'D-12' : Dirty Dozen of rappers
By Sanath Weerasuriya
'D-12' , the new wave band, is the star of this week's 'Original Music
Competetion', which is promoted by TV Times and M-Entertainment.
Wherever rapper Eminem goes anywhere, controversy and headlines are
sure to follow. With so many people unsure about whether to love him or
hate him, five young rappers have decided to join him on his latest project,
D-12.
Also known as the Dirty Dozen, D-12 is a Detroit-based rappers - all
between the ages of 23 and 25. Members Bizarre, Swift, Kon Artis, Proof
and Kuniva claim they are "here to bring the sick, the obscene, the disgusting.''
With this agenda in tow, D-12 could prove to be the sequel to the controversial
parade that Eminem started with the explicit lyrics on his solo album Slim
Shady (1999) and the in-your-face single "Way I Am" .
D-12's 2001 debut album, Devil's Night had potential to cause some waves,
with the inclusion of their raucous 2000 single, "Shit on You. D-12 was
originally founded by members Bizarre and Proof around 1990, but the size
and scope of the group expanded when Proof brought in childhood friend
Eminem (it turns out that the pair grew up near each other, but went to
different high schools) and the rest of the gang. Along their quest to
stir the already controversy-infested waters of rap, all five members come
complete with aliases, while each of them bears a tattoo of the name of
former D-12 member, Bugz, who was gunned down at a picnic party.
D-12 is (listed in no particular order by real name and alias/alter
ego) Rufus Johnson, Peter S. Bizarre (Bizarre is also a member of the group
the Outsidaz which includes Rah Digga and Eminem; he has appeared in magazines
such as The Source and is the winner of Inner City Entertainment's Flava
of the Year award for September 1998), Denine Porter, Kon Artis (Kon Artis
is a producer for D-12), O.Moore, Swifty McVay (Swifty joined D-12 in 1998
atter Bugz died), Von Carlisle or Hannz G., Kuniva (Kuniva was a part of
Da Brigade along with Kon Artis), and DeShaun Holton, Proof or Dirty Harry
(Proof is known for his freestyle talents. He won the Source Magazine Freestyling
Competition back in 1999).
To enter this contest, all you have to do is to answer the question
on the coupon No 63 and send it to the address given below.
The address is "Listen to Original Music Contest, No. 63, C/o Maharaja
Entertainments (Pvt.) Ltd., 330, T. B. Jayah Mawath, Colombo 10.
Tell: + 941672425-8, Fax + 941699070. E Mail: me@lgo.lk
All the entries must be originals from the TV Times and no photocopies
or faxes will be entertained. All correct entries will be drawn by a panel
of judges.
The entries should reach the above address by January22, the latest.
The decision of the judges will be final and the names of the winners will
be announced in The Sunday TV Times accordingly. Here are the winners of
contest no. 59.
Winners of two Sony original CDs are Haleek Azeez of Panadura and Chinttana
Kithsiri Bandara of Haputale.
The two audio cassette winners are Lawanya Samarasinghe of Kandy and
Dr. Shirley Hector Silva of Galle.
The 10% off gift vouchers go to Maline Nanayakkara of Pera-deniya, Sanath
Abeywickrama of Dehiattakandiya, Ananda Lalindra Silva of Galle, Prabath
Punsiri of Padalangala, A. Suminda Dissanayake of Badulla and Dilip Adikara
of Minwangoda.
Posters winners are Niroshini Meddegama of Peradeniya, Sanjiv Perera
of Wattala, Mahesh Lilaram of Colombo 4, Zahram Sallay of Rajagiriya and
A.S. Fernando of Gampaha.
'Welcome 2002' at Galadari
The Galadari Hotel welcomed year 2002 by celebrating the event with their
four annual dances which have always been successful and memorable .
According to the hotel,the Main Lobby Family Dinner Dance, the Colombo
2000 Night Club Disco, the California Grill Fine Dining Rooftop Restaurant
and the main Ballroom dance were sold out and were very well patronised
by the guests. The picture shows the revellers at the lobby.
'Awakening' to music
Laksmandra Fernando, known as Lucky among his friends, chose to play the
piano as a way to soothe his soul.
For this thirty-year-old musician, music is no stranger but an old friend.
Piano became his best pal when he was only seven years old. Of course,
his mother being a pianist, herself influenced him a lot, but none of his
siblings loved the piano like Lucky did. Piano was his friend. A way to
follow his heart. Such interest in the music paved way for him to pursue
studies in classical music at the Trinity College in London. Gradually
he worked himself up the music ladder. In the early 90's, he became the
keyboardist in the rock outfit 'Rattle Snakes', bringing the rock music
freak out of him.
