Latest writing...

For those who want to keep up on what I'm doing, I'm still keeping busy, although taking a brief breather now that the election is done.

I'm excited about a small project I took on earlier in the year that just launched - the California Legacy Trails, part of the California Museum of History, Women and the Arts. I wrote the intro script for the Remarkable Women's Trail as well as for the Legacy Trails, both read as an introduction to the trails, by Dana Eastwood (wife of Clint, former news anchor, board member of the museum). It was an exciting project and it's fun to see my words in action.

I'm now writing regularly for the Personal Democracy Forum and techPresident, focused on emerging information technology in government and campaigns, respectively. PdF features articles about uses of social media and new online tools around the globe in communities and governments. techPres keeps up with the campaign beat - the latest and greatest of "how the candidates are using the web". Both sites contain fascinating stories and information every day, and I'm excited to be a part of their team. Check out my blog there.

I continue to write about figure skating for BlogHer, keeping me engaged in the sport I know and love. I recently covered Skate America and Skate Canada and I'm looking forward to writing about the U.S. Nationals January 18-25.

I have a couple of other new projects I'm excited about as well, that I look forward to writing about soon...

Two Great Chronicle Articles: Web to TV & Blogging with Babies

In today's Chronicle, two interesting articles:

First, "Web sites enable campaign TV ads on the cheap" by Joe Garofoli tells about how the web and sites like VoterVoter.com and SpotRunner.com are making video ads easier and cheaper to create and disseminate, and it discusses the ramifications of this in terms of the presidential campaign.

Micah Sifry of techPresident (and the Personal Democracy Forum) is quoted about how technology and "mass participation" is changing the face of politics. Anyone who has worked in a statewide or national campaign knows that the majority of campaign budgets go to TV advertising even now with the Internet gaining speed and digital democracy becoming a more prevalent term.

Still, the majority of voters are reached through television and it's expensive. This is why the Internet staff always takes a back seat in terms of campaign strategy; it's just a fact that television still makes the rules. I see the tides turning, but it will take time. Sites like these will help with the transition to new media as new generations of voters who are online gradually become the majority.

Second, one of my co-contributors at the Silicon Valley Moms Blog Group, Charlene Li is mentioned in Ellen Lee's article, "In parenthood, sometimes a blog is born," which I know from personal experience has many truths. Granted, I wasn't twittering from the delivery room, but blogging helped keep me sane while on bed rest and going through a lengthy postpartum recovery.

The article also quotes Elisa Camahort Page, BlogHer cofounder, and it throws around buzzwords like Web 2.0 as much as possible to get socnet cred. What is most poignant about this piece to me are the stats about how much moms are targeted now in advertising online. It's always been that way on TV, but now mommybloggers are discovering their power with corporations and other sponsors to this effect. Beth Blecherman has a great post up at SVMoms that touches on this, and I think it may be eligible for some kind of "most links in a post" award.

StumbleUpon and South Park Create-A-Character Game

Chuck has become addicted to StumbleUpon and has been flooding my inbox with his stumblings... I haven't gotten to half of them, but this one caught my eye and I must admit, it's really fun - a South Park Create-A-Character game. I created a Kenny, Angel of Death, complete with a halo and wings, splattered with blood and wearing a Slayer logo on his shirt, carrying a chainsaw to complete the look and with the spooky forest behind him. You'd really have to see it for the full effect. It's like playing virtual paper dolls with your favorite cartoon.

YouTube Videos a Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

I know their strategy - I've figured it out. The Republicans are the ones really behind the videos like "1984", "Obama Girl" and "I Feel Pretty" (or whatever it's called - aka, Edwards's hair). They purposely chose images and audio that would get stuck in our heads and cause psychological trauma in order to weaken us, and it's working. Now every time I have a quiet moment or read an article where Barack Obama's name is mentioned, that infernal song immediately forces itself into my mind. It's like Voldemort to Harry Potter or the ring to Frodo - I just can't shake the thing. So my only conclusion must be that it's a vast right wing conspiracy. The only recourse I have is to then start singing "I Feel Pretty" and picturing Julie Andrews in my head instead of the Presidential candidates. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

