June 6, 2003
Greetings Accumulators!
Aha! I have it on good authority that there will be no rain in New York
City today. This is important because it is the only day this week we have
been given such a guarantee. Tomorrow, it's back to wet stuff. Thank
goodness He Who Is The Light Of My Life and I have saved all our scuba
equipment. You never know when you'll need to go out for a quart of milk
around here.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF MAJOR MOOD ELEVATORS
Oh yum! The American Museum of Natural History in New York City is about to
unveil a new exhibit that won't just look great and smell great - it'll
taste great too. It will be all about chocolate. To whet appetites for the
exhibit, museum officials unveiled chocolate sculptures of animals and
artifacts concocted by New York pastry chefs on Tuesday, according to WINS
radio in New York. They will be joined later by chocolate sculptures of
reptiles, African artifacts and an Amazonian feather headdress. The
exhibit, named "Chocolate" (what else?) which opens on June 14, will run
until September 7 and will include lectures, tastings and other activities
in conjunction with it. Dig those wild endorphins and meet me online.
STUPID HUMAN TRICKS DEPARTMENT
According to The Associated Press, a man has been convicted in Orlando,
Florida of attempting to sell a collection of moon rocks and meteorites
stolen by three NASA interns last year. Gordon McWhorter, 27, was convicted
Wednesday in federal court of stealing property of value to the United
States and interstate transportation of stolen property. He faces up to 25
years in prison and $250,000 in fines. McWhorter was the only defendant
tried for the July 15 thefts from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Tiffany Fowler, 26, Thad Roberts, 26, and Shae Saur, 20, the three interns,
have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft and interstate
transportation of stolen property. They will be sentenced Aug. 5. The
stolen rocks came from every Apollo mission from 1969 to 1972. The FBI
began investigating in May 2002 when a Belgian rock collector alerted
investigators to Internet offers to sell moon rocks for $1,000 to $5,000 a
gram. McWhorter, Roberts and Fowler were arrested in Orlando, and the rocks
were found in their possession, according to AP. The rocks, meteorites and
NASA records documenting their authenticity were stored in a fishing tackle
box, according to court records. Saur was arrested in Houston the same day.
Jeez, I could have provided them with all the rocks they could ever want.
Up at the country house rocks are our primary crop.
SPY MUSEUM OPEN AND THRIVING
A couple of years ago I wrote here about The International Spy Museum under
construction in Washington, DC. It is now open, and they have a web site
too. The site is quite useful if you're planning a trip to the museum, but
it also has a funfeature: games like Whack A Spy, and Codemaking and
Breaking. Whack A Spy gives you a chance to wipe out Cold War moles like
John Walker, Robert Hanssen, and Christopher Boyce. There's plenty of
information on each, and a trivia bonus question. Worth a visit:
LINK.
We're off to the country house tomorrow morning, to attempt to do some
outside work. It's been months since it's been dry enough to do any outside
work there. The grass is now knee-high. Tomorrow night we'll be in
Cuddebackville, enjoying the fun auction and great food at The Old Red Barn
on Rte 211. Also, auctioneer Vince Bambina will be selling items from the
last Montel Williams Show I did - a sectional couch, a cowhide, and some
prints. All proceeds from the sale of these items will go to the Montel
Williams MS Foundation. If you're in the nabe, come by, and bring money -
the furniture is fabulous at The Old Red Barn! Have a great week,
Accumulators. Happy hunting!
Best,
Judith
Best,
Judith
© 2003 Judith Katz-Schwartz. All rights reserved.
Antiques and Collectibles Newsletter #219
U.S. Library of Congress
ISSN 1520-4464
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