Armed to the teeth- True Blood review from the Sydney Herald

March 7, 2009

A daring, sexy import shows up the flaws in a home-grown drama, writes Ruth Ritchie.

Sexual tension … Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer star in True Blood.

THERE'S something reassuring about the black-and-white glow, the dissonant static hum of the HBO logo. It mostly heralds great things, or at least bold things. Sadly, that buzzing logo appears less on free-to-air television than it did in the early days of Sex And The City, The Sopranos and Six Feet Under.

So non-payers may wince at the mention of Alan Ball's (SFU) recent thrilling offering to the pigs who devour Showcase. True Blood is a witty, sexy, smartly written vampire show for people who really don't like vampire shows.

Set in Louisiana, in the modern parallel universe where Japanese synthetic blood has made it possible for vamps to "come out of the coffin", we are asked to see them as just another misunderstood, much-maligned minority. In this post-September 11, fear-fuelled society, True Blood's vampires are Muslims, homosexuals wanting to marry, or women running for president. They are a curiosity likely to divide a community.

This is yet another wonderful US production peopled by foreigners, including New Zealand's Anna Paquin (Golden Globe winner this year for her role here as Sookie Stackhouse), Britain's Stephen Moyer (hot as Bill Compton, with or without the fangs) and our very own Ryan Kwanten, a long way from Summer Bay, with a torso cut like GI Joe's.

There's plenty of sex and humour to break up the blood and, well, blood. Tiny details are perfection: we only glimpse in a wide shot a newspaper headline reading "Angelina Adopts Baby Vampire". Mostly we have the taut, believable sexual tension between telepathic Sookie and dead-since-the-Civil War Bill. Sookie finds Bill sexy, not just because he prowls like an alley cat but because he is the one person upon whose thoughts she cannot eavesdrop. I get that we all know what men are thinking all the time but to actively seek out the company of one who cannot be understood … well, that probably is fairly sexy.

I presumed this was teen fodder and then sat through four episodes in one session. True Blood is nearly as unpredictable as it is entertaining.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/tv--radio/armed-to-the-teeth/2009/03/06/1235842638130.html

Charlaine Harris's books: Pre -Order the next three today!

These are the next three Charlaine Harris ' book you can ore- order today!

Dead and Gone : Book 9 of the Sookie Stackhouse series Pre Order

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover (May 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441017150
• ISBN-13: 978-0441017157
  

Strange Brew : Short story anthology Pre Order

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (July 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312383363
• ISBN-13: 978-0312383367

Charlaine on her blog, describedit as Pat Elrod's witch anthology. Short story collection about witches and witchcraft.STRANGE BREW, a witchly urban fantasy anthology with nine new stories by Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance and others,

Must Love Hellhounds : SciFi novella Pre Order

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425229599
• ISBN-13: 978-0425229590

Charlaine has said this one will contain a science fiction novella based on the Britlingens. "I've already written a novella that's a sort of spinoff from the Sookie series, about the two female bodyguards that appear in All Together Dead . It'll appear in a three-in-one book called Must Love Hellhounds"

Sookie Stackhouse loves Car Talk and listens on Red River Radio, the local Public Radio Station

Yes, everyone got it right, it was Sookie who loves listening to Click and Clack on Car Talk radio.

What's also interesting to note is that she listens on Red River Radio which is REALLY the public radio station for the Bon Temps area. In Shreveport area, Sookie's radio is tuned to 89.9 FM.






From Book 6 -Definitely Dead

The birds were tweeting and chirping, the bugs were buzzing, and the pollen-heavy air was full of peace as if it were yet another plant emission. I was sitting on the front porch in my pink robe, sipping my coffee, listening to Car Talk on Red River Radio, and feeling really good, when a little Dodge Dart chugged up my driveway. I didn't recognize the car, but I did recognize the driver. All my peacefulness vanished in a puff of suspicion. Now that I knew about the proximity of a new Fellowship conclave, Tanya's inquisitive presence seemed even more suspicious. I was not happy to see her at my home.