BlogHer Second Life Politics Panel - Audio/Video Online

The panel I was on in online at the BlogHer Second Life conference on Saturday was recorded on TV in Second Life so it is now available for viewing on the SLCN.TV web site. I called-in from the Chicago Navy Pier conference center so that's my real voice in the recording. My avatar is the extremely pale, red-headed cybergoth. Watching the avatars doesn't show much except the avatars sitting on stage, but listening to the audio you can hear me and my co-panelist, padlurowncanoe dibou (Kathy Walker), to my right, discussing the topics. Queen Tureaud (Erin Vest), organizer of BlogHer in Second Life, also moderated. There is a slight lag in the conference call-in system so expect more pauses between speakers and occasionally there's some audio feedback but otherwise the recording is very clear. (Note: If you use a Mac, don't run the Quicktime video in Safari - try Firefox instead.)

The panel discussion begins with some information about candidates in Second Life and how that's working, what people do at the candidate headquarters in Second Life, and how the official campaigns have responded so far. Then we discuss political blogs and candidate blogging, along with topics related to social networks and other online tactics for campaigns. We responded to questions IM'd to our avatars by other Second Life residents, and carried on discussion about where we think online campaigns will go in the future.

Some background on candidates and campaigns in Second Life: Second Life is this virtual world with "8 million residents" around the world. They say about 100,000 people log on each week. Four of the current leading presidential candidates have campaign headquarters there - Clinton, Edwards, Giuliani, and Obama - but it seems that only Edwards and Clinton are doing much. The person who started the Clinton headquarters is my co-panelist, although her headquarters in Second Life has not been officially connected to the people in real life. When I visited the virtual Clinton HQ, for example, the most developed of the group, it was very different from a real life campaign headquarters - it has a piano lounge, a lecturn for speeches, an area for swimming, and a nice comfy couch area for conversations. My co-panelist made the interesting point that if someone in Second Life wants to visit a campaign HQ, they want their activities to be different and more recreational than in real life. So I think they have done a good job of creating that environment there as a way to gain interest for the candidates.

I think the conclusions we reached in the panel were that Second Life is still a very experimental place in terms of politics - most of the campaigns are not in-tune with what's happening there and haven't spent much time or resources on it - but that it's likely if Second Life continues to grow as it has, that they will take notice and put more efforts in later in this campaign and definitely down the road in future years. That echos other thoughts from our panel and other BlogHer political panels about how use of the Internet in campaigns is growing in genearal (blogs, social networking sites like MySpace, YouTube videos, etc.).

I enjoyed participating in the panel in Second Life. There was a slight learning curve involved in getting my bearings in the Second Life world and visiting the candidate headquarters there before the panel presentation, but the panel itself was just like being on a conference call while controlling a game character and instant messaging simultaneously. I stayed online for a few minutes after the panel to meet a couple of the questioners in the Second Life audience as I would have in an in-person conference, and then returned to the real life politics panel at BlogHer.

You can see all of the Second Life BlogHer panels here.

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Who doesn't look for some of the best jokes online? Create an amusing atmosphere with some good jokes. To tell a joke brightens up people's day, and some political humor works best. When you're at work, try some hilarious jokes before getting to the serious business.

FREE Debate Viewing & Party At New Hillary Clinton SF HQ on Monday

Everyone who visits this blog is invited to the grand opening of the Hillary Clinton for President Northern California Headquarters this Monday night, July 23rd at 1122 Howard Street, top floor in San Francisco. (That's South of Market, between 7th and 8th. Easy highway access.)

The fun will begin at 4pm with the debate viewing on CNN/YouTube. Then the party begins at 6pm. Meet Clinton supporters, local elected officials, volunteers and political friends. See a real campaign office in action. No charge.

It doesn't matter if you support Senator Clinton or not, and I don't care if you're a Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, Socialist, Communist, etc... if you're interested in watching the debate and you're willing to consider voting for her, you're welcome. It's not often you get invited to a political event like this. The energy involved in this campaign is really exciting. Be a part of the process and witness history in the making.

