Sunday, November 30, 2008

look it's Pam and Eric - no wait.... it's Alex and Kristin

Planet Hollywood - Pive party

see post
http://lovingtruebloodindallas.blogspot.com/2008/11/true-blood-gossip.html

HBO True Blood dvds maybe ship In May 09 ?



"On the HBO store the True Blood Season 1 DVD has a shipping date of 12 may 2009, the price is $59,99. You can also pre order through amazon ( it is a little cheaper)

Here at Amazon

or at the HBO Store

http://store.hbo.com/

Talking HBO's True Blood with One of Its Writers Raelle Tucker

** Raell wrote episode 6
By Mary Borsellino
November 24, 2008
Genre TV fans may recognise Raelle Tucker's name from Supernatural's early seasons, but she's in a whole new world these days as one of the writers for HBO's True Blood: the story of Sookie Stackhouse, a young psychic waitress in a world where vampires have come out into the public eye.




Sequential Tart: The attitudes writers take in adapting a story from one medium to another vary quite widely. How does the True Blood team approach the task?

Raelle Tucker: We’re extremely lucky — Charlaine Harris has created such a cool, cinematic world, with so many unique characters ... and managed to keep them fresh and entertaining for eight novels, that it’s really an embarrassment of riches.

Obviously there are certain challenges in translating something so beloved to the screen. It was hugely important to honor Charlaine and the fans of the books, but it was equally important to allow the show to take on its own life. In season 1 we tried to preserve as much of the Dead Until Dark plot as we could — both the Bill/Sookie arc and the murder mystery storyline follow that novel pretty closely. Our biggest departures mostly had to do with the secondary characters. Of course Sookie Stackhouse is the heart of the series, but building a television show around one character’s point of view is something extremely difficult to sustain. Again, lucky for us, Charlaine had already surrounded Sookie with a cast of fascinating characters ... we just had to flesh them out and give them their own stories to run with.

And then there’s that thing that naturally happens when you put Alan Ball and five other writers in a room for months — a little of each of us spills out onto the page. We bring our own flavors and experiences to the table. I know that’s not going to please everybody — I imagine it’ll be difficult for some fans of the books to understand all the choices we’ve made. But I believe the best writing usually comes from a personal place ... and I think the Sookie-world is big enough, and strangely universal enough, for each of us to make it our own, without compromising the essence of the fantastic work Charlaine has done.

ST: I've started reading Dead Until Dark in tandem with watching the series as it airs, and it's fascinating to see the choices made in translating the story. One addition I'd like to hear you talk about is the character of Tara — everyone I've talked to about the show mentions her as one of the things they love about it.

RT: Tara Thornton does exist as a character in the novels, but she’s more peripheral, and quite different from the Tara we’ve created for the show. And there’s a bunch of reasons for that. The obvious one being that we don’t have the benefit of internal monologues — Sookie needs to talk to someone. At the same time, we didn’t want to use the stereotypical “loyal best friend” or “quirky sidekick” device. We had to make sure Tara had her own shit to deal with, separate from Sookie, and that the emotional stakes of her story were just as high. Race was also a factor. The show is set in Louisiana, so given the racial make up of that part of the country, we didn’t feel right about Lafayette being the only African-American main character.

Personally, Tara’s one of my favorite characters to write for, because she’s an insanely strong woman who doesn’t shy away from her strength, or try to downplay it for anyone. And yeah, sometimes she’s got a shitty attitude, and she doesn’t always make fantastic choices, but that’s what makes her human. I think the actress who plays her (Rutina Wesley), aside from being mesmerizingly gorgeous, brings so many layers and so much depth to the role. Her Tara manages to be profoundly fucked up, funny, vulnerable, compassionate, angry and loveable all within seconds of each other. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character like Tara on TV. And that’s exciting to write ... and hopefully exciting to watch.

ST: Something else that comes up in discussions I've had about True Blood has been comparisons to Twilight: just like every fantasy book for children is now compared to Harry Potter, any girl-meets-boy about a human and a vampire is going to be held up against that example. Some people are hesitating with watching True Blood because of this — what would you tell them about what makes this story different?

RT: Not to take anything away from Twilight, but Dead Until Dark was published and made the bestseller list well before anyone had ever heard of Stephanie Meyer. And while there are obvious similarities between the two, I think there are just as many differences. Twilight is a really enjoyable, charming and fundamentally wholesome read. But Charlaine’s novels (much like the television version) are a lot sexier, darker, quirkier. Both the setting and the political subplot are used to explore deeper themes of class, racism, homophobia ... Charlaine’s books are definitely written for a more mature audience — they’re essentially a fairytale for adults.

Bottom line: I don’t see why anyone would feel like they have to pick one over the other. How many movies and TV shows about lawyers, cops or doctors have there been? I don’t pay much attention to genre — I watch because I care about the characters — ‘cause I’m hoping what they do or say next may surprise me, or make me think, or inspire me. I really couldn’t give a crap if they’re vampires or pediatricians. I’ll be going to see Twilight in theaters when it opens, with a totally open mind .... I hope Twilight fans will at least tune in for an episode or two of True Blood before they make up theirs.

ST: What's your approach to capturing the 'Southern gothic' vibe of the show?

RT: Honestly, I don’t really have one. I haven’t spent much time in the South. My mother’s originally from Tennessee – but I was raised in a hippie community in Spain — so I don’t have a lot of personal experience to draw from in that regard. I wore a lot of black as a teenager and read Anne Rice, but that’s about as far as I ever took the goth thing. And (despite my resume) I’ve never been a diehard genre girl either.

Early in the process of writing True Blood, Alan suggested I watch a fantastic documentary: Searching For the Wrong-Eyed Jesus. The raw glimpses of Southern culture in that film gave me a grasp of Alan’s vision for the look and tone of our show. Music also has a huge influence — the title of every episode is a song — and we write music into every script. I’d never worked that way before, but learning the sound of the show really helped me immerse myself in that world.

But ultimately, I think Southern gothic is just one element of True Blood’s tone. It’s part supernatural bodice ripper, part Twin Peaks on hallucinogenics. Some people think it’s a continuation of Alan Ball’s meditation on death. Others think it’s smut with special effects. I try not to over-think it. If your characters and story are clearly drawn, the tone should organically fall into place.

ST: Were you at all involved in the viral marketing which led up to the premiere?

RT: I wish I could take some credit for that, but I can’t. That was all Alan Ball, HBO and Campfire. (Campfire is a genius independent marketing shop, founded by the producers of Blair Witch.) By the time I was brought onto the show, most of the marketing strategy was already in place.

