December 2009

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I haven’t seen it, and won’t. I don’t have to, I’ve seen “Dances with Wolves”. Vman has what is probably the most perfect review. Steve does a typically remarkable job here.

Why in the world do people- like James Cameron- people who have the money and power to do anything and everything they want, no matter how moral or illegal- feel they can dress up a tired and demonstrably wrong message with megabuck special effects and somehow that will make it true?

Who does this help, really?

Spoke with a dear old friend the other night. A friend who was on hard times before the magic unicorn took office, and who is now up shits creek. She is one of the “uninsured” everyone keeps talking about.

“What do you mean access to health care? I have access to health care. It’s at my doctors office. I need access to a JOB, to PAY for health care.”

She further states that she will now be forced to buy insurance she cannot afford, which will do nothing to help her, as it will be directed at covering catastrophic illness, and not dealing with the chronic issues she suffers like blood pressure and diabetes. The money she needs for her diabetic supplies will be spent, instead, on basically useless insurance, lest she get fined and prosecuted, which of course she can’t afford either.

I understand that the plural of anecdote is not data, but I’m pretty confident this scenario is playing itself out in a lot of homes right now.

OK, I’m not a photographer

but this is the kind of finish you can get with Minwax Antique Oil

carbine01.png

here’s another shot that maybe shows off the grain. It’s hard to get a decent picture with the flash. Maybe I should take it outside when the light is gray and diffuse.

carbine02.png

The photograph does not do it justice at all.
You can apply the oil, wait ten minutes and buff wiht burlap or coarse cloth, and it gives a deep matte luster, or you can simply let it dry, and it turns shiny.

I’ve been steel-wooling it after each coat, to let it fill the grain, which has worked wonderfully. I can still give it another coat and buff it, which will leave the finish matte and lustrous, or shiny and pretty. It’s a tossup. One way or the nother, it looks great.

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