RSVP to mmartin(at)hillaryclinton(dot)com.

P.S. Check out my new blog, 1st Lady POTUS, at hillaryclinton.com. Sign up to volunteer and you can start one too!

Live Earth Store & Charity Auction

Live Earth is going strong with concerts still happening in the U.S.. If you want to get an eco-friendly t-shirt or belt to support the cause, check out the Live Earth Store. They have shirts made from bamboo and organic cotton as well as belts from recycled fireman's hoses. They look great too! Also take a peek at the shop if you want to see the auction of "high profile concert memorabilia" (via eBay) and a way to purchase carbon offsets, check out this Live Earth Shop link.

Also check out this cool widget for watching the Live Earth Charity Auctions...

Celebrate Live Earth & 77 Survival Skills

So Live Earth started 3 hours ago in Australia and will continue around the globe all day today. Some of my favorite musicians are performing all over the world, but if I had to choose, I'd be in London where Genesis, Madonna and Metallica will all be on stage. Quite a mix. But if you can't be in any of the great cities where the concerts are happening, they're all on XM Radio and many will be broadcast on the Sundance Channel. Better yet, MoveOn.org is hosting a global "Party for the Planet" care of anyone who wants to throw one. Bonus track: Presidential candidates preview their plans for the environment. (See their site for more info.)

As Nadine mentioned, the Global Warming Survival Handbook contains some great tips for what we can all do to be green, good, sustainable and responsible. I reserved my copy and got it in the mail last week - it's very well written, with a brief synopsis of ten easy things we can all do at the beginning, and then a 2-page spread for each of the 77 things throughout the book. Some of them are funny, a la the Worst Case Scenario handbooks, but they get the point across: act now or suffer the consequences later. See some of the "Climate Crisis Solutions" online.

I urge everyone to read Al Gore's article from the New York Times about where we are now, how urgent the climate crisis is, and how the U.S. government must act in order to save the planet over the next ten years. And sign the Live Earth pledge and learn more at algore.com about how to get involved.

Newsweek poll shows all Dems ahead

Each of the respective campaigns will be spinning this however they can, but the news is that the latest Newsweek poll has all 3 top Democratic presidential contenders beating out all 3 top Republican contenders. Margins differ of course, but the top match-up is Yankees v. Mets... Clinton edges out Giuliani (whose name hopefully I'll be able to spell without looking it up every time I post before the primaries are over), the current most likely scenario.

However, before everybody on the left coast starts celebrating, let me remind the stats obsessed out there that polls are just, well, polls. They are essentially meaningless and although there's a lot of weight put on them, the prevailing wind can always change and for those of you who think just because Bush is in trouble that the Dems have it "in the bag", that's not necessarily the case. The Republicans always have their trusty dirty tricks hat from whence cometh various kinds of rabbits. My money is on them pulling Bin Laden out of some hole a la Saddam Hussein come September of next year, although it's just as likely the guy and his dialysis machine have both been gathering dust since before the twin towers came down... but hey, if they can preserve Lenin's body for this long in Red Square for millions of tourists, they can preserve Bin Laden's in a cave. I digress..

There's a Democratic forum on TV Thursday evening (live on PBS and then replayed later on local networks). I haven't heard much from the other campaigns on their plans, but there are Hillary Clinton house parties taking place around the country. Check her web site for more info on the closest one to you if you are interested in learning more. I haven't had time to do as much research on all of the Democratic contenders as I would like, but Hillary is my front runner based on her experience. There are a lot of things I like about Edwards, Obama and Richardson and I would proudly vote for any of them in the general election. And I don't dislike all of the Republicans (although I won't vote for any of them since they have each disappointed me in at least one way or another.)

I'll review the online campaigns again soon... Clinton's been doing some interesting stuff as have Edwards and Obama.

Democratic Debate Winners

I watched both the first and second Democratic presidential debates tonight. I was somewhat annoyed that the questions tonight still related so much to Iraq and healthcare, but some other important issues were touched upon such as the situation in Darfur and the environment. I wish the environment were taking a greater role in the discussion.