I’ve gotta say though, as a writer/producer it was thrilling to be a part of something that had that much hype and anticipation. Most of the series I’ve worked for have gone kinda under the radar publicity-wise. Which is an early indication that the studio or network isn’t exactly confident in the work you’re doing ... and that’s always a hard hit after you’ve put your blood, sweat and tears into a project for months or years. With True Blood it was obvious how invested and excited HBO was about the show right from the beginning. I think they did an amazing job of setting up the world for us — the beverage campaign, the vampire dating service, the comic book ... so that by the time we premiered, audiences were caught up with the premise just enough to be able to get on board and enjoy the ride. Having that kind of support and creativity behind a show ... especially when you’re still in production working 14 hour days — or rather nights (the curse of a vampire show is that it turns you into one) ... just knowing that you’re going to be given every opportunity to succeed makes everything feel worth it.

ST: Historically, the vampire as a metaphor for otherness — stemming from a fear of queer people or xenophobia, for instance — was necessary in fiction because explicit sexuality wasn't possible on the page or screen. Obviously, being on HBO takes away those restrictions. What makes keeping that use of vampires in our culture worthwhile, in your opinion, now that it's more possible for storytellers to speak about sex and racism directly?

RT: Just because we now have venues to discuss these issues openly, doesn’t necessarily mean audiences are open to hearing them. I think HBO’s Tell Me You Love Me is a great example of that. Love it or hate it, it was one of the most raw, honest and unflattering explorations of sexuality I’ve ever seen. I think that’s one of the reasons viewers shied away from it — it was painful to watch and depressing if you related to it (which I did). There was no escapism there — no fantasy. And let’s face it, that’s at least part of what we’re all looking for when we turn on the TV.

That’s one of the things I struggle with in nearly everything I write: how to say something relevant, to address something I’m passionate about, without getting on a soap box or depressing the shit out of myself and everyone else. It’s a difficult balance to achieve, and personally, I think True Blood comes closer to accomplishing that than most stuff on television because the nature of the show — the supernatural elements and the quirky humor — doesn't allow us to take ourselves too seriously. But Alan’s sensibility — his take on relationships, sexuality, death ... is very profound. He constantly pushes us to look deeper, to think outside the box, to question our characters' (and our own) morality. Finding the place where these two somewhat opposing tones meet is what most excites me about working on True Blood.

So, I don’t know if a series about vampires is “worthwhile”. I know it’s a hell of a lot of fun to write. And if you’re looking for a deeper meaning I think you can find those moments on the show ... but they’ll probably be sandwiched between some naked bodies and some bloody vampire fangs. And maybe this means I'm shallow, but I’m totally at peace with that.

ST: Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer are absolutely perfect in their roles when seen on-screen, but wouldn't have seemed like the most obvious choices for the characters. Were you involved in writing for the show prior to their casting? Have their performances changed your perceptions of the characters at all?

RT: I was hired after the pilot had been cast. I was particularly thrilled about Anna — her casting was an early indication that TV Sookie wasn’t going to be a ditsy Jessica Simpson-esque Southern Belle Barbie doll, with telepathic abilities squeezed into a waitress uniform — which would have been every fan of the books' worst nightmare. Anna radiates both an intelligence and a melancholy that grounds Sookie — makes her believable as someone who has lived her entire life with something akin to a disability.

Anna’s Sookie is beautiful but accessible, innocent without being naïve, strong but adorably girly. Once I saw her on screen I couldn’t imagine anyone else in the role.

And like many of the fans of the books, Vampire Bill was never my favorite character on the page. But when I saw Stephen Moyer at the first table read for the pilot, all of that changed. His stillness, his subtlety, that strange coldness in his eyes ... I was almost a little scared of him, until he put down his script, cracked a joke in this full-on British accent and smiled. That man is so ridiculously charming he could have chemistry with a brick wall ... but he and Anna together — that kind of magic is something extremely rare and impossible to fake.

ST: What's your favorite thing about working on True Blood? The most exciting?

RT: The whole thing is a dream come true. Literally. Alan Ball’s the reason I started writing television in the first place. The first TV script I ever wrote was a spec of Six Feet Under, and that script got me my first staff writing job. Until Six Feet Under I was kind of a film snob — I didn’t think TV could be art, that it could challenge or inspire me the way great films had. Six Feet Under changed all that for me, and I believe it also changed the kinds of stories we were allowed to tell on television. So it was a huge turning point. The bar was set for me: I wanted to work with Alan Ball ... or at least at HBO.

When I heard Alan was starting to develop True Blood — two years before it premiered — I read Charlaine’s books and just fantasized about how I would adapt certain scenes, story lines I would pitch ... at that point the whole thing felt like a masochistic exercise. Because I was working on Supernatural on The CW, which is about as far from HBO as you can get .... I was coming out of a nine-year writing partnership and had barely just established myself as a solo writer. Honestly, it was a very difficult time in my life and in my career. I felt like I was losing touch with my voice – with the reasons I became a writer in the first place. I had struggled for most of my adult life for this career, but I seriously considering walking away from it all.

For the record, I’m not a person of faith. But when I got the call that Alan had read one of my scripts and wanted to meet with me about True Blood, the sky might as well have opened up and rained angels. It sounds corny, but I just felt this absolute certainty that everything I’d been through had happened for a reason.

Anyway, to make a long, sappy story short: Alan is pretty much everything I thought he was, as well as one of the most genuinely kind and generous people I’ve ever met. The working environment on this staff is incredibly nurturing and creative. I’ve never put more of myself into a television show, or had more fun, or loved coming to work more than I do on True Blood. I’m living my dream, and making everyone I know sick with how happy I am.

And I get to spend hours googling Southern sayings, like: “It'll last about as long as a fart in a whirlwind.” And “As confused as a cow on astroturf.” I can’t believe I actually get to write dialogue like that. Seriously. My job is way too fun to be legal.

http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=1156

True Blood in Dallas at Blogtalk Radio

Airs live Mondays 9:00 pm (central)

Loving True Blood in Dallas now has an internet radio program based in part on the blog. We provide topical programs where we discuss aspects of the HBO series True Blood as well as discuss the 'Sookie Stackhouse' novels by Charlaine Harris.

I am the host and my co-hosts are fellow posters from the HBO True Blood Wiki !

To find out about our next show you can look below or click on the “I have a Blogtalk radio show" graphic on the top right of any blog page and it will take you to a special page that will provide you with schedule information, call-in phone numbers and allow you access to the chat room.

During the program I take calls, read chat remarks and IMs --so everyone can be involved.

