I'm moving. Oh fuck!

I've been living in Nagano for the last five months.
For those who don't know, here is the Wiki entry and for those who are lazy enough even to read that, it's like the Mahiyanganaya in Japan. Oh I know, it's bad to make fun of rural areas and all.

But still.

So... as I said before, I've been living here for the last five months, it's been pretty lonely most of the time cos there aren't many Sri Lankans - not even many Japs, for that matter. And that's what I meant by it's like Mahiyanganaya in Japan. Not that there aren't many facilities here, but just it's very people less. What comes to your mind when you say Japan? Huge skyscrapers, so many people on the streets that you can't see your own feet, huge traffic that you can arrive at the office the following morning, things like that right?

Well none of that is here. The tallest building is like five or six stories, there are like twenty or thirty people on the streets in the busiest hours and you can drive zig-zag on roads without hitting a soul.

OK that's a bit exaggerated, I admit, but you know what I mean right?

Anyway, what I was saying is that I've got used to it here now. In a way it's sort of really refreshing. There are beautiful mountains all around and it's a bless to be in a place like this rather than being in the middle of all that concrete shit. So I liked it here, sort of, except for the fact that it's fucken cold here! Jeez... that's a pain...

And now I have to move back to Tokyo again.

Now I have to change the lifestyle I've used to. My new office will be like an hour or so away from my apartment meaning I will have to get up an hour or so earlier. Oh fuck! Specially since I'm not really a morning person.
*sigh*
*sigh*
Again, *sigh*
OK that's enough.

The worst part is, I have to do all the packing now. It's a fucking pain in the arse if you ask me. It was like this yesterday night.
I put different thing into different groups. Clothes in one pile. Books, CDs and other computer stuff in another. All the cooking pans and spice containers and what not in another and so on. So then I put the cooking stuff in the appropriate box and taped it. Only to find out there were some left in the refrigerator. Nice. So left it aside and started with clothes. One full luggage and the rest in a box. Taped that too. And then just remembered there are washed ones are still in the washing machine. Great. Wonderful. Absofuckinglutely wonderful. So put them to dry and opened both the boxes again. And put those remaining pans and all in that box before taping it again.
Taping? Oh you just forgot smartypants, you wasted it all on the previous box.

!#@"#%#$`#(%'$#@!!

Right, so now I've got to go out and buy a new one. And did I tell you that it's fucking cold out there?

I've just had enough.
Enough!

Jumped on to the bed and started watching 24. Season 5. Jack was being set up. AGAIN! Man, I think that man has more lives than the rest of the US put together. But still it's better than going out to get a tape roll in that cold.

Jack, if you ever feel like it, just buzz me and I'll gladly exchange my life for yours.

Abortion. Should we or should we not?

I never thought I'd be writing a post on a topic like this. Not that I'm an insensitive moron, but because it's not really in my nature. Yet, things change as I have come to understand, maybe a little bit too much for my liking. Anyway, that's a topic for a totally different post, so let's keep it at that and focus here.

What prompted me to write this is the death of a friend of mine. Well, to be honest she wasn't really a close friend, but someone I knew and was a good friend of my ex. In fact that's how I got to know her actually. We were just 'hi-bye' type friends, nothing more. But her death really shook me up, a lot more than I expected.

The unpleasant story in short is this.
She was only 23 at the time of her death. She had a boyfriend, who's the same age as she is - maybe a couple of months older. And in the last few months it seems that things have gotten a bit 'out of control' and she ended up pregnant. And obviously they weren't in a position to get married, let alone raise a child as they were both depending on their parents. So they'd chosen the only option left and went for an abortion. But apparently the doc was not someone who's really qualified and he had fucked up the things and she ended up paying with her life for the mistake she'd done...

And now the things have turned into a total chaos. Their parents hadn't known it until her death and the guy is in deep shit now. Everyone's blaming him right now, as if he doesn't have enough to deal with. As far as I knew, he was pretty much committed and really loved her. I'm sure he is the one who's TOTALLY fucked up now, even if nobody blamed him. I can pretty well understand how he's feeling, cos I myself have the beyond-imagination painful experience of having to endure the death of your most beloved person on earth...