According to Time magazine, Gore isn't interested in entering the race but he is interested in making sure the environment is key on the next president's agenda. I'd like to hear him asking the announced major candidates questions. My husband wants to get ex-presidents up there asking questions of current candidates. I think that's an excellent idea. Turn up the heat. Make it like a job interview.

For anyone who hasn't heard the latest poll numbers coming into the debate, supposedly Hillary Clinton is the Democratic front runner at 42% with Obama at 27% and Edwards at 11%. At this point, I believe Senator Clinton will probably win the nomination, so instead of asking the question of whether she can win the general election which many people have been asking (myself included), we need to instead reframe it into a statement of how she will do this. We have no choice. The U.S. and the world can't afford another four years of American Republican "leadership". Many people dislike Mrs. Clinton from her time in the White House, but for everyone who's willing to listen, I hope they'll see there's more to her than meets the eye. I believe she's earnest in her willingness to work hard and rebuild our relationships around the world. We can believe her because she's done it before.

Edwards blasted Clinton and Obama for not showing leadership by quietly casting their votes against funding the war recently rather than making vocal stances. The truth is they were probably too busy campaigning to make stances on the Senate floor, but Edwards' comments seem to have helped him. Daily KOS readers voted that Edwards won the debate, with Obama coming in second and Clinton third.

However, the proof is in the pudding. Who really has executive leadership experience? Clinton showed leadership in the debate itself by responding to Wolf Blitzer about the hand raising on hypotheticals. The others on the stage listened and followed her several times. It was obvious they all consider her the front runner and it was obvious that they all respect her for all that she's done as First Lady and as a senator. I've heard a lot of impressive things about her being able to build coalitions and partnerships across party lines. Now we'll see how she does it to win the general election. I have some ideas, but I'm not going to say just yet what they are.

Bill Richardson is my new dark horse (apart from the obvious Gore if he jumps in). I originally thought Dodd could be one, but I now realize he's too far to the right and just not a charismatic enough speaker to do it. I don't believe Richardson has the political skills to match Clinton, but he's interesting because he's the one Democratic candidate with recent executive governmental experience and he's interesting because he comes across with original, detailed ideas. (Not that I wouldn't be happy with any of these people in the Oval Office; I'd just be more confident in some than others.)

Biden and Kucinich seem to have learned a little since '04. They both are presenting better so far in the debates. I hope Gravel stays in the race for a while. He adds an element that I thought would be missing with Sharpton out. I like that he says what he thinks and doesn't seem to worry about how it comes out. Sure, he'll never win and he probably knows that, but it is interesting how he's helping shape the debate. So for now, I think they're all winners for beginning to get their ideas out to people. Tune in Tuesday night for the Republicans.

Treading Carefully Online & "Good Morning America"/ABC News How-Tos

Internet defamation is hardly new, but the way it can happen to younger people in situations where they are hurt before even entering the workplace is a serious issue. "Good Morning America" put up a segment on this today and I was shown as an Internet privacy expert.

The ABC News video lasts 5 minutes and 22 seconds, of which I'm on for about 6 seconds (1:38-1:44). What's interesting is actually the advice delivered by Tory Johnson slightly later in the segment, also repeated in an article on the ABC News site. The article is entitled "How to Avoid Cyberspace" but that's not really a practical or realistic piece of advice in itself - I'm not sure why they called it that. She's not advocating avoiding the Internet and we all realize that's impossible. She does provide some good tips on fighting and preventing defamatory remarks.

Also, as noted by Kurt Opsahl in yesterday's Washington Post piece, you can sue and you can fight the negative information by posting positive information. I would add to that it's almost easier to post it in other locations on the web rather than getting into direct confrontations on the site in question. The Internet, unlike tabloids, is a 2-way street so you can control the information out there about you to some extent.

