England Wins, But So Do We!

1979, 1987, 1992 and 2004. The four previous times the English team made it into the final of a global cricket tournament and got hammered. So if you had your doubts this time, you should be excused. The chances were they would fuck it up and hand the Aussies another trophy to add to their trophy cabinet which already is brimming with a gazillion trophies. But it wasn't to be - England played brilliant cricket and totally outplayed the Aussies and were the worthy winners. I bet our own lovely Kalu Suddha, Pseudo Random is partying all over the place probably wearing an England jersey and a Sri Lankan hat. Spare a thought for the Aussies too. They played brilliant cricket and just strolled their way into the final with ease only to repeat the last year's T20 WC finalists' fate; Sri Lanka won all the matches up to the final and lost the one that mattered the most. Maybe losing a couple of games on the way isn't bad after all.

However, I'm not a big T20 fan. For me the best analogy to describe T20 is porn. You don't need to be an actor of the quality of Tom Hanks or Denzel Washington to act in porn and similarly you don't need the skill and genius of Brian Lara or Sachin Tendulkar to play T20. You don't really need a plot for a porn movie - it's just wham bam and so is T20. Porn is for only one thing and by next day you've already forgotten what you've watch last night. So is T20 cricket - while you will talk about Lara's legendary match winnings innings against Aussies even hundred years later you've already forgotten who won the last year's T20 WC. Finally, you don't criticize porn, and so you shouldn't T20. It just is, but that's it. It doesn't have the grace of Test cricket.

So, while this unimportant T20 match was being played in West Indies, there was another very important match - two actually - was going on in Japan this weekend. Yes, you guessed it correct, those were the two games which yours truly played in. If you remember we had a fine start to the tournament last week, and it continued to be so when we thrashed a hapless Indian team on Saturday. Too bad I couldn't make much of a contribution with the bat this time but we put on a formidable 204 in 40 overs before routing the Indians for a paltry 87. It was good, but the evening party was better. We headed to one of the team members' apartment that night, cooked some Sri Lankan food and the night was fun. However, next day, it was our turn to get routed by a Pakistani team for 119 runs. They won in the end but we gave a good fight and took 6 wicket. To be honest after being all out for 119 we were always going to lose it but losing like we did was, in my book, alright. Going down without a fight is what I can't take. It's not just about cricket though; being out there doing something you really like, hanging out with a bunch of really awesome guys, having fun being in the middle of Sri Lankans after a stressful week at work with the Japs, that's what's it is all about. It's good workout for you body, but it's even better for you mind.

In a nutshell, cricket is my punching bag.

I'm back, and so is Cricket!

Hello people!

How have you guys (and girls) been? Doing good I suppose. Damn I have been neglecting this blog of late a lot, for which I feel SO guilty. I mean, hell, this was - and is - an important part of my life and I shouldn't be so lazy to chuck in a post or two every week. But then again, you see, in my defense it was spring holidays and we all know that Blogging is to be done on working days. So you could say that I was just abiding the rules.

Anyway, the spring break which is called the 'Golden Week' here in Japan was a welcome break. I have no idea why it is called such but have a sneaky suspicion that Google might know. Wise fella, he is. Wonder if the feminists out there would threaten me with a lawsuit if I didn't correct myself and call Google a she. Beats me why people want think of all the majestic inanimate things as female; be it a country, ship or a even a car. Oh well.

Getting back on topic. The Golden Week was fun and relaxing. First I had some good long hours of sleep which is a must I'm sure you all will agree. We also had a barbecue and ate so much dead animals that I didn't touch anymore for almost a week. It wasn't just the barbecue; we also played some softball cricket which I regretted the next day so much. After so many months of winter which means doing nothing, it was the first day we really went out and played any sport so the whole body was aching the next day. Oh and the Poker that night too was fun. Wonder how long will it take for me to win my first WSOP bracelet.

