the turkey is being well and truly done

This is Mr Lincoln Augustus, first second cousin of Holymagiman.

Its late on the 23rd and our celebrations have already started. In fact, they started months ago, but we have to admit, most unofficially. Because mama does not look too kindly at drinking the drink and smoking the smoke and carrying on in general.

But as Christmas is neigh, we can do our celebrations and be doubly blessed by the Reverend Samuel Lightfoot, who is rather partial to a Red Stripe on the special occasion .

And as the good Reverend says, every day is a special occasion, so praise be to the Lord.

And so our thoughts turn to Christmas in Jerusalum, and when one thinks of Jerusalem, one cannot but think of the little fat man with the red cheeks who waits impatiently in his corner, bottle in hand, avarice in the eyes as he waits for all his Christmasses to come rolling by soon, with a Ho ho here and a Ho ho there and a Ho ho everywhere.

The Reverend Samuel says that the story gooes that he is there ably supported by his cronies who run the pawn shops in downtown Jerusalem. Why, he was once one of them, but he found that he could go places faster on his reindeers if he became Prince of Never Never Land.

So the fat man with the red cheeks went to Never Never Land, where he was given a few worthless baubles for his troubles and to cement his kingship.

And meanwhile, the fat mans cronies minded the store and did business the only way they knew, which was one for you and ten for me, which is all very good because it is the season of sharing and caring and love and forgiving.

And as Reverend Samuel says, everyone was very happy, because the plebs who got one had expected none, and the shopkeepers were very happy because they got ten, though, in truth, they would have liked twenty. But hey, ten is ten, and Christmas comes everyday, and they smiled their smiles and grinned their grins and waited for better times.

Ans so it was that when Issac the Simple asked the pawnshop shopkeepers to dig him a well on his fertile farm, they dug and they dug but somehow they did not dig deep enough.

And when he asked them how the next well was going, it was always the same, that the well was going, to where no-one knew. Perhaps to China, where alladin had his cave full of a trove of treasures untold. But all so slowly.......

So it came to pass, as the story goes, that the short fat man with his worthless baubles came upon the destitute Issac the Simple and offered him the worthless baubles in return for the waterless land. And Issac was simple and the lands were in caretakership of his evil uncle, the greedy Langshanks Two Gullets.

And thus it was that under the guardianship of the greedy LangshanksTwo Gullets, and with the connivance of the downtown pawn shop shopkeepers, the red-faced little fat man with the beer belly was able to trade his worthless baubles for a land under where springs ran eternal.

And why, we asked the Reverand Samuel, was such a deed be done so uncharitably, and the Reverend Samuel did but wince as he said that Evil men with evil minds care not for the spirit of sharing and caring, for unto them and into them, there dwells a devil so mean spirited and evil that one should pray unto oneself when one crosses their paths.

And then he did mention the parable about the innocent lambs being led to the slaughter.

But this did not make much sense and we pressed the Reverend Samuel Lightfoot to further define such evil actions. And so he said that it appeared that in ancient Jerusalem, it was rumoured knowledge that the great shopping centre called the Colossus of Rhodes Pty Ltd, which dealt in fine incense, spices and dancing girls of every description who could satisfy the every needs of all men, women and children was going to buy the pawnshop by and by, a given fact, just as the morning follows the night.

And when that happened, when the Colossus of Rhodes came striding by, the shopkeepers would make lots and lots of money and their customers would make a little money and everybody would be most happy for you can take one and I will take twenty and everything will be as nice as nice can be.

And when that happened, why then the ex-shopkeepers and the little fat man with the red face would do it all over again in Issac the Simples ex-lands. For they would plant many trees and crow many crops and open another pawnshop, and the tail would spin out again, full circle, never ending.

And the rich would get richer and the poor would disinherit the world, for was it not thus that written in the lost book of the Lord.

