Senselessly whiny rant

So with everyone (including Tom, Dick and two of my bosses) headed to Galle for the weekend for that much hyped "LitFest" (does that sound saucy or what?), and since work prevents me from jumping on the bandwagon, I'm stuck with nothing to do this weekend - well, Sunday to be precise; I have a job that makes me work on Saturday, so I don't really get to have a "weekend" off in its traditional sense... but that's beside the point... So, am looking forward to a Sunday filled with Class A boredom, with nothing to do and the prospect of having to listen to everyone's near-orgasmic accounts of the fest once they return. It seems EVERYONE I know is willing to shed a few big ones for that... thing. Argh!

There, I feel better already.

Having said that, this year's GLF sounds like a pretty big deal and it appears that I'm missing out on some good stuff. I hear they're bringing down the guy who wrote Schindler's Ark. Man, that's big. And I've always wanted to meet Carl Muller. Dunno if he's going to be there this time, though. I'm guessing he is.

Anyway, I don't really know why I'm so worked up. It's not like I'm this hardcore reader who would love nothing more than to attend bookclub meetings in his spare time (do we even have those things here?). In fact, I've never been to this GLF thing before... ever. And I'm not the type to be seen sipping coffee with the rich and famous. I despise that sort of thing. So why now?

I don't know. Maybe I'm just pissed off that I can't get my Saturdays off. And it's not just 9-5, man. For reasons best known to my immediate boss, on Saturdays I'm required to stay at office till 1 am the next frickin' day! I can still remember the look on his face when I asked him if I could be excused to go for Onstage last year. Not that I actually told him I was going for a rock concert, but, you know...
But he's a nice guy, and quite the gentleman, so he let me off. And I actually felt kinda bad.

But I dunno. I don't get to do anything on Saturdays that doesn't involve sitting at a desk and staring into a computer monitor, when I should be out having a ball, or not doing anything at all for that matter. I can't remember the last time I went for a party on a Saturday, and parties are almost always held on Saturdays. Not to say I'm a social butterfly or anything but seriously, man, a guy's gotta have some time off.

Oh well. Can't complain; at least I get paid.

Sorry about all the whining, man (if you're still reading this, that is). :p

Calvin and Hobbes - seriously funny

Was flipping through the pages of a collection of Calvin and Hobbes comics (It's a Magical World by Bill Watterson) a little while ago and came across something very interesting. Thought I'd share. Here goes:

Calivn: Doesn't it seem like everybody just shouts at each other nowadays? I think it's because conflict is drama, drama is entertaining, and entertainment is marketable. Finding consensus and common ground is dull! Nobody wants to watch a civilized discussion that acknowledges ambiguity and complexity. We want to see fireworks!

We want the sense of solidarity and identity that comes from having our interests narrowed and exploited by like-minded zealots! Talk show hosts, political candidates, news programmes, special interest groups... They all become successful by reducing debates to the level of shouted rage. Nothing gets solved, but we're all entertained.

Man, that kid is deep.

For those of you who haven't yet had the fortune to read this simply awesome comic strip, I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of at least one of the available titles.

It's about this kid and his softy-toy tiger who, in the kid's ultra vivid imagination, is a living, talking, but very mild, tiger, and their hilarious misadventures and thought provoking conversations about life that border on the deeply philosophical. The above excerpt ought to give you an idea. :)

Easily one of the best comic strips ever to have been published. Very good read. Go get your copy now!

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Image courtesy Wikipedia, copyright Bill Watterson; Calvin and Hobbes collections published by Andrews McMeel Publishing and distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.

Let's put a smile on that face

I don't think anyone was surprised to hear that, last night, Heath Ledger clinched the coveted Screen Actors' Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor for his absofuckingloutely brilliant portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight, a role any actor would kill for, and quite possibly the darkest and most intriguing movie villain of our times.

The award, and more importantly, the Oscar nomination, couldn't have come at a more significant time for the family and friends of the late great actor: exactly one year after his tragic death. (Ledger died on January 22, last year; the Oscar nomination was announced on January 22, this year). Many of them have said it was a very bittersweet moment for them.

Any Batman geek will tell you that Ledger's take on The Joker was by far the best ever, even better than that of Jack Nicholson in Batman (1989). The Joker's fate was left (intentionally?) ambiguous at the end of TDK, but I doubt the producers would want such an iconic character killed off just two movies into the series; it doesn't make sense... at least in terms of "Hollywood Commerce". Now the question is, if The Joker is indeed alive, who's going to play him in a future Batman movie?