Common courtesy forbade me from warning her off, with no more provocation than I'd had, but I wasn't giving her any welcoming smile when I lowered my feet to the porch and stood.
"Good morning, Sookie!" she called as she got out of her car.
"Tanya," I said, just to acknowledge the greeting.

Thanks TES , Rita, Naomi, Tracie.

The Red River Radio Network is a community-supported service of LSU-Shreveport and is the non-commercial source for NPR News, classical music, and more for East Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and parts of Mississippi
Support it HERE

New Charlaine Harris anthology Cover Art released - "Must Love Hellhounds" Anthology

Our friends at SciFiGuy.ca posted the cover art for Must love Hellhounds and gives us a shout out...

Cover Art - "Must Love Hellhounds" Anthology

Ilona Andrews posted on her blog this shiny new cover for Must Love Hellhounds featuring novellas by of course Ilona Andrews, Charlaine Harris , Nalini Singh and Meljean Brook. Due in the bookstores September 1, 2009.

At the Loving True Blood in Dallas blog they had this bit of news about the Charlaine Harris piece.

Charlaine has said this one will contain a science fiction novella based on the Britlingens.

"I've already written a novella that's a sort of spinoff from the Sookie series, about the two female bodyguards that appear in All Together Dead . It'll appear in a three-in-one book called Must Love Hellhounds"

Ilona Andrews had this to say abour her entry - "The novella Magic Mourns features Andrea and a big ass hell dog."

Meljean Brook had this on her story Blind Spot -

The job was simple: find her boss’s niece, bring her home safely, and hand out a whole lot of pain to whoever had abducted her. But Maggie hadn’t counted on her boss’s nephew, the hellhound who loved to make her life difficult, or her own past rearing its complicated and ugly head.

Nalini Singh's novella is titled Angels' Judgment.

http://www.scifiguy.ca/2009/03/cover-art-must-love-hellhounds.html

Blood Copy Episode 2: The Mysterious Yakonomo Corporation

We are revisiting the Blood Copy videos which were part of the HBO true Blood viral marketing campaign that helped introduce the True Blood television series in the summer of 2008. We will be doing a radio show on this topic soon.
Previously we have see the mysterious packages were being received, the gatekeeper awakened on a mysterious website, .... HERE

The blog and videos not only were a marketing ploy but they also served as a prologue to the series ...

Here is the blog entry for that time period HERE ( June 15 2008)

It's great to watch these videos but you also must read the blog entry for that day as well ...

Two more Sookie Book covers from the UK

What's new on the HBO True Blood wiki :Discussion: Dancers in the Dark - Charlaine Harris Sookieverse novella

We are having a great time in our discussion of this novella ..we have found that Sean seems to hold the key to some important Dead and Gone, Book 9 secrets ...

Dancers in the Dark - Charlaine Harris Sookieverse novella -... True Blood Wiki, HBO, Alan Ball, New HBO Series - Dancers in the Dark - Charlaine Harris Sookieverse novella. True Blood - What's New - http://truebloodwiki.hbo.com/whatsnew

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reunion on DVD

This just in from The Paley Center…

The Paley Center for Media announces the long-awaited DVD release of its 2008 PaleyFest Buffy the Vampire Slayer reunion panel. The DVD captures the once-in-a-lifetime reunion event presented live on stage before a sold-out audience in Hollywood. [GMMR: I was there! Woo hoo!] A decade following the series premiere, creator Joss Whedon joins cast members Sarah Michelle Geller, Seth Green, Amber Benson, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield, James Marsters, and Michelle Trachtenberg along with series writer/producers David Greenwalt and Marti Noxon for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at one of the most revered, iconic, and deconstructed television series of all time.

Priced at $19.95 each, the DVD is available now exclusively online at www.paleycenter.org and will also be available at the Cinerama Dome at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood for the duration of this year’s PaleyFest09 (April 10-23). This DVD features an introduction by show creator/executive producer Joss Whedon; behind-the-scenes anecdotes by Sarah Michelle Geller, Seth Green, James Marsters, and other participating cast members; fan questions to the participating panelists; and PaleyFest08 backstage photos and video. All proceeds from the sale of these DVDs benefit the Paley Center.