And then, yesterday, it was time for some real hard ball cricket. The cricket season here in Japan got underway which was something I was so looking forward to. We traveled to Shizuoka some 200km or so away, and I managed to take a cool shot of Mt. Fuji from the car. She (ahem!) was looking majestic as ever, and see the picture if you're not sure. Anyway, we got there in time - to the ground that is, not to Mt. Fuji - and got to bat first. I was to bat at 3, and was in the middle in the second over. Perhaps we were a bit rusty, lack of match practice or whatever it is but we were soon 40 something for 4 and 76/6 a while later. I managed to hang in and score a satisfactory 91 while we manged to put up a challenging 195 in 40 overs. It was in fact a real good score considering our very good bowling attack and we ended up winning comfortably by sixty odd runs. It is always great to start the season with a win and we have two more games next weekend. However, I need to work on my fitness. After like 75 or 80 runs I could hardly stand, let alone bat. Now I know why Arjuna 'walked' half his runs and why somebody else ran for him half the innings he batted. Wise fella he was.

Let's Tease Your Brain

While I was browsing the Internet randomly last night I came upon this logic and math puzzle site. Here are a few relatively easy but fun puzzles to solve. Here are a couple of them, localized to fit us paradise islanders. See if you guys can solve them in quick time and let me know the answers. I'll publish all the comments after a couple of days.

(1)
The newly made crown of the King Rajapakse was stolen even before he got to set his hands on it and was furious beyond imagination. His royal police set to work immediately and apprehended five suspects in no time and were questioned. Each of them gave two statements, and a heavenly voice told the chief investigator that exactly one statement by each one of them was false, while the other was true. Following are the statements given by each of the suspects.

Ranil:
It wasn't Somawansha
It was Mangala

Mangala:
It wasn't Wimal
It wasn't Somawansha

Wimal:
It was Somawansha
It wasn't Ranil

Rathnasiri:
It was Wimal
It was Mangala

Somawansha:
It was Rathnasiri
It wasn't Ranil

Who stole the crown?


(2)
The next time, throne of the King was stolen. Usual procedure followed, and this time six suspects were apprehended. This time only four people dared to lie, and each of the four people who lied told only one false statement each. All the other statements were true. Following are the statements.

Mervin said:
It wasn't Ranil
It wasn't Wimal
It wasn't Rathnasiri

Ranil said:
It wasn't Mervin
It wasn't Mangala
It wasn't Rathnasiri

Mangala said:
It wasn't Ranil
It wasn't Somawansha
It wasn't Rathnasiri

Wimal said:
It wasn't Mervin
It wasn't Somawansha
It wasn't Mangala

Rathnasiri said:
It wasn't Mangala
It wasn't Wimal
It wasn't Somawansha

Somawansha said:
It wasn't Mangala
It wasn't Wimal
It wasn't Mervin

Who stole the throne? To give you a little clue, though this may seem difficult than the previous one, it is not. It might even take less time than the previous one.

Cricket Starts And We Decipher Songs

The much awaited cricket season in Japan started last Sunday. Much awaited by us, not the Japs. They don't know Jack about cricket and couldn't possibly have been waiting for it more than I do for Ranjan Ramanayake's next film. Anyway, as I was saying the cricket season started which I must say is a wonderful thing: if nothing else, it makes you feel at home a bit. We were to play a friendly game with another team which was based on a location some 200 kilometers away from where we are, so off we went in the wee hours of morning which is to say at about 8 a.m. The wheels were trusted with the experienced hands of Solomon, which we thought was a smart move. Within 10 minutes we realized it wasn't the case, as during those 10 minutes he violated more traffic rules than all the other people here did during the past two years put together. So after we entered the highway D took the driver's seat and we prepared an argument in case a traffic cop stopped us: the whole point of allowing people to drive only if they hold a driver's license is to make the roads safe. So which is better - a bad driver with a license or a good driver without one? And if the cop still disagrees, the last option would be to get him in the car and let Solomon drive further 100 meters which will surely make him agree.

So then, after so many heart stopping moments we arrived at Shizuoka, the place where we were to play the match. Everything was set to play, the Sun was out and we thought it was gonna be a good, if not great start to the season. Alas, it wasn't to be so. Shortly afterwards the clouds started gathering which was followed by a drizzle and the temperature started dropping at a rate faster than [insert something here which has a very high rate]. When we bowled the last few overs the temperature couldn't have been more than 4 or 5 degrees Celsius. Wearing only the cricket trousers and stuff, it was cold as hell when it freezes over. Then, just when we finished bowling it promptly rained thus ending the match. It seemed sort of stupid traveling some 200 kilometers to bowl 35 overs and come back, but such is cricket.

