Beyond words.

If you have seen the movie Machang by Uberto Pasolini, then you have seen actors playing these guys.  Below is video footage of the REAL guys who decided to migrate to Europe illegally by pretending to be a Sri Lankan handball team. This is them really playing a match. Badly, I might add.

You have to hand it to our guys. When it comes to bullshit, I don’t think any other country in the world comes close. The pride with which they sing the national anthem in this viedo is justly deserved. Note how in the second part of this three part youtube extravaganza, they even compliment the opposing players on it having been a good match. Then, in part 3 (my favourite), they sing a Shaggy song with the gusto of the man himself. Did I say they sing a Shaggy song? Well, it’s more like pretend to sing it, cos it’s obvious none of them know the words. Also, they can’t sing for toffee either.

Here’s some movie trivia for you. Did you know that one of the actors playing one of the fake handball team members also absconded in Germany after shooting had finished. That’s right: in a bizarre twist of life imitating art imitating life, a guy playing a guy who absconded, also absconded. It was the guy playing the police cop. In real life this actor is also a goldsmith. He disappeared on the last day and never turned up to the bus, or the airport. I kid you not. Yes, the actor. Playing the guy who absconded. Yes. I am not shitting you. I got the story from some of the other actors. One of the other actors this guy was closest to had been warned in advance that he was going to hook it. He had been picked up in a car by relatives. A few months later he had made it to London from Germany without a passport and was doing rather well as a goldsmith. (The passports of all the cast and crew were with the movie production admin guy).

Amazing huh? It warms the cockles of my heart.

(Here’s the link to part 3 of the video where you get the entire group have a bajaw session and the subsequent German news reports of the incident. Crazy.)

“We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch-line“. Colonel Nathan R. Jessep in the movie “A Few Good Men”.

Fri May 12, 2009 3:46pm EDT – SOMEWHERE WITHIN A DENSE EDITORIAL (Reuters) -

More than 7,000 adjectives were expended in the final throes of the article. The number of ad-verbs is possibly three times the official count.

Scanning over the area, one could see that the words were trapped in a sliver of sandy opinion over a turquoise lagoon of propaganda.

The protagonists, claiming no use of heavy imagery – “we only used similes and analogies” – insisted on minimizing collateral euphemisms.

Despite this, a cursory examination shows clear areas where a freewheeling judgement had smashed into a metaphor, causing heavy symbolism everywhere. The brutal bombast shook alliteration violently.

The Dictionary and Thesaurus issued a joint-decree condemning the unedited use of redundant pejoratives.

Acronyms we spoke to claim that massive exaggerations rained down on them until the final hours, punctuating them to within an inch of their lives.

The only escape came from jumping to a conclusion, and then swimming against the undertone to finally reach a safe interpretation. Many arguments, too worn-out to continue, submerged under the allusion, unable to fight the rising conceit.

As night gave into daylight, this trickle gave way to a flood of hyperbole.

Even then, the respite proved brief, as the pressure from the unmanned aerial assumptions was relentless. With nowhere to turn, shelter was often found under a make-shift allegory. “Everywhere we looked headlines were screaming.”

Those who fled were hit by constant flashes of polarisation.

In the final hours, after a lot of confusion, the end of the sentence was found. Ominously, however, many claimed it was just a comma, not a period.

In the aftermath, presumptions were brought for triage to a transit commentary and then taken to an extreme. Sadly, more often than not, no significance could be salvaged.

For the misplaced, the long narrative is still not over. Many are desperately searching for missing facts, only to come up with anecdotes.

The weary acronyms are currently being held out-of-context, surrounded by sharp double-quotes under the vigilant glare of rhetoric.

______________________________________________

This is the second solid post on this blog by Yakkada Yaka. After reading this last cracker, Ravana is scratching his ten heads, plotting a way to make his guest demons resident spirits. Solid shit, no?

So, Im a Tamil.and proud of it. Proud of my culture, proud of my language, proud of the achievements of many of my fellow tamilians all over the world. Born here, right here in sunny Sri lanka. And Ive finally decided to say something. I know Im going to ruffle a lot more than a few feathers here- possibly even have a few people get themselves off my facebook friends list , but then, I’ve gotten sick and tired of all the chitter-chatter around me these past two weeks, So I shall say what I have to.

Firstly, I know that Im just tired. Tired of the racism, tired of being generalized, labelled, looked down at, tired of the frikin war and everything that happened because of it. Im sure, as a tamil, you are too.
Second, I’m not too jubilant and dancing on the street now that the war is over. there was too much of a price to pay to get what is today labelled as peace. and I will not dance till it really happens. we all “know” too much about the politics. So I won’t need to say much.

