Linkin' Post

My life is heading towards ultra boredom. So much so that - I never thought there may come a day I'd say this - I'm dreading the coming 10 or so days of summer holidays. Having 10 days at your disposal, with nothing in particular to do, in scorching heat no less, isn't really my idea of a vacation. Strolling on the ruins of a great empire, or the 'water streets' of Venice, like this time around last year, is. Damn I should have planned something a little earlier. I could climb Mt. Fuji, but I did it once already, and not really feeling like it this time. It would account for a few breathtaking photos of course, but still. Or else there's always the option of randomly picking a train, preferably a long distance one, and go wherever it takes me. There is also the thing that a lot of weird, funny or potentially life threatening things happening whenever I'm on or nearby a train, so at least I'll have something to blog about afterwards. We'll see.

On other things, after months of procrastination finally I started my own Project 365. What held me back the most is, as good as my life may be here in Japan, daily photo opportunities aren't that good - at least not when your camera is an SLR. You see, usually my weekdays comprise of going to work at 9 in the morning, and leave it 6pm-ish. I'm SO not a morning persona to wander around with a camera in hand at 7 in the morning, and after a hard (let's say so for the sake of my happiness) day's work, you don't want to go out again just to take one photo. It is not practical to bring the damn camera to work so all I'll be left to shoot will be inside my apartment which is like 10 x 10 feet. OK not that small, but you get what I mean. However, finally, I drew inspiration from our good old Darwin, though she's not as much old, and made up my mind to do it challenging myself to come up with something interesting each day. Not gonna be easy, but let's see. Here are the first week's stuff, take a peek guys. And girls.

And then, on the same historical day, I got the bicycle I ordered online, delivered to me. It is, however, is a historical day not because I started my Project 365, nor is it because I got the bike. It is because our good ol' chap Murali took a wicket with the last ball he ever bowled in Test cricket, but I added to the speciality of the day with my project. And my bike. Don't you think so? But I digress. The thing is, this time I'm determined to not let any poor Jap steal my bike, like the last time. I shall take extra care with it, which merely mean check upon it once a month as opposed to two, which was the fatal error I made last time. The bike is quite good, sexy even, though it is not the same sexiness you'd associate with a particularly hot chick. I digress again. As I was saying, the bike is excellent but for the seat. Why someone designed a seat such as that is something that beats me. After 10 minutes of cycling my ass started to hurt so much I briefly contemplated letting someone steal it this time around as well. It is such a pain in the ass, the seat is. And I mean it literally.

Farewell, legend, you will be missed...

Some of my very first memories of cricket, which did not involve backyard games played with the kids, are of Murali. However, those are not the games he played for the national team. I was greatly lucky to have gotten the opportunity to study at St. Anthony's College, Kandy, which to date is one of the most memorable places in my life. And I was equally lucky, nay, honored that I was there at a time when a great cricketer of all times was in the making. Yes I was only 9 or 10 at the time, and knew only very little about cricket, but Murali was my hero - he was just about every Antonian's hero back then.

In early 90s school cricket was immensely popular the length and breadth of Sri Lanka. Perhaps because there wasn't much TV coverage of international matches, perhaps because rugby was still to be a major sport in Sri Lanka or merely because people had more time in their hands. Either way, school cricketers were very popular not just among school boys but within the general public as well. The likes of Murali, Kalpage, Marvan and Vaasy were well known even when they were playing for their schools. And Murali, perhaps, was the biggest star of them all - everybody knew he was something special - and he brought many a victory to our college which we could boast about so proudly back then. Heck we still do it, but it really is something to be proud of, isn't it? I remember back then, being the cricket enthusiast he was, our principal father would let the students out of the classes at 12 on Fridays if there was a match. And we stayed to watch till the end of the day's play, and even come back to watch on Saturdays - that was a time when tuition was only for the inept. The point is, as little kids we grew up watching Murali play for our college, and he was our hero, our Murali, long before he was everyone's "our Murali". Wonderful times, those were.