On our way back we got caught in a mad traffic and the car wasn't moving at all. As a means of passing time, being the intelligent lot we are, we got engaged in a few 'intellectual discussions' such as the latest movies, Shakira's bottom and IPL. When even that bored us, we started to actually listen to lyrics of the songs that we had playing and found out how rich the Sinhala language was. We were listening to Kasun Kalhara's songs, among others, and that song Sanda Sanda Wage came up. Cool song, I must say, and you can listen to it here if you want. We listened carefully and found out that it is a song about nothing but the plain and obvious facts, yet it's a nice song. It says moon looks like moon, flowers look like flowers, you look like you and I look like I. What else can they look like? If we still dumb it down and convert into a mathematical formula, it'll look like this:

A = A, B = B, C = C and D = D
As long as A != B and B != A
Then A = A and B = B

Lucky Newton wasn't in Sri Lanka or else we would have been learning Physics by songs.

Skiing, Nose and Work

So it's been some time since I last wrote something. It is not due to blogger's block though, which is the same as writer's block but only happens to bloggers, but the sharper minds out there must have figured it out already. It is a term coined by that drummer, RD, or at least I heard it first from him in an email exchange. He likes it, doesn't he - not having blogger's block, but coining terms I mean. By the way, why is it called 'coin a term'? I mean it's not like you toss a coin and it showers you with terms appropriate for describing what's in your mind or something. And who coined the term 'coin a term', really? But I digress. The point is, I couldn't blog of late because first I was away, then I got the worst cold a man has ever endured in the history of mankind, and then I was busy. Not 'boru busy' but for real.

Let me tell you more.

As I once told you here, we were planning on going a ski trip again and the plans were set in motion the last Saturday. Five of us paradise islanders who live here rented a car, hopped in at 4.30 in the morning and were set off for the skiing place some four hours and 300 kilometers away. We trusted the wheel with the most reliable hands that were there, let's call him J, and put K, the guy who's been there, done that in the front seat because we thought wisdom comes with age. It wasn't the case, we found pretty soon. K was supposed to be doing the 'navigating duties', because then it's easy for J instead of him having to look at the screen and drive too. But K who was in the front seat constantly forgot his duties due to a combination of the iPhone in his hand and the inability to concentrate that comes with age. He was quickly demoted to the back seat, driver was changed and J was given the 'navi duties'. Mistake again; we forgot J was a leftie - not in a political sense - and he constantly messed up left and right, just like the JVP who claims to be lefties but totally act the other way around. Anyway, with all these hassles we managed to be there in time, put on our gear and were on the top of the mountain in no time.

Now, I said in that post mentioned above that I thought I had got the hang of this whole skiing business. Alas, it wasn't the case, I realized pretty soon. Yes the weather was bad, there was some drizzle but even if it wasn't so, it would have made a little difference. I'm sure I must have looked like a comedy show or something. I even suspect that the Japs behind me might have had bets on how long I would stay on my feet. Anybody who had bet any more than 10 would have lost badly. And by ten I mean ten seconds. However, in a combination of sliding - on feet a little and on my back a lot, and rolling, somehow I managed to end up at the bottom of the mountain, some three hours later. That was the end of skiing for me - for this year at least. I mean, why can't they ski on a... flat land or something? The next day I let the other more able people to do their skiing and went here and there sightseeing in our comfy car with one another guy who thought it'd be cool to break his leg the first time he tried skiing. Check out some pics here on my photo blog.

Upon returning, I did the stupidest thing. After two days in cold weather and getting wet, I was on the brink of a bad cold but without thinking I took a shower at midnight. Crap. The next day I woke up with the above said worst ever cold, with a totally blocked nose. So blocked it was, I seriously considered sticking the vacuum cleaner to my nose and do a complete nose cleansing, like once Maks mentioned somewhere, but I can't find that post. But unlike these crazy women, us men have our limits so I stuck to more conventional methods of tissues and medicine. Two boxes of tissues, one complete nasal sprayer, shitload of Kottamalli - that is Coriander for you non Sinhala speaking people - and five days later, I'm still recovering.

