Dallas is on Special Assignment Today ...

I will be posting some later .....
Clue:The Brown Pelican

~~~~

So was that too hard of a clue ?
If I had put this as a clue ( below) would you have know where I was on special assignment yesterday ?


Does this help ?

I think you will be like what I've brought back with me ...

True Blood New Year's Resolutions

I would not make Trublood Popsicle

I would not suggest silver for an anniversary gift

I would not set Jessica up on a date

I will not call Andy 'Detective Bellefluer' ...he really doesn't deserve the title.

I will not paint my toenails red.

I will not walk into Fangtasia with a bag full of empty vials and a syringe.

True Blood Music Video of the Day

Somewhere out there byOur Lady Peace

True Blood Music Video of the Day

Happy Endings by Mika- thanks ObjectDesire !

Send me your favorite TB Youtube video: truebloodindallas@gmail.com

USA Today Pop-culture IQ test !

Check out question# 4 (I will post answer in comments )

http://www.usatoday.com/life/2008-12-26-pop-culture-quiz_N.htm

Also Vampires made the list at #2 in the San Diego Union Tribune Pop Quizz

2. Vampires

Vampires were the hands-down No. 1 sex symbol of 2008. Thanks to the making of “Twilight,” a movie based on Stephenie Meyers' young adult vampire series, tweens and their mothers became crazed over all things immortal – specifically Edward Cullen. And for those looking for something sexier than the chaste Cullen clan, HBO delivered Bill Compton from its more mature “True Blood” series.

HERE

Meet the Writers : Charlaine Harris ( with audio interview)

Charlaine Harris



Biography

A native of the Mississippi Delta, Charlaine Harris grew up in a family of avid readers (her father was a teacher; her mother a librarian). She attended Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, graduating in 1973 with a degree in English and Communication Arts. Although she penned poetry and plays in school, her first serious foray into fiction was with two standalone novels, Sweet and Deadly and A Secret Rage, published (effortlessly!) in the early 1980s.

After her early success, Harris released the first installment in a series of lighthearted mysteries starring spunky, small-town Georgia librarian, true crime enthusiast, and amateur sleuth Aurora Teagarden. When Aurora debuted in Real Murders (1990), Publishers Weekly welcomed "a heroine as capable and potentially complex as P. D. James's Cordelia Gray." The book went on to receive an Agatha Award nomination.

Anxious for another challenge, Harris began a second series in 1996. Darker and edgier than the Teagarden novels, these mysteries featured taciturn, 30-something housecleaner Lily Bard, a woman with a complicated past who has moved to the small town of Shakespeare, Arkansas, to find peace and solitude. The first novel, Shakespeare's Landlord, was well-received. BookList raved: "Harris has created an intriguing new character in this solidly plotted story." [Much to the disappointment of her fans, Harris concluded the Lilly Bard sequence in 2001 with Shakespeare's Counselor.]

Although Harris achieved moderate success with these two series (which she laughingly describes as "cozies with teeth"), she would hit the jackpot in 2001 with Dead Until Dark, a sly, spoofy paranormal mystery starring a telepathic Louisiana cocktail waitress named Sookie Stackhouse, who falls in love with a vampire named Bill. The novel, a delightful hybrid of mystery, science fiction, and romance, was an instant hit with critics. ("Harris' Sookie has the potential to attract more readers than Hamilton's Anita Blake," raved the dark fantasy magazine Cemetery Dance.) Readers, too, adored the Southern Vampire Series and have rewarded the author with bestseller after bestseller. (In 2008, the Sookie saga came to HBO in a top-rated television adaptation, True Blood, starring Anna Paquin.)

With 2006's Grave Sight, Harris added yet another fascinating character to her stable -- a young woman named Harper Connelly whose youthful encounter with a lightning bolt has left her with the ability to find corpses and determine how they died. In addition to juggling characters and plots for her popular series, Harris has also contributed short stories and novellas to several anthologies of paranormal fantasy fiction.

