'Sparks fly out "' the title song for True Blood Season One Episode Five

I recently did a Season 2 Spoiler show for my Blogtalk radio show, where we looked at what we might know about the upcoming episode by examining the title song for that episode.

I can't tell you how many emails I received from folks saying they felt so stupid for not realizing that the True Blood episodes were named for songs. It's OK but I thought it might be a good idea to look back at the song, the artist and the lyrics for each of last season's episode title songs.

So let's look back to Season 1, Ep 5: 'Sparks Fly Out' which originally aired: 10/5/2008


'Spark Fly out' by Paul Burch from the album Fool for Love

Paul Burch (born 1966) is a Washington, D.C.-born musician, songwriter and producer. Burch moved to Nashville in the early '90s where he began singing in the city's '50s-era honky tonks, garnering the attention of Marianne Faithfull and Chet Atkins. Burch's shows and the Lower Broadway scene garnered national attention and a feature in Billboard which led to a record deal.

In 1998, Burch released his first album, Pan-America Flash on the independent Checkered Path label. This album was voted the fifth best country album of the 1990s by Amazon.com. Wire to Wire featured Ranger Doug of Riders in the Sky and a city nomination for best band and best independent record.

In 2000, Burch moved to Merge Records where he released two albums, Blue Notes and Last of My Kind, a companion to Tony Earley's New York Times best-seller Jim the Boy.

2003's Fool For Love, was Burch's first record for Bloodshot Records, this was followed up by East to West in 2006. East to West was recorded in London and featured guest appearances with Mark Knopfler, Tim O'Brien, and a duet and video with Ralph Stanley. Burch's songs have appeared on several film and television soundtracks including The Appalachians, The Rookie, and A History of Violence.

Paul Burch official website http://www.paulburch.com/bio.htm

This is Paul Burch singing "Life of a Fool" from the same album.

Bloodshot Records

Vampire Couture

Trends via TrendHunter.com.

Dead and Gone first review !!!

Book reviewers have now recieved their copies of Book 9, Dead to Worse

This was the first review I've seen but I've been in contact with other reviewers and I hear we have big news in the Sookie /Eric relationaship front more as soon as we know it !!

Dead and Gone

Dead and Gone
Charlaine Harris
Ace, May 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780441017157

Telepath Sookie Stackhouse works as a waitress at Merlotte’s Diner in Bon Temps, Louisiana. When Japanese scientists invented synthetic blood, vampires came out of the coffins and introduced themselves over TV. Although the new world needs some getting used to and help groups form, life for the most part have somewhat settled down as people realize vampires have been part of the assimilated population for centuries. It is now the shapeshifters turn to come out into the open.

However, some humans react violently towards the news. The owner of Merlotte’s stepdaughter almost kills her mother. Female shifter is crucified in Merlotte’s parking lot; she is the estranged wife of Sookie’s brother. Sookie’s great grandfather Niall is at war with an enemy who wants to kill and Sookie is sought by his adversaries as a potential hostage; several attempts to either abduct or kill her occur. Having a brother who is a were-panther means he will protect her but Sookie underestimates the threat to her and her loved ones by an ancient evil species more powerful than weres, vamps and humans combined.

True Blood is the TV show based on the Sookie novels and like this tale and previous entries are great urban fantasies. With all the different species surfacing who previously were assumed to be myths, Sookie and one other person are the only known telepaths in the United States. Although a bit less action oriented than other books in the series, Readers get to know the characters better and Sookie finally has some romance in her life. Charlaine Harris is one of the best urban fantasy worldbuilders writing today.

Harriet Klausner
http://worldsofwonders.blogspot.com/2009/03/dead-and-gone-charlaine-harris.html

More news on Johnny Depp’s ‘Dark Shadows’

Supernatural gothic sagas are crazy hot right now: HBO’s “True Blood,” those “Twilight” flicks everyone keeps talking about, plus a host of upcoming films like Benicio Del Toro’s “The Wolfman” and Nicolas Cage’s “Season of the Witch.” Even “Spider-Man 4”’s rumored villain is a vampire. Another of these Zeitgeist-y projects is the Johnny Depp-starring adaptation of the 1960s soap opera, “Dark Shadows,” which had been in development even before this obsession with monsters, ghosts and witches took hold.

But since word of the planned film surfaced two years ago, reliable “Dark Shadows” news has been hard to come by. Now an executive in Depp’s production company, Infinitum-Nihil, which is developing the movie, confirmed some details for MTV News, left others up in the air, and hinted that we might be seeing the makings of a new supernatural franchise.