So I had to take the Tuesday off because of the said cold and since nobody needs a vacation more than the person who just had one. But then to compensate for that I had to work my ass off up until today. Oh yeah, now today, Saturday, I'm at work. By which I mean I'm sitting at a desk in my office, blogging. That's hard work you know.

I'm NOT at work. HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having to not work on Mondays is bliss. I feel for you folks who are at work right now, still half asleep, grumpy and wishing Mondays should be made illegal or things along the lines. Hooooo! That's a Sinhala "Hooo" by the way, not an English one. OK, so here I am at home, and being so lazy to cook ordered a Pizza for lunch, so now stuffed and feeling drowsy.

On a different note, a note to self : you seriously need to learn to think twice before you speak. You seriously do. You sometimes don't realize how a simple word could hurt your loved ones so much... Stop being an idiot and grow up.

Weekend saw us losing one semi final, and getting through to another. As you might know, our cricket season is coming to an end, and there were couple of games, one Twenty20 and the other a forty overs a side. We scored a below par 115 in the 20 overs game, but some very accurate bowling and fielding saw us defending it to enter the semi finals. It was a great match, very intense and a nail-biting finish. The opponents had to score 11 in the last over with only one wicket in hand, but the bugger hit a boundary in the first ball of it. Next was a dot and 7 from 4 was the equation when perhaps our best player, call him D, got the last wicket.

Then headed to a place on a mountain close by, and it was some forty kilometers away! Driving up for that long on a winding road is, well, not really fun especially after running around all day, but the place was fun. We cooked, OK, the two girls who were there cooked a damn good chicken curry and potatoes which we named "A La Festa" because it was more like an Ala Paste. But it was good, had a couple of beers along with it before hitting the bed.

The next day was not so good though. Again we batted first, and again D batted brilliantly but nobody was there to hang around and support him, so we were bowled out for 163 inside the forty overs. Shame. Then, still we were well on our way to a victory, with them 7 down for a hundred odd runs but then they batted well, hell they batted us out of the game and the competition. Too bad that had we gotten through it would have been our first final. But hell, there's always another year.

Delayed Weekend Post

Why do I keep putting pathetic headings all the time? Not to mention the useless posts. Lack of creativity. Lack of imagination. Inherent lousiness. All of that, perhaps. Meh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK the weekend was fun though. First, to compensate for the lack of sleep the past week - yes I couldn't get a minute's sleep for three consecutive nights - slept well past noon on Saturday and then before you know it, the day was gone. Why is it that you always feel the five weekdays like five months and then the weekend is gone before you know it. How cool would it have been if we had three-day-weekends and only four weekdays? Most probably then we would be asking for four-day-weekends and three weekdays. Anyway, on Sunday we went to a cricket match. To celebrate their national day (or is it the independence day?) the Embassy of Pakistan here had organized a cricket match and they invited us to play against them. The ambassador and the likes were present, and we were treated nicely both on and off the field. Off the field, with some good food and drinks, not to mention being so nice and all. On the field, with sixes and fours to their heart's content. We bowled so crap right from the beginning, they were like 66/1 after 6 overs. Finally we managed to get them all out for 160 something but it was always going to be a bit too much considering it was a T20 match. Then we batted like 11 Mubaraks would. Need I say more?

The presentation ceremony followed was typically Asian. More dignitaries than players, them getting more awards than players and the whole thing lasting longer than the match itself. And they took so many photos I'm sure nobody, in my whole life, bothered to photograph me so much. Not even my mom and dad or even the ex. Pakis are nice, come to think of it. And finally, after so many thank you speeches we managed to escape their hospitality and headed for a restaurant to have some beer. There's nothing like a cold beer after a hard day's work, especially when you got thrashed like that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These Sri Lankan mothers are a dangerous breed, I tell you. Here is a conversation took place last night. After the usual chit chat.

Dangerous Mother : So, can't you visit SL this time as well?

Poor Me : I told you ne mom, I don't have enough leaves. No point coming for ten or so days. I'll come next year.

DM : But then you'll be close to 30!

PM : Umm... yes... you can't stop aging.

DM : But think! You should be married by then.

PM : *Rolling eyes*

I knew it'd come to this.

DM : Shut up. Don't you try to avoid this conversation every time. When are you going to get married?

