[meteorite-list] China Now Hosts The World's Largest Gem andMineral Show

[Raremeteorites]

I hope everybody has a good show.  Team LunarRock may attend over the 
weekend if members are able to make it out here in time.  It is only a five 
or six hour drive from Nevada so we will make up our minds at the last 
moment since accommodations are no problem this year.  I have some business 
I need to take care of in Tombstone, AZ anyway so I will try to set up a 
meeting with their historian.

I remember getting a good laugh a few years ago by looking at some fake 
offerings at the show.  A vendor was offering up what he called the "David 
and Goliath" trilobite plate which he was asking $14,000.00 for at the 
Ramada Inn. A small and a large trilobite were locked in a death battle with 
the smaller one winning before they were both buried and fossilized.  The 
large one was flipped on its back with the smaller one on top.  The larger 
one had bite marks all over it while the smaller one received no battle 
scars.  The plate even had spectator trilobites gathered around the death 
match.   Mike Martinez and I were laughing so hard that our stomachs hurt 
after seeing this fake fossil plate.  I told the seller it should be sold as 
a piece art since he did such a good job of sculpting it.  He kicked us out 
of his room before I could take a picture of it.  I was so impressed with it 
that I brought some friends back the next day to see it for themselves. 
The seller's door was locked so we could not get in.  I asked the 
neighboring vendor when he thought the seller would be back.  He stated that 
he sold that plate, made his show fees and left early.  I guess there is a 
sucker born every minute.

I needed a good laugh after having my brand new $1,200.00 custom set of 
Oakley Rider prescription sunglasses stolen.  I took them off for a moment 
at the Inn Suites to look at a meteorite under a loop.  I set them next to 
me on the outdoor table in the food section only for a moment and then they 
were gone. The night before, I heard glass breaking at the hotel I was 
staying in.  The next morning there was a SafeLite auto glass repair truck 
replacing several windows in cars that had been broken into.

My advice is not to leave anything lying around and remove all valuables 
from your car.  Property crime in Tucson is number one in the nation.

http://tucson.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/tucson-in-top-for-property-crimes-nationally/article_d5edb12b-0071-57d0-801d-3012a899b7b5.html

Enjoy the show but be careful,

Adam