Many a year later he is now at the end of a long and illustrious career in every sense. The man has carried Sri Lanka team almost singlehandedly through two decades, and arguably the man who's responsible the most for making us a force to be reckoned with in international cricket. Yes there were others, but where would Sri Lanka be if it wasn't for Murali? No other player in the history of cricket has had an impact on his team as huge as Murali had on Sri Lanka. Here is a champion if there ever was one. However, wonderful as it may seem his career is, no other cricketer in the history of the game has had to go through so much shit as he did. Never has a sportsman been harassed as much as Murali has been, in the history of any sport, but he managed to smile through it all and emerge the winner at the end of the day. And when you see where he stands today, victorious, I can't help but admire the courage the man has. I don't even go into the whole ridiculous mess of chucking - time and again he has been cleared by the ICC, and he is not a thrower, and there the matter rests. If anyone can't accept it, too bad but it's their problem. Murali will always be remembered as one of the true legends of the game.

Murali isn't just about cricket either - he is much more than that. In a country which was torn apart by a long and depressing ethnic conflict, here is a minority Tamil who was loved alike by everyone. Honestly, I am yet to meet a Sri Lankan who didn't like the fellow. When he was winning us matches, it wasn't just the Tamils who cheered. When he was called for throwing, it was the whole nation that sided with him, not just Tamils. In short, he is a man who united a whole nation just by his presence. Nobody ever really thought of him in terms of race, he was, and is, everyone's hero. He truly is a man apart.

Today he is sending down those mesmerising deliveries for one last time. Today he is trying to win us a match for one last time. While batsmen the world over must surely be thinking that this is a cause for celebration, for us who loved the man so much it is hard to believe that we won't see those big off breaks anymore. Those eyes, as big as fists, who could have not loved those? And his childlike enthusiasm and the truly Sri Lankan smile, not to mention the awesomely wild batting. I am almost certain that his wild slogs brought joy to people as much as any good batsman did with his perfect stroke making. However, as much as I am sad that the legend is leaving, it is also the right time I think, for every good thing must come to an end. You should always go on your own terms with your head held high, and he decided to do so. For that I salute the man. We will never see another Murali again, and rightly so. There was, is and will be one and only one Murali.

He will be missed though his legacy will live forever. Thank you Murali for all the memories!

My World

So I hurriedly accepted the open tag from the Drummer who was inspired by LadyD. Yes I'm jobless like that.

Things That Make Me Happy

Friends
Hanging out with them doing nothing
Or doing the things we love to do the most
Friday evenings
Waking up early in Saturday mornings to realize that it's the weekend
Wit
Watching All Blacks play rugby
Playing touch rugby
Playing cricket
Watching cricket
A hot water bath after getting really tired
Coffee
Eating what I cooked
When a program I wrote works like a charm the first time
A good laugh
Beaches
Long evening walks on them
When a photograph turns out better than I expected it to be
Cats
A good book
Opening the inbox to find an email from an old friend
Or from a very dear one
The thought that I am so lucky
Just About Anything...

Have a nice weekend all!

Why?

• Why is it that in Hollywood flicks the mob boss always fancy cooking? Picture a scene; a helpless dude who knowingly or unknowingly did some wrong to the mob boss is brought to meet the boss by some mean looking goons. The dude is shaking like a fish out of the water, and he will always be taken to the kitchen to meet the boss. Now this kitchen is usually very big, like one in a five star hotel, and for some reason everything in there is made of steel. The boss is in there alone, wearing an apron and all that (but rarely a cooking hat, perhaps because it takes away the mean-look of the boss a bit) cutting some vegetables, stirring a pot or making a pudding. The gist is, he's always cooking something. Now when the poor dude is brought to meet him, he'll usually take some time doing what he does, taste what he was making, and probably will offer some to the poor sod who's about to die. Only after all that fuss will he get into the real business. Why?

• Why do people put a status message in Facebook and then click "Like" as well?

• Why do graduates like to take photos in front of shelves with huge books that look like copies of Bible?

• Why is it that in Hollywood movies people always fall safely? I bet you've seen more than once how they fall unconsciously, like trees, but never ever hurt their heads. Imagine it in real life though; if you fall on a hard floor all of a sudden you are almost always sure to bang your head very hard.

