treading water

Back in time

2011-07-19T17:39:00.003+01:00

Absolutely love this featured work - floppy disks, Nintendo gameboys, clunky cellphones, cassettes, all part of my youth which wasn't too long ago! Check it here on Behance

Loving Dazed

2011-05-18T15:33:00.002+01:00

Tweeting

2011-05-18T15:20:00.002+01:00

I properly discovered Twitter a few months ago and it has completely diffused my need to blog which is sad but at the same time I had to eat my hat because it is damn interesting. The real time barrage of info is mind-blowing, not to mention how much you learn in such short time.

If you fancy it @leahbazikkar

Other than that, lots of huge changes taking place in my life which I am truly excited about. I love the fact that Lee and I can just make impulsive decisions about our lives together and see where it takes us... and this is the year for it, again! More info soon.

For now, started swimming which is really amazing. We're working with Greenpeace and Glastonbury Festival this year on design and creative concepts for the field to celebrate 40 years of Greenpeace, which is super exciting - we are paying homage to the Rainbow Warrior and are going a week earlier than planned with Helena, Sami and Bobby to name a few - cannot wait! But also don't want to rush life too much!

Am also working for Harvey Goldsmith's company Ignite which has been really amazing, super friendly and what a hardcore team - very professional which is refreshing! And they know their shit which I love being a part of. It's also great for Electric Peacock Festival....

Some cool shit

2011-05-18T15:13:00.003+01:00

Time oh where for art thou - its May 18th! WTF?

A couple of cool blogs by people I know, Lara Spier from Cunning NYC, picture above courtesy her.

Some cool stuff from the guys at Boxpark

Incredible augmented reality schtick: dude decides to tattoo his Mii AR card on his wrist, oh yes it's right here

A new master of direction

2011-02-07T19:17:00.003Z

And so he arrived into this world on Friday 4th of February - and he belongs to two of my incredibly wonderful friends Lara and Isuru, hello little Divesh. Meaning Master of Direction and Light, which is good because Lara mentioned she is crap at the former.

So I keep staring at this photo and thinking, having known Lara as a gawky best friend from the age of 8 to drinking tequila on the balcony and going for basketball practice the next morning at the age of 15 and then bam! a baby. Wow. Time really does mess with the head.

But if it means bringing a cool little dude like this into the world, then hurray! I find it so strange how it can go from being in the belly, to ta da! here I am world, ready or not.

Congratulations guys!

Electric Peacock Festival MADNESS

2010-11-21T14:50:00.004Z

Our logo courtesy of KumKum of Grants!

So Tasha and I (along with my mother and some awesome friends) are putting on Sri Lanka's first live music festival this December: Electric Peacock Festival, bringing down UK acts like The Duke Spirit (thank you Luke and Liela!), Trophy Wife, Covert Boom (thank you Sam!) and Funk Royale System along with the sooper dooper Nihal A from BBC Radio 1! It is just so exciting to think it is coming together after all this time, Tash is on a flight to Colombo as I write this and I am on my way out there after a ridiculous 11 month absence, next week!

Its going to be held on 18th December on Negombo Beach in aid of The Sunshine Charity and its going to be a 24 hour rocking party. Sri Lankans brace yourselves! So much to do!!!

Yipeee... I love it when a plan comes together.

Click for Twitter and Facebook links

The gorgeous Liela Moss of Duke Spirit

Google Earthing our location

I love Skype

2010-11-21T14:47:00.002Z

This is part of awesome video call I had with my good friend Sami (now work partner yay!), initially about work, but then his family - mother, sister, wife and daughter - all joined the call. So incredible what we can do these days, when people had to wait weeks (sometimes months) to hear from their families through delayed postal letters...

Parents

2010-09-21T22:40:00.002+01:00

I don't think I say it enough, but I love my parents, who they are and what they do... but mostly how their cup is just overflowing with love.

This is them, on their beach where I got married.

Team Toscana

2010-09-15T16:49:00.003+01:00

The view from the pool

Mad Men, complete with theme tune courtesy of Tim

Race!

Ahhhhh yeeeeeeh. So another brilliant idea from the Mazzetti Higginson duo (now trio) to go to Tuscany for a week staying in a beautiful villa called Tizzano outside the tiny town of Barberino Val D'Elsa with 11 great friends... and that's exactly what we did.

Relaxation, plenty of local food and wine, a few excursions, some seriously competitive doggy paddle races and some incredible company. Not forgetting a beautiful 1 year old who charmed the pants off us all. Oh and the awesome Mad Men dress up night we had...

Lee and I flew to Pisa for one night before we met the rest and stayed in this awesome Medieval dated hotel (not rough at all) called The Royal Victoria Hotel, it reminded me of our Galle Face Hotel only this one knew how to capitalise on it's history. It was right on the river and Lee and I had a great time in the Piazza the night we arrived, getting drunk with the locals.

We just got back from the holiday and I wish I could go back in time, it was such a lush time, but moreso to be able to hang out with the wonderful Glyn and Ella - so sad to say goodbye...

Pictures....

Fforest Carnival

2010-09-15T16:45:00.004+01:00

3-legged race with Tom and Guy either doing badly or really well.

The Jim and the Katharine.

So in the grandest celebrations possible we threw and had a MASSIVE carnival party over 3 days at Fforest, Wales (Lee's dad Bobby's place) to celebrate Helena's 30th, Bobby's 60th and Lee's 34th. My folks came, so did Ashvin and Alex and so many of our other bodacious dudes... it was hilarious with a Mad Hatter's Tea Party, Carnival and general merriment in the field. Pizza's, paella's, Prosecco...mmmm.

The been and gone summer

2010-09-15T16:32:00.002+01:00

What a summer it has been, crazy to try and summarise it in a few lines but it really sped past me. I am in total denial that it is the middle of September though the grey clouds and slightly wintry air give it away somewhat.

This has been the summer of DIY - never before have I put these gentle hands to such labour (drama queen anyone?). We moved into our gorgeous little flat in Maida Hill but not before refurbing most of it, from new floors to painting the place and assembling furniture and buying antiques - every living free moment went on the flat but now as I sit here, it feels so worth it. Such a strange feeling to move into your 'home' before it really feels like yours... it's like 'that's not my toilet', 'that's not my bed'.

Still, what I love most, is that we built and designed almost everything ourselves - including this gorgeous book shelf which was Lee's idea, black baroque flower wallpaper with thick pine shelves we picked from the timber yard and most importantly, tiny aluminium roll bolts to support, each one made by Lee in his lunch hour.

Lapse. Again.

2010-07-13T19:55:00.004+01:00

I think life completely ran away with me these past few months, seems to be a pattern. Or just busy. So here's a summary of what I have been doing, this way I can expand on them later in no particular order or preference!

Finished massive project for Honda - launch of CR-Z at Amplify, The Dream Factory

Went for Jim's dress up party (amongst many others which photos shouldn't feature for a number of drunken reasons!)

On my own again, freelancing and pursuing my feature films and documentary projects (sorry, its still secret)

We bought a flat! Finally! It is gorgeous and has a small garden and we are still decorating - stressful but so heart warming

We went to Glastonbury, worked to build the Greenpeace field and heavily involved in concept, design and build of the Rainforest Showers before the fest started - Lee's idea from our experience in the Amazon, and wow what an incredible 10 days that was. The best Glasto ever: all the pics here with a taster below!

Dressing up for our mass wedding - we married 18 people, biggest ever!

Just hanging out by the campfire with the Greenpeace crew

Night before the crowds descend - we didn't want them to come!

Training home

2010-04-18T21:18:00.000+01:00

We escaped to Wales this weekend to hang out with Bobby and get some much needed downtime. It was sunny, so hot and we bathed in the glorious weather all day with some playtime with the new baby donkey, which is just so adorable!

Had a lovely time eating, drinking, talking and hanging out with our wonderful (large) family.

On train back now and our reading time was rudely interrupted by the wail of U2's "Still Havent Found What I'm Looking" for. I look over to Helena was smiles her fantastically knowing grin and looks for her headphones to drown out this groan inducing tune. I look for the culprit and it's the dude sitting behind her- long hair, leather jacket, dressed in black with beer can in hand thrilled to bits with his U2 sesh. I really do rue the day damn product developers of mobile phones thought it would be a good thing to add in radio and speakers.

And I am sometimes reminded that there are stereotypes you can't ignore. Still got an hour to go!

-- Post From My iPhone

Insane ash

2010-04-15T14:39:00.002+01:00

The Icelandic volcano has been spouting some seriously powerful ash into the atmosphere, already 6-10km high and has shut down British and many EU nation's aerospace, not a single flight in or out. It is just incredibly insane to imagine that a volcano deep beneath Icelandic glaciers has erupted to such a magnitude and caused such palava.

Mother nature is pissed off.

Stamps

2010-04-15T14:36:00.002+01:00

I wonder why no one has thought to make stamps taste nicer - spent half an hour at the post office and had to lick a few stamps, ugh. Not nice.

Raise your voice

2010-03-26T12:22:00.002Z

So the incredible has happened (as it seems to do everyday in the world) but the Greenpeace and Climate Camp activists have won an epic court ruling to have the government go back to square one with the Heathrow 3rd runway plan and review their entire proposal.

Read the news here. Great news!

Ceylon's mistakes

2010-03-12T14:43:00.004Z

Fascinating article about how Singapore's former leader views conflict, mistakes and Sri Lanka.

Choosing English brought success to Singapore, says Lee Kwan Yew

The mistakes of Sri Lanka and other newly independent 'failed states' made Singapore go in a different direction, its founding prime minister told the International Herald Tribune (IHT) in an interview. Lee Kwan Yew, now minister mentor, said when Singapore broke off from the Malayan Federation it had a hostile neighbour and population made of Chinese, Malays and immigrants from the Indian subcontinent."The basis of a nation just was not there. But the advantage we had was that we became independent late," Lee recalled in a wide ranging interview with the IHT published last week."

