Remember, remember the fourth of November

I wonder how many recall the nursery rhyme:

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...

The rhyme, like some of their kind, refers to events in history; in this case to the gunpowder plot. On the 5th November 1605 Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with several dozen barrels of gunpowder. He and his fellow plotters (eight in all) were attempting to blow up parliament.

On the fourth of November 2003, Chandrika Bandaranaike staged a coup d’état overthrowing the government of Ranil Wickremesinghe and setting in motion events that stilled any hope of peace.

There have been a few turning points in the bloody history of post-colonial Ceylon and this was one of them. The election of SWRD Bandaranaike in 1956 and the riots of 1958; the dismembering of the civil service in the 1960's; the new constitutions of 1972 and 1978; black July 1983. Although seemingly less dramatic than some of the other crucial forks in the rocky road to serfdom, this was surely no less important for it set the stage for the autocratic state.

I have come to think that the power of democracy lies entirely in its institutions: the press, the judiciary and the legislature. Power does strange things to even the most well-meaning of people and once obtained it is rarely parted with willingly.

One never leaves office, one is always forced out; by the institutions. If one tries to cling on, one is first made a fool of by the press, one then finds it impossible to execute any orders for no one would carry them out, fearing retribution by the courts or possibly parliament.

These institutions have been neutered: directly by the constitution of 1978 and indirectly by the corruption it has enshrined. Now how much influence one wields is entirely dependent on how much money one can throw. The courts, the police, parliament are all under the sway of the executive and what rights that have been guaranteed under the constitution have been in near permanent suspension -for decades under the emergency regulations. Measures that were supposedly short-term are now a permanent feature.

Countries that succeeded in the post-colonial period did so largely to the extent that they preserved the status quo. Democracy is a fragile flower and is easily destroyed by those who do not understand what makes it work. In Europe, where it evolved in its modern form, it was the result of a thousand years of struggle - dating back to the Magna Carta of 1215, which was essentially a pact that attempted to check the King's power. Holding power in check is the essence of the system and it was not an easy victory either, being fiercely resisted over the centuries by many a ruler.

These hard-won freedoms will not be given up easily in Europe or the heirs to her traditions in the Americas or the former white dominions of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and elsewhere but in the strange lands of the East, where the peoples received their freedom more or less on a platter and where they do not understand the substance of the matter even though they speak highly of its forms, then there is danger and flower can whither and die.

Look no farther than our neighbours - Pakistan and Bangladesh and it is not difficult to see what lies at the end of the path that we tread.

LTTE acquires B-2 Spirit bomber?

It seems that the LTTE has updated its hardware to include a couple of these babies.

That at least seems to be the considered opinion of the military establishment and the Island newspaper which reported the details.

"Their (F7s) missile systems failed to ‘lock on with the enemy aircraft," said the report which means the LTTE has got its hands on some pretty advanced stuff.

The good news is that it would would necessitate an overall review of the SLAF’s strategy, which means we can junk the new Chinese F7's and MiG 29's and buy some quality US hardware.

Then and Now

An uncle of mine, a man in his 70's was reminiscing the other day. He had spent a part of his youth in Jaffna. He said he could not possibly imagine how the shy, demure girls of Jaffna, who would blush and giggle at the slightest advance, could have been turned into suicide bombers.

An insight into how the problem grew is provided by Neville Jayaweera, of the Ceylon Civil Service who has recounted his experience as an administrator in a new book. His experience as Government Agent (GA) of Jaffna in 1963, when he was charged with enforcing the Official Languages Act, is an eye-opener.

Fortunately for the public interested in such matters the Sunday Island has carried excerpts from the book. Read them here:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine

In passing, it is worth noting both the quality of the writing and of the intellect of the man and comparing that with the Government Servants of today. Having been fortunate enough to have met quite few members of the old Ceylon Civil Service I can testify that they were all of similar calibre.

Bailing out the garment industry

After spending the last six months telling us that the GSP+ concession would be renewed, the government seems to have thrown in the towel, barely three weeks after submitting the application for renewal. Perhaps bailouts are in fashion or perhaps the case was doomed from the start but either way the industry seems set to receive US$150m.

The question is: is there an alternative? In the case of the financial crisis plaguing the rest of the world I would say no, in Sri Lanka's case, yes.