Good to Know

In our interview, Harris confesses:

"I'm really a boring person. My family (my husband and three children) is the most important thing in my life. I go to bed early, I get up early. I love to go to the movies with my husband. My favorite things about finally making some money as a writer are (a) I can buy as many books as I want, and (b) I can hire a maid. The first job I had was working in an offset darkroom at a very small newspaper. I stood on a concrete floor all day and made minimum wage -- which then was $1.60 an hour. I hated it, and I learned a lot, though not necessarily about working in a darkroom. So being a writer is much better."

Interview (Audio here )

In the summer of 2005, Charlaine Harris took some time out to answer some of our questions.

What was the book that most influenced your life or your career as a writer?

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. This book has everything: mystery, unrequited love, class war, illicit sex, madness, and a woman with an unswerving sense of moral rectitude. Jane is no beauty, she never twittered in her life, and she's devoted to thinking things over carefully before arriving at a rational decision. And yet she's a passionate woman underneath that drab dress that she's decided is suitable for her station. Jane is extremely conventional, and at the same time unconventional; a prime example of still waters running very deep. She rises above adversity every time, and she has a lot of adversity to rise above. Jane Eyre is the basic blueprint for thousands of books that followed.

favorite books (see separate post )

What are some of your favorite films, and what makes them unforgettable to you?

Lawrence of Arabia -- Peter O'Toole is just great in this beautiful film about an incredibly complex man.

The Last of the Mohicans -- The music, the scenery, a good script, and Daniel Day-Lewis. You can't go wrong with this much-changed version of the James Fenimore Cooper book.

The Pink Panther -- I always laugh, no matter how many times I've seen it. All the Peter Sellers Panther movies are funny, and I love to laugh.

Blazing Saddles -- This is just a funny movie, and it set the pattern for many to follow. "The Piano" A feminist fable with an awful lesson.

Saving Private Ryan -- A heartstopping depiction of war and the test it lays on men

The Birds -- Way to be scared!

What types of music do you like? Is there any particular kind you like to listen to when you're writing?

I love to listen to Yo Yo Ma playing anything. Mostly, I listen to movie soundtracks and bagpipe music, and Annie Lennox.

What are your favorite kinds of books to give -- and get -- as gifts?

I think the book has to match the giftee. If I don't know exactly what the person wants, I'd give them a gift card to a bookstore. But it's always fun to get someone to read a book he/she might not otherwise have read.

Do you have any special writing rituals? For example, what do you have on your desk when you're writing?
Some stuffed or ceramic vampires that people have given me as gifts; piles of papers, some quite irrelevant; a stack of CDs; a big glass of water; some dried flowers, one arrangement from the banquet where I won the Anthony, and one sent by a friend when I made the New York Times bestseller list; a mug full of pencils; and copies of the past Sookie books, for easy reference.

Many writers are hardly "overnight success" stories. How long did it take for you to get where you are today? Any rejection-slip horror stories or inspirational anecdotes?

It took me 25 years. That proves that success doesn't always come easily, or when you're young, but it can sure sneak up on you.

What tips or advice do you have for writers still looking to be discovered?

Read, read, read and then write, write, write. Persevere.

Read on and listen here
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writer.asp?cid=1021786

Dead Until Dark...... Book 1 in the Southern Vampires series

From April at Walking on the Dark Side - we are hearing from so many True Blood fans (yes, even the ones that said they'd never read the books ) that are now reading the books and loving them

Just in case you couldn't tell from looking at my blog, I am a True Blood fan. Season 2 can't come fast enough for me.

Up until this point, I hadn't read any of the Sookie Stackhouse books. That all changed yesterday. Let's just say I couldn't put the book down.

Dead Until Dark is book 1 in the series. It's written by Charlaine Harris. I wanted to start at the beginning and read it in the order they were written.
I can also tell from reading this book that season 1 of True Blood was based on it.

This book was great. A lot of season 1 of True Blood was really and truly based on the book. I can see that the producer made an effort to really not change it. The changes he made are phenomenal though.

