At 'Neck of State,' a Tie Isn't Just a Tie

By Garance Franke-Ruta
After a day of frenetic preparations, now comes the lull before the speech; some people also call it dinner.

How to while away the hour? Try blog Neck of State, the blog which obsessively catalogs and analyzes the president's neckwear.

"Neck of State is a research blog that studies how what the President of the United States of America wears on his or her neck may affect their decisions while in office," the anonyblog says on its about page. "Our current mission is to track, catalog, and correlate the neckties and other neckwear of President Barack Obama. President Obama was a powerful force for change long before he took office, and it's imperative that we understand, clearly, how his choice of neckwear affects world events."