To start, lets just examine the nature of this industry. Prior to WWII the garment industry existed as an industry proper only in Europe and America, everywhere else it was a cottage industry of local tailors and seamstresses.

After WWII factories were set up in cheap locations overseas, starting with East Asia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, later Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore and so forth. Garments are an excellent way for a low-income country to grow because it uses a lot of cheap labour. As the country develops, wages rise and the industry moves elsewhere. A misguided attempt to protect Western manufacturers in the 1970's - the Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) resulted in the industry spreading to areas that had never seen any kind of industrialisation, like in Africa. The MFA allocated quotas on a geographic basis so manufacturers sought out any location that had a quota.

Therefore the garment industry is unlikely to stay anywhere unchanged, it evolves and moves when costs rise. Take the example of Hong Kong, once a cheap manufacturing location now transformed into a fashion centre, design centre, buying centre with limited high end manufacture.

If Sri Lanka's industry is to survive they need to look at Hong Kong and plan. Unfortunately, in order to evolve to that stage requires certain things that Hong KOng, as a crown colony enjoyed: stability, the rule of law and good governance. For the moment at least, these are things beyond the bounds of possibility so any hard headed industrialist needs to look to other means of survival.

Coming back to the question in hand, is there anything else that the Government can do, short of pouring taxpayers money into the industry? To answer this question, lets look at the fundamental problem facing the industry: high costs (compared to location in Vietnam, China and elsewhere). What can the Government do to help?

Well, for start, how about controlling inflation? If inflation is under control, then costs are automatically under control, right? at least workers will not have to demand exorbitant wages, just to live.

How about controlling power costs? The CEB is notoriously inefficient, power piracy is rampant and the bill winds up mainly in the hands of industry.

The same is true of fuel costs. At the current price of oil the Government is set to make windfall profits at the CPC, a hidden tax in other words. Now I have no objection to fuel taxes, many countries use them and they have their place but why not make it transparent by returning to the pricing formula and adding a transparent tax on that? The moment the tax becomes visible the government will be under pressure to keep the tax to the minimum : which is also good, rather than taking the money through the back door which means less accountability and probably higher cost. How about reforming the CPC as well? Waste, inefficiency and everything else is added on to the fuel bill that you and I pay.

How about improving productivity through better infrastructure? Clogged roads, inefficient ports, onerous bureaucracy at the customs and everywhere else - all these add to costs and make life a lot harder for struggling businessmen.

Unfortunately all of the above is only possible by treading the path that is hard and narrow, in the log run it is the only way out, but headline grabbing bailouts are an easy temporary fix. A fellow called James Manor wrote a book on SWRD Bnadaranaike called the "The Expedient Utopian" - something that typifies much of the post independence rule.

Traffic offences and an escape from the rat race

I was stopped by a policeman last Saturday for going through a red light. I am normally a law abiding driver who signals lane changes, stops at pedestrian crossings, observes the white lines and the road signs that may still be visible so I was pretty annoyed to be stopped. I was certain that the traffic light was not working and told the policeman as much but did not want to waste any time so took the ticket and went on my way.

I did make it a point to check the light when I passed by the next day and it was'nt working; or at least the red light was'nt.

Anyway, to return to the tale, my mood brightened a bit when I realised the ticket was being issued by the Slave Island police where a good friend had a contact. Now the fine for running a red light is Rs.1000+taxes so it is worth the hassle to avoid it. Contacted my friend and he put me on to his contact, met the man (with a T-shirt in hand as a little present) and he said call him the next day and he would arrange for me to talk to the OIC. He also admitted that they knew that the particular traffic light was not working and I wondered silently whether the police were deliberately targeting motorists to fill their quota of fines.

Then began the saga. It appears that the good Sergeant's daughter is taking part in the Derana Superstar contest. I was asked to send around 150 sms's (more if possible) between 8.30pm next Saturday and 8.30am the next day (Sunday). He also gave me a printed card with the girl's photo and number. She looks quite fashionable with straightened hair, but then a lot of very average females improve their looks by straightening their hair.

Today I encountered another member of my staff whose husband had been copped and he had been asked to do the same. My friend, who gave me the contact has also been asked to send many SMS's and told me that when he met the Sergeant he was carrying a bagful of SIM cards which was distributing to people for votes.

I'm not sure what kind of prize money is available to the winner but it seems fairly obvious that the Sergeant sees an escape from the rat race if his daughter succeeds.

