Open Mic Nights in Colombo - A Distant Dream?

Every musician, whether amateur or pro, would love to play to an audience rather than just to the furniture in his/her room. It takes a lot of balls to pull off a live performance, but the rush you feel is magical. But in Sri Lanka there are almost no opportunities for people to play as often as they'd like to. The gigs that happen only showcase a limited list of hacked bands playing hacked covers. The majority of the crowd that go to those gigs are there only to be seen rather than for the music. It's pathetic. What I want to know is where are the real live music fans in colombo? Would they be open to a new concept to promote Sri Lankan artistes and music? I wish someone would introduce "open mic nights" over here, where people could come, pick up an instrument, play and/or sing something...anything. Who plays on the night would depend on who wants to play. I'd love to see people try to be different at such nights. The audience would be music fans and not 'wannabe's. There'd be no boo's even if the guy is shit. Only applause to cheer him on and for having the balls to go up on stage. There'd even be the possibility of an impromptu jam session! It would be a great opportunity for musicians of any level of ability to take the stage, to gauge audience reaction to an original song, to play a cover in a completely different way to the original, to be themselves! What do you guys think? any ideas? i'm dying for such a stage. But is this too much to ask?

What a glorious day for royal...Final day synopsis

So I got to the match around 10:30. The overnight pair had already added 50 runs and were cruising along nicely. As I got there I was flabbergasted by the magnificent stroke play. 4…6…4…6…The ball was constantly on the other side of the boundary rope. The Royal fans were going absolutely mad! The booze was flowing freely. The songs were sung lustily. The cheers were straight from the gut. The thomians were holding their heads in their hands looking rather tearful. Then Fernando reached his 50. 5 balls later so did Tantrigoda. Lunch! Can we actually save this? The pair had obviously been given striking orders at the lunch break and boy did it show during the session right after. Having surpassed the Thomian score, the Royal batsmen put on a further 120 runs but lost 2 more wickets in the process. Declared at tea, and the game was on! The Royal fielders came out to the blaring sounds of the papare, the deafening cheers of the crowd and blue and yellow smoke bombs going off everywhere. The Royalists, who were down and out in the morning, were sensing something good was about to happen. 20 overs. 120 runs. 10 Wickets. The thomians lost their first at 20, giving the royalists some hope. Then 2 quick wickets. 12 overs later the thomians were reeling at 79/7 with just 3 overs left. Light was offered, the thomians took it. And then I woke up…

Musicians Wanted!

I've been looking high and low to find ppl to jam with since i got back. It's not easy to find musicians who are more than just copy-cats. Does anyone want to meet up and jam, even if it's just for fun? I'm looking for open-minded, easy going folk. I'm no brilliant guitarist. So i'm not fussed about your ability at the instrument at all. As long as you've got your own style and you're willing to try new things, that's really all that matters. My influences are quite varied: Goo Goo Dolls, Incubus, Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam, Muse, Nirvana, A perfect circle, Audioslave, John Mayer, Damien Rice, Lifehouse, Gin Blossoms, Snow Patrol, etc etc. Whatever instrument you play, or even if you're a vocalist, if you're interested, please let me know.

Roy - Tho, 1st day

So the day belonged to thora. Impressive performance. Peiris (161) and Mazahir (162) put on god knows how much for the 3rd wicket. Amazing partnership. Unfortunately i missed seeing it first hand as by the time i got to the ground peiris had gone, mazahir was just leaving, along with 3 other thomians. Half an hour after i got to the SSC thora had declared at 374/7. Top stuff. Very good declaration i thought. Royal started well: thanks to the extras i must add. When the score was at 28/0, the opening pair were 2 and 6 respectively. The openers went pretty fast. I thought royal made a big mistake by sending 2 night watchmen. Tantrigoda went for 0, defeating his purpose. So we start tomorrow morn at 40/3. Long road ahead. I just hope the match lasts till saturday. The crowd was at about 50%. After nearly 4 years it was so damn good to hear the sound of the papare and see everyone having an awesome time. Gave me goosebumps. I dont think anyone could feel as excited as a Royalist or a Thomian during this time of the year. It's hard to explain the meaning of this match... it's not just about rivalry either...It's good to be back. Win or lose, the baila beat goes on!

Of dickheads behind desks and fucktards behind the wheel...