The program is archived and available for streaming, download or by podcast (iTunes) approximately an 1/2 hour after the program airs live. So if you can’t join us at the time of the program airs you can still listen at anytime that is convenient for you!
You can also listen to past program stream right from the blog, just click one of the shows in the blue 'BlogTalk 'box (right) -there you will see the titles of past shows.

You can access True Blood in Dallas Blogtalk radio info here:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/True-Blood-in-Dallas
** you can also set a reminder there and you will receive a reminder email 1 hour before the show.

You can email me with suggestions and comments at:
truebloodindallas@gmail.com

You can also IM me during the show at truebloodindallas on g-talk
Thanks, Dallas
http://lovingtruebloodindallas.blogspot.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Topics of the first few shows :

Episode 1: Cliffhangers from Season one of True Blood (thanks Alainanoel and werehunter) aired live Nov 24, 2008

Episode 2: Intro to Eric: 101 Lets look at how we first meet Eric and how they are the same and differ between book and show. (Thanks Jesiryu) Aired live Dec 1, 2008

Episode 3: Dead and Gone Bk 9 Chapter one is released by Charlaine Harris what have we learned from it? What hints does it give us as to what will happen in Bk 9 ?
Aired live December 8, 2008 (thanks Objectdesire)

Episode 4: How we set up a local North Texas Sookie book/fan group and why you should form one in your city too . The rest of the show a call-in holiday free for all
Aired live: December 15, 2008 9:00 pm central time

Break for the holidays for two weeks then we return January 5th with fantastic new shows.

I need co-hosts and show topics truebloodindallas@gmail.com

Eric and Sookie have had each others' blood (in the books) 9 times to date.

0 times in Dead Until Dark

4 times in Living Dead in Dallas
Pg. 39 Eric --> Sookie
Pg. 169 Eric --> Sookie
Pg. 191 Sookie --> Eric
Pg. 243 Sookie --> Eric

1 time in Club Dead
Pgs. 164-166 Sookie --> Eric

2 times in Dead to the World
Pg. 123 Eric --> Sookie
Pg. 125 Eric --> Sookie

1 time in Dead as a Doornail
Pg. 221 Eric --> Sookie

0 times in Definitely Dead

1 time in All Together Dead
Pg. 178-179 Eric --> Sookie --> Eric

0 times in From Dead to Worse

Vampire fascination stokes success of HBO’s ‘True Blood’

By David Bauder THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Anna Paquin stars as Sookie Stackhouse in a scene from last week’s season finale of HBO’s “True Blood.”
NEW YORK— Catching the wave of a public fascination with vampires, HBO’s “True Blood” has steadily increased in stature to become the cable network’s most popular series since “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City.”

Based on the series of Sookie Stackhouse novels written by Charlaine Harris and starring Anna Paquin in the lead character’s role, “True Blood” has grown its Sunday night viewership by 66 percent since its debut in September.

The first season finale aired last Sunday, with a second season already in production.

“True Blood” casually imagines a world where vampires, telepathic women and “shape shifters” — people who can assume the shapes of animals — are a part of everyday life in a small Louisiana town. A steamy romance between Paquin’s waitress and Bill the brooding vampire, portrayed by Stephen Moyer, stands at the show’s center.

The HBO series also benefits from proximity to the recent release of the “Twilight” movie, another spooky drama about a girl and the vampire who loves her. Another parallel: “Twilight” is also based on a literary series.

Alan Ball, who produced HBO’s “Six Feet Under,” came to the network with the idea of adapting Harris’ novels into escapist entertainment.

“After ‘Six Feet Under,’ where as an artist and a person I got to explore my whole relationship with grief for about five years, I just felt, OK, I don’t really need to spend any more time staring into the abyss,” Ball said.

Ball’s pitch was basically all it took to sell HBO’s executives on the idea, said Michael Lombardo, HBO’s chief of West Coast operations. Ball kept the foreboding darkness expected in vampire stories, spiced up the sex and violence, mixed in humor and explored the theme of outsiders in society, he said.

The novels are centered on Stackhouse, so Ball said he had to develop some of the characters around her to avoid overworking Paquin. Harris is unlikely to mind any artistic licenses; all seven of her Stackhouse novels currently rank in the top 30 of The New York Times paperback fiction bestsellers list.

The fictional genre of women and their supernatural beaus was something new to Ball. Surfing some chat rooms, he’s noticed that many women are connecting to the story of Sookie and Bill.

The series averages 6.8 million viewers each week. As is typical for HBO, the viewership is scattered around in-demand viewing and reruns aired at different times during the week. But Lombardo said he’s noticed that more people are tuning in for the Sunday episode premieres, a sign of anticipation among fans.

HBO usually spends a big promotion budget to get people to watch the first episode of a new series, and hope enough viewers are satisfied to come back in subsequent weeks. The “True Blood” promotion included some approaches unusual for the network, including setting up fake Web sites and advertising a fake drink called ‘Tru Blood.”

But the series started relatively quietly and has built its audience week-to-week, Lombardo said. Even notable successes like “The Sopranos” grew more slowly, with a big jump coming at the start of the second season, he said.

The timing couldn’t be better for HBO, a subscriber-based network that lost some of its hipness factor when it failed to develop shows that could match the critical and commercial highs of “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City.”

The failure of series like “John from Cincinnati” and “Lucky Louie” left HBO suffering on Sundays, generally its showcase nights for original material.

“You start worrying,” Lombardo admitted. “You see other networks putting on important programs on Sunday nights and you worry, ‘Can you bring them back?’ What has been fantastic is to see the subscribers have been waiting for a Sunday night show they can make appointment viewing again.”

The series will return for its second season next summer, and HBO is looking to build anticipation by releasing a DVD of the first season before that — unusually early for the network.

Swedish vampire? -no not that one - "Let the right one in"


LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

Directed by Tomas Alfredson

Cast Includes Per Ragnar, Mikael Rahm

Rating: R - Swedish director Tomas Alfredson brings the best-selling novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist to life in LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. A fragile, anxious boy, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. The lonely boy's wish for a friend seems to come true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in next door to him with her father. A pale, serious young girl, she only comes out at night and doesn't seem affected by the freezing temperatures.

Coinciding with Eli's arrival is a series of inexplicable disappearances and murders. One man is found tied to a tree, another frozen in the lake, a woman bitten in the neck. Blood seems to be the common denominator – and for an introverted boy like Oskar, who is fascinated by gruesome stories, it doesn't take long before he figures out that Eli is a vampire. But by now a subtle romance has blossomed between Oskar and Eli, and she gives him the strength to fight back against his aggressors. Oskar becomes increasingly aware of the tragic, inhuman dimension of Eli's plight, but cannot bring himself to forsake her. Frozen forever in a twelve-year-old's body, with all the burgeoning feelings and confused emotions of a young adolescent, Eli knows that she can only continue to live if she keeps on moving. But when Oskar faces his darkest hour, Eli returns to defend him the only way she can ...

