Tuesday, April 28, 2009

New Executive for HBO’s Entertainment Division: has high hopes for “True Blood

Really interesting article

Sue Naegle, a veteran Hollywood talent agent who helped bring the series “Six Feet Under” to HBO, was appointed president of the cable channel’s entertainment division on Wednesday and immediately charged with helping it identify and develop a slate of worthy successors to that hit series and, more important, “The Sopranos.”

Ms. Naegle, 38, was co-head of the television department at United Talent Agency in Los Angeles. She succeeds one of the channel’s longest-serving executives, Carolyn Strauss, who is being given a development and production deal inside the company. As president of HBO Entertainment, Ms. Naegle will oversee all series and specials.

Ms. Naegle’s task is a formidable one in which her performance will be measured against that of the executives who shepherded “The Sopranos,” one of the most popular series in the relatively short life of cable television and among the most well received programs in the history of the medium.

Read on New York Times

Fan Art: Denim bag by clairebabydesigns on Etsy

clairebabydesigns on etsy

Pretend you live in Bon Temps or just look like it! I L-O-V-E love Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire (Sookie Stackhouse) book series and am a big fan of the HBO series "True Blood". There is SO much Twilight merchandise out that I decided to do some TRUE BLOOD inspired bags.

I purchased this denim tote bag at a thrift store because it looked Brand New. Everything that is painted on this bag was hand painted by me. The patches were all hand sewn, again by me. The bag measures approx. 14" x 12" x 5".

One side of the bag reads "Fangtasia - the bar with bite" along with some fangs. The other side has a jean pocket along with 6 patches that all relate to True Blood and/or the book series. The patches read: "I heart Eric", "Sookie is Mine", "Merlotte's Bar & Grill", "Fangbanger", "Vampire Bill" with a heart, "Glamour Me". The pocket reads "True Blood" and "I want to do bad things with you" (which is from the theme song of the HBO series).

For this bag, I used acrylic paints, fabric paints and glitter glue. I also attached some gems (the "F" in Fangtasia). The bag probably could be machine washed but I can't guarantee how the washing might affect the paint. I would therefore recommend a light hand washing if necessary.

True Blood Recipes: Quinn's famous bacon sandwich

John Quinn's Bacon Sandwich

INGREDIENTS:

4 slices bacon

2 slices wheat bread/ white bread or sliced french bread

1 Tbsp mayonnaise

Lettuce

2-3 slices ripe tomato

Salt & pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS: Cook bacon until crisp then drain on paper towels. Toast the bread. Spread mayonnaise on both slices bread then add bacon, tomato & lettuce. Slice at a diagonal & serve.
SERVINGS: 1
TIME: 10 minutes
SERVING TIPS: Add what you want, such as sliced avocado, Swiss cheese.

Quinn makes Sookie and Amelia (and Bob!) bacon sandwiches in Book 7, All Together Dead.

Bob ignored his kibble in favor of watching Quinn fry bacon, and I was slicing tomatoes.
I’d gotten out the cheese and the mayonnaise and the mustard and the pickles, anything I could imagine a man might want on a bacon sandwich.

'Plaisir D'Amour' the title song for True Blood Season One Episode Nine

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 knowing 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 9 Plaisir D'Amour which originally aired: November 2, 2008

"Plaisir d'amour" is a classical French love song which is sometimes (falsely) considered to be "pop", written in 1780 by Jean Paul Égide Martini (1741-1816). It was arranged for orchestra by Hector Berlioz.. It could not be a "pop" song because of the style in which it is written and the fact that 1780 was in the "classical period" of music.

In True Blood we hear a version of the classical French song sung by the great Joan Baez.

Joan Chandos Baez (born January 9, 1941 in Staten Island, New York) is a folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style. Many of her songs are topical and deal with social issues. It was first recorded by Joan in her 1961 album, Joan Baez Vol.2

Lyrics

PLAISIR D’AMOUR

(English translation)
The joys of love last but a moment.
The grief of love lasts a lifetime.

I’ve given up everything for the ungrateful Sylvia.
She is leaving me and taking another lover.

