Daily Report: Intimation Versus Exposition

I've come up with a good idea to add one more level of security to my house... to discourage the bad guys from paying us a visit. I've already got the doberman. I've already got the guard. Now I'm getting the gun.

Well... that's what I'm reporting anyway. You see, it's the gun that the bad guys don't know you have that you eventually wind up using. It's the gun that the bad guys are aware is awaiting them should they come visiting that will never get used. And what's the point of having a gun that never gets used? Nothing of course. What's the difference between a gun that never gets used and no gun at all? Nothing of course. So: The word being spread is that I now have a big fuck-off, massive-hole-making, cannon of a gun in my house. No you can't see it. You'll just have to trust me that it's there. (News in this village travels so fast... the bad guys will know about my gun-that-will-never-be-used in no time flat.)

Mike Turner recommended I get a paint gun like the one that he has. Looks exactly like an M16. It's a thought, but I don't want to spend $400 on my gun-that-will-never-be-used when I can spend $0. (By the way: Paint gun battle groups are really popular here in The Philippines... although it does strike me as a bit twee to go into the jungles of Mindanao with toy guns to fight when you can drive a couple miles down the road and encounter NPA rebels with real guns fighting real soldiers.)

Ron Schreuder stopped by today and asked Epril and I to be Godparents to his newborn boy, David. Baptism will be this Sunday here in town.

It's been a very quiet week here otherwise. Actually, I don't have a thing to do until December, other than Sunday's baptism. I kind of like it that way.

I've been watching Gene Simmon's Family Jewels, which is immensely entertaining. It's an unapologetic and highly entertaining look into the private life of a highly wealthy and charismatic rock star and his family. And, unlike Ozzy Osbourne and his family, Gene Simmons (bass guitar player of the band Kiss) and his family are all highly intelligent and witty (his son especially), well-balanced, good-looking, and possessing common sense and fundamentally sound values. Also, unlike The Osbournes, Family Jewels makes an effort to set things up for the Simmons' to do for entertainment value. (In last night's episode, Gene and (common-law) wife Shannon go to The Kentucky Derby. Gene is very much against gambling, so Shannon bets $100,000 of Gene's money on the horse she said "had the jockey with the best colors", leaving Gene apoplectic. You'll have to tune in to find out whether this bet is like other episodes, where Gene gets suckered by Shannon's elaborate jokes (like convincing him she spent $9 million on a British castle, or had adopted a baby without telling him). However, the news coverage of the bet should give you a hint.

My mother was talking about looking at the stars from her back porch in Upstate New York the other night, and how clear they were. Here in the Philippines, for reasons I'm not entirely sure about, the stars twinkle and are more colorful than they were where I grew up in New York State. Some of the stars twinkle so much that I would say it would be more accurate to say they are "flashing" or "strobing". Some of the stars appear red or orange too. But, on the downside, even on a crystal clear night here in The Philippines, the number of stars and their brilliance and brightness does not compare to what I used to be able to see in Upstate New York.