Articles

Professional Signs Right at this very moment, I cannot travel. I don’t mind it it at all but there are members of my families, both in Australia and Canada, however, who absolutely LIVE to travel. Show them an airport and before you know it, they have joined a queue to get tickets to enplane and go somewhere, ANYWHERE, just as long as it is Iternationally. When they get back from their travels, I can well understand why they enjoy this rather expensive hobby so much, because, in addition to “seeing the World”& learning about the history and “cultures” of other peoples, they tell me about the many wonderful “professional signs” they have seen & I would love to share some of these hilarious “works” with my readers because, friends, a smile relaxes every muscle on your face, and I promise that you will feel all the better or it. Here ...

Read More →

DEFYING GRAVITY/THE EXECUTIONER’S SONG A sad , but true story about Gary Mark Gilmore, a young American criminal , convicted of the senseless murder of two men, sentenced to a long term in prison, begged and then fought to be executed for his crimes because he preferred to die rather than rot in prison, All “details” on this unhappy man are, of course, on the Internet, including several clever personal quotes he “penned”, while behind bars. One of them was “I’ve got problems & if you sentence me to additional time, you will only compound them”. Also, this one :- “We are sentenced to DEATH, on the day we are born” The main reason for “this story” to my eLanka, readers however, is the fact that I “recorded” the song ” Defying Gravity” which was sung by the “Country Great” Waylon Jennings and dedicated to Gary Gilmore who was not ...

Read More →

The oddities of the English language The Word “UP” I’m sure you will enjoy this. One word in the English language that could be a noun, verb, adj, adv, prep is “UP”. Read until the end… you’ll have a good laugh !!! This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word.  That word is, *’UP’*.  It is listed in the dictionary as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v]. It’s easy to understand *UP*, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake *UP*? At a meeting, why does a topic come *UP*?  Why do we speak ‘UP’, and why are the officers *UP* for election, if there is a tie, it is a toss *UP*, and why is it *UP* to the secretary to write *UP* a report ? We call *UP* ...

Read More →

Ginger has proved anti-cancer properties Written by Dr Harold Gunatillake-Health writer It is true that ginger used in Sri Lankan curries has a delightful taste when used sufficiently, but it is not freely used as in Japanese cuisines. Japanese wouldn’t touch Sushi without ginger pickling on the side of the plate. Pickled ginger is called gari or amazu shoga in Japanese. It’s served with sushi or sashimi and eaten between different kinds of sushi. It helps to clean your taste buds and enhance the flavors. Sliced young ginger roots are well boiled in water, then drained twice, and boiled again after adding vinegar and maple syrup. That’s how Japanese eat it between eating sushi. Never place the ginger slices on the sushi as it is against Japanese table etiquette. Sri Lankans seem to slice ginger bought from the market, crushed or cut into small segments and added with the spices ...

Read More →

“HERE WE ARE AGAIN” “So, here we are again, happy as could be All good friends, and jolly good company . Never mind the weather, never mind the rain As long as we’re together, singing this refrain So, here we are again, happy as could be All good friends, and jolly good company Reading, on eLanka, that’s good enough for me! “ “A happy old verse from a very old song With cheerful lyrics, for a good “sing-along” We should be living in this atmosphere So all I can say now, is “dear oh dear” The “election is over and out of the way “Medicare” is safe, for the moment, they say Both “jobs & growth” are now on the rise Budgets will no longer be a surprise Things do look good, the boats have been stopped Looks like the “dole rorts” might even be chopped Our future seems safe, ...

Read More →

Scientific energy saving cooking technique is applicable to cooking food even in England not just Sri Lankan foods by Dr Hector Perera London My energy saving cooking technique was not discovered yesterday. This was discovered when I was cooking in a single room accommodation in England. Back home in Sri Lanka as well I cooked some food with my friends who studied with me at Advanced level science at a private college. That time we never thought about the cost of energy and the smell depositing while cooking, we just cooked. My self and the three other friends were in a room only basis boarding house very near Punchi Borella. From those days I really didn’t like hotel takeaway foods but sometimes I had to cycle up and down about a mile to get the food from nearby hotels. By the time I get back to the boarding house, the ...

Read More →

Famous “quotes” of Batticaloa Burghers Further to the “Burgher Buggers” as we were all fondly “referred to” by our Sinhalese,Tamil, Muslim & Malay friends in “My Lovely Island Home” there was one “lot” who will always be remembered for their very famous “quotes”. These were spoken in what was termed “broken English”, not scratched, slivered, or “slightly-dented”, but severely broken English These good folk were known as “Batticaloa Burghers”, who did not necessarily come from Batticaloa alone, but anywhere in Lanka, where the Queens English did not mean very much to them. While we were growing up in Ceylon, broken-English was all around us and we did’nt take too much notice of these warm & wonderful quotes but now, as I sit here writing these memorable sayings of the B.B., I cannot help but feel a tinge of nostalgia steadily creeping up into my heart and a wry smile makes it way ...

Read More →

Most of the songs I have “written & composed” have been “love-songs”. This stems from the era in which they were written, the 50’s & 60’s. They were the years when “Love was in the air”. They were the songs that were written when, instead of violence, romance was paramount, in every sense of the word. Of course, love-stories did not always end with the “happily ever after” theme. Sometimes, as in my case, I ended up :- “BACK, WHERE I STARTED, AGAIN”. I’ve tried counting sheep, but I just can’t sleep I’m back, where I started, again As time passes by, like a faraway sigh The breeze seems to whisper your name My life had been lonely, until I met you Then,nothing else mattered, my dreams had come true Now you’ve said goodbye, & I was to blame So, I’m back, where I started, again. I want you to ...

Read More →

“BURGHER BUGGERS” “BURGHER BUGGERS, TOLL-BELL TUGGERS THAT IS WHO WE ARE PORTUGUESE, DUTCH & BRITISH MUGGERS EVERY ONE A “STAR” WE HAD TO LEAVE OUR MOTHER-LAND THE ISLE OF SRI LANKA BUT WE WILL STILL BE BURGHER BUGGERS NO MATTER WHERE WE ARE”.(EVEN THOUGH) BURGHER BUGGERS BECAME BEGGARS AFTER DRINKING WHISKY (THEN) BURGHER BUGGERS, ONE & ALL STARTED TO GET FRISKY(WHICH WAS RISKY) ENDING WITH MORE BURGHER BUGGERS” & I could go on & on, but what’s the USE, we are “Better Burgher Buggers”& in Oz., we cannot LOSE”. An European group, historically from Sri Lanka, formerly “Ceylon, Seylan, Taprobane or half a dozen others, you could name”, consisting mainly of the male-line descendants of European Colonists from the 16th to the 20th Centuries, mostly Portuguese, Dutch & British, coupled with local Sinhalese. Today, the Mother-tongue of the Burghers is English but historically, other languages were spoken by the people, ...

Read More →

Sri Lanka’s Cricket, like a ship without a rudder – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE Sri Lanka’s cricket administration has taken a media beating after a horrendous tour to England where they were thrashed in all formats of the game and the cricket mad public are demanding that heads roll for the shambolic effort that has badly tarnished a once proud nation’s image. The main target of the public rage is aimed at Chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya, once a hero of an era of the country’s cricketing dominance yet unparalleled by the island nation, but now regarded as the thick skinned dictator leading to the ruin of the game. Jayasuriya’s insistence in promoting friends and sons of his political affiliations who are barely good enough to fill a club cricket role into the national team, has justifiably caused an outcry and a demand for his sacking together with his ...

Read More →