PM : Mom, I'm fine the way I am! Why do you have to put a deadline that I should get married before this and this date. Gimme a break. I'll marry when I want.

DM : But that's the only worry I have. If you get married and settle down I can die with peace of mind.

PM : Oh don't be stupid. You still have time before worrying about dying.

DM : But who knows. See, I'll be sixty soon and I might die any day. And if I do, I'll have to die with the pain knowing that you still aren't married!

PM : Umm...

............

............

............

Well.....

............

............

OK mom, bye!

What exactly are you supposed to say to something like that, really?

These mothers have a way of working you.

God help me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where the hell is Wijitha? It's been over a month since he last posted, and I really miss him. His blog is something unique and I always enjoyed reading him, it being one of the few blogs I've read from post #1 to the last. He did have a unique perspective on some things, and his writings were really good. And fun. Too bad I didn't bother to get his contacts, so if any of you do have, please send 'em to me or at least drop him a message and ask what the hell is going on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just as MJ predicted here, New Zealand continue to be crap and MJ continue to bash minnows. NZ that is. Cool eh?

OK guys, me off.

Laterz.

My LOVE TO DOs

There is this paper shredder in our office. Well they are in almost every office I guess. You know, inside it there is this basket where all the shredded paper go to right. The one in our office shreds papers to very small rectangular pieces - not just long stripes as some do - and when the bag is full somebody would take it out and keep it near the waste basket. So the cleaning lady would take it away in the evening. But this bag is SO tempting. I fantasise all the time about blowing that bag so that small pieces of paper would fly everywhere. Icing on the cake if I could do it over my boss' head.

To go on the 'foot board' of a train. No not on them in Sri Lanka - I've done that all too often there - but on trains here. While moving the doors are always closed. Always. But wouldn't it just be so awesome, to do it and look at the expressions of other Japs on the train. I'm positive I'd give couple of them mild heart attacks.

Play Poker for real money. In Vegas.

To be someone else. For a day. Oh think of the possibilities! By the way, who else thinks that there are way too many "i"s in "possibilities"? OK seriously, I could create havoc if I could become someone else just for the sake of it. So much fun it would be isn't it? And things won't get any better, if I get to meet myself while being someone else. Dose that make any sense? Oh well.

Date Jessica Alba. Or Angelina Jolie. Or both, preferably.

Rome, here I come!

Finally, the summer vacation has arrived! A much needed and well deserved one, after probably few of the most hectic months of my life. And yours truly will be flying to Rome tomorrow, hoping to spend some time there as well as in Venice. Those are two places I always wanted to go see since, well, ever since I wanted to go there. Roman Colosseum is something that always amazed me, so is the wonderful city - well I think it is wonderful - of Venice. Can't wait, though I'd be glad if I could skip the twenty or so hour plane ride. How cool would it have been if I could just disapperate and apperate like Harry Potter.

Will be staying at my Aunt's place there. Despite being relatives, they are actually so nice people. Defies all logic, I know, for 'nice' and 'relatives' aren't two words that usually you can put in one sentence unless you throw in a 'not' there. But there are exceptions sometimes, and consider this one of them. Will also get to meet my favorite cousin sister after a long long time. When we were back in Sri Lanka we were like so close friends and couldn't really be separated, so, am eagerly waiting to see her again.

OK then peeps, I'll be off blogging for a while, but will try to come back as soon as the vacation is over. Until then, goodbye all and have a nice weekend!

Kick Ass Kickmania!

Peeps, it really kicks ass!

Usually I ignore almost all the FB application requests because they're more or less the same boring and stupid shit. But this, this ain't no any of that. It's called Kickmania, and it is the coolest, funnest, craziest and most addictive FB application I've come across so far! Just try it out guys.

Basically what you have to do is kick other people - their asses that is - on FB, as further as possible. If you kick someone's ass further than anyone else did, then you own his or her ass! For example, if I kick Jerry's ass 50 meters, then I'll own his ass. But of course if Sabby comes and kicks Jerry even further, which I'm sure she'd be glad to do, I will lose Jerry's ass to Sabby. Even mutual owning is possible. Like, if LD kicks Dee's ass further than anybody else, she'll own Dee's but if Dee decides to retaliate and kick LD's further than anybody, then they'll end up owning each other's asses. Finally, if the big daddy RD shows up and start kicking everyone distances that nobody else can even imagine reaching, god help us, he'll own us all! And like anything else you own, then you'll be free to do anything you want with them.