• Why is it that the comment section of any article regarding a cricket match that involves either India or Pakistan turn into an India - Pakistan war?

• Why is it that people consider it very important to watch the latest movie before anyone else does?

• Why couldn't they phrase the saying You can't have your cake and eat it too a little better? It sounds more like saying You can have your cake but you can't eat it.

• Why do footballers trip over blades of grass and claim to have the leg broken if the opposition is in possession of the ball at the time, but miraculously get up and run if their own team has the possession?

• Why am I writing this knowing I will never get any good answers?

Retards' English

This new generation's supposedly cool and fashionable English is the most retarded thing since George Bush. The guy with a 'W' in the middle that is. Without further ado, let me jump in straight.

1. Itzzz
Wonder what that is? Well, that is the kool (or even kewl) way of writing it's. The number of Zs may wary depending on the emphasis you want to put in as well as the general level of stupidity of the person writing. Don't ask me where the apostrophe is.

2. Rockzzzzzz
Same as above. Argentina doesn't rock, but rockzzzzzzz according to these people. Them getting ridiculously thrashed by the Nazi boys is a different matter altogether.

3. Nic
When somebody said nic pic on a Facebook comment, I wondered why would someone say 'National Identity Card Picture' on a rather cute picture of a stray dog. Only later I realized it meant nice picture. Will it kill to type the last 'e' and save us the trouble?

4. Niccccccccccccc
This is also a way of writing 'nice'. In other words, retards gone a whole new level further. You can't type just one 'e' but can instead type a whole bunch of Cs. How do you pronounce that even? Oh well.

5. Fineeeeeeeeeee
The retards' way of saying fine. Wonder if the number of Es indicate the level of fineness or the level of retardedness.

6. Brothazzz
Apparently this mean brothers. However I think it suits better for a big fat ugly alien. Or a mountain troll would also fancy that name.

7. Kewl
It ran shivers through my spine the first time I realized that this in fact is a way of saying cool. Enough said.

8. Elaaazzz
This isn't English. It's the retarded way of saying 'ela' which is a Sinhala slang similar in meaning to something like great, brilliant or wonderful. But you feel my pain right?

9. Gr8
Hip way of saying great. So then can I write height as h8?

And finally,

10. Wazzup dawg?
This is more about spoken English. When niggers do the nigger talk it fits. But when a bunch of brown ass wannabes do it with an Asian accent, it's hardly bearable.

Happy Monday all!

How God Messed Things Up

You see, I love chocolate and I love coffee. My love for chocolate is a very old one, so much so that if this my-love-for-chocolate was a person he would have been only two or three years younger than me. Ever since I knew food, I knew chocolate and then I also loved them. But my love for coffee is a recently developed one. Since I came to Japan a little over two years ago to be precise. Many things in that Paradise Island are absolutely brilliant, but coffee is just isn't one of them. Coffee there is just, let's say, average. However, coffee you find in Japan, now that's a different story. It really has the aroma, the taste of real coffee, and for two years it was part of my breakfast.

But I had to give them up recently. Fuck.

I've been suffering from migraine for some time, but I never really did anything about it. However, if you are one of the unlucky fellows out there you'd know how much pain it is when the bastard decides it is time to show up. Recently I found out that both chocolate and coffee are strong triggers of migraine attacks. So very, and I mean VERY reluctantly I gave them both up. Why oh why, dear God? Why did it have to be chocolate and coffee? Why couldn't it be something like broccoli or pumpkin or something else like that? I would have happily given it up then. Well technically you can't really give up something you don't eat already, but then again that's the whole point. Why is it that always the good stuff come with bad side effects and healthy food taste like old boots? Why couldn't broccoli contain all the cholesterol in the world and why couldn't pork have been the healthiest food out there? I have a feeling that pigs might not find this thought entertaining, but you can't satisfy everyone can you? Imagine a wold where chocolate and ice cream is good for your teeth. Now that's a world where I'd die to live in.

Seriously, God, you suck.


P.S.
I've never eaten old boots.