Web page here http://sixshooterfilmseries.com/
Angelika theatres http://www.angelikafilmcenter.com/

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Favorite True Blood quotes from episode 9

Eric: Humans. Honestly Bill, I don’t know what you see in them.

Eric to Bill: Come. I’ll buy you a blood.

Eric: Tru Blood. It keeps you alive, but it will bore you to death.

Eric: Not smart, Bill. Not smart at all.

Jason to Amy: Cause any woman with a purse that big is bound to have something in it I don’t wanna know about.

Pam to Sookie: There’s vampire in your cleavage.

Tara to miss Jeanette: My soul don’t wanna get ripped off.

Lettie Mae to Tara: Men only bring flowers if they already slept with you and looking to again. That especially go for white men as black men are less prone to grovel.

Sam: Morning Sookie.
Sookie: Ain’t nothing good about this morning.

Sookie: Sometimes I wish I smokes, you know? So you could sneak outside without anybody knowing there’s something wrong with you.

Jason to Eddie: For a vampire you sure are a doughy fuck.

Bill to Pam talking about Eric: Tell me, do you enjoy it, living half way up his backside the way you do?

Bill: I liked Longshadow better.

Bill: Try to behave yourself.
Eric: Don’t I always.

Eric: Tick tock, Bill.

Pam: If I had any feeling I’d have the chills right about now.
Eric: Not me.

Love Bites: What Sexy Vampires Tell Us About Our Culture

By Sarah Seltzer , RH Reality Check

November 28, 2008

Teen vampire flick and pop-culture juggernaut "Twilight", like "Mama Mia!" and "Sex and the City" before it, shattered records this weekend and made female moviegoers hard to ignore.

"Twilight" is far from a feminist triumph, though: it's been interpreted by more writers than this one as a purity allegory perfectly tailored for a (hopefully fading) era of abstinence-hype and hand-wringing about "hook-up culture." With a heroine who yearns to both be ravished and bitten, and a hero loath to rob her of either soul or virginity, the "Twilight" plot arc sells a pseudo-empowering fantasy (men as the sexual and moral gatekeepers, leaving women free to express their desires) while wholeheartedly embracing patriarchal norms.

The film somewhat mitigates the book's rabid antifeminist message, providing more room to chuckle at the smoldering pouts of its young protagonists (whether that campiness was intended is unclear) and downplaying the extent to which human Bella's singular fixation with vampire hunk Edward precludes everything else. But the basic storyline of "I won't bite you, it's for your own good" can't be changed. It's the core of the tale.

Putting a Stake in Victorian Mores

This not the first time vampires in pop culture have been a perfect expression of the currents and anxieties of their time. In fact, one might argue that that is their purpose.

With immortality, a killer instinct, and a life on the fringes, Vampires are a perfect conduit for musings on the human condition. "Vampires have long served to remind us of the parts of our own psyches that seduce us," writes Salon's Laura Miller (in a superb analysis of the "Twilight" books). But the metaphor is often less existential than that, as the vampire bite is easy shorthand for sex. Vampirism allows consumers to take vicarious pleasure in rule-breaking couplings, while also justifying phobias about sex-because the seducers do have lethal fangs, and their condition is quite contagious.

Bram Stoker's Dracula, the most prominent sire of today's fictive undead, was a repository of post-Victorian fears: syphilis and shifting gender roles. Thus the book is full of bizarre sexualized imagery that equates gender-bending with evil. Hero Jonathan gets attacked and nearly bitten by a gang of wanton vampiresses. Lucy, an ill-fated flirt, juggles three suitors; by story's end all three of them must stake the undead Lucy in a scene that critics compare to a gang rape. Mina, the less transgressive woman in the story, is forced to drink blood from a wound in Dracula's chest, a reverse-breastfeeding image that emphasizes the feminine qualities of the Count.

The entire book feels like a last gasp of Victorian purity -- as well as an anticipation of the sexual revolution that was around the corner. It's probably no coincidence that the first film version of "Dracula" was a huge hit just as the Depression ushered out the Jazz Age and its socio-sexual upheaval.

Vampires in the Modern Era

Indeed, pop culture vampires have always adapted to rapidly shifting sexual politics. A film remake of "Dracula" in the late 1970s (starring Frank Langella) gave the Count a real romance with Lucy, no longer a doomed Edwardian flirt but instead an independent woman. In her history of vampires, Nina Auerbach describes this new Lucy as "everything a feminist vampire should be. Her romance with Frank Langella could be one of the swoonier inserts in Ms. Magazine. He loves her strength and self-assertion ... "

Anne Rice's beloved vampire hero Lestat (in books from the 70s onward) is a rule-breaking iconoclast (even a rock star) whose lack of gender preference when it comes to victims and vampire companions give bisexuality that familiar terror-and-titillation combination. In the 1994 film adaptation of Interview With the Vampire, more than a few reviewers noted the AIDS metaphors now found in a story conceived before the disease was known.

In the 1990s we had Buffy, a kick-ass vampire-slayer struggling both to save the world and grow up -- all while wearing hip, form-fitting outfits. She's the embodiment of the third wave feminist ideal, and the field of feminist criticism of Buffy is an intensely crowded one. Her very human struggles to "do it all," rid the world of demons, take care of her friends and family, and maybe meet a nice soulful vampire, interrogated the limitations of the "girl power" mantra and gave the world a truly multi-dimensional heroine. Buffy's protracted love affairs with two male vampires-Angel and Spike-range from sublime to abusive to egalitarian, reflecting the complex dynamics of sex and power in the modern world.

Today we have the HBO series True Blood, whose lusty vampires have started drinking fake blood, and are struggling for social and political equality. Comparisons to both racial and sexual civil rights battles are unavoidable, but the fact that some members of this oppressed minority don't want their rights -- they just want to eat humans -- complicates the metaphor.

And then there's "Twilight". If Buffy was the teen vamp tale of the Clinton years, "Twilight" is definitively its equivalent for the Bush era. Rather than kicking ass, "Twilight's Bella stumbles into danger, excusing her vampire-love-interest Edward's creepy protectiveness. Sigh.

