I want to add from the Roadshow: the picture of the men with swords was a scene from Kabuki theater.

antiques roadshow

Wow, what fun. My sister and I went to the Antiques Roadshow in Denver. We didn't make it on TV, but had a good time and did get to see some of the celebs. I took two pictures that Jon and I had bought when we went to Japan. I bought the pics in the Gion district of Kyoto. The appraiser told me the picture of the samurai warrior was definitely from the 19th century and was of the utagawa school. She said it was probably once a part of a set of three. She said it was worth about $75. It does have some mildew damage. She was not familiar with the artist. On each picture, the artist's name is in the letters with a red circle's. The other picture is from about 1910 and she was familiar with the artist. It is worth about $110.Both pictures are original woodcuts. She said the framing was really good.
I also took a poster that I bought in a poster shop in Prague. The appraiser asked me if I was Cheque and that he was. He wanted to know what I paid for the poster ($3) and said that was good as it was a copy. He was familiar with the work and said the original would be worth about $300 and the copy I had about $25.

I was writing about a book I am reading "Paul Newman, a life." I wrote that I was writing about Paul Newman, but I wasn't. I was only writing about the book I am reading.
chimera: a fire breathing female monster with a head of a lion, body of a goat and tail of a serpent.
segued: proceed.
anomalous: irregular'

Now I am starting to read a book about Paul Newman. He has been a favorite actor of since I was in high school. So far I have learned he was really old, even by my standards and he was a WWII veteran. Also, he was Jewish and many members of his family are as successful as he was. I'll write more when I read more. It is pretty easy reading. So far, I haven't run across any words I don't know, which isn't good. I want a book to have at least a few new words for me.

I had better finish my "book report" on The Mulberry Empire by Philip Hensher before I forget the whole things.

The historical facts of the book are that from 1838-42 the British were involved in a war (the first Afghan war) against Afghanistan, or maybe it would be more accurate to say IN Afghanistan. OK. The British were established in India and they wanted an alley to the west. So they decided to take over Afghanistan. Well, they supported a has been ruler and tried to put him back on the throne and over throw the ruling ruler. It all gets rather complicated.
Now for the fiction part in the book. The author put real characters and fictional ones in the story. Then he fictionalized lots of things the real characters did and apologized for all that at the end of the book.
Now it sounds complicated (482 pages) and it is, but by reading the book, you get an idea of the situation.
I think the Brits didn't understand the Afghans and somehow thought they could just walk in and tell them how to do things. Well, that didn't work.
I like Philip Hensher books. I have now read two of the four he has written. The other two are not in my library, but I am trying to track them down.
Hensher does a wonderful job of making his people seem so real, with real FEELINGS and real work to do and REAL lives.
I see in his picture in the back of the book, that he looks quit young, 30s maybe. I am glad because I hope he writes a bunch more of these really good books and I also hope the I can talk my library into buying them.
I wonder if anyone else reads these books.

costermonger: a person who sells or hawks fruits or vegetables from a barrow

I am reading "The Mulberry Empire" by Philip Hensher. Overall, it is about British colonization in the early to mid 19th century.
vocab: taranass: Russian carriage, pulled by horses. In summer it has four wheels and in winter the wheels are removed so that it is a slay.