In Dead Until Dark, Lafayette really didn't have much of a role. He was mentioned in the book as the cook. It was mentioned that he painted his fingernails (or something like that) and that he dressed brightly. Basically none of his wild and crazy scenes in True Blood were in the book.

Alan Ball did an amazing job developing LaFayette's character from the book.

I really think it's an act of fate that this show was even made. I was reading an interview tonight with Alan Ball about True Blood. You can read the interview here. Anyhow when asked, "How did you discover these books and decide they'd make a great HBO series?", his response was; "I was early for a dentist appointment, and I had some time to kill. I went into Barnes and Noble, and I just bought this book on impulse. It was just a little paperback, and on the cover, the tagline said, ''Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend wasn't such a good idea.'' I thought it was kind of funny. I started reading it that night, and I couldn't put it down. And the minute I was done with it, I wanted to read the next one. And I really got addicted."

All I can say is I'm very glad he decided to check this book out.

I've already been checking Ebay out tonight in attempts of getting affordable copies of the rest of the series. I can't wait to read them. I'm sure the next one I get will be received and read all in one day.

http://walkingonthedarkside.blogspot.com/2008/12/dead-until-dark-book-1-in-s
outhern.html

Vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer) and sweet waitress Sookie (Anna Paquin) became the new Romeo and Juliet

From mySan Antonio ( here in the Kingdom of Texas) from their Best of TV 2008 list

"True Blood" and "In Treatment" (HBO): Leave it to HBO to give us not one but two of the year's most addictive and innovative new dramas. In the biting and stylishly executed "Blood," vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer) and sweet waitress Sookie (Anna Paquin) became the new Romeo and Juliet. Creator Alan Ball cleverly made the vampire's entrance into human society a metaphor for racism, gay-bashing and, in general, a world eaten up by hatred for those who were different.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/36799559.html

Defining Dracula: A Century Of Vampire Evolution

by Eric Nuzum NPR.org, October 30, 2008 .

Dracula can't see his own reflection in the mirror because he is a reflection of the culture around him. Ever since Bram Stoker penned Dracula in 1897, the vampire's image has been a work in progress.
In the 43 sequels, remakes and adaptations of Stoker's novel, Transylvania's most famous son rarely appears the same way twice. He has evolved with the society around him. His physical traits, powers and weaknesses have morphed to suit cultural and political climates from the Victorian era to the Cold War.
Read on to see how the "Son of the Devil" has changed over time:

1450: The Real-Life Dracula
The original, real-life Dracula was not a vampire, did not drink blood, and didn't worship the devil, either. But he did do many terrible things (i.e., murder thousands of his countrymen) that would make "actual" vampires pale in comparison.

Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia or "Vlad the Impaler" is Count Dracula's historical namesake. His chosen last name "Dracula" translates to "son of the devil," or "son of the dragon" - a reference to a religious order founded by his father (Vlad Dracul).

Despite his famed ruthlessness, it is most likely that his name - chosen randomly out of a Transylvanian history book - was all that Dracula author Bram Stoker ever knew of him.

1897: Modeled After Walt Whitman?
Today, Dracula often conjures up images of a sexy, mysterious, debonair aristocrat, but Bram Stoker's 1897 Count Dracula was none of those things.
There are many theories about how Stoker crafted Dracula's look; some have speculated that the Irish author modeled him after his personal hero, Walt Whitman. (Stoker once confided in a fan letter that Whitman could be "father, and brother and wife to his soul.")

Stoker writes that Dracula had a thick mustache, a large nose and white hair that "grew scantily round the temples but profusely elsewhere." (See how those rumors about Whitman - pictured above - got started?) He describes the Count's general look as "one of extraordinary pallor." Dracula had sharp teeth, pointy ears, squat fingers and hair in the palms of his hands. The sexy, debonair vampire was a creation of later generations.

A lot was going on when Stoker was working on Dracula at the turn of the 19th century: Victorian ideals of repressed sexuality and subservient women's roles were going out of style; Darwinism was just taking hold; and Jack the Ripper was on a murder spree.

