Aerosmith to perform in India

Aerosmith, the bad boys of Rock N’ Roll are scheduled to perform in India for the first time on June 2nd. The venue happens to be the Palace Grounds, Bangalore. The concert is a part of the Asian leg of the legendary rock outfit’s Greatest Hits 2007 World Tour. And it’s their first world tour in nearly a decade.

The band Aerosmith has a loyal fan base in India. In their first ever concert in the country, the band would be in non-stop action for a 2 hour long concert. The band is all set to perform some of their best compositions including “Crazy, I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing, Dream On, Walk This Way, Janie’s Got A Gun and Livin’ On The Edge”. The organizers of this mega event anticipate an audience of about 25000 people. The tickets are priced at Rs.1800 and 1200.

The band Aerosmith comprising the frontman Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer has always been in the news in India. The members of the band have visited the country several times on personal trips. The band has even got a song titled “Taste Of India”. It’s off their twelfth studio album “Nine Lives” released back in 1997. The six minutes long track contains elements of Indian cultural music along with driving guitar riffs. Surprisingly, the song has not been performed live since their “Nine Lives” tour. But according to band’s official website, the band is expected to reprise the song in their Indian concert.

India is now regarded as a regular destination for top notch gigs. The country is claimed to be the main interest among the artistes when it comes to Asian tours. A number of high profiled artistes in different musical genres have performed in India during the last few months. The list included Iron Maiden, Sepultura, Deep Purple, Roger Waters, Shakira & Paul Oakenfold.

Aerosmith, who have been performing as the original lineup for the past 34 years, have sold over 140 million albums worldwide, 65.5 million albums in the United States alone, making them the bestselling American hard rock band of all time. The band has scored 27 Top 40 hits.

Apart from India, the band will also appear in United Arab Emirates for the first time ever.

It is reported that Sri Lankan airlines offer a tour package for Sri Lankan Aerosmith fans to travel up to Bangalore to be a part of the event. The package includes return economy class airfare, two nighs hotel accommodation and concert ticket equaling to Sri Lanka Rs.4500 (front row standing). The dedicated flight UL171 will take the fans from Sri Lanka on June 1 and return journey will be on June 3 at 21.15hrs.

The concert will also be screened live at some of India's popular night-spots.

Official Event Website
http://dnalive.indiatimes.com/

Tickets
http://www.ticketpro.in/

Official Band Website
http://www.aerosmith.com/

Know when to kiss her…

How often have you seen the perfect opportunity for that first smooch, just as it passes you by? Here’s how to prevent missing the moment again.

Judge her mood
Don’t trust the usual body language stuff. Hair twiddling, wrist and neck displays and the like can be highly misleading on their own. Women in particular make very ambiguous signals. Try to get at least four of these positive signals in rapid succession before going for a kiss.

Read when she’s flirting
Women have 52 non verbal solicitation behaviors to attract men. Most women can flirt. Some favourite signals that she’s interested are tilting her head to the side, tucking in her chin, pushing her hair behind her ears and narrowing her eyes, making them smoulder.

Make the move
Kissing is an invasion of personal space. Don’t just lunge or you’ll take her by surprise, and embarrassment and regret will ensue. Quickly testing how welcome you are just inches from her face is the goal and leaning in to speak into her ear works best. A safe distance can only be found by moving closer until the person leans away.

Have a back-up plan
Even if it looks like all systems go, the only sure signal of success occurs just a heartbeat before your lips lock. So it’s wise to perfect a move that can easily convert to complete innocence if you have to abort at the last moment. For example lean in whispering “Do you know what…?” before pausing a second. You can still save face, simply by finishing off the sentence.

American Idol - Season 6 concludes

The finale of American Idol’s sixth season was held last night at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre. The seventeen year old Jordin Sparks from Arizona was crowned as the winner of this year’s American Idol. She became the youngest contestant in American Idol history to ever win the title.

Last night, Singer Jordin beat out fellow beatboxer Blake Lewis to become the sixth American Idol. She had even received the majority of a record 74 million votes. Jordin now contributes to the throne that Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantacia, Cariie Underwood and Taylor Hicks built.

On the finale, Jordin and Blake kicked off the performance segment with a duet of the Beatles classic “I Saw Her Standing There”. Next up was a guest performance featuring Gwen Stefani. She performed her new single “4 In The Morning” via satellites from her “Sweet Escape” tour. Then the original American Idol or I should say the most successful winner up to date, Kelly Clarkson returned to the idol stage to sing her new single “Never Again”. After that, the season’s top six male and female finalists made appearances separately. The fourth season winner of American Idol, none other than Carrie Underwood performed a stunning cover of “I’ll Stand By You” making it one of the best moments of the finale night. And she was honored legendary music mogul Clive Davis for reaching nearly six million sales of her debut album “Some Hearts”. Finally, Billie Joe Armstrong and the band Green Day took the night to another level by performing their rendition of “Working Class Hero”. One of the signature moments was that Blake teamed up with veteran rapper Doug E Fresh on stage. The finale was lasted for approximately two hours and ten minutes.