Most importantly, we wanted to know if Johnny Depp is still attached to star. “Indeed he is,” confirmed Sam Sarkar, Infinitum’s director of development.

When it came to those Internet rumors about Tim Burton signing on to direct, though, Sarkar was somewhat more circumspect. “I can neither confirm nor deny that,” he said. “But I know it’s out there in the ether.”

Sounds like a deal is not yet in place but that Burton, who’s currently busy with another Depp-staring movie, “Alice in Wonderland,” tops Infinitum’s list of prospective directors. Of course, Depp and Burton have a long creative history together, from “Edward Scissorhands” to “Ed Wood” to “Sweeney Todd.”

While all the pieces are not yet in place, “Dark Shadows” is still very much a go at Warner Bros. “All I can say is that one is very active,” Sarkar said. “The studio will be making some announcements regarding it pretty soon. Very soon, probably.”

“Dark Shadows” premiered on ABC in 1966. Gothic romance, ghost stories, plots involving vampires, zombies and time-travel—the daytime soap had it all, and it became a runaway hit for the network over 1,225 episodes. The task facing producers is simply finding a way to shape a movie around such abundant, wide-ranging material.

“It was a soap opera—it was a daily show,” said Sarkar. “That’s something people forget. It’s one thing to adapt a weekly television series into a movie—it’s another thing to take a soap opera that’s been serialized daily and try to boil it down to two hours.”

As much as they’ll be forced to change and excise, they’re also committed to honoring an adored show. “I think it will be very true to the spirit of ‘Dark Shadows,’” Sarkar told us. “I think there’s going to be an authenticity to it.”

Any modifications will be made with the blessing of the mind behind the original series. Said Sarkar, “When Dan Curtis, the creator, was still alive, I met with [producer] David Kennedy, who originally brought the project to us and Curtis, and David has always been very adamant that there are certain things you should definitely take liberties with.”

And if the “Dark Shadows” film turns out to be a success, there’s a good chance it will spawn a franchise. “Obviously, it’s a movie that can continue,” said Sarkar, “because there were so many things going on in ‘Dark Shadows.’”

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton together—enough already or gimmie more? Who else would you like to see cast in the film?

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/03/19/johnny-depps-dark-shadows-adaptation-very-activewith-tim-burton-directing/

True Blood spoiler hint about Sophie Anne

Question: Dude! What's going on?! Where's all the True Blood scoop!? --Ryan
Ausiello: Chill, bro, I've got just the tease for ya -- and so does the show. Alan Ball and Co. are currently talking to "name" actresses to appear in just one episode this season (and more in future ones). The character? No less than Sophie-Anne, the 500-year-old queen of the Louisiana vampires. My mole tells me that Her Highness is as bright and witty as she is powerful and dangerous. (Isn't that always the way?) Michelle Pfeiffer, call your agent -- yesterday!

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/

Dead until Dark - let's look at the cover

Tell me everything you see in this brilliant Lisa Desimini cover for 'Dead until Dark' and tell me what the images represent in the book...

Vampire friendly bars and clubs

This is a list of Vampire friendly clubs and bars from around the united states, I hope to eventually have a list of every vampire bar and club that exists in the world in this section
(If the idea of that happening scares you, then go to truth about slayers and hunters pages on this site.)
In order to be able to do that I will need your help, email the name adress and location of everyone that you can find either through online or ones that are local, to me at my contact information ,

http://vampirewebsite.net/vampirebarsclubs.html
http://vampirewebsite.net/

Alleged Vampire Killing in Kentucky

I know this is sad and grisly but our excellent tour guide mentioned vampire crimes in New Orleans and he said he has had FBI agents and other law enforcement people come up to him after the tours and tell him these crimes happen all the time and many go unsolved ...so this caught my attention..

Disturbing new details are emerging in the murder of a teenager who police now say was the victim of a gang of wanna-be vampires.

17-year-old Travis White's body was found earlier this month, near some railroad tracks in Covington.

During a hearing for the five people charged in the case, detectives outlined the brutal and bizarre crime.

They say White was beaten with a wrench, hammer and bat, and then stabbed 29 times.

Police say the killers carved gang symbols into the chest of their victim.

Police say the five people charged in adult court, which include three teenagers and two men in their 20s, all met each other through vampire role-playing games.

Police say three of the men claimed to have been vampires.

