MSGID: 1:153/716.0 f6f83c35   
   REPLY: 2:221/6.0 5f6b4450   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to All:   
      
   AK>  From "The Gun Seller", by Hugh Laurie.   
      
      
             Ah, thank you for sourcing this excerpt at the outset.  I understand   
   much more clearly what's going on when I know the author is British....  :-)   
      
      
      
   AK>  I was ushered into a large, oak-panelled room, with   
   AK>  shelves of Regina versus The Rest Of The World on   
   AK>  three walls, and a row of wooden filing cabinets   
   AK>  along the fourth.   
      
      
             As with Agatha Christie's stories, a person's surroundings & the way   
   s/he is dressed speak volumes.  I gather this man specializes in criminal law.   
      
      
      
   AK>  There was a photograph on the desk of three   
   AK>  teenage children, who looked as if they'd been   
   AK>  bought from a catalogue,   
      
      
             Or sent to the "right" schools, at least.  :-Q   
      
      
      
   AK>  and next to it, a signed picture of Denis Thatcher.   
      
      
             Margaret Thatcher's husband, a political conservative....  :-)   
      
      
      
   AK>  I was chewing on the peculiar fact that both these   
   AK>  photographs were pointing outwards from the desk,   
   AK>  when a connecting door opened, and I was suddenly   
   AK>  in the presence of Spencer.   
      
   AK>  And quite a presence it was. He was a taller version   
   AK>  of Rex Harrison, with greying hair, half-moon spectacles   
   AK>  and a shirt so white it must have been running off the   
   AK>  mains. I didn't actually see him start the clock as he   
   AK>  sat down.   
      
      
      
   AK>  1. What is "half-moon spectacles"?   
      
      
             Folks who have presbyopia, a type of far-sightedness associated with   
   advancing age, may wear glasses for "close work" such as reading but push them   
   farther down on their nose or take them off when they are speaking to somebody   
   on the other side of the desk.  If the problem is fairly minor & they can make   
   do with whatever the local drug store has to offer, they may be able to get by   
   that way.  Prescription glasses, while they are more costly, allow for a range   
   of options including "half-sized" lenses which make such antics unnecessary.   
      
      
      
   AK>  2. "a shirt so white it must have been running off the   
   AK>  mains"?   
      
      
             The whiteness of his shirt was dazzling, like that of a bright light   
   ... from which I conclude he could afford to have it professionally laundered.   
      
      
      
   AK>  3. "I didn't actually see him start the clock as he   
   AK>  sat down."   
   AK>  Which clock?   
      
      
             I imagine this man would normally charge by the hour for his work...   
   and would be keeping track of how much time he spent with the narrator even if   
   nobody saw him doing it.  The context appears to suggest this was not a social   
   visit & these two individuals had never met in person before.   
      
      
      
             I hope my comments are of some assistance....  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
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