In my opinion, Jordin is a great singer with soul. But Blake has the potential to sell many records. Coz Jordin is not a kind of person who’s gonna stick to the industry for a while……

THE LAST 2 MINUTES to stage in Galle

The Last 2 Minutes, the latest Broadway production by Sunera Foundation will be staged in Galle on May 27th.

This production has only made debut in Italy where it won a special Jury award. The play has been directed by Rohana Deva and choreographed by Ramani Damayanthi. Music is by Janaka Fonseka. The cast includes participants from Sunera’s tsunami theatre outreach project.

All proceeds go to Sunera Foundation. And the event is funded by Deutsche Bank, Global Fund for Children, East-West Centre Hawaii, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, The Force of Nature Foundation and Siege Social Jules.

The main Colombo play will go onboard at the Bishop’s College Auditorium on May 29 – 30th

Sunera Foundation presents THE LAST 2 MINUTES
Date: 27th May 2007
Time: 2.30 & 6.30 pm
Venue: Galle Town Hall

SLT IPTV within 6 months...

SLT, Sri Lanka’s number one communication provider recently obtained media broadcasting license to introduce IPTV services. With the noticeable growth of Cable TV industry in Sri Lanka, the plans for IPTV have also been on the cards for sometime now. SLT which owns about 60% of the island’s communication infrastructure is now able to provide the long-awaited IPTV services….

IPTV is expected to take customer experience beyond that of plain TV by integrating multimedia communication technology into the television experience. IPTV customers can use their TV’s to communicate and interact with friends and family through a variety of media, such as voice, instant messaging, video and picture sharing. SLT plans to offer affordable and competitive pricing for the TV packages using IP technology on wire line connectivity along with other value added services.

SLT IPTV services will pioneer the IP based TV broadcasting service in Sri Lanka as it being the most popular entertainment media in the world. It will revolutionize the delivery of TV programmes beyond any doubt. In order to deliver DVD quality video on MPEG 4 format IPTV requires an ADSL service of 2 mbps bandwidth.

SLT customers will be able to enjoy entertainment services delivered to their home via the same SLT wired connectivity. IPTV enables SLT, the country’s only wire line service provider to offer real-time TV broadcast programming, video-on-demand and other advanced services over broadband connections to televisions.

It is also revealed that a Decoder costing around $100 would be delivered for the subscribers to be used with the existing TV set. The SLT is yet to decide on a rental for this service and it is likely that IPTV would be billed on a usage basis.

According to the latest press release, the company assures to offer services within less than six months. But as usual it is most likely that the first stage of process will be restricted to Colombo and its suburb and then will move on to major cities like Kandy & Galle.

It will be great to see SLT IPTV having additional services such as Video On Demand, Pay Per View, EPG and etc. Coz none of the Cable/Satellite TV operators were able to provide these functions to their subscribers. One of the key features of a tool like VOD is that a subscriber has an opportunity of watching a programme that was already aired a few hours ago. And functions like Pay Per View allows subscribers to purchase different kind of material such as Live Events, Movies, Concerts, Award Shows, Beauty Pageants and even adult content through the On-Screen interactive panel.

The Pirate Bay to launch a video streaming site

The Pirate Bay, the world’s most famous torrent tracker has announced its latest project- a Video-Streaming site.

The site will have user generated content, and will have no censorship. They also added that the community has the option to censor although the site will determine as to what content stays or goes.

The new site is located at http://www.thevideobay.org/ and it’s still running the beta version. No confirmations about the official launch date.

The site will definitely face copyright issues. But this is not gonna be a big deal since Pirate Bay always has their own ways to solve legal battles. If you have been paying attention, you know that most of the video streaming sites including YouTube are now removing contents such as music videos and TV shows due to copyright infringement.

Restoration work on Galle Fortress

The Central Cultural Fund is excavating the remnants of the Dutch Fortress buried in Galle. The Fund is also planning to uproot trees growing on the walls of the Fortress without causing damage to the walls. This will be done by injecting the trees.

The Galle Dutch Fort is named the 38th World Heritage. Restoration work on the Fort will begin after completing the initial stage. The Netherlands Government has donated Rs. 380,000,000 for the restoration project. Of this Rs. 130,000,000 will be for restoration of the walls of the Fortress, Rs. 145,000,000 will be spent on the Marine Museum and an Information Centre.

Rs. 15,000,000 will be spent to restore the ancient sewage system and Rs. 50,000,000 for the restoration of the old houses inside the Fortress.