Other things I explained to the interviewer:
1) I advise my clients - even those who are not political - to think of themselves as candidates when they go online and only put up limited information about themselves that shows them in the most positive light.
2) Treat the people who are causing the trouble like hackers or school bullies - you can't completely avoid them, but you can ignore them - what they really crave is attention.
3) Remember that this type of damage fades over time and whatever's most popular and current out there on the web is going to be what comes up first in search engines.
4) Don't attack the search companies like Google and don't blame the Internet - they are merely vehicles for information and do not have any malicious intent.
5) You can make a difference with what companies do when they are pre-screening potential employees by contacting them and asking them to avoid certain sites.
6) The market drives this activity to a certain extent - if sites get a bad reputation for hosting misinformation, they will lose traffic and other sites will take over the dominant spot in the social networking sphere.
7) Utilize anonymity if necessary, but sparingly - it can still sometimes be traced.

Lessons in Internet Culture on Tomorrow's "Good Morning America"

I was interviewed today as an expert on Internet culture for a segment on "Good Morning America" tomorrow morning about Internet defamation. The piece is related to the Washington Post article, "Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web" that broke today about law students who believe that derogatory misinformation online hurt their chances for jobs after law school. I'll blog more about this issue later after seeing the segment - there's a lot to be said about the dangers involved, especially for young people. I was told the video would most likely be online later in the day.

Apple's On Fire - Latest & Greatest from Cupertino

I wish I had time to go into all that's happening with Apple this week, but here are the highlights: they're changing their name from Apple Computer just to Apple. Woz (Steve Wozniak) thinks it's a smart move, according to Bloomberg. Nobody but stockholders ever see the "Computer" part these days anyway.

The "Month of Apple Bugs" is rolling along... and people are tracking the security aspects and posting fixes as well.

Apple TV, the next new new thing in file sharing and TV has arrived. It's like the iPod on TV. Also Apple came to an agreement with Paramount Pictures to sell movies on iTunes, which sounds like a cool deal. That will be the vehicle to transfer files from online to the TV.

And finally, the long-awaited iPhone has surfaced and everybody wants one. Here's one comparison with other smart phones. Unfortunately for Apple, there was another iPhone in 1999, made by InfoGear and bought by Cisco. Supposedly Apple has been trying to get usage of the name for a long time although Cisco held the Trademark for 6 years. They're still negotiating but there is a lawsuit involved now as well. We'll see how it all comes out.

Christy Turlington & Stephen Spielberg Partner for Fashion TV Drama

Style.com reports that "Steven Spielberg and husband-and-wife team Ed Burns and Christy Turlington are said to be making their own TV show based on the lives of five twentysomethings with fashion jobs." This is in response to the success of shows like "Ugly Betty" and "Project Runway". Here is the press release about the upcoming drama series.

Fashion has always been a factor in arts and particularly film and TV, but with the track record of 'chick lit' and shows like "Friends" setting trends for years, not to mention the Style channel and the emergence of a number of fashion blogs, it's become its own TV market. Stay tuned...

Studio 60, Bloggers & What Makes Good Writing

This week's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" episode (it's getting better, by the way, like we all knew it would) had a joke about a woman blogger who was bashing their fictional show where the director thumbed his nose at the blogger saying she was probably (I'm paraphrasing) "in her pajamas with her 5 cats". Well, I'm here to say nothing could be further from the truth. I'm blogging in my nightshirt with my five cats (actually four - one is at the vet overnight.)

Seriously though, as someone who has worked hard to get articles published in paper publications and is currently going through the arduous process of looking for a publisher for a book, knowing how easy it is to get "published" online via a blog does make it an easy target for people in older media to tear down bloggers. Also, bloggers don't necessarily always blog in a traditionally journalistic way meaning some are more news-oriented, others are editorialists and many just want to write about their navel lint like in a diary.

The Palo Alto Weekly yesterday published another article about the Silicon Valley Moms Blog (with two quotes from a post of mine) and I had began wonder why a local newspaper is writing about women in their pajamas blogging, as well as a nationally broadcast TV show? I guess we're a hot commodity. But that will soon pass and then it'll be child bloggers that get the attention: Janey the three year-old prodigy blogging about her stuffed pony's nose ring.

