You know you're around lawyers when...

Yesterday began yet another series of wretched exams. So there I was, trudging back to Hultsdorf where the only form of life is of the kind clad in black and white sarees and suits. Well, not exactly zebra print suits, which you're probably more likely to find in Malaka Silva's wardrobe, but I mean black suits and white shirts. If you thought that was bad in this heat, these bloody lawyers top it off with a cape, much like batman, and batgirl (just to be fair) which weighs a ton and does not look comfortable! In my hand i nervously clutched the short notes that I had finished preparing about 10 minutes before leaving for the exam. I was hoping that, if I clutched them hard enough, I'd absorb the content through an advanced form of osmosis straight from the future. In the midst of trying to put Hart, Pound, Darwin (the real dude, not the blogger:)), Dworkin, Austin and others into the right school of thought, I happened to glance at the notice board at Law College. A few vacancies, a list of failures at the last exam, the usual. But then I saw this notice that caught my eye, which made me realise that I was most certainly in the right place. It read : NOTICE An article has been found and it is in the custody of Mr. X. The owner of said article can call over at his office and collect same. Signed. Principal. Sri Lanka Law College. Edit - Note to reader : Article, in this context and in lawyer-speak, means an object or item rather than a publication. Instead of expressly stating what was missing, they stated that they found something. It was up to the loser to prove that he had lost it.

:)

Happy Birthday!

Master of None

(Spotted in York, UK, about a year ago) My name is confab, and I want to have lots of love affairs. There I said it. Sometimes I wonder, why I find myself wanting to do a million different things. The latest list includes owning an Austin Mini, acquiring a mother of a camera and wanting to travel the world. Oh and getting a new guitar. Live abroad again. Record an album. Learn drums. Ok i'll stop. So anyway, yes, I'm quite happy being a jack of all trades and a master of none, as long as I can dabble in this and that. I love learning new things, and finding new passions. For that matter, I admire RD, who, being close upon 75, is still keen on improving on his passions, i.e. the drums, and learning new things, i.e. how not to put saffron in dhal. I don't want to get to the age where I have to wear that t-shirt, only to wonder what I did with my life. And that's what drives me.

Neighbourhood Watch

Directly taken from the official website of (the apparently) Honorouble Namal Rajapaksa. "ARMS GIVING CAMPAIGNS - ‘Tharunyata Hetak’ organized an arms giving for the elderly folk of ‘Tissamaharama’ on the 6th of May of 2007. The event was attended by approximately hundred elderly people." Be extra careful. 100 armed senior citizens are on the loose.

The Long Road Home

Sri Lankan roads aren't all that confusing now are they? See, the longest drive within the city is going to take you about 30 minutes at most (add 10-15 more for traffic). So why's it that trishaw drivers always mess up a simple point A to point B trip? Here's the deal. This morning, I walked about half a kilometer from home to where Kirimandala Road meets Nawala Road (point A). Found a bright blue trishaw there. Saw a man standing next to it. Went up to it and said I need to go to Braybrooke Place (point B). He thinks for a while, tells me to take the 176 from there and change at Borella. I look at him blankly and point towards the trishaw. He laughs and points me to the driver who is standing further away. I smile meekly and move on to negotiate with the actual driver. But that's not the story. So having told him what the best route is and negotiated an apparently reasonable fair of 250 bucks from A to B, I get in and we're on our way. I still haven't gotten over the fact that in Bangalore trishaws charge only 6 INR (roughly around 18 SLR) per km while over here in SL i'm paying close upon 50 bucks a km! While heading down Kirimandala he suggests a different route which is slightly longer, which other trishaws have taken before, so I say to him "yeah ok if that's what you wanna do". So we head up Thimbirigasyaya Road instead of going down Baseline Road towards Kanatte. Generally, the Thimba route involves us turning into the lane opposite Sunethra Lane near the church on Thimba Road, then heading past CR&FC and towards independence square. While I was sitting there with my ipod plugged in I see that turn off pass us by. Then we turn right into Torrington Avenue. This was a new route! So when Torrington ended on Bullers Road I expected him to take one of 2 options, both of which ended up near independence square. But I was wrong, AGAIN! He goes towards Thunmulla along the one way, goes all the way around and comes back towards Lionel Wendt and the Museum and finally to Braybrooke place, adding at least an extra 10 minutes to a 20 minute ride. I would've thought he might've saved more cash, and me more time, if he actually listened to me and went on the route that has been identified to be the shortest, at least by me! But these trishaws, they've got their own GPS which apparently you can't fool.

Update

I've been quiet. That's only cause all I ever read is about how gravity is a myth and that in actual fact the earth sucks. Living in Colombo, that's actually all we ever see too. So I've made a conscious effort to keep away from adding to the glum soup. That mindset stopped me pondering out aloud my horrible work place, increasingly irritating, irritated parents (I'm still to get used to living with them all over again), the fact that pay day is turning out to be a myth with the ever increasing cost of living and the horrendous exams looming up ahead. So anyway, GF and I picked up a kitten a few days back. It was one of these fellows and boy is he cute! He's a little bigger than my palm and extremely playful! I shall put up a few pics soon. Any ideas for names anyone? Wanted to head down to marine drive today for the Mini Rally. However, the damned guilty conscience, brought about by millions of loose sheets of notes all over my bed, kept me at bay. Another time maybe. Had a crazy jam session sometime last week too! It ended up being 3 stoners and I, playing random riffs and chanting random lyrics and recording on the spur of the moment. Some of it sounded really funky! We might get together again, when the 3 of them are less stoned, to try and work something out of all that. Anyway, enough of my mindless, meaningless verbal diarrhea. Carry on on your way then.

3 Chord Charlie

Inbetween mulling over world peace and the like, I actually got to debating the local music scene with a friend. Being a world class guitar hero (cough cough), and my friend a chart topping drummer (cough cough) (note to self - take something for the cough!), who is maybe only second to RD, we'd like to think we know a thing or two. It started with Onstage, and the fact that only 12 bands are in the competition this year. Drummer loathes all things Onstage, whereas I don't mind it as it is a great opportunity for bands to get some gig-time under their belt in a city where there really is no scope or hope for original music. So, as you guessed, he was mighty pleased that there were only 12 bands (the number having halved from last year) and I obviously wasn't. We soon got to this huge debate about the difference between potential and talent. Maybe I'm an optimist, but if I see a great guitarist who can, for instance play catchy leads and sing at the same time, or a bassist who has a great groove and lifts the song, I'm quick to label him/her as talented. However, drummer doesn't agree. He gives them a maximum rating of potential. He says he needs to see more of em to give them that esteemed compliment. A typical Sri Lankanism. I love being a part of live music. Not all have a great talent as musicians but it takes a lot of balls to stand up and be counted. Most, if not all, musicians will tell you there's no greater feeling than playing live. So if I do see a band live who are trying to make original music work, I try not to diss em. I try to see em for what they are doing as a collective. I admire them for the fact that they got up on stage. But in Sri Lanka, our audiences quickly get bored if the bands are not as good as what they would expect from maybe a Counting Crows concert. They are quick to say the band is shit and walk out. There's no room for constructive criticism or scope for musicians to improve. But when musicians are as critical as the audiences are, then there is really no hope. Oh well. Excuse my rant.