In 1965, we had 20 years of examples of failed states. So, we knew what to avoid - racial conflict, linguistic strife, religious conflict. We saw Ceylon."

"Thereafter, we knew that if we embarked on any of these romantic ideas, to revive a mythical past of greatness and culture, we'd be damned."

Lee was prime minister from 1959 to 1990 when he stepped down. Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain in 1948.Lee said the team that ran Singapore made a deliberate decision to use English as a working language and not focus on Chinese. At the time Singapore had Chinese, Malay and India schools in separate language mediums.

The British has also set up English schools to produce clerks, storekeepers and teachers. "Had we chosen Chinese, which was our majority language, we would have perished, economically and politically," Lee told the IHT.

"Riots - we've seen Sri Lanka, when they switched from English to Sinhalese and disenfranchised the Tamils and so strife ever after. "We chose - we didn't say it was our national language - we said it was our working language, that everybody learns English whatever language medium school you go to. Which means nobody needs interpretation to read English."

The country's foreign and defence policy was shaped on the realization that it could perhaps only hold out for two weeks against a foreign invasion. While Sri Lanka is still grappling with issues such as exchange rates, inflation and fuel subsidies, and political ideology Singapore is thinking far ahead, even to issues such as the effect of global warning on a low elevation island nation. Earlier this month a retired Thai diplomat, Sompong Sucharitkul, said Singapore opposed the entry of Sri Lanka to Asean when it was founded in 1967 because the country was viewed as unstable. In 1967 Sri Lanka was ruled by Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake in a shaky coalition with the Federal Party. His attempts to solve the ethnic question failed when proposals to devolve power was withdrawn amidst opposition.

Sompong said a discussion was held on August 06 and two ministers from Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) were in an adjacent room. "I remember one was an economics minister. He waited there anxiously for a signal to join the discussion; but it never came," Sompong told Thailand's The Nation newspaper.

Source: http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2007/9/19041_space.html

Breakfast

2010-03-11T10:50:00.002Z

Very interesting photographic project by a German photojournalist, trying to capture and understand the different types of breakfast we consume (the one above is France):

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/9327/oliver-schwarzwald-breakfast.html

Cola Life

2010-03-10T17:55:00.002Z

An initiative by someone who thinks that the Coca Cola world distribution network (which is so massive and robust) should be used to transport and deliver essential goods and items to those in poor countries. So ironic but in deep dark African nations, you find lack of shelter, medicine, schools etc but there is always a Coke sign and a shop selling it. Just such a damn good idea.

http://www.colalife.org/

Beautiful home

2010-03-03T13:55:00.002Z

NASA Earth images - the most true colour images of the earth released to date. So unbelievably humbling.

Chile quake shifts the world's axis

2010-03-02T18:08:00.002Z

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/nasa-chile-quake-shifted-earths-axis-shortened-day/19378491

I am speechless.

Sketch-tastic

2010-02-26T11:53:00.002Z

Amazing website of sketchers around the world contributing their work.

http://www.urbansketchers.com/

Russell's Rust Bucket

2010-02-19T16:34:00.003Z

My good friend Russell is the Executive Creative Director at Grants in Colombo and has a great eye - this is taken in Gampola. Russ - just giving you some publicity!

Spacey Days

2010-02-19T16:30:00.002Z

It's the anniversary of the NASA Space Programme and Space Suit - I love the idea of space travel and the fact that the universe out there is so immense, unimaginably vast and full of planets and peoples/beings we don't know yet.

Anyway, I thought this picture really captured the excitement, energy and innocence of space travel. Great shot with rich background.

Neela on the BBC

2010-02-18T16:40:00.003Z

My mother was interviewed by the BBC on Sri Lanka and the hopes for private sector involvement to develop aspects of society to help the North and East move forward. It is about sports and how that can be a big contributor - interesting thought.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8518653.stm

Picture taking

2010-02-17T17:14:00.004Z

I have been thinking a lot about taking photos - portraits mainly, framing people and trying to capture their expressions (cliched yes but true) and its been something I have thought about for a few years but never had the courage to do much of. Sure I have taken tonnes but never with a serious art in mind but I suppose part of the art is in the understanding of the technology you use to bring your vision to life.

Lee takes photos and he is so good at it, he has a fantastic eye for perspective - seeing things I don't.

I have come across this photographer in my web trails (Behance.com) and he is very good, celebrity taker too though not always: http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Portraits/412762?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter+Feb+10

His name is Joao Canziani, hopefully I can achieve a smidgen of his level one day after all it's in my blood.

Alexander McQueen

2010-02-15T16:33:00.002Z

A tragic story of a talented individual wasting his life too soon. His work was genuinely home grown fantastic, his Paris line was finished before his death so there is now a scramble of curiosity as to who will take over the Gucci Group owned company.

Tax this mo-fo's!!!!

2010-02-10T16:28:00.004Z

Now this is a damn good idea: take from the sickeningly rich bankers and put it back into the people who saved their greedy asses in the first place. The organisation only has a small support base but I think we need to grow it - after all the bankers are only going to contribute 0.05% of their earnings but that's still almost £10 billion!

http://robinhoodtax.org.uk/

The Mazzetti Higginsons

2010-02-10T16:24:00.002Z

So we made our way down to the Prince Arthur on Forest Road in Dalston to meet Glyn, Ella, Ro (Ella's mum) and baby Harper - she has grown into such a person! It was super fun seeing them and feasting on some delicious cuisine. Click here for more photos.

New genre? Oh yes.

2010-02-04T17:06:00.000Z

Thinking

2010-02-04T17:02:00.002Z

Advertising is in my blood thanks to 2 generations before me entrenched in it and photography, art, journalism and creativity. I subscribe to a number of incredibly good blogs on the subject - and I think I'm going to start contributing more to it too - after all how else can we start to evoke change? Only from within.

And there you have it

2010-02-04T16:28:00.002Z

So the result - what a result. I had a fair idea that was going to be the case, at the end of the day Rajapakse is a preferable option to a more unstable Army General. There is a lot of unhappiness in Colombo but that is amongst the more middle upper class, businessmen and women - the most vociferous of the lot.

At the same time, many Tamils in the North (Vanni) voted for Fonseka but equally many Tamils further north (Jaffna) and in the East (Trinco, Pudu, Ampara) voted for Rajapakse. Ironically the usually angry Tamil diaspora sided with the Fonseka crew not realising that they were aligning themselves with what they call the 'Colombo elite' who they hate and continually condemn as being manipulative and ignorant of the needs of the people on grassroot level.

At the end of the day, if there is anything I have learnt from this election is that anyone will side with anybody as long as they are set to benefit as individuals - not as a community or race. So we're a selfish race but what a place to start - at least its only up from here. And this election has been the most comedic mish mash of people coming together taking sides with others I never would have imagined - its like Cilla Black's Blind Date on crack cocaine.

The point is, we just need to commit ourselves as individuals and as a nation to putting pressure on people we know who have influence in high places to start the reconciliation process. And more importantly to start making sure that we address the needs of the Tamil people because they have been silenced and ignored for too long.

Sri Lanka's Big Day

2010-01-25T16:40:00.005Z

Tomorrow is the big day. It just doesn't stop with our country, each corner we turn is more and more tense, filled with uncertainty and instability. When the war ended, with all the trauma there was still hope to look forward with a hope to try to rebuild and start with a cleaner slate - not making the same mistakes we have made so many times before.

And now, I feel that we're just twisting up in yet another difficult mess. The fact of the matter is, we're in between a rock and a hard place. We are facing a military leader who could come into the most powerful position in the country (and who will no doubt, like so many of his predecessors, lie and not give it up as promised) or we face the same unpredictable ruling party. The thing is, I feel more inclined to want what we already know, because with the other option - it is impossible to tell just how out of hand it could get. The truth is, Fonseka is more aggressive and racist - with no fear of showing what he really feels. He is rumoured to bring in Sarath Silva, the most corrupt Chief Justice in our recent history, as his Prime Minister with Ranil being left in the dust, as usual.

With the Rajapakse's, yes it is oppressive but at least we know our leaders - we know the entity that sits in office. It is one that we can contend with. Change and corruption are words being used with such fervour that I can only see it with a cynical eye - why? Because its nothing new. The UNP were always corrupt (more economically) just much more clever about hiding it - they are power hungry and play the cards just like the rest of the politicians that have danced on our country's historical stage. Politics comes hand in hand with corruption and to gasp at it in horror is naive; every government in our independent history has been corrupt on many levels and it is no surprise to me that this is an accusation hurled about. However I am surprised that the UNP/Swan Party are so confident to go in on that platform - pot, kettle, black anyone?

Yes the Rajapakse's are impossible to understand and deal with, they ended the war on unbelievably questionable terms - but how is this voting for the other side? They BOTH stood on the same platform before all this. I almost spat out my tea laughing when I saw Fonseka's "Change" campaign, so obviously ripped off Obama's and yet so far from that same standpoint I felt the utter ridiculousness of it.

I can't vote because I am away. And in a way I am glad that choice has been taken away from me, because for once I wouldn't know what to do with it.

All I can do is pray and hope that whatever situation we put ourselves into tomorrow, we all have the gumption to accept responsibility if it goes wrong and stop pointing fingers and just start making the country work. We can make the change we want to see by starting with ourselves and how we live - how we treat our fellow man. And take to the streets if what is done in our name doesn't feel right.

Lanka vs. London

2010-01-25T16:36:00.003Z

It has definitely dropped a few degrees in the past 2 days and dear Lord its cold. Just thought I'd do a quick comparison of the weather forecasts and ask myself the question again: why am I here in the darkest of winters?

Germ strike!

