Happy Holidays from the White House!!!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank United Telephone and Telegraph for their lovely Christmas gift -- a solid gold telephone!

The Board loves Christmas music. To assist those looking to create a playlist full of traditional, non-mavericky Christmas tunes, here is our definitive list, also:

The Board's Top 40 Christmas Songs

(in alphabetical order)

1. Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful) - Luciano Pavarotti
2. All I Want for Christmas is You - Mariah Carey
3. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Tom Jones & Cerys Matthews
4. Carol of the Bells - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
5. Caroling, Caroling - Nat King Cole
6. Christmas in Killarney - The Irish Rovers
7. Christmas is All Around - Billy Mack
8. Christmas Song - Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds
9. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
10. Christmastime is Here (Charlie Brown Christmas) - Vince Guaraldi Trio
11. Deck the Halls - Treorchy, Morristonm, Orpheus & Pontarddulais Male Choirs
12. Do You Hear What I Hear? - Bing Crosby
13. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
14. The First Noel - Frank Sinatra
15. Gloria (In excelsis gloria) - Atlanta Symphony Chorus
16. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Ella Fitzgerald
17. Good King Wenceslas - The Irish Rovers
18. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Lumiere String Quartet
19. Have a Holly Jolly Christmas - Burt Ives
20. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Jane McDonald
21. The Holly and the Ivy - Clare College Choir
22. I'll Be Home for Christmas - Jordin Sparks
23. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - Bing Crosby
24. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams
25. Jingle Bells - Rosemary Clooney
26. Joy to the World - Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
27. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow - Dean Martin
28. Maria Durch Ein Dornwald Ging - Vienna Choir Boys
29. Messiah: 42. Chorus: "Hallelujah" - Chicago Symphony Chorus
30. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - Linda Ronstadt
31. O, Holy Night - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
32. O Little Town of Bethlehem -Nat King Cole
33. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Dean Martin
34. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - The Jackson 5
35. Silent Night - Frank Sinatra
36. Silver Bells - Rosemary Clooney
37. Sleigh Ride - Mitch Miller
38. The Twelve Days of Christmas - The Spinners
39. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
40. Winter Wonderland - Peggy Lee

Workin for Scratch

We have three candidates for the Board's sharp new car. Help us pick one.

The first is the 2009 Mercedes C350 Sports Coupe: class, class, class. To Vote, click "Funny" below.The second is the 2009 Audi S5: streamlined design to perfection and new to the market. To Vote, click "Insightful" below.
The third is the 2008 BMW M3 convertible: most expensive, but a road-tested superforce. To Vote, click "Delete" below.

What is "Dark Wood"?

What does it mean to be Dark Wood? Stay tuned...

(Pictured above: Off the Record, the bar at the Hay Adams hotel in Washington DC)

Jelly Beans

We are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams...

The American Way

Excuse me, let me tell you something ... When America opened up the floodgates and let all us Italians in, what do you think they were doing it for? Cause they were trying to save us from poverty? No, they did it because they needed us. They needed us to build their cities and dig their subways-and to make them richer. The Carnegies and The Rockerfellers: they needed worker bees and there we were. But some of us didn't want to swarm around their hive and lose who we were. We wanted to stay Italian and preserve the things that meant something to us: honor and family and loyalty... and some of us wanted a piece of the action. Now we werent educated like the Americans but we had the BALLS to take what we wanted! And those other folks, those other... the, the JP Morgans; they were crooks and killers too but that was the business right? The American Way.

Ethan Edwards

"What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me! Long as you live, don't ever ask me more."

Transferring Risk and Money

Even though we're all sort of part of it, it's probably a good thing that the era of "deals" and "finance" from the mid-80's until now is dying. It was briefly interrupted by the tech boom, but only kind of, as the tech boom fueled it as much as anything, but it seems like it would be better if the next generation focused on producing and inventing things other than structures for transferring risk and money. This is against the Board's interest, but in America's interest, and the Board is pro-America.

Around a Half Million!

Bick Benedict: "I know your horse is going to miss you and all this nice, green country, but... Ill try to make him happy in Texas. "

Mrs. Lynnton: "Isn't Texas green, Mr. Benedict? "

Bick: "No, ma'am, not altogether."

Sir David Karfrey: "You must tell us about Texas, Mr. Benedict."

Bick: "It's not that easy. It's different than any other state, I think. At least that's what we think. It's almost a different country."

Sir David: "From an Englishman's point of view, its mere size takes your breath away.
Bick: "Yes, it's big all right."

Mrs Lynnton: "How large are your ranches?"

Bick: "Most every size. Large and small."

Mr. Lynnton: "Mr. Benedict's Reata is one of the largest of them all."

Sir David: "Oh, really? And just how large is that?"

Bick: "It's one of the biggest."

Mrs Lynnton: "How big is that?"

Bick: "There are one or two others as big, I suppose, up where we come from... and some larger ones on the coastal plains."

Sir David: "Can't you be more specific? What's the size of your place? 20,000 ? 50,000 acres?
Bick: "Around a half million. 595,000 acres, to be exact."

Mr. Lynnton: "I'd call that quite a parcel!"

Mrs. Lynnton: "How many acres did you say, Mr. Benedict?"

Leslie Lynnton: "He said 595,000 acres, Mama. And you should see the greedy look on your face."

I'm very pleased you were all able to come from such distances to be with us today

The Board has a blog. Let the celebration begin.