The Girls of Mitmita have brought in the New Year in our usually fabulous and fantastic way. Between the holidays and inauguration festivities, we haven’t had a moment to sit down and pen our adventures. Nevertheless, we were always thinking of you. By way of appreciation for all of our readers, we thought of sending you many wonderful presents but alas we had just a tad bit invested with Madoff and well… while it wasn't as bad as when we went long in Argentina earlier in this decade, we have been forced to reconsider our financials. Still, we have many, many shoes we can sell should things begin to feel stodgy. And of course we have turned ourselves into bank holding companies a la Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and are standing in line to receive our bailout.
Meanwhile internet services had been interrupted due to ummm…a virus, we are told. We are by no means conspiracy theorists—we think it would wreck havoc on our complexion to continuously believe that people are actively working against us. (Besides its much better to contemplate how the layoff at Chanel will affect the 2009 fall collection…) Yet we couldn’t help wondering if this virus was man made. Similar to how SMS not so mysteriously disappeared after it was evident that it was used as an organizing tool during the 2005 “elections” in Ethiopia. Every time the Prime Minister hears rumblings of democracy, he magically violates a fundamental human right. We think it would do him some good if he just included some fiber in his diet. Might ease the tension. Or perhaps he can go to one of those Moroccan baths in Addis that are all the rage nowadays. We are much more partial to the butter (kebay) spas ourselves, but for someone who is not an authentic Ethiopian like our prime minister, perhaps we should start him off with something less potent than our kebay steam baths.
We especially think that some kind of retreat is essential for dear Meles because not only are his military endeavors complete failures, but his supposed “cultural” pursuits are also pure flops. Case in point: we are tickled that miles away from Addis, in Seattle, Washington, our illustrious Prime Minister's policies are being shunned. Remember that ill-fated journey of the oldest woman on the planet from Ethiopia to the display cases of a second rate museum in Houston and then to another one in Seattle? Guess how the mother of humanity is being received? Not royally! Not even with champagne and red carpet. The Guardian is reporting that no one is showing Dinkenesh any love. It seems as though the crowds that were supposed to be flocking to see Meles' ingenious prostitution of the most precious bones in the world didn't get the memo.
He built it and they didn't come.
According to the President of the Pacific Science Center, only 60,000 of the expected 250,000 visitors have made their way to the museum in Seattle that is currently displaying Dinkenesh. Worse yet, the expense of exhibit seems to be a drag for Pacific Science Center. Other institutions have bowed out of consideration for financial considerations and because of the strong opposition by many scientists and curators to the tour. Dinkenesh is too fragile to withstand the arduous schedule set out by Meles’ cabal.For many museums, it would appear that cost/benefit analysis just doesn't make sense. The exhibit cost the museum in Seattle over two million dollars and the hordes which were supposed to make all of it worth it, haven’t shown up. So the museum will be in the red. But just like a thief who in the midst of chaos, sneaks in and robs you, Meles is getting his share—by hook or by crook. Specifically, as the pimp, he gets $500,000 from Dinkenesh’s work in Seattle. No details are available for his payment from the Houston Museum. The article remarked that the $500,000 would be used for ummm “cultural and scientific programs” in Ethiopia. Our sides are still hurt from all the laughing.
Sure some may argue that it was the bad economy rather than people shunning the exhibit that contributed to the ennui surrounding the whole thing. But we Mitmita Girls know all about the allure of Dinkenesh. We wouldn't put it past her to have haunted the whole thing and cast a vengeful spell that made people stay away. The original Mitmita Girl is crafty!
Perhaps the most interesting piece of the article was the following statement, attesting to the financial challenges of hosting such an expensive artifact: “[Dinkenesh] may not be anywhere other than Ethiopia after Seattle.”
That is Mozart to our ears! Many of you had offered to buy Dinkenesh a ticket home when the tour first began in 2007. Let us do one better and make it embarrassing and more importantly, financially impracticable for the next museum to host her. We understand that the exhibit in Seattle is ending in March and that the Houston Museum of Natural Science is in negotiations with another museum to host Dinkenesh. Not surprisingly the name of the next museum on the tour is not available as of yet.
We will keep sleuthing; in the interim, let us make some noise and send Dinkenesh home!
Write emails or letters to the addresses below and demand that the Houston Museum of Natural Science of Natural Science end this atrocious and widely condemned tour and send Dinkenesh home:
Houston Museum of Natural Science
One Hermann Circle Drive, Houston, TX 77030
Let us know what responses you get back. The Mitmita Girls are on the case until Dinkenesh goes back home safely. Perhaps our next outing should be a trip to Houston…
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