2010-01-25T16:03:00.002Z

I've been struck down by a crappy cold + cough and I've completely lost my sense of smell for the past 5 days which has been so bizarre. It has also affected my sense of taste so when I eat I can barely tell what it is I am eating... The smell thing has been odd though because from when we were in Wales on a beautiful walk by the waterfalls I couldn't smell the pinewood and when I spray myself with perfume I can't tell if I have any on or not. And could be embarrassing if I forget deoderant, which thankfully for all of you, I haven't.

It just makes me appreciate it because I have a good friend who is a photographer and she lost her sense of smell completely after developing film for most of her teenage and early 20's. Yikes.

Lankan Branding Genius

2010-01-20T14:21:00.004Z

An orange juice drink that was launched in Colombo when I was about 12-14 years old, this is hand painted advert on the side of a building in Maradana - photo credit my buddy Deshan Koon Senior.

Avatar

2010-01-20T14:00:00.005Z

We went to see Avatar last night in 3D and it is the most incredible film in terms of revolutionary technology and imagination - James Cameron has a magnificent ambition. The plant and animal life of Pandora boggles the mind with its luminous landscape and intriguing species not to mention the Na'avi race and their language and body movement. The plot was predictable and many of the roles were stereotyped but for once, everything else overshadowed these let downs. Avatar's indigenous race had such great undertones of African tribal character - the language and dialect invented by a Harvard professor for Cameron.

The scenes with digital creations and real human actors/scenery were so seamlessly brought together its only after you make a point of reflecting on that do you realise how amazing it is.

The film is partly a profound reflection on what countless countries/govts and commercial corporations have done to indigenous nations in the pursuit of money, wealth and power. Native American Indians, Amazonian tribes, Chinese rural villages or even the Tamil people in the NE in some respects. Because it is not politics, legislature or constitution one thinks of as they run screaming from bombs blowing up their village centres, trying to save their families and what little they have.

Anyway, bravo Cameron - though as Lee said, I wish people would realise that we don't need to escape to an alternative universe to see this happening for real.

Gaga Polaroids

2010-01-12T14:35:00.005Z

Thanks to the Impossible Project (website not working at the mo but check later), Polaroid will resume production of it's film towards the end of this year. Late last year I was searching London for Polaroid film for a gig I was doing and it was a ridiculous hunt: in the end I found a place in Elephant and Castle called Silverprint which deal in speciality photography and it was going to cost £68 for 30 prints!! So all of you with the original Polaroid cameras can breathe easy, we're back!

More interestingly though, Lady Gaga has been made Creative Director at Polaroid for their special imaging products, it is such an incredible move considering the institution that is Polaroid and the culture/fashion icon that Gaga has become. Can't wait to see what they come out with, though am hoping its not going to be a leather studded camera cover.

I remember 10 years ago, going on a 3 hour car drive with my Uncle Tom around the Nebraskan suburbs looking for the house of a guy that my uncle had contacted to buy a rare Polaroid camera from. We left in the afternoon and it was dusk as we journeyed in his cool pick up truck and playing Alison Krauss on the tape player, and we finally found the place and bought the camera. It had a gorgeous leather cover. I must ask him whether he still has it?!

2010

2010-01-12T14:16:00.003Z

And so another year, hello 2010 - I’ve been expecting you. New Resolution 1: write more on my blog.

There are other resolutions but I think I'll keep them to the journal. Its a big year, I felt the significance of it a great deal more at midnight on New Years Eve than I have for a long time. Maybe because we entered a new decade, or maybe its because I turned 30 – yikes! As much as I thought there might be, there was no Leah-shaped hole in the wall - I was calm, intoxicated and surrounded by my family and friends which was just dandy.

I got some lovely thoughtful gifts and Tasha made me this awesome video of some of things I've done in my life so far - was hilarious and rather embarrassing! From TV commercials to bad dance routines!

This year is going to be a big year for me, for us, one with change and being much more committed to what I believe in. Starting with my life, my work and my country.

It may not be a fresh start or a clean slate but the situation in Sri Lanka has a lot more potential than it ever did. I just got back from a 3 week visit there and it was exhilarating. Most of my friends who live there had some very fascinating things to say – some I agreed with, others I didn’t, but people are much more alive than I remember.

I can’t say I feel buoyed by the impending elections, and the options we are faced with are frustrating after all this time – laced with opportunity but tied to an anvil.

Still, I have faith that we will work it out somehow. One thing I did feel when I was home was how much was happening on the ground - unknown to all the foreign media and big talkers outside, really you have to be there and be talking to the right people to see what is happening. How the locals from around the country are making their own advances to connect with each other and dispel all the bullshit that existed before.

We have to help support that, so there is no room for people to be wrongly influenced.

They keep killing our heroes

2009-11-06T09:26:00.002Z

Listening to my favourite show on Radio 4, Desert Island Discs, and they've got Jerry Springer on which is an unexpectedly interesting listen. He's talking about working for Bobby Kennedy (another political hero of mine) and how he felt when they killed Martin Luther King and then Bobby. I just felt the impact of how suddenly the purity of the 60's where everything was possible and hopeful - where people felt that they could save the world, change minds and times, stop wars and make peace - was smacked with despair and desolation by these deaths. Because a few horrid men somewhere in a distant room made the decision to kill our heroes.

Even today, we allow these shadows to keep killing our heroes and taking away our champions. The real ones, not the glorified icons of today. I am going to do what I can to make it stop.

A load of bull

2009-09-30T16:26:00.002+01:00

An unbelievable art display just opened in Beijing: Chinese artist Chen Wenling critiques the global financial crisis in What You See Might Not Be Real, on display at a Beijing gallery. The bull is said to represent Wall Street, while the man pinned to the wall represents jailed financier Bernard Madoff. Brilliant.

Beautiful eyefuls

2009-09-28T17:57:00.001+01:00

Bags at Portobello Market

Photos Lee took on some walks we have taken.

honntha the ekak oney

2009-07-31T17:16:00.001+01:00

I'm missing my good old strong Lankan cup of tea, pic courtesy of my buddy Russell Miranda.

An absence of wonder

2009-07-30T18:14:00.003+01:00

I have once again, lapsed in writing. I think these past few months have been a lot to take in, and I felt like I didn't want to write for the time being. The emotion of having the war end, was overwhelming, but also what had been done - the immense damage - was just a lot to grasp. I didn't feel like celebrating, I felt unsure, worried, elated and extremely concerned. Oddly, many of my friends, acquaintances and family felt the same - there was no way we were going to celebrate how this war had killed so many ruthlessly. But I did feel a semblance of happiness for the future - and that is when I realised that my blog had become mainly about war and death and destruction and pain and suffering. And I want that to change.

Though this is still the feeling of so many in my country, I believe it is time to help them pick up the pieces and move forward. Together - and now that the LTTE has been put to rest, we can all work towards a common goal of rebuilding our tiny island and making it what it was destined to be: a unified multi-ethnic harmonious country.

The Eelam Virus by Sebastian Rasalingam

2009-05-22T10:29:00.002+01:00

The Eelam Virus*

Toronto

Thousands of protesters gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, to ask for the Canadian government to intervene in what they are calling a genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. (AP)

I have cringed with pain and clutched my head in anguish, watching my grand children's friends in Scarborough, Ontario, going out, with their friends, to join protest marches in the streets of Toronto. These young people are given the Tiger flag which is an insult to the best traditions of Hindu society or the Christian values taught by the prince of peace. These young people shout slogans and talk of the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Most of them actually believe that they are doing the "right thing". They think they are demonstrating for a "just cause". They think "Our people are being shelled, bombed. Those who escape are locked away in concentration camps and probably gassed like in Auschwitz. We have to pressure the Canadian government to demand an immediate ceasefire". They have seen movies and videos showing exactly that, and they need no other proof. After all, "there are young Tamils immolating themselves in London and Geneva. So all this must be true. Every Tamil grocery has these newspapers telling what is going on". Oh, what a delusion!

These slogan shouting people take me back to another era. In the 1950s, when we were relatively young, the political demonstrations launched by the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi were an attractive line of political action. I certainly felt that "Sinhala ONLY" was utterly unfair by us Tamils. But then, I somehow felt that the cry for "driving out the invaders from the Tamil homelands" was a dangerously racist, extremist cry. I went to live in Hatton and then Colombo. The society that I found in the Sinhalese areas was much more just and equitable than the social ethos of Jaffna and Mannar that I had already seen. The Tamils in Colombo had a dominant position in commerce, banking, professions and every walk of life. I felt that we, too, could easily prosper in Sri Lanka, even with Sinhala only or virtually no Tamil, just as the Jews have done in New York, with no Yiddish recognized as a national language. I began to understand the evilness of individuals like S. J. V. Chelvanayagam and E. M. V. Naganathan. The latter's pride in announcing that he was a descendant of the Chola aristocracy was particularly repugnant to me as I had seen the hard side of the Manu Dharma. Why didn't the Tamil leaders support the socialists who supported "Parity of Status" for the two languages? Why are the Tamil
leaders living in Colombo instead of relocating to the "Traditional homelands"? Would the Tamils in the North and the East be able to settle down in the south if the "Tamil homelands" policy were achieved? Would the Tamils living in the south be deported to the North if Arasu were achieved? Surely, Sinhalese discrimination against Tamils is nothing compared to what I and my wife, an estate Tamil, had to face within the Tamil society.

I could doubt the political programme that was gaining ground among the Tamils because I happened to be an educated low-caste Tamil with Estate-Tamil connections. The Tamil politicians worked very hard to polarize the people and drive a wedge between the two ethnic groups. The Arasu Kadchi people were actually happy that the Banda-Chelva accord was torn asunder. Ethnic division was necessary for creating the exclusive "Tamil homelands" Given such an inflammatory extra-parliamentary objective, the final struggle had to be war.

