Earth Day

You can do your part... take care of it.
(Stars rotating around the chimney stack on Cape Cornwall, England.)

Wine: Aeration and Aging

Crudely, the molecular changes known to unfold in a sealed wine bottle that has been laid down for years involve the gradual interaction of oxygen and wine. Simple chemical compounds break down and recombine into more and more complex forms called polymeric phenols. Acidity and alcohol soften. The largest compounds - the harsh, astringent tannins - drift down into a carpet of sediment, taking with them the saturated, inky pigments. They leave behind a mellowed, unfathomably subtle flavor and brick-red hue. Everything knits together, resolving into an ever finer complexity expressed fragrantly in the wine's bouquet.

At least that's how it is supposed to work. Just as oxygen yellows newspapers and browns apples, it spoils wine, but the process is more complex. There is also a beneficial oxidation that helps a wine mature. Paradoxically, wine is improving even as it is being destroyed; time will kill a wine, but is also necessary to make it great. This dual process is visible after a bottle has been opened. Aeration of wine - whether by decanting a bottle, swirling one's glass, or sloshing a mouthful around - is a form of controlled oxidation. The aim is to improve the wine by helping it open up after its long confinement in a bottle. Leave an uncorked bottle or glass out too long, and it will be ruined.

The trick that the greatest old bottles of wine pull off is keeping long enough to blossom. The tiny amount of air in a bottle of wine, the porous cork that allows a slow exchange of oxygen over decades, the coolness of a cellar that decelerates chemical reactions in the wine, the humidity of a cellar and horizontal storage that ensure a cork stays moist and maintains a seal - all these practices are aimed at fostering beneficial changes while deterring destructive ones. A wine is considered mature when it has maximized its flavor possibilities but has not yet begun to deteriorate. (an excerpt from The Billionaire's Vinegar, Benjamin Wallace)

It was on the cart path!

Gerald Ford's Got Style!

Check out the laser on his forehead as he starts standing up!

No more sticks.

Everyman

"There's no remaking reality. Just take it as it comes.
Hold your ground and take it as it comes.
There's no other way."

~ Everyman, by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006)

A little light reading...

The full text of the other white meat,

the Stimuless,
click the following for (i) Appropriations; (ii) Tax package.

And to effect the foregoing,
the full text of the "Over-Stuffed" Turkey,
the Budget... cluck here.

The Obama Inauguration

We doubt you missed it, but the inauguration of President Obama was an incredible event and the speech hit the appropriate tones and notes. Click here if you want to watch it again.

Becoming President

Inauguration

Regardless of politics and in light of the upcoming inauguration, we should all wish our President-elect good luck and hope he does what is best for our country in these difficult times.

I have been reading a great deal about patriotism this holiday season. I hope that people in this country understand that patriotism is not just blind support for the government or a certain administration, but it is support for the philosophical and moral underpinnings of American society. Part of such American ethos is the idea that the opinions of others should be respected and have a right to voice such opinions. No matter how spirited a debate may be or how hot emotions run, Americans should understand that our society was founded on the belief that people have a right to oppose things that they do not feel are right. I have met many people who feel that those with differing political opinions are ignorant, misinformed, lack integrity, etc. If you proceed from the assumption that those who think differently from you are wrong or lack character, you are dishonoring the purpose and intent of this country's founders. While you may disagree, the ability to disagree is one of the things that makes this country so great.

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.