It's unfortunate that the story, like the past decade has been, is so old-school. But before we feminists concern-troll "Twilight's" besotted teenage fans, let's remember this: the part of the formula that appeals so widely is not the story's morality, but rather its adolescent hunger. It's the sexual budding, the fraught glances across the cafeteria, the craving to be singled out, and in Dana Stevens' words "the grandiosity that can make self-destructive decisions feel somehow divinely fated." It's teenagedom. Edward gives younger girls a chance to express their nascent desires en masse, loudly.

Just as Dracula's reactionary plotlines failed to bring back Victorian mores, "Twilight's" unfortunate gender roles will join abstinence-only on the trash heap of history. Some of its screaming young fans will grow up to be sexually empowered, some won't, and some won't end up fancying men (dead or undead) at all. But they'll all share the fact that "Twilight's" dangerous liaison turned them on. And that's what Vampires, even sparkly ones, are for.

Sarah Seltzer is an RH Reality Check staff writer and resident pop culture expert. Sarah is a freelance writer based in New York City. Her work has been published in Bitch, Venus Zine, Womens eNews, and Publishers Weekly among other places. She formerly taught English in a Bronx public school.

© 2008 RH Reality Check All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/109067/

Exclusive: FEARnet talks Vampires with 'True Blood's' Michelle Forbes!

Fri., Nov. 28, 2008 1:00 PM PST, by FEARnet
Michelle

We recently spoke with Michelle Forbes, the actress who plays Maryann on HBO’s True Blood! The lovely vet of such shows as Star Trek: The Next Generation (what sci-fi fan can forget Ensign Ro?), 24 and Homicide – and such films as Kalifornia and Escape from LA – shared her thoughts on vamps, and the possibility of her re-appearing as Admiral Helena Cain on Battlestar Galactica. Read on for our interview!

Your character on True Blood isn’t necessarily a huge fan of vampires, are you?

I haven’t been, [but]… It’s interesting as I’m exploring this world. The big question is why are vampires so big? It really is this wonderful mythology that keeps creeping through everybody’s consciousness and people are just so attracted to vampires and the world of vampires. Now I am. I’m a big fan of vampires. I’m beginning to understand what the appeal is.

How do you think True Blood’s approach to vampires differs from the many other TV shows and films on the subject?

For me, being new to the realm of vampires, it’s a very unique voice. It’s very, very funny. It’s very dark, it’s very sweet, it’s sexy, it’s Southern, it’s a mystery. It’s got a little bit of everything. It’s a very unique voice and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

Had you read the books?

Yeah, I started reading them. They really are fun, they’re definitely page turners.

You’re known for playing quite strong women, and your character on True Blood is pretty much in that vein.

She is, indeed. I have yet to see where it’s going to go. But when it starts off, yes, she really has her own strength. But I have to say, having done In Treatment, it was really nice to play a repressed woman, a housewife, with no self esteem. That was actually a great luxury and gift to me. It was really fantastic to play someone who was not leading everyone and knew what was best, it was nice to be a woman who was like every person, who, you know, doesn’t know all the answers. You’re in a muddle, and you make wrong decisions. And she was all sort of elbows and knee joints emotionally. It was great fun to play, because I normally play very smart, together people, which I’m not.

Any chance we may get to see Cain again somehow on Battlestar Gallactica, if only in flashbacks?

Well I would always be happy to revisit that cast. I have so much respect for Ron [Moore] and David [Eick]. I would always go back. I don’t know, I think that story’s been told. But I said that the first time and came back for a film [Razor], so I don’t know, but I do feel that story’s been told and there are so many stories to explore. I mean it’s one of my favorite shows I’ve ever done.

Have they spoken to you about working again?

We’ve had conversations, and there might be something down the line but these aren’t the right ones.

What’s your greatest fear?

Oh, where do I start? This is going to be a lame answer, but physical suffering. Having to watch physical suffering. I always want to turn away, but you have to be there to help. And I think my own physical suffering – broken bones, car accidents, that sort of thing.

Subscribing to Loving True Blood in Dallas


*You can subscribe to this blog through your rss reader ( google reader, netvibes, myyahoo etc) using this feed link

or here ( click on RSS in subscribe to blog -box right hand column) http://lovingtruebloodindallas.blogspot.com/

*You can subscribe by email from feedburner here:


put your email address in the box far right column ( * there are about 10+ posts a day and some corrections so you might want to set up a seperate email address)

* You can also subscribe to this blog by using Odigo which will create a audio ( spoken word of the text) file for every post that you can then listen to online, or subscribe to through itunes or dowload the mp3 files. ( No I'm not kidding try it here )

"True Blood" Review and Interview with Creator Alan Ball

byBrian Juergens

Of course, fans of Six Feet Under know that Ball has a history of bringing to life unconventional and diverse gay characters. And there are similarities between the shows: both have eclectic ensemble casts that integrate gay and straight stories, both are unapologetically, almost aggressively sexual, and neither is afraid of shedding light on the darker corners of the human condition.

But while SFU was, in Ball's words, "existentially exhausting" in its unflinching discussion of life in the presence of death, True Blood's take on life in the presence of ... well, undeath ... is much lighter fare. Structured as a series of delicious mysteries (in the first episode alone we're tipped off that everyone has their secrets and that there's a serial killer lurking in their midst), this is thrilling, engaging, and more-than-a-little-dirty good fun.

I had the chance to speak with Ball about his approach to his first genre project and learned that, first and foremost, Lafayette is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gay characters (there will be others appearing later in the season) and gay storylines (there will be gay romances, and Lafayette will have more to do than flip po'boys and shovel gravel): "Certainly the vampires have this pansexual sort of thing. There's Lafayette, and later on we'll meet some more gay characters, and some more straight characters. There's something for everybody."


read on http://www.afterelton.com/TV/2008/9/alanball_trueblood?page=0%2C1


Also watch Brian's fantastic True Blood episode reviews on Bloodwork http://www.afterelton.com/taxonomy/term/1388

'True Blood': Q&A with Alan Ball

Alan Ball on True Blood ( upstart)

True Blood Gossip- Prive party Hollywood

It’s a "True Blood" weekend at Prive inside Planet Hollywood this weekend. To celebrate the finale of the HBO hit series, He-Man hunk Ryan Kwanten promises to keep his shirt on to host his party tonight at the hot nightspot. Then tomorrow, "True Blood" vampire Alexander Skarsgard will host his co-star Kristin Bauer’s birthday celebration at Prive.

Friday, November 28, 2008

The Vampire Lounge, Back in Business, Hopes Not to Suck

Man, Dallas is just swarming with vamps... :)

By Pete Freedman
The Observer Dallas, TX

Between this weekend's expected big opening for Twilight in movie theaters and the first-season finale of HBO's phenomenal True Blood set to take place on Sunday night, yeah, vampires are pretty hot right now.

