First she checked her email, and answered one from her sister, giving innocuous details of her trip to Australia (to comfort a friend whose husband had dumped her, was the excuse she’d given her sister as the reason for her trip to Australia). Then she checked out a few blogs connected with her business.
The first one she checked was The Miniscule Guide to Art. This blog kept track of all the art thefts throughout the world. While there wasn’t an art theft every day – at least not a major one – there was an art theft every month, and this blog gave all the facts.
Michele pulled up the blog and read the most recent article there with disbelief.
Alarms, cameras not working in museum
CAIRO (AP) — None of the alarms and only seven out of 43 surveillance cameras were working at a Cairo museum where a Vincent van Gogh painting was stolen, Egypt’s top prosecutor said Sunday.
Thieves made off with the canvas, known by the titles of “Poppy Flowers” and “Vase with Flowers,” on Saturday from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in the Egyptian capital.
Prosecutor general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud told Egypt’s state news agency Sunday that the thieves used a box cutter to remove the painting from its frame. He blamed the heist on the museum’s lax security measures, calling them “for the most part feeble and superficial.”
The museum guards’ daily rounds at closing time were inadequate and did not meet minimum security requirements to protect internationally renowned works of art, he said.
Mahmoud added that his office had warned Egypt’s museums to implement stricter security controls after nine paintings were stolen last year from another Cairo institute, the Mohammed Ali Museum. Similar security lapses were to blame in that theft.
Ah, what a fortune she could have made if she’d forgotten this little game with Gus Keller and gone over to Cairo…or indeed, apparently any second or third world country with first class art museums. It appeared that museums were oysters, waiting to be plucked.
But that was just a kneejerk reaction, she knew. She’d long known of the inadequate security measures of art museums in Cairo, but she could never have done anything about them. Indeed, for decades she’d wanted to visit the pyramids, but hadn’t dared do that either.
She knew that she, as a confident, self-assured, free woman of the Western world would just be heart-broken and outraged , to walk through any Islamic city and see the women there scurrying around behind their burhkas…that is, those who were allowed outside their homes without a male escort, if any. And violence toward any man who looked askance at her uncovered head was not out of the question.
No..she couldn’t have gone, and she couldn’t go, no matter how many art objects were there for the plucking. She would continue to send generous donations to Women for Women, to assist her sisters in the Middle Eastern world, and with that she must be content.
Michele sighed heavily. After this depressing news, and the depressing images of women it conjured up, she needed cheering up.
Next she visited Volcano Seven, a blog that covered the work of treasure hunters and the treasure they looked for and occasionally found.
And her eyes did indeed light up when she read:
State undertakes shipwreck survey
A SURVEY of Queensland’s historic shipwrecks has been launched to provide a better understanding of where the historic sites are off Queensland’s coast.
Climate Change and Sustainability Minister Kate Jones said the survey would begin in Moreton Bay and be carried out by the Heritage Branch of the Department of Environment and Resource Management.
The heritage branch has recently taken over management of Queensland’s historic shipwrecks from the Queensland Museum.
“Queensland’s coastline is littered with untold stories under the sea,” Ms Jones said.
“We know there are more than 1000 historic shipwrecks or abandoned vessels along the state’s coast, as well as in our rivers and bays. But in most cases, data on these shipwrecks is scant and often inaccurate.
“Every one of these ships is an irreplaceable archaeological site which can tell us much about the lives of past generations of Queenslanders and others who visited our shores.
“While some wrecks in the Moreton Bay area are well-known such as the Aarhus, there are approximately 50 wrecks reported in and around the Bay listed on the National Shipwreck Database.
“In many cases, the locations listed are imprecise and we know very little about the history of the individual wrecks.
“Through this survey, we will tap into the broad range of skills and equipment within our heritage and marine parks units to locate as many wrecks as possible and determine their significance.”
Ms Jones said there was a wealth of information about unidentified shipwrecks among members of the community, historical researchers and diving groups.
The first stage in this survey would be community consultation, with the department calling on members of the public, research organisations and diving groups to help build up the bank of knowledge on historic sites, starting with Moreton Bay.
“We know the people of Queensland are passionate about our underwater history – and there is a real interest in many of our shipwrecks among the diving community in particular. By working with the community we hope to build a clearer picture about the wrecks off our coast.”
The survey would also locate different types of underwater heritage objects other than shipwrecks, including aircraft.
Sydney, where she was now, was located in New South Wales. Queensland was a state just above this one, and was the state in which Lightning Ridge, the opal mining area she and the rest of her crew would be shortly visiting, was located. How fun it would be to go to the coast afterwards and get in some scuba diving on these ship and plane wrecks. She should even go to Palau and dive among the wrecks there….
Michele nodded. It would be done.
Now, she had some erotica to write.
Dighton & Forrest had reached California, and it was time they were rappelling down the face of George Washington.
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