Ah, the irony of it all!

Just went over to the shop beside my house to buy a Cool 7UP mega size bottle and dished out Rs.170 for it.

However, I remember something which my friend's dad, who owns a retail store in Jaffna (Meesalai, to be precise), told me.

We sell Mega-sized soft drinks which are chilled for Rs.150

Hmmm....

Picture courtesy 7UP

Can I have a plate of super-horror movies?

Well I'm sure most of you would've watched this simply 'amazing' movie. This post isn't a review, but just some notes on the movie

No, I'm not trying to be sarcastic and it is by no means a bad film. It is just great!

However, believe me when I say it isn't for the faint - hearted!

Therefore, why did I watch it?

School friend - Machang, have you watched the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie?

Me - No. Is it another horror movie?

School friend - Yes, but it is just out of the world, men! It's the momma of horror movies. You have to watch it!

Me - Ado, but I've watched plenty of horror movies recently and they suck big time.

School friend - Like?

Me - That crazy one where this person in some wildlife park had the skin peeled off from her face and now peels off the skin from the faces of visitors

School friend - Ado, that is truly shit, but this is just awesome

So, after this conversation, I went home and downloaded it thru limewire and watched it.

The 1st movie was quite manageable, though it was quite gruesome. I managed to sit through it.

However, the 2nd one was just WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY too gruesome! It's really hard to describe. This crazy bastard cuts off these innocent tourists' legs and, believe me, for some reason, it was seriously gruesome. The way this guy was made to hang from the ceiling via a hook on his neck had his leg cut off was just plain sick!

Therefore, what I'm getting to is that if you've heard people boasting that X movie is the best horror movie and another person saying Y movie is the best horror movie, then they clearly haven't watched the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

IT IS THE MOMMA OF HORROR FILMS

It's bound to be there on torrent sites, so go get it!

Some shooting going on at the ports!

I'm getting kinda' freaked out. I just live less than a kilometer away from the ports and there's been some shooting going on for the past 10 minutes or so...does anyone have any idea whatsoever as to what it all is about? It just doesn't seem to be stopping!

EDIT:6.14AM - The shooting doesn't seem to be stopping...just heard some ambulances going into the ports...infact, the shooting is becoming louder...:O

EDIT:6:21AM - The shooting's intensity has stopped, although the guns are still spurting out some shots once in about 5 seconds. Daily Mirror still doesn't seem to have caught up on the story!

EDIT:6:27AM - The shooting has stopped..finally, it feels like a big relief. Just wish I knew what it was all about!

EDIT:6:32AM - Siren sounds can be heard coming from the ports. Could they be ambulances? Are there casualties?

Follow my tweets to get live updates as things happen.

Doesn't matter if you're Black or White

I must be the last person in this country to be tributing a post to MJ, but, anyhowz, I don't think I can ever live in peace if I don't put up this post, so here it is.

MJ signifies so many things about modern pop culture or, for that matter, music culture as a whole. I had bought the Thriller 25 CD & DVD set from Keels about 3 or 4 months ago and saw the Thriller video and was dumbfounded.

I mean, how the fuck can you get such graphics nearly 2 and a half decades ago? He sure is fucking brilliant to have done that.

In addition, he isn't just about songs like, say, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, or Aerosmith. He was great in everything he did, from music videos, to dance, to his songs.

I remember, my dad had a VHS tape of the 'Making of the Dangerous album songs' and, wow, I think me and my sister watched that over a gazillion times and never ever got sick of it.

I don't think that VHS tape can be found anymore as we've moved houses 3 times since I last watched it and we've dumped all VHS tapes by now, but those memories still linger.

I did get some great VCDs from this shop in the Borella YMBA back when I was in school and, man, watching some of those videos really made me just admire the guy for those great videos and songs.

Moreover, his songs have transcended nearly 3 generations and, only God knows how many more generations his songs will live on for. With all due respect to Elvis Presley, I don't think a lot of people have as much a taste for his songs as they do for MJs.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to diss Elvis, but I had downloaded an album titled '50 greatest hits of Elvis Presley' and the only songs I took a fancy to were Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock and Trouble.

MJs songs are also special for the fact that they transcend borders, races, cultures, countries, language and what not.

For all those MJ detractors out there, please take my word and watch this video of the song 'Black and White' and listen to the song without any preconceived notions and just give a wild guess as to when the song was made. I know, you can find it on Wikipedia, but just give a wild guess and then check the date out. I wanted to embed the song, but the uploader hasn't enabled it.

Frankly, IMHO, his songs sound really relevant in today's context as well, in the sense that his songs sound like modern time songs. I'm sure that if you played his song to a kid who has no idea about MJ and asked him when he thought it was made, he would, in all probabilities, say this year.