So much so that, maybe, the Vampire Lounge, one of Dallas' newest live music venues, located on Harry Hines Boulevard, not too far from the intersection of Interstate 35E and LBJ Freeway, should be sucking the life force out of the vampire craze right about now—or, at the very least, that the venue would've had quite the crowd at its Halloween bash a couple weeks back.

http://www.dallasobserver.com/2008-11-20/music/the-vampire-lounge-back-in-business-hopes-not-to-suck

http://www.vampirelounge.net/

Vampire Lounge Myspace

True Blood's Nelsan Ellis - Standing Out Amongst Vampires

By Tara Bennett

As the first season of HBO’s vampire drama True Blood heads towards its season finale on Sunday, November 23rd, there’s still a lot to resolve in the little Louisiana town of Bon Temps. Barmaid Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is in a dangerous race to uncover the identity of the local serial killer before she becomes the next victim. And when it comes to matters of the heart, she’s facing a choice between sexy Bill the vampire (Stephen Moyer) or her devoted boss Sam (Sam Trammell), a secret shape-shifter.

But that’s all par for the crazy course for Alan Ball’s True Blood which has been addictively over-the-top from day one. While it debuted to lackluster ratings of 1.44 million viewers in September, the series has since become a guilty pleasure water cooler show steadily gaining new eyes culminating in a series high 6.4 million viewers for its eleventh episode.

One of the shows breakout stars is actor Nelsan Ellis. His brazen, brash and sexy turn as Lafayette Reynolds, the openly gay fry-cook/construction worker/porn mogul/V-blood dealer, elicits equal part laughs and deep blushes from audiences. Lafayette’s trysts with everyone from local vampires to closeted State Senate candidates have placed him in the danger zone during the season finale, so Newsarama chatted with the actor about the success of the series and if Lafayette’s days are numbered.

Newsarama: Nelsan, your portrayal of Lafayette has been a highlight of the series, but was the role easily won?

Nelsan Ellis
: No, it was a challenge. I had four auditions. At the second audition, the casting director called my agent and said “Yeah, he didn’t do so good.” She thought I had brought in a caricature rather than a person. She said I came off trying to be something and it looked clownish. So then I basically tried to mesh Lafayette with who I am so it comes off natural. Lafayette is a part of me versus me trying to create another thing.

NRAMA: Did you have to dig deep to find that balance?

NE
: Yeah. Of course I’m creating something inside myself to fill out Lafayette but in the moment, it doesn’t look like I’m doing something because I planned it. Rather because I’ve imbedded myself and my own personality with a few added quirks so it comes off the cuff.

NRAMA: That off the cuff quality of Lafayette is one of the most endearing qualities about the character. Do you ad-lib much?

NE
: For the first six episodes, I helped the writers out in finding the voice. All of the characters are collaborations in terms of Alan’s ideas, my ideas and what each of the six writer’s ideas are. There was some ad-libbing because when you have six different writers and Alan, the actor is the one who has to give the specific voice of the person. I had to figure out the way he thinks and the way he talks. We all ad-libbed to build his personality.

NRAMA: Are you as open and flirty as Lafayette or has it been an exercise in extroversion to play him?

NE
: It’s been a learning experience. I’m pretty shy and a lot of times introverted. The first day of shooting, Alan said, “Nelsan...it’s a theater! Whenever the camera comes over there I want Lafayette to put on a play.” That part is Alan. His idea of who [Lafayette] is comes from Alan. [Charlaine Harris’s] books describe him in one sentence.

NRAMA: Speaking of the books, did you use “Dead Until Dark” as a character reference?

NE
: There’s not much in the books. I did a lot of research in gay clubs. But the best stuff I got was from the Marquis de Sade, my mother and various other people from people in the gay clubs. (laughs)

NRAMA: Your mom? How so?

NE
: My mother is growing up; she’s 50 and still is [growing up]. She is the black sheep of the family because my mother has always been such a sexual creature. She walks like it, she talks like it and looks like it. Early on Alan told me all the things that I needed to keep in mind like I would have a gay porn web site and I would be a prostitute so sex is a very important part of his life. And so that’s why I draw from my mother.

NRAMA: The vampire genre is big again. Does it have an appeal for you?

NE
: Yes! At some point in my life, I wanted to be in a vampire movie. I am a vampire/werewolf and sci-fi fanatic. God is so good! I get to play in a series that has all that! We have witches and werewolves and shape-shifters.

NRAMA: What are some of your favorites in the genre?

NE
: Interview with a Vampire is my all-time favorite. I also loved An American Werewolf in London.

NRAMA: You have a pretty talented ensemble cast to work against and luckily, Lafayette gets to interact with all of them. How’s the rapport on set?

NE
: I tell you my favorite is Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse). We just have fun together. We play off each other well. I went to school with Rutina Wesley (Tara). We went to Julliard together so we were absolutely comfortable with each other. Because we were good friends made it even better. It’s never work with Rutina because we just do what we do. Anna Paquin is marvelous and she brings so much experience to the table. Often times we’re learning stuff from her, like camera tricks, stuff to keep us from doing ADR and dealing with the technical parts.

NRAMA: What’s your favorite episode?

NE
: Well, Steven Root (Eddie) is my vampire lover. The man is extraordinary so we had a very weird, weird scene in episode six “Cold Ground.” It’s the strangest scene I’ve had to do and it’s certainly the strangest thing he’s ever had to do. The director said it was the strangest thing he had to do so we enjoyed how weird it was, but it was some work. It would be my favorite episode.

NRAMA: Lafayette is a charming guy, but he’s working some dangerous angles. Do you identify with him?

NE
: I like who he is as a person. I don’t agree with how he goes about getting what he needs and wants. I think he is a nice dude. I think there have been some unfortunate incidents that happened in his childhood that put him in a place to be who he is. He was raised by a single parent and was probably the only person like himself in the whole town. He’s had to become shrewd and strong and dangerous. I think he’s a nice dude; at least I would like him to be a nice dude. (laughs)

NRAMA: Fans of the Harris books know that Lafayette doesn’t live past the first novel. Should audiences prepare for a possible bad turn for your character in the series finale?