I really do feel for the guy.

And, I couldn't stop thinking about this for the last couple of days. It kept coming back to my mind again and again. And all along the one thing I was thinking was, "who's fault was it?"

The couple?
Hmm... to a certain extent. Having pre-marriage sex is totally OK for me, as far as you're not stupid enough to not use any protection. Obviously they weren't careful enough. But should they (or her, really) pay for this mistake alone with their lives?

The doc?
Well, obviously he's a son of a bitch who should be sentenced to death or something, yet there is a reason why he is there.

Their parents?
Obviously the fear that their parents would burn them alive (OK, that's a bad joke) must have urged them to make this decision, yet again I think the parents behave this way because of a reason.

Finally what I could conclude is that the system that is in place, the way the society tend to judge the people in such situations should be the most responsible. I don't think anybody needs to be told how people look at an unmarried pregnant girl, even in this so called modern era of globalization. In most people's eyes, they are not much better than whores, if I'm not mistaken. And obviously (at least most of the time) they aren't. And the guy will be branded as a sex-crazy, irresponsible, uncivilized, unethical blah blah blah SOB.

On the other hand, bringing a 'dad-less' child into this society has another set of problems. It is indeed a problem for the child, growing up with not knowing a father. And inevitably he/she has to face the odd looks and questions all through the life. Not to mention the fact that a kid sometimes really needs a father. This is just the tip of the iceberg...

So what could (or needs to be) done?

The best thing would be to change the attitudes of people but that would be as hard as anything in my experience. You know how some people hang on to their opinions, even when the facts hit them straight on the face.

So I suggest it'd be a good idea to legalize abortion. Yes obviously there would be some hardcore protests - especially from the religious groups and so called humanitarians, and it'll need someone with balls to make it happen, but that doesn't mean that it can't be done. In my opinion, it should be done. Let's face it, just because it is illegal you can't prevent it. We all know that there are hundreds of places in and around Colombo alone where you could get an abortion done for a few thousand bucks. There are doctors readily available, if you are prepared to spend the cash. And like in this case, most of them are not exactly qualified for it which makes already a dangerous process even more dangerous.

Thus, by legalizing abortion I think there are many things to gain. For onc, we could avoid unnecessary and unfortunate deaths like this - of girls who are only just beginnings their lives. If it is legalized, it will be performed by qualified doctors under suitable conditions where the risk is minimized. Remember, most of these unqualified doctors go ahead with the abortion sometimes even when it is at a stage where an abortion is not recommended - just because of the money.

And for the argument that the young ones will be even less careful - I don't think so. I don't think that the girls will go get laid down every other weekend just because you could get and abortion if need be. They are smarter than that. Especially legalizing it doesn't mean that there is no risk involved doing it. On the other hand, legalizing it means you will have to go through the proper channels to get an abortion done. If anything this will lead people to be more careful, in my opinion.

What do you guys say?

P.S. I hope that guy will have strength to go through this (probably the biggest) crisis of his life and learn a lesson. And RIP for that lovely girl.

The Pope

Guys this was too good to ignore. One of the best humor stories heard recently. Enjoy!


After getting all of Pope Benedict's luggage loaded into the limo, and he doesn't travel light, the driver notices that the Pope is still standing on the curb.

'Excuse me, your holiness' says the driver, 'Would you please take your seat so we can leave?'

'Well, to tell you the truth,' says the Pope, 'they never let me drive at the Vatican, and I'd really like to drive today.'

'I'm sorry but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! And what if something should happen?' protests the driver, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning.

'There might be something extra in it for you,' says the Pope.

Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 105 mph.

'Please slow down, Your Holiness!!!' pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens. 'Oh, dear God, I'm gonna lose my license,' moans the driver.

The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.

'I need to talk to the Chief,' he says to the dispatcher.

The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going a hundred and five.

'So bust him,' says the Chief.

'I don't think we want to do that - he's really important,' said the cop.