Video here

BBC reviews the Lesbian Vampire Killers

It's hard to escape Gavin and Stacey stars James Corden and Mathew Horne at the moment.

As well as a new BBC Three sketch show, Horne's West End role in Entertaining Mr Sloane, and Corden's turn on Comic Relief, the comedy duo star in the film Lesbian Vampire Killers.

Corden and Horne play two no-hopers who go on a hiking holiday and find themselves stuck in a village where the women have been enslaved by a vampire curse.

Early reviews have been lukewarm and the film has been the target of criticism from an internet campaign by a pro-lesbian group.

Horne told the BBC this week that the the film was "a lot less gratuitous than you might think… it's like Confessions of a Window Cleaner, but in a forest with vampires".

Horne (above) and Corden were cast before Gavin & Stacey became a TV hit

The film's 15-certificate is a clue as to the target audience. The publicity material promises "gags, girls and gore" - although most of the jokes revolve around swearing and a phallic sword handle.

There are horror film references galore, and it's obvious that the makers of Lesbian Vampire Killers would love to emulate the success of Shaun of the Dead.

Here, Corden and Horne discuss vampires, the influence of Shaun and the perils of over-exposure.

Read on

10 top selling fantasy books in 2008 in which vampire characters played a major role

Good list from Vampire Librarian

Here are the 10 top selling fantasy books in 2008 in which vampire characters played a major role. This list is based on a compilation of sales data from Amazon.com:

#1
Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)
by Stephenie Meyer
Meyer closes her epic love story of a human, a vampire, and a werewolf in this, the final installment of the saga. The story opens with Bella and Edward’s wedding, and relations between Jacob and Bella remain uneasy. An unexpected event throws their idyllic world back into chaos as factions (both wolf and vampire) battle over whether or not to destroy the potential monster that is killing Bella from within.

#2
Sookie Stackhouse Box Set
by Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris has released Books 1-7 in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mystery series. These are currently on sale at Amazon for almost half off the list price. If you lile True Blood you’ll love these books. Why? Because True Blood is based on these books.

#3
From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 8 )
by Charlaine Harris
After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina, and the manmade horror of the explosion at the vampire summit, Sookie Stackhouse is safe but dazed, yearning for things to get back to normal. But her boyfriend Quinn is among the missing. And things are changing, whether the weres and vamps in her corner of Louisiana like it or not. In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death…and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood ceases flowing, her world will be forever altered.

#4
Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9)
by Charlaine Harris (will be released May 5, 2009)
The next installment in the wildly popular Sookie Stackhouse series will be available in May of this year. Charlaine Harris has released the first chapter of Dead and Gone online as an appetizer.

#5
At Grave’s End (Night Huntress Book 3)
by Jeaniene Frost
It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield’s life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she’s successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat’s worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover’s finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger. And if that wasn’t enough, a woman from Bones’s past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat’s about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she’s learned as a special agent won’t help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself, and Bones, from a fate worse than the grave. I’ve read Books 1 and 2 and highly recommend them. Jeaniene Frost is a fantastic writer that does a great job balancing action, romance, and suspense in her books.

#6
Betrayed (House of Night, Book 2)
by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Young vampire Zoey Redbird has managed to settle in at the House of Night school. She’s come to terms with the vast powers that have been bestowed upon her finally feels like she belongs. She actually has a boyfriend…or two. Then the unthinkable happens: human teenagers are being killed, and all the evidence points to the House of Night. While danger stalks the humans from Zoey’s old life, she begins to realize that the very powers that make her so unique might also threaten those she loves. In this installment Zoey must find the courage to face a betrayal that could break her heart, her soul, and jeopardize the very fabric of her world. Note: I just ordered Marked (House of Night, Book 1) the first book in the House of Night series. This is a young adult series that sounds really interesting.

#7
Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 1)
by Charlaine Harris
This is the first book in Charlaine Harris’ incredibly popular Southern Vampire Mystery series. In this book we’re introduced to Sookie Stackhouse, a Louisiana waitress that has the ability to hear the thoughts of others. Sookie meets Bill Compton, a vampire who has maintained his humanity. Additional characters in the ensemble are Eric Northman, Bill’s vampire “boss”, Sam Merlotte, Sookie’s boss and the owner of the bar where she works, and Jason Stackhouse, Sookie’s womanizing brother. This is a fantastic read and is a testament to the brilliance and talent of Charlene Harris.

