Megan's Message For "Project Runway's" Suede

Megan's been watching the new season of "Project Runway" and though Megan is happy with it so far, Megan has issues with one of the contestants, Suede.

You see Suede talks about himself in the third person and though Suede seems to think it's funny and distinctive and destined to make him the most famous reality show star ever, Megan finds it to be annoying and pretentious.

Even though Megan appreciated Suede's outfit last week and felt he deserved his win, Megan was sick of hearing Suede constantly refer to himself like, "Suede thinks he's gonna get the win," or "Suede loves his look on the runway," or "Suede kicked ass!"

On last night's episode Megan lost patience with Suede because Suede's love of the sound of his own name went into overdrive.  It was, "Suede this," and "Suede that" and personally Megan is tired of it.

So Megan has a message for Suede:  shut the heck up and let your sewing machine do the talking.

On a different note, Megan thought the judges were too hard on Keith about his ripped up magazine dress last night.   Megan liked Keith's dress and though Megan thought it would have looked better if it had been more fitted, Megan thinks the judges should have cut Keith some slack because his model got switched at the last minute.

Megan's favorite outfits so far have been designed by Terry and Jerrell, though Megan really loved Leanne's sidewalk tree planter inspired skirt and top.  The skirt was a masterpiece and Megan would buy it in a heartbeat.

I'm Obsessed With Battlestar Galactica

I'm four years late to the party but now that I've arrived, I'm never going home.

I'm obsessed with "Battlestar Galactica." When I started watching it on DVD a couple of months ago, I was amazed at how quickly the show grabbed me.  Two TV critics I trust, Robert Bianco of USA Today and Matt Roush of TV Guide have been raving about the show since it started, but I was too busy or had too many TV commitments to watch it.  I was however, always careful not to read too many details about the show in case I ever got around to it.

Boy, am I glad I did that.  The show has so many shocking plot twists part of the enormous fun is not knowing what's coming.

I'm finally up to season four of the series and because the Sci-Fi Channel site has taken down most of season four's episodes, I've had to resort to watching them on low quality, sometimes no audio, bootleg sites---shhhhh, don't tell anybody. 

This remake of the campy classic from the 70's is a first class sci-fi adventure about a 9/11-like attack on the human race by human built robots turned rebels, called the Cylons.  The result is the remainder of the human race, about 45,000 people, are stranded in a convoy of spaceships, protected by the Galactica, in search of a safe haven. 

You see, the Cylons still want to wipe them out and are constantly in pursuit.

The acting is marvelous.  Edward James Olmos as the Captain of the Galactica and Mary McDonnell as the President of the remainder of the human race, spearhead a wonderful cast of young performers, most of whom I'd never seen before, but who have since become understandably popular. 

***Caution, Some Spoilers Ahead***

"The Truman Show" Delusion? I Think Not

You know the movie "The Truman Show?" The one about Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) who discovers his whole life is a TV show? Since the day he was born, he lived on a TV set disguised as a town, was followed by hidden cameras, and his friends and family were really hired actors and actresses.

Well sit down, because I've made a disturbing discovery.  I've discovered I'm the star of "The Megan Show.

Millions of people watch me 24/7 on a special TV channel. I'm the star of a TV show being controlled by a Puppetmaster, who looks like Ed Harris in a French beret. He didn't build a set for me to live in like he did for Truman but he's set up cameras to follow me everywhere I go.

I can feel the viewers' eyes on me. Wanting to know where I go, what I do, how I pick my clothes, how I style my hair, how I choose my blog posts. They want to know the TV shows I watch, the music I listen to, the food I eat.

"In Plain Sight:" Colorful Casting Would Have Made It A Better Show

The lead character on "In Plain Sight" should have been a black woman.   How's that for an opening line?

But I'm serious.  She should have been a black woman. 

Why do I say this?  Because after watching the pilot episode of "In Plain Sight" and several episodes since, I keep thinking:  what a bland show. 

It's kind of like watching a show that's set in New York but was shot on the gritty streets of Toronto:  there's nothing special about it and it's obvious to anyone who's been there, it's not New York.

Right now the lead character's name is Mary Shannon and she's played by Mary McCormack.  How much more interesting would it have been though to cast a black woman or better yet, since it's set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a Native American woman in the lead role?  They could have changed the character's name to Sarah Two Feather.  If she were black, she could have been Renita Johnson. Hispanic?  Consuela Ramirez.

Or since this is the United States of Many Races and Origins, Hispanic, black or Native American, Mary Shannon could still have been the character's name.

Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck & The "N" Word

I'm nearly a week late on this one, but what can I say...I've been busy. Last week there was another big brouhaha at "The View." 

