I hope you realize I’m not going to subsidize this elitist crap with my tax dollars!
Update: Sunday; September 28, 2008
David Apatoff posted a story of the last king of the Ashanti Empire who, as his last act after being conquered, commissioned a work of art.
The Secret Listener
Imagine. Commissioning a work of art as his last act of state.
In those last days before Prempeh surrendered, he ordered his royal artists to prepare a glorious tunic for him to wear at the surrender ceremony. They worked long and hard to make a “regal robe of mourning” approximately 7 feet by 10 feet, covered with graphic symbols illustrating the culture and history of his people.
…one [of the soldiers] took a fancy to it and “obtained possession” of it.
After many years, his cloak was discovered and rescued. Now it is in the inventory of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.