One of the things I really find attractive is the two-tone look. Chess boards made with a dark wood and a light wood look rich. Old tube radios often had two-tone laminates, and are sometimes stunningly intricate and beautiful. So that's a look I really like, and there are a lot of other great looks.

What are your favorites?

Read an interesting post about speaker cone coatings. Beyond shellac and varnish. GILT! Yes, some guys at full range are gilding cones with gold leaf! Could be interesting. Maybe try the 95 cent drivers first. Hey Wayne, does Alona know about Guesso? You know the gold paint/plaster coating on Icons?

Did you watch the History channel special about relics? Yikes! Fingers and guts and stuff. The Uncorruptables endure having their fingers and limbs pulled off and sent around the world.

OK. That's way off-topic and not even in particularly good taste. The moderator will probably need to deal with me very strictly.

More trivial trivia - Most Russian nouns end with a consonant if masculine or "a" or "ya" if feminine. Not all nouns, of course, but most. There are exceptions (neuter nouns), like "moloko" is milk and "delo" is routine matters. "Guesso" must be groovy special shellac.