Colombo International Theater Festival 2012

Colombo International Theater Festival will be held from 26th March - 2nd April 2012 at the British School Auditorium. While the main performances will be held at British College Auditorium there will be a series of workshops and lecturers at Goethe Institute in Gregory's Road.

The festival will host a number of International Theater productions from countries such as Australia,Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, India etc. We had a little chat with the festival director M.Safeer who with is Inter Act Art Foundation is putting in an amazing effort to make this event a success. M.Safeer has been in the Sri Lankan Theater industry for over 20 years with much experience and has pioneered in this with a hope of creating a turning point in the Sri Lankan Theater industry.



We are in the process of doing a few more interviews and documenting some of the efforts that are going into making this event a success, anyways below we have shared the performance schedule and you could gain more information about ticket reservations from their facebook page.


Colombo International Theater Festival  - Performance Schedule

26th March	Changeable Cohesion - Germany             Choreographer – Gerda Konig Concept - Gustavo Fijalkow/ Gerda Konig
27th  March	The Old Man and The Sea - Iran  Director - Zahrasadat Aziminia (Iran’s Sayeh Theater Group)	Passengers – Sri Lanka  Director - Ronika Chamali / S.Leelawathi (Janakaraliya – Theater of people)
28th March	Sitabo Lalang Lipa – Indonesia Director - Muh.Saeful (UKM Seni dan Budaya Talas)
29th  March	Chutti (Story-telling theater) - Delhi       Director - Dr.Ashish Ghosh (Anant Theater Group)
30th  March	Talk is Small (a play with scrabble) -Australia      Director - Brendon O’Cannel (Big One Little One)	Elfi - Sri Lanka    Director - S.Dayalan (Inter Act Art Black Box Theater)
31st March	Akhiyan Walio (People with eyes) - Pakistan      Director - Aamir Nawaz (Maas Foundation - Pakistan)
01st April	Dangalnama – Pune, India Director - Pro. Vidyanidhee Vanarase (Flame School of performing arts)
02nd April	Caged - Sri Lanka              Director - M.Safeer (Inter Act Art Black Box Theater)

Kill Akon? Really?

With all this negativity about Akon coming down on Facebook, I sometimes wonder what some of us are on about. Let’s reminisce to the day Shah Rukh and his sequined entourage came down. It was purely a show for fans and a good crowd puller to jaded war-tired people, the masses. But a grenade was thrown, over 3 people died, and we instantly forgot how mental the whole situation was. Not to mention, the stars fled back home, made more movies and money, furthered their industry, became more popular world-wide and bought their own cricket teams.

To me, Akon equals good publicity to Sri Lanka and a step up as a brand. Places like Singapore go to town when international artists come down, so this gives us the same opportunity. I heard that 10,000 Maldivians are planning to come over for the concert, which maybe heresay but its good heresay.

About the Buddha statue in his video. Well, there’s enough and more examples where statues are used as ornaments in the West and pictures are used on bikinis. It’s a poor choice and an exhibition of ignorance but then again, what can you expect? During one of my earlier rant-y posts on Buddha Bars, Pseudo gave me some golden advice about substituting the anger for understanding. and something on the lines of what is important to a true Buddhist... I can’t really remember the rest. Sorry P!

Anyway back to Akon; the highly publicized grinding with the 15 year old’ issue, well...it was wrong, but the FB site seems to have a holier than thou attitude whereas at any given Sri Lankan club on a Saturday night are tons of little kids grinding away at each other too.

The point of this post is not to say bollocks to the people slamming the concert on FB. I’m personally not a big fan of Akon either. I find his voice whiny, songs repetitive and lyrics plain dumb. One exception maybe ‘Sexy B****’, but that’s because it’s pumped up with David Guetta’s collaboration. BUT my point is, its music, and everyone is entitled to their likes.

Perhaps we need to close our eyes and sacrifice our *cough* “values” for the sake of development as a country, as a brand. Look at the red light district Vs Theravada Buddhism in Thailand, and the proposed casinos in Singapore. Not that an international star equals development in Sri Lanka, but isn’t it a start? I’m still mulling that over.

Perhaps we need to be a little less angry, give it a chance and see what positives we can get out of it rather than killing him and embarrassing ourselves all together. To the rest of you, I’ll see you on the 24th.

