It is terrifying that we live in a world where people do things like this to others.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/10/woman.tortured/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/19/woman.tortured.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch
Sep 30, 2007
Sep 26, 2007
Fair and... Handsome?
Personally, I like a nicely tanned man, but I guess SRK feels differently.
Leaving aside whether he actually believes in such a product, why in god’s name would a top Bollywood actor need to endorse a fairness cream?? It’s highly doubtful that it’s for the money. So then maybe he does believe in it? Or is it just IndianCricketTeam Syndrome, where there is a need to endorse every product known to man? Doesn’t he, however, have a responsibility as a public personality, nay, a member of the sub-continent, no actually as a person in general, to avoid reinforcing this shallow belief that white is somehow better than black or brown? Never mind that people the world over have fought and are still fighting to establish a place for colored individuals in a world that is adamant on propagating white supremist ideology. No, let’s just market more products that are conducive to this prejudice and then let’s get a popular greedy moral-less bastard, i mean actor, from a country of a billion people to endorse it. Perfect.
This reminds me of a similar ad that really got my goat a few years back, I think it was Fair and Lovely, where a girl couldn’t get a job because she was dark skinned and then she used the product and voila!, fair skin and she’s automatically a top TV presenter or something. Good job setting women back a century or so!
In all fairness (Haha), I will admit that no doubt some people have legitimate reasons for using fairness creams, be it medical or simply vanity, but my problem is the way in which these products are marketed. The message in itself reads that popularity and success are achieved through fair skin. That’s not just wrong in terms of morals but also in an age where kids are having to deal with imperfections at every step, the color of their skin is not another thing they need to worry about. Just a thought.
Leaving aside whether he actually believes in such a product, why in god’s name would a top Bollywood actor need to endorse a fairness cream?? It’s highly doubtful that it’s for the money. So then maybe he does believe in it? Or is it just IndianCricketTeam Syndrome, where there is a need to endorse every product known to man? Doesn’t he, however, have a responsibility as a public personality, nay, a member of the sub-continent, no actually as a person in general, to avoid reinforcing this shallow belief that white is somehow better than black or brown? Never mind that people the world over have fought and are still fighting to establish a place for colored individuals in a world that is adamant on propagating white supremist ideology. No, let’s just market more products that are conducive to this prejudice and then let’s get a popular greedy moral-less bastard, i mean actor, from a country of a billion people to endorse it. Perfect.
This reminds me of a similar ad that really got my goat a few years back, I think it was Fair and Lovely, where a girl couldn’t get a job because she was dark skinned and then she used the product and voila!, fair skin and she’s automatically a top TV presenter or something. Good job setting women back a century or so!
In all fairness (Haha), I will admit that no doubt some people have legitimate reasons for using fairness creams, be it medical or simply vanity, but my problem is the way in which these products are marketed. The message in itself reads that popularity and success are achieved through fair skin. That’s not just wrong in terms of morals but also in an age where kids are having to deal with imperfections at every step, the color of their skin is not another thing they need to worry about. Just a thought.
Sep 25, 2007
What’s luck got to do with it?
Luck. Some people have it, some don’t. I don’t, which was proved quite clearly by my disastrous weekend spent gambling in Atlantic City. I use the term gambling loosely. i.e. I lost $40 in 3 minutes and then decided never to gamble again. Ever. A fool and his money are soon parted, says my dad. And I, then, am a classic fool. That was the pair of shoes I’ve been eyeing for the last few months right there. In my defense it was really bad luck on my part. The dealer got three 21’s back to back, just as I bought in. What are the chances? So before I could blink, my chips were gone. Alrighty then.
So how much then, depends on luck? How much of anything, and life in general, depends on getting the right hand at the right time? Or is it just the way you play the hand you’re dealt? (haha look at me talking in card terms!) I used to think it was the latter, but now I’m rethinking that. Some people just seem to have way more luck than others. I know a few people who are incredibly lucky and some who are incredibly unlucky, but most are just in between. I reckon I’m in the in between crowd.