And you can bet that there will be at least one more movie in the franchise, and Christoper Nolan and Christian Bale will return (they'd BETTER - It's thanks to them that the Batman story is getting the respect it deserves. Anyone remember the disgustingly campy Batman movies of the mid '90s?). And the producers (maybe not Director Nolan, but definitely Warner Bros) can be tempted to recast the role.

But I really can't think of anyone that could fill the (very big) shoes left by Ledger. I say, if the producers can't find a good enough replacement, then drop the role altogether. That, I think, is the right thing to do, for Ledger and for the fans.

Bring on the Oscars, baby. Let's put a smile on that face!

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Image courtesy Wikipedia.

What's up with Blogger?

I'm new to this whole blogging business, so I'm not that well acquainted with some of the features of Blogger and Wordpress yet. But I think there's something wrong with my user account on Blogger.

Here's the prob:

So far I've written and published a total of eight posts. But, for some inexplicable reason, my dashboard says that I've published 11 posts. And the last time I signed in, it said I had 10 posts even though I still had only eight posts. It seems the post count has gone up even though I didn't actually post anything new. It's weird.

'Appreciate it if someone could shed some light on this. :)

That questionnaire - I'm in the mood

OK, so everyone's been filling up that questionnaire thing lately, and so I thought I'd take a shot at it myself. Not that I'm really into that sorta thing, but since I'm new here and all... You get the drift...

Oh and I'm borrowing Makuluwo's questions without her permission.

OK, so here goes...

1. Who are you in one word? Me.

2. Do you believe in true love? I want to.

3. Are you easy to be friends with? Depends... are you easy to be friends with?

4. People person? Yes, but again, depends on the people in question.

5. Dreams? Does "to b happy" sound too corny?

6. Roots? Colombo.

7. Education? Yes. :p

8. Music? Rock, rap, hip hop, classical and a bit of techno... Guns n' Roses, Tupac, Enigma, Enya, Yanni, Eminem, Bob Sinclair (when I'm in the mood), the music of the '90s, Michael Jackson (anyone who tells you that they don't like his dancing is a liar. Don't trust them with anything. :p )

Basically, anything that sounds good.


9. Sound you're hearing right now? That of my CPU fan.

10. Last Movie and with who? If you mean at a theater, The Dark Knight with my ex. Planing to go see Madagascar 2 asap.

11. Favorite movie (pick one)? Way too many to list. I'm a sucker for LotR, Star Wars, etc.

Love comic book movies, all time favourite being The Dark Knight (they'd better give Ledger that Oscar he just got nominated for).

Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Munich, The Prestige, Batman Begins, Spider-Man 2, Shrek II, Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Catch Me If You Can, Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, AI, The Village (not really, but I liked the way it ended), The Blair Witch Project (quite possibly the scariest movie ever made, you don't want to watch it all by yourself, in the dead of night with just the headphones on, trust me), Sin City, the American Pie trilogy (the first three only), Ben Stiller movies, and the list goes on and on...

Yes, I LOVE to make boring lists that no one will ever find interesting.

12. Currently reading? The Audacity of Hope by that guy who just moved to the White House.

13. Working at - An office complex somewhere in Colombo.

14. Like your job? Yes and no. The job is something I've always wanted to do... just wish I could say the same about the pay.

15. Are you egoistic? Not as much as you are.

16. What's the craziest thing you've done? Singing the National Anthem as loud as I possibly could inside a van on my way back to the Unawatuna Beach Resort from Weligama with some friends.

What? I like the melody.

17. What's your favourite song? Do you really want to be bored by another long-ass list?

Yeah, didn't think so.

18. Favourite hangout? I'm a people person, remember? :p So anywhere is cool with me as long as the crowd's good.

19. What do you love most? How do people come up with questions like this? Honestly.

20. Your weakness? I'm one of those "nice guys", but I'm working on being a nice asshole as per the general consensus reached on what men ought to be in the eyes of women following the comments on this post by me and this one by TheWhacksteR.

21. What pisses you off? People with superiority complexes. (I had to steal Makuluwo's answer to this one. Sorry, Spidey).

22. Your Hell? Hell.

23. Food? Anything edible.

24. The ideal lifestyle? Living it up on the monthly interest of your 10 million dollar bank account without having to work. Yes, I'm lazy. Sue me.

25. If you could have one wish? The power to keep on wishing. Duh?

Hello, Mr. President

So our favourite African American (after Michael Jackson) is having lunch with 200 guests in Washington DC at this precise moment. Among those guests are his erstwhile enemies, harshest critics and those looking to use him to get what they want - and of course those who genuinely and enthusiastically supported his bid for the Presidency.