The Black and White video, in addition to showing his dancing and singing prowess, also shows a tolerance of all cultures, which was probably why everyone from Havana to Sydney loved him.

To see how good he is at making music videos, check out this song, Stranger in Moscow. Quite frankly, I don't really understand the song, but just see how cool the video is. It's amazing. Though it might sound a bit drab at first, the beat really gets the song going.

In addition, he cared about children and the environment, with his songs, Heal the World and Earth Song.

Now I come to the sticky part. Don't deny the fact that some of you had a smirk on your lip when you read the 'cared about children' part. Well, let me tell you the truth (I know some pricks just won't accept it because they are born to sling mud on ppl just because they can't be as successful as him).

He had a big mansion in California, popularly known as Neverland Ranch. The 'Neverland' part is taken from the popular children's story, Peter Pan. It basically is supposed to be a place where no-one grows old. There is basically an amusement park inside the Ranch.

Yes, he did invite kids over and, yes, he did have sleepovers with them. However, I just get the feeling that parents of these kids realised that they have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a lot of money from him.

By calling him a molestor, they knew that he would be put in an undefendable situation as, even if he was innocent (which he is), his reputation will be tarnished, and so they expected him to give them an out-of-court settlement. He did do so, but, basically, what I am trying to say is that these allegations of child molestation is just said by people who are jealous of him, who are tone deaf and ppl who just don't know how to appreciate his music!.

If you can't appreciate his music, fine, but don't hurl mud at him. Frankly, I don't like any Rap, not even those done by 50 cent or Snoop Dogg. However, I don't just go around and call 50 cent a druggie. I just tell ppl that I don't like his songs. Fullstop.

At this time, let's not focus on all these useless stuff but, instead, appreciate his work. BTW, if any of you guyz or galz want, I could burn this big collection of 1.9 GBs of his songs (from Motown to his solos) and post them to you for free. Just put in a comment and I'll get to you!

RIP Michael Jackson! We will never forget you!

No holds barred post about war & peace!

To anyone who has stopped being a retard racist

The war's over. I don't know what to feel.

Yes, I won't deny it, I did support the war (not financially, though). I was always like, "Yeah, bomb those fuckers".

However, the Rajapakses, I have to admit, are fucking smart! To sideline countries like the US and UK (just coming short of telling them "suck my cock") and go with the likes of Iran, Russia, China and Pakistan must be said to be the most clever thing I have seen by any politician.

Ever since the war had finished, there's one thing I have to admit that I am relieved about..I don't have to keep visualizing scenes of my body being ripped apart due to a bomb in the bus and my parents and sis crying!

I only returned from a foreign land only about 6 years ago and I was too small at that time to even think about what is right or wrong. However, the last few years, I've grown enough to understand what's happening and, naturally, with the propoganda that my dad has been carrying about (note that he has a perfectly justifiable explanation for everything, rather than blind faith), I've been supporting the LTTE.

However, now that the whole organisation has been dismantled, it's time to reflect on whom I should support and what's going to happen to me, as a Tamil.

I do remember, about 2 or so months ago, when I told my dad "It's just plain wrong, the LTTE killing civilians who are fleeing for their safety. Won't it just make the people hate the LTTE?". He said, "You can't expect them to fight when all the people are leaving. The LTTE is fighting for them, and if they leave, it's quite unfair".

However, this still never seemed a good enough explanation. I then asked my dad, "Look, the people in the Wanni are now in refugee camps, even people who had more than 50 acres of land. By putting MR in and restarting the war, haven't they just put Tamil people in a much worse situation? I still remember the times during the ceasefire. I used to go to Jaffna every 6 months or so and it was so nice in Colombo. I used to leave school at even 7.30PM after playing cricket or karate. Now, we don't have anything. Weren't we better off in the 2002-2006 period?"

He then said that if I looked at it in such a way, then we, as the Tamils, were much better off pre-1976 (he worked here in Colombo and was heavily involved in TU work). It was because our rights were detiorating that they took up arms.

However, he now repents the fact that the war was ever conducted. To put it in Tamil,

பிரபகாரன் ஒரு தேசத் துரோகி! எங்களுடைய நிலயை பார்! நங்கள் இப்போ பிட்சைகாரர்கள் மாதிரி இருக்கிறோம்! ஒரு லீதரும் ஒன்றுமே தமிழனுக்காக ஒன்றுமே செய்யவில்லை! எல்லா துறைகளிலும் எங்களுடிய ஆட்கள் இறந்தார்கள்! இப்போ எல்லாமே போயிட்டுது! எங்களுடைய சமுகமே சீரழிந்துபோய்விட்டது!

