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The year: 14th -15th Century. The place: Costa Rica. The length: 9cm. (3.54 inches). Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a gold shark brooch?
Queen Elizabeth gives him an order. Plunder and pillage. Board the Spanish galleons of my brother-in-law Philip II. Take the gold ... all of it. Go to Nombre de Dios on the coast of Panama and plunder some more. Gold. Gold. More gold. All you can steal. And so he does. And he returns to England. And the queen bids him to kneel. And she says--and I paraphrase--I reward you Francis Drake ... for having done my bidding. I dub thee knight. Rise ... Sir Francis Drake. Today you have stolen well. Ah yes. All bad deeds go rewarded and don't let no one tell you otherwise.
This all tickles my memory as being part of a subject I tackled once before. If so ... consider this a re-tackle.
Did you know the teeth of a Tiger Shark rest on a spring. Mouth shut ... teeth are pressed back and up against the gums. Mouth open ... boingggg ... teeth spring forward and into place ... ready for the next nibble.
Did you know that the Spanish conquistadors stole gold from the Aztecs and the Incas for their king who never saw one pennyweight because they not only stole for him ... they also stole from him. Clearly ... they were ambi-theftrous.
Did you know that the teeth of the White Shark rank in hardness to steel. It is the only creature in the sea with no natural enemies and it can survive brain damage better than any animal in the world.
Did you know that the discovery of America began the great age of piracy where even Cortez' shipment of gold to the Emperor Charles V was captured by a French buccaneer. Ah mes amis. Today we attack zee ship. We steal all their gold. We seenk their boat. And we make passionate love to their women. En avant!
Did you know the White Shark never gets sick. It has as yet unknown antibodies that protect against every bacterial invader. It is also completely immune to cancer. It can hear sounds a mile away. It is always hungry.
Ah Pierre. Look. What ees that in the water weeth the fin steeking up. Sacré bleu. Eet ees a shark. Off the ship. Quickly now. And don't forget the gold. And the women. Nobody touches the redhead. She ees mine.
Piracy was a lucrative business. But fortunately ... the art is not lost. For somewhere ... somehow ... deep in the heart of South America ... Costa Rican jewelers created beautiful pieces. And one of them ... by sheer coincidence ... related to this tidbit only by accident ... is a gold shark. Perhaps it is a brooch. What else can it be ... other than quite striking. You wanna see?
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits...may I direct you to my home page at
And there ya have it. That's it for this week folks. Catch you all next week. Benjamin Mark
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