Will have another Open Mic tomorrow in the warehouse behind Park Street Mews. It’s where they had Artwalk and the Colombo Art Biennale. This is after literally months because I’m lazy and terrified of real-world activity. St. Fallen, however, has gotten me off my ass and the Park Street people have been kind enough to proffer the space. Inshallah, we could continue it there. That is becoming a happening part of town (relatively, much to do of course). The warehouse is literally a warehouse with a plug point. I’ll have to sweep the cigarette butts out and everyone will have to sit on paduru but should be OK.

Bit of short notice, but this might be a good time for an Open Mic. We’ll have one tomorrow in Rajagiriya, down Obeysekerapura. That’s Thursday, May 21st, tomorrow at 8 PM. No notice, but things are going crazy and we might as well get together to digest what’s going on. I got a shitload of stories from IDP camps, hospitals and jail that I can’t publish so I can share those. If you have poetry or stories or music or just something to say, do come out. Jan’s house, Obeysekerapura, Rajagiriya. Near the McDo roundabout.

OK, God willing, we’ll have one more Open Mic before Avurudu shuts down all activity in this country. This Wednesday, at Green Path in Colpetty. It’s a lovely house with a stage even. Should be cool, though we do have backup. As always, please bring poetry, prose, etc. This time was thinking I’d try something different and will project some photos for a little show and tell. There are things I’ve never published or can’t publish which might be of some interest outside of the permanent record of the Internet. But, anyways, it’s been good and should be good again.

Here are some videos from the Borella Open Mic. I apologize for the quality, was way too dark. They look a bit better in HD, but you have to click through to YouTube for that. Thought this one was interesting. Bit different cause we had it in a house. We are wandering a bit like diaspora Jews but that has its own value as well. Please try to behave, however. The first video was a criticism of Open Mic, which is worth listening to.

FYI, we’re having another Open Mic this Thursday at 8. Should have some music from Wagon Park and some poems and prose, as well as whatever anyone feels like reading. This is at a friends house (not Punchi Theatre), but just look out for a Sign Of The Gorrilla, before the Borella post office. That should lead you to the relevant house. If anyone’s new or wondering what’s the point, there’s a lot more to Sri Lanka than war, not that that isn’t a part of it. We also have sex and fun and random ideas and some of us can actually express it in an interesting fashion. And why not.

This one wasn’t magic, till the very end. The thing about open mics is that they can be boring, but then you get stuff that really surprises you. This time, at the very end of the night – when many people had left and I really had to pee – this fellow came and started tuning his guitar. His name’s Buddhi and he’s from a Moratuwa-based band called Wagon Park. He sang in Sinhala and English and it was great. He played a few songs, but I’ve uploaded one above. Some of the lyrics are below. This Open Mic was different and I think we need to tweak the format a bit, but I still think it’s worth doing. And it has survived, and happened again. This kid was brilliant, as were quite a few others.

So, Open Mic is on at Punchi Theatre (Borella, near junc) tonight. It’s hard to miss, it literally looks like it was built by termites, near the Lido Cinema. I was stressing the fuck out but things kinda settled. We can hang out in the rehearsal room upstairs. Jan will make some gal arrack tea and pick up some wade from the street in Rajagiriya. You can read or listen or whatever. Dinidu is reading something, as is Halik and I think Ryan and a few other people for sure. Regardless, Jehan and Tracy and I have enough filler. I have some poems, and I just finished what I suspect is a deeply offensive column for the Sunday Leader, so I can read from that. If you are interested or have something you think might be interesting do come. There’s a Facebook event here. If you can’t find the place Cerno has geotagged it.

So, we can have another Open Mic this Thursday (the 5th) at the Punchi Theatre rehearsal room. Has to be 8:30 because there’s a Latin dancing class before. If you’re familiar with the Punchi (Borella), the room we’re in is directly up the stairs to your left. Note that this is not the main theatre, it’s the room upstairs. It’s not a bar but there might be a bucket of something if you come on time. I had a great arrack tea this weekend that left me asleep on some man’s lap, maybe that. Note that this is turning into more of a salon (gathering to educate and entertain each other) rather than a performance. I’ve included a few videos from the last one. You can click through.

This is a poem about the imminent zombie apocalypse. Pending that, it looks like the Open Mic will be at the Punchi Theatre (up upstairs, udah udah rehearsal room) next Thursday. It’s booked but I’ll check on sound and stuff today. This is not an announcement. I was apologizing to someone about stairs and the parking and drinking out of buckets and stuff but he was like, ‘I’m OK with the side of the road’. Which makes sense to me. Anyways, I wrote a bunch of random stuff over the weekend. I guess I’ll release it periodically between now and then.

Just found that one of my exes got married. Time to re-evaluate my life. I guess it’s OK. This is a partly fiction poem on my general mental vicinity. Sometimes. My head’s generally in shape but the details are all messed up. We’re having the next Open Mic thing next Thursday, March 5th. Should be good. I have my own apartment, I buy my own shoes, It feels like I’m a grown up, Yet everyday I lose. There’s geckos on the ceiling, Roaches on the loose, A rat lived in my kitchen, Till I stopped buying food…