithrapatiya" resumed.
Apparently in this part (I'm not sure if it's the same girl or a different one), a girl had just gotten home but had not noticed that there was a guy in her living room. (Yes very film noir). Only after she folded her umbrella, took her own time, finished a phone call (all this while the guy observing her) she turned & was startled to see this guy in her living room.
The guy having enquired as to why she lets/brings this other guy to her house when he's not around was met with yet another tirade (I'm not sure if it was his first, I strongly doubt it however) in the aforesaid manner with her denial of sorts of his accusations. "ibba" & "ulama" seemed to be the favourite words of the heroin.
At this point, of course he had no recourse but to interrogate her more & prove that she indeed was not very honest with her replies. Meanwhile, not offended at all by his accusations or tone of voice or the choice of words (as it should be in a Mills & Boon novel) she, causing distress to many listeners wondered in her head why she wasn't at all offended and proceeded to. (WAIT FOR IT) hide her face in her hands and burst into a fit of giggles.
Thankfully, the programme ended then. Or it didn't & I was just brain dead.
Firstly, when on earth did people start speaking like that? Is it some novel idea that calling names is flirtatious?
Thirdly, on a programme obviously targeted at the young crowd?
Goodness! Can someone please put them out of their misery? They sounded so needing it.
Do they think that it's OK to portray on radio that for any guy it's alright to come uninvited & be in a girl's (Or anyone else's) house unannounced? Like a serial killer or a rapist. Really? Seriously?
And since when is it OK for public radio to encourage girls to trick random guys to pick them off the road?
And, since when, (let me re-iterate) since when is it OK to talk to people like that?
And the accents? What's up with that? Even people I know who have lived their whole lives abroad speak better Sinhala. You can't speak a language? Learn it. Till you do, speak in a language you can in a relevant radio station. Better yet, don't join a media station.
Public radio is not the personal play ground of presenters (or producers) for flirty bantam. People are listening & throwing up all over the place.
This particular radio station is not the only guilty one of course. Many many others are. Thankfully, most of the English channels aren't so bad. At least they play a whole lot of music & don't have "guvanviduli chithrapatiya" But then those who listen to the English stations are a tiny tiny portion.
Oh yeah. This particular station's English channel was closed down a few years ago for misreporting.
There is no doubt that media should be responsible. Socially responsible. If this is a far cry, they should at least be decent, sociable and not spread vulgarity. Because the masses are easily gullible & deceivable on norms and such.
So the responsibility lies in not misleading the masses. Can't lead them in the right direction? Fine. Don't. Just don't lead them in the other way either. If you can't do good, stay in the middle.
This radio station calling them the Number 01 in the country (According to some bizarre poll apparently) was playing their afternoon show.
The presenter, a girl with a strange accent (Haven't you noticed how they all speak as Sinhalese was their 2nd, no 10th language and not the mother tongue?), announced the next part of a radio drama (I'm not sure of the correct terminology here). You get the idea right, people act out a story on air. And this radio drama, I don't mean Muwan Pelassa. This was one of those cheap, petty, trashy ones, girls with smoky voices & guys trying to lure these girls in and ensuing love stories.
The presenter, a girl with a strange accent (Haven't you noticed how they all speak as Sinhalese was their 2nd, no 10th language and not the mother tongue?), announced the next part of a radio drama (I'm not sure of the correct terminology here). You get the idea right, people act out a story on air. And this radio drama, I don't mean Muwan Pelassa. This was one of those cheap, petty, trashy ones, girls with smoky voices & guys trying to lure these girls in and ensuing love stories.
This particular programme was announced to be a radio movie. (Obe aadaraneeya guvanviduli chithrapatiya) BAH! What on earth is a guvanviduli chithrapatiya?
From the bits & pieces I caught, first there was a girl who tricked a guy on a motor bike to give her a ride home. (Pick her up & drop her home). Here's the shocking part. Between every two words she used one of the following words. “Ulama, Gona, Ibba, Booruwa, Gon balla “& so on & so forth. And the guy also responded in a similar manner. “Ibbiye, modiye" et cetera.
This was followed by a few songs (Who makes these songs?) after which the next part of the "guvanviduli chithrapatiya" resumed.
Apparently in this part (I'm not sure if it's the same girl or a different one), a girl had just gotten home but had not noticed that there was a guy in her living room. (Yes very film noir). Only after she folded her umbrella, took her own time, finished a phone call (all this while the guy observing her) she turned & was startled to see this guy in her living room.
The guy having enquired as to why she lets/brings this other guy to her house when he's not around was met with yet another tirade (I'm not sure if it was his first, I strongly doubt it however) in the aforesaid manner with her denial of sorts of his accusations. "ibba" & "ulama" seemed to be the favourite words of the heroin.
At this point, of course he had no recourse but to interrogate her more & prove that she indeed was not very honest with her replies. Meanwhile, not offended at all by his accusations or tone of voice or the choice of words (as it should be in a Mills & Boon novel) she, causing distress to many listeners wondered in her head why she wasn't at all offended and proceeded to. (WAIT FOR IT) hide her face in her hands and burst into a fit of giggles.
Thankfully, the programme ended then. Or it didn't & I was just brain dead.
Firstly, when on earth did people start speaking like that? Is it some novel idea that calling names is flirtatious?
Thirdly, on a programme obviously targeted at the young crowd?
Goodness! Can someone please put them out of their misery? They sounded so needing it.
Do they think that it's OK to portray on radio that for any guy it's alright to come uninvited & be in a girl's (Or anyone else's) house unannounced? Like a serial killer or a rapist. Really? Seriously?