NE
: (Smiles) That is yet to be seen.

http://www.newsarama.com/tv/081123-true-blood-nelsan-ellis.html

Listen to Stephen Moyers voice over samples















http://www.qvoice.co.uk/qvoiceDetails.asp?id=80

Book Eight moments with Bill and Sookie

Book Eight moments with Bill and Sookie

From his chair, Bill caught my eye and silently put his hand over his heart.
It was a romantic and totally unexpected gesture, and for a moment I softened toward him. I very nearly smiled, though Selah was right there by his side. Just in time, I reminded myself that Bill was a no-good rat bastard, and I swept on my painful way.
~~~

So did the sore spot in my heart labeled Bill Compton.
~~~~~

"You got you a girlfriend," I said. "You go on back to Selah." I looked down to make sure I'd gotten the little strap on the second sandal unlatched. I worked the shoe off. When I glanced back up, Bill's dark eyes were fixed on me.
"I would give anything to lie with you again," he said.
I froze, my hands in the act of rolling the thigh-high hose off my left leg.
Okay, that pretty much stunned me on several different levels. First, the biblical "lie with." Second, my astonishment that he considered me such a memorable bed partner.
Maybe he only remembered the virgins.
~~~~

"Selah has moved to Little Rock," he said.
"How come?"
"She got a position with a large firm," he said. "It was what she told me she wanted. They specialize in vampire properties."
"She hooked on vamps?"
"I believe so. Not my doing."
"Weren't you her first?" Maybe I sounded a little bitter. He'd been my first, in every way.
"Don't," he said, and turned his face toward me. It was radiantly pale.
"No,"
he said finally. "I was not her first. And I always knew it was the vampire in me that attracted her, not the person who was a vampire."
I understood what he was saying. When I'd learned he'd been ordered to ingratiate himself with me, I'd felt it was the telepath in me that had gotten his attention, not the woman who was the telepath.
"What goes around, comes around," I said.
~~~~~

