Red Marquee FRF 2008
Yes, yes…I have been woefully neglectful of this little site lately.
I have, though (to make myself feel better) been active other wheres though.
My article on Colombo, Sri Lanka appeared in Southeast Asia Globe magazine. It’s unfortunate there was no room in the piece for a little more background on the war and the human rights fallout surrounding its end and President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s blatant power grab after, but hey – it’s actually a travel piece. And I have to say: regardless of the left wing extremists up in arms over Rajapaksa’s actions, the people of Sri Lanka are, to a person, finally able to move on with their lives and businesses that were put on pause for the duration of the conflict. When I interviewed people, everybody I spoke to began there stories with:
“Well, now that the war is over…”
The rebuilding is on big time. And I can’t believe the opportunities that abound in Colombo right now for everybody. I can’t wait to go back.
And Sigiriya has to be seen to be believed.
The Globe also published my travel bit on Jakarta. Now, I’ll be upfront, Jakarta is not my favorite city in the world, but my grandfather is buried there, so it has a special place in my heart.
Commonwealth War Grave, Jakarta
I was the first family member to visit and to pay my respects. My grandmother was never able to go, so this was a visit 64 years in the making.
Commonwealth War Grave, Jakarta
I’ll save the misty eyed story for another time, but needless to say my trip to Java and Sumatra was a pilgrimage I’ve long wanted to make. I can’t say enough about the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Imperial War Museum and the veterans and families of the RAF 99 Squadron. Martin Bond’s dedicated 99 Squadron website has proved invaluable for research. Quisque tenax!
There is not a lot to say, on the other hand, about The Big Durian itself. There was some decent food to check out and some interesting places to stay. Most of all that got cut. Editors, sheesh.
Anyway, I also wrote a little piece about today’s digital office. A basic primer on liberating yourself from the 9-to-5 office grind by using basic—and free!—cloud-based, cross-platform applications like Dropbox, Google Docs and Skype, etc.
I have been busy in the Twittersphere, as well, with my own @jeffwrichards musings and meanderings, plus my social media manager tweets for SE Asia Globe (@SEA-GLOBE), Cabana Bar & grill (@hamacabana), and the Fuji Rock Festival (@Fujirock_com).
And since it’s that time of year again: We few, we happy few, we band of Fujirockers…are busy bringing you all you need to know about this years Fuji Rock Festival in our lead up to the fest and our real-time coverage of it via the blog and Twitter. Visit us at www.fujirock.com
If you’re attending the festival, and you are on Twitter, we will be organizing a Fuji Rock Tweetup with twice-daily meeting points to catch up with any and all tweeps up there. Check the site for more details.
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