In his 18 minute speech that, in my humble opinion, slightly lacked (VERY slightly, microscopically so) the sheer awesomeness of his post-election acceptance speech on November 4 that moved Jessy Jackson and millions of others to tears, he had two important things to say to the enemies of his country - 1) Don't fuck with us, 2) If you really want to fuck with us, let's discuss the terms first.

Therein lies the difference between Obama and practically every single US President of late, most significant of them being George Walker Bush. Obama will have his gun loaded and ready, but he will not pull the trigger unless he really has to. He'd much rather try talking to them.

While the conservative media led by Faux News tried to paint him as a sympathiser and even worse, an appeaser, of global terror in the run up to the elections (he was actually called a "terrorist" by overenthusiastic McCain supporters at at least one Republican rally, largely ignored (if not egged on) by that nightmare of a VP candidate, Palin). Obama appears to have silenced those critics now and today, in true American fashion, he told their "enemies" in no uncertain terms that they need to be watching their asses. "We will defeat you," he said quite convincingly. If I were an Al-Qaida dude, I'd start looking for a place to hide right about.. NOW.

BUT, he also said that he's willing to work together with the Muslim world and work towards building trust and understanding based on mutual interests (read oil).

Well, something's better than nothing, right? There's enough shit going on in the world right now. Even at the risk of letting the ice caps melt, the West and the Middle East need to CHILL, and if that means more oil politics, then so be it. Just enough with the fuckin' violence already.

And then there's Gaza, as I said in one of my previous posts, this is one issue on which Obama's stance has been... ambiguous, at best. But according to CNN he has expressed a personal interest in getting involved. Dunno how factual this is, though. If it is then, great.

But then what can he do? He's just one powerful man against a much more powerful Jewish lobby. His Chief of Staff is Rahm Emmanuel - enough said.

Anyway, let's wish the man all the best. At least he'll do a better job than his predecessor.

Oh and by the way am I the only one who felt kinda bad for Bush Jr today? I mean I know he's responsible for half the shit that's been going down and all, but I dunno... I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy as he sat there, his expressionless face staring into nothingness as he listened to that left wing black guy make some veiled references to some of his supposed blunders. "How dare he?"

I dunno. I thought Obama should've cut him some slack there. It was Bush's last day in office after all.

Oh well. Just my two cents.

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Image courtesy Wikipedia.

It feels great to be stabbed in the back!

I'm pissed.

I was just stabbed in the back by a couple of friends who I thought I could trust. I’m pissed off to the hilt. But am I hurt and wallowing in self pity? No. Why, you ask?

Because, for some weird-ass reason, it feels GOOD to be stabbed in the back. The feeling is quite amazing really. It’s a mixture of pain, anger and, oddly enough, a really good feeling of being on moral high ground, way above the fucktards who actually did the backstabbing.

It’s weird, but, for some inexplicable reason, it makes you feel good about yourself. It’s like taking a sugar-coated pill, if you get my analogy.

You gotta feel it to know what it’s like. Hand out a few sharp knives to your friends some time. ;-)

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Sorry. Didn't want to write this shit down. Not very proud of this post. Oh well. It's just one of those days.

Why do nice guys finish last?

I mean seriously, isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

What makes a nice guy less appealing than, say, a backstabbing jerk who'd dump you for your best friend without a moment's hesitation?

As kids all of us were taught by our parents and teachers that being NICE is the way to go. You be nice to the world, and the world will not bite your ass. You treat the ladies like a gentleman and they will at least CONSIDER going out with you.

But we ALL know that that's not the case. AT ALL! I mean look around you. The hottest chicks are dating the biggest jerks you know.

I'm not a nice guy (ladies, please take note of that :D). Well I am, but I'm not THAT nice. My ex-girlfriend didn't think I was very nice to her while we were breaking up and she was probably right. But then don't all couples tend to feel that way when they're going through a bad break up? (Yes, I'm trying not to sound guilty).

Anyway, I'm generally considered a relatively nice guy. A nice-o-meter would give me a 7.5. :p

OK fine, I'm a VERY nice guy. But in my defence, I can be pretty nasty when I'm angry. Not that I ever get violent or anything but I tend to use the F word a lot when I'm pissed. However I have gotten into a couple of fistfights here and there; but then that was only because I had to defend myself.

Generally, I'm cool and don't look for trouble even in the face of extreme provocation; not that I have ever really been provoked as such, but you get the drift. However there are times when I'm so driven up the wall that I just HAVE to deal with it in a physical way, and I do that by taking out my mountain bike and riding it for miles and miles, non-stop, till I my legs start to feel like lead. And I suppose even THAT doesn't make me a non-nice-guy. Argh! But I digress.

Getting back to the point I was trying to make, or rather, the question I was trying to raise, WHY do nice guys finish last? Or do they really? Is it just one of those popular misconceptions or is there really some truth to it?