What interests me more, however, is the question of what makes good writing. Because after the blogging hype dies down (soon enough, I'm sure, since we're well past the early adoptor stage), blogging will become like TV talk shows - just another place to change the channels.

I like to think of good writing on four levels: 1) objective - grammatically correct, stylistically accurate text according to major conventions, 2) subjective - appealing to the majority of readers when it comes to language usage, flow and interest, 3) promotion/popularity - the old adage of a tree falling in the forest applies here, meaning it would be a lot more wonderful if more people knew about it, and 4) literary - creative combinations of words into prose that transcends popularity and becomes an object of art standing the test of time on its own.

In traditional (offline) media, most published writers have mastered level 1. They can only hope that the editors did a good enough job choosing the topics and molding the work so it fits in level 2 and connects with a large audience so that publishers can work to make their writing fit into level 3, judged by sales. Level 4 is the elusive quest for excellence that many writers seek but never achieve either from lack of talent, training or both and three is judged by academics who have studied the masters of literature over decades or centuries.

Where blogging fits can confuse people because it tends to be self-managed. Bloggers don't typically have editors and publishing teams that fine-tune the works and there's no screening process. Anyone with Internet access can blog. (I realize I'm stating the obvious here for most people who read my blog, but for the less technical people, I like to spell it out a little.) In the case of the Silicon Valley Moms Blog, however, the reason we attract attention is because we do have editorial and promotional processes. So my hypothesis is that the bloggers that perform highest in levels 1-4 will be taken seriously by all media; and those blogs that are merely wanking will be like the pamphlets left on cars that get tossed in mud in the parking lot.

Time will tell what happens with this blog, but for now, I'm content when most days I can check-off level 1 and get half way through level 2 while still in my nightshirt.

Bad Writing Jobs in Film and TV Land

What is it about TV episode guides that dictates they must be poorly written and loaded with typos? Don't these people use grammar checkers? Don't they know grammar? Aren't they getting paid to write these little summaries for their networks? (Just pick any show and read its episode guide online - you'll see what I mean.)

And what about movie video summaries - "Jane and Martha went on a car ride that changed their lives forever." I'd be willing to bet 9/10 films have their blurbs including that little phrase. Get real. Get creative. Film is art, not revelation.

Let's not forget that most TV still is complete crap. My hopes were lifted when I was first introduced to "The West Wing" and learned there are gifted writers in television. But now with RealityTV taking over everything and Aaron Sorkin's latest fling not quite as hot as his last (IMHO, his legacy), I have to wonder what's next? Each new season, 1-2 shows come out with some writing respectable enough to merit watching them, but it's rare that one really blows me away.

Meanwhile over in Hollywood, there are sequels to movies like "Sixteen Candles" in the works. With all of the starving, wannabe screenwriters out there, they can't come up with better material than that?

Luckily there is still life in the big apple. Tom Stoppard, one of my favorite playwrights of all time, finally has his three-play, nine hour epic, "Coast of Utopia", staged at Lincoln Center, starring Ethan Hawke.

Fashion Week: Shows, Galas & Rocks!

I've written more about fashion this week than I usually would, but for good reason - it's Fashion Week. Actually, that term pertains to New York Fashion Week which started yesterday and goes through the end of next week including a variety of Ready to Wear fashion shows featuring primarily American (and mostly New Yorker) designers showing their Spring 2006-2007 collections. Yes, that's right. It's not even officially fall yet but spring collections are on the runway. That's just the way it works.

So far, BCBG & Alice Roi are the biggest shows that have taken place yet. Later this week will be (roughly in order) Diane von Furstenberg, Thakoon, Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta, Reem Acra, Proenza Schouler, Marc Jacobs, Monique Lhuillier, Bill Blass, Derek Lam, Behnaz Sarafpour, Narciso Rodriguez, Michael Kors, Badgley Mischka, Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, Tory Burch, Zac Posen, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Edun.

