When I'm not writing about my experiences in this journey called 'life', I'm singing and uploading my own interpretations of modern music. Click on "Cover Songs" to hear them, or on the YouTube logo on the right to see my YouTube channel.
This blog is slowly turning into a decaying holiday home that I can no longer afford to maintain, but perhaps a new cover will get me back into the writing vein.
I've been meaning to cover this song for ages, but I never got around to it until last weekend. A few found hours at home, and this is what turned out. It's rare to find a 'dance' song that has such good lyrics, but I'll put that down to Florence Welch's input (from Florence & The Machine).
Either way, it's actually a very haunting song when you listen to it, and hopefully that translates somewhat in this cover. Enjoy!
As always, the original is here, you can check out more of my videos here, and also my soundcloud page here.
As you can tell, my blog posts are growing more and more sparse with every passing year. I wish that I could attribute this to work, but the truth is there really isn't much to write about of late.
Until now, that is. MAS is launching a tree plantation project on June 5th to celebrate World Environment Day. The project aims at reforesting 9.7 acres of land in Thuruwadula, Thulhiriya by replanting 1,400 trees by the end of 2013, using a technique known as 'analog forestry'. What this means, in short, is that it aims to restore the local biodiversity while providing economic opportunities to small-scale farmers.
The project is being handled by the MAS Environmental Sustainability Team and a Doug Adams team, and is probably one of the larger environmental projects being carried out in Sri Lanka in recent memory.
Now, here's where you can get involved as well. You can help sponsor a tree, along with the maintenance and care needed for it for the next 5 years, by making a one time donation of Rs. 1000 to the project. Further more, corporate financial sponsorship options are available, as well as options to sponsor sign boards at the location (roughly Rs. 10,000 per sign).
If you or anyone you know is interested, please send an email with your details and/or queries to the email addresses listed below, and they will assist in you making the donations for the project. Personally, I'm very excited about this, especially after witnessing the wanton destruction of trees in Colombo in the last 6-12 months. It's initiatives like these that need your attention to gain traction to undo all the wrong that we ourselves have done to this beautiful planet we call home.
This is probably not the best revelation to have about one's self, yet it is the sad truth. Most of my weekends at home are spent either attempting (and failing) to say no to Mom's cooking, or in front of the computer. Unlimited internet, especially when you work in the sticks like I do, is a luxury I must abuse when given the opportunity to.
However, last weekend my hours scouring the internet led me to a string of lovely live videos that I thought I would share with you all.
Singing and performing live is a special art, even for the accomplished performer. It isn't easy to get everything spot on with the lights, cameras and mics pointing at you, not to mention the eager audience, and that just makes these performances - in my opinion - extra special.
Enjoy!
Peter Frampton - Black Hole Sun (cover)
I love the original, which is a real rock masterpiece, but this cover almost makes the song rock out more. Fantastic, fantastic cover. The breakdown before the 3rd verse is just mind blowing.
Matchbox Twenty - You Won't Be Mine
One of my favourite songs from their second album, this hidden gem sounds even more haunting live. I recommend listening to their entire "Storytellers" set, it's really inspiring listening to how Rob Thomas wrote so many of his songs.
Boyce Avenue - We Are Never Getting Back Together (cover)
Everyone on Facebook is spazing out over the new Boyce Avenue cover of Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors" (which is great), but after listening to that song I stumbled onto this, a breathtaking cover of Taylor Swift's girl anthem. Absolutely love the harmonies here, great collaboration.
Brandon Boyd - Runaway Train
Brandon Boyd. Strings. Live. What more can I say? This is arguably better than the original.
John Legend - Dancing In The Dark (cover)
I almost didn't want to add this, because it's THAT good (if that makes any sense). John Legend reworks Springsteen's classic into a soulful ballad, combining The Boss's heartfelt lyrics with his own immense talent. It doesn't get much better than this.
Any classic live songs you've stumbled onto? Link me up in the comments!
Note: this is a purely basketball post. This will not interest 97% of you readers. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Recently, I played proper team basketball for the first time in 5 years.
While this may not seem like a topic worthy of a post for most, those of you that have followed this blog for a while will understand how passionate I am about the game of basketball. However, the corporate life and the lack of basketball amenities have resulted in me becoming an armchair player, if there is such a thing.
So imagine my surprise and delight when I heard that our company has a small practice session every Saturday morning in Colombo! The session starts at 7:30am, so naturally I was awake from 6am, turning up at the court a full half hour ahead of time.
After introducing myself to the players as they turned up, I stepped up to the free throw line to shoot my first free throw in years.
First though, I need you to watch this.
My free throw was only marginally, microscopically better than that (at least I hit the rim).
Now, it's not as if I didn't expect there to be some rust after not touching a basketball since 2008. But I was in for a long, long morning.
My shot mechanics were off, I couldn't seem to get my range at all, and even my layups were caroming off the backboard like I was trying to play dodge ball with it. Needless to say, the initial drills did not make me look very good in front of my new teammates.
Soon we split into two teams for some pick-up games. I haven't played basketball in Sri Lanka, and while in India we run either the standard 2-3 zone or man defense, here apparently they play 1-2-2 zone defense; something I was very unfamiliar with. We played a few points and I think I made a defensive gaffe on almost every possession. This was not going well.
However, after a few more minutes of confusion, things started becoming clearer. And then, finally, it started coming back to me.
See, while the shot was most definitely completely missing in action, and my dribble was shaky at best, the defense was still there. After shutting down a few players on a couple of possessions, I started feeling my confidence returning.
Over the next hour and 15 minutes, I started to really get back into the groove on both the offense and the defense. My team was horrible on the boards so I started playing under the rim, boxing out and cleaning up a few rebounds. I made a few nice crisp passes for assists, disrupted a fast break, and then found myself on a fast break. Unfortunately, I got fouled on the play without trying to anticipate the contact and get off a good shot, for which I vowed vengeance (in a very team-friendly, competitive way, of course). A few possessions later I got the defensive rebound and broke on the fast break again. The same defender turned up, and this time I side stepped him, went behind his momentum and tossed up a floater - a shot I almost never use.
Nothing but net.
Right then, I knew things were going to be okay.
This being the first game in front of the other players, I was determined not to leave without a good report, so even though my abysmal stamina was threatening to shut entire parts of my body down, I kept pushing and hustling on defense, even managing to get a huge block on one play. Somehow, I made it to the end of the practice before collapsing on a bench. I had used up almost every single iota of energy in my body; and it was only 930am.
I know this may all sound rather self-congratulatory, but it really was a celebratory moment for me. I'm glad I get to play at least on weekends now, and the opportunity gives me an outlet to try out all the geeky basketball strategies and plays I've been storing in my head all these years. Even right now I'm researching the best way to break 1-2-2- zone defenses, as well as the proper ways to play it. Hopefully in a few weeks I can try to convince people to shift to man defense and have some proper pick-n-roll, pick-n-pop plays.
Small joys, but they make the week go by a lot easier. Look forward to more basketball posts!