After a short spell of rock, he started playing solo at hotel lobbies,
which he did up to recent times. Lucky is a full-time Marketing Professional.
Later he decided it was time he did something with his talent. That
became the 'Awakening'. The only original and the title of his new CD with
thirteen more instrumentals of known songs like 'Yesterday'. He has only
used piano music for all his pieces.
His inspirations such as the music of classical composer Chopin, the
Jazz musician Chick Corea and Ravi Shanker have influenced him throughout
his music career and the discerning listener would not miss their presence
among Lucky's work. This is Lucky's maiden attempt at such an endeavour.
Even then, he says it is not done with a commercial aim in mind, but totally
to satisfy his love for music. "It is not the sort of stuff to dance to.
It is for relaxing," he says of the CD.
This is where he is different from the countless number of copycats
who listen to original works and then churn out digitally mastered recordings
into the local market. Lucky says that more than the sales sides he was
more worried about the quality of his works and spent countless hours putting
the finishing touches.
For his next project he plans to introduce more instruments into the
repertoire. "It will include piano, acoustic bass and drums," he says.
Lucky's CDs are now available for those unique music lovers who can cherish
a bit of good music. He may not become rich or famous with his new CD but
is satisfied that he has done a good job. Now true piano music lovers have
the opportunity to listen and pass judgement on the 14 pieces included
in the CD 'Awakening'. The experience is a treat to be savoured.
The best New Year Party in town
 The
official New Year Bash of the Music Television India was held at the Continental
Hotel on December 31. This was one of the biggest dance parties held on
New Year's Eve in Colombo, organised by ETV, the entertainment channel
in collaboration with TV Times.
Our photographer Dunstan Wickramaratne was there to capture the activities
of the 'best party in town', in which the 'Ancient Egyptian' was the theme.
Egyptian costume party, fashion show, fire limbo, belly dancers, body
paint display, queen of the night, music dancing and the dishes across
the globe were some of the highlights of the night.
'Sisila Ima' and 'Sakki': two promising teleplays
Sunil Ratnayake's two teledramas "Sisila Ima" and "Sakki" are to be telecast
soon.
"Sakki" is a comedy directed by Suranjan Wijenama. The cast will include
Edward Goonawar-dane, Rohitha Dias, Menike Attanayake, G. R. Perera, Richard
Weerakkodi, Mercy  Edirisnghe,
Sunil Nivithigala, Ranjith Subasinghe, Melani Ashoka and several others.
Sakki revolves around the characters Samuel and Roland, who being close
friends have decided to start a business of matching brides and grooms
on-line. The business place is run in a part of Samuel's house. Samuel's
wife Sherine, also assists the friends in their new business.
On being informed about this business, Harrison, who is the match-maker
in the area warns the two friends to stop matching on-line, fearing he
will run out of job. Instead of winding up the two friends decide to include
Harrison as a partner of their business.
Chief Guest at the opening ceremony is Quintus, who is a respected person
in the area. He is a bachelor, known for his appetite for women.
The business becomes popular in no time and the trio are kept very busy
doing at their work place.
Gladin who is in need of the services of an honest match-maker seeks
their help. Earlier she had been deceived several times by Harrison, the
broker in finding a suitable partner for herself. Although she had paid
him money several times Harrison had not found her the man of her dreams.
Now she has decided to trust the computer rather than a human being.
But Samuel, Roland and the broker Harrison begins to cheat their clients.
Gladin becomes the first victim followed by a lady running a boarding house,
a boarder, an owner of a funeral parlour and its embalmer, and many others.
This is a new comedy series very unusual in its content and could prove
to be a different experience for the viewers.
"Sisila Ima" directed by the young director Thusitha Jayawardena. The
story features the coastal village of Weligampitiya in Matara during the
1950s. The story revolves around an unmarried middle aged Ayurvedic doctor,
Elizabeth and the young doctor played by talented Palitha Perera who comes
to serve in the village hospital.
Dr. Sidath Weligankoratuwe comes to the village hospital of Weligama
for his first appointment and gets boarded at 'Elizabeth Nona's house.
She is much respected by all the villagers.
Though 'Elizabeth is middle aged she yet retains her youthfulness which
belies her age. The arrival of young doctor makes many new dreams in Elizabeth's
life.
Taking advantage of her weakness this young doctor manages to get all
what he wants from this head strong woman. Attracted by Dr. Sidath Elizabeth
shares her knowledge which she kept at a secret all along. But a visit
by Dr. Nirmala who is affianced to Sidath, shatters 'Elizabeth's dreams
for the future.
