sri lanka

The Arthur C. Clarke Centennial Celebration is Tomorrow

Asha De Vos remembers Arthur C Clarke.

I was 17 years old, and the head of the Young Science Fiction Association - a group with more words in it's title, than members. We had asked Arthur C. Clarke to be our patron, and he asked me to drop by to find who we were, and what we were about. 

Whatever pitch I had, was likely useless. What convinced him was probably me being dumbstruck by all his books in the "Clarkives" as he called them. 

"See all these books?" he said.
"Yes."
"They're yours."

So began a very trying year of trying to come up with some sort of library to house the collection in. We succeeded - and then had to close it down. The gap year was ending, funds were low, and we had to be sure the books didn't end up being given away to wrap vadays in. So we gave it to my school library, where I hope, they still are. 

Many Sri Lankan Geeks have their own Arthur C Clarke stories, whether they're personal encounters, his books we've read, or other sources that were in turn heavily influenced by a writer audacious enough to but real science in his science fiction. 

Here are some videos by the Arthur C Clarke Trust, where Sri Lankans talk about Arthur. 

Tomorrow (Saturday, the 16th), is the Arthur's Centenary Celebration, sponsored by the Geek Club of Sri Lanka. Venue and times here. 

Me at 17, with my buddy Constantin, the school librarian, and Dr. Clarke.

Me at 17, with my buddy Constantin, the school librarian, and Dr. Clarke.

We toured Colombo this morning (and made a child cry).

In pouring rain, cosplayers, journalists, and volunteers assembled this morning to tour Colombo.

TL:DR - Full galleries here:
Bus Mob Promo 2016
Deadpool: A Love Story

St Theresa's Church

So we gathered here, which may not have been the wisest thing given that we had a bunch of people cosplaying as the Undead. They didn't seem to mind though - and we left before we could get into trouble. 

This would be a theme throughout the day. 

 

Anim8

First we dropped by the good folk at Anim8. They seemed pretty excited, especially the guys n the print shop who were like giddy girls at a Boy Band concert (when I beckoned for the them to come out and join everyone else taking pictures though, they ran and hid). 

Amaal Mansour, Anim8's second in command, gave us our lovely banner. 

 

Savoy Theater - EAP 

Next we visited the Savoy Theater. I'm not sure how the bus managed those turns, but it made it to Wellawatte. The folks at the Savoy were quite jazzed, though the general public's reaction were more mixed. 

"[The cosplayers] wanted to fight her, her words," said Innocent Bystander, Shanil Wannakuwatte, of his traumatized young daughter. In proper Sri Lankan fashion, the aggrieved party was bought off (in this case, with Pringles). 

 

Speaking of Pringles...

Pringles is the official Snack Partner of Lanka Comic Con 2016.

I have eaten many, many, Pringles today.
Many.
#NoRegrets
 

 

 

 

The Colombo Lighthouse

At the lighthouse, we went up on the steps to take some shots. Directly behind and of little interest (you will notice I have not bothered to feature it in any images below) is a lighthouse no one cares about. Except for one, tiny, guard, who came out with an assault rifle (maybe he was scared the Undead would bite him?), and told us we couldn't take pictures. 

So we send him to go to talk to Thilani, back at the bus. In the meanwhile, we finished taking all our pictures. He came back to shoo us away, but by then, we were already leaving. 

When we left, I waved to Napoleon.
Sadly, he did not wave back. 

Dutch Hospital

This was unpleasant. We went with a Colombo City Tours bus, because they had all the approvals in place so that we could shoot in public areas (let's set aside for now, that approvals are needed to shoot in public areas). 

The security guard who then came out, told us we had to stop. However, he had no issue with all the white people taking pictures around us. The war on Sri Lankan-hating, Sri Lankan security guards was not what we signed up for that day, so we went on about our business. 

This did involve trying to get into the World Trade Center, where they were quite surprised and nervous, but did let us shoot in a corner. 

 

Independence Square

Things went very well here. We were well received, security gave us no trouble, and Ushan Gunasekera shot the upcoming Lanka Comic Con Calendar. 

 

Also, there was this. 

Never have I seen such chemistry between a woman who spoke no English, and a man with no face. 

I call this, "Deadpool: A Love Story."

Jason Rajasinghe was (this) Deadpool. You will know him from the amazing Deadpool Valentine's Day video from IFilm Sri Lanka. 

You will be hearing more soon about Jason, Banu, and the rest of the amazing IFilm team. 

Rahal Wijewardene (LCC 2015 volunteer! Hooray!) from Pulse.lk came by, and livestreamed this little video, talking to cosplayers and asking us about the upcoming events for Lanka Comic Con, 2016. 

Interested in Cosplay?

Click here to join the Official Lanka Comic Con Cosplay Network. Find out about events like this, get tips from other cosplayers, and get to know a cool, fun bunch of dedicated, no-nonsense, charming, bright, people. 

 

Special thanks to Ushan Gunasekera, IFilm Sri Lanka, Roar.lk,  (who you will also be hearing more about, soon), and all the Lanka Comic Con volunteers and cosplayers who came out today.