What if the Nazis Won?

What would have happened if the Axis actually won the world war, where they succeeded in defeating the Soviets through operation Barbarossa and then afterward moved on to force England to surrender? Obviously the way in which we will be learning history would be much different.There is so much we could discuss on how the world would be after a Nazi Victory but here i just want to address a few points on the way in which historical events and personalities are perceived.  Would Hitler still be called an Evil Dictator? Will the Allied Forces still be hailed as those who fought for freedom and democracy?  Would the holocaust remembered and commemorated?

I’ve heard a saying that the history is written by those who control the present, and if the Germans and their allies had actually won the war then the way in which we would be seeing the so called democratic and western powers would have been much different. For example how would they interpret the dropping of Nuclear Bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki? It would be  depicted off as an example of American brutality and USA may very well be labeled equivalent to how Nazis are now. We now learn of internment camps such as Auswitch where millions of jews were killed, but speak rarely of how the American government rounded up Japanese Americans in internment camps seeing them as a collaborators with Japan. By all means we cannot compare this with what went through inside the hundreds of camps which the Nazis built to systematically eliminate the Jews but the point is that if the Axis won the war the way in which world history is interpreted would be much more different.  

A Nazi Properganda Poster says in Ukrainian: “The oppressors ran away and they will not return!”. When Germans captured Ukraine those who suffered under Stalin welcomed the German occupation.

We speak much about the Nazi war crimes and how Soviets murdered in cold blood, but we rarely talk about the war crimes committed by the Allied forces. Most of those who were alleged of these were not tried or not punished the way in which they did for the Axis during the Nuremberg trials . If the Axis were in power it would obviously be vice versa.

The theory is simple; those who are in power control much of the past and future, and this is clearly seen in the aftermath of various conflicts across the globe. Its quite evident how different communities and countries perceived the Cold War, Vietnam War and even the war we fought here. It’s interesting how information can be controlled and perceptions are created, and ultimately the heroes and villains are defined at the end of each conflict. In my view the line between good and bad are very grey and it can also boil down to individual perceptions and understandings.

Just after Poland was invaded by Germany and Warsaw was just a blazing inferno, President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt who at that point declared that they would not want to enter into the war made an excellent statement about this..

"This nation will remain a neutral nation, but I cannot ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well. Even a neutral has a right to take account of facts. Even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or his conscience."

I Fought the Law...

Even after nearly 50 years the song and its lyrics still reigns true....

This is could be considered one of the most amazing songs which was covered by so many people so many times, that each different version has a character of its own.

The original song created by Sonny Curtis and the Crickets was a popular country hit. However during the 60s Bobby Fuller came up with a brilliant catchy rock and roll cover which gained much public attention. Since then the song has been covered by so many artists and fueled so many movements. During the 70s and early 80s the song became one of the most popular cover songs of the Punk Movement and bands such as The Clash, The Dead Kennedys, Ramones, Sex Pistols and many more had their own version, sometimes with their own lyrics. Even today so many underground punk outfits cover different versions of the song spawned off by the original.

"Bansky having a go - I Fought the Law and I Won.."

  

The Song is very much alive and kickin’ today with it sill being a part of many political movements, covered in movies and even sung by mainstream bands.

Wikipedia has some comprehensive details about the song and the number of artists mentioned there does not even get close to the number of different uploads that you would find on YouTube.

You would find many different versions of the song crossing over many genres and nationalities that you would be amazed how influential the song has been...

I leave with one of my favorite versions of this song by The Clash. A great political British Punk band from the 80s...

The Circle of Life....

Just finished watching the BBC Documentary Earth....

It takes you through an amazing story on survival...How a Polar Bear mother tries to survive with her two cubs, how an elephant mother protects her calf through a journey through the Kalahari, and how in sometimes those who try to survive fail in thier efforts...

The movie reminds us how this wonderful place called Earth is slowly becoming a victim of one of its own residents, the humans. Eating into the delcate balance of the eco-system our actions are killing those who are sharing this home, one by one. It delivers a strong message reminding us how precious this small planet is....

With breathtaking video footage from freezing cold glaziers in the Arctics to lush tropical forests in the South America it is something that is worthy for anyone to have a look.