Let me start with the dickheads. Having recently moved to a new place, i'm dying to lay my hands on an ADSL connection. Reason being that my former neighbour who was so freely providing me with access to his wireless net connection (unknowingly of course) having forgotten to secure the darned thing with a password. Too bad i couldn't find him a place close by. So i go to SLT yesterday, pick out the form "new ADSL applicants", fill it out and go to the guy that's sitting at a desk who is obviously free. Guy-at-Desk (hereinafter GAD) - "no sir, u need to go talk to the lady sitting over there" (points finger towards a lady) Since the lady has two ppl with her i patiently wait 10 minutes next to GAD. At 10 minutes on the dot this is what followed... GAD - "sir, don't worry i can do it from here" (why in fucks sake didnt u say so in the first place?) So i hand him the application. GAD - "what do u want?" (It boldly says "APPLICATION FOR NEW ADSL CONNECTION" on the form) Me - "err...new ADSL connection" he types in the tel no into the system. GAD - "sir, number is registered to someone else" Me - "yes i know i just moved in there" GAD - "cant give connection" Me - ???? "why not?" GAD - "not ur house" Me - "I just moved in there 3 days ago. The connection might be in his name but from now i'm paying the bill" GAD - "doesnt matter. cant give connection" at which point the lady he originally pointed out to comes along (let's just call her P. Vesi, for her name should've been that) P. Vesi - "whats the problem" GAD explains situ P.Vesi - "cant give connection" (wtf, are u guys inserted with the same broken record when u join SLT?) Me - "madam, i've just moved in there, i'm the one who will be paying for the connection charges as well as the monthly fee. i will also be paying the telephone charges for that line. This guy the phone is registered to doesn't live there. Even if u give the connection in his name and i decide not to pay for it, then ur in trouble coz u cant get me to pay for it! Can't u see it's better if u just give the connection in my name? it's better for u? (bills get paid) it's better for slt? (new customer)" If i was her right now, i'd be like "yeah sure sir no problem, i'm sorry abt the confusion, if it's a new connection u want that'll bring us money that we're not earning right now yeah u can have it" P.Vesi "cant give connection". Me - "i need to speak to a manager" Points me to Fat lady who obviously struggled to get behind her desk, and struggled even more to sit at her chair which has two arm rests. Her intricately over padded love handles now rest on them with a sigh of joy for her, with a heave of horror for anyone who walks past. She sits there with a look that says "customer is king, but i'm the queen bee, bitch" So i nervously go up to her Me - ...ah fuck it, i just explain to her the scenario Queen - "cant give connection" at this point i'm convinced those three words are what is in the SLT manual for new employees under the insightful heading "Customer Service for Dummies". Me - "lady, if i decide not to pay, u can't force me to if the connection is in his name....It's in ur best interests that it be in my name...dont u comprehend? tu estupido? tum paagal ladki? thamuseta hukana molayak nadda oyyy!?!" Queen - "cant give connection" At which point i get up, laugh in the bitches face for i'm convinced those are the only 3 words they all know, pick out another form and leave. I'm gonna fucking put my name down the way they want it (in the other guy's name of course), sign it, and go to another outlet. Are the majority of Sri Lankans incapable of thinking outside the box? Maybe think "hey this might be a good thing after all" instead of following the rubbish that is dished out to them? AGH! On the bright side, i'll have ADSL soon anyway. Under my new alias of course. Was going to post about the fucktards on the roads. But they don't even deserve a bloody mention. But if u do meet em, pass the msg "pls drive straight, don't cut into my lane coz u see a small enough space thats only big enough to fit ur puny dick, don't give me shit when u fuck up, and finally RED MEANS FUCKING STOP! boy...lots of angst in me...that felt better.

The mother of all big matches...

It's officially Royal-Thomian week. The one week where the boys of both schools are officially encouraged to do fuck all. If that isn't reason enough to be happy, the week ends with Colombo's largest gathering of lads, lasses, booze, papare bands, and, as of late, burly security guards, which adds up to the best carnival experience that Sri Lanka has got to offer! Ah i wish i was back in school again. Tuesday would be the day where the prefects would take on the teachers in a softball game and the whole school would be there to shout and (j/ch)eer their favourite teacher. Tuesday is also the day for the highly entertaining Royal - Thomian debate, which usually starts off on a topic of relevance but quickly moves on to mudslinging of the highest order at which point the old boys are allowed to join in too. Wednesday is the day we used to play cat and mouse. The boys would be both : When the boys want to be cats, the mice are the poor students of all established girls' schools in the city(who i'm told actually enjoy being preyed upon. Is that so?). When the cops decide they want to play as well and decide that they want to be bloody cats at that, well the tables get turned. Ah the joys of the cycle parade! I've religiously gone for every single match since i was 5 years old. Thanks to uni, i missed the last 3. So i trudged to College on 2 hours of sleep at 9 am on the 24th of Feb and made sure i got the tickets i wanted for this years match. Now i need to figure out how i can slip off work early on thursday and friday. Nevertheless, Saturday promises to be nothing short of brilliant - if the match lasts that long. Both teams have had a mixed season (a nicer way of saying "unreliable" for all the dimwits and blondes out there). Apparently the scales tip slightly in the favour of Thora, but that's bollocks ok? Take my word for it. So while the other schools kid themselves that their big match is the best, Colombo is getting ready for the biggest party yet!

Moving again...Where to boss?

In the last 10 years i've moved house a whopping 8 times! It's not that i'm trying to get the police off my trail or that i pissed some minister off and i don't want him to find me. I think i owe most of the numbers to my uni days: Moving once at the end of the academic year, and once again after summer. Well today is going to be the 9th bloody time! This time it's my whole family. This time too its more or less my fault. The appartment was a good size apparently until i decided to come back home. Not that i'm a bucket of lard so big that i knock into everything while at home. Far from it actually. Furthest from it that anyone can be as a matter of fact! Anyway, i came back, settled my self into what was the family room. After a while they couldn't handle the fact that i'd complain that i was woken at 7am cause someone wanted to watch tv, or better yet, at 6 am when the phone rings! (don't ask who calls at that ungodly hour cause i don't give a shit). So it was finally decided we need more room. Mum asks me whether i'm sad to leave the appartment. Heck no! I've barely lived in it. I'm also immune to moving. Done it too often. I left today for work from the appartment. Going home to a house in Nawala. Now atleast i don't have to worry about waking the neighbours too much cause they don't live above, below and to every side of me anymore. Now i can turn my amp up loud and begin to play! (sorry paul simon, didn't mean to steal your line).