What is with those blasted women?  I go out of town for a couple of days and a whole new race war starts.

I'm exaggerating, but damn, I can't leave those Gabby Girls alone for a second.

What happened was Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Hasselbeck got into over the use of the word n*gger.  It came up because of another loose comment by Jesse Jackson, but I'm not even gonna talk about him. 

When the discussion came up, Whoopi argued that while it is not okay for white people to call black people by that lovely little word that holds so much history and hatred in its six assorted letters, it was fine for black people to call each other n*gger.

Elisabeth countered that no one should use the word.  She argued that just like Italians, Poles and Jews don't run around calling each other the most heinous word that's been used about them throughout history, black people shouldn't either.

The heated discussion became even more press worthy when Elisabeth choked up while saying she hoped that we could all live in a world where the races were together.  This was in response to Whoopi's blunt and true comment that racially speaking, she and Elisabeth don't live in the same world.  To add to the drama, Sherri Shepherd agreed with Whoopi that black people had "retaken" the word n*gger and had every right to use it the way they wanted.

Here's my opinion.

It's horribly offensive if a white person calls me n*gger and it's just as offensive if a black person calls me n*gger.  There really is no difference.

I am and always have been on Elisabeth's side on this one.  No, ifs, ands or buts.

BlogHer '08 Day 2: Meet-ups, Card Swaps, & Dooce

I've returned to my native coast from BlogHer '08 and dude am I tired!  But it's a good tired.

When I left you last, I was basking in the glorious afterglow of the Community Keynote Speeches that closed out the first day of BlogHer '08.

Then it was party time at the club Ruby Skye.  It was sponsored by TNT and had as special guests Gina Ravera who plays Detective Irene Daniels on "The Closer," and two of the writers, Talicia Raggs and Roger Wolfson of "Saving Grace."  Gina is pictured here with reporter Rauhmel Fox.

BlogHers shook their groove thangs to the rockin' music and there was good food and drink aplenty.

Day 2 of BlogHer '08 involved more sessions on subjects of interest to aspiring bloggers and experienced bloggers alike.

It was also the day I led a session for women of color bloggers.  I didn't quite know what to expect, but I was very pleased by the end of the session.  I had the pleasure of chatting with about twenty-five very bright women about what kinds of things they wanted to see at future conferences---a women of color Mommybloggers session was suggested by Sandie Angulo Chen to discuss raising multi-cultural children.

Sandie was accompanied by her own adorable child, little Jonah and almost every time I saw him he was comfortably asleep in his Mommy sling.

One significant point brought up by BlogHer Contributing Editor Gena Haskett was to advise the bloggers to fill out their profiles on BlogHer.  We can't link to them if we don't know who they are and what their blogs are about.

The day before, I had the pleasure of participating in an entertainment bloggers meet-up hosted by myself and Melissa Silverstein of Women & Hollywood.

BlogHer '08 Day 1: The Community Keynote Rocked!

Last night, the first day of the BlogHer '08 conference ended with what has been the hit of the conference so far:  The Community Keynote Speeches.

And I say that not just because I happened to have the honor of being involved.  That's right, last night I got up on stage in front of a grand ballroom full of people and read one of my own posts:   "Michelle Obama Enjoys "The View:" A Recap."

I nearly didn't make it because I got caught waiting for the elevator and then got turned around trying to find the grand ballroom.  By that time, our mistress of ceremonies BlogHer's co-founder Elisa Camahort was calling for me from the stage.

Embarrrrrasing!

Anyway I was third up on stage and once I got there, was very happy I spent all that time in front of the mirror practicing my delivery.  I'm a bit of a ham at heart anyway and I wanted to give the audience their money's worth.  I'd carefully chosen my outfit and felt very comfortable up there in front of the lights and the blur of faces.

I used the time adjusting the microphone to take a couple of deep breaths and then plunge right in.  It was fantastic fun.  The audience laughed where they were supposed to, I got tongue tied only twice, but plunged ahead anyway, and by the end of my reading, I felt such a sense of gratification, because little did I know when I started Megan's Minute a year and a half ago, that last night I would be reading my words to a room full of fellow bloggers who were appreciating what I had to say.

That's heady stuff.

Afterwards, I sat backstage in the tiny Dressing Room A with the other keynote speakers and we had a great time supporting each other, tweeting our thoughts, and making jokes about the very strange "zombie bathroom" as Deb On The Rocks dubbed it.

We listened, we laughed, we cried and we bonded in a way that was very special.

