True Blood Recipe: Sookie's Christmas favorite - Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

Sookie eats this for breakfast in the short story 'Gift Wrap'

Ingredients:

¾ cup butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups mashed bananas (1 ¼ pounds unpeeled bananas, about 4 medium)
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

BEAT butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

COMBINE flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanilla. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8- x 4-inch loafpans.

BAKE at 350° for 1 hour or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides pull away from pan, shielding with aluminum foil last 15 minutes to prevent browning, if necessary. Cool bread in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool 30 minutes on wire racks before slicing.

Topping
CINNAMON CRiSP-TOPPED CREAM CHEESE-BANANA-NUT BREAD: Prepare bread batter as directed, and spoon into desired pans. Stir together ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar; ½ cup chopped, toasted pecans; 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon melted butter; and 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture evenly over batter. Bake and cool as directed.

MAKES 2 LOAVES
PREP: 15 MIN., BAKE: 1 HR., COOL: 40 MIN.

Invite Sookie Over for Halloween: Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris (Review & Give-Away)

Nice overview of the Sookie series from Mom Buzz and you can enter to win Sookie books. If you are trying to get someone to read the series send them this blog link

My sister and I have the same taste in books. But when she told me I had to read a series of books about a telepathic waitress who solves mysteries that envelop her in a world of vampires and other supernatural beings, I had to start wondering about her. But, since she is older and wiser - (right?)- I decided to take her word for it, visit the local bookstore, and picked up the first 3 books in the series, the Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris:

• Dead Until Dark
• Living Dead in Dallas
• Club Dead

I finished those books, approximately 300 pages each, in three days. Without a doubt, I was hooked. And whenever someone my age (in my thirties here) starts talking about the Twilight series - you know the stories I am sure, with Edward, Jacob and Bella - I tell them they have to put down the kiddie books and pick up a novel for adults! Honestly, I much prefer following the story line of a 20-something year old telepathic waitress and her ties, whether they be romantic, friendships or simply tolerance, with the other characters in the book. Reading Twilight just makes my mind twist as Bella contemplates ending her human, high school life to be with a vampire boy. No-No-No!

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Fantastic Fest: Alexander Skarsgard and the Cloud of Estrogen

From Cinematical

When I went to see Metropia (and reviewed it) at Fantastic Fest on Saturday night, all I knew about Alexander Skarsgard was that he had a role in the film, and that he was the son of actor Stellan Skarsgard -- I hadn't seen him in anything. Metropia director Tarik Saleh had told me earlier in the day that Alexander Skarsgard was in Shreveport shooting Straw Dogs, but would drive down here for the screening, and I thought that was awfully nice of him. I hoped the screening would have a full house so the actor wouldn't feel like his efforts were wasted.

I don't watch the TV show True Blood, and had no idea that Skarsgard had such a following of female fans. The theater was packed, and many attendees were nicely dressed women. During the Q&A, more audience members than usual were snapping photos. Admittedly, Skarsgard is very easy on the eyes. But I was completely taken aback when, after the Q&A, a crowd of women mobbed the Alamo Drafthouse lobby to get photos taken with Skarsgard. As a friend of mine remarked, it was as though a cloud of estrogen had descended upon the film festival -- there are plenty of women at Fantastic Fest, but they aren't usually clamoring around a male movie star.

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Book Review: A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris

Robot and Vamps blog reviews 'Touch of Dead"

Touch of Dead I was so very excited when A Touch of Dead showed up on my doorstep! I have been looking forward to this book for quite some time now and it is always nice to get a Sookie fix between books. I don’t think I have made a secret of the fact that I love the Sookie Stackhouse series. It was one of the first series’ I read when I started reading avidly again.

A Touch of Dead consists of 5 short stories that Mrs. Harris has written over the years in different anthologies. It is nice to have them all in one place and to tell the truth I hadn’t read 3 of the 5 so it was mostly new to me.