So how much should we depend on luck to get by? And is it then synonymous with things like faith and belief? I don’t necessarily have much faith in things. I don’t use the ‘if its meant to happen, it’ll happen’ line, simply because I feel that if you sit around waiting for things to happen it’s either never going to happen or its going to happen to someone else. So then you’re fucked either way. But it’s strange how effective this line is when it comes to other people. For instance, if a friend is all whiny and sad with boy issues, you give her this line and more often than not, she’ll go ‘you know you’re right. I feel better now’, while I’m thinking ‘that makes you feel better, for real?’ I even used it to break up with my ex, and he bought it too. Silly boy, he should have known me better. But I digress.
For me, luck is when you find a $100 bill on the road (I’m still waiting for that to happen) or when you win free incubus concert tickets (yeah that hasn’t happened yet either). It isn’t when you do well in exams or sports or at your job, that’s just hard work. So how much should we depend on it? Not at all, I think, but when you run into it, it’s pretty sweet.
So how much then, depends on luck? How much of anything, and life in general, depends on getting the right hand at the right time? Or is it just the way you play the hand you’re dealt? (haha look at me talking in card terms!) I used to think it was the latter, but now I’m rethinking that. Some people just seem to have way more luck than others. I know a few people who are incredibly lucky and some who are incredibly unlucky, but most are just in between. I reckon I’m in the in between crowd.
So how much should we depend on luck to get by? And is it then synonymous with things like faith and belief? I don’t necessarily have much faith in things. I don’t use the ‘if its meant to happen, it’ll happen’ line, simply because I feel that if you sit around waiting for things to happen it’s either never going to happen or its going to happen to someone else. So then you’re fucked either way. But it’s strange how effective this line is when it comes to other people. For instance, if a friend is all whiny and sad with boy issues, you give her this line and more often than not, she’ll go ‘you know you’re right. I feel better now’, while I’m thinking ‘that makes you feel better, for real?’ I even used it to break up with my ex, and he bought it too. Silly boy, he should have known me better. But I digress.
For me, luck is when you find a $100 bill on the road (I’m still waiting for that to happen) or when you win free incubus concert tickets (yeah that hasn’t happened yet either). It isn’t when you do well in exams or sports or at your job, that’s just hard work. So how much should we depend on it? Not at all, I think, but when you run into it, it’s pretty sweet.
Sep 21, 2007
Sep 13, 2007
15 Minutes of Music
Yesterday we had what I would imagine is English weather (I wouldn’t know since I’ve never been, but I’ve heard tell). Cloudy and gloomy, with just a constant drip, no downpour, just drizzle. I loved it. Unfortunately my Tuesdays are packed, so I couldn’t spend the day in bed with a good book as I would have liked. So I stepped out in a sweatshirt, with my ipod playing my rainy day playlist. The thing about listening to songs on a rainy day is that you are more aware of what you’re listening to. You got your head down, trying to avoid the puddles and everyone else is doing the same so you aren’t forced to make small talk or the obligatory nod and smile. Then once you’ve wet your shoes and jeans so much that you don’t worry about the puddles anymore, you can look at the pretty way the rain drips off the leaves, or the clouds go silver around the edges as the sun tries to shine through. And you can listen to your music.
I like how when you listen to songs, one word has the ability to trigger a whole chain of thoughts. Or a word in each different song stands out so that with every song you’re thinking of something new. So that’s what happened in the 15 minutes I was quick-stepping to class, in between dodging puddles and admiring clouds. My rainy day playlist (yes, that’s really what it’s called. I also have night time, gym, shopping and city playlists. What can I say, I like mood music) includes some of these songs, which brought on these thoughts:
Drive- Incubus: I have no drive. Its so sad really, I could do so much, anything really, if I had the inspiration and motivation. It’s like I’m waiting for someone to come along and kick me into gear. So where can I find it, this elusive drive?