I always thought these things rather silly and they are actually designed to benefit the organisers (the television companies, the phone companies and whatever media are involved) rather than the participants, but I suppose some kind of talent is involved somewhere and it does give an opportunity to people who do not take to traditional careers to better their lives.

Casserole of Marmot

I'm no chef but this is something I want to share.

John Man has written a highly readable account of the life, death and resurrection of Genghis Khan.

His quest started with an article in the American Journal of Human Genetics. In a DNA study of some 2,000 men across Eurasia, geneticists found that several dozen of them shared a common pattern - a pattern that ran through 16 population groups ranging from the Caspian Sea to the Pacific Ocean. They arrived at the startling hypothesis that it would have been possible for one man, living in the 12th century, to scatter his genetic material across half Eurasia.

Man sets the stage for the search for Genghis Khan by conjuring up a vivid image of the landscape of Central Asia. This recipe is from the introduction, where he describes some of his own travels in the region. Man claims that for the most part the method of cooking would have been familiar to twelfth century families. Bored Domestic Goddesses are hereby invited to try it out.

Casserole of Marmot

(To feed six. Time approx 1 hr)

You will need:
1 marmot
Good quantity of dried dung
Assorted fist-sized stones
1 knife
String
Wire
1 pair pliers
1 blow torch

First, shoot your marmot. Using string, hang dead marmot from a branch. Skin it, peeling skin carefully downwards to keep the skin in one piece. Discard entails. Ignore flies. Remove and dice flesh. At the same time, arrange for the visiting author to collect cow-pats, said author to ensure cow-pats are dried to the texture of polystyrene. Make a pile of dung. Use blow-torch to start slow dung-fire, arranging for smoke to drift over diced marmot flesh to discourage flies. Place stones in fire. Using wire and pliers, sew up limb-holes in marmot skin, binding holes tightly. Do not seal head-hole. Into your marmot-skin bag, insert meat and red-hot stones, using twigs to hold stones. Ignore attached dung, ashes etc. Bind up head-hole with wire, using pliers to secure. Apply blow-torch to skin, scraping off seared fur. Meanwhile hot stones have begun to cook the meat from inside out. Trapped air expands to form taut, round, sausage-like container. As fur is removed, blow-torch cooks meat from outside in. After an hour, cut open and serve meat with fingers. As stones cool, toss them about until you can hold them without too much pain: they are good for health and luck.

Greenhorns in the West

Doggone and darnit!! Looks like the Wild Wild West is facing a new invasion of Greenhorns from back East.

Them Eastern Greenhorns aint gonna cause no trouble, at least if the local Sheriff has his way.

Independent Commission to probe INGO's

The JHU has apparently called for an independent commission to probe the activities of INGOs involved in relief work in uncleared areas in the North.

The monks suggest that the independent commission be made up of "a team of patriotic retired servicemen who are pro-government..."

This really made my day.

Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera, further alleged that "most Tamil civilians living in uncleared areas belonged to the so-called 'Mahaveer' families who assisted and sustained the Tiger outfit".

He then says "The Tigers were trying to induce foreign intervention in the country by getting the Security Forces to target innocent civilians or INGO personnel in their areas."

So the question is: are there any civilians in the Wanni? Any real civilians that is, not Tiger supporters.

Methinks the teaching of logic should be made compulsory from grade five onwards. As far as the inhabitants of the Paradise Isle are concerned it looks like poor old Aristotle died in vain. Come to think of it, perhaps that is the case even with the Gautama...

Yummie Mummies

A blog that is very English, upper class English at that has a definition of a subject that warms the cockles of my black little heart. From The Two Chaps:


Yummie Mummies

It is a strange phenomenon of London life that wealthy men seem to find beautiful wives, impregnate them and then return to work leaving them to lurk in pouting herds around Primrose and Notting Hills.

Nobody is quite sure why this happens but the concentrations of quite stunning looking women around yoga classes, coffee houses and the kind of shops that sell the sort of expensive fripperies that no sane person could want has not gone unremarked among the gentlemen of the Metropolis.

So what if they're carrying somebody else's offspring and are, therefore, no longer breeding targets for the alpha male? We have evolved from the base ape. I don't have to actually own a Picasso (although obviously I do - several in fact) to enjoy going to a gallery.

Cruising the hills on a Summer afternoon and appreciating the YMs even though you can't have them is the the kind of rarified and purely aesthetic pursuit that marks a True Gentleman.