I just don't get it, man.

Did you watch the match?

Was that a nail biting finish, or what?

It was Sanga and Murali who saved the day for us. Even after getting the Bangladeshis bowled out for a measly 152 we were struggling as if we were facing Australia and South Africa combined!

But we won, and I guess at the end of the day that's all that matters. I think Sanga summed it up best when he apparently said during a post-match interview that it was our experience in playing finals that took the game away from the Bangladeshis who, to their credit, played exceedingly well.

But that's no reason to brush aside and ignore our less than perfect performance with the bat today. At one point the scoreboard actually showed more wickets than runs (6 for 5). Yikes!

Oh well... we won, and even though we SUCKED today (for the most part), we wouldn't have made it to the finals if we weren't the BEST FRICKIN' TEAM in the whole of South Asia (if not the world)... which, by the way, we ARE! (Yes, that's a fact :p ).

Sri Lankan Cricket ROCKS, man!

The System 2.0 - Change We Can Believe In?

So Barack Obama is gonna take his oaths as Number 44 in less than a week from now. So what?

The whole world watched with baited breath on November 4 waiting for Wolf Blitzer on CNN to break the news that everyone was dying to hear - that Barack Hussein Obama achieved what many thought was an impossible dream.

People of all ages, races and places were moved beyond words and got pretty emotional at the news, witnessing history in the making. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're lying. It was a historic moment of epic proportions and there's no denying its significance. Yours-truly had to exercise great self restraint to stop himself from jumping for joy (literally). :p

And now, as any two-year-old would tell you, Obama is going to hold the nuclear codes and, in essence, going be the most powerful man on Earth. But is he really?

Will they let him? (I know what you're thinking right now, "another conspiracy theorist". No, I'm not that, I assure you). :D

For a country that is said to be (and clearly is, at least on the surface) free, fair and fully democratic, the much hackneyed "system" that operates in the US of A is pretty fucked up.

Why? Simple; it's the far right (and the disgustingly rich) that controls it. Obama maybe the most liberal Democrat to have ever run for office but we can rest assured that it's not going to be him calling all the shots; well, not the ones that matter anyway.

The ever present lobbyists are.

No amount of "change" can ever stand up to the influence of these lobbies, let alone completely erase it from the picture. I'm not doubting Obama's integrity and I'm sure he'll try his best to live up to his campaign promises, but let's face it, it's gonna be one majorly uphill climb for the guy (not counting the economy crisis).

Take for instance his as yet ambiguous stance on the situation in Gaza.

Innocent people are dying over there as you read this (please tell me SOMEONE is reading this), and Obama hasn't said a word in protest. To use a cliche, his silence has been deafening. Even though he is not a Muslim himself, it's reasonable to assume that his Muslim connections (albeit very distant) lead at least a part of him to believe that there's something wrong with the US policy on the Middle East. Do you even have to be Muslim to be concerned about those poor civilians anyway? I'm not Muslim and yet here I am writing this post.

Well, I guess it all comes down to "national interest". At the end of the day, it will not be the lives of a few hundred "outsiders" that will be important, but the rich oil reserves in the Middle East and elsewhere. And it's not just the US, really. Every major power is guilty of this. What matters will not be "equality for all" as preached by practically every single world leader.

The "system" will continue to ensure that the fittest will survive, whatever the cost, and the weak is either eliminated or suppressed; OK maybe not eliminated but definitely suppressed and kept in their place. I suppose, in that sense, the system hasn't let them down.

And it won't for a long time to come.

Here's hopng that Obama will at least use his marketing skills on the powerful lobbyists (wishful thinking, I know). Oh well.

Happy New Year (I think)...

OK, it's been more than a month since my last (first ever) post. Work (read idling) got in the way of getting this thing off the ground. Can't complain, can I?

Anyway, a lot has happened during these one and a half months, but nothing that could not have been predicted.

A new year dawned, and everyone wished each other a happy and fantabulous new year. Whether or not any of us is actually having a happy and fantabulous new year is the real question. The "independent" media of this country sure as heck isn't. And neither is, it appears, this guy.

We seem to have officially started racial profiling (that dreaded website everyone seems to be talking about these days).

Kilinochchi and Elephant Pass have been captured.

King Khan still wants to say Hello to the same people who bombed him four years ago, and there's talk that at least one of the current mobile operators will have to start packing their bags soon.

WE ARE WINNING THE TRI-NATION SERIES IN BANGLADESH.

The global economic meltdown is said to start melting down the local business community, and by extension the public, "sooner or later".

Man, did 2009 start with a bang, or what?

On a much lighter note...
Have you seen this?