Wash your thumbs. Heard that piece of advice the other day and knew it needed to be passed along. Most people (apparently) don't scrub them when washing their hands, but stick them into their eyes/mouths as much as any other digit. I can think of nothing else now when I wash my hands and now you will not be able to either. You're welcome
Before moving into this weeks travelogue, have two new theories on life that I am working on and need your help in fleshing out. The first concerns women and how many (not all, and certainly not you) will go into non-speaking funks. We all have been victims of this maneuver and know you know what I'm talking about, but basically, they will give you the silent treatment when they want you to think that they are mad at something that you have done. Here is the revelation...they will only do this when they are mad at you, but are totally in the wrong and have no other means of winning the argument, or even putting up a rational coherent counterpoint to whatever they feel aggrieved at. This way, they can make you feel that you are in the wrong without having to explain why (which they can't cause they know deep down that they are). Dudes don't do this in general as they are typically happy arguing for a lost cause and usually go away thinking they are right anyway. This theory is pretty solid and I'm amazed that it just came to me now. What to do about it is another thing as there seems to be no way out. Continued explanation as to why they are wrong is met with monastic silence, and apologizing for whatever (in most cases, you wouldn't even know what to apologize for) is both ethically wrong and is also met with simply silence. Only way to deal with it is to do nothing and go about your day (and night and sometimes another day) until it subsides. Most of the articles I looked at tried to frame it as both genders pulling this stunt (ladies, if your man gives you the silent treatment, he ain't gonna be your man much longer), or were written from the woman's perspective. This one seems to address it the best, but if you have another way, would love to hear it.
Hard to believe, but my second theory is even more touchy. The 33%. This one posits that 1 in 3 people believe in an unsupportable crazy crackpot conspiracy theory. In my youth, the most popular was the Kennedy assassination. Others include (but certainly not limited to) staged attacks on the World Trade Centers/moon landings/Sandy Hook (and many other massacres), vaccinations causing autism, the War on Christmas, Jews...these folks have tons of "facts" supporting their theory, none of which can be empirically validated and can only be true if there is some shadowy cabal pulling the strings in secret.
Here is where it gets touchy. Have been raising this theory in small groups and the initial response from almost everybody is agreement, but when you dig deeper (really, only scratch their lottery ticket), out pops those peoples nutty thoughts. Goes something like this:
Me: After explaining the 33% theory..."For instance, how about 9-11 truthers that say the WTC were rigged to explode and collapse?"
Them: "Exactly, those people are crazy! But you know that Building 7 coming down that day was orchestrated to eliminate government documents?"
Me: "Check please."
After initial testing of this idea, it is clear that 33% is low and that the real number is not only over 50%, but may well be over 75. And there is simply no way to rationalize with these folks beliefs. Look, there are no conspiracy theories. Yes, people/groups try to pull shit, but their motives are usually well telegraphed and are always (always always) found out in short order. It is much easier to control peoples actions if they believe in absurdities that rationalize bad things in their lives rather than confronting and discussing the root causes that are obvious but hard to solve. Look inside yourselves, and whenever you find yourself saying that Mexicans are the cause of America's decline or that 97% of scientists are in cahoots on global warming (for what end is never really mentioned), knock it the fuck off.
OK...am going to skip the PNW trip to go on tour with Yo La Tengo this week as I want to write a love letter about that band and give it the time it deserves, but do have one follow-up that needs to be mentioned. When I went to the Alamo to get the rental car, the lady behind the counter said I was on the "Do Not Rent" list. Apparently, they have been trying to bill us for the lost keys in the Pittsburgh sewer incident, and since we are hard to reach here, had sent us to collections. After an hour on the phone, and coughing up $250 bucks, we were finally able to put a button on that episode.
The day after I got back from Seattle, the family went on a long Thanksgiving weekend trip to the Philippines. Specifically, three nights at South Palms Resort on Panglao Is. While Manila is only two flying hours from Taipei, and it is another hour in the air out to our destination, it takes about 12 hours to get from door to door. It shouldn't, but it would seem that domestic flights in the Philippines are almost 100% not on time.
While having dinner at sunset on the beach is pretty nice, our meals were awful. It is rare when all of us leave food on our plates...actually, this might have been the first time ever. It was my own fault that this was a crappy place to eat. We took the recommendation of the shuttle driver to go to this joint and then broke the cardinal rule in choosing a restaurant. Never go to the place that offers everything as they do none of it well.
Since this post is full of red flags for the NSA (hiya guys), was reading the local English language paper at the hotel one morning and they were detailing the recruiting efforts of the Filipino ISIS affiliate...the Moro Islamic Liberation Front...better known by their acronym MILF. Now that is an Islamic terrorist organization you can put your arms around.
We did set out for a 4 hour snorkeling trip the second day. It was a good one, boat rides in calmish tropical seas are a treat, and there were nice amounts of colorful fish, but think we have all been soured on snorkeling after our CNY trip to the amazingly rich waters in Palau last February as nothing we have seen compares.
We did see a bunch of turtles, which was very cool.
There was s display on the island detailing why the name was changed...to make a long story short the island got fucked.
Whoever owns it now, like most Filipinos, is super religious as there were shrines all over it.
Am not usually inspired by religious relics, but this man is now my new Patron Saint
Our trip home to Taipei had us with a 10 hour layover in Manila (which became an 8 hour layover with flight delays). We took the opportunity to arrange a tour of the highlights of Manila. Manila is not a city that seemed to offer a ton in the way of sightseeing. Did the research and didn't find a lot of (any) must see spots, but figured that we might as well take the opportunity to see for ourselves. The verdict is that Manila is indeed not a tourist destination. The sights were fine (churches/forts) that had histories that were based in savage colonialism (mainly Spanish, but seems that every other empire from the Brits to Japanese put their stamp of oppression on it) or natural disaster (typhoons/earthquakes). I learned that I hadn't learned much about this past history and was glad to do so now as it makes their narrative clearer. Their national hero is Jose Rizal, and like all other things Filipino, lived a tortured life that ended in violent death. Brass footprints tracing his path from prison to gallows.
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