Looking at the young men going out to demonstrate in the streets of Toronto, I see them as just a continuation of the delusion initiated by the Chelvanayagams and Naganathans, already in 1949. Communist intellectuals and their young student activists blindly supported Stalin even when overwhelming evidence was presented to show that Stalin was a mass murderer. Today, the Tamil Diaspora is similarly blinded by its own beliefs and fails to accept the truth.

Instead of joining with the Sri Lankan government to defeat and decapitate Prabhakaran, instead of coming forward to help the displaced Tamils, the LTTE-conscripted children, and hostages who have managed to flee, the Diaspora is waving the Tiger flag. If 10,000 Tamils all over the world demonstrated for a week, even at the minimum wage of $8 per hour, this is a capital investment of over $6 million dollars totally wasted. According to Jane's Intelligence, if we aggregate the collection made from the Diaspora over two decades, there is enough money to
pension all the Sri Lankan Tamils, 3 million or more, at a standard of living never dreamed of. Instead, we used that money to supply the Tigers with claymore bombs, RPGs, AK-47s and the likes. Even the Tsunami aid was diverted for war. Meanwhile we created a Mafia to plague us.

Is there NO LIMIT to hate based on this "Eelam Virus"?

The IDP camps in Vavniya are far better than the IDP camps in India. The Diaspora has not risen to help our Tamils in the IDP camps in Sri Lanka or India. Instead, it chooses to wave Tiger flags in western capitals and use political blackmail by "fasting unto death", immolation and such undemocratic methods.

The Tamil Diaspora has to cure itself of the Eelam Virus. Then and then only can it help the Tamils.

Con artists

2009-05-21T17:17:00.002+01:00

A picture says a thousand words. The picture released on Tamilnet:

The real picture, notice the girl with blue veil on righthand side with a very fancy Nikon camera, in the war-zone:

The fact is, I am not saying the shelling of innocents did not take place. But I am saying that a fair number of the Tamil diaspora media are massive manipulators - now that the LTTE is finished, we can hope for more true pictures to come out. After all, the GOSL has no excuse now not to show us what is really happening.

More Lankan thoughts

2009-05-20T15:58:00.003+01:00

A couple of blogs - here are some more real views from some real Sri Lankans

Groundviews

Kottu

And so this day has come

2009-05-17T13:35:00.003+01:00

Far beyond my imagination - I did not expect the war to end so soon. There is a great deal of work to be done, starting with the welfare, rights and rehabilitation of our Tamil people who have been suffering for too long.

I am glad to see the LTTE cower into a small guerilla group, they are finished - no doubt in my mind that this isn't over, i know there will be more suicide bombings, attacks and calls from tiny caves and lame websites saying this is not over. But it is, that chapter is closed, and the country which i have only known as a war-ridden island is now free of war in one scale. It has been an emotional day for Sri Lankans, at home and abroad - but that is what we are - we are all Sri Lankans, and we are united whether we like it or not, in a semblance of shock, relief, fear and emotional compassion for those who we know need it most.

For my family who are not here any more to see this day, as many others will be thinking now, I feel a great sense of loss. It was not what I imagined it to be, there are clear cut celebrations at home with people feeling the gravity of this situation possibly moreso. After all, the country has beat it's enemy. But the enemy was never the Tamil people, just a meglomaniacal group of people who lost the plot a long time ago.

Word is that the top leadership have killed themselves Hitler style, fled the scene (no surprise) or have been killed without knowledge yet. Soosai's wife, daughter and son were captured fleeing with Rs. 600,000/- in cash in bags, gold and jewelry - that's one way of caring for your people.

The fact is, I feel refreshed today. I feel like we can really implement the change that my generation has spoken about for many months and years... we can finally show the world that Sri Lanka is full of united, warm-hearted and constructive people who want their country to be all that it can be, after living in the shadow of war for over 30 years. We are not Tamil-hating, malicious, nationalistic war mongers like the West believes so. And we are a tiny island nation who managed to bring a terrorist organisation to it's knees - without the help of the big super-powers who are still battling with their own around the world.

To this day I say thank God we are able to be a part of history. And only each of us as individuals can make the change we want to see - we can't leave it to others to see our aspirations through.

Mad hattering

2009-05-05T10:40:00.003+01:00

Another sunny day in London last weekend and we did a shoot for a night that Tasha is putting on in June with Nicholas and Gaultier. A Mad-hatters Tea Party - complete with bands and the like. Money going for a good cause, so dressing up with a positive vibe.

It was a great set and the players were incredibly easy to work with - Lee took the photos.

weekend traces

2009-05-05T10:24:00.003+01:00

Had a fantastic weekend in Wales, Fforest is the peaceful place I love going to, to just chill away time doing things we lack in the city. Like gardening, long walks, several cups of tea and sunshine. Though we had a couple of grey days - it was perfect. Had a super day out for Lauren's birthday, we went to this restaurant in Llangsteffan where the owners open their house up to you and you can dine in their ecclectic designed dining room, complete with fantastic wall-to-wall photos and fairy lights. They serve you delicious Sunday roast and pudding for 10 quid a head and its BYOB.

They are an eccentric pair, previously film-makers - they have a cellar which is filled with cardboard boxes that they started throwing down there with the aim to recycle, but it was filled to the point that you just walk in there and bounce around. So they invite the local kids from the village to go in, screaming and jumping - throwing the boxes at each other and Tim (owner) stands outside flicking the light on and off. Ok, so a bit random to read, but damn fun to experience.

Though I have to say, we felt pretty worse for wear the next day - and Jesse sweetly drove us back to London. Blurgh.

So. My Uncle Tom has got a blog, and I thought I ought to big it up - he is a famous photographer and a great one at that! Here is a photo he took of Aunty Sriyani many years ago right after they were married... this is on one of our gorgeous Lanka beaches.

http://tomtidball.blogspot.com/

New place to debate

2009-04-23T12:07:00.002+01:00

A new blog to debate the Sri Lankan turmoil, new posts, new participants and old. And replies/answers to those who have been commenting.

Waging Peace

Temporary safety

2009-04-22T19:29:00.004+01:00

Tamil's fleeing the LTTE's clutches... the truth will come out slowly but surely - the real Tamil people who have been living the war, unlike many (NOT ALL) people who have been living abroad and away from the carnage. As I have said, I do not support the Govt of Sri Lanka but I do support the fact that these Tamil refugees who deserve a much better life, one equal to mine, will more likely get it on the Govt side, as long as they do not sit with the LTTE who are forcing them to suffer too. Because, hey guess what? This could be the beginning of a new chapter... one that only we, the Sri Lankan people, can make.

I do not deny that in the past, the Sri Lankan Government have made grave mistakes, stupid decisions and racist policies from 1948 on, that hurt the Tamil people and resulted in their cry for a separate homeland. But that cry, made by accident during a passionate speech in 1970's has now resulted in the absolute suffering of the very people it was designed to protect. Therefore, I ask - give us the Sri Lankan people, all of us - Muslim, Sinhalese, Burgher and Tamils in the rest of the country - a chance to prove that we are no longer of that time, and of that horrible/shameful place where there were majorities and minorities. I truly believe the country that many of you do not know, has changed drastically. You can see it in the silent, humanitarian efforts by civilians - just yesterday I know that 10,000 litres of water were purchased at a personal cost, and shipped up to the Vanni for the refugees. This is just one tiny example of the show of care and compassion of the people for their brothers and sisters.

The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka is galvanising massive cooking facilities which are being set up in the NE to feed the refugees fresh food - at the personal cost of the group who have pulled this together. Now you might say that oh I thought the Muslims were put down by the LTTE, slaughtered in villages and mosques when the LTTE conducted their own ethnic cleansing in the mid 1990's. But has this stopped the Muslims reaching out to the Tamils? No. Because today, in this time of crisis the Sri Lankan people do not associate the LTTE with Tamil people. And that is the kind of compassion and attitude that exists in Sri Lanka amongst a majority of people - forgiveness, remorse and an aim to rebuild. So anyone who says or thinks otherwise, join the current hypocritical bandwagon and bring it on - we'll show you the truth. And you will recede back into your cave of provoking and racial divisiveness.

BBC talks to Tamils fleeing the LTTE hold - how does one dispute this? How do the Tamil's protesting hoist the LTTE flag on Parliament Square in Westminster in protest when the LTTE are clearly killing their own? Let us start our own united movement to ensure the rights of the Tamil people without violent, hypocritical intent.

I will soon reply the many who have left their rather uncompromising comments on my blog, however in the meantime, read this article by a right-thinking, moderate Tamilian:

Are you Tamil? Time for some soul-searching

Tagore perfect

2009-04-18T13:12:00.002+01:00

From his English translation:

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the
dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening
thought and action -
Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.

More diaspora talk

2009-04-17T14:04:00.002+01:00

Been catching up on the buzz around the current protests from the Tamil community here and around the world. Seems that some prominent members of the Tamil diaspora were invited by the Sri Lankan Govt a few weeks ago to visit for talks and they were then taken to refugee camps and transit camps of their choice to see the real ground situation and talk to their people.

Interesting finds:

Diaspora calls on LTTE to release Tamil civilians

The Island Speaks

A new gallery

2009-04-17T14:01:00.003+01:00

A friend of mine has just opened her own Gallery in Colombo - congratulations Saskia, can't wait to see it finally. For now, check out a quick breakdown on her intentions:

The Saskia Fernando Gallery

Cool idea

2009-04-17T13:48:00.001+01:00

Great new website that we hope to be working with - ideastap.com which is all about helping young creatives to get a foot in the door to help their careers shoot off.

A moderate voice

2009-04-17T13:35:00.002+01:00

An article by Nirmala Rajasingham - prominent voice of the real moderate diaspora, former member of the LTTE and sister to Rajani Thiranagama who co-authored The Broken Palmyra and was assassinated by the LTTE for her views.