The joys of love last but a moment.
The grief of love lasts a lifetime.

“As long as that water flows gently
Towards that brook at the edge of the meadow,
I’ll love you,” Sylvia repeated to me.
The water still flows. She has changed though.

The joys of love last but a moment.
The grief of love lasts a lifetime

French
Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.

chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.

J'ai tout quitté pour l'ingrate Sylvie.
Elle me quitte et prend un autre aimant.

Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.

Tant que cette eau coulera doucement
vers ce ruisseau qui borde la prairie,

Je t'aimerai me répétait Sylvie.
L'eau coule encore. Elle a changé pourtant.

Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.

At about 2:16


Unusual Suspects review

Cassie at bittenbybooks.com Reviews the anthology, Unusual Suspects and we know Sookie short stories are one of my favorite topics.

Lucky by Charlaine Harris

Once again, Sookie Stackhouse has gotten herself wound up in some misadventure. This time, she and her friend Amelia Broadway have been asked by one of their town’s insurance agents to check into some break ins at his office. Little do they know what a tangled web they are about to get involved in. Spell casting, stealing luck, angry competitors and of course a vampire or two fill the pages of this great short story from Charlaine Harris.

read on here

Loving True Blood Blogtalk: It's a man's world, male fans talk about the Sookieverse ( Episode 19)

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in such a great show last night.

Very special thanks to our musical artist, Tchaka Diallo whose music is featured on True Blood Season one. Tchaka said his song, " Rolex " will be out on iTunes soon. You can always find everything out about Tchaka, his music performances etc. by visiting his Myspace or Reverbnation site.

http://www.reverbnation.com/tchakadiallo
http://www.myspace.com/tchakadiallo

You can find and follow our Twitter characters @HoytFortenberry and @FranciscoIV

And our friend Doug who runs the SciFiGuy.ca website http://www.scifiguy.ca/

I had one question that I asked all 7 guys " What one characteristic of the Sookie character do you admire most in woman?

If you were keeping tabs, the guys said they loved the Sookie character because she was strong, capable, sensible, mysterious ...Oh Yeah, and that she is well endowed. Ha!
Thanks guys!

If you missed the show podcast link below:

Episode 1 of Season one True Blood Blu-ray Available On Demand May 4th

Ok, I finally understand this - I saw a couple of article about this over the weekend and I didn't get that it was something new to talk about, thanks to Dreadcentral for saying it in a way that I understood.

HBO will offer a blu-ray version of episode one for everyone to see .. got it. Below is a Lafayette sample.
Beginning on Monday, May 4th, and throughout the month on HBO On Demand, viewers will be able to watch the entire first episode from Season One in “True Blood Enhanced Viewing” mode, amplifying their experience with four types of original, interactive picture-in-picture, pop-up features that will be showcased throughout the DVD:

LAFAYETTE – Get the scoop on everyone in Bon Temps with True Blood’s flamboyant and outspoken Lafayette, who dishes up everything from secrets about Tara’s crush on Jason to the history of the Stackhouse family in over 80 clips VAMPIRE HISTORY – Intrigued by the vampire characters? Learn more about how your favorites were "made" HINTS AND FYI’s – Unravel the mysteries surrounding the entire series through helpful hints and FYI pop-ups ANIMATED MAPS – Explore colorful locations in Bon Temps through animated maps Out in stores on May 19th, the five-disc True Blood: The Complete First Season Blu-ray set will offer all 12 episodes in True HD 1080p video and DTS-HD master audio, allowing viewers to engage with storylines, characters, and themes of the show on a higher level through the Enhanced Viewing mode. Along with the exclusive features above, Blu-ray bonus materials include a documentary that chronicles the integration of vampires, Tru Blood beverage ads that market the synthetic blood to “out of the coffin” vampires, and “Vampire Rights” PSAs that service vampires.




True Blood Music Video of the Day: Dance with the Devil by Breaking Benjamin




Dance with the Devil by Breaking Benjamin LYRICS

Thanks summergirl88
I think this is the first music video using season 2 footage