the black lullaby

With half the ad industry still recovering from the Chillies, it’s now time for the Agencies in Colombo to prepare for the year end Awards Show – The Reggie Candappa Creative Awards 2007.

Unlike the Chillies and previously SLIM, where the awards are based on Marketing Categories, the Reggies is all about the Creative effort added into the year’s work. As in the categories include Best Art Direction, Best Copywriting, Best Use of Illustration, etc.

Having started off with only honors to the Print Category, the Reggies committee soon added the Television Category as well and awards are also given to Best Cinematography, Best Editing, etc.

This year they’ve gone yet another step further and added the Radio Category with awards inlucing Best Use of Sound Effects, Best Radio Direction, etc.

But the categories are not the hype, it’s not even the entries being entered into the various categories that steal the show… What does however, are the mind games and the inner-battle for glory that will begin once again.

Here’s what we can look forward to soon after the entries have been submitted on the 12th of November 2007.

Wild rumors, secret phone calls, malicious statements and basically everything that politics are based on. And as it was with the Chillies Reports, you can rest assured that the black lullaby will be giving you the hottest updates on the craziest stories that get out.

Let the countdown to the 7th of December… begin!

A totally unplanned occurence it was, when on Saturday I decided to go for Equus with some friends. And I must say, the evening was not a waste.

I must say I haven’t seen a previous production of the same play so I did enjoy it muchly. Here’s what I thought…

In terms of the set – I loved its simplicity, for it is such a rare sight to see in Colombo productions today. The way in which one space was used for every single venue was very nicely done. I particularly enjoyed the riding scene when the four horses rotated the stage while boy and horse remained still in the centre. There was no movement from their end yet you could picture that journey in the misty dead of night so clearly.

In terms of performance, I was indeed fascinated by the chemistry that was created between Rohan and Hiran in their respective roles. Rohan’s delivery of lines really pulled you in and Hiran’s body language was something I believe he brought to us courtesy of his experience in Sinhala theatre, and it was a welcome gesture because he handled himself so well.

Apart from the two leading roles, I believe Tracy added a certain kind of magic that was key to the brilliance of the entire performance. What many people don’t get I suppose is that this was a very British play and it needed that subtle British feel to make it that much more real and intense.

Even though Subha may not have had much of a part to play, she did deliver her lines rather sincerely and it was lovely to watch. And while I commend her for the daring performance, having worked with her on Chatroom, I do think that there maybe perhaps slightly more she could have added to the part.

The only role that seemed to disappoint me was the one portrayed by Ranmali. Not meaning that she wasn’t good, because as an actor I do believe she got the role down to a T. But in terms of delivery, she acted to perfection, and that’s what I didn’t quite enjoy. Whereas everyone else gave a little piece of themselves to the performance, here was the only place I saw the script being read off word for word. I looked for more in her character’s relationship with the doctor and I found her to be a bit cold (maybe it was intended that way but I still felt otherwise).

I loved the lighting, especially in the stable scene. I liked the journey of transformation that we the viewers were taken on, it was like the perfect flow of words in the body copy of a press ad.

On the other hand, I did feel that certain areas of the script dragged a bit and I found myself losing interest maybe twice during the entire play but the attention was grabbed again before too long.

The horses were slightly disappointing, I expected them to be more than just stage props and in the riding scene, there was no connection between Nugget and the boy, even though the script constantly speaks of horse and rider being one. There could have been more of a connection there.

Overall I think it is a dreadful shame that Steve de la Silva doesn’t do more productions because his direction can clearly capture and wow an audience. But I suppose that’s why we wait for him to do something new even though it happens only once every few years.

If I were to rate it on a scale of 10, I’d probably give it an 8.5

Good show guys.

B.

So here’s something I deal with all the time. People always want to know – “Brandon so are you gay or straight or bi or tri or quadruplic…?” Getting a bit sick of explaining the whole damn thing so thought I’d write a post about it.

With time and with a simple understanding of life, I’ve learnt that you NEVER love someone based on their sex, if you do, then you can’t call it love.