#8
Many Bloody Returns (Sookie Stackhouse)
by Charlaine Harris, Tony Kelner, Kelley Armstrong, and Jim Butcher. Edited by Toni L. Kelner.
From cakes to stakes, a celebration of everyone’s favorite bloodsucking subculture by a baker’s dozen of favorite authors. Each of these thirteen original stories offers a fresh and unique take on what birthdays mean to the undead. From Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse attending a birthday party for Dracula to Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden battling bloodsucking party crashers, these suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous stories will ensure paranormal fans will never think of vampires or birthdays quite the same again.

#9
Definitely Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6) by Charlaine Harris
Sookie Stackhouse, the lovable telepathic waitress from Louisiana, is off to New Orleans to close out her dead cousin Hadley’s apartment. Hadley’s death six weeks earlier had been unexpected, since, as a vampire, she was already dead. Still, she’d led a lively existence as the main squeeze of the Queen of Louisiana, a vampire whose political marriage to the King of Arkansas occurred the night before Hadley’s demise. Sookie and Amelia Broadway, Hadley’s landlady and a pretty cool witch, immediately discover a mess of trouble left behind in Hadley’s closet, and Sookie is soon neck-deep in even more!

#10
Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, Book 11)
by Jim Butcher
The Warden Morgan has been accused of treason against the Wizards of the White Council—and there’s only one, final punishment for that crime. He’s on the run, wants his name cleared, and needs someone with a knack for backing the underdog. Someone like Harry Dresden. If you’ve kept up with this fantastic series you know that Morgan loathes Harry; having to rely on Harry to clear his name is the last thing he’d want. However, Harry’s a good guy with a soft heart so he juggles finding the traitor within the Wizard’s Council, keeping a less-than-agreeable Morgan under wraps, and avoiding coming under scrutiny himself. This is a wonderful series that any fantasy fan will like.

http://vampirelibrarian.com/2009/01/

True Blood Music Video of the Day

Possession by Sarah McLachlan LYRICS
thanks Ivyneea

Calling all VAMPIRES

Get Bitten in New Orleans!

The Vampire Film Series and Festival (aka Vampire Fest) will start taking film submissions on Saturday, March 21, 2009 Vampire Fest will to come home to New Orleans in late Autumn 2009 to present our festival and help in the effort to rebuild this beautiful city. Vampire Fest accepts all films that could be classified in the context of vampire, supernatural and the bizarre. A filmmaker can even submit a documentary about Goth people or about Gothic architecture. Vampire Fest will accept any narrative or experimental film that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious or desolate. The legend of the werewolf and other supernatural creatures are interconnected with that of vampire and Vampire Fest is open to films of the Goth, zombie and werewolf, witch or ghost genre.
The categories are:
Vampire Feature
Vampire Short
International Vampire Film (not English language, vampires with foreign
passports!)
Vampire Documentary
Vampire Mixed Media (less live action, more anime, animation, CGI, puppets or claymation) Gothic Feature Gothic Short Werewolf/ Ghost/Witch/Ghoul Feature or Short Filmmakers can submit on line at www.vampirefilmfestival.com or at www.withoutabox.com If you have questions or need more information, please visit our site at www.vampirefilmfestival.com or contact Reel Energy at (626) 449-1902.
Get bitten at Vampire Fest in New Orleans!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Francesca Miller
Reel Energy Entertainment
626-449-1902
www.VampireFilmFestival.com

True Blood: Bloody Good Vampires haunt every Thursdays

In Manila they just think True Blood is great too....

TRUE Blood, the red hot new HBO vampire series that has both “fang girls,” “fang boys” and critics excited will finally premiere on local cable on April 9 at the Max channel (formerly Cinemax).

Robert Lyons, HBO’s senior vice president for Programming and Presentation is very enthusiastic about promoting the show. He says for the premiere, “you’re not getting one but four episodes back to back. It’s the second episode that really gets you hooked.” I begged to disagree; this series had me at hello. Vampires, Southern Goth, slick opening credits with a Chris Isaak-esque country blue glass blues tune and wicked sense of humor. Not to mention I had read Dead After Dark a few years ago. What was not to like?

Comparisons between True Blood and Twilight are inevitable. Both have a key human-vampire love story. However, in this case it’s the human who can read everyone else’s thoughts except the vampire’s. Besides being set in a world where vampires and all manner of other mythical creatures exist, the sensibilities of both properties are quite different. True Blood attracts a very different demographic—a more mature audience and certainly more men. As a TV series it’s racy, sexy, suspenseful, often irreverent and darkly funny. The first set of fans that encouraged me to take my first taste of True Blood were men.

