Devotees braving the weather at the famous shrine in Kataragama

The Telecom Regulatory Commission  of Sri Lanka has acquired a new habit; they goto courts every week with a list of domains names that are supposed to be full of pornographic content and ask that they be banned. The court then gives an order which the country’s internet service providers and telcos have to obey – by blocking those sites. One wonders whether the TRC guys opens each and every one of the sites in their list in a browser and demonstrate that it is indeed porn. It would be interesting to know if they food porn is something they would consider banning. Since they no longer publish the list of sites that have been banned,  there is only one way to find out.

Serendipity is walking into a used bookstore and finding a few gems for giveaway prices. Most visitors to the Colombo International Book Faircram themselves into shops runs by the big boys. They are crowded beyond belief and nearly all of them have the same content, low priced Indian Editions of books published in the US, UK and sometimes low priced Indian books. Ask any of the sales assitants (assuming you can find one) to show you where the Mike Hammers are and they will probably bring you a hammer from their tool box. Ask them for a Louis L’Amour and you will probably not get anything more than a blank stare.

They firmly believe that novels are like pop music, you need to keep up with the latest trends and the charts. I was never a fan of pop music. I’ve always been a rocker not much of a fan of classical music either. Perhaps that explains why I like Raphael Sabatini and Leon Uris but not quite into Dan Brown. Though I respect Shaken Bacesphere (or is it Christopher Marlow?) I would always prefer reading a CS Forester or a Hemmingway. To find that sort of book, used bookshops are where you should head to. That is what I did and this is what I picked up today going back on Wednesday for another lot.

Parrots build their nests by digging holes in tree trunks

There were three Cashew trees on this plot of land, home to at least 20 parrots.

Parrots often fight with Kingfishers, Mynas, Barbets and Redbacks over the same nests. Now they are all being left homeless and hopefully they will all be eliminated. After all Kingfishers might be the real cause of Aids and flamebacks are said to be responsible for Malaria. Rumour has it that Barbets might be carriers of Swine flu. A positive side effect is that we will no longer have to put up with the rackets caused by birds in the mornings.

Sign seen at an Automobile repair shop (or more simply a Garage). The photo hasn’t been desaturate, that was done by the sun

A Python in a bag, a Cobra in a box and a Baby Torque monkey on a leash in Anuradhapura. The baby monkey is terrified. Wouldn’t you be if you were tied up right next to an animal that could easily swallow you whole?

This guy was near the entrance of the hotel that we stayed him, there are plenty of others like him all over the city. There was one even at the Sri Maha Body (the Sacred Bo Tree) car park. In Sri Lanka it’s illegal to capture wild animals, yet these men operate in full view of the police, the priests and the thousands of devotees who flock to Anuradhapura during the weekends.

Many of these devotee pay the snake charmer money to see the monkey or the cobra perform. Some even pay to have their photo taken standing next to the python. (this photo was snapped surreptitiously)

The Shoe Flower is a member of the Hibiscus family and can be seen all over Asia. Here in Sri Lanka it’s known as ‘Sapattu Mal (සපත්තු මල්)’, and you can see many differently colored varieties.

Some people have managed to rebuild their lives but unfortunately many others have been left behind. A very small number of people are still without permanent homes even five years later. You can blame the politicians for that.

This photo was shot by my 7 year old daughter while the car was moving. Only the rear potion of this house appears to have been damaged by the waves. It looks like the owners might have attempted to rebuild it but then the front of the house has been swept away once again – by a bulldozer