French Cabaret.

 Forwarded message ----------
From: "J. K. S. Weerasekera

Four minutes of good clean….

Don’t miss.

jksw                                                                                  

Enjoy 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lUr3XbROoA8

Cheers!

"Helal we Salib" - Crescent moon and Cross.

 Forwarded message ----------
From: "J. K. S. Weerasekera"

Arabic and western combo. 2 ½ minutes.

Watch.

jksw

"Helal we Salib"

(Croissant et Croix or Crescent Moon and Cross)

Adhan / Ave Maria

www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7lolwTO77M

Beautiful

Islamic

and Christianity

duet at a concert in Lebanon -

if only everyone could see its possible for religions to bring peace, rather than violence and hatred..

The Container and the Content.

Email forwarded by Lesley Sirimanne.

This is an excellent discussion that took place between Most Ven Ajahn Brahm and a journalist. The meaning of true Buddhist attitude shines through this invaluable passage. Ajahn Brahm is one of the foremost western monks who trained under the late great Thai monk, Ajahn Chah. 

“A local journalist called and asked me “What would you do, Ajahn Brahm, if someone took a Buddhist Holy Book and flushed it down the toilet?”

 Without hesitation I answered “Sir, if someone took a Buddhist Holy Book and flushed it down the toilet, the first thing I would do is call a plumber!”

 When the journalist finished laughing, he confided in me that that was the most sensible answer he had heard.

 Then I went further. I explained that someone may blow up many statues of the Buddha, burn down Buddhist temples or kill Buddhist monks and nuns; they may destroy all of this but I will never allow them to destroy Buddhism. You may flush a Holy Book down a toilet, but you will never flush forgiveness, peace and compassion down a toilet.

 The book is not the religion, nor the statue, the building or the priest. These are only “containers.”

 What does the book teach us? What does the statue represent? What qualities are the priests supposed to embody? This is the “content”.

 When we recognize the difference between the container and the contents, then we will preserve the contents even when the container is being destroyed.

 We can print more books, build more temples and statues and even train more monks and nuns, but when we lose our love and respect for others and ourselves and replace it with violence, then the whole religion has gone down the toilet.”

 From “Good? Bad? Who Knows?”  upcoming book by Ven. Ajahn Brahm 

‘12 Years a Slave’ , award winning film.

Email forwarded by jks weerasekara

The film that yells out

American atrocities to the world !

Over the weekend at the Odeon Cinema in Swiss Cottage, North West London, I watched the much-lauded film – “ 12 Years a Slave” made by British director Steve McQueen.

Having read a lot about the film beforehand, and wondering how it could be different from that of gun-toting Hollywood Westerns we usually had seen with Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and the like, I expected to see a similar story full of customary American violence and pillage in latest digital film techniques. No, this was not one of those, but a complete different creation which made viewers to look back at the history in horror, dismay and anger. In my opinion, ‘12 Years a Slave,’ an extraordinary true story which is cinematically superbly done, should be screened all over the world to reveal sheer capacity and capability of American brutality, ruthlessness and sadism emanating from the mentality of white-supremacy.

The story is an adaptation of the 1853 memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup, a New York State-born free Negro who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C. in 1841 and sold into slavery. He worked on plantations in the state of Louisiana for twelve years before his release.

One American writer described it as "easily the greatest feature film ever made about American slavery."  All across America the film is enabling a discussion about the horror of slavery. Many people have asked why it has taken so long for a film to address America's past.

In the meantime, I read an article in London Guardian newspaper about this film which ended the writer asking this question: “Will there be a day when a British film attempts to depict the horrors of our colonial past, not in a heroic sense, as in Zulu, but in an honest examination of the evil that was perpetrated in the name of empire?”

I don’t know about others, but my answer to the above is " NO"

12 Years a Slave received critical acclaim following its release in 2013, and was named the best film of the year by several media outlets. In 2014, the film was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and received nine Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director for McQueen, Best Actor for Ejiofor, Best Supporting Actor for Fassbender, and Best Supporting Actress for Nyong'o. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) recognised the film with its Best Film award two weeks ago (16 February 2014) with Ejiofor winning the BAFTA for Best Actor.

What makes this film so memorable and powerful are the complex portrayals of the slaves who, broken and paralyzed with existential fear, could do nothing to stop the barbarism yet managed to survive. I presume this ability of endurance and survival is a unique trait factor common to all African nations, because no other nation suffered as slaves like they did from biblical times to the very recent past.

The main role of the film is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, OBE, an acclaimed British actor of Nigerian descent. He has received numerous acting awards and nominations for films and drama. In 2008, Ejiofor was presented with an OBE by the Queen for services to the arts.

12 Years a Slave is about the slavery mainly took place in America. While black people all over the world are united in condemning white atrocity and supremacy, other nationalities too echo and share the same sentiments and sympathise with the blacks. But if the film is seen by other countries, for whom slavery is not a familiar occurrence in their socities, what would they make out of this film?

For them, I think, contents of this film will be a real testimony to America’s exact behaviour towards small countries, especially the Far East and Middle Eastern ones.  Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria or Sri Lankamust reckon that 12 Years a Slave is not just a story belonged to the past, but a revelation of oncoming events to be expected sooner or later and that it talks about American mentality in the coherent present tense.

Don’t miss this film. See if it’s playing near you !

- D R

Pacific theatre, World War II.

Good collection of World War II pictures from the perspective of the USA. Click on the link below:-

Photos: The Pacific and Adjacent Theaters in WWII - Plog

Painting for sale of the Birthday cake for, Prince Charles.

email sent by jks weerasekara.

Prince Charles’s Birthday cake.

http://www.geraldscarfe.com/shop/politics/the-surprise-cake/

For all our clever batch mates- Easy quiz

From: Sena & Sarojini 
Subject: For all our clever batch mates- Easy quiz

Hi Philip

Please share with our batch mates.

Nana



How good are we with general knowledge? I bet you know everything!


New Senior's Exam, you only need 4 correct out of 10 questions to pass.



1) How long did the Hundred Years' War last?

2) Which country makes Panama hats?

3) From which animal do we get cat gut?

4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?

6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?

7) What was King George VI's first name?

8) What colour is a purple finch?

9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?

10) What is the colour of the black box in a commercial airplane?



Remember, you need only 4 correct answers to pass.

Check your answers below .....


ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ


1)How long did the Hundred Years War last? 116 years

2) Which country makes Panama hats? Ecuador

3) From which animal do we get cat gut? Sheep and Horses

4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? November

5) What is a camel's hair brush made of? Squirrel fur

6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?
Dogs

7) What was King George VI's first name? Albert

8 ) What colour is a purple finch? Crimson

9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from? New Zealand

10) What is the colour of the black box in a commercial airplane?
Orange (of course)


What do you mean, you failed?

Me, too!


(And if you try to tell me you passed, you LIED!)

Pass this on to our brilliant friends.

( Who originated this Quiz? Haven't a clue)


C.S.Nanayakkara