She explores the twisted intentions and unfortunately disillusioned beliefs behind the current protests by the Tamil communities who live abroad and how they do not match those of their sisters and brothers who are in the middle of the war. Those who are suffering and have had everything taken away. Those that this war is really about. Yes, some of the Tamil people living here in the UK and other parts of the world are ones that fled this same war, but then they seemed to have forgotten that the LTTE too were pointing the gun at them. SO, we have to carve a place in the middle, where Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims, Chetties and Burghers can have a moderate voice together - not in support of either extreme but one of new change, supporting the right to equality and justice.

I have had the fortune to know Nirmala and I support her views - she is the kind of voice that we need to support. One that encourages moderate voices to grow stronger within the diaspora, she is the inbetween that I feel I belong to - not at all a supporter of the LTTE and cautious of the Govt's intentions and methods.

Read her article here on opendemocracy.com

France and Britain call it like it really is

2009-04-16T09:23:00.002+01:00

The LTTE have been officially criticised (finally!) for holding back the civilians, using them as human shields and labour to hold their trenches while they fire back at the Army. This has emerged in the last 48 hours as a few hundred people have escaped the safe zone into the Govt territory during the temporary ceasefire. We knew this was happening however it is good to finally hear it coming from the international community.

I once again, I DO NOT CONDONE govt actions whereby innocent people die at the hands of guns, shells and bombs. I am against war - but the LTTE want war and we cannot allow them to intimidate their own people, let alone the rest of Sri Lanka. However, we know that these innocents would not be dying if the LTTE did not hold them hostage so as to use their innocent deaths to their own media advantage in order to prolong their existence.

France and Britain condemn LTTE

The Tamil innocent's ordeal

2009-04-15T09:08:00.002+01:00

Sri Lankan Tamils tell of ordeal at the hands of the Tamil Tigers:

BBC Article

You can't argue with hard facts and first hand accounts. It is what so many of us feared was happening, but in a small way it is a relief to finally hear the truth.

Wales = wonderful

2009-04-13T17:03:00.002+01:00

Just on the last few hours of our lovely easter break to Brechfa. It has been a luscious 4 days of sunshine, quiet time and wonderful company. Have missed being down here, you can hear the birds sing, the lambs baa and well pretty much anything that you're normally supposed to hear above the din of regular city life.

It has been super fun, Tasha, Helena and Danny down with us, along with the Turgels and Davies. Bobby and Netta have done up Fforest over the winter and it looks gorgeous, not to mention the front room is warm and cosy: we tried it out last night complete with amazing roast dinner and Helena's version of 'Articulate' which was hysterical.

We went to the beach, collected mussels and cooked them for dinner. We planted seedlings in Netta's garden, painted easter eggs all day yesterday, fired up the sauna, Lee built a style for the new field and we went for a massive walk today which was perfect to end the weekend with. I love being down here, it puts the mind in perspective and helps to clear the rubbish from the good stuff. I needed it, now I just need to put my ideas into action and not allow London to bring me down. Its the perfect place to be if one wants to be in the creative industry, so I'm just going to throw myself in there and see what happens.

Pictures to follow.

LTTE Let my people go

2009-04-13T15:18:00.003+01:00

Ceasefire has been called, two days is better than nothing - shows more willingness than the LTTE and now, they won't let the Tamil people go. What kind of sick minds do they possess? Thing is they realise that if they do, it will be the end of them because they will lose their cover and be singled out to be beaten by the army, irrelevant of whether we think it is right or wrong.

So instead, they sacrifice the ones they love and are supposed to protect.

I've had some comments left on my blog by someone who claimed not to know anything about the Sri Lankan conflict and asked me for more information. I then received a rather odd comment from the same person today with a link to a video of the army filming dead bodies of the LTTE cadres and this person citing a sudden opinion on how bad the army is. Quite laughable - when are the outsiders going to realise that you can't assume anything and you can't just immediately take this conflict as black and white. I thought that video was sick, but then war is sick, war is dark and war is a violent means for a struggle that goes drastically wrong almost every time. If this person wants to challenge and talk about this conflict - at least have the balls to leave me their email address. Not just anonymously leaving comments. Plus the whole blog she/he found that video on was in Tamil, so how do they know it is legit? Unless they aren't who they say they are.

Also - Stop the War Coalition. Come on, I was even on their list of volunteers, now I might have to think twice as they joined the demonstration against the genocide of the Tamils over the weekend. What message are they sending as an impartial group when they side with terrorist supporters? Again, not so black and white because these protesters are fighting for many reasons, one which I support wholeheartedly - the freedom and safety of the 1000's of Tamils trapped in the war zone. But we know who is responsible for their suffering - LTTE. And whose flags did these protestor's wave at the demo's? The LTTE. Confusing, isn't it?

To the Tamil people

2009-04-08T16:44:00.001+01:00

Violence breeds extremism. The power and violent hungry of the world want fanatics and extremism so that they can control us further, tell us what to do and what to believe. Scare us into thinking we need their protection, need them to make our daily rightful decisions for us. What we need is moderates - think about all the political killings we have witnessed in our lifetimes, who do they target? Who are they killing? Moderates. People who talk peace, compromise and keenness to stop violence. We need to encourage moderate views - not to be tricked through religion and morals, but the right to choice. I have grown up with a war all my life and I am sick of having to watch these extremists warp the life that I (and so many others) have the right to live.

"Children are tools to implement God's means" Taleban recruiter, Dispatches interview.

Look what we have done, look at what we have allowed in our short lifetime - take the Taliban out of Afghanistan, free the oil rich and regionally strategic land so that few may enjoy their lives in full. But then the Taliban move into Pakistan and turns it into a melting pot of extremism, so now we sit and watch as it turns on itself and it's own people. Once a strong contender as one of Asia's leading countries, now a tug of war tool between several hopeful parties.

We allowed that.

I have been feeling incredibly overwhelmed these past few months. I am torn between what to believe and what I should do. This war, our war, has got so completely out of control - there are people being brainwashed on all sides (2nd generation Tamils living abroad, Sri Lankans living in the south, Tamils in the East) I mean how are we supposed to find peace and resolution when we can't even get our hands on the truth? Why is something so crucially fundamental to our lives as humans on this earth, so unattainable? I won't even touch upon the devil's tool that is the media, and I am sick and tired of watching what few misguided individuals use as "news".

The fact is, we the innocent people of Sri Lanka - Sri Lankans all over the world (because that's what we are: irrelevant of Tamil, Muslim, Sinhala, Chetty) the fact is if we deplore apartheid and Rwandan genocide then we have to deplore the outrageous acts of violence against innocents in the north and east of our country, by BOTH the LTTE and the government.

I deplore the LTTE, I find that they are skewing the truth more so than most - they lie to their people and they shoot upon those who they are supposed to be defending. What kind of freedom fighters are they? I will never support them or their cause, because they are not true to their roots. I feel so sorry for the Tamil people, the real Tamil people who are caught in the middle, those who have just wanted nothing but to live a life that provides them with education, shelter, food, joy and freedom. Basic Human Rights.

The Tamil people in foreign lands, they have not asked these innocents what it is they really want - they are not for Eelam. They just want freedom. If the diasphora wanted peace (which they would if they would stop funding the guns that are shooting their own people) then they would fight for it another way. Instead they march to Westminster and put on a show of "solidarity" to shout about the genocide of the GOSL against their people. They wave the hideous flags of the Tamil Tigers but are they so blind? What word of their brother's and sister's who are shot by the emblem of these flags - the Tigers? I believe these protesters are just afraid, afraid that if this war ends, if the LTTE lose, then they will have to go back to their "beloved" land. And that is NOT part of their agenda.

I feel guilty. I feel sick to my stomach each day as I scour websites, news and hear from my friends and family back home - I feel this is my war, my fault that it is happening and my responsibility to change it. The Tamil people are my people. I am half Ceylon Moor, quarter Colombo Chetty and quarter Sinhalese - I am proud of my heritage and even though the history of my country is marred with violence and despicable acts of injustice against its' own people - I still stand as a Sri Lankan because as long as I am alive, I have the ability to change it.

We are not against each other - I am 29 years old and I know there are hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans around the world and at home who are in a similar age bracket, who all harbour a secret opinion about this ethnic conflict. We are the future, we are the ones who can make this all change. Let me send a question to the 2nd generation Tamil people - do you really believe all that you hear? Are you going to blindly accept what your parents, uncles and aunts tell you about who is right and who is the real enemy? Yes I agree with you 100% that people are suffering in our country and they should not be. And yes, you have a reason to feel badly done by - we have let you down.

But - BUT - do you honestly believe that the picture is so black and white? That "Sinhalese people hate you and want to annihilate you"? If you do, then you are too far gone and far too narrow-minded to want to change. Have you met real Sinhalese people? The Sinhala and Muslim and several other ethnic minorities (smaller than you!) do not want you dead and gone, we want to work together - we want to make it good again and leave behind all this death and destruction. Imagine what we could achieve if we decided to work together, as a team - to change the way our country worked.

I leave the ball in your court. I am ready to listen and want to work with you to make this change happen.

Costume party

2009-04-08T16:25:00.004+01:00

Jim had a rocking house party (a great one after a long time) out by Caledonian Road, and the theme was come as "what you wanted to be when you grow up". From Sponge Bob Square Pants, a cool dude strapped to a Penguin to my very own sister as Wonder Woman - it was pretty fun.

Lee found his grandpa's fantastic RAF Uniform which fit him perfectly and I went as, yes, a dancer. But not just any dancer, a flashdance dancer! (Better said in Nebraska American accent).