A translation for the benefit of those who can't read Tamil...

Prabhakaran is a national traitor! Look at our state! We are now like beggars! No tamil leader has ever done anything useful for us! We had people in every single field. Now none of that is there. Our culture has been destroyed

What he says is right. Though I do feel like a hypocrite, endorsing these views even though I did support VP some time ago, I do realise what he means.

If we were better off pre-1976 than during 2002-2006, then all I can say is, we must have been treated much better then.

It's just the greed to get more than what we have that destroyed everything. Look at Jaffna! It's all in ruins! And for what gain?

I've now made a resolution. I'm never going to endorse any useless 'freedom struggle' because we'll just end up worse than we already are. The greed for more has just made us worse off.

Like fellow blogger Mayu said, I have never felt any form of discrimination wherever I go. I just get the feeling that it is corrupt politicians who just use racism as a way of getting into power. I think a lot of problems can be rectified come the next election.

Firstly, we shouldn't vote for any nationalist parties. This includes the likes of JVP, the JHU and the NFF, who are all extremist parties.

Yes, the JHU as well! I say it because these 'monks' are the most vile politicians who I have ever seen, the type who just hide under the robes but are, in no way, monks. Even the JVP seems more moderate than them!

Sinhala friends are always nice to me and always offer a lot of help whenever I ask them. I've also spoken politics with some of them and they have a very moderate and reasonable view. It's just a handful who say something along the lines of 'we should crush the Tamils'...

Finally, winding up this post, I'd just like to make one request to Mr. Rajapaksha

I hope you won't endorse a policy of treating Tamils like shit!

I know, the whole post is really jumbled, but I just wanted to get the point across. I just wrote as it came into my mind! :)

SriLankan HOTSEATS one of the biggest advertising scams in history!

No, I'm not trying to sensationalise anything, but it truly is a scam.

They always claim that they have super low fares to particular places...

One example is Chennai, to where they claim the fare is Rs.10,500 (rate without promotion is about Rs.22,500)...

However, when you go to book a seat, this is what they have to say

Seats as per the fare quoted are sold out on this flight. However, seats are currently available upon a surcharge



What a FUCKING SCAM! They never have seats at that price, but just have this same message.

I was planning a trip to Chennai when I first saw this promotion in March and was putting the finishing touches to the trip. I hadn't got my visa yet but I thought, hell, I'll book the seat and then go for the visa. I had already gone to India before so I wouldn't have much of a problem.

However, when I go to book a seat, BOOM! All my dreams vanish into thin air and I'm left asking to pay a 'surcharge' of Rs.10,500 to get a seat because, apparently, all the allocated HOTSEATS are booked!

They say the same even for tickets to London! I mean, that is just a fucking lie! I don't think more than 25 people go on a direct flight from Colombo to London! So how the fuck can all the HOTSEATS be booked?

What's your opinion on this? Write away!

Memory cards prices have gone soaring!

I went to Pettah today to get some mobile phone supplies for this communication which is run by my cousin and dad and asked for the prices of 1GB microSD memory cards (the ones you use for Nokia, SE and Moto fones), and guess what they told me?

Rs.675 (wholesale price)!

I was shocked! I had bought some about 3 weeks ago and it cost me only Rs.390.

I asked the guy why the prices were jacked up like that, and he said that, apparently, due to the flooding of Chinese fones in the market, the demand for microSD cards have increased, but the producers haven't increased their output levels, but have decided to jack up the prices!

Just wanted to let you guys/gals know so that you don't feel ripped off when you buy a new memory card! :)

Why do we wear sarongs?

Funny topic, isn't it?

But there is a good reason behind it...

No, I'm not going to tell you that King Something-bahu, during 1667, discovered that he liked wearing his wife's skirt but felt shy of wearing it in public and so invented the sarong...

Instead, let me give you a very practical reason (from my own experience).

About 3 days ago, I realised that I had a fairly big rash near my "ding-dong". It came about because I was wearing my silk (yep, silk it is!) shorts.

As you know, the weather is extremely 'cool', and so this very nice rash decided that that particular spot was a nice place to pitch a tent and stay.

Now, I am in extreme pain and unable to sit on a plastic chair without biting my lip.

However, here comes Mr. Sarong to the rescue.

I admit, I quite loath wearing the sarong because I have a serious paranoid fear that my sarong might just drop down all of a sudden.

However, after wearing it for a couple of days, I've realised that it feels really cool around those areas, and Mr. Rash has realized that the spot is not to his liking and so he is slowly moving away.

There you go, a perfectly valid reason why we wear sarongs.... :P