Read on

True Blood: Something to get your teeth into

...And now comes the HBO telly drama True Blood (Prime, Wednesdays, 9.30pm), an adaptation of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels by none other than the illustrious and highly original talent Alan Ball (creator of Six Feet Under, and Oscar winner for American Beauty).

True Blood arrives here with its credentials well established; a second series commissioned after just one episode; and a best actress Golden Globe for its Kiwi lead, Anna Paquin, who really does dominate the show.

Ball certainly can take a script and run with it; so what kind of spin does True Blood put on the hoary old story of the feisty babe who's a sucker for a bat man?

It imagines a world where, thanks to the invention of synthetic blood, vampires are coming out of the closet and claiming their rights - only at night, of course - to live free from human discrimination and intimidation. They even have an attractive, sober-suited woman fronting their cause who, rather than fanged and blood-stained, looks reassuringly like a "moms for teen sexual abstinence" campaigner.

Add a strong helping of southern American gothic, with its setting of a Louisiana backwater town where intrigue and prejudices breed like mosquitoes in the bayou. Inject with humour - roadside signs proclaim "God hates fangs" and women who sleep with vampires are dubbed "fang-bangers" - and a bit of graphic sex, although for sexual out-there-ness it's no match for the likes of Californication.

Read on NZHearald

Sookie Stackhouse aka Southern Vampire Mysteries by Sheri

Sheri of 'Sherri's World' does a great job reviewing all the Sookie Stackhouse books

Dead Until Dark, the first book in the series was really quite good. I liked it anyways. The main character Sookie Stackhouse is great but also kind of annoys me. She is a telepathic barmaid who is quite nice, though every human thinks she is a bit crazy. Also, much of the book seemed like I was reading another version of Twilight with more sex and Southern slang. I think this book was written first though. Maybe Stephanie Meyer read it and that is how she dreamt up Twilight. Regardless though, it is a good book. I really liked Vampire Bill. Plus, having vampires “out of the coffin” and legal was a fun twist to vampire stories. I read this book in a night.

I started reading the second book, Living Dead in Dallas after a paranormal investigation. So, I only got in about an hour or so of reading. I finished the rest of it the following day. It was good but not really as good as the first. The most memorable thing that happens in this is the escape from being held captive at the Fellowship of the Sun headquarters there.

After this book, I decided to read the back covers of the rest of the books that came in the set. I regretted doing so. Why? Well, I found out Bill cheats on Sookie! Also, somehow she might end up with Eric (Bill’s boss and the sheriff of Area 5 in Louisiana)? Then her brother becomes a shape-shifter? Then she ends up with a shape-shifter? What is going on? Why can’t my vampire reading be satiated with her just ending up with Bill and her turning into a vampire and then they live happily ever after? Oh, right for that I guess I can just re-read Breaking Dawn (again).

Also, the bookset doesn’t have all of the books. Yeah when I bought the set I thought they were all there but it is missing one that is out now and one that comes out in May. Now that I’ve started reading it, I’ll have to buy those too. Damn my OCD and getting sucked into this series!

Read on http://xsherix.blogspot.com/2009/03/sookie-stackhouse-aka-southern-vampire.html

Vampires' charm intrigues

OPINION Just when you thought movies and TV had pretty much sucked the life out of the old vampire schtick, along comes True Blood, last night on Prime, and injects a bit of PC tenderness into the old legend.

Now it's pity the hounded, despised minority. Just because they vant to drrrink your blaaarrrrd, "It's not their fault," says the plucky heroine of this ingenious, sparky new series.

Sure, they're not human, so it's a bit off-beam to talk about their human rights. Sure, they're already dead, so it's a bit iffy to talk about their lifestyles.

Yes, they haven't exactly done mankind any favours, with all that blood sucking, leering and B-movie carry on over the centuries. But, hey, they didn't ask to be born undead.

On the contrary, in the world of True Blood, vampires have been "normalised" into society as an underprivileged minority.

Following the invention of a viable synthetic blood, with which vampires can nourish themselves instead of predating upon humans, the vampire race decided to "come out of the coffin" and integrate openly with the Earth's dominant species.

Alas, so far there has been no Rosa Parks-style breakthrough in the vampire equality drive, and in the Louisiana town that's True Blood's setting, the V-word has about the same effect as the N-word used to a few decades ago.