This is what it looks like.

But of course this is no easy task though you might be tempted to think so. It takes time to get the hang of it. Kicking at an angle of 45 degrees, with a maximum power would help you go a lot of distance. You see, you need Physics even to kick asses, so learn your subjects people. But when you finally master the fine details of ass kicking you end up owning so many asses that you wonder what to do with them. I think it was Nee, a good friend of mine, who first found this thing (thanks bro!) - though S told me about it - and now the bugger has become so good at it that he owns more than seventy asses. Including mine.

I don't own so many, but still I have got quite a few, and being the generous chap I am, I decided to give them away to anybody who needs one. For free. You'll be served on first come first served basis. Just, don't forget to mention whether you prefer a guy's one or a nice lady ass.

You don't want to end up with a wrong kind of an ass for the rest of your life, do you?

Skype-ing With Mom and Other Things

My mom usually calls me using Skype. Now do not - I repeat, do not - assume that she's all tech type ultra modern mom. Actually, she's quite the opposite, it's just I managed to teach her how to turn on the PC, wait till Skype logs in and - I've enabled auto login feature - and then push the "call" button if the little icon next to my name appears in green. That's all she knows to do with a computer. Nothing more, nothing less. If anybody disabled auto login, for whatever the reason, the next time she turns on the PC she might just wait forever for Skype to login. I wish that that would never happen.

Anyway, last night we were having a chat and she wanted to see me. There was a problem with my webcam, so it hasn't been working for few weeks now.

OK then, send me a photograph of yours. A recent one.

How?

What do you mean how? Just send it.

*Surprise*
Mom, you know how to save it and open and all that?

Err... I don't know. The last time your brother was in he showed some pictures of you. I just had to click the "next" button and I could go through them all.

Mom, that's Facebook!

Just imagine teaching her to login to FB and view my albums, while I'm here at the other end. Impossible.

That's not going to do. If I send you a file, can you save it and see?

If you tell me how to do that, I can.

*Sigh*
All right.
Pick up the webcam and show me your screen.

*She moves the webcam*

Righ. OK a bit to the left. Up, up, Enough.

Then I dragged a photo and dropped it onto the chat window.

Now click the little orange bar in the taskbar?

Where?

*Sigh*
See there is a blue long bar at the bottom of the screen? There you see a little rectangle blinking orange and blue right? Click that.

Ah I see. OK done.

OK accept and save it.

Umm... how do I do that?

Just click the accept button.

OK done. It says now... save... shall I click it?

Oh yeah mom, click it. The computer won't blow up if you click the wrong button!

Easy for you to say. Oh my god, a large window opened!
(That's the "save" window, by the way)

So, this went on and on and on like that...

Finally, after so much effort we managed to transfer a photo of me, one which was a little over 40KB but it took close to fifteen minutes for this. Sending a file is a very complex procedure, you know.

Finally she sees it.

So how do I look mom, handsome guy noh?

Hmm... yeah, sudu welada?

Pissuda hallo, maawa sudu karanna makala aayeth paint karanna thama wenne.

OK OK send me some more, I want to see more. See it wasn't difficult ne.

*Gasping*
Oh no no no mom, that's enough! I'll tell aiya to show you the rest when he comes home next!

These moms, I tell you...


-------------------------

After that, I get a new friend request from some girl. Usually, I accept them all. Treating everyone equally or something, I just don't reject. But this time I was surprised. She has some pictures, and supposedly she's 16, but I have no idea who she is. Besides, the strangest thing is, I'm the ONLY friend in her friend list! I mean, WTF? If you create your FB account and the first friend you add is someone you don't know? Who does that? I have every good reason to believe that this is a prank by one of my very nice friends. I've got a bunch of them you know.

Also, I usually stays invisible in FB chat. I hate FB chat. The next thing she does is, she writes on my wall:
"come online why u afraid for me?"

Seriously, what's with girls these days? If it's a girl that is.