The Chief exclaimed, 'All the more reason!'

'No, I mean really important,' said the cop.

The Chief then asked, 'Who have you got there, the Mayor?'

Cop: 'Bigger.'

Chief: 'Governor?'

Cop: 'Bigger.'

'Well,' said the Chief, 'Who is it?'

Cop: 'I think it's God!'

Chief: 'What makes you think it's God?'

Cop: 'He's got the fucking Pope as a chauffeur!'

Food Rants...

Now that LadyD and DeeCee have gone on and made me envy them, I though I might as well write something about some good shit that would make them envy me.

So I thought. Hard.

Fucking hard.

Absofuckinglutely hard.

And finally realized that there is nothing really I have here could make them such.

Jeez...

How much do I miss good ol' Sri Lankan food?
My mom's cooking...


Ain't this heaven?

Pittu with Lunumiris for breakfast? Or Kiribath and Lunumiris? Or think about Idi Aappa with Pol Sambol and Parippu. Man... now I can't stop this. The list goes on. And rice and curry. I'm so lazy to cook ( even if I do, only I can eat them ) that I hardly ever have those good stuff. I haven't eaten a Papadam in nine months. Rice with Pol Sambol and Papadam and Parippu is heaven! Aaaahhh... A parippu wadey. *Sigh*. Then those sweet Pancakes, Lawariya and what not. Jeez... I think I'm going to die here. And add to that Choc Rotti, the newest invention. I think I should sue the people who go eat all that shit and then blog about it too.

OK. I feel a bit better now. :P

Instead of all those, I've been eating this kind of things here.



I know for a fact that most of us Sri Lankans go like Jeez... why would anyone want to eat raw fish when you can cook them in like million ways that are out there. Didn't I think the same before?

But.

It's not that bad actually, when you get past the slimy texture. :P
You just got to eat it the way it is supposed to eat.
First, there is this sauce thing, which has a strong taste that goes along with the raw fish quite well. Then you need to add a little bit of Wasabi and mix them well. Remember, this little is quite important as Wasabi is probably one of the strongest chillies in the world.

That reminds me a good story. The first time I ate Sashimi (raw fish, that is), I mixed a whole lot of Wasabi thinking "Oh we're Sri Lankans, we can handle anything. What could be that hot"

Big mistake.

The first bite ran shivers through my mouth to the nose and then to the brain and back through my spine. To say the least. Several glasses of cool water and a few minutes later, I was still trying to stop my tears. So this should be a handy tip for whoever wants to try their hands on it.

Anywayz, what I was saying is that though the idea of raw fish doesn't appeal much when you eat it a couple of times it is in fact quite good. But then again that depends more on the person I guess. There are even some Japs who doesn't eat them...

Then one day I ate something even more interesting.
This day we were attending the summer party given by the landlord of the building where our company is located. And he's a pretty rich guy. Well, a bit more than pretty rich I guess. To own a five story building in Japan. So it was in his home - or on the lawn in front, rather. Which ran more than 100 feet.
So there, a dish came to the table, sorta meat balls like things along with little pieces of toast. I was with another two Japs and nobody was eating it, so I inquired what that was. They were trying to explain me but my Japanese being not that good we were going nowhere. So I thought "what the hell" and helped myself to one. It was pretty good. Tasted like roast beef, if anything.

So... the next day, while in the office with the same Jap, the subject came up and we looked up the word on the Internet. And it turned out to be...
...
...
...
...
...
... a snail.

What's wrong with lawyer jokes?

Lawyers don't think they're funny, and nobody else thinks they're jokes.

Are you sure about your gender?

If not, here is the chance to find out.

Go HERE.

See if you are what you think you are!
ROFL!!!

Infinite yet Finite

I've always been a bit of a math freak. Not in the sense 'exam-mathematics', but generally some crazy mathematics concepts always fascinated me.

Here's one.

Can there be a curve with infinite length, yet encloses only a finite area?

Sounds absurd? Trust me it is not. There are in fact such curves.
Who can find me one?


EDIT (The Answer) :

Here it is.




