Saturday, February 6, 2010

Helen Baxendale on filming Beyond the Pole

From Times UK

The Friends and Cold Feet actress has produced a film about a duo, starring Stephen Mangan, on mission to the North Pole

Perhaps inevitably, climate change has been slow to creep into the creative arts, despite its 30 years at the heart of the environmental debate. One or two disaster movies have given a careful nod towards the more apocalyptic scenarios, having exhausted aliens from space, tidal waves, asteroids and sea monsters in their bid to destroy New York on camera — but it’s kind of hard to deliver a narrative arc based on the interaction of greenhouse gases with fluid dynamics and radiative transfer, although Thom Yorke has obviously had a go.

Since the fudge of last year’s Copenhagen summit, however, it’s as if exasperated artists have decided to wedge climate change into their work by any means necessary. Banksy, of course, was the cutest. A few weeks ago, the Bristol graffiti artist scrawled I Don’t Believe in Global Warming along the side of a canal, with the words half submerged, as if by rising water. Not his subtlest work, but points for the retro use of the original 1970s term. Ian McEwan, meanwhile, has based his next novel, Solar — out on March 18 — on a devious, woman-chasing physicist called Michael Beard, who discovers a way to derive power from a form of artificial photosynthesis, but seems happier lurching around ice-bound ships while wildly drunk. Beard faces violent attacks from the media as he staggers across the planet.

read on

William T. Compton and the 28th Louisiana Regiment

Now this is an excellent article and excellent research - thanks to allstephenmoyer !

Thanks to Billsbabe “lisafemmeacadienne” for this wonderful article about the 28th Regiment.

The 28th Louisiana Regiment is not mentioned in the history texts, but it had a very important role in Civil War in Louisiana, thanks to Colonel Henry Gray of Bienville Parish, and Lieutenant General Richard Taylor (son of President Zachary Taylor).

In the True Blood storyline, the character William T. Compton served in this particular regiment, so I put together some information for the fans. The history of these volunteers has been reconstructed through journal entries and the few military documents that survived the chaos of the final days of the war.

The 28th consisted of ten independent companies from different parishes, which were organized and trained in Monroe by Colonel Gray

read on

BBC 3 Vampires: why they bite with Charlaine Harris

Yes, even the BBC makes mistakes -that's how they spelled Charlaine's name (see below)

Vampires are currently topping the bestselling lists and raking in millions at the box office. Historian Lisa Hilton explores our enduring fascination and traces the origins of our favourite bogeyman, charting the transformation of the vampire from monster to heartthrob. With contributions from Charlene Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, and Toby Whithouse, creator of Being Human.


Broadcasts

1.
Wed 10 Feb 2010
21:00
BBC Three
2.
Thu 11 Feb 2010
02:15
BBC Three
3.
Sun 14 Feb 2010
01:45
BBC Three

Deborah Ann Woll & E.J. Scott in Elle Video


How cute are they ...???watch video here

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1885433872?bctid=64409205001

Joe Manganiello: True Blood Werewolf! there by the grace of the internets


Well, well MAYBE we have more power than we thought

HBO’s more adult spin on the Vampire Madness has really taken off. With a growing fan base and a third season in the works, it’s fair to say it’s catching on. As can be expected, we will be seeing some new faces as the story line twists and turns.

One of the new actors that has signed on to the cast is Joe Manganiello, whom you may recognize from his guest starring roles on One Tree Hill. He will play the werewolf Alcide Herveaux, which is definitely a step up from his past work on the CW.

MTV News caught up with the actor to get some inside info on his new role what fans can expect. He dished that he’ll pay the new love interest of Sookie, and sounds very excited about the chance to get involved in filming some action scenes.

The three words that came to his mind when describing the role were ‘action, fun, and facial hair.’ That sounds about right.

The story behind how he landed the role is further affirmation that social media is taking over the world. It wasn’t through the tired process of having your agent fish for acting gigs, or going to casting calls hoping to get snagged. Joe actually feels that Facebook was a huge catalyst in his recent turn of luck.

“Facebook and the internet were integral to me getting this part. There are ‘True Blood’ bloggers that were fans of the books…They would blog about who should play the character, and some of these bloggers put up pictures of me.”

Smartly, he decided to ride the wave and linked up the blog posts about him on his own Facebook page. Then, with the help of all the fan-hype (and an inside connection) he worked his way in. That is so 2010.

True Blood Music Video of the Day:Mary by Patty Griffin


Thanks, MegaChrisFan
Mary by Patty Griffin