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Who's Eating Dinner?
The first thing in elegant dining ... as anyone who knows anything knows ... is to eat off silver tableware. Now ... there are probably those of you who would consider such a thing as being extravagant to the extreme and to those I say: You don't know what extravagant is pal.
First ... let's make the meal. How about some duckling ... dripping in it juices. Asparagus ... about five stalks. Garlic mashed potatoes. A couple of sprigs of parsley. All this of course on a plate of pure silver. On the side ... a glass of fine red wine. Are you ready?
The place: Pompeii. The year: 79 AD. The month: August. There are a series of rumblings. The animals are behaving strangely. The birds are suddenly silent. The cats have left town. The dogs are barking without reason. And then ... suddenly ... a tremor shakes the ground with a sound like thunder. A temporary calm ... and then catastrophe. There's a mighty explosion. Sheets of fire are shooting up from Vesuvius. The city is in ruins. Many escape. Many die. Many struggle to gather their finest possessions before it's too late.
Slaves are sent out with sacks laden with gold and silver. Here. Take this. Make haste. Bury it well in yon well. And they go. One slave did indeed bury her master's treasures ... but she did not make it back. She worked in a villa at Boscoreale ... outside of Pompeii.
And there the treasure lay ... till 1895. There were gold coins. Silver jewelry. And silver plates. But there was one ... one plate ... that stood out. It clearly ... quite clearly ... belonged to the owner of the house. I believe this fellow had a slight taste for the macabre.
Is there not one of us alive today who does not dream incessantly of having one's portrait hanging in the Blue Salon in majestic splendor while overlooking one's domain. We all want that. It's a normal urge. Ah ... but the owner at Boscoreale ... he expanded on this mundane little penchant we all have ... and he took it a step further.
I will not tell you what it is. You will have to go look for yourselves. And imagine the dinner described above ... steaming in fragrant grandeur on this man's silver plate. You pick up your fork ... you smell the vapors ... and you lean forward for that first delicious morsel ....
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And there ya have it. That's it for this week folks. Catch you all next week. Benjamin Mark
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