Fairy Dust takes place early in the series just after Dead to the World and sheds some light on how Claudette was killed. Claudette is Claude and Claudine’s deceased sister. Sookie has had previous dealings with Claude and Claudine and they call upon her talent to help them find out who murdered their sister. Sort of a fairy “who done it”. Fairy Dust was originally published in Powers of Detection.

In the short story Dracula Night, Eric is all a fuss about having the perfect birthday party for the Prince of Darkness at Fangtasia. It is said that Vlad (Dracula) visits a different party every year on his birthday and Eric is just positive that it is his turn to host the Prince. Sookie is invited to the event and of course trouble ensues. Can poor Sookie go anywhere and not run into trouble? Dracula Night was published in Many Bloody Returns and occurs before Dead as a Doornail.

In One Word Answer we find out how Hadley (Sookie’s cousin) died. Sookie and Bubba (who is actually Elvis. Yes, the King.) are out raking leaves in the dark when a limo pulls up to Sookie’s house. Mr. Cataliades (supernatural attorney) has come to inform Sookie of Hadley’s death and also to inform her that she is the only heir to Hadley’s estate. But there is more to Hadley’s death than meets the eye and whether she wants to or not, Sookie will get to the bottom of it. The events in One Word

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True Blood Music Video of the Day: Battlefield by Jordin Sparks

Battlefield by Jordin Sparks LYRICS

Thanks, rgtmonmore

Alexander Skarsgård Interview with Channel 4

The TV and movie industry is littered with actors who were tipped to be ‘the next big thing’ only to end up with non-speaking parts in the latest Jean-Claude Van Damme film. Predicting stardom is a precarious business but Alexander Skarsgård has as good a chance as any of making it big. Movie-star good looks? Check. Sensible career choices so far? Check. An engaging and intelligent personality? Check. Family pedigree in the business? Well, his dad is Hollywood star Stellan Skarsgård, so: Check. He’s also recently starred in two of the most critically acclaimed and successful TV series to come out of the US last year, True Blood (from the creator of Six Feet Under) and Generation Kill (from the creators of The Wire). Both series will be on Channel 4 this autumn.

It was almost all so different, though. As a child actor, Skarsgårdturned his back on the industry aged 13. It was only after a seven-year hiatus that he decided to give acting another go. It was, it would seem, a good decision. Just how good, the next few years will reveal.

You’re from an acting background, and obviously your dad [Stellan Skarsgård] is hugely successful. Did you grow up proud of his level of success, or did you just take what he did for granted?
He wasn’t that big a star when I grew up. The thing that brought him to Hollywood was Breaking the Waves, the Lars von Trier movie, which was in 1996. I was already 20 years old by that point. Growing up, my father was working at a theatre in Stockholm, so he was mostly a stage actor. He did movies as well, but smaller Swedish movies. I’ve got younger siblings, and it was different for them. They did more of the travelling around the world, being on sets and all of that exotic stuff. For me, it was running around backstage at the theatre, and I didn’t really think much about it.

On the subject of your siblings, a few of them have gone into acting as well, haven’t they?
Yeah. I’ve got a brother who’s two months old, and it’s kind of difficult to say what he’ll do! But I’m the oldest, I’ve got a brother who’s four years younger than I am, and he’s an actor back home in Sweden. And I have another brother who’s 18, who’s working doing movies in Sweden right now as well.

How old were you when you started acting?
Seven. I did my first movie when I was seven, and then I worked for about six years, doing movies and television in Sweden. But then I quit when I was 13, and didn’t work at all for seven years.

Why did you quit?
This was in 1989, and back then in good old Sweden, we only had two TV channels. I did a movie for television there, and whatever was on, people would watch, so the impact that had back then was huge. Suddenly people recognised me wherever I went, and it just made me very uncomfortable. It was a weird age to become famous. I didn’t know how to handle it, and I was very self-conscious and stressed out about the whole situation. I just wanted to be one of the guys, so I quit, basically. I didn’t have the urge to act for seven years.

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88 days in the top 100 on Amazon - just saying

You know this is NEXT week - have you ordered yours yet ?

8. Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 88 days in the top 100

A Touch of Dead (Sookie Stackhouse) by Charlaine Harris (Author) 5 customer discussions Release Date: October 6, 2009 Available for Pre-order List Price: $23.95 Price: $12.93 You Save: $11.02 (46%)

New Book : The Vampire Book

If you are familiar with DK books (Uk publisher, Dorling Kindersley) you know how great their non fiction and travel books are and they have a new one, "The Vampire Book,"

from Amazon
Vampires have always fascinated and frightened, and now their reach goes beyond horror-flick fans. Teens the world over have fallen under the spell of these mysterious, blood-sucking, and oh-so-alluring beings! From Buffy to Twilight, vampire fans have gotten smarter and savvier, and this is the book for them.

Learn how vampires live, how they avoid capture, and why they're so darn attractive. Also trace the history of vampire lore--in literature, movies, and on television--from the woods of Transylvania to the modern-day high school.

Chock full of info and insight, each gorgeous page will draw in readers of every age, with innovative styling, never-before-seen imagery, and deliciously wicked design. Perhaps this enticing tome is best read while wearing a garlic necklace . . .

True Blood Music Video of the Day: I Put A Spell On You by She and Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward)

THIS IS LOUD AT FIRST !



I Put A Spell On You by She and Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward)
Thanks, NotTheRealThing

Alan Ball finds true blood six feet under

from Times UK Online
2 more years ????

It’s one of those too-good-to-be-true sunny days in Los Angeles, and Alan Ball is sitting in a dark, chilly office, talking about death. Not just death, actually, but grief: the unbearable pain; the torment of knowing that we’ll all end up as wormfood. It’s the kind of thing that passes for everyday conversation with Ball, as you might expect from the man responsible for creating hit television shows entitled Six Feet Under and True Blood, which starts on Channel 4 next week. “As much as we pretend we don’t get old, that we don’t die, it’s something we all have to face,” Ball says. “That’s why we have this instinct to rubber-neck at car wrecks. Death is the ultimate mystery." Ball knows of what he speaks. When he was 13, he was a passenger in a car driven by his older sister — it was her 22nd birthday — when she was killed in an accident. “She drove off the highway, there was a blind spot, and she pulled out,” he recalls, still flinching slightly. “The impact broke her neck. It was very bloody. At that impressionable age, Death came and stuck its ugly old face in mine, and said: ‘Hello, here I am.’ ” Ball escaped without a scrape.

It was that terrible event perhaps more than any other that shaped Ball, who ultimately went on to become a playwright, sit-com producer and Oscar-winning screenplay writer — he was responsible for the 1999 Kevin Spacey masterpiece American Beauty — and at the age of 52 has emerged as one of the most unusual and unsettling creative forces in American television.

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TV Squad Ten: My favorite HBO shows

TV Squad picks their favorites

HBO has slowly become my favorite network over the past few years. I don't know if it's because the mainstream networks have turned to lots of reality programming or what, but HBO just seems to get better and better. Just about every show on the premium channel is feature film quality (if not better), and I've got some favorites listed below.

I know I'm missing a few biggies, like Rome, Deadwood, Flight of the Conchords, and Extras, but it's only because I either haven't watched these shows or have only watched a few episodes -- not enough to make an informed opinion. I'm sure they'll make my Jane After Dark column at some point in the future. So I hope you'll tell me your favorites in the comments below.

1. True Blood. This vampire series is one of my favorite new shows of the past few years. Not only does it pack just about every emotion into every episode -- love, lust, joy, sadness, and terror, to name a few -- but the characters are fun and unpredictable. Alan Ball is a master at setting the bar high, and he continues to do that with True Blood. While I liked season one a little better than season two (didn't really go for the Maryann storyline), I can't wait to see what happens in season three. Read my interviews with Alan Ball and Stephen Moyer, who plays vampire Bill Compton.

