Soft tones of the wild West

By Laila Nasry and Ruhanie Perera

By 6.00 p.m. the crowd was queueing up and it was a full house indeed, on November 20 at the Trans Asia Hotel when young and old re-kindled their love for country music.

Tight jeans and checked shirts, cowboy hats and boots seemed the order of the day when the much talked about 'Country Road' was held for the ninth time.

"Anton and Friends" opened the show, quite predictably with the John Denver classic 'Country Road, Take Me Home'. From that point onwards the show was 'on a roll'. The audience was treated to a wonderful mix of music ranging from "Stand By Your Man" to "Starry, Starry Night" Anton the leader of the band dedicated a song to his mother (in the audience) who up to that day had not heard her son sing. Derrick as Anton rightly put it is "the best guitarist in the country" and he proved it to everyone present by giving a virtuoso display with some absolutely out of this world guitar riffs.

For them this show will always be special. They were a band that came together at the first 'Country Road' concert. And "Flame" certainly set the stage ablaze. The audience was enraptured when they sang "Bridge Over Troubled waters", and other favourites like "American Pie". The response from the audience was magnificent as they joined in clapping, singing and swaying to the music.

"Flame" also stayed on to back Mariazelle Gunathileke, who despite being ill made an appearance on behalf of the children for whom this concert was in aid of. She sang several well-known numbers, mostly on a mellow note and the audience was quick to join tunes like "All I Have To Do Is Dream" and the lilting melody of "Leaving On a Jet Plane".

The next artiste was one heck of an entertainer. Swinging hips and flashy footwork were the trade mark of Kerrigan Labrooy, a Sri Lankan who has made it big in Australia. Backed by the Cosmic Rays, Kerrigan was absolute dynamite. He ran up and down the stage, danced to the pulsating rhythms of "Achy Breaky Heart" and "Old Time Rock and Roll" and threw in a few jokes to keep the audience in fits of laughter. The crowd just loved him and cheered him back on stage for more.

Emotions were running high when Cosmic Rays appeared. Two minutes silence was observed for Asoka Ratnapala, a member of the band who had passed away a few weeks ago, after a sudden heart attack. Their choice of songs reflected their somewhat sombre mood, this being an emotion-filled time for them.

The last act for the evening was Daniel T.Coates, joined by Dirk Maverick and his Maverick dancers. Not only did they enthrall the audience with a host of delightful songs, but they also related anecdotes about themselves, the bands and their songs. The climax of their performance was when Dirk donned a trademark Elvis jacket and dark glasses and went through a medley of "Elvis" songs which would have made the King himself proud.

Country Road is staged every year to raise funds for needy children and mention must be made of the Country Music Foundation headed by Feizal Samath who has worked tirelessly to make it a reality.

You can't take to the skies without them

By Wathsala Mendis

Flying could be fun, no doubt, to most people (except those who are afraid of heights or suffer from motion sickness!). But few of us are aware or even see or know about those who work round the clock to ensure the safety of hundreds of thousands of passengers per day. Those who safely direct millions of aircraft annually to their destinations.

The air traffic controller workforce of a country consists of dedicated and well trained men and women, waiting to serve people every time they fly. They are responsible for the safe and efficient movement of aircraft within an assigned airspace and on the ground at airports. Air traffic controllers specialize in VFR (Visual Flight Rules) or IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) control. Radar is the primary tool of IFR controllers while a straight line of sight enables VFR controllers to identify and resolve visual air traffic conflicts.

The workforce breakdown is either tower controllers, en route controllers or terminal controllers. Tower controllers direct air traffic within a certain radius of an airport from a glass-walled room at the top of a tower. They give pilots taxiing and take-off instructions, air traffic clearance, and advice based on their own observations and experience. They keep landing and departing aircraft safe distances apart and also transfer control of aircraft to en route and terminal controllers when the aircraft leaves their airspace and receive control of aircraft coming into their airspace. En route and terminal controllers at area control centres perform similar functions for aircraft during the en route portion of their flight within the centre's airspace.

Air traffic controllers normally work on rotating shifts. At some facilities however shifts could cover the full 24 hours a day. On the job, they must take rapid decisions and often work under considerable pressure.