Hope you get the idea.
Simply you get an equilateral triangle, then to the middle 1/3 portion of each side of it you add another equilateral triangle, and so on. Keep doing this and as you can guess there is no end. Which ultimately results in a curve with infinite length.
Yet, the area it covers is less than the area of the circle which encircles the original triangle.

Not so absurd now, ha?

If you are interested, this is just a simple example of a vast and a wonderful theory called Chaos Theory.
Here is a place to get started.

My Bookmarks Folder and My room

Yes that's right.
Remember those games where you are supposed to talk about two completely different things? OK so I'll show you that there are many similarities in my room and my bookmarks folder.

• To start with, they're both mine.
• They both have designate places to put everything. In my room there are closets, cupboards, tables and what not, you know.. so I have a place for everything. In my bookmarks folder, it is neatly categorized so I can put everything in it's place.
• At the beginning, they both function properly. I put everything in it's place.
• After a while, slowly things start to get, er... wilder. Everything in my room will be on the floor and everything in my bookmarks folder will be in my main menu.
• And soon it gets messed up so much that I can no longer ignore. Thus, with much effort I clean them both after a while.
• Then they follow the earlier cycle again. And again. And again..
  

To illustrate the point, here are two pics. One of my bookmarks folder and the other of my room.

My Bookmarks folder:


My room:


Oh well, that's not exactly my room. But maybe that's the one difference in those two.
I can show you my bookmarks, but I cannot really show you my room.

It's that much messed up.

Have I ever?

Man this is too good!
Whoever came up with this I have and have I stuff deserves a gold medal or something.

So this time, have I ever...


Have I ever

• attempted a Bungee jump and found myself having my heart in my mouth when I was on top but decided to jump anyway because the embarrassment would have been a LOT more than the fear of death?
  
• got stoned so much on a Big Match day and landed home not knowing how and awoken at midnight only to be told by my mom that dad was the same that day?
  
• been embarrassed by a school prefect in front of the whole class because I couldn't speak English when I was in Year 7, but made it into a motivation to learn English later?
• passed Pettah just a minute before a bomb went off, exactly where I passed?
  
• went to an Adults Only movie when I was in my A/L class just to find out that my class teacher was also in the same theatre?
  
• cut the classes and jumped out of the school asking the same teacher to watch our backs, which he did all the time?
  
• been stopped and questioned by police in Japan just because I didn't have a lamp on my bike?
  
• attended like only three lectures in my whole last semester at university and still got through?
  
• eaten Rs.500/= worth of chocolate from lunch money my mom gave me (back then, in 97, a large bar of Mars was only 20 bucks - so do the math) and found myself feeling like I had copious amounts of weed?
  

Yes, I have done all that!


This time I tag Damith, Jade, and Gutterflower.

I've never...

Continuing the 'open tag' policy going on, I also join the bandwagon.
Here we go.


I've never

• punched anyone on the face, though there are a few I would like to.

• really liked the idea of eating eggs raw.

• been able to understand what is it so cool about Iraj's hand gestures.

• had a serious row with my X. Ever.

• really cared about money.

• been to Sripaada. I know, I know...

• thought I'd be living in another country. I never really wanted to.

• thought people could change the way some of them did.
  

• completely prepared for an exam.

• ever enjoyed shopping. Jeez... how can you?

• thought that I'll be cooking my food, cleaning my house and what not. But here I am...

I'm tagging Sabby, Gutterflower, Angel and Sach.

Sanga Wins!

With a whopping 50% of the votes.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Little master, the legend, the batting maestro etc etc comes in second closely followed by my boy Mahela.

The rest, nothing to talk about.


P.S. I forgot to close the poll, so seems people are still voting. So never mind, go on...

Mac, Nap and Sprint

I just found out that it is just about the perfect way to start your day.

Feels so invigorated.
Trust me.

OK, this is the story.
Saturday, I was in Tokyo attending a company party and was totally exhausted by the time it ended. And then the guys thought of continuing things so returning to a friend's apartments meant another sleepless night.