Not only are vampires feared and despised, but the tables have been turned, with vampires being exploited by humans who make a fetish of having sex with them, and by more sicko humans who have a fetish for drinking vampires' blood, in which there is a gruesome trade.

Our heroine, Sookie - played Golden Globe-winningly by Hutt Valley exile Anna Paquin - is not prejudiced against vampires - especially not when a good-looking one comes into the bar where she waits tables.

His name is Bill - which is a bit of disappointment. "I was expecting Antoine, or something," she giggles.

Bill - sultry Stephen Moyer - is chiselled and moody, and makes Dirty Harry seem garrulous - although dispiritingly, he has the pallor we normally associate with the men from Coronation Street. Sookie overlooks this.

Most importantly, she saves him from exsanguination when he is captured by some V-juice traffickers. She finds these baddies siphoning him of blood in the car park, as if nicking the 95 from the tank of a Subaru.

It's a touching scene, but also a disconcerting one, as clearly, Bill is not the only one here with a supernatural riff going on.

Sookie can read people's minds, which is how she knew the couple in the bar were about to drain Bill. And judging from the way she dispatched the baddies - causing a hefty chain to boa-constrict round a guy's neck all by itself - Sookie herself seems to be not entirely human.

"What are you?" Bill keeps asking her."Ah'm a waitress!" she purrs in her Southern drawl.

Yes, but the kind of waitress to whom it would pay to give a stonking big tip, just to be safe.

If last night was any guide to the show's quality, it'll be well worth sticking with the series to find out what Sookie is and why, and how her romance goes with the 170-year- old undead, pasty dreamboat.

There's also the inevitable serial-killing mystery, which claimed its first body last night, and for which Sookie's hunky but thick brother Jason is the prime suspect.

There's the love triangle - or possibly quadrangle - involving Sam, the nice, non-fanged but possibly still supernatural bar owner, who unrequitedly loves Sookie, and Sookie's hilarious best friend Tara, who is quite mortal, but also mortally rude and offensive, and who unrequitedly loves dopey Jason.

Quite as compulsory as a serial- killing plot in such (otherwise original) American shows, is the cute dog. In this case it's a noble-looking collie that suddenly appears whenever Sookie is in trouble.

In short, this is Buffy or Charmed, only the X-rated grown- ups-only version - and much, much cleverer and funnier.

Even this reviewer, who is easily icked-out by exsanguination scenes, and bored to tears with the vampire idyll, has been won over by the ingenuity and subtlety of this show.

It's not just that the dialogue is sassy and the characters are likeably eccentric. All that is bog- standard with quality American programmes these days, and is the least you'd expect.

The brilliant thing about True Blood is its understated ambience. The story arcs and much of the action are seriously florid, yet somehow it's mostly handled insouciantly.

Weird things happen, and the characters are so matter-of-fact about it, you sometimes wonder if you've heard right. They-at cyewwl Ser-th'n accey-ent shirr hey-ulps.

On the downside, the sex scenes are lurid and protracted, and the inevitable ambience of gore takes a bit of getting used to.

Those who blanch at bad language will find this show at the serious end of offending. But for viewers with the stomach, this is one of the freshest shows we're likely to see this year.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/2276357/Vampires-charm-intrigues

It's a nice place to visit but it's good to be home and a plea for New Orleans !

Thanks to Object Desire's fabulous driving, we zipped our way home today- we had a great time listening to the audio book of Definitely Dead.

We ate beignets one last time at Cafe Du Monde, packed up the car, spent an hour or so touring the still devastated 9th ward and then visited St. Louis Cemetery.

We then made our way home and we were back in Area 6, Kingdom of Texas by 7:30 pm.

I have been to New Orleans many, many times and I love it each and every time...but I had not been back since Katrina and what I saw made my heart ache.

I would like to ask everyone that loves the Sookie books and Louisiana to consider making a donation to one of the great organizations that are working to rebuild the massive devastated areas of NOLA. There is NO city in America like New Orleans and we must continue to care and help them to rebuild ...

I would recommend Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild the great city and/or Make it right, which is building fabulous new green( solar) homes in the 9th. (this is the organization Brad Pitt is involved in ) My family is fighting over the t-shirt I brought home, so maybe you guys support them by buying a t-shirt or other merchandise. buy one here

We saw Habitat Spring Break student volunteers there this morning raking and cleaning ..and they are also involved int he Musician 's Village.
( I took photo above left this morning of one of the fabulous new homes being built !)

If we all just send $10 bucks it would help..