The Fashion Circle had a launch event last week, which I was happy to see. Always happy to see Sri Lankans start stuff, especially online. I checked out the site, however, and I was quite disappointed. The front page is just articles copied and pasted from other sources, with attribution, but without permission. I’ve said it before, but you can’t just copy stuff from the net and source it. It’s disrespectful to those publications that do actual work and it’s disrespectful to your readers.

We had a piece on YAMU about Colombo’s Restaurant Immortals, places like Flower Drum and Siam House which will be serving chili paste until the apocalypse. Now we have a piece on Colombo’s Restaurant Graveyard – all the restaurants that have disappeared, some for the greater good, but some which were just misunderstood. I honestly don’t remember most of them, but if you have any memories or additions, please check out the post and add them there.

Why does western civilization wear pants? Why not kilts, sarongs or robes? Why not togas? Two insightful pieces (part one, two) say that it was horses. Not that horses wore pants, but that men riding horses did.

If you search google.lk for ‘indi’ I think I’m still number one, followed by the Irish Nutrition And Dietetic Insitute. Now there’s a new INDI on the block, that being a fashion collection being launched at Melache, on Visaka Road. The clothes look pretty cool, though I guess not on me. Interesting designs, they play with ‘tribal’ patterns without being too patchouli about it.

The biggest problem with flashlights is finding them in the dark. I mean, it’s dark, and who remembers where you kept the flashlight. This unique design by Greg Hinzmann should solve that problem. The Trioh! is a flashlight which also doubles as a lamp, plugged into the wall. You can use it as a regular lamp (on/off) but it’s also A) portable and B) turns on when the power goes out. Then it serves as a flashlight. Damn cool.

We take daily design for granted and rarely think about how it could change. Take, for example, the toothbrush. In Sri Lanka we keep the head in a little plastic case (to keep hoonas et all from crawling on the bristles), but how disgusting does that case get. I try not to think. That’s one problem. Via Uncrate, I saw a design company that cracked another one – rinsing your mouth.

Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate is effecting many social changes, and some fashion revolutions also. Check out his cardigan. This Khan seems to be single-handedly (double-breastedly?) bringing the Mr. Rogers cardigan back. He’s even pushing it further, sometimes rocking the cardigan vest, AKA sweater vest, AKA why?.

The Sri Lankan flag is not an aesthetic triumph, but neither am I. I like it anyways. In this (random) graded review of flags Sri Lanka got 41/100 with demerits for weapons, bad colors, graven images and being too busy. Which I think is fair, but again, I like it anyways. It’s a flag, it’s our flag. I have one in the house in case there’s a big cricket match or something. What’s news is that a Tamil leader made news by simply holding the flag at all.

I was in a trishaw and this girl threw a flyer at me, giving me a surprisingly good shot in the nipple. For Exide batteries or whatever. The thing must cost like Rs. 10 at least, but if they just gave me a bank note with their name written on it I’d be happier. Of course, my idea of a wedding invitation is a thousand rupee note with the time and place scribbled on it, but marketing could be a bit more practical.

Colombo Fashion Week is proceeding apace right now. This is a documentary from 2009 showing how far the scene has come. The documentary is very well done. The scene it shows is out of day, but the hope the characters talk about is, I think, coming to fruition.