"There is much you don't know about Sookie," Bill said. It was the first time he'd spoken since Madden had entered. "Know this: I will die for her. If you harm her, I'll kill you." Bill turned his dark eyes on Eric. "Can you say the same?"
Eric plainly wouldn't, which put him behind in the "Who Loves Sookie More?" stakes. At the moment, that wasn't so relevant. "You must also know this," Eric said to Victor. "Even more pertinently, if anything happens to her, forces you can't imagine will be set into motion."
~~~~

As for me, I felt a little weak in the knees, and my thoughts were in such a tumult they could scarcely be called thoughts. Bill's arm went around me, and he lowered me to the chair Eric had vacated. I felt his cool lips brush my cheek. I would have to possess a heart of stone not to be affected by his little speech to Victor-I hadn't forgotten it, no matter how terrifying the night had been-and my heart is not made of stone.
Bill knelt by my feet, his white face turned up to me. "I hope someday you'll turn to me," he said. "I'll never force myself or my company on you." And he got up and walked outside to meet his new vampire kin.

Spend your Christmas with a Vampire...

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe , edited by Charlaine Harris Ace Hardcover 21008
(
*contains the Sookie Stackhouse short story "Gift wrap" ) New York Times bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Keri Arthur, and Carrie Vaughn—along with eleven other masters of the genre—offer all-new stories on werewolves and the holidays, a fresh variation on the concept that worked so well with birthdays and vampires in Many Bloody Returns.

The holidays can bring out the beast in anyone. They are particularly hard for lycanthropes. Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner have harvested the scariest, funniest and saddest werewolf tales by an outstanding pack of authors, best read by the light of a full moon with a silver bullet close at hand.

Whether wolfing down a holiday feast (use your imagination) or craving some hair of the dog on New Year’s morning, the werewolves in these frighteningly original stories will surprise, delight, amuse, and scare the pants off readers who love a little wolfsbane with their mistletoe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


All I want for Christmas is a Vampire, by Kerrelyn Sparks. (Avon, $6.99.)

This Christmas isn't so merry for Toni. Her best friend's been locked up in a mental hospital ever since she told the police she was attacked by vampires, and the only way for Toni to get her out is to prove that bloodsuckers really do exist. So she's taken a job as a bodyguard for the Undead, but she gets more than she bargained for, especially when she meets Ian MacPhie, a Scottish rascal looking for Ms. Right.

Although Ian's nearly five centuries old, he looks and acts like a twenty-seven-year-old hunk.

How can a dead man be so damn sexy? Could Mr. Wrong be Mr. Right? One forbidden kiss could lead to an eternity of passion—and all it takes is one moment under the mistletoe . . .


We do also have True Blood characters as the jibjab dancing elves- click on > Christmas in the topics for the elves and gift ideas for your favorite fangophile !

Music from True Blood Episode 12 - You’ll Be The Death Of Me “

“Prelude a L'apres - Midi D'un Faun” by Claude Debussy

“Fantasy Pieces - Why?” by Robert Schumann

“Christine’s Tune (Devil in Disguise)” by The Flying Burrito Brothers

“Trouble” by Ray LaMontague

“You’ll Be The Death of Me” by Johnny Winter

“Cut & Run” by Madison Smartt Bell and Wyn Cooper
No download available

“Ain’t No Grave” by Crooked Still

Fangoria on satelite radio interview with Carrie Preston ( Arlene)


Fangoria on Sirius radio - Actress Carrie Preston stops by to give FANGO all the bloody details on her hit series, HBO's TRUE BLOOD.


http://www.fangoriaonline.com/radio/23-this-weeks-show/662-its-a-black-friday-re-wind-on-fangoria-radio-tonight.html

**you have to have sirius radio to listen-sory !

TVGuide.com's Top TV Moments

3. Best Big Reveal: We finally know who the True Blood killer is! Rene, the suspiciously accented Cajun charmer, seems to have had a beef with vampire sympathizers. But this week's episode also sets up Season 2 with the arrival of the mysterious Mary Ann — who vibrates?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tvguide/389850_tvgif28.html

Pop Wrap's Top 10 Stars of the Year


Alan Ball & "True Blood"
"True Blood" is hands down my favorite new series since "Lost" debuted in 2004 and Alan Ball is the main reason for that. As the creator and guiding hand he deftly ushers the show as it tackles topical issues - racism, sexism, homophobia, vampaphobia - in a totally un-preachy way.

Funny, dramatic, terrifying, sexy and thought-provoking, "True Blood" is exactly the kind of show cable was created for. It pushes boundaries and rewrites vampyric lore, posing a fascinating question: Does love truly know no race, creed, color or pulse?

True Blood: Alan Ball Interview TVGuide

Shopping and gift ideas for the True Blood fan in your life



Of course, on the Friday after Thanksgiving our thoughts turn to shopping and buying Christmas gifts...here are some places you can buy True Blood gifts for True Blood fans in your life .

..or oh heck, buy something for yourself - you deserve it!


Posters ( 24x36 in )
20% off with free shipping for limited time **
All Posters.com


Shirts, bags, clocks and more
Cafepress True Blood Shop

also at Zazzle


T-shirts, stemware ( note new beer mug!)
HBO True Blood Store

**Cyber Monday Sale on all True Blood Merchandise!
Get 15% off everything True Blood plus free shipping on all HBO apparel. Be sure to use coupon code DECAFF2008 during checkout to take advantage of these Cyber Monday savings. This coupon code is only valid from 12.1 through 12.31

Sam Trammel interviewed by Hollywood 411

Thursday, November 27, 2008

The unaired Original True Blood pilot with the other Tara

Watch the full length video of the unaired True Blood pilot.

This episode includes the other actress as Tara (Brook Kerr) instead of Rutina Wesley.

There is also the "blue eyes ladies in the woods" (who we think might be Claudine, her fae cousin ) during the Sookie/ Mack Rattray fight.

This episode also has missing scenes and has very different music.



POPTUB at the True Blood Premiere

Happy Thanksgiving from True Blood in Dallas


Happy Fangsgiving to everyone !

We Love Pam's look ...








Now what is in that purse ?

Preview "Sparks Fly Out "episode 5 aired Oct 5

Alex Skarsgard who is from Sweden being interviewed by a Swedish morning chat show ..

Eric first speaks Swedish to Pam in Ep 4

The Northman favors us with a little Swedish ( its interesting that Pam has picked up a little after spending the past 150 years with Eric -she is English in the books and about as old as Bill )

Eric : Vår lilla djurpark börjar växa till sig... Our little zoo starts to grow...
Pam : Jag vet. I know...



The Best Vampires TV Can Make By Don Baird


November 27, 2008
.........Finally, quite by accident while visiting some friends and discovering the genius that is TiVo, I took in several episodes of a new TV series that I knew nothing about until last night. The series is called True Blood and is on HBO, and of all the vampire movies and programs I’ve seen, this one is totally amazing. I was spellbound and riveted by the brilliant premises and the integration of vampirism into a modern day setting, as modern as a backwoods southern town and it’s twisted eccentric and simple characters get. With the development of synthetic blood by the Japanese, vampires have become fellow citizens as opposed to legendary monsters and religious leaders and government officials have chosen their sides on the issue and speak of it on television frequently while the people of this town, Bon Temps, deal with it in their own unique ways.

Some of the interesting variations on the usual legend involve the willful choice to become a vampire, exercised by some through a series of injections that chillingly resemble IV drug addiction, complete with raging post-hit sexual activity, while others stick to the old-fashioned way of letting a vampire feed from them, also usually related to a burning lust-driven act of physical passion. The vampires have a sense of order and law governing their behaviors, so loving a human is a forbidden act and punishable in numerous grisly ways. The availability of synthetic blood supposedly removes humans from the vampire menu, but there seems to be a bit of a grey area around this notion as humans keep turning up dead, as do vampires. Along with vampires, other elements of the supernatural or occult come to surface like demonism and voodoo rituals and shape-shifters, a man who can transform into a dog then back to human, running naked through the woods to everyone’s surprise and curiosity.

The show’s creator, Allan Bell ,was the genius behind Six Feet Unde,r and as usual his talent in casting really ignites this often funny and very frightening drama. There’s tons of sex and nudity and very foul language, and in one of the more bizarre folds of the story, a human couple kidnap a vampire and hold him prisoner just to drain his blood slowly. When they drink it in small amounts they have the most intensely sexual psychedelic experiences, super-human sexual achievement and a distinct need or craving for more. The visuals alone during the opening credits are somewhat akin to an acid trip, featuring images of decomposing dead animals in time-lapse, Southern Baptist church services, graveyards, blood splatters, baptism in a river, strippers, guns, dead possums etc. The cast is incredibly hot, stunningly beautiful to menacing and creepy men, charming and sweet looking southern girls, and a number of familiar character actors from all over TV land. This show just has it all, and I especially love the bits and pieces you see on a television in the background, beer-like advertisements for Tru Blood, messages from the American Vampire League, Vampire lawyer commercials, etc.

This show was the most fun I’ve had watching TV since Six Feet Under ended. Don’t miss the chance to take this show in; it’s better than a crime scene and it turns Vampirism completely loose unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

read entire article here http://www.sfbaytimes.com/?sec=article&article_id=9568

***** I know there are some mistakes in this article - i don't write the articles i only post them :)
Make your corrections in the comment area

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Preview "Escape From Dragon House" episode 4 aired: Sept 28

Fang Fever

By Siran Babayan
Published on November 25, 2008 at 2:20am
After leaving his mark on TV with Six Feet Under, director Alan Ball of American Beauty fame returns to HBO with his new series True Blood, based on the books by author Charlaine Harris, and starring Anna Paquin. Ball and other members of the cast and crew go behind the show, which includes both vampires (all the rage among teens and adults) and humans wreaking havoc in a fictional Louisiana town. Come to ogle at the hunky male cast, and stay to find out who the killer is in Bon Temps.
Thu., Dec. 4, 7 p.m., 2008

I sure hope we get video of this like we did comic-con

In Focus: Shedding The Light on Vampires in America (HBO)

Vampires in America and the Great Revelation

Sookie Eric said " Yield to me "

Great Sookie, Eric Bill scene from the end of bk 2

"Sookie," Eric said. I didn't think he'd heard a word. "Yield to me."

Well, that was pretty direct.
"No," I said, in the most definite voice I could summon. "No."
"I will protect you from Bill."
"You're the one that's gonna need protection!" When I reflected on that sentence, I was not proud of it.
"You think Bill is stronger than me?"
"I am not having this conversation." Then I proceeded to have it. "Eric, I appreciate your offering to help me, and I appreciate your willingness to come to an awful place like this."
"Believe me, Sookie, this little gathering of trash is nothing, nothing, compared to some of the places I have been."
And I believed him utterly. "Okay, but it's awful to me. Now, I realize that I should've known this would, ah, rouse your expectations, but you know I did not come out here tonight to have sex with anyone.

Bill is my boyfriend." Though the words boyfriend and Bill sounded ludicrous in the same sentence, "boyfriend" was Bill's function in my world, anyway.
"I am glad to hear it," said a cool, familiar voice. "This scene would make me wonder, otherwise."
Oh, great. Eric rose up off of me, and I scrambled off the hood of the car and stumbled in the direction of Bill's voice.

"Sookie," he said, when I drew near, "it's getting to where I just can't let you go anywhere alone."