One particular segment of the movie just left me astounded. A bitter truth which we all sometimes forget in our comfortable office desks and unhindered lives.... Try to get hold of the movie if you haven't already...

A monster on the beach?

The celebrity and scandal obsessed USA got more than its fair share of horror this week, with the unexplained seemingly out of this world partly decaying animal body washing up on Montauk Beach in Long Island.

What is it? MATHAWAADA did some digging on the internet and a variety of explanations ranging from the plausible to downright loony were to be found. Some said that this signaled the end of the world and was a 'hound from hell' while others said that it was more likely to be the body of a decaying raccoon or a dead pit bull and not to be left out the conspiracy theorists speculated that it could be some kind of mutant dog that escaped and ultimately perished at sea.

Anyways here is what FOX NEWS had to say on the subject:

New York's celebrity-obsessed Hamptons summer season got even sillier this week when a strange-looking, very dead creature washed up on a beach in Montauk at the far eastern end of New York's Long Island.

On Tuesday afternoon, a photo was posted on Gawker, the Big Apple's reigning gossip blog, which treated the Montauk monster with characteristic respect: "Good Luck With Your Hell Demons."

The animal looks like a bloated, hairless dog, except that it's got an eagle-like beak, a prominent brow ridge and a curiously elongated front paw.

Speculation immediately arose that it might be a hitherto unknown marine mammal, a sea turtle without its shell, an artful Photoshop creation or — cue the " X-Files" theme — an escaped experiment from the government animal-disease research facility on Plum Island, just offshore from Montauk.

The animal's resting on sand in the photo, with no other indication of location or scale except for what appears to be a large fly on its back.

Gawker itself thought it had broken the case late on Tuesday, when it noted that the woman who'd e-mailed in the photo worked for a viral-marketing firm.

It all tied in neatly to "Cryptids Are Real," an upcoming Cartoon Network show about mysterious, scientifically undocumented animals such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and the Chupacabra.

But the tipster, whom New York magazine identified as Los-Angeles based Alanna Navitski, denied that her efforts were part of any campaign.

She said she'd gotten the picture from her sister, who'd gotten it herself from a friend in New York who actually saw the darn thing.

"I saw the monster," said another witness, a waiter at a nearby restaurant, to New York magazine. "I just came walking down the beach and everyone was looking at it. No one knew what it was. It kind of looked like a dog, but it had this crazy-looking beak. I mean, I would freak out if something like that popped up next to me in the water."

Plum TV, a sort of upscale public-access network carried on Hamptons cable TV as well as in other tony summer resorts, promises an interview Friday with the original photographer as well as two other women who say they saw the animal.

FOXNews.com thinks one commenter on the Plum TV Web site may have figured it out.

The short beak-snout and long, flipper-like paw certainly don't belong to a dog, but they could easily belong to a young raccoon whose fur and nasal cartilage rotted away in the water.

To complicate matters, no one seems to know exactly where the mysterious beastie is now.

It's no longer at the beach where it was supposedly found; then again, the sand it's resting on in the photo could be anywhere in the world.

"They say an old guy came and carted it away," Navitski told New York magazine. "He said, 'I'm going to mount it on my wall.'"

Zack de la Rocha & One Day As A Lion

“One Day As a Lion is both a warning delivered and a promise kept. A defiant affirmation of the possibilities that exist in the space between kick and snare. It’s a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities that it attempts to mask.”

This excerpt from the band bio says it all. The new musical initiative by Rage Against The Machine front man Zack de la Rocha and Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore is proving to be a definite hit among fans.

It’s been a while since we heard that voice apart from small collaborations Zack had with DJ Shadow and few other artists. Zack’s re-entry to the music scene couldn’t have come up at a better time. The upcoming US presidential election, the war in Iraq, deepening economic situations and the lack of politically motivated music have all made many fans yearn for a come back from this rebellious artist.

It's been good news for fans in the last few years with Rage Against The Machine getting back together last year at the Coachella festival after breaking up in 2001.Tom Morello and Zack seem to be performing together more often and its really good to see the old rebels teaming up again. But getting something new and something quite raw from Zack is a pleasant surprise.

The band name itself has been inspired by a photo taken by Chicano photographer George Rodriguez in the 1970s which featured a wall depicting the phrase “Its better to live one day as a lion than 1000 days as a lamb” and according to the band it’s a “stripped down attempt to realize this sentiment in sound”. As I have found out the though the originality of this phrase may have somewhat disheartening roots; as the actually quote is said to be by the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, I believe that the name serves a greater purpose than its somewhat controversial origin.