Milan and Paris fashion weeks are September 23 - October 1 and October 1 to October 9 respectively. For you guys who have read this far, that's when the sexy Italian and French swimsuits and slinky dresses come out. Check out style.com for that action.

Here in the Bay Area, it was a different kind of fashion week - time to bring out the gala gowns for the annual San Francisco Symphony Opening Gala and San Francisco Opera Opening Gala. I usually attend the SF Symphony event but decided this year was a good year to attend the opera - MTT wasn't conducting any of my favorites and the opera sounded like a good choice. It turns out I was right, but we didn't end up going due to my prolonged recovery. (Still blogging from bed.)

In any case, the news and photos of last night's soiree made me really wish I could've been there. The San Francisco Opera (anyone know why their site is a .com vs. a .org?) performed Giuseppe Verdi's "Un Ballo in Masxhera" ("A Masked Ball") with Deborah Voight as its diva du jour. Some people even arrived in masks. David Gockley, the new Opera Director, has been getting some good press.

And for more fashion fun, Elton John hosted "Fashion Rocks" at Radio City Music Hall on Thursday night, aired last night on CBS. Performers included David Bowie, Billy Idol, Duran Duran, and Gwen Stefani. Sorry I didn't give out more advanced warning on this one - not sure if/when it will be on again. Tivo is the project manager for that. I just delegate.

For Elton John fans, check out AT&T's Blue Room tomorrow night, Sept. 10 at 7pm EST for EJ's new songs from his new album, "The Captain and the Kid", to be released September 19. We have Rocket Club tickets for his concert in San Jose on the 16th if I'm feeling up to it. (I'll blog it if we go.)

Fantasy Fashion League Begins Again

For many, clothing is a requirement, nothing more. I'm not one of those people. I like to think of fashion as wearable art. Through color, cut, texture and style, fashion can create an incredible visual effect and always makes an impression whether we like it or not. It's also interesting because the same piece can look entirely different on one person vs. the next. And it's fun to combine things the way no one else has.

I blame it on my freshman college roommate. She introduced me to fashion magazines and modeling. Then when I dabbled in the latter, I learned how to mix and match clothing and accessories (today's fashion is more about mixing) and I learned how to create a look for any occasion. Rather than being one of those people who dreads special events, I look forward to the opportunity of putting a new combination of items together. I always liked fashion as a kid, but having some education on the subject allowed me to develop into a lifelong collector.

Through my interest in fashion, I've become increasingly more in tune with designer collections, trends and fashion outlets - the Style channel, fashion magazines, online merchants, and various vendors. I don't know if I would call myself a fashionista, because I'm more concerned with lasting style than momentary trends, but I definitely follow the sport. I like to see how outfits look on people and I find it interesting who chooses to wear what.

Enter the Fantasy Fashion League, the fashion watcher's version to the fantasy football league. Each participant chooses a slate of clothing designers, accessory designers, and celebrities who they believe will get press each day, week, month and special event. It runs from the Emmys to the Oscars, starting this year with last night's 58th Annual Emmy Awards.

It was confusing to sign-up at first, because I expected more celebrity choices than designers and I also expected some sort of point scale relating to ingenues vs. established stars. Gwynneth Paltrow, for example, locked in a huge number of points last year despite being out of the spotlight, whereas Scarlett Johansson, an emerging style icon, gained less points overall. I would've assumed Johansson would have some sort of 6:1 odds vs. Gwynneth's 2:1 to encourage choosing lesser known stars.

Instead, each game "card" allows you to choose which celeb you think will amass more points and give that person a higher multiplier. Points are accrued through coverage in major fashion magazines, TV event coverage, and web sites like Women's Wear Daily's wwd.com and elle.com.

They have public and private game cards so you can start your own fantasy league pools with friends. I haven't attempted any private cards as I was a last minute signup, but it's a way to use the system the way office basketball pools are run. So if you're a fashion fan and want to participate, it's not too late to sign up for either type. Yesterday was just the first day. This league year runs through the 79th Annual Academy Awards held on February 25th. And if you are hosting an Oscar party, you can always run a private pool for one night only. Check it out.