Think of it as a contemporary take on the convention of Courtly Love.

Japanese pianist Masahiko Shinohara to play on September 28/29

Good news for music lovers, the pianist Masahiko Shinohara who gave an excellent recital in April this year is back.

He will be playing at the Russian Cultural Centre on the 28th and 29th of September 2008, the concert starst at 7.15pm. The music, an interesting selection, includes a world Première performance of a work called 'The Dawn of Kandula' by Stephen Allen and some Mozart: the overture to Lucio Silla (K.145), Symphony No.29 and Piano Concerto No.14. The orchestra is the Chamber Music Society of Colombo.

Although the programme is supposedly sponsored by Dilmah I have seen very little publicity, just a couple of newspaper write-ups as far as I recall and no details whatsoever on the Chamber Music Society website. Lets hope that the talented pianist does not find himself playing to another half-empty hall, so please pass the word around.

Tickets are available at the Russian Cultural Centre priced at a flat rate of Rs.500/- and proceeds are in aid of charity.

Superbrands

Over the last couple of weeks the public has been treated to the sight of various worthies grinning to the cameras as they collect awards on behalf of their organisations, ranging from the BOI to the Chamber of Commerce.

Now, the hottest gossip in Colombo the latest to be bestowed with the honour is none other than the LTTE.

In the category of Currently-Operating-Terrorist-Group he is a clear winner, other contenders such as Karuna's TMVP not even in the running and therefore quite deserves it. In fact he insists on it. We are reliably told that he has made an offer to Superbrands that they simply could not refuse and they are packing off a team to Kilinochichi post-haste.

The best news is that unlike the organisations in the South that had to cough up a few millions for the privilege of being included amongst the Superbrands the LTTE will only pay the princely sum of one bottle of palmyrah toddy for identical service.

Hows that for marketing savvy?

"Its the sheer power of the brand itself that we have leveraged to get the discount", explained VP, the spokesman for the group "which proves that it really does have marketable value".

Sri Lanka's warm diplomatic relations with Sudan

I friend called me yesterday to inform me of the happy news he had heard on the SLBC that Sri Lanka enjoys warm relations with Sudan. This is a clever move by Sri Lanka's roving diplomats. Sudan is rich in oil and gas and perhaps they could be persuaded to supply Sri Lanka on credit. Iran has apparently not been paid for all its supplies upto now and since payment must presumably be made at some date, it is possible to roll things over by getting extra credit from another supplier.

I was searching for some news on this topic and came across what looks like a Sudanese news site. There is a lot of interesting stuff, some of which I will quote here.

"* SUDAN DEMANDS APOLOGY FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

The Sudanese authorities had staged a counter campaign to Amnesty International. Many government-owned organisations and trade unions had issued statements denouncing Amnesty International's report on Sudan. A statement by the government-appointed Sudanese Labour Union, said that "the report targets Sudan and its religious and traditional values which are based on the respect of human rights". Another statement by the Sudanese Businessmen Association condemned the report and added that "this Organisation and those behind her are trying to exert pressure on Sudan to abandon its Islamic orientation and its civilised project. These accusations against Sudan are baseless and not supported by any proof. All Sudanese people live in peace and harmony in all its cities, towns and villages....

Sri Lanka's friendship is proven in the following report:

* UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION CONDEMNS SUDAN

The UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, had on Wednesday 8 March 1995, expressed 'deep concern at continued serious human rights violations in Sudan'. The resolution condemning Sudan for abuses including torture, summary executions and slavery, was endorsed by a vote of 33 for, 7 against and 10 abstentions....

...Those who voted against are: China, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Sudan.

Sri Lanka also established diplomatic relations with Eritrea last year. The Asian Tribune wondered why

"n a report prepared by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee last December it was alleged that Eritrean government was providing direct assistance to Sri Lanka’s separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

Eritrea has been singled out by the international community, the United Nations and other international rights organizations as blatant violator of human rights, keeping a large number of ‘prisoners of conscience’ in jails for prolonged periods, its intolerance to dissent, disregard for rule of law and giving military assistance to many insurgent/terrorist groups around the world."

As Alice remarked, curious and curiouser.