A Librarian, Ballerina and 80's street dancer

No more lies

2009-03-26T09:13:00.002Z

All I can see these days is all sorts of humanitarian bodies claiming to be the ones really helping the people in the North who are suffering inconceivable pain and emotional trauma. It is such a sickness to show off, these groups whether it be TRO or COHHRT or whatever new name it gives itself - I definitely agree that they are doing some amazing work up there, helping those who need it but if you read their reports you will find a very sickly interjection of how much they are doing. Good samaritans don't call out their own names when doing good for others. Quite vain. In an ugly time.

Of course they have to justify what they do each day to make sure their donors in the Tamil diasphora are satisfied their money is being put to good use. Not to support the lifestyles of those who live abroad, supposedly manning phones and writing more detrimental commentary on the internet.

Why don't these groups realise that we can see through this? Of course, I want someone to be able to help the Tamil people - they are being brutally hurt and they are my people and I want them to be safe, even though GUESS WHAT? I am not Tamil.

It makes me so furiously angry to see these poor people being used as tools for the betterment of a cause that as they face the next shelling, (I bet you) couldn't care less about. How dare political groups like the TRO speak for those people? Were they nominated? Were they asked to? No. Please continue the samaritan work for these people, but stop talking for them - their new "on the spot report" is just another way to poison the minds of the people watching on the sidelines. The fact is, the LTTE is losing this war and they will lose.

This bothers many people, many of those who have supported this war, at any cost. The govt is not at all innocent either - believe me I am as aware as they come. However, they are winning this fight and those 'people' don't want it to happen, and so are using the shield of the innocents to fight in a different way. How sick, sick sick is that? The LTTE are firing upon their own people. The LTTE are not the Tamil people's representatives anymore, they lost the plot Hitler-style many years ago.

My question is, who is really going to step up and save the Tamil people, while their own watch them suffer across the water?

The unoriginals

2009-03-23T10:56:00.003Z

For some bizarre reason I've noticed a sudden surge in Ghostbuster themed adverts:

Citroen crap

118 118 embarrassing

Seems some ad agencies are really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Ffffound

2009-02-13T13:42:00.004Z

Some really cool stuff that people are doing around the world - it's nice to just lose yourself in it. Great photographs of great art, all on http://ffffound.com

telling the truth

2009-01-27T13:01:00.004Z

In an ever changing world, the truth is harder and harder to get to. We rely so heavily upon the media to tell us the facts, that we forget that the media is governed not by an infinite body of honest people but by those with an agenda. Where we watch movies filled with conspiracies, plots filled with doubt and mistrust, it is not surprising that in real life we discount even the most reliable sources (such as the date inside the frame of a camera that is recording).

We are so influenced by the world cynicism that we can't even allow ourselves to distinguish between the fact that people are being killed in NE Sri Lanka and Gaza - and the reason for it. Irrespective of race and religion. The fact that the BBC won't air the Gaza appeal is a perfect example of an agenda - it shows they are obviously too afraid to anger the Jewish community that sits so silently and forebodingly in the background.

I have been battling internally these past few days with the pictures and words I have seen, and the accounts I have been reading - who do we trust? How do we really win a war? How do we allow people to be freed without risking the evil snake of a rebel group to rearm and cause more destruction? How in the hell did we get into this mess? And why, after 30 years of war can we not just have an honest agenda?

I am sick and tired of not knowing who to believe - who do you trust? Its incredible how often one faces that question in a day in the life of. Do I trust the guy selling me tube ticket on the street? Do I trust the news source on my computer screen? Do I trust the label? Do I trust an acquaintance's efforts to be concerned with my life? I mean when did the world get so distrustful (is that even a word?)?.

I've just finished reading a book on JFK but it cites RFK's struggle post assassination to search for the truth ("Brothers" by David Talbot). It reignited my crazed obsession with the Kennedy's and showed me how the world shifted so sharply towards cynicism and weariness in such a short period of time.

Ok, rant over. I just believe it's time to do something and stop sitting back and taking all the crap that the media and "experts" keep giving us - how and why is it so hard to find something so simple like the truth? So, screw mistrust or distrust (I need a dictionary) - I'm going to clear my head, and start all over again.

The world as you don't see it

2009-01-26T11:45:00.011Z

Found this super data world mapper site, which shows you the world maps according to different subject matter, so for example:

World Poverty:

Territory size shows the proportion of all people living on less than or equal to US$2 in purchasing power parity a day. Absolute poverty is defined as living on the equivalent of US$2 a day or less.

World population:

World carbon emissions:

The world fuel consumption (this includes gas, coal, oil, nuclear, wood, and other materials):

Makes you think. You can enter any data subject and it could show you a world map in relation: www.worldmapper.org

musings

2009-01-20T12:37:00.005Z

Some great stuff I've found lately. The world is full of insanely amazing personalities and ideas:

http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/

http://www.guerrilla-gorilla.blogspot.com/

M.I.A.'s sister's jewelry brand in UK: http://www.superfertile.com/

moments of change

2009-01-20T12:25:00.002Z

I haven't felt this optimistic in months when it comes to the world political stage. I battle with sounding like a cheesy commentator from a typical American film, but the fact is - anyone who wants to be cynical or roll their eyes, step back away from me. I am thrilled beyond comprehension about today - the day that Barack Obama takes his oath. Because today, we are all a part of history and nothing will change that. A black man who is talking about peace and unilateral attitudes. Yes!

It is ironic because who knows, a few months from now everyone will be moaning and erring that Obama is just the same as the others. All I will say to that is we all have to come to terms with the fact that he won't be able to snap his fingers and change the world. But that its him stepping up on to that stage and not the old, half man half bionic mess of a guy McCain, is a huge step in the right direction. I feel that people are going to be a little more open to letting this guy try and do his job.
He is going to struggle with oil barons, tobacco lobbyists and drug company bastards who want to stop healthcare reform but at the same time, he will have peace mongers the world over, stepping up to help him. So who's to say?

In this moment of blissful perfection, where anything is possible and the world is united in celebration (well, almost everyone in some way or form) - I am damn happy to be alive to jump up and down with a flag in my hand and say, hell yes we can.

Basil issues

2008-12-10T13:41:00.003Z

So I popped down to my favourite luncherie Oishi - "pan-Asian" cuisine you know. The Vietnamese guy I often chat to about the world and how to put it to right informed me that there wasn't any basil in my delicious chicken Viet Salad. I questioned as to why, and he said it was because of the problems in Thailand.

Eh?

It dawned on me - thanks to the protester fiasco in Bangkok with the airports and such, we have no basil because they haven't been able to fly much out. How crazy is that? The world is truly a small place where a little Vietnamese joint in Clerkenwell can be affected by a justice-driven protest all the way across the world.

The Spaghetti Pony Wedding

2008-11-29T15:40:00.007Z

Absolutely breathtaking and emotional from start to finish - Glyn and Ella's wedding, the official pictures taken by the talented Mere. It was a beautiful day, starting at Hackney Town Hall and moving on to the St John Smithsfield Restaurant for a blow out party... Old friends got together after ages and new friends were made that day. The ceremony moved me to tears and made me feel so very grateful to be a part of such a close group of friends, and to be able to witness two people so very meant for each other.

Plus Helena had the most amazing sailor outfit with awesome hair-do. Go figure.

The sweet American miracle

2008-11-29T15:36:00.004Z

Thank God the Americans woke up that day and picked Barack Obama - I can't believe he is the U.S. President. These are important times and there is hope yet.

Change

2008-11-03T14:06:00.004Z

I cannot believe how lucky I am to live in these times. Of course things are tough and war plagues us as does the ever mutating financial crisis. But we are living in a time where a big change could be on it's way - in the form of America's first black presidential candidate and the mere possibility that he could win.

I grew up with history books talking about Martin Luther King and how that fight just couldn't be won. This time, it's not about black and white which is amazing to think - have we hopefully on some level moved on from that?

And of course no one is saying that Obama is perfect but what he is - is DIFFERENT.

I feel like it's my country that was voting. Thank God George Bush is on his way out, because maybe we might find a way to put things back on track towards right.

Come on Obama! Though he makes me say cheesy things - I'll let that slide.

New Yoik

2008-10-10T10:03:00.006+01:00

What a rocking city. Amazing, incredible, fantastic. I love adjectives. I had strange expectations of the city that never sleeps, and I was also expecting it to be a bit rubbish. So it was exciting to set off on a trip there.

One problem is going to a city on holiday - Lee would rather go out into the country, I often have stars in my eyes with romantic notions of a city I've read about, seen films in and generally want to visit. Its the same about the countryside, just different.

My parents were visiting with us in London for a month which was so wonderful, I loved having them in the next room when I woke up - it was so good for the soul to hang out with them.

So Lucas Stauffer was getting married (blast from the past) and they had invited us to their intimate wedding in New York City. So we went for 5 glorious sun-filled days. NYC has a vibe of its' own. It is massive, the buildings are massive, the food portions, the cars, the signboards - everything is flipping massive. But there is a buzz that you just can't put your finger on and you just can't beat. Thankfully it was not "American" in the negative way, it was more like "Goodfellas" most of the time which was super. Especially at the wedding, Nanoonie!

We visited Central Park on the first day, walked around taking all the large buildings and roadways in. You could easily just stand on a street corner and take it all in for an hour. We met up with Af - it was weird seeing him in this new city, calling it his own, telling me which block he was staying on etc. But it suited him and he was happy, so that is most important.

Day 2 - Lee, Tash and I walked from our hotel off Broadway all the way down to Greenwich Village for lunch where we met Cindy Stauffer after 10 years which was amazing. Then Lee and I walked down to the Hudson River and took in the sights. We missed the last ferry to Stanton Island which we didn't mind, it was actually cooler seeing it from afar. It was also September 11th and we were right by Ground Zero which really fascinated me. I'm such a news and current affairs junkie since my journalist days and being at the centre of where the modern world changed - well it was moving. We had just missed Obama and McCain's visit to the site to lay flowers.

