Saturday, May 22, 2010

“TRUE BLOOD” AND HANK WILLIAMS III – A MATCH MAKE IN “HELLBILLY” HEAVEN

Hank Williams III has a new CD coming out soon. Rebel Within will hit the street May 25th, but we’ll also get a taste of it come June when the ultra-cool Vampire series, True Blood returns for the new season (we so can’t wait!).

The debut of Rebel Within will coincide with Williams’ upcoming Canadian tour, which begins June 4th in Toronto.

True Blood returns June 13th on HBO.

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'Dexter' vs. 'True Blood' from Adage

The all-important upfront presentations, where the major broadcast and cable networks introduce next season's prime-time schedule and tease new shows for ad buyers, have been taking place all week in New York. We media buyers try to figure out how well each show is going to rate, considering factors such as the program's characters, the writing and the competing shows on rival networks' just-announced schedules. Too often however, buyers overlook another element that's just as important to ratings success: how a show is promoted.

Two shows whose marketing has stood out in recent years, however, don't even have commercial time for marketers and their agencies to buy: Showtime's "Dexter" and HBO's "True Blood."

Each show's promotion has been as edgy as its content. Both developed media programs that captured interest, created buzz and drove ratings for their premium cable networks. "Dexter's" premiere-season viral campaign let people create fake news reports naming a friend as the Ice Truck Killer's next victim. I thought last season's "True Blood" vampire-themed out-of-home campaign featuring real-life brands such as Geico, Gillette, Monster.com and Mini was ground-breaking.

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'True Blood' Season 3: Alan Ball on Joe Manganiello as werewolf Alcide Herveaux

If you're one of those "True Blood" fans who thinks he knows who snatched vampire Bill Compton, think again.

"For people who read the book, they'll be surprised who kidnapped Bill," series creator Alan Ball tells Zap2It about the HBO series, which returns for its third season on Sunday June 13. "We definitely have used the plot from the book as a starting point, but we have done a lot differently as well. There's a lot of new stuff happening, a lot more about vampire politics and the introduction of werewolves into our world. And there's stuff going on in Bon Temps as well.

Without giving too much away, everybody's got their hands full, and everybody is being extremely tested by the circumstances of their lives."

It's not the first time Ball and his team have deviated from the best-selling Sookie Stackhouse mysteries by Charlaine Harris, which inspired the hit HBO show. Lafayette Reynolds, the cook at Merlotte's Bar, died at the end of Harris' first book yet he remains a popular mainstay of the TV series, played by Nelsan Ellis.

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More ways to snag passes to the True Blood Ultimate Fan Experience on June 1!

More ways to snag passes to the True Blood Ultimate Fan Experience on June 1!

On Tuesday, May 25, be one the first 10 Truebies to pick up True Blood Season 2 on DVD or Blu-ray at a participating Best Buy and you'll score TWO passes to the True Blood Ultimate Fan Experience on June 1.

What's the True Blood Ultimate Fan Experience? Movie theaters in 50 cities, decked out to the nines to celebrate everything we love about True Blood, including YOU -- the fans. We'll be screening the Season 2 finale, simulcasting a Live Q&A with Alan Ball and cast members where they answer YOUR questions, and showing you an extended sneak peek of Season 3!

Here's your list of participating Best Buys, be sure to get there early on Tuesday!