Though the new entry may not be powerful as Rage against the Machine or the activism they put out with their huge following, One Day As A Lion will definitely make a lasting impact on the minds of fans. The new EP will be out on Tuesday 22nd July and their released single (Wild International) is making a huge buzz among fans already. As always Zack has armed his music and lyrics with powerful raw militant vocals. His in your face lyrics seem to touch upon many burning issues of the socio economic environment that we live in.

Overall its going to be a cracker…! A burst of lyrical and musical outrage directed towards the current degrading political and socioeconomic systems… a call for a new revolution, a new way of thinking for the masses….

For those who are interested to browse through I have included few links.. Just click to go to the link page

• Official Website
• Myspace Page
• Download the Single Wild International

For those who just want to listen to the song check out the YouTube video below which features the song Wild International. The quality isn't great, so check out their myspace page or just download the song for better quality.



Enjoy!

Banksy Revealed??

Ahh Banksy, the urban legend, DailyMail claims that they have been able to dig up the true identity of this world renowned street artist. This news brought me a tinge of happiness and sadness at the same time, well it’s good to know who the real personality behind all the mysteries is, but at the same time I think it was the hidden secrecy and anonymity that sparked much interest among the keen followers of this world renowned street artist. Though he does not openly sell his works or hold exhibitions in commercial galleries it is believed that his work has been some of the most sought after and among collectors.

Well though my knowledge on this filed may not be deep I have always been intrigued by many of his artworks which actually bore a satirical touch in it. Not only his remarkable art pieces but his personality has also gained him the reputation as an urban rebel warrior due to much of the controversies that he was said to be involved in.

Any way I picked up this news from an article published on daily mail, some say this may be just another tabloid gossip. But any way the creations of this unique street artist will continue to inspire and astonish us for many years to come.

"Mona Lisa with a rocket launcher"

Below: "One Nation Under CCTV" Can you see the CCTV camera next to the huge letters?

Blatant Internet Racism!

As we were browsing an Internet directory, we clicked on Asia and much to our surprise, upon loading up the map of the continent we were met with the following sight.


















Click for larger image

Initially we thought it was blatant racism especially considering the bad reputation that Pakistan has among certain groups. But really it's just probably a case of a typo... a really bad typo. After all it uses a strong racial slur that somehow amounts to a very creative racial slur. Well whatever the case, you decide...

New York Hardcore Is Still Alive!

I stumbled upon these hardcore/punk titans while cruising my way through a webblog dedicated to hardcore metal and stoner music. It took me a while to realize that these guys were actually orchestrating a genre little known by the general public but well loved and respected by cult followings, New York hardcore/hardcore punk. The hard hitting dual bass drum paddles, heavy bass and guitar riffs, and awesome militant vocals showed much resemblance to a badass heavy metal outfit and in-fact it would not be unjust to even align Agnostic Front to a great heavy metal band if it weren’t for their immense contribution to New York’s Punk scene and the overwhelming legacy they have left behind in their more than two decades of existence.

Agnostic Front is by all means an iconic hardcore/thrash metal outfit, which has out-lived many of its contemporaries such as Bad Brains, Minor Threat, SSD, Dead Kennedys and Black Flag. Of course now they seem to portray a much more hardcore/thrash noise than original punk but they still seem to stick to their roots as a hardcore New York Punk outfit, which really made them what they are. Though some of the bands in the early 80s punk scene were notorious for being “Pro White”, the political correctness that took place has evolved it into a much more tolerant and a changed force.

Like many hardcore punk bands their lyricism evolve around ideologies, tribulations and various social issues, which bewitch any socially unjust society. Agnostic Front is a living testament to the underground yet “still going strong” hardcore scene and represents what true hardcore punk music is all about.

Check out their music from any of the links below

Agnostic Front Official Website
Agnostic Front on Myspace

INDIAN PREMIRE LEAGUE, A NEW BEGINNING?