That night we met Lucas and his bride to be Martha - what a hottie. They had all been through some rough times so it felt extremely special to all be together after so long and celebrate something happy.

The next few days went by in a blur - Lee and I visited Cunning New York, had lunch with Mark and Floyd - what a cool bunch they are. It was hard not to say "so do you need another team member?" their offices were slap bang in the middle of Soho - they had windows! Good vibe there.

It poured with rain that afternoon, Lee and I bought a $5 umbrella, which was more like a $1 one - it was crap. But we had fun exploring Soho in the rain, running into shops and photo galleries. We then all went to dinner with Af at the Buddha Bar in the meatpacking district which was awesome. But oh one two many sake's which hurt the next day.

Been too long

2008-10-10T09:51:00.002+01:00

What the hell men? Its been 3 months, again. So much has happened.

I've cut off all my hair for start, but I don't have a good picture of it yet. It was one of those things which just had to be done, not to sound all girly but it really is a part of you - or so you think. But when my trusty old hair dresser said "the ends of your hair are probably quite a few years old" i thought - hmm time to trim.

So i've got a new do. And its fun. If you want to see pics, I've been told there are some on facebook but i wouldn't know since I don't have an account on it.

Did you know that M16 are now actually recruiting on facebook? Should one be scared when they poke you? I'm not sure. Shudder shudder. I wonder if you're good at persistently requesting friendship after being ignored gets you higher points?

A Cunning picnic

2008-07-31T18:21:00.002+01:00

So a few weeks ago, my agency Cunning threw us a lovely picnic in Regents Park where I proceeded to be very silly (as did the rest of them) while frolicking the gorgeous sunshine surrounded by great food, delicious drinks and many cool folk.

Hot but knackering

2008-07-31T18:18:00.002+01:00

It is so warm outside - "milk was a bad choice" comes to mind. Am pretty exhausted this week thanks to long work hours, find myself quite useless come 10pm. But then I suppose thats what sometimes happens in the grand scheme of things.

Lee is playing a gig tonight at the Ginglik - where we first met! Why are girls so dreamy and reminiscent, while men are so practical?

Legacy of love

2008-07-18T09:39:00.004+01:00

I have been contemplating our existence here on earth. Yes, a fairly heavy Friday morning I suppose. But not in a morbid way, just in a sort of - so what are we achieving at the moment? I can't believe the things I hear about this so-called recession (anyone recall the theory of mass hysteria/wag the dog?).

Then there are the realities of knife crime, the Gaza strip and Israel, Iran and the world, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, the American election... what the hell is going on? And then there's the question of what I, as an individual am achieving, what is my impact on the world around me? Honestly, when I am gone one day - what have I left behind? I recall books I used to read with my grandfather and we used to talk about "all my worldly possessions" as a phrase which used to come up often. What are they? They are not clothes, belts, shoes, books or cars. They are people we have had in our lives and how we treated them, how we loved them, how we made them feel and that legacy of love is what we leave behind.

This train of thought has nothing to do with the wonderful classical music I am listening to on Radio 4's Desert island discs.

Hoo-flipping-ray for faith and sunshine

2008-07-02T21:43:00.005+01:00

So, many people are gawking at the fact that yes, Glasto was sunny, warm and dry. Those who gave it a miss - well you should have had more faith. Not gloating no, just beaming.

It was better than I could have hoped and for those who are sick of reading the joyfulness of my entry can leave - or wait a little bit and check out some super photos below.

Basically the first night we were treated to a typical Glastonbury fest weather greeting: spitting rain, cloudy and well a pretty drenched walk across the field to the Greenfields where Bobby was waiting for us in his cosy caravan. We set the tent up in the rain which really wasn't very fun, a fair amount of our gear and clothes were damp and everyone was a little like "oh come on, really?"

But like a red velvet cabaret show curtain being pulled to reveal the act, the rain ceased. For the rest of the festival. So we donned some fresh clothes, got the drinks flowing and headed off to explore the first night at Glastonbury. We saw some amazing unsigned bands that night and were treated to some awesome sights within the different fields like Trash City and the new Shangri-la. The vibe was incredible.

The next day, the sky was cloudy but calm and we had a wonderful day - exploring the circus fields, eating delicious food and wandering around. We met Ru and Lucy who have a superb dressing up stall and such cool people, I scoured the hats and shawls and had to resist buying everything.

Oh the toilets - the stench still lingers in my mind - not on my boots in case you were wondering. But that is about the only thing that would put me off, but once you get through it, you feel vindicated.

It was such a great experience and treat to be camping in the Greenpeace field because it was calm, well taken care of and was on a slight hill so you had a view of the festival. They were strict about who came in and out and also how we treated the field so it made such a difference. Not to mention the sweeeet solar powered showers that Bobby and Chris built.

Vampire Weekend, The Gossip, Estelle, Jimmy Cliff on Friday. Vampire Weekend, Black Kids, Leonard Cohen, Amy Winehouse, Jay-Z, Ethiopique on Saturday. Manu Chao on Sunday.

Summer of festivals

2008-06-26T10:50:00.000+01:00

So since we're not travelling around South America this year, though damn how much I wish we could again - we will return... we're going festival hopping this summer. I am not too set on about racing around the country but I am SO excited and thrilled to be going to Glastonbury tonight.

I have wanted to go since I was 15 when I first heard about how people of all varying backgrounds, colours, personalities etc congregate in a massive field for 4 days and listen to some inspiring music. Ok so 13 years on, I know that there are also stories of queues for the toilet, rain, mud, drunken stupours and general calamities of chaos. But I seriously could not care less - I am just so excited about being able to be outdoors, listen to music, dress up, jump up and down screaming for the band playing and general merriment.

We take the train tonight - Bobby's been there for 2 weeks already and says its looking pretty awesome. WHOO HOOOOOOO!

Wedding's - not ours

2008-06-11T13:39:00.003+01:00

So the few days before Aush and Ero's wedding was fairly jam packed with catching up with friends plus sprucing ourselves up for the big day. The bridesmaids sari's looked awesome and I was excited.

They had a big party 2 days before the wedding, which was a blast - managed to catch up with all the people I had hoped to see. Lee and I also managed to spend loads of quality time with my parents which was so wonderful - as you grow up the relationships just change so dramatically without many noticing.

Two days later, the usual crammed excitement and crazed activity of a wedding began. Unfortunately it was raining quite alot and Aush had planned it all to happen on the beautiful terrace of The Galle Face Hotel, Colombo's oldest colonial-esque hotel. But right as were almost ready and the bride was being dressed in her sari - the drizzle ceased, the sun broke through the clouds, the sea stopped roaring and voila - as if God just waved his hand over us it was just breathtakingly beautiful.

It was a wonderful wedding. And we were so happy to be a part of it.

Flying visits

2008-06-11T13:26:00.002+01:00

So a month has passed since my last blog entry - where did time go? We have just got back from a beautiful trip to Sri Lanka. We were there for just under 2 weeks and it was superbly relaxing but at the same time ignited my attachment to my home further. How is it possible to love a place so much and yet not feel right with it? It will always be my home, where I have some of the best memories, where I identify with the most and mainly - where my parents live.

The country is in pain, dire pain. While we were there, I witnessed some of the worst city bombs in quite a while - 4 bombs within 10 days. All within Welawatte, Dehiwela, Mount Lavinia and Fort, targeting trains and buses - the LTTE is trying to show they have little mercy but they didn't need to do this to send that message. We've known for much longer that they are barbarians, but so is our government, so I am not sure which is the lesser evil.

The one that hurts more innocent people I suppose. The tension was very apparent on the streets, when you pulled up next to a bus or just saw someone who looked suspicious. It made the contrast of the joyous living we were experiencing more difficult to contemplate. I think once you're away for a while the conflict becomes clearer.

Other than that (I could write for hours on that topic), we had a beautiful 3 days by the sea in Koggala staying at The Fortress Hotel which is the new boutique joint in the area. Soo luxurious but zen if thats possible - the setting was right by a stunning untouched beach with a coral reef forming several natural pools.

We had the pleasure of having lunch at the world famour Count De Mournaay's Island (otherwise known as Taprobane Island in Weligama) thanks to Af pulling a few strings. It was incredible to wade across to this island with a colonial styled villa built into it lush with tropical plants and stunning 360' views.

3 days of swimming, drinking, relaxing, browning and general merriment - we headed back to Colombo for Aushi's wedding festivities to begin.

Misty no more

2008-05-14T17:29:00.002+01:00

Poor little Misty has gone to dog heaven. I feel so very sad for Annie, Lee and Rob who have lost a wonderful companion - I feel loss too. But in a way, she was saved by that family and had such a happy life.

God bless her, the sweet dappy furry bundle of joy.

Thought

2008-05-14T17:15:00.000+01:00

“Thought is subversive and revolutionary… Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief Glory of man” - Bertrand Russell

A little nugget of goodness I found today.

Spring has sprung

2008-04-27T22:46:00.002+01:00

It's official in my book, the sun was out, I was only wearing one layer of clothing and I had a plastic cup of Pimms in my hand as I laid about in Hyde Park with Aushi and Tasha. Come on summer, you can do it. Break free!

I also had a lovely long walk around the canals of Maida Vale with Bobby and Netta who were staying with us and it was just wonderful to feel the warm sun on my face, catching all the signs of spring like huge bright red poppies, goslings and other sweet birds tuttering around, the smells of flowers and trees and cut grass. Finally.

Whoo hoo.

And another thing....

2008-04-14T15:12:00.003+01:00

We're doing grown up things which is rather strange BUT super exciting... flat hunting. So far, not so bad.

I love being married. Its a pretty wonderful thing, but I think that is down to who I am married to - a lot of people ask me whether its different and if so, how come. I say yes it totally is different, for 100's of reasons like - he cooks a mean roast and looks hot while doing it.

