Words To Live By

Found this on FB. Very wise words indeed.

Some Pics from Rock-A-Fest

Went to the Rock-A-Fest, which was part of the Colombo Music Festival. Good show, but started 2 hours late than advertised. Tardiness is one of my pet peeves so, as usual I go there on time and have wait around doing nothing. Was I upset? Of course not. I love coming on time and waiting 2 hours for things to start. They didn't even let people inside the auditorioum, had to wait around in the lobby. But the wait was worth it to see Stigmata do there thing :) All the bands were great, but nothing beats the Stigs. Pure Awesome.

Philanthropic Vegetable Seller

Chen Shu-Chu

(Image fro rdasia.com)

Charity is not only for the rich people. It’s about helping someone in need, even in a small way. I came across this story that helps to restore some faith in humanity, in a time when it’s rapidly receding.

Chen Shu-Chu is a Taiwanese vegetable vendor, and over the years, she has given over 10 million Taiwanese Dollars to several various children’s charities. Her achievements were first highlighted back in 2010, but came into the limelight again because she has been awarded The Ramon Magsaysay Award, in recognition of her work.

Unlike other big time donors, she is not a millionaire, or even a famous personality. She sells vegetable from a little stall in the local market. Yet, she has managed to give more to society than most of us. The key is her frugality and generosity. Material things are not important to her. Food and a place to sleep is all that she needs. Everything else is a luxury to her.

In 2010, she was honored by the “Forbes” magazine as one of the 48 outstanding philanthropists from the Asia-Pacific region. “TIME” magazine also included her in their 100 influential people list, and this year, she has been honored with the Ramon Magsaysay Award.

In a world filled with consumerism and lives driven towards materialistic possessions, people always want more and more. It doesn’t matter whether we need it or not. In such an environment, Chen Shu-Chu is a role model for all of us.

In Chen’s own words – “I do not place great importance on money. When I donate to help others, I feel at peace and happy, and I can sleep well at night.”

It’s not about giving up all your materialistic possessions. You should be a saint if you do. We need things to make our lives a little bit easy. But keep in mind that the world doesn’t revolve around you. Give some consideration to the people and society in which you live in.

“My philosophy in life is simple: If doing something makes you worried, then it must be a wrong thing. If it makes you happy, then you must have done the right thing. What others say is not important,” says Chen. She is content with what she has and feels that as long as she “lives a life she wishes for and does the things she wants, that is good enough”.

You can read the full story at rdasia.com.

Article on her wining the Ramon Magsaysay Award.

On This Day...

Things that happened on 22nd August. No particular reason, just a random day :) It's the 235th day of 2012 and there are 131 days left until this year also comes to an end.

Sourced from Wikipedia, as usual :)

• 1639 – Madras (now Chennai), India, is founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from local Nayak rulers.
• 1642 – Charles I calls the English Parliament traitors. The English Civil War begins.
• 1770 – James Cook names and lands on Possession Island, Queensland and claims the east coast of   Australia as New South Wales in the name of King George III.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: British forces abandon the Siege of Fort Stanwix after hearing rumors of Continental Army reinforcements.
• 1848 – The United States annexes New Mexico.
• 1849 – The first air raid in history. Austria launches pilotless balloons against the city of Venice.
• 1864 – 12 nations sign the First Geneva Convention. The Red Cross is formed.
• 1902 – Cadillac Motor Company is founded.
• 1902 – Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to ride in an automobile.
• 1910 – Korea is annexed by Japan with the signing of the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, beginning a period of Japanese rule of Korea that lasted until the end of World War II.
• 1926 – Gold is discovered in Johannesburg, South Africa.
• 1932 – The BBC first experiments with television broadcasting
• 1934 – Bill Woodfull of Australia becomes the only cricket captain to twice regain The Ashes.
• 1941 – World War II: German troops reach Leningrad, leading to the siege of Leningrad.
• 1942 – World War II: Brazil declares war on Germany and Italy.
• 1944 – World War II: Romania is captured by the Soviet Union.
• 1944 – World War II: Holocaust of Kedros in Crete by German forces
• 1950 – Althea Gibson becomes the first black competitor in international tennis.
• 1968 – Pope Paul VI arrives in Bogotá, Colombia. It is the first visit of a pope to Latin America.
• 1972 – Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies.
• 2007 – The Storm botnet, a botnet created by the Storm Worm, sends out a record 57 million e-mails in one day

Time, and Changes

My taste in fiction has always been mainly towards mystery, horror with a smattering of fantasy and comedy thrown in. Literary fiction or dramatic type fiction has never been interesting for me, but recently this has been shifting.  

The culprit for this change is Khaled Housseini’s book “The Kite Runner”. I saw part of the movie and picked the book out of curiosity, thinking I’d just have a glance at it. Once I started reading, I was hooked. It was beautifully written with a powerful story, and great characters. I just finished Housseini’s second book “A Thousand Splendid Suns” and it was as beautiful as the first. A powerful story with great characters.

Going down the same path, I picked up a Paulo Coelho as well, and I am growing into it.

What surprises me is that a few years ago, I would have never picked them up to read. It’s the same with music. I’m a big Rock and heavy metal fan, but recently I’ve been listening to mellower stuff as well. My first choice is always rock, but open to other types as well.

I heard on a TV show that during the teenage years you lock in on the type of music you like. As you grow older your taste starts to expand, but the one that you selected first will always be the main genre for you. Maybe there is some truth to it.

Another reason I might be going off crime fiction is that there is too much of it in the real world. You are bombarded daily with various crimes against people, where it comes to a point that you don't even want to read fictional accounts of it. 

Having said that, I should say that I will never remove Terry Pratchett and Stephan King from top of my list. 

Or, just maybe, I’m getting soppy in my old age… Bah

Anyway, I recommend you read Khaled Housseini’s two books, “TheKite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns”. You won’t be disappointed. 

I also decided to do a new header for the old bloggie as well. Time for a change...

Happy Friday and have a great weekend.

Cheers!

Santhaapayen- Harshadewa Feat Raj (Official Video)

Guy is a close friend of mine, so I'm shamelessly plugging it :D

LIKE IT, SHARE IT

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/HarshadewaOfficial

You tube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn40iZBLrUk

Vocal: Harshadewa Ariyasinghe (http://harshadewa.com/)

Music- Raj

Lyrics- Nilar N. Cassim

Co Produced By- Kapil 

Video- Mohomed Rimzi Hossen

Mixed and Mastered By-Ruban 

Backup Vocals- Keerthana 

Sax- Harshana Wijayasinghe

Keys & Programmed By - Kapil

Guitars- Priyan Sandakelum Perera

Ring Back Tone IDs

Dialog- Dial 8756265 | Etisalat- Dial *3543373 | Mobitel- Type 21500047 and send to 777 | Airtel- Dial 8881540495 | Hutch- Type RT 651049 and send to 369

More Random Pics

Some Pics from TNL Onstage 2012

Some good talent. Wish them all the best for a great career in the business.