"When Sri Lanka is currently waging a global diplomatic defensive campaign to clear her name it is unimaginable as to what motivated her to establish diplomatic ties with Eritrea which has no elected democratic government for the past one an half decades, no rule of law and respect for human rights, accused of providing military assistance to insurgents and terrorists in other countries, no constitutional guarantees for the 3.5 million citizens and utter disregard for dissent and free speech with thousands of ‘prisoners of conscience’ languishing in jails."

Meanwhile Prime Minister Wickremanayake attacked the hypocrites

`Chemical weapons are weapons of terrorism. There are no peaceful uses for chemical weapons he said adding that when the British used gas to kill hundreds of Kurdish people in their wars in West Asia, early last century it was terrorism.

The arch imperialist Churchill justified it saying that `It is all right to kill niggers`. That was the white mans attitude, a lack of feeling for people of a different colour that accompanied the dropping of atomic bombs which massacred hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the World War II and those were weapons of mass destruction and that was terrorism. That was by the Americans, who were later to accuse Iraq s Saddam Hussein of possessing weapons of mass destruction, despite the testimony of their own inspectors, that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Wickremanayake explained.

Way to go PM, if they can do it and get away with it, why should we be accused of wrongdoing?

Boobs or bums?

The world is divided into two: boom men and leg men. Boob men are those who are turned on by boobs and leg men are those who go for long legs and delicious bums.

Now, according the Desmond Morris, large breasts have developed primarily as a form of mimicry: they mimic the buttocks as a sexual signal. Read the link for more details.

Anyway, this means that boob men and leg men might have a bit more in common than previously thought but with the leg men having a slight advantage in not falling for the evolutionary mimicry and going for the original attraction.

I myself find myself firmly a leg man, give me a plump round bum any day over massive sagging mammalaries. According to Morris, the heart shape that decorates all dreadful Valentine cards is really a bum shape. Now in these dark days in barbarous land I am not suggesting any discrimination whatsoever towards misguided boob men. They have every right to their tastes and even committed leg men like me can occasionally be moved to tears by jiggly jugs. Especially when seen on a jogger. Poetry in motion, nothing less. However, no silicon please, under any circumstances.

I vividly recall the moment I realised I was a leg man: It was at the Galle Face Hotel and there was this Negress and she walked out in front of us. I was with two other girls and another male friends and I could not take my eyes off her bum: it moved like a sailing ship at sea or perhaps it was like the breaking of a roller; words fail me and I just focused on that beautiful sight, I did not even turn to nudge my friend (as would usually be the case, to warn him of a good sight ahead), I could not care less about the women with me, I was just mesmerised by that beautiful sight.

All this came back to me the other day at the office when I went looking for someone to be confronted with a round bun in tight trousers (by the way the fashion for leggings and tight trousers does wonders for the average Sri Lankan girl who tends not to have a lot of meat on her) so tight in fact that I could see she was wearing a thong. I almost chocked and nearly fell down but managed to just recover and crawl back to my room to spend a good five minutes in doing deep breathing exercises until my heart rate returned to normal.

Keeping my eagle eyes open I noticed a few more objects that need to be kept under close observation...hmmm I'm rather glad I joined this place.

Now what brought all of this on? I can only blame Soixante Neuf for hopelessly corrupting me.

The itch to bitch

Met up with a few women last week. There were three of them, two were colleagues from a place I worked in a long time ago, the other was a friend of theirs who I did not know.

The conversation started off with the Hikkaduwa beach festival and topless photos that were doing the rounds (will someone please send them to me? How come I've been left out of the fun, huh?) and then moved onto work.

Two of the girls had worked in the apparel trade and they were complaining of how difficult it was to work if there were too many women in senior management. Their company had seven women managers (and a cute guy as the boss, which made things worse) and the biggest problem was catfights.

I said that politics was always a part of office life although some places were probably worse than others. I didn't think there was a difference when it came to men and women; power and money coupled with insecurities would drive the politics.

But no, the ladies disagreed. The women were infinitely worse. Men would fight but they would not spend much time arguing, the battles would be silent power plays. With women it would be bitch, bitch, bitch. The grievances would be pretty petty as well, with shoes and clothes being causes for complaint, which would not be the case with men.

They related an incident where two women would bitch together, then they would go off and bitch about each other.

It was bit of an eye opener for me. I steer pretty clear of politics anyway. Does anyone else feel the same was as these girls?