Back on the blogtrail

2008-04-14T14:53:00.002+01:00

It has been absolutely ages since I blogged, its almost as if I felt that too much time had passed between January and now, so how was I going to back it all up and write about all the amazing things that have been going on? I figure, ah, I'll just start from now.

The sun is shining, but it's also hailing, raining, windy and um warm in bits so we're all a little confused. But spring is on it's way, I can feel it in my toes.

I'm barely recovering from Aushi's hen night, which was a huge blast - but hard on the body. I just paid for tickets to Sri Lanka - we leave in about 6 weeks, I can't believe its that soon but then, its not really is it? Another wedding on my island of paradise.

Work has been intense but good... my mind is whirring with ideas constantly, I bought a book to jot down all the thoughts I tend to have at (often inconvenient) times. But as predicted, the second the book was in my bag, the ideas stopped. Just for a day.

Kare kare Kojahey

2008-01-14T16:44:00.001Z

The mehendi ceremony on the 27th, kicked off the start of the grand festivities, it felt so exciting and right to have it at home - plus the last of our friends had arrived - Ed, Tom, Clare, Ella, Glyn, Lauren and Alisha. We had been practicing our mehendi dance for a few days and amazingly our Uk crew were up for it (even the boys). Rukshana, Minha and Nadiyah toiled and slaved to get our back garden into festive mode and when it was done, I couldn't believe how absolutely fantastic it looked. While I waited upstairs to be escorted by my family to the "throne" in front of all the revellers, my female cousins chose my thaati and fastened the ancient belled foot anklets on my feet. It was pandemonium and super fun all the same. The women then escorted me down, hollering and clapping to signal my arrival.

Lee was taken to my cousins house and then driven in procession, finally arriving with all the male members of his and my family - they banged drums and tamborines while hollering loudly when they brought him in.

We were up most of the night dancing, having mehendi tattooed on our hands, belly's, feet and general body parts - even the boys go it done which was pretty amusing. Waking up the next day we found some had names on their bodies they had no idea how it go there! The party was started and everyone headed 2 hours down south to the wedding destination.

Two Happy Bazalgette's

2008-01-14T16:05:00.000Z

And so, just like that, its all done! One absolutely fabulous month of festivities and I am now a married woman - an incredibly happy and blessed one at that. Lee is a wonderful husband and we are so excited... Still not used to being a Mrs, especially the part about changing my name - I am keeping my maiden name as a middle name... I am officially a Bazalgette!

The wedding was beautiful, we couldn't have asked for better weather - no blustery winds, the tide had gone out, the sunset was stunning and the atmosphere was lush. It was an incredibly emotional feeling seeing all your friends and family seated with tears in their eyes, watching our ceremony... I still can't believe we got all 35 of our friends from the UK down. Lee and I will never forget it.

My parents worked so so so so so hard on our wedding, it is definitely impossible to put down into words how much they did, and I am so blown away by their love and generosity and enthusiasm. Everytime I tried to say lets just leave that detail aside, they refused and got it done somehow.

We had the ceremony at 5pm right on Ahungalla beach, and then all our guests were ushered into another part of the land where they cocktailed it while we had our pictures taken by the most fantabulous Mere. She is such a star - what an incredibly talented photographer and how lucky we were to have her there.

The wedding party, with food, drinks and champagne flowing - went wonderfully. The speeches were great (Dias, Dad, Tom and Tash) and Lee's speech was so perfect too. It was so amazing to see all my Sri Lankan friends from childhood and now, make it all the way there for our special day too - it made us feel so lucky.

One thing though, there was something very important that happened that I was not aware of until after I had made my speech which is unfortunate as I would have made sure all the others knew. I noticed that the marquee was a bit warm even though it was open on all sides and faced the sea, and that there were no fans even though our loopy marquee lady knew we needed them. When I asked my cousin, I found out that it was my family - my many wonderful cousins and uncles and in-laws who worked all day long building the dancefloor and wiring the marquee and built our ceremony platform and everything. To make it all happen. I couldn't believe what they had done for us. It made all the little details even more special.

Hurray for family.

seeya

2007-12-06T12:42:00.001Z

Today is the 4th death anniversary of my grandfather Reggie Candappa, but it feels like he was here with his sparkly smile just yesterday. I try not to think of the day he died, because that is not what its about though it is a day I believe I still haven't come to terms with. Maybe I never will and thats just how it is. But today is an important day because it reminds us all that he was the most amazing, fascinating and heartwarming person we'd have the pleasure of knowing.

Every time I hear a bellowing booming laugh, I think of him... or when I see a bald head. Or when I see a tree full of different coloured leaves, paintings, hear Mozart, see a homeless person (because he used to always give them money) and a trillion other things. My wonderful Seeya.

the time machine

2007-12-06T12:35:00.000Z

holy moly. Today is last day of work for a month, and this is because Lee and I fly off to Sri Lanka on Saturday morning for our wedding! Whoooopppeeeee! Honestly I have no way to express how happy, excited, nervous and psyched I am.

the band band land

2007-11-19T15:05:00.000Z

Saw my mates play a super gig last night - was at Fiddler's Elbow and they put on cool nights where they get up and coming bands on stage. This band has just a sort of come together at the last minute, they play with their own official bands but are friends and have rehearsed a few times but have super lyrics! And good stage presence. Unfortunately Alex, my friend, left to Sweden today and he's the drummer - London loses another!

http://www.myspace.com/bandbandland

and finally...

2007-11-13T14:25:00.000Z

I couldn't think of a funny caption. the pressure was too much. Soharni and I having a discussion about something crucially important no doubt.

more photos

2007-11-13T14:22:00.000Z

Roger More couldn't take the tube whipping pressure from Lauren. I was handcuffed to him for most of the night.

Katharine about to sing - and I think the sake was kicking in right about now.

more hen night humiliation

2007-11-13T14:15:00.001Z

The gorgeous Kayla, Ella and Elsie - some of the stars of the show from the hen weekend!

Japanese Karaoke Bar:

Lots of sake and cheesy videos, this was the second stop of the night of debauchery!

A now fragile hen

2007-11-12T16:46:00.001Z

My hen night was an absolute blast - Tasha and Aushi went to town with it, it was incredible. Plus the girls who came, they made the night! Starting at 1pm in the afternoon, we had a 2 hour pole dancing and burlesque strip lesson by a very nubile and hot teacher. Well she had a hot body and could grip the pole like none I have seen before!
Couple of bloody mary's later and I was flying around the pole in my high heels and lacey hold ups, but clearly Ella and Lauren were the stars of that show.

Afterwards, we had a delicious and fun 3 hours getting tanked up on champagne, yummy and spicy Lankan curry and some hilarious chat, just hanging out at Aushi's... it was super fun getting dressed up, because I was given my outfit for the evening - a drag queen tranny, complete with electric blue PVC high heels, trashy lingerie dress, heavy make up, blonde wig and well, you get the picture (or see it above). I was horrified at first but figured, one ought to get into it - after all how often does that happen? The rest of my buddies dressed up looking very foxy and we set out to mystery destinations that they had planned out for the rest of the evening - Japanese Karaoke bar (sake! sake!) where we sang to our hearts content, another cocktail bar, my old haunt - The Lux Bar in Hoxton Square, where I ended up on the stage alone with another random dude, and Helena passed me the whip and well the rest is a rather bad yet hilarious Madonna style performance. It was kick ass fun.

Thanks to Tasha - my lovely sister who made such a huge effort to make it such a special weekend, and it was more than I could have imagined! Also thanks to Aushi - you were so generous with your flat. And to the rest: Soharni, Emily, Kayla, Lauren, Helena, Elsie, Ella, Pam and Katharine - you guys are the best.

But not for the fact that you guys made me busk while we were on a packed central line tube platform on a Saturday night, for money. While being handcuffed to a male blow-up doll named Roger More.

Life's goings on

2007-11-12T16:06:00.000Z

I have been so rubbish about blogging ever since I came back to the real world. Its not due to any particular reason except for the fact that time is flying before my very eyes and things are moving at an incredible speed.

I've got a job, its been fantastic and with a company I really like, respect and believe that my ideas have a fighting chance of making themselves heard. Its been super busy, they put their faith in me and that has been inspiring in itself - always makes you work harder knowing someone else is leaving you to do it the way you think best. Work took me to Madrid, Spain for a mind blowing week of heavy work, culture, beautiful weather, new friends (Rodrigo & Santi) and brushing up on my Spanish. It made me long for our days in Argentina just drifting through these sweet little plaza's and wining and dining.

The wedding - is going full steam ahead. The invitations are printed and on their way to us here in London courtesy of my cousin... my parents are being absolute champions running around getting everything done, its been so difficult to make decisions on things that just require you to see it to know and say yes or no. But we're working through it, and a lot of it you just have to let it go and know that in the long run, its going to be a beautiful day with my family and the man I love and that is what is most important. Its so easy to get lost in the detail and lose your mind over it, which just isn't what its about. My parents have been doing so much though and it makes me just want to get on a plane (which i am not so fond of) and go over there. Less than a month though! Yikes!!!!!

I feel really happy and lucky. Its all so very exciting, especially as we have so many wonderful people coming to Sri Lanka (you know who you are!).

ladies night

2007-11-09T19:10:00.000Z

Its my hen weekend tomorrow - and i am so looking forward to it!

Venezuela, London and now Lanka

2007-08-26T06:16:00.001+01:00

So the wedding plans are underway - I flew to Sri Lanka for 2 weeks to attend to the essential stuff that needs to be done - there is so much to do! I have been living, breathing, eating and sleeping the wedding plans and I think it is finally coming together. We are so excited about it and my family will be in charge once I leave this week, so fingers crossed!

Yippeeee.

The fact that I was in Venezuela just a month ago is super surreal - one thing is for sure, the world didnt change much while we were away and for us, that is harder to take in. The real world will never have us!