It was a heart stopper, an absolute spectacle of pure adrenaline and excitement. Yes I am talking about the recently concluded Indian Premier League, which was a treat for any cricket fan. I have never been the die heart cricket fan nor have had the thought of penning down a post on cricket. But the IPL changed all that and this 60-day adrenaline rush has shown that cricket can also be taken into a level of professionalism enjoyed by other major sports leagues in the world.

The IPL concluded in the best possible way ever with the starting underdogs Rajastan Royals clinching the inaugural trophy in a nail-biting thriller. It was down to Shane Warne and Sohail Tanvir to grab the winning runs in the last over, which came down to the very last ball. A classic final, which people will remember for a long time.

Of course we would have to praise the good lads of the controversial Indian Cricket League for coming up with the idea, and if it weren’t for them we would not have experienced such an exciting twist in the world of cricket. The lazy ICC and Indian cricket board officials were fast asleep while several good minds hatched the plan for a breakaway cricket league, which fitted perfectly to a country of 100 million cricket fanatics.

Some may argue otherwise saying that we are loosing the true passion and originality of cricket, but I (along with many a cricket fan) think otherwise. Of course there is a great down side to this. If this trend is let to continue without proper control or management, we would see all the best talent in world cricket playing for IPL rather than their own countries. But I doubt that people (at least we south Asians) prefer 5 day all white test matches over 20/20 cricket. The remedy is not to stop 20/20 cricket or banning IPL type of leagues, it’s about taking this league or this type of cricket into the world arena.

I hope that in future we would be seeing more teams and clubs participating from other countries as well. This may seem like a long shot from the traditional IPL concept, but few years back did we even have a slightest idea about a 20/20 tournament this much big and spectacular??

The Ultimate Question – Arabs or Jews??

(pic courtesy -www.foreignpolicy.com)

A recent documentary aired on Al Jazeera English network caught my attention. The program named, “The Promised Land” focused its attention on the Israel- Palestine conflict and it discussed the establishment of the Jewish sate and the reaction on the parties involved. Ironically the program was quite captivating and it discussed the pre world war elements and forces, which helped form the State of Israel.

We all know the harassments and cruel massacres that were carried out by the Nazi forces against the Jews in Europe, but that was not the sole reason but a major stimulus, which helped the formation of the State of Israel in 1948. The Zionist dream or the ideology to form a Jewish state in Palestine dates back years before the 2^nd World War. Though an idea for the reestablishment of a Jewish state in Palestine had been there for centuries, it only became a major ideology and a movement in late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

The Arab lands, which were under colonial rule, saw an influx of Jewish immigrants since the late 1880s and this continued and increased yearly. The British, then rulers of the Palestine and other Arab countries played along with different ball games offered by both the Arab and Jewish leaders in order to maintain their authority over the region. Even before the Jewish immigrants started to arrive, there was a minor population of Jews living in these Arab lands but it was around 7% of the total population. Also this Jewish population lived closely with their Arab counterparts and they did not even hold any Zionist dreams and in fact they were anti-Zionists.

However in late 1930s the Jewish immigrants in Palestine clearly outnumbered its Arab population. Of Palestinians point of view, the damage had been already been done, the harsh nomadic land witnessed the birth of modern Jewish settlements, stimulated much by the idea of Zionism. The Palestinians revolted but it was too late, the next years of the world history propelled the Zionist dream to new heights and by the end of the World War 2, amidst clear Arab opposition, the State of Israel was born. In the years to follow, Arabs waged war on Israel and by the time the wars had ended Israel had occupied more land and thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee and seek refuge.

Half a century down the line the tables have turned completely, and the Palestinians are now fighting for their land while the Israelis are trying to protect their country from militant Palestinians.

With its 60^th anniversary of Statehood marked only a few weeks ago many Israelis celebrated their achievement and through out Arab lands it was a day of mourning called al-Nakba' - the catastrophe.

This was a mere synopsis of what happened and to draw conclusions it would require a more detailed analysis over the issue. And making judgments over who was right or wrong clearly not the motivation behind this post. But we can clearly break this incident down to two main factors; the ignorance of Arabs and the tactfulness of Jews. As history points out the Zionist dream was more of an ambition for Jews living in Europe and other Western countries than Jews living in Palestine and other Arab lands.

As a nation are there any lessons Sri Lanka can learn from this incident? Well, I think there are. Of course the comparisons may not be the same, but whom can we relate to…Arabs or Jews??