Stoker's villain channeled all that - and a lot more - into one super bad guy who resonated with readers for decades. Dracula gradually became the most significant work of Gothic horror literature because it was the perfect vessel for the fears and desires of the era.

1931: Dracula As European Aristocrat
As an evil intruder who disrupted innocent lives, Dracula personified all that was threatening, powerful, alluring and evil. In the 1920s and '30s, this translated into an Eastern aristocrat with slicked-back hair, a top coat and a medallion - a look that became the enduring standard for all vampires to come.

Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi became the quintessential Count Dracula in Tod Browning's film adaptation of Stoker's novel. Lugosi refused to wear any makeup that would obscure his face (he declined to play the original Frankenstein for the same reason), and so Lugosi's version of the Count never had fangs.

Lugosi made less than $3,000 for his work in the role, but nearly 80 years later, he is still considered the definitive Dracula.

1958: Dracula As Cold War Enemy
During the Cold War era, Count Dracula became superbad. His motives were unimportant - he was distilled into a vicious troublemaker with an appetite for destruction. Just as the U.S. viewed Cold War enemies as purely evil, Dracula became a character with whom it was impossible to empathize.

Christopher Lee's 1958 depiction of the Count had red eyes and huge fangs, often with some virginal gore hanging off them. Lee was a pro; he played the Count a total of six times - more than any other actor.

Lee's Count was so inherently menacing, that in one 1966 sequel, Dracula:
Prince of Darkness, he had no lines at all - he just hissed at the camera throughout the film.

1979: Disco Dracula
In the 1979 remake of the original Dracula, the vampire was updated for the disco era with chiseled good looks and severely blow-dried hair. Forget politics or world views with this Count. He represented a sexual creature free of moral anchors - able to do whatever (or whomever) he pleased.

It's probably no coincidence that this manifestation of the Transylvanian bad boy debuted less than two years after Saturday Night Fever. Frank Langella looks as if he plans to do "The Hustle" with Tony Manero right after he drains the blood from a few virgins.

2004: Dracula Goes Goth
Goth, gaunt and hip, today's vampires look like roadies for the Smashing Pumpkins. They exude absolute freedom and irreverent power - and they're handsome to boot.

Aussie Richard Roxburgh played the Count in Van Helsing in 2004. Despite his Johnny Depp good looks, he transforms into a bat-like orthodontic nightmare when provoked.

In HBO's True Blood and author Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, modern vampires disguise ugly evil below sexy allure. Today's Dracula reflects 21st century fears about people who are not what they seem.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96282132

Baby, you can drive my car (4)

Who drives this car ?

Anyone know model or year ?

A Review: Dead as a Doornail - Charlaine Harris

What a nice review of book five, Dead as a Doornail by Bela Lee at Life as a Convicted Bibliophile blog and she has reviewed other Sookie Stackhouse books !

Dead as a Doornail is the fifth installment in the fantastic "Southern Vampire Mystery" series by Charlaine Harris.

After participating in the Witch War Sookie tries to settle down into her normal life, but it seems the vampires, weres and shifters have other ideas. While Sookie waits to see if her brother turns into a were-panther as the full moon approaches, she also has to deal with a sniper that seems to be attacking the shifters of Bon Temps.

I particularly enjoyed this one. There is a lot of action to be fitted within the pages of Dead as a Doornail. Just when you think the action is over, there is something else to cause some danger in Sookie's life.

More than the action, what is most interesting is the changing relationships in Sookie's life. Her close relationship with Alcide changes when more details surrounding his ex-girlfriend, Debbie Pelt's disappearance arise. Calvin, the were-panther, and Sookie become closer as a result of the sniper attacks. Thing seem to be heating up between Sookie and her boss, Sam. And, there is a new supernatural on the scene, the mysterious Quinn. Then there is of course Eric and Bill, our favourite vampires. It seems a lot for one telepath waitress to handle at one time.

This one is one of my favourites in the series. There is definitely a turning point for Sookie, as she tries to take on more than she can handle. I have to give a lot of credit to Charlaine Harris, who keeps this series alive with interesting plots and even more interesting characters.