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This Vampire Thing Has Gone Too Far

From Buzznet

Okay guys, I'll be the first to admit, vampires are awesome. I've been into the whole thing since long before a sparkling poster child for abusive relationships rekindled it by romantically telling his girlfriend how easily he could kill her. I love me some vampires.

But it needs to stop. Because it has officially gone too far. Particularly the marketing.

Okay, so, Vampire Wine has been around for awhile. I highly recommend it, particularly the merlot and Cab-Sauv. There's also Vampire Vodka and Vampire Energy drink...both of which I've been seeing around for years.

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‘True Blood’ actor returns home Trammell finds ‘true’ roots in West Virginia

On the HBO original series “True Blood,” Sam Trammell plays a shape-shifter, changing from man to animal and back again.

On Oct. 30, Trammell will be transforming back into a West Virginian.

“I really am thrilled to be coming back to Charleston,” he said. “I consider Charleston home. My mom and dad still live there. I really miss it, and I’m excited to see all my friends and family. It’s great to be coming home.”

But the main focus of Trammell’s Charleston visit will be supporting the work of East End Main Street, a program of the Charleston Area Alliance dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Charleston’s oldest and most diverse neighborhood.

Trammel will be the highlight of EEMS’s inaugural HallowEast fundraiser, participating in “Inside the Main Street Studio,” a sit-down, “Inside the Actors Studio”-style interview, at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 at Kanawha Players, 309 Beauregard St.

David Wohl, dean of arts and humanities at West Virginia State University, will be asking the questions, and a Kanawha Players performance of “Dial M for Murder” will follow Trammell’s appearance.

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True Blood behind the scenes: Bon Temps Motel

This is where we see Tara living in Season 1 and where Andy is hold up during the MaryAnn take over of Bon Temps in Season 2.

We see the naked Sam show up at Andy's hotel room in Ep. 9, I guess we actually see 'Naked Sam' in both seasons at this motel ;-)


















You can see how the motel appeared last weekend above left. You can briefly see the hotel sign in Season 2 Ep. 9 The motel is : La Crescenta Motel / 2413 Foothill Blvd La Crescenta, CA


View Larger Map

Thanks again Robi !

True Blood does the Rocky Horror Show

Bloodoracle over at IwantowriteForTrueBloodblog is having some fun with TB and Rocky Horror!

This blog post started when I woke up to Triple J this morning and Marike Hardy was telling listeners how, at the Chinese production of the musical Cats, a child did a poo in the theatre aisle and the performance had to be stopped. Wow, do they have harsh critics in China! Usually you just get hecklers.

Now this is pretty much my reaction to Cats as well. That's not to say I dislike musicals - there are some I love: Singing in the Rain, Les Miserables, The Singing Dectective, Cabaret (and lots of others).

A particular teenage obsession of mine was The Rocky Horror Show - both stage and cinema versions. When I was in the shower this morning (my best place for thinking) I had a vision/fantasy/delusion (call it what you will) of the characters in True Blood being cast in The Rocky Horror Show. Here are my suggestions.

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True Blood Music Video of the Day: Awakening by The Damning Well

Awakening by The Damning Well LYRICS

Thanks, kelseylovesJJ

Armchair Casting Director: 'True Blood' wolf hunt by Michael Ausiello

Who do you think ?

This oughta get the True Blood-thirsty among you salivating! Since Alan Ball has confirmed that season 3 will make an animal attraction of the werewolf Alcide (who debuted in the third Sookie novel, Club Dead), I thought I — and, in turn, you — should help the series’ busy, busy creator on his hunt for just the right actor to sink his teeth into the juicy part. My suggestions:

Henry Cavill: If The Tudors‘ other heartthrob can look that good in tights and frilly shirts, we can’t imagine he’d fare worse with back hair front and back. The question is, could he rock the role without an English accent?

Benjamin Bratt: The former Cleaner star may seem a little long in the tooth to strike up the necessary chemistry with Anna Paquin, whose Sookie he helps search for Bill. But remember, her currently-MIA almost-fiance is hundreds of years older!

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