Episode- The Political Chess Board

From Bruce, The Political Bench Dog...

You all know me as a light-hearted guy, always looking for the fun in life, and I usually like to live up to that image. But recent events have me a little on edge.  You might say I'm slightly nervous. Okay I'm very, very worried. Normally I try NOT to be political-- I never saw the point of, in conversation, raising someone's hackles unnecessarily-- but we're at a dangerous stage in our country's development and it seems that the real truths aren't being disseminated by the media anymore.  

The country is teetering at the edge of our comfortable position as top 'Dog' in the world on many fronts: economic, political and social, to name but a few. We're sending our jobs overseas en masse so the corporations can make more profits (so they can report better earnings to their stockholders, who are us); our bullying international policies are closing down avenues of friendship we've had with other nations for years; we're starting wars for false reasons and killing MILLIONS of innocent people, ostensibly to root out an evildoer named Bin Laden but realistically to line the pockets of aforementioned corporations; and through all this, we're not collecting enough money through taxation to pay for it all, but instead are selling off large chunks of our nation to foreign countries, borrowing huge sums of money (too large to afford the INTEREST on) and allowing extra-national corporations to dictate American policy!

The current administration sees what it is doing as a good thing but I view it as exactly the opposite, and the forecasts by and large agree with me. 

So this video is a reminder to all of you, who hold the power of government in your voting chads, to pay attention to what's important and to elect a thinking man for president. Gather your own information, people! Don't sit back and believe what the idiot box tells you, just because it's in Hi-Def!

About The Project: 

I don't play chess. I don't play checkers. But this project seemed the perfect foil to spread my message. After all, doesn't the term 'chess board' pop up often when discussing political maneuvering? 

I thought I was using oak and mahogany, but the mahogany was really light and the oak (and I don't think it was oak, so I'm going to call it ash on the video) was really dark, so as a chess board, the wood needs to be more carefully chosen for final hue. Because these are reclaimed boards (the 'oak' is leftover flooring and the mahogany is from a hundred-year-old door jamb) I had to machine them for uniformity, as well as removing any prior machining marks. It was very important to account for all future saw kerfs when I planned the size of the squares.

My big problem came with finishing. I'm no expert by a long shot, and I have been experimenting with shellac, water-based polyurethane finish and tung oil (though not at the same time!). I don't have a finish area, so I'm staying away from lacquer for now, though I know that it is a beautiful finish. But when I tried to use shellac, it created a lumpy, wet look that was really junior high shop class in appearance. I used the 3 lb cut straight out of the can-- I think I need to thin it next time. So I scraped and sanded it off, then laid in a tung oil finish which was not as glossy, but looked very homey. Any ideas for better finishes and how to apply them would be greatly appreciated.