One of her best, yet!

http://convicted-bibliophile.blogspot.com/2008/12/review-dead-as-doornail-charlaine.html

"True Blood" od lutego w HBO Polska - True Blood HBO Poland

We love True Blood international stuff and HBO Poland announces that True Blood will begin airing in Poland in Febrary 2009.


Już w lutym 2009 roku w HBO Polska zadebiutuje nowy serial "True Blood".

Serial opowiada historię Sookie Stackhouse, barmanki żyjącej w Louisianie, która potrafi czytać w ludzkich myślach. Jej życie ulega zmianie, gdy w barze, w którym pracuje, pojawia się wampir Bill

http://www.filmweb.pl/%22True+Blood%22+od+lutego+na+HBO+Polska,News,id=48414

BookSprouts, A Social Network For Book Worms And Clubs

I don't think there is a Sookie book club yet...

http://www.booksprouts.com/

Reading books is usually a solitary experience, but it triggers social activity as well, as the ongoing success of real-life book clubs shows. BookSprouts is a fairly new online community dedicated to book readers who love discussing books over a nice cup of virtual coffee. The social network is designed to make it easy to start an online book club, discuss books with other individuals, organize meetings and write up reviews.

First of all: the website looks and feels great. Signing up was quick and easy, and the lay-out of the website as well as the copy all make it very clear what to do after you’ve registered. There’s a powerful search behind the community layer so it’s very easy to add books you’ve read, or books you haven’t read yet but would like to. Creating and joining a book club on BookSprouts is done in a heartbeat, and you can look for book clubs by book (surprise!), subject, author, or geographic location. Based on the search results, the social network currently counts about 275 virtual book clubs, but some of them are invite-only.

BookSprouts faces the same hurdle most online community websites do when they launch: the inevitable ‘chicken and egg’ problem. I added a couple of books I read to my virtual bookshelf, but none were being discussed in any book clubs, nor were there any reviews. That means there’s not much social about this particular network for me so far. I could start my own book club of course and recruit members from the site or my own friends, and start writing reviews like crazy, but we all know only a small percentage of users actually gets around to being an active creator on these types of services, so only time will tell if BookSprouts can turn enough visitors into online book club ‘leaders’.

I also don’t see the business model behind BookSprouts. You have to dig very hard to find ads on the site and users don’t get charged for anything. What I see are affiliate links for buying books you’ve added to your profile on Amazon or AbeBooks (which recently became part of the Amazon family), but that seems rather pointless as I’m likely to already own books I’m declaring myself a fan of.

BookSprouts will find itself competing with Shelfari (recently acquired by Amazon) and the AbeBooks-backed LibraryThing, both of which are social networks centered around books.

From Techcrunch

The only Southern Vampire Mysteries book/story I havent read ..

I must admit I'm a bit obsessed with reading it - if you have a copy you'd loan me I would appreciate it !

'Dancer's in the Dark' published in 2004 in the anthology, Nights Edge

The collection standout, is Charlaine Harris's Dancers in the Dark. Set in the same universe as her Southern Vampire Mysteries series, Dancers focuses on Rue May, a young college student whose financial circumstances force her to apply for a job with the Blue Moon dancers -- a dance troupe whose members partner up in human/vampire couples, and culminate each performance in "the bite." When Rue's abusive past comes back to haunt her, she's finally in good company.

truebloodindallas@gmail.com

isbn 0373770103
Published :HQN

HBO store additional 20% off sale stuff

that means 50% + off on Generation Kill stuff
Hats $7
Mugs $5
Aluminum water $8

Here

True Blood New Year's Resolutions (2)

I will not tell Tara "if it seems too good to be true, it usually is"
I will not ask Eric if I can sit on his lap.
I will not try to set up Arlene with anyone.
I will not ask Bill who he fed on after the 'sun'.


Please send me your True Blood New Year's Resolution:
truebloodindallas@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone for their creativity!

True Blood Music Video of the Day

Snake in the grass by Vallejo