-------------------------

Working on Saturdays is a bitch. I had to work yesterday, and it's killing you when you have to work on a Saturday. Because, when I get back to my apartment it's usually close to 8 p.m., and after staying awake till 2 a.m., usually you get up at noon the next day. And then the Sunday goes by even before you know it and back to work Monday!
DAMN!


-------------------------

OK fellas, have a good weekend, thought already one day is gone by!
Cheers!

Who wants to be a billionaire?

Joy Brown just offered me 70 BILLION US dollars.
HOLY!
I don't even know what that is in Sri Lankan Rupees. Err... like 7000 BILLION Rupees?
My my. Recession will be vanished in a second. Whoooosh..............!!! Just like that.

The good thing is he assures me that this is not just another scam mail.

"First of all I want you to know that this is not a scam mail. Because based on what is going on all over the internet world people find it very difficult to believe thing like this anymore. If you can guarantee me from your side your trust and honesty I will be able to work with you. I will appreciate if you can come down your self and see thing for your self before."

So that should settle it then. This cannot be a scam. They say it.
All they need is,

1. Your Full Name
2. Your current Mobile telephone and fax numbers
3. Your age
4. Occupation
5. Your Current address.

How generous people are! I'm going to be rich baby!
If you need any money, especially in these difficult times, please do let me know. I'm generous you see. Giving you a couple of hundred dollars shouldn't be a problem anymore. Only thing is, I can't think of what I would do to the rest of the money.
Meh.


Second Post.
I just saw RD has posted a cool list. Can't be bothered to do another post, so adding that to this.

Here are some of the things that I enjoy:

1. Just being in Paradise. How much I miss it.

1. Sri Lankan food. Oh baby, don't get me started.

1. Sleep. Oh the heavenly sleep.

1. Long walks on pristine beaches in Paradise Island. Are there too many adjectives in that sentence?

1. A good game of Test cricket, or a good game or rugby. Specially if it's the All Blacks or KSC.

1. Wasting time with my real friends who make me feel so happy.

1. A game of Pool.

1. Books. 'Nuff said.

1. Blogging.

1. Making some people in internet forums who can't tolerate a different opinion, pissed off. Oh that's fun!

1. Feeding Pigeons in front of my apartment.

1. Spring!

I can go on forever, but there is some work to do as well.
So I pass the baton to LD, Cerendib and NB.

Have a nice weekend fellas!

A Well Earned Bottle of Wine...

The weekend was fun. We had a party, a gathering of all the Sri Lankans who work in our company here, and not a single Jap which is always a plus. In a sea of white, or rather yellow faces it is so good to be around so many brown faces at the same time. Also, though we work in the same company the work places are scattered so we don't always meet everyone, hence a nice time to meet them all after some time. And Sri Lankan food. 'Nuff said.

The fun begun when the musical chairs started. There were like twenty people, most of them girls. There weren't more than seven or eight guys. And the ladies were taking advantage of their ladiness, because, you know... if a guy and a girl ended up fighting for a chair, the guy would give up and give her his seat right. You see, we men are so honorable creatures. Sometimes. So when the number was reduced to seven, apart from me and another guy everyone else were girls. And when the music stopped next time, he was out too! This was the second time in a week I was left all to myself in the middle of a bunch of ladies, but at least the first time I didn't know any of them. This was worse.

Everything was at stake. The pride of us men, and a bottle of Wine.

Maybe if only the first was at stake, we wouldn't have bothered. But when the latter is added to the mix, we men are left with no choice I'm sure you'll understand. So we decided to play dirty. Solomon, the guy who was in control of music, well he was a guy. From then on, mysteriously the music would stop only when I was positioned such that I could easily secure my seat. Of course he was not supposed to look at us, but hell, people need to act accordingly in dire circumstances.

Need I say that I won we won that bottle of Wine and our pride wasn't shattered? Sometimes life is so good.

Dear God II

Makuluwo, not the real ones but the blogger made me crack this morning with this post. If it were real Makuluwo then they would prolly have made me not crack but smack on their heads, but that would make me not any better than Makuluwo (the blogger, again) in God's eye. Do I make any sense? Yes? OK good. I thought I wasn't.

So... anyway, that post reminded me of some funny shit I read a while back. Browsed through my mails and found it for you guys.