This is a job where they get to apply their great analytical skills to real world problems. They are required to take two dimensional data and convert it into three dimensional visualizations. They enjoy using specialised equipment and instruments, having clear rules and organised methods for co-ordinating information and taking charge of situations.

People in this occupation must be decisive, stable, mature, mentally alert, able to accept responsibility and able to handle details quickly and accurately. For example, you cannot tell a pilot asking for instructions, "Hang on, I'll go through the books and tell you." Responses should be fast and precise. A slight mistake made by you could spell disaster.

To be employed as an air traffic controller, you should either have a degree in Physics/Maths or hold a Commercial Pilot's Licence (CPL). In addition you must pass the Air Traffic Controller basic aptitude test and interview, pass a rigorous physical examination, have good hearing and vision (including colour perception) have good oral communication skills (diction, enunciation and voice projection) and of course, a good command of English. Experience talking to groups or over the microphone or hobbies that require some knowledge of air regulations and aeronautics could be assets.

After candidates are accepted into the training programme, they are enrolled at the Civil Aviation Training Centre at Ratmalana for three months. After the initial classroom lectures and simulator work, trainees are assigned to a Control Tower either at Ratmalana or Katunayake for nine months of on-the-job training. The overall training programme may take up to a year. Additional training and promotions will be available when a controller has gained experience and as positions become available.

On a controller's skills and judgement, depend the safety of thousands of passengers. Be it an airport control tower, en route control centre or terminal control centre he/she is working in, these are all stressful, high energy environments where every controller knows there is no margin of error.

A near-miss could be his/her worst nightmare. Or, worse still, this is a job where you could end up in jail for manslaughter! On the other hand, for those who seek that element of adventure and excitement in a high pressure job, this is it.

Neat or shabby?

Neat people live in houses that are more like hotels than homes. The sitting room has only the furniture, potted plants and paintings of unknown landscapes. A neat person need never feel sheepish if a visitor lands on the doorstep unannounced.

In a shabby person's sitting room all the flat surfaces are covered with letters, bills, envelopes and last night's mugs of tea. Somebody's shoes stick out from under the sofa. A long line of ants transfer biscuit crumbs from the carpet to their den. The Sunday newspapers lie in a bundle on the floor. A neat person is the owner of a well-trained spouse, an expensive poodle who is never let out of its small cage and a concrete garden. A neat person's wardrobe has only the clothes worn at present, or would be worn in the future. They are ironed and neatly folded.

The doors of the wardrobe of a shabby person cannot be kept open for long. The shelves are overflowing with clothes which may, or may not be worn. The moment the doors are opened most of them tumble to the floor. The shabby person plans to sort them out one day, separate the unwanted from the wanted and fold everything neatly. But that would be one day in the future. Right now all the shabby person does is, stuff the fallen garments back on to the overflowing shelves and close the doors as fast as possible.

A shabby person's house belongs as much to the dog and the cat as to the shabby person. They live everywhere, polish their nails on the back of the sofa and scratch the front door when they want to be let out. If they go to sleep on the sitting room carpet the shabby person ignores them until a visitor is due, when the culprit would be chased away as if it had committed the crime of the century. A shabby person hates throwing things. Everything is kept to be used sometime in the future.

A shabby person is one who walks around planning to sort the piles of papers strewn around and place them in files - one for the electricity bills, another for the vehicles and another for the bank statements etc.

A neat person does what a shabby person plans; keeps not only files but track of the monthly expenses, knows where to find what and lives by the adage "a place for everything and everything in its place." When it comes to finding a receipt or a bill, a shabby person keeps muttering, "It has to be somewhere around. I'm sure I kept it here...." A neat person purses his lips together, walks upto a drawer, opens a file and finds a piece of paper within seconds. A shabby person, once he finds what he wants after wading through mounds and mounds of stock market statements, brochures, wedding invitations and birthday cards, gets to know the meaning of "Eureka". A neat person never does.

All in all, a neat person is one who is entirely admirable. A shabby person.... one who is immensely tolerable! Aditha Dissanayake

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