With the strange combination of wine, beer and plain-tea. And a deck of cards. Jeez...

So after a sleepless night, here I was in Shinjuku hoping to catch an early bus to Nagano. Earliest one I could manage was at 7.50 a.m., but I was there by 7 in the morning. Bought a ticket which cost me 4000 yen ( *sigh* ) and off to a McDonalds. You do feel hungry after such a night, trust me.
A bacon-cheese burger and a coffee after such a day, and another 30 odd minutes for the bus, you are compelled to feel sleepy. I duly obliged and down went the head. In what felt like couple of minutes later I woke up, only to find out that it was a little bit more than that. It was 7.48 a.m. to be precise.

Panic.

Pick up the back-pack in one hand, no time to wear the jacket so it is in the other hand and a sprint that Usain Bolt would have been impressed of - in the freezing cold with only a thin T-Shirt, mind you - makes it just about the perfect start for a day.

You should try it sometime...

Goodbye Michael...

First thing in the morning I do after getting up from the bed is turn on my computer. And check my e-mails. I did so this morning as well, and there was a mail from my good old Russian friend Oleg. I was thrilled for it was some time since we had a chat and it was always a pleasure getting an e-mail from him.

But not this time.

I was shocked, to say the least. I was like, "wait a minute, that can't be right". But then, I knew that whatever jokes he cracked, this cannot be one.

The mail said Michael Crichton had died.

I read it again, and again, and again. I was still in disbelief. How could it be? So I turned to my trusted friend Google, and there it was. Bang!

It was true.

A sudden overwhelming sorrow filled me, like if the Sun went out right in the middle of the day. How could it be? It said a cancer. But nobody knew. Seems that he didn't want anybody's sympathy but rather decided to fight it alone and go about his business as usual. Typical Michael.

My mind raise back some fourteen years to 1994. I was coming out of a cinema theatre, filled with thrill, amazement, joy and what not. Yes, I was coming back home after watching Jurassic Park. That was the first time I enjoyed the pure genius of the man. To be honest, I didn't even know who Michael Crichton was, back then. When you say Jurassic Park, the name that comes to your mind is Steven Spielberg - not MC. It's a shame that even today not many people know Jurassic Park is based on a novel - let alone who wrote it. But still, that was when I first encountered one of his works.

Fast forward six or seven years.

I had this habit of going to a bookshop at least once a month, not necessarily to buy them for I did not always had the money, but I just loved - I still do - being among books. I would spend two, three hours at a time in them just going through racks, enjoying that amazing smell of new books...
So there I was, in 'International' section and came across a book called Sphere, written by Michael Crichton. I remembered that this is the same guy who wrote Jurassic Park, so I thought 'what the heck, I'd give it a try'. Paid the Rs. 700/= odd with the money my mom gave me a couple of days ago to buy a new shirt and went home.

And things were never the same again.

I fell in LOVE with Sphere. It was such a fantastic read. And then I bought Jurassic Park. The Lost World. And I was crazy... I was so fascinated by his work that I wanted to read them all. Now, today, I have read all his novels plus his own unique sort of autobiography Travels - actually, I have all of them with me!

He is such a great writer that you can hardly not fall in love with his work. 'Thought provoking' and 'controversial' are the two best words to describe him, and his work. There was never a boring book - rather, they usually guarantee you a few sleepless nights. He was the modern day master of suspense when it comes to storytelling. I believe almost all of you have at least once experienced the raise of heartbeat while watching a movie. But how many times has that happened to you while reading a book? Michael managed that with almost all his novels.

He always blended fact with fiction so seamlessly that many people took his work to be so offensive. That in itself is a tribute to his amazing ability as a writer. And his books were always a recipe for controversy.

In an age where women were screaming for their rights, he wrote about sexual harassment - but only to make the man the victim. Imagine that!

When American-Japanese trade relations were in a highly tense situation, he wasn't afraid to express his views freely. Many labeled him a racist, but most of them hadn't even read the book!

In Airframe, he took a dig at the media - the ugly side of it.

And he saved his best for the last. Well, one before the last.