New job

I started a new job a few weeks back and work has been hectic. It leaves me little time to check the gossip on Kottu and almost no time for any blogging.

I've also not read a daily newspaper since I started work and I seem to be much happier for it.

You see the gym has become a bit of a habit so I do need to visit at least thrice a week and since I'm an evening person when it comes to the gym I need to get off work in time. Luckily the office has flexi-hours so I generally aim to get in by 7.30 or so in the morning so I can legitimately push off at about 5 in the evening. The problem is that the early start in the morning:

1. Prevents me from doing any reading before work.
2. Mean I have to go to bed early (by around 10 or 11 at the latest) otherwise I can't get up in the morning.

Which means I have only the evenings free. On the gym days its about 8.30 by the time that I'm free which means that it is only two days of the week where I have a full evening free, which is cutting into my reading time.

The problem is I do need to read and sometimes to think and reflect, so the limited time needs to be allocated profitably so out go the newspapers and quality material substituted.

As I said I'm happier not knowing the news. I went to pick someone up yesterday and glanced through the papers that were there while waiting and I found them positively amusing. Things have got so ridiculous here that when viewed with the benefit of distance they become hilarious and this I think is the key to survival in any bananaland.

Sticking ones head firmly in the stand is the best way and I guess thats what a lot of people do unconsciously, trapped as they are in the regular rat race.

Who succeeds The Chief?

Not much is certain in life other than Death and Taxes but in the barbarous lands south of India one more certainty exists: the Chief will rule until 2017. He may well stay on a bit longer if he feels like it, but eventually either time or fate will intervene and he will go.

The question is who succeeds him?

The man who has the ambition and scheming mind necessary to succeed, and who, on account of seniority and fairness should succeed him is brother Basil. After all, it is he who is suspected of sowing the seeds of suspicion that have destroyed all rivals and it is thought to be he who has the big plans for the ruling family. Age also plays a factor and he cannot afford to wait too long to succeed to the Lion Throne.

Son Namal, who counts the hereditary principle of succession on his side may have other ideas. He is also said to hate his uncle and may well fight him for the position, especially if he feels that once ensconced, he may well work a path of succession for his own offspring. The wife of the Chief would doubtless support her son over her brother-in-law in this venture.

Brother Chamal is too old and is unlikely to throw his hat into the ring, but Brother Gota, with the army on his side may be a contender but his political ambitions are a mystery.

Such are the intrigues that beset the courts of ancient times and have now returned to haunt the land.

Does any observer of the proceedings have a view on this?

An ordinary man or if you ever let a woman in your life

The SAARC has started and the city has stopped. The denizens who find themselves trapped in these barbarous lands need to find some entertainment and apart from books, Youtube provides some useful distraction.

A misandric post reminded men of this song. Those who have forgotten (or perhaps never heard) it van listen to it here.

It is extremely funny.

ps. This is not in anyway related to the previous post and I'm still battling with that infernal canine.....

Women and their dogs

I was at a friend's place a while back, just having a chat when her dog walked in from the garden. She called him over, and he began to play with her. She calmed him down, petted him, hugged him and showered him with kisses. The bond between dog and mistress was tangible, the love inescapable.

Watching this scene I turned green with envy. Oh what would I have given to be in that dog's paws. An arm, a leg, maybe something else. And all that stupid animal could do was thump its tail on the floor.

Things have come to a pretty pass when a man must compete with a dog for a woman's affections. And even worse when he realises that the canine is winning.

Randy Pausch (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008): Last lecture

Randy Pausch was an American professor of computer science, he died a few days ago of pancreatic cancer. He delivered a superb lecture, one that has achieved worldwide fame, on Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. Its a must watch for everyone. See it here.

Advice on coping SAARC traffic

Tried exploring a few routes today and ended up getting directed into a jam on Maitland Place. I did not want to go to Maitland Place, I was trying to get to Reid Avenue from Gregory's Road but it seemed that a right turn was not possible at Maitland Crescent so turned left and left again into Maitland Place and ended up getting stuck for about 45 minutes.

After about 20 minutes of being idle I realised that I had a book in the car and began to read; and that, dear readers, is the advice I can offer to you.

Carry some reading material, perhaps a packet of biscuits and a flask of hot tea if you fancy, and when you do get into the jam just switch off the engine, relax and read.

The lucky people who are out of Colombo will laugh, but for those forced to be in the city, this is the best option that I can think of.