BlogHer '08: A Sumptuous Lunch and BlogHer Preliminaries

Yesterday in San Francisco was action packed.  Since I was so crazy before I left home, I had no time to get the manicure/pedicure that I wanted so I made an appointment at the Westin Hotel spa.

Nothing against my local CiCi Nails, but having your nails done in a spa is the height of luxury.  The New Agey music was playing, the scented candles were glowing, the massage chair was massaging, and Wendy, my pedicure practitioner was treating my feet to a world of pampering.  Ahhhh.

Afterward, I showed off my pretty nails on the #38 city bus.  I took it all the way to the end of the line and the Cliff House.  The last time I was in San Francisco many years ago, I had lunch at the Cliff House overlooking the Seal Rocks.  It was my first trip to California, my first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean and my first delightful experience seeing and hearing barking seals.

Well yesterday after I got off the bus and walked down the hill to the water, imagine my surprise when I realized the Cliff House I remembered had been replaced by a modern Frank Lloyd Wright-esque building of multiple levels.  It turns out the building was renovated and reopened in 2004.  As for the seals, the gentleman who seated me told me that about an hour before the last big earthquake, the seals left and the basically haven't been back since.

What hadn't changed was the gorgeous view of the Pacific and nearby Ocean Beach.  I had lunch at Sutros, one of the two new restaurants and it was amazing. 

Big News At BlogHer '08 & I Made It To San Francisco

There's big news at BlogHer '08 and the conference hasn't even started yet!

But first some tidbits about my travel day from New York to San Francisco:

*I never want to fly any airline but Virgin America again.  Their new high tech, mood lit planes are a pleasure, their cushioned leather seats with the adjustable headrests are super comfortable, and they left on time.  What more could you ask for?

*I took the BART from the San Francisco airport thinking, I'm the big, bad New Yorker who can maneuver her way around any city on public transit.  And I could.  The problem was, when I got to my stop I discovered the "quick" five block walk to the hotel was all uphill.

*I took my first cable car ride and it was thrilling.  Riding by and watching the locals walk up and down those hills, makes me think SF has got to have the fittest population in the world.

*I took the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf, got some dinner, got some sour dough bread for the room and got a cup of Starbucks to go with my peanut butter square of Ghirardelli chocolate.

All in all a very successful travel day, especially considering last night I got a total of three hours of sleep.

As for BlogHer's news, a joint partnership was announced today between BlogHer and NBC Universal.  The agreement will involve NBC's properties iVillage.com, BravoTV.com and Oxygen.com.  It's a partnership that promises to bring more exposure to BlogHer's talented group of women bloggers and all of the blogs in the BlogHer Ad Network.

More details can be found here.

Lance Bass May Need A Partner, But Guy Or Girl?

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Rush and Molloy at the New York Daily News are reporting that former 'N Sync heartthrob Lance Bass is this close to signing on for the next season of "Dancing with the Stars."

According to R & M:

But we hear network execs are already fretting over whether or not to pair the openly gay pop star with a male or female dance partner.

See now I think this is a great dilemma to have.  We've gotten to a point, on TV anyway, where the big deal isn't whether or not a celebrity is openly gay but which sex dance partner he should be paired with.

The thing is, if you know anything about ballroom dancing, the basic steps of any dance are different for the man and the woman.  The man leads and the woman follows.

So which would Lance dance?  The woman's steps or the man's?  Would he dance on the woman's competition night or on the man's?  I guess it would depend on the steps he was dancing.  But then how fair would that be if he was competing against the women?  Makes you think doesn't it?

Personally I think it's a made up dilemma.  Gay or not, he's a man and should dance the man's steps and have a woman partner.  Just because he's gay doesn't mean he should get away with not having to lead.  And if he were to dance the woman's role he should have to wear those foot busting heels and those ball busting costumes.

Now that I'd like to see.

Daisy Tells BlogHer To Stuff It

Daisy's not real happy about BlogHer '08. 

Or more to the point, the fact that I'm going.  You see Daisy's in her twilight doggie years and change of any kind in her routine is greeted with civil disobedience. 

Hunger strikes, sit-ins, candlelight vigils, she's done 'em all.

I've tried to explain to her the importance of this trip, but all I get for my trouble is maniacal barking and lasting views of her backside.

It doesn't help that I was away for three days last week on a trip with my mother and stepfather to Newport, Rhode Island.  Even though I enlisted my cousin as doggie sitter, Daisy was not amused.  When I got home, I'd finished unpacking the car, airing out the house, showering and changing before she even looked at me.