The main cast includes Hemasiri Liyanage, Mahendra Perera, Chamila Ratnayake,
Chitra Wagista, Melani Ashoka, Tissa Udangamuwa and Milton Perera.(SJ)
Hoteliers agree on uniform pricing
An agreement between Sri Lanka Association of Professional Conference and
Exhibition Organisers and Exhibition Organisers (SLAPCEO) and Colombo City
Tourist Hotel Association (CCTHA) with regard to implementing of minimum
room rate structure amongst Colombo City Hoteliers, was signed at Hotel
Oberoi last week.
The Sri Lanka Convention Bureau and the Sri Lanka Tourist Board together
with Sri Lanka Association of Professional Conference and Exhibition Organizers
and Colombo City Tourist Hotels Association developed a collective agreement
amongst city hoteliers to maintain minimum rates at around US $75 nett.
Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board and the Sri Lanka Convention
Bureau, Renton de Alwis said, 'the agreement will be in effect for two
years, and will revise the minimum room rate structure every six months
with a view of assessing its validity in keeping with market conditions".
"The minimum room rate of US $ 75 is considered to be competitive with
other similar destinations organizing conferences, exhibitions and other
events", he added
Fifteen City hotels were included under this agreement. They are Berjaya
Mount Royal, Ceylon Continental, Galadari, Galle Face Hotel, Grand Oriental,
Hilton Hotel, Hilton JAIC Tower, Holiday Inn, Hotel Renuka, Hotel Sapphire,
Mount Lavinia Hotel, Pegasus Reef Hotel, Taj Samudra, Hotel Lanka Oberoi
and Trans Asia Hotel. ACE conventions, CTC conventions, Convention Asia,
Inter-trade Lanka Management, Jet-Asia and John Keells Conventions signed
from the SLAPCEO.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Tourism Minister , Gamini
Lokuge and Ministry Secretary, P. Ramanujam.
The Minister said "Now there will be an opportunity for hoteliers and
the professional conference organizers to offer even better quality services
to conferences, exhibitions and event organizers, which will help to boost
Sri Lanka's image. This will also help to generate more business for Sri
Lanka in the longer term".
President of the CCTHA Eraj Abeywardena and SLAPCEO President , Dharni
Soza signed the agreement on behalf of both associations.
This is a major breakthrough to enable our hotel industry to get out
of the trap of low pricing and we congratulate the hoteliers and the PCO's
and call on them to work together to honour the agreement as it will be
a win-win situation," said Renton de Alwis.
Eraj Abeywardena, President of Colombo City Tourist Hotels Association
in his address emphasized that the "Hoteliers have resolved to stand together
to benefit from this agreement. We also can assist Sri Lanka Tourism to
enhance quality services offered to the customers. The extra income generated
will be channelled towards the services of our staff to provide better
service".
Representing the Sri Lanka Professional Conference and Exhibition Organizers,
President Dharni Soza stated that, "We are delighted that we're able to
reach minimum rates. We call on all Professional Associations who are organizers
of conferences, exhibitions and other events to work with our members to
ensure that Sri Lanka handles conferences and exhibitions in an entirely
professional manner. This will help boost the image of the event, and will
also help the rest of the Tourism sector. We plan to revise the minimum
room rate structure every six months with a view of assessing its validity
in keeping with market conditions".
Sri Lanka Tourism calls on all Professional Organizations, Tourism related
services and the Public in Sri Lanka to note and adhere to the minimum
room rate structure.
As stake holders in tourism they can assist the development of professionalism
and quality with in meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE)
tourism and the leisure Tourism sectors.
Upsurge of Russian Tourists
Large number of Russian Tourists arrived during the last few months of
the year 2001, despite the tense security situation, Russian Centre announced
last week.
Russian tourists numbering 500 came to the island last week alone and
over thousands ever since the airport incident in July last year.
The Russian Centre in Colombo while promoting the interchange of culture
between Russia and Sri Lanka has always played an important role in helping
the tourism industry of Sri Lanka. The Centre is constantly making efforts
to increase the inflow. The security situation in the country adversely
affects the industry and to add to this the information that is given to
the market is exaggerated. The potential tourists to Sri Lanka are disposed
to the neighbouring tourist island destinations.
While giving its full support to leading tour operators functioning
in Russia, it could be said that the Centre has achieved its goal to a
great extent by alluring tourists from Russia and its former Republics.
Russian Centre is determined to maintain and upbuild this situation
in the tourist industry with the support of the Tourism Ministry and enhance
the image of the country and at the same time imprint in the minds of the
holiday makers that Sri Lanka still is their favourite destination. |