Little Bobby came into the kitchen where his mother was making dinner. His birthday was coming up and he thought this was a good time to tell his mother what he wanted.
"Mom, I want a bike for my birthday."

Little Bobby was a bit of a troublemaker. He had gotten into trouble at school and at home. Bobby's mother asked him if he thought he deserved to get a bike for his birthday. Little Bobby, of course, thought he did. Bobby's mother wanted him to reflect on his behavior over the last year.

"Go to your room, Bobby, and think about how you have behaved this year.Then write a letter to God and tell him why you deserve a bike for your birthday."

Little Bobby stomped up the steps to his room and sat down to write God a letter.

Letter 1
Dear God,
I have been a very good boy this year and I would like a bike for my birthday. I'd like a red one.
Your friend,
Bobby

Bobby knew that this wasn't true. He had not been a very good boy this year, so he tore up the letter and started over.

Letter 2
Dear God,
This is your friend Bobby. I have been a good boy this year and I would like a red bike for my birthday. Thank you.
Your friend,
Bobby

Bobby knew that this wasn't true either. So, he tore up the letter and started again.

Letter 3
Dear God,
I have been an OK boy this year. I still would really like a bike for my birthday.
Bobby

Bobby knew he could not send this letter to God either. So, Bobby wrote a fourth letter.

Letter 4
God,
I know I haven't been a good boy this year. I am very sorry. I will be a good boy if you just send me a bike for my birthday.
Please! Thank you,
Bobby

Bobby knew, even if it was true, this letter was not going to get him a bike. Now, Bobby was very upset. He went downstairs and told his mom that he wanted to go to church. Bobby's mother thought her plan had worked, as Bobby looked very sad.
"Just be home in time for dinner", Bobby's mother told him.

Bobby walked down the street to the church on the corner. Little Bobby went into the church and up to the altar. He looked around to see if anyone was there, bent down and picked up a statue of the Mary. He slipped the statue under his shirt and ran out of the church, down the street, into the house, and up to his room. He shut the door to his room and sat down with a piece of paper and a pen.
Bobby began to write his letter to God.

Letter 5
God,
I'VE GOT YOUR MAMA. IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER AGAIN, SEND ME THE BIKE!!!!!!

I couldn't really stop laughing...
:)

Good day all!

Just a Thought...

Is it possible to hate the hatred???

Just wondering.

On a completely different note, this morning I saw someone had said on her FB that five weekdays is five days too many.

Ha! That cracked me up!

When You Meet Your Match

This is so darn funny, not to mention how CUTE!
I just had to post it...



Thanks D!

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.

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...

Something to think about...

Are you bored? Well I am.

So here is something for you to think about just in case if you're in the same boat as I am!


Whenever you find the key to success, someone changes the lock.

The road to success... is always under construction.

Alcohol doesn't solve any problems, but when you come to think of it, neither does milk.

If you don't succeed, destroy all the evidence that you ever tried.

An expert is someone who takes a subject you understand well and then makes it sound confusing.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

Everyone makes mistakes. The trick is to make them when nobody is looking.

Where there is a WILL, there is a way. Where there is MONEY, there are many WAYS.

Last one is a cracker, ain't it?

From an E-Mail...

The Cycle of Life



Boss says to secretary: For a week we will be going abroad, so please make necessary arrangements.

Secretary calls her husband: For a week my boss and I will be going abroad, so you look after yourself.

Husband calls his secret lover: My wife is going abroad for a week, so lets spend the week together.

Secret lover calls the little boy whom she is giving private tuition: I have work for a week, so you need not come for class.

Little boy calls his grandfather: Grandpa, for a week I don't have tuition 'coz my teacher is busy. Let's spend the week together.

Grandpa calls his secretary: This week I am spending my time with my grandson. We cannot go abroad.

Secretary calls her husband: This week my boss has some other work, so we canceled our trip.

Husband calls secret lover: We cannot spend this week together, my wife has canceled her trip.

Secret lover calls the little boy whom she is giving private tuition: My appointment was canceled. This week we will have tuition as usual.

Little boy calls his grandfather: Grandpa, my teacher said this week I have to attend classes. Sorry I can't give you company.
Grandpa calls his secretary: Don't worry, this week we will be attending that meeting, so please do make necessary arrangements.

And so on...