Then I told her about BlogHer and she had a doggie fit.  She was not impressed by my going to meet a bunch of women who sit around all day blogging while ignoring their families, friends and especially their long suffering canine companions.  She was quick to point out she doesn't go running off to Dogster Conferences at the drop of a doggie bone, leaving me alone to fend for myself.

Oh yeah, I thought, paying for Rena, her personal assistant, having my cousin stay over to sit with her, and then having no less than four other backups to take care of her every need...that's leaving her alone.

As you can see Daisy's a big believer in the power of the guilt trip.   But I'm not falling for it.  I'm going to BlogHer '08 tomorrow and Daisy will just have to deal.

And another thing...er, oh sorry...I gotta go, she's barking for me.  For those of you going to BlogHer, see you in a couple of days.

Mario Van Peebles On "Damages"

According to Zap2it, Mario Van Peebles will be joining the second season of the FX drama "Damages" in a recurring role.  You might remember that Peebles was one of the two FBI agents at the end of the first season that recruited Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) to gather evidence on her boss, cutthroat lawyer Patty Hewes (Glenn Close).

What you might not know however is that Peebles also directed one of "Damages" best episodes last season:  Episode 12:  "There's No 'We' Anymore."

All these little tid bits about the show, William Hurt joining the cast, and the potential for Emmy nominations on Thursday, make me anticipate the beginning of the second season even more.  I don't know how I'm going to hold out until January '09.

Ahoy There! Mom Goes For Her First Sail

My mother is a nutjob.   That's right, you heard me...a nutjob.  I know it, she knows it, everybody knows it.

Take the amount of nagging your mother has ever done, multiply it by ten and that will still be a fraction of how neurotically anxious my mother can be. 

To say she worries is kind of like saying the Pope prays sometimes.  And being her only child, I get the pleasure of bearing the brunt of all that "caring" attention.

That's not to say I don't love her, because I do...but she's a nutjob.

That said, I have found ways to set strict boundaries where she's, concerned and as long as those aren't breached we get along just fine. In small doses.

However, my mother, who is afraid of water, went on a sailboat for the first time last week, and I'm here to unequivocally state how very proud I am of her for facing her fear. 

Let me give you a bit of background. 

Last year, for the first time in a couple of decades, I went on a trip with my mother. (See nutjob statement above.)  She, my stepfather and I took an overnight jaunt to Newport, Rhode Island.  We toured the Vanderbilt playgrounds of the rich and famous and had an all around surprisingly good time.  Surprising to me because I didn't come home bald from ripping my hair out.

It was so successful in fact, we decided to make a return trip this year. Out of the blue my mother announced she wanted to take a sailing tour of Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay.  My stepfather and I chuckled and said we'd believe it when we saw it, but danged if she didn't make liars out of both of us.  Last week, the three of us went sailing on the eighty foot Adirondack II. 

The day we went was made for sailing with a brisk breeze and a sun kissed, blue sky.  We arrived for our tour several minutes early and just long enough for my mother to figure out where the life vests were and determine that one of the crew on the boat, Abby, was a lifeguard.  She took that as a good sign even though she had to be convinced that she didn't need to put on the life vest unless the sailboat hit an iceberg.

Is Katherine Heigl A Goner? Let Me Count The Ways

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I suppose it was inevitable.  Ever since Katherine Heigl slammed the writers of "Grey's Anatomy" in her "I didn't have good enough material to submit to the Emmys this year" rant, it was only a matter of time before the clock started ticking on her character Izzie's life on the show. 

It appears her case of David Caruso Syndrome has put Heigl and Izzie in critical condition.

Marc Malkin of E! Online :

"It's not good there," a source tells me of the Grey's Anatomy set. "Shonda is pissed. They're thinking of killing her off. They want Izzie dead."

Shonda Rhimes, executive producer and one of the writers of the show, could not have been happy about Heigl's complaints so it seems character assassination may now be a viable option.

I'm not fond of Heigl or Izzie so I'd like to give Shonda some ideas on how to kill Izzie off:

July 2008 Handbag Of The Month: She Shells

I was in Newport, Rhode Island last week and while there I discovered Megan's Handbag Of The Month for July 2008.

This cute little straw handbag is shaped like an old fashioned picnic basket and with it's starfish accent, brought back memories of fun in the sun and pleasant summer outings.

The bag is made by a company called She Shells and though I couldn't find a website for them, the bag and several other She Shells styles are sold at the Newport Historical Society Museum Store.

At a price of $130.00 I'm sure you're asking yourself if this delightful bag is now an honored member of my own handbag collection.

Alas, no.  It took a force of will, but I left it behind for some other lucky fashionista to have as her own.   Having it as Megan's July 2008 Handbag Of The Month is enough.