Archives
Personal Musings
Waste(d)
One of the more memorable events of my recent London visit (apart from the Battle of Giants that was this year’s Wimbledon men’s final) was the statement issued by the British Prime Minister begging people not to throw away the uneaten food in their fridge. Of course I couldn’t resist the chance to make fun [...]
Maldives - The Rising Danger
Coming from the Maldives and having lived abroad for the majority of my life, I am by now extremely used to the rib-digging witticisms about how we are going to cease to exist VERY soon and in effect become the next Atlantis. This comes almost as a reflex response by a majority of the foreigners [...]
Cars, Cooking and Houses
The newspapers tell us, Sri Lanka’s carbon output per head is one seventh that of the world average. It is one thirtieth the per capita output of many industrialized states. Sri Lanka has also got one of the fastest ageing populations in recorded history. And it is a fairly well known fact that old people [...]
Finding Blossom
I have never cared about the car that I drive. I always thought it was rather pathetic to use a noisy, polluting piece of machinery for a status symbol.
It was ironic therefore that the first interest I have taken in a car was because I felt I should be getting one that is less noisy [...]
Green Nuts
I spent Vesak Day at the coconut estate of Ray Wijewardene. For those of you who may not have heard of it, it contains a veritable menagerie of strange mechanical beasts. Gassifiers, decorticators, generators and shredders. Oh, and coconuts too. The estate is a prime example of what you’d expect to [...]
Commissioned in Concrete
A few days back I went for the opening of the new British High Commission. At least I went for the after party, the more interesting bit. The building was opened by the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen’s cousin.
“My father was here sixty years ago to grant independence, to open a new country,” he said. [...]
Me and my carbon conscience at the Cricket Club
I first met the Carbon Stash boys in a bar in Colombo. Its called the Cricket Club Cafe and I didn’t know where it was.
“You haven’t been to the Cricket Club?” said Subra, one of the founders of MCS, clearly appalled that I had not yet visited the centre of ex-pat nightlife. “But that is [...]
Eco Anxiety?
As I was following up on the last bookmark on eco anxiety, I came across this. Several news sites carried the piece about an eco therapist for eco anxiety. As always, I believe that we should be open to all points of view. The good folks at Fox News have their own agenda, and the [...]
Swiss it off!
My best friends at school were two brothers, Mark and Richard, who after University set up a small business selling English antiques on the Continent. Once a month they would drive their lorry, laden with Georgian mahogany furniture, through France and Switzerland. One winter morning in a tiny Swiss village, while waiting for his brother [...]
Water fall
For the last two days the overhead water tanks have been overflowing in the middle of the night. I moved into this old house a quarter of a century ago, and back then I remember the tanks used to overflow. The plumber explained how the surge of water pressure at night was too high, that [...]