But, here’s where the feathers get ruffled. Im happy too. Im happy that the war is “over”. Happy that He is dead ( oh yes, I said it). happy that maybe, just maybe, if the politicos and powers that be play thier cards right, this country- my country- can actually go somewhere. Develop. be a happy place. Maybe.
But just when I start looking at the positive side of things, I realised that suddenly the racism has actually increased. I realised that I had to keep voicing my usually quite thoughts just so that I wont be labelled anymore. and unfortunately, my dear fellow tamilians, its because of some of you.
I’ve been repeatedly accused of “not knowing the real story” whenever I voice my absolute disgust at the terrorist organisation that has plagued my race, and at the man some of you celebrate as a hero. and you know what? I don’t care what the “real story” is anymore. I am NOT and will NOT allow anyone to label me anymore. To the dear people who are publicly becoming “fans” of Mr.Velupillai Prabaharan, to those of you who are “fighting” for eelam because you don’t want to leave your western comforts, to those of you who say its not over till all of us are killed ( Im sorry, please speak for yourself), to those of you who still beleive the LTTE fought for your rights and nothing else, to those of you who say it is only because of HIM that we can walk the streets today because he has given us a voice ( sorry- he has only made the others so scared to approach a tamil just in case he/she blew themselves up, so he has not given us a voice, he’s just made the world frightened of tamils), to all those who after all this are still making me feel GUILTY to be a tamil, this is a plea to you to please STOP.

STOP, and START trying to make a difference for a change. Turn your patriotic songs of praise for the LTTE into some positive songs about rebuilding our fallen nation.
NO, Im not asking you to help the other terrorists, our dear government who are guilty of many many crimes, but Im asking you to help yourselves. If you live abroad, use your dollars and pounds to fund development for your people here, rather than contribute it towards arms to kill someone. If you live here, then try spreading some positivity rather than telling the whole world that the tamils can’t live in peace and still want a frikkin separate state.

THIS is our country. THIS is a country that many years ago was ahead of even singapore. WHEN will we get there? When we can do things together. please knock that into your deranged brainwashed heads. PLEASE, let this , OUR country get some real happiness. Its about time.

If you think that by saying all this I’m not a real tamil, please think again. I want our race to get somewhere, but not by trampling the others down. I know we don’t have the rights of our fellow sinhalese here, but we will never get them by killing them. ever. we have to work with them. hey, be selfish for a change and do something positive so that YOU can benefit from peace and prosperity. at least think of it that way.
Im doing my part by helping the IDP’s in whatever way I can, but I will not let myself be labelled anymore.
to all of you who were afraid of saying things to me, or when I was around because I am a tamil and you thought I shared the view of the “diaspora” supporters, now you know. I don’t blame you for generalising. its the fault of my people. but you know very well that its not thiers alone.
I can’t write kavithais , but when I listen to this song, it still gives me goosebumps, still gives me tears. justchaneg a few words here and there and we can look at it as an anthem for us to get up and do something positive, make a change. Please.
தமிழா தமிழா நாளை நம் நாளே
தமிழா தமிழா நாடும் நம் நாடே

என் வீடு இலங்கை நாடு என்றே சொல்லடா
என் நாமம் இலங்கேயர் என்றே என்றும் நில்லடா
தமிழா தமிழா நாளை நம் நாளே
தமிழா தமிழா நாடும் நம் நாடே

நிலம் மாறலாம் குணம் ஒன்று தான்
இடம் மாறலாம் நிலம் ஒன்று தான்
மொழி மாறலாம் பொருள் ஒன்று தான்
கலி மாறலாம் கொடி ஒன்று தான்
திசை மாறலாம் நிலம் ஒன்று தான்
இசை மாறலாம் மொழி ஒன்று தான்
நம் இலங்கை அதும் ஒன்று தான் வா..

தமிழா தமிழா கண்கள் கலங்காதே
விடியும் விடியும் உள்ளம் மயங்காதே

உனக்குள்ளே இலங்கேயர் ரத்தம் உண்டா இல்லையா?
ஒன்றான இலங்கை உன்னை காக்கும் இல்லையா

தமிழா தமிழா நாளை நம் நாளே
தமிழா தமிழா நாடும் நம் நாடே

For the benefit of those who can’t read tamil- a pretty loose translation of a song I think can’t really be “translated”!! listen to it on youtube. search thamizha

O! Tamil! our tomorrow is all our tomorrow
O Tamil! this land is all our land!
Say that my home is the Lankan motherland.Be firm that my name is always Sri lankan...
The Community may vary, but the Values are one
The Place may vary, but the Country is one
The Language may vary, but the Meaning is one
The Staff may vary, but the Flag is one
the Direction may vary, but the Land is one
The Music may be different, but the Melody is one
We are all Lanka, we are one. O Tamil! Don’t shed any tears O Tamil! It will dawn, don’t be fade inside
Isn’t there Sri Lankan blood inside you?
Then won’t united Sri lanka protect you?
Our land is common to all It is born out out of hard toil.Diversity was the fertiliser used to create it
We are the roots that make it strong.O human!It is strong There shouldn’t be division on this land.O Lord!