To me, love transcends age, geography, sex, beliefs and every other fucking thing that restricts a human being from experiencing the beauty of life. You macho dudes out there can lust after all the fine breats and nice asses you want and you lovely ladies might even look for those buff, built, drop dead gorgeous Mr. World types to carry you around in their arms. But can you really love someone based on their cup size? If you answered yes in your head, maybe you have a good reason but I would certainly question it.

So that’s who I am. To me, loving someone isn’t about what they’ve got between their legs. It’s who they are, their inner-being, their soul.

How can society claim to call me an outcast for believeing in something like that? On the contrary, I’m the one who should be looking down on them.

I’ve been in several beautiful relationships with women who were both brilliant and disastrous. They brought so much into my life and gave me new perspective at every turn.  I’ve also been in love with a man. Truly, madly, deeply, like there was no one else on this earth that I could ever love that way. He broke my heart into a million pieces but don’t tell me a woman wouldn’t have done the same thing.

So there you have it. I don’t believe in sexuality and I refuse to be labelled by it. I just believe in one great human truth. Love is blind – blind to race, to cast, to wealth, to poverty, to gender, to profession, to health but never to life.

Love you all,

B.

You may all remember a few months back I wrote a post about themissingsandwitch, whose blog had been hacked into and whose personal life was being made fun of by some sick hacker.

You guys will all be surprised to find out the truth. If you want to read the real story go to the kill romeo project and get the full version.

Most of you may also remember that someone named Poojitha was posting comments on my blog, comments that made him worthy of being called an ass! Well guess what, as it turns out, Poojitha was ‘the hacker’ himself, only he had created a pseudonym for himself and a whole new blog based on that pseudonym so that we would never find out the truth.

It’s really sad and very very sick… But let’s cut the talk and read the story…

Just click HERE!

Dear readers,

As you all know, we’re moving ahead full force to rid this country of child related abuse. Yet another topic that has come to our attention is the abuse that goes on in Juvenile Court.

Myself and a colleague visited an NGO yesterday who shared with us some gruesome information with regard to children who are arrested and imprisoned in this country. While we’re waiting to take off on the CST (Child Sex Tourism) project, I think this would be a good place to start, for all those of you who want to help.

These children have no place to go even when they’re released from Juvenile Court and the Detention Centres. Some of them are psychologically damaged and others simply turn out to a darker side of life.

We are currently planning a long-term, step by step program in which we hope to build them a Toilet, amongst other things. But for starters, there’s a lot that these children need while they spend their time in the Detention Centres and in Prison.

These children are aged between infancy (meaning they’re with their mothers in prison) to the age of 16 or 17. Here’s a list of things we need for them right now:

Clothes, Slippers, Toilet Paper, Toothpaste, Soap, Tooth Brushes, Towels and Sheets, Stationary (i.e. crayons or color books – these are little children we’re talking about), Toys etc.

If any of you would like to make a contribution please do so before Friday the 12th of October to the following address between 9am and 5pm:

26 B, Alwis Place, Colombo 03.

If need be you can contact either Shivi Jayasinghe or myself through the following details:

Shivi Jayasinghe  -

Brandon Ingram -

Hoping to hear from you guys soon. Thanks and cheers,

B.

I’m letting you go today and now

It’s sort of funny to wonder

Why I’ve held on to you

For so long,

I shouldn’t love you but sadly

For both you and me

I do,

I shouldn’t have let you treat me that way

Even when I knew it was wrong,

There are many things that I’d like to say

Before I part my way,

But these words are too special

To be wasted on deaf ears,

These feelings are too precious

To be wasted on a heart

That no longer knows how to love,

You would expect me to wish you misfortune

Because it is far easier to express revenge

Over a broken heart than it is

To try and fix it,

But my prayers for you

Envision you in success

Even today

And I also pray that someday

You will have enough wisdom

To understand why,

They say that every night ends at day break,

Well my day has arrived

And you are my night

That is now slowly fading away,

So live when you have the chance,

Love when you have the time

And if you should ever remember me,

Do so with a smile

Brandon Ingram