Even for someone who was as new to the world of BUFFY as I was at the time (I finished watching the series finale in a coffee shop across from the ArcLight while others waited in line to enter the BUFFY Reunion) knew that it was a special evening. Now you get to enjoy it too!

Ducky wrote up an account of the BUFFY Reunion Panel at Paley, so check it out here: Buffy The Vampire Slayer Reunion Thoughts and Photos

Photos Courtesy of The Paley Center for Media

True Blood Music Video of the Day: Angels On The Moon by Thriving Ivory

Angels On The Moon by Thriving Ivory LYRICS
Thanks candece

Digital Kitchen Founder Paul Matthaeus Steps Down: Creator of True Blood Opening sequence

...Matthaeus is probably best known for his creative approach in television entertainment- which includes the opening creative direction for Six Feet Under, Nip / Tuck, House, Rescue Me, Ghost Whisperer, The Path to 9/11, The Company and Dexter. His latest contribution was in the creation of the opening sequence for True Blood, the highly anticipated HBO series that broke this Fall by Oscar-winning creator/writer/director Alan Ball.

“What I like about Digital Kitchen’s creative approach is their intuitive ability to depart from the status quo,” said Alan Ball, creator/director, True Blood. ” We first worked with DK on the titles for ‘Six Feet Under’ and the opening for True Blood is equally thrilling. This vivid title sequence so effectively evokes the spirit of the show. It immediately transports the viewer into the True Blood world."...read on

I am obsesses with the opening here is what i have collected on it

http://motionographer.com/2009/03/05/digital-kitchen-founder-paul-matthaeus-steps-down/

Go ask Dallas : Now where exactly is Sam Merlotte from in Texas ?

Well, as with many things we have the True Blood version and the Sookie book version.

In the series, you'll remember Sam tells Andy a story about how he was raised by naturists in a nudist colony outside Beaumont, Texas . ( Beaumont is near the Texas Gulf coast located between Houston and Lake Charles , Louisiana)but we later see a glimpse of Sam's real childhood in a very sad flashback where his adopted family abandons him as a child.

In Book 8, Dead to Worse we get Sam's story- see below. We also know that Book 9, Dead and Gone Chapter one opens with a very dramatic event happening in Sam's family. ( if you haven't read Book 9 chapter one yet, go here )

Charlaine sets Sam's hometown as Wright, Texas and sets Wright outside Ft. Worth.
There is not now a Wright, Texas outside Ft. Worth but there once was a community of Wright and it's now part of Weatherford. So maybe-- Sam's town of Wright might have be somewhere nearby ... ;0)
“Where’d you grow up?”
“At least partly in Wright, Texas,” he said. “Outside of Fort Worth. Way outside of Fort Worth. It wasn’t any bigger than Bon Temps. We moved around all during my childhood, though, because my dad was in the service himself. He got out when I was about fourteen, and my mom’s family was in Wright, so that’s where we went.”
“Was it hard settling down after moving so much?” I’d never lived anywhere but Bon Temps.

“It was great,” he said. “I was so ready to stay in one place. I hadn’t realized how hard it would be to find my own niche in a group of kids who’d grown up together, but I was able to take care of myself. I played baseball and basketball, so I found my place. Then I joined the army. Go figure.”
I was fascinated. “Are your mom and dad still in Wright?” I asked. “It must have been hard for him in the military, with him being a shifter.” Since Sam was a shapeshifter, I knew without him having to tell me that he was the first-born child of pure-blooded shapeshifters....“
“And your mom?”
“She’s still in Wright. She married again about two years after Dad died. He’s a good enough guy. He’s regular.” Not a shifter or any kind of supernatural. “So there’s a limit to how close I can get to him,” Sam said.
“Your mom’s a full-blood. Surely he suspects.”
“He’s willfully blind, I think. She has to go out for her evening run, she says, or she’s spending the night with her sister in Waco, or she’s driving over to visit me, or some other excuse.”
“Must be hard to maintain.”
“I would never try to do that. I almost married a regular girl once, while I was in the service. But I just couldn’t marry someone and keep that big a secret. It saves my sanity, having someone to talk to about it, Sookie.” He smiled at me, and I appreciated the trust he was showing. “If the Weres announce, then we’ll all go public. It’ll be a great burden off me.”