Can you tell me- Usher: I love this song. He sounds so sad and confused. Besides he’s hot, he can sing and the boy can move! Why wouldn’t you like it? Anyway, every time I hear this I think women are crazy. Really. I’m a female so I can say this. And I’m not just talking wtf moments like Pissu, I’m saying we’re really truly nuts. We don’t know what we want. We think we want something, then, when we get it, we don’t want it. We never say what we mean, and then when we say something we don’t really mean it. We are eternally confused about everything. We can never keep things simple, always reading things into the most basic action. We are fiercely feminist and then fuss when a guy doesn’t hold the door open. We are insanely hypocritical. We always pick on other women. Honestly, we’re just crazy. Don’t even bother trying to figure us out.
Dolphin’s Cry and Lightening Crashes- Live: these are just two really great songs. So powerful. They remind me of the time I first heard them, a really strange period, one of those weird, adolescent, growing up phases. So I just shut up and listen. I get the shivers.
Paper Shoes- Incubus: love is so fickle. That’s what I think, every time. And no, no bad experiences have made me bitter. I’d just much rather be alone.
Closing Time- Semisonic: such a sad song. About endings and all that. Closure. It’s over. Sigh.
Fast Car- Tracy Chapman: again, a sad song. About finding yourself, getting away, being free. Nostalgia inducing. ‘I had a feeling I could be someone’. Love it.
There are more songs on this playlist, but it only takes 15 minutes to get to class.
I like how when you listen to songs, one word has the ability to trigger a whole chain of thoughts. Or a word in each different song stands out so that with every song you’re thinking of something new. So that’s what happened in the 15 minutes I was quick-stepping to class, in between dodging puddles and admiring clouds. My rainy day playlist (yes, that’s really what it’s called. I also have night time, gym, shopping and city playlists. What can I say, I like mood music) includes some of these songs, which brought on these thoughts:
Drive- Incubus: I have no drive. Its so sad really, I could do so much, anything really, if I had the inspiration and motivation. It’s like I’m waiting for someone to come along and kick me into gear. So where can I find it, this elusive drive?
Can you tell me- Usher: I love this song. He sounds so sad and confused. Besides he’s hot, he can sing and the boy can move! Why wouldn’t you like it? Anyway, every time I hear this I think women are crazy. Really. I’m a female so I can say this. And I’m not just talking wtf moments like Pissu, I’m saying we’re really truly nuts. We don’t know what we want. We think we want something, then, when we get it, we don’t want it. We never say what we mean, and then when we say something we don’t really mean it. We are eternally confused about everything. We can never keep things simple, always reading things into the most basic action. We are fiercely feminist and then fuss when a guy doesn’t hold the door open. We are insanely hypocritical. We always pick on other women. Honestly, we’re just crazy. Don’t even bother trying to figure us out.
Dolphin’s Cry and Lightening Crashes- Live: these are just two really great songs. So powerful. They remind me of the time I first heard them, a really strange period, one of those weird, adolescent, growing up phases. So I just shut up and listen. I get the shivers.
Paper Shoes- Incubus: love is so fickle. That’s what I think, every time. And no, no bad experiences have made me bitter. I’d just much rather be alone.
Closing Time- Semisonic: such a sad song. About endings and all that. Closure. It’s over. Sigh.
Fast Car- Tracy Chapman: again, a sad song. About finding yourself, getting away, being free. Nostalgia inducing. ‘I had a feeling I could be someone’. Love it.
There are more songs on this playlist, but it only takes 15 minutes to get to class.
Sep 7, 2007
Week. End.
Yea! The weekend! Just gotta get this last class out of the way and then head home for some New York style fun. I think this blog, and life, have seen enough emotional, introspective crap for a while now, so moving on to bigger and funner things. This new school scene should give me more than enough to blog about for awhile.
Fact 1: it is possible for there to be more Asians than Americans on an American campus.
Fact 2: I hate house parties. Went to one last night and had to leave. I’m waay more of a live music and bar kinda girl. Or clubs and dancing. Playing beer pong and making small talk is def not my scene. Specially if there’s Josh Groban music involved.
Anyway, heading in to the city for a night out with my two favorite boys. I jest. Very much. Haha. But no doubt a few drinks will get any awkwardness out of the way. Oh yes, finally legal. Pretty fucking sweet.
Note to self: PACE is the word of the night.