And since when is it OK for public radio to encourage girls to trick random guys to pick them off the road?
And, since when, (let me re-iterate) since when is it OK to talk to people like that?
And the accents? What's up with that? Even people I know who have lived their whole lives abroad speak better Sinhala. You can't speak a language? Learn it. Till you do, speak in a language you can in a relevant radio station. Better yet, don't join a media station.
Public radio is not the personal play ground of presenters (or producers) for flirty bantam. People are listening & throwing up all over the place.
This particular radio station is not the only guilty one of course. Many many others are. Thankfully, most of the English channels aren't so bad. At least they play a whole lot of music & don't have "guvanviduli chithrapatiya" But then those who listen to the English stations are a tiny tiny portion.
Oh yeah. This particular station's English channel was closed down a few years ago for misreporting.
There is no doubt that media should be responsible. Socially responsible. If this is a far cry, they should at least be decent, sociable and not spread vulgarity. Because the masses are easily gullible & deceivable on norms and such.
So the responsibility lies in not misleading the masses. Can't lead them in the right direction? Fine. Don't. Just don't lead them in the other way either. If you can't do good, stay in the middle.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Click. My Man.
So My man. Clicks away. Every spare second he gets.
Aaannndd.. he's pretty good at it too.. :D
Check out his pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thanushka/
Monday, July 12, 2010
salt
ilent tears, unheard,invisible in the periphery,
unnoticed
noticed but not cared,
are the salty drops
from a severed heart.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Happy birthday amma!
The wonderful lady who gave birth to me celebrates her birthday today. Here's to her!
There is no doubt that she is the best mother in the world. Me, nangi & malli can all attest to that.
She's a celebrated lawyer in our home town. Even though the life of a lawyer can be very hectic, when were little, we only wore the clothes she sewed for us. She was always making things. She still does, when she finds the time.
She's one of those people being the eldest of the family who can proudly say that she dragged the rest of the family ashore from deep murky waters.
She has been married to the love of her life for more than 26 years now and is living proof that love can endure anything.
She loves the three of us unconditionally even though sometimes our unintentional harsh words hurt her. When we go home, she still lays the table for us in the finest of china. She always did. She makes the most delicious aggala. :)
These few lines do not, never will, justify all that she is, all that she does & all that she means to us.
From the three of us, Happy birthday amma!
There is no doubt that she is the best mother in the world. Me, nangi & malli can all attest to that.
She's a celebrated lawyer in our home town. Even though the life of a lawyer can be very hectic, when were little, we only wore the clothes she sewed for us. She was always making things. She still does, when she finds the time.
She's one of those people being the eldest of the family who can proudly say that she dragged the rest of the family ashore from deep murky waters.
She has been married to the love of her life for more than 26 years now and is living proof that love can endure anything.
She loves the three of us unconditionally even though sometimes our unintentional harsh words hurt her. When we go home, she still lays the table for us in the finest of china. She always did. She makes the most delicious aggala. :)
These few lines do not, never will, justify all that she is, all that she does & all that she means to us.
From the three of us, Happy birthday amma!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Fallen Crow
I was walking home a little while ago. As I turned to our lane I started hearing the caw of a thousand birds quaking the whole neighbourhood.
In front of the apartment-block before ours, was lying a fallen crow gasping for breath, in the searing sun.
For a moment I think, I stood there staring at it. Then I rushed home to see if my brother was home.He wasn't. I ran back. I knew the bird needed help. But I wasn't sure if I should touch it. So in our back yard I found a piece of a wooden board that was lying around.
Having laid this on the floor before the crow, I was standing there wondering how to get the crow on the pallet when thankfully a man from next door came to help. Unlike me, he took the bird in his hands, laid it on the board & carried it to a log that we use as a pedestal for a birdbath basin.
I hurried & got a bowl of water some of which the man tried to pour into the crow's beak. It was still gasping for breath.(That what I was hoping at least, that it was merely gasping for breath). Then deciding that there was nothing else he could do the man walked away. I thanked him & just stood there with the bowl of water in my hands.
I stroked its feathers a bit to see if it would shuffle. It wouldn't. After a while I gave it more water. When I tried a second time to give it water it moved a bit & tried to lift its wings. And it also seemed to be breathing with less difficulty.
Because I thought it was recovering I came inside & changed my clothes.And went back.
The crow had fallen back on the ground, dead.
I couldn't save it.
In front of the apartment-block before ours, was lying a fallen crow gasping for breath, in the searing sun.
For a moment I think, I stood there staring at it. Then I rushed home to see if my brother was home.He wasn't. I ran back. I knew the bird needed help. But I wasn't sure if I should touch it. So in our back yard I found a piece of a wooden board that was lying around.
Having laid this on the floor before the crow, I was standing there wondering how to get the crow on the pallet when thankfully a man from next door came to help. Unlike me, he took the bird in his hands, laid it on the board & carried it to a log that we use as a pedestal for a birdbath basin.
I hurried & got a bowl of water some of which the man tried to pour into the crow's beak. It was still gasping for breath.(That what I was hoping at least, that it was merely gasping for breath). Then deciding that there was nothing else he could do the man walked away. I thanked him & just stood there with the bowl of water in my hands.
I stroked its feathers a bit to see if it would shuffle. It wouldn't. After a while I gave it more water. When I tried a second time to give it water it moved a bit & tried to lift its wings. And it also seemed to be breathing with less difficulty.
Because I thought it was recovering I came inside & changed my clothes.And went back.
The crow had fallen back on the ground, dead.
I couldn't save it.
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