In State of Fear, he boldly questioned the motives of environmentalists at a time when global warming was considered a religion - not just a theory that is unproven. Them environmentalists, media and a few others went hysteric to say the least. But to his credit, all his claims were based on solid fact - not just assumptions or speculation which is just about all when it comes to 'global warming worshippers'. He argued that spending billions of dollars on a theory that isn't even proven is foolishness beyond imagination. Specially in a world where millions of people die in hunger, thirst and other deceases that are easily curable. Why don't we address those more pressing matters was his question...

Personally, my life was enriched, enlightened and influenced a lot by his work. Not to mention the friends I made because of him. Yeah, that is another interesting story. After reading a few of his books, I just searched on the net for more information about this guy, and stumbled upon his official website. There, among many things was a message board. Reluctantly, I posted a couple of posts.

To this day, I'm glad I did.

Though I wasn't sure what the responses would be, I was welcome warmly. And I became a regular member and found out that there was a small but very special, diverse and intellectual community. The discussions? Oh, they were the best! We could talk about thousand topics, agreeing or disagreeing with each other without really slinging mud at each other. It was food for thought - that message board was!
And I made a lot of friends there, from all over the world - including Oleg, who sent me this sad news today. They are all pretty normal people just like me, sharing the common things that we all loved books - and MC, for that matter. Yes, that's what we used to call him on the board : MC. They are a bunch of truly amazing and interesting people whom I will never forget.

Also it is pleasing to know that he knew me - at least by my screen name. Just after he released his last novel, NEXT, the good old admin of the board told us that MC talked about us while they were on a plane. He read most of the things we posted, and he knew about most of us by our screen names! I certainly am honored to know that and I am proud about that.



But he isn't there anymore. There will be no more waiting for a new book by MC to come out. All that is gone. I have a hollow feeling wrapping me. Something is lost. It will never be the same again, like there will never be another one like MC...

It is also saddening for me in another way. It was one of my biggest dreams to meet him one day. But now that's a dream that will never come true. Life is not fair sometimes...

But it is of no use to dwell over things we cannot control. Rather, it's best to remember who he was, what he did and enjoy the great works of him. And pass them to the generations to come. I certainly will...

Though he is gone, the legacy he leaves behind will live forever!

Thank you Michael.
May your soul rest in peace.

Oh why Gilly? Why now?

You write a book to sell it. Not to keep the whole lot under your bed for the rest of your life. That is true. So what do you do? You market it. Give it some publicity. And create some contorvercy if possible. That'll make it sell like nude pics of Jessica Alba.

All that is fine. But there is - there should be - a limit, and you should know where to stop. Speaking shit just for the sake of selling a book is no good. Because alogn with the book you also sell your soul. Especially not for somebody like you, whom most people respected around the world.

But you have crossed the line.

After all those years of a great cricketing career, now you've gone and said Murali is a chucker. Oh come on Gilly, you're better than that.



You write crap like this in your book:
"When I heard that the rules would now allow degree of straightening - 15 degrees to be exact, a fraction more than Murali's straightening had been measured at - I thought 'That's a load of horse crap. That's rubbish."

Well, I didn't know you sucked that much at logic.
Let me explain.
Under the previous law, almost everybody chucked - including the so called purists like McGrath and Pollock. Yes, that's what the ICC found out when they did a survey. They were all bending their arms more than what was allowed. So what do you do? Either call them all chuckers (except for the small problem that there wouldn't be anybody to bowl in world cricket) or extend the previous limit to suit everyone. So, that is not changed to suit just Murali. That is to accomodate everyone, and why should only Murali be kept out.

You're being pathetic Gilly.
Horse crap is not what the ICC did, it is what's coming out of your mouth now.

I had a lot of respect for you, but I'm fast losing it.
And I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this.

After all, you're not so much different from the fat ass Aussie motherfuckers who likes nothing but whinging when things don't go your way.

Shame on you...

It's the Autumn!

Visited a place called Nikko to see the Autumn leaves. The traffic was goddamn unbelievable, but it was worth the trouble...