Fact 1: it is possible for there to be more Asians than Americans on an American campus.
Fact 2: I hate house parties. Went to one last night and had to leave. I’m waay more of a live music and bar kinda girl. Or clubs and dancing. Playing beer pong and making small talk is def not my scene. Specially if there’s Josh Groban music involved.
Anyway, heading in to the city for a night out with my two favorite boys. I jest. Very much. Haha. But no doubt a few drinks will get any awkwardness out of the way. Oh yes, finally legal. Pretty fucking sweet.
Note to self: PACE is the word of the night.
Sep 5, 2007
Getting by
I thought things through long and hard till I got it straight in my head. Somewhat. So I’m just going to write it down so that it seems clearer and I can stop obsessing about it. Oh, and there’s a song too. How nice is that.
And now for a story. There is a man. Let’s call him, to pick a random letter, G. He is not a friend but an acquaintance. I see him almost everyday and we chat, about this, that and the other. Mostly politics, since when I went back this time I was seriously starved for some SL style political drama. The best they got here is a senator engaging in lewd conduct in a restroom. Boooring! Give me some election fixing, calling UN officials terrorists, and striking deals with the LTTE any day. So anyhoo, G and I, we chat about this stuff. I like to hear varying political opinions. G is strictly SLFP, or whatever it’s called these days. He has a different life style, background etc from mine so it’s interesting to hear him justifying MR’s actions. He talks of his kids, how hard his daughter is working to place well in the scholarship exam, how that’s the only way she can get into a Colombo school and get a good education. It’s good to hear from someone whose week doesn’t include pre-gaming at SSC and pillawoos at 4am. Puts things in perspective.
So one day G was talking with my mother and I. He talked and talked, really personal stuff, things I had no desire to know but all we could do was shut up and listen. He was on a roll. The things he told us were the kind of things that make you change your whole perception of a person. I respect G. I think he’s a well read, interesting, decent guy. But now he’s talking about his wife, how he doesn’t want to be with her, how he’s so unhappy, how he’s tried so hard to make it work, how he’s been involved with other women, how he’s drinking heavily, how he’s still in it because of his kids. And I’m shocked but I’m trying not to let it show. And I’m judging him and I’m trying not to let that show either. I thought he was a decent guy and now he’s casually telling me he’s an adulterous alcoholic. But I feel so very sorry for him because I can see, and I could be wrong, that he’s doing the best he can to make it work, to make his kids happy, to simply get by. And so I digest this and see him the next day wondering what I’ll think of him, And to my surprise I realize I haven’t lost respect for him. I know new things about him and maybe I look at him differently, but I haven’t lost the respect.
So we start off on a high horse, and everything looks lovely and rosy, and we have strict ideas about what we will and will not do, and we look scornfully at people we see doing those things we will never do and then one day we find ourselves doing those things we were never going to do and so we fall off that high horse. And off is a better place to be. Its easier to understand and forgive when you’re off. So I think I’ll stay off it for a while and see how I do.
And I know this is me trying to justify my mistake, but I also believe this to be true. We all do what we can to get by. The truth is, life is hard. For everyone. Harder for some than others, no doubt, but hard all the same. We want things we can’t have, we do things we shouldn’t. We feel, passionately. We need, desperately. And we screw up and we hurt people, intentionally and unintentionally. We lie and cheat, and yet we’re decent too, and good. I honestly believe that. So we do what we can to get by.
And now for a story. There is a man. Let’s call him, to pick a random letter, G. He is not a friend but an acquaintance. I see him almost everyday and we chat, about this, that and the other. Mostly politics, since when I went back this time I was seriously starved for some SL style political drama. The best they got here is a senator engaging in lewd conduct in a restroom. Boooring! Give me some election fixing, calling UN officials terrorists, and striking deals with the LTTE any day. So anyhoo, G and I, we chat about this stuff. I like to hear varying political opinions. G is strictly SLFP, or whatever it’s called these days. He has a different life style, background etc from mine so it’s interesting to hear him justifying MR’s actions. He talks of his kids, how hard his daughter is working to place well in the scholarship exam, how that’s the only way she can get into a Colombo school and get a good education. It’s good to hear from someone whose week doesn’t include pre-gaming at SSC and pillawoos at 4am. Puts things in perspective.
