Big Ears is a night of music and poetry and stuff organized by Thriloka. I say better than Open Mic because the crowd is bigger and more inclusive and because there’s more music. I suppose the better word is different, Open Mic was cool while it was. But Big Ears has the added benefit of existing. In fact, it’s tonight at the Arts Campus, 46, Horton Place, Colombo 07 (opposite Asha Central). Starts at six. I highly recommend.
I like MIA’s music, the new single XXXO is pretty good. Her politics are I think worse than wrong headed, they’re spray paint ignorant. There’s very interesting article on her in the New York Times magazine. Her musical progression has been interesting, as is the history, but the best part is the sheer absurdity of some of the quotes, the juxtaposition between here black-and-white, jingoistic politics and the reality of her life. My favorite is the one about the bread rolls.
This sounds weird. It is weird. Whenever I think Sri Lankan news has reached the pinnacle of oddity it goes one further. So, some people threw stones at a TV station for sponsoring an Akon concert. Among the many places Akon has objectified women dancing (not an issue in itself) they happened to appear for about 3 seconds near a Buddha statue. Hence, the violent response. I went to the press conference today and the Media Center For National Security (about as ominous as it sounds) is saying that it was a conflict and the TV employees were also throwing stones. From inside.
The common term for religious extremists is fundamentalist. This is a bit of a misnomer, seeing as following the fundamentals of any religion would tend to chill one out. But that’s not what I mean. There are more practitioners who latch on to one particular tenet or teaching (or appearance) and beat other people over the head with it. Homosexuality, eating pork, statue worship. These things are not in any way fundamental to the religion. They are in fact superficial. Yet, in this superficial media sphere, Superficialism get plenty of play.
I think Akon’s music espouses reprehensible values and is annoying. Having a Buddha statue for 15 seconds in the back of one music video is the least of his issues. The supposedly Buddhist uproar about this has nothing to do with Buddhism and everything to do with worldly attachments. How can one even mention hate as something in service of Buddhism? It’s just personal insecurity they’re defending, not the noble Buddha. To quote the Dhammapada, “Fools of little wit move about with the very self as their own foe, doing evil deeds the fruit of which is bitter.”
The private media getting stoned is about as predictable as Akon getting stoned, but one doesn’t usually put the two together. If you don’t know, Maharajah runs the major TV station MTV (not music) and, being independent, is at constant odds with the government. Today a mob was bused in and stoned the place till they got chased off. I went to the scene and it was a bunch of cops and a bunch of shirtsleeves hanging around. Milinda Moragoda and a muckety from the UNP (Secretary?) were there, but they said whatever happened was unrelated to them.
Looks like it was literally produced via webcam, but it’s OK. The hook is kinda beautiful, and that’s pretty much repeated over and over again. It’s not a big media release as much as something sent via Twitter (TwitVid to be exact) and it feels pretty much like that. Slate has a debate whether the song is hauntingly lovely or monotonous. I’d concur that it’s half-baked, but still better than some of the more grating tracks on her albums. The song is vaguely billed as a protest against the New York Times’ positive coverage of Sri Lanka. That, like her angry tweets at the time, is a bit of a joke and the message doesn’t really get across.
Mervyn Silva is Sri Lanka’s court jester, with guns. He is unelected but serves as an appointed Minister. Him and his son have participated in many assaults and crimes but escape with impunity. I say participated rather than alleged because many of these events are televised. I’m not sure what exactly he does for Mahinda (and CBK before), but everyone needs a street catcher. This video is him singing a song about opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka. I don’t know where to start.
Most music in Colombo is horrid. I basically hear ‘Summer Of 69′ every time I go out, and I didn’t like it the first time. The other scene is rather hard house, which requires chemical zombification to enjoy. One musical oasis, however, is now Soul Funk Sunday. Every third Sunday DJs spin really good old-school vinyl at the Park Street Mews. I went for the first time yesterday and quite enjoyed it. The music had, like, actual instruments and they were songs I hadn’t heard every night of my life. God willing, Colombo may be happening again.
My foot is only now healing from fire walking in Udappu. For future reference, it takes 2 days for the pain to go away, a week for the blister to deflate and two months for what looks like normal skin to emerge. The hardy people of Udappu, however, have no such problems. Each year they gather around the main kovil and other temples to honor their Hindu gods, Durga especially. The main feature of the August festival (and there are others) is the firewalking. However, there are a lot of other happenings, including scenes from the Mahabarata, holy relics and other rituals. There is also amazing music, some of which I’m happy to present here.
