Category Archives: life stories

April 23, 2023 · 11:29 am

Roaming the World: An Accidental Cameraman

Michael Roberts

In the course of composing items for THUPPAHI and during our family travels around the globe, photographs were ‘shot’ at will. These, of course, are amateur products. But on occasions the settings and subjects are striking or unusual. As one ages and withers, there is less hesitation in focusing on one’s past and the display of personal ventures.

I commence with a ”shot” taken on quick whim that happens to be spectacular …

 

 Casting Net near Wattala in Lanka where a canal meets the sea and I was at the prow of a padda boat

… and there are a few more chance moments that could spike reader interest.

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April 20, 2023 · 6:42 pm

Alastair Roosmale-Cocq: Appreciations & Memories

VALE ONE by Jeremy Ludowyke

My name is Jeremy Ludowyke and I’d like to tell you something of Alistair’s life before he came to Australia in 1969.

Like Alistair, I was born in Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon, of Dutch heritage and ancestry. The first Roosmale Cocq arrived in Ceylon from the Netherlands in 1763 and many were Magistrates or Judges in the first Dutch then British colony. Perhaps this is where Alistair inherited his magisterial bearing.

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April 19, 2023 · 12:49 am

Ireland Squashed in Three Days at Galle: Fidel & Danny Report

 Andrew Fidel Fernando in ESPNcricinfo, 22 April 2023 ….

Sri Lanka 591 for 6 (Karunaratne 179, K Mendis 140, Samarawickrama 104*, Chandimal 102*) beat Ireland 143 (Tucker 45, Jayasuriya 7-52) and 168 (Tector 42, R Mendis 4-76, 3-56) by an innings and 280 runs
Ramesh Mendis celebrates a wicket
Ireland’s collapse rolled into day three in Galle, as Sri Lanka’s spinners scythed through them twice, to secure an innings-and-280 run victory with Prabath Jayasuriya claiming a 10-wicket haul.

Madushka pulls off two stunning catches at forward short-leg

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April 19, 2023 · 12:11 am

The Several Pathways to Hellish Bliss

 

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April 18, 2023 · 9:21 pm

Penny Wong Ties Australia’s Strings to USA’s ‘Cavalrymen’

Mary Kostakidis, in https://johnmenadue.com/wong-defines-australias-foreign-policy/ …. where the title reads  “Wong defines Australia’s foreign policy … all the way with the USA”

It was an extraordinary feel-good speech that nevertheless sent a very clear message to the region: the vehicle through which Australia will ensure we participate in shaping in the region, is AUKUS – an Anglosphere alliance to steer the Asia Pacific.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Penny Wong addresses the National Press Club in Canberra, Monday, April 17, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

Regardless of reassurances and pledges regarding respect, inclusiveness and sovereignty, Asian leaders will understand well the essence of her message, in spite of the dulcet tones, the dignity and gravitas.

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April 18, 2023 · 7:51 pm

The Galle Fort: Its Southern Rampart ‘Fronts’ Multi-faceted Ambience

Michael Roberts

As I walked along the Galle Fort’s ramparts on several occasions in early April this year 2023, not only did pleasant memories flood back: the intriguing present lay before me (literally in some cases) …;

while a regular ‘little tide’ of tourists (perhaps Ukrainian or Russian?) passed me every now and then. The ambience and power of setting and nostalgia enveloped me at every stage. As a youngster the ramparts were not my only passageway. The rocks at the bottom edge of the walls and/or the sea provided adventurous routes this way or that…. familair routes because one knew where the thorny corals and dangerous spots were.

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April 18, 2023 · 5:46 pm

Artificial Intelligence: Humankind’s Master or Servant?

Chandre Dharmawardana, in The Island, 17 April 2023 , ….. whose preferred title is “The relevant and irrelevant fear of Artificial Intelligence”

The oracle-like power of the ‘large-language’ Chatbot named chatGPT  has frightened rational techies and mystic mullahs alike. Elon Musk, Steve Wozniac who co-founded  Apple Inc., historians like Yuval Harari,  and academics like the Turing-prize winner Yoshua Bengio of Montreal University called for a six-month pause for developing AI  beyond GPT-4, the latest technology released by OpenAI.

 

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April 18, 2023 · 9:59 am

Galle Fort Today: Its Western Ramparts in the Sun

Amateur Camerawork by Michael Roberts, in Early April 2023

 I  was fortunate to benefit from the hospitality of Moninna and Gamini Goonewardena of Parawa Street and took the opportunity to record some of the work with autistic teenagers & children that was conducted at ECSAT in Wakwella Rd on the Friday (easily the most vital event during my stay).
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April 17, 2023 · 1:20 am

Fidel & Danny ‘String Together’ Melodious Accounts of Day One at the Galle Test Match

Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, 16 April 2023, 

Dimuth Karunaratne struck an assured 179, Kusal Mendis amassed 140, and Sri Lanka took firm grip of the Test, as that pair’s 281-run partnership for the second wicket formed the centrepiece of the hosts’ dominant day one. Not only were Karunaratne and Mendis largely untroubled by the Ireland bowlers on a flat Galle deck, they also ensured that their progress was brisk, hitting 33 fours and a six between them.

 

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April 16, 2023 · 11:26 am

Ireland’s Prospects vs Sri Lanka at Galle appraised by A Soccer Fan

Daniel Byrne, whose chosen title is “The Irish arrive in Galle; A preview of the Test Series“+

When you have spent the previous four months following the fortunes of Queens Park Rangers no idea when your team may chalk up the next victory. Hence, my decision to come to Sri LFootball Club, two wins from 26 games, there comes a time when you simply have anka to follow the Test Series between Ireland and the hosts. There may even be a better chance of Ireland winning a game in th.e next two weeks than QPR.

 

 

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