So one day G was talking with my mother and I. He talked and talked, really personal stuff, things I had no desire to know but all we could do was shut up and listen. He was on a roll. The things he told us were the kind of things that make you change your whole perception of a person. I respect G. I think he’s a well read, interesting, decent guy. But now he’s talking about his wife, how he doesn’t want to be with her, how he’s so unhappy, how he’s tried so hard to make it work, how he’s been involved with other women, how he’s drinking heavily, how he’s still in it because of his kids. And I’m shocked but I’m trying not to let it show. And I’m judging him and I’m trying not to let that show either. I thought he was a decent guy and now he’s casually telling me he’s an adulterous alcoholic. But I feel so very sorry for him because I can see, and I could be wrong, that he’s doing the best he can to make it work, to make his kids happy, to simply get by. And so I digest this and see him the next day wondering what I’ll think of him, And to my surprise I realize I haven’t lost respect for him. I know new things about him and maybe I look at him differently, but I haven’t lost the respect.
So we start off on a high horse, and everything looks lovely and rosy, and we have strict ideas about what we will and will not do, and we look scornfully at people we see doing those things we will never do and then one day we find ourselves doing those things we were never going to do and so we fall off that high horse. And off is a better place to be. Its easier to understand and forgive when you’re off. So I think I’ll stay off it for a while and see how I do.
And I know this is me trying to justify my mistake, but I also believe this to be true. We all do what we can to get by. The truth is, life is hard. For everyone. Harder for some than others, no doubt, but hard all the same. We want things we can’t have, we do things we shouldn’t. We feel, passionately. We need, desperately. And we screw up and we hurt people, intentionally and unintentionally. We lie and cheat, and yet we’re decent too, and good. I honestly believe that. So we do what we can to get by.
Sep 3, 2007
Ginirella Conspiracy- wasn't all that
Just finished this book. It came highly recommended and I was curious. I must say I wasn’t overly impressed. I rarely read books authored by Sri Lankans. Gasp! How unpatriotic! Yeah well, I like a good plot and I’ve yet to come across a well written Sri Lankan book. This one was no exception. Is it a true story though? I find it hard to believe that something like this could have happened and we haven’t heard a word about it. At least I haven’t. So I discussed it with Pissu, and we came to the conclusion that the story is fiction, with a couple of true facts woven in. Is that right?
Anyhoo, It was waaay too predictable for me. True, the middle half was interesting. Actually the whole thing was quite interesting, the ragging and whatnot. I was pretty amazed at what goes on in the universities. But the ending was pure disappointment. The four friends, oh so predictably, hook up with each other, bad guy ruins the entire plan for the love of the girl who he can never have, all four escape at the end(!) Come on!! Very unthrilling finish. Now if I had it my way, Sujatha would have been tortured, not too much, but just enough to make the bad guys seem badder, Mithra would have died trying to save Sujatha, Nali would have turned out to secretly be in cahoots with the JSP, the prez and his cabinet would have got blown up, you know exciting stuff like that. Or maybe I’m just sadistic and evil…
Anyhoo, It was waaay too predictable for me. True, the middle half was interesting. Actually the whole thing was quite interesting, the ragging and whatnot. I was pretty amazed at what goes on in the universities. But the ending was pure disappointment. The four friends, oh so predictably, hook up with each other, bad guy ruins the entire plan for the love of the girl who he can never have, all four escape at the end(!) Come on!! Very unthrilling finish. Now if I had it my way, Sujatha would have been tortured, not too much, but just enough to make the bad guys seem badder, Mithra would have died trying to save Sujatha, Nali would have turned out to secretly be in cahoots with the JSP, the prez and his cabinet would have got blown up, you know exciting stuff like that. Or maybe I’m just sadistic and evil…
Sep 2, 2007
Again
A new start, again. Need to make some changes, again. Stop screwing around, grow up, get serious. Drink less, fuck up less, study more, sleep more. Here I go.
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