And as the Reverend Samuel said,The good Lord will gnash his teeth and flare his nostrils and the world will be assailed by a great famine and pestilence, but the fat man and his cronies will cut their way through the tempest, for verily they are the children of the Devil."

But enough of this Christmas sentimentality, for one cannot be thrusting ones own religious beliefs into the maws of others, especially not at a time like now when goodwill and happiness is the done thing, and the turkey is roasting and the lambs are skewered and the chicks have all come home to roost.

And that, my friends, will be part of the Reverend Samuel's Christmas sermon, which, if you are able to, you must attend at the Faith Chapel United Pentecostal Church in Renfield Avenue, Kingston, Jamaica.

So ow we come back to Orion and what we see as the woes of its small shareholders.

It appears that the present board of Orion , with ESGs support, will enable the GGX merger to go through. For the merger appears to have a lot of good points if you are in the right position and looking at things the right way and you have the right conections.

ESG has all the right connections and its wells are all beginning to come up trumps.


Mr Hardmano, you have asked me about the massive reserve upgrades in ESG and were uncertain as to the veracity of that statement, and I hope you are beginning to see the full picture now. It was a shame that unforseen drilling problems put things a little behind, but what will be will be.

Much has been said about a takeover of ESG by January 1st 2011. That is but 12 months away, and time does tend to fly rather swiftly, and so there is every probability that the takeover of ESG will not eventuate by that date.

So those of you who have invested in HGO, on the assumption that ESG will be taken out by 1st January 2011,have every chance of being disappointed.

Hopefully you are not, but as we see it, there is every chance for a takeover of ESG to take place over a much longer time span. Everyone wishes for it to happen tomorrow, everyone wants it to happen tomorrow, but unfortunately we live in a real world that has somehow changed after the GFC.

And so there will be vociverous voices disclaiming us, stating that ESG will be taken over tomorrow or by 2010's end, and well it may be, for we are but poor uneducated Jamaicans who have little taste for crossing swords with those of greater wisdom.

Many lines may have to be drawn by many rulers before ESG is taken out, and that will be all to the betterment of ESG shareholders, for the ESG reserves will only keep going up and up with the passage of time.

So why is the family in OIP? Why have we bought about 2 shares in OIP?

Because of what is happening with ESG and the sideshows that are taking place.

If one assumes that ESG is going to be taken over by and by, than the logical place for the present ESG board to move to, to repeat their success, is OIP, where they will have full control. They have no interest in HGOs well being or otherwise, because their relationship with HGO is now confined to the lockers of history.

So whether one likes to believe it or not, the family is under the distinct impression that OIP is in a definite play, and the only way for its share price to go is up.

It holds some of the most significant leases in the Gunnadeh Basin, possibly better that ESGs, and although all drilling to date has been most undistinguished (for alas, such bad luck is truly unheard of), we feel that drilling reports after February 2010 will start to evoke interest in this little company.

OIP will, after giving up percentages of its leases to ESG for "drilling", still be holding on to a fair percentage of those leases.

The scenario is set for OIP, and it is but a matter of timing. An ESG takeover could be before January 2011 (which is good for HGO shareholders), but it probably will be after January 2011, but whichever way it pans out, it appears to the family that this is a no-brainer for OIPs future.

And with the ESG takeover, we have a floating board who must find a home.

One must remember that after the GGGX Merger, the top 6 shareholders of the merged Orion will be holding 39.7% of all the shares, making for a tight market, and, as most people are aware, that makes for interesting times.

And in all these thoughts one must consider that ESG once owned these leases of OIP and spun them out. And now the leases are going to spin back into the rings of ESG. All most intriguing indeed.

And perhaps we are right and perchance we are wrong, and maybe OIP is in play and maybe it is not, but it is coming up Christmas and it's the season to be merry, and the Red Stripe is cold and the Numba One is warm, and there is peace and goodwill to all, and the little fat man says "Ho ho ho!"

Blessing of the Lord

MLA