Albuquerque, NM: Best Buy Albuquerque, Albuquerque
Atlanta, GA: Best Buy Atlanta, Perimeter
Austin, TX: Best Buy Austin, South Austin (Gaines Ranch)
Aventura, FL: Best Buy Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Aventura
Birmingham, AL: Best Buy Birmingham, Trussville
Boston, MA: Best Buy Boston, Landmark Center
Branford, CT: Best Buy Hartford/New Haven, North Haven
Burbank, CA: Best Buy Burbank, Westwood
Charlotte, NC: Best Buy Charlotte, Blakeney (Charlotte S)
Chicago, IL: Best Buy Chicago, John Hancock Center
Cleveland, OH: Best Buy Cleveland, Mayfield Rd.
Columbia, MD: Best Buy Baltimore, Columbia
Columbus, OH: Best Buy Columbus, Grove City
Dallas, TX: Best Buy Dallas/Ft. Worth, Park Lane
Denver, CO: Best Buy Denver, Colorado Blvd.
Greenville, SC: Best Buy Greenville, Greenville
Happy Valley, OR: Best Buy Portland, Cascade Station (RELO – Airport Way)
Harrisburg, PA: Best Buy Harrisburg, Harrisburg East
Harvey, LA: Best Buy New Orleans, Harahan
Indianapolis, IN: Best Buy Indianapolis, Castleton
Jacksonville, FL: Best Buy Jacksonville, Regency Mall
Kalamazoo, MI: Best Buy Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo
Kansas City, MO: Best Buy Kansas City, Metro North
Kenosha, WI: Best Buy Milwaukee, Kenosha
King of Prussia, PA: Best Buy Philadelphia, King of Prussia
Las Vegas, NV: Best Buy Las Vegas, Southwest Las Vegas (Rainbow Arroyo)
Louisville, KY: Best Buy Louisville, Shelbyville (St. Matthews)
Mason, OH: Best Buy Cincinnati, Fields Ertel
Minneapolis, MN: Best Buy Minneapolis/St. Paul, Brooklyn Center
Nashville, TN: Best Buy Nashville, Hickory Hollow
New York, NY: Best Buy New York, Union Square
Norfolk, VA: Best Buy Norfolk, Virginia Beach
Oklahoma City, OH: Best Buy Oklahoma City, Quail Springs
Orlando, FL: Best Buy Orlando, Millenia Mall
Phoenix, AZ: Best Buy Phoenix, Ahwatukee (Chandler)
Pittsburgh, PA: Best Buy Pittsburgh, North Fayette
Raleigh, NC: Best Buy Raleigh-Durham, Crabtree
Royal Palm Beach, FL: Best Buy West Palm Beach, Wellington
Sacramento, CA: Best Buy Sacramento, Arden Fair
Saint Louis, MO: Best Buy St. Louis, Brentwood
Salt Lake City, UT: Best Buy Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake City
San Antonio, TX: Best Buy San Antonio, West San Antonio
San Diego, CA: Best Buy San Diego, Mira Mesa
San Francisco, CA: Best Buy San Francisco, San Francisco (Canned Foods)
Seattle, WA: Best Buy Seattle/Tacoma, Northgate (Seattle)
Sugar Land, TX: Best Buy Houston, Pasadena
Tampa, FL: Best Buy Tampa, Citrus Park
Walled Lake, MI: Best Buy Detroit, Farmington Hills
Washington, DC: Best Buy Washington, DC, Tenleytown
Williamsville, NY: Best Buy Buffalo, Clarence

5 Epic Fantasy Book Series to Read This Summer

Geeks are sexy gives us some summer reading ideas ...

If you didn’t get enough ideas for summer reading from our list of science fiction series, take a crack at fantasy instead. Though before anyone starts to quibble over terminology, I’ll note that though “epic fantasy” is sometimes interchangeable with “high fantasy,” my definition here has more to do with scope than genre. These book series are epic in the sense that they’ll take you a while to read, and probably suck you right into the world while you’re doing it. Though rather than being too obvious by singing the praises of Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, here are some other book series to eat away at some of your summer free time.

The Chronicles of Amber, by Roger Zelazny

It’s been ages since I read these books, and I think it might be time for me to enjoy them again. This is one of the ultimate stories of parallel worlds, and you’ll find that it’s full of philosophical concepts – the nature of existence, and even more obviously, the tension between order and chaos. Oh, and if you’ve got a thing for Tarot cards or Shakespeare, you’ll probably find these particularly enjoyable. There are 10 books that were originally released over a period of 20 years, but in the grand tradition of the omnibus, you can just get the whole kit and kaboodle in one really really big paperback.Though the first book is Nine Princes in Amber, if you can find a copy of it.

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Charlaine Harris Book Signing Dallas Photos : Dead in the Family Tour May 16th 2010

"To be or not to be" Shakespeare in the Sookie verse

I'm sure you all noticed in the latest Sookie Stackhouse book "Dead in the Family" that Shakespeare opens the books and closes the book, not only Shakespeare but particularly the play, Hamlet.

On page 10 we read ....
“There’s the rub,” Eric said. Somewhere along the line, my Viking honey had read Shakespeare.
Pg 10
The quote was fromShakespeare's Hamlet. "To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub."

Then on the last few pages..

“This is positively Shakespearean,” I said, looking around at the remains and the blood soaking into the ground.
Pg 217

“You were right,” Eric said, still in that very slow voice. “This is just like the end of one of Shakespeare’s plays.”
“We’re the people left standing. Yay for us.
” Pg 218

And in the play, Hamlet that scene reads like this .....

Horatio says at the end of hamlet amidst the carnage
And let me speak to the yet unknowing world
380 How these things came about. So shall you hear

381 Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,
382 Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters,
383 Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause,
384 And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
385 Fall'n on the inventors' heads: all this can I
386 Truly deliver.
Good night sweet prince


There is only a few additional Shakespearean reference in the Sookie books:

Club Dead
Eric began to grin. "You offed Lorena?" He had a good grasp of the vernacular, for a very old vampire. It was hard to interpret Bill's expression. "Sookie staked her," he said. "It was a fair kill." "She killed Lorena in a fight?" Eric's grin grew even broader. He was as proud as if he'd heard his firstborn reciting Shakespeare. "Very short fight," I said, not wanting to take any credit that was not due me. If you could term it credit.

Dead and Gone
I was standing out in my backyard hosing down fairy blood and making melodramatic statements all to myself. Next I’d be doing the Hamlet soliloquy that I’d had to memorize in high school.
This afternoon had brought me down hard, to a real bad place.

True Blood Music Video of the Day:




True Blood Mayhem

Thanks, darthtahri