The restoration project is scheduled to be completed by 2009.

GILMORE GIRLS comes to an end...

The hit TV series Gilmore Girls will be in history by tomorrow. The original network The CW will air its final episode tonight (May 15) completing the shows’ seven season pop culture phenomenal!

The story of Gilmore Girls revolves around the relationship between a single mom Lorelai and her daughter Rory living in Stars Hollow. And it explores family, relationship, lifestyle and numerous cultural issues. Like all the other shows of this kind, music played a big part in Gilmore Girls. Its ever so popular theme song titled “Where You Lead” was performed by Carole King & her daughter Louise Goffin. Main characters were always keen revealing their musical tastes. Lot of major bands made guest appearances on the show. Apart from DVD releases, a dedicated soundtrack entitled “Our Little Corner Of The World – Music from Gilmore Girls” was also released.

I have been a huge fan of this show from the beginning. I’m glad to say that I followed the whole series. I have got myself DVD’s for most of the seasons. So I was kinda sad to hear about the cancellation.

In the meantime, the CW has released a statement regarding the show…
“Announcing the final season of Gilmore Girls is truly a sad moment for everyone at The CW and Warner Bros. Television. This series helped define a network and created a fantastic, storybook world featuring some of television’s most memorable, lovable characters. We thank Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dan Palladino, Dave Rosenthal, the amazing cast led by Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as well as the producers, writers and crew for giving us this delightful gem for the past seven years. We would also like to thank the critics and Gilmore fans for their passionate support and promise to give this series the send off it deserves.”

True... this is one of the most memorable shows I have ever seen. And I should note that Sri Lanka also had a huge following for this particular show. Most of my friends adore it…

So I hope you’ll enjoy the series finale. It’s gonna be an unforgettable one….

If you find it difficult to get your hands onto this episode, make sure you check this post again. Coz I will be able to update the post in a couple of days with some links (Download/Streaming)

Series Finale (Trailer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTmi_d3i8gg

.

Updated (5/18/2007).....

GILMORE GIRLS (Series Finale)
Download

http://rapidshare.com/files/31573562/Gilmore.Girls.S07E22.HDTV.XViD-NoTV_.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/31573586/Gilmore.Girls.S07E22.HDTV.XViD-NoTV_.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/31573597/Gilmore.Girls.S07E22.HDTV.XViD-NoTV_.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/31571355/Gilmore.Girls.S07E22.HDTV.XViD-NoTV_.part4.rar

DotMobi services to launch in Sri Lanka

Infotechs Limited, a company servicing the mobile communications business, is breaking new ground that will be welcomed by Sri Lanka's exponentially growing market of mobile users when it launches Sri Lanka's first mobile specific websites shortly bringing the Internet in a most appropriate manner to mobile users.

Logging on to the Internet via a mobile phone has been possible in the past using the WAP and GPRS protocols, but since DotCom websites were originally designed to be accessed using computers and not mobile phones, the experience was less than satisfactory and limited the numbers.

DotMobi is the first and only top level domain dedicated to delivering the Internet to mobile devices. The introduction of DotMobi revolutionizes the use of the Internet on mobile devices and is designed to guide mobile users to made-for-mobile Internet content and services that can be accessed with confidence.
Infotechs is currently testing its colombocity.mobi site and will launch it very shortly and follow it up with other sites.

Barefoot Gallery in Galle

The Galle branch of Barefoot is situated on the corner of Pedlar and Church street in the Galle Fort. The shop makes a colourful addition to Fort life, housed in a delightful building elegantly renovated by Channa Daswatte.

The owners purchased the property in mid 2003 with a vague notion of opening a shop or a home. Lucky for Barefoot regulars, a shop it became. The restored space is charm personified. Some features include a narrow corridor at the back of the building which can be used as an escape route, a perfect courtyard open to sky and stars ideal for sitting in and viewing paintings on the wall.

Aside from the signature Barefoot products known for their vibrant colour and rectilinear design- all the other elements of the Colombo shop are here: The familiar paintings are hanging on the walls, the exellent coffee table, books on Sri Lanka & style and novels by Sri Lankan writers. The proprietors are currently hinting at the possibility of opening a café.

41, Pedlar Street, Fort, Galle.

091-2226299

http://www.barefootceylon.com/

Source: Leisure Times (2006)

I have originally published this post at my previous blog back in last year. I thought of posting it here as well.

Spider Man 3 opens at both Majestic Cinema & Savoy

The friendly neighborhood web-slinger is back, only this time his sunny outlook has become partially overcast in the third chapter of director Sam Raimi's Spider-Man saga.

Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and James Franco return to reprise their roles from the previous two installments, with Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, and Bryce Dallas Howard making their first appearances in the series as Flint Marko (aka Sandman), Eddie Brock (aka Venom), and Gwen Stacy, respectively.

Peter Parker has finally leaned to walk the middle ground between being the superhero that his city needs, and the man that Mary Jane loves. All is well in New York City until one night, as Peter and M.J. set gazing at the stars, a falling comet streams across the sky and crashes into the ground close by. But this isn't any ordinary shooting star, and upon impact the mysterious space rock is split open to reveal a shape-shifting symbiote with the power to overtake anything that it comes into contact with. Later, as Harry Osborn acquires his late father's flying board, engineers a powerful new Goblin outfit, and takes to the sky to avenge dad's death, the mysterious space sludge infects both Peter's Spider Man suit and ambitious street photographer Eddie Brock. His strange new suit giving him a new-found sense of power as it gradually overpowers his personality, Peter discovers that escaped convict Flint Marko was in fact the man responsible for the death of Uncle Ben. Unfortunately for Peter, Marko has recently acquired the power to morph at will and quickly completes his transformation into the dreaded Sandman. As the Sandman gives in to his darkest criminal instincts and the slithering space symbiote transforms Eddie Brock into the nightmarish fanged villain known as Venom, the citizens of New York City must once again call on Spider Man to fend off destructive forces that are far too powerful for the likes of mortal man.

Main Cast: Tobey Maguire / Kirsten Dunst / James Franco
Director: Sam Raimi
Original Release Date: May 4, 2007
Running Time: 140 Min
Picture: Columbia Pictures

Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0PaFLGwskc

The soundtrack for the movies features music from Snow Patrol, Wolfmother, The Killers and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The first single from the soundtrack "Signal Fire" by Snow Patrol is already getting a lot of airplay on local stations. Make sure you request it.....

Spider Man 3 opens this Saturday @ both Savoy & Majestic Cinema.

You can purchase your tickets in advance. For online bookings log onto http://www.etickets.lk/ or dial 444 on your Dialog phone.

Wi-Fi Hotspots in Galle

Dialog G.S.M./ Dialog Internet has opened some Wi-Fi Hotspots in the city of Galle. You can now take your Wi-Fi enabled Note Book/Laptop or PDA to any of these hotspots and surf the net as long as you want. The hotspots are located at the following places.....

DIALOG ARCADE
149, Colombo Road, Kaluwella, Galle

LADY HILL
29, Upper Dickson Road, Galle

MAMBO’S
Hikkaduwa

There are several methods of connecting to the net through Dialog Wi-Fi Zones. 1. via KitNet prepaid card
2. via SMS
3. via Credit Card

Dialog Wi-Fi zones enable data speed upto 11 mbps. And you can use same login details at any Zone. It even allows roaming in more than 100 countries.

Dialog has established a number of Wi-Fi Zones through out the Island. These venues include airports, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, clubs and various others locations.

French Theatre company wows Dodanduwa

The fishing village of Dodanduwa has never been as noisy as it was at the finale of recent innovative performance of Box Meetings by internationally renowned French theatre company, Kumulus.

The final performance received not only a stand up ovation from the packed audience, but also enthusiastic cheers and whistles. The highly original performance of Box Meetings took place at the Chandrasevana Creation Centre, Dodanduwa on March 21 and 22. Box Meetings was created from the real experiences of its French and Sri Lankan cast and examined the notion of dreams and aspirations while also exploring fundamental questions about life.

From day one of the workshop to the final performance, the audience included people who had traveled from Colombo for the event. But the majority of the audience has consisted of local families.

Kumulus Artistic Director Barthemely Bompard said, “It was such a memorable experience, working with the people of Dodanduwa. To have achieved so much in such a short time was amazing, and it was satisfying to see the end result, with everyone putting in so much effort and energy into the show"

A unique exhibition of photographs titled Sing For Peace was also held at the centre to coincide with the theatre performance. The exhibition documented Sing For Peace, an outdoor concert featuring the best in Sri Lankan popular music, including local musicians, which took place in January in Galle to spread the message of peace throughout the various communities of Sri Lanka.

The event was made possible through the support of the British High Commission, with additional funding from Culture France and In Situ (European Street Theatre Promoters).

Welcome to my space

Hey there! I welcome you all to my new personal blog created @ http://sandundissanayaka.blogspot.com/

I had some problems with posting in my previous blog. So I left it and decided to make another one. but if you visited my blog accidentally, I'll give an introduction about myself.

NAME: Sandun Dissanayaka
LOCATION: Galle, Down South, Sri Lanka
INTERESTS: Music / Movies / Fashion & Lifestyle

My posts will be more focused on my hobbies and interests. So I hope you enjoy your stay. And make sure you check back...

Lots of luv & Thanks.