PoochyB’s Wordstock

But when Ben Bernake gave his twice-yearly monetary testimony to Congress this week he had little to offer but unvarnished and uncomfortable truths.

un·var·nished
adj.  

1. Not coated with varnish: unvarnished floors.
2. Stated or otherwise presented without any effort to soften or disguise; plain: the unvarnished truth.

It helped that Christian Bale, a reluctant smiler whose sharply planed face looks as if it had been carved with a chisel, slid into Bruce Wayne’s insouciance as easily as he did Batman’s suit.

in·sou·ci·ance
n.   Blithe lack of concern; nonchalance.