Sam and Andy



Sam's flashback

Vampire Secrets from the History Channel

What is it about vampires and vampirism that makes people go nuts? Forget about the traditional literary legacy of the mysterious nocturnal revenants, vampires have been so popular on the big screen over the decades that there are now literally hundreds of movies about the elusive bloodsuckers. And just when you think Hollywood has driven a final stake into the heart of the cinematic vampire, along comes an author like Stephenie Meyer with the novel series Twilight that reawakens the public's romantic lust for blood both on both the page and the silver screen. With so many fans falling in love with Twilight, actor Robert Pattinson, and lead vampire character Edward Cullen, A&E is releasing the 100-minute HISTORY doc on March 17, 2009 as a stand-alone disc to give a romantic public the back story behind the legacy of the famous two-fanged Transylvania tomcats.

Previously released as part of the A &E Haunted Histories Collection, and narrated by Cory Burton, Vampire Secrets cracks open a creepy coffin of folklore to put a human face on one of history's most mysterious and misunderstood creatures. People have had a longstanding fascination with vampires and Vampire Secrets explores the history of vampires from front to back, covering not only the early days of Vlad the Impaler and the origins of vampirism in Romania from a European perspective but also the forensic qualities of vampires as related to the death of humans. Not only will you learn the history and origins of vampires but you'll also discover how eerily similar vampires are to people after they die.

The most unique and interesting aspects of Vampire Secrets beyond a history that predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 1000 years and speculation that the character was based on a Bohemian Princess is its angle on modern culture with thoughts from a variety of vampire scholars and true-to-life vampires that bring the 19th Century fanged entities into the world we live in today. Most notable, Vampire Secrets also delves into the dark minds of vampires with a focus on those that have killed in the name of vampirism.

Read on

http://www.thedeadbolt.com/news/105528/vampiresecrets_dvdreview.php

Blood Copy Episode 1: GateKeeper Awakens

Let's revisit the Blood Copy videos which were part of the HBO true Blood viral marketing campaign that helped introduce the True Blood television series in the summer of 2008. We will be doing a radio show on this topic soon.

Last night the mysterious packages were being received.... HERE

The blog and videos not only were a marketing ploy but they also served as a prologue to the series ...

Here is the blog entry for that time period

• June 9, 2008–June 15, 2008
• June 2, 2008–June 8, 2008

It's great to watch these videos but you also must read the blog entry for that day as well ...

Anyone remember who listens to Car Talk, the popular NPR radio program ?

Email: True Blood in Dallas

http://www.cartalk.com/

Anna Paquin takes on the vampires

From August 2008

Starting September 7th, the amazingly diverse and incredibly interesting Anna Paquin will hit the small screen as a Southern waitress with the ability to read minds in HBO’s highly anticipated retelling of Charlaine Harris’ “Southern Vampire” books. The series, “True Blood”, is shaping up to be a sexually charged tale of vampires in America. Paquin talked to WWD about her role, going blonde, and about the joys of waiting tables.

WWD: What attracted you to this part in the first place?

Anna Paquin: Well, this whole world is so kind of exciting and unusual as far as the supernatural elements but also has so much in it that’s really emotionally poignant and the characters are so strong and so well drawn out. My character is so tough but she’s sweet and she’s innocent, but she’s kind of worldly. There’s just so much to it that it does not get boring.

WWD: Vampire sex certainly doesn’t get boring. In fact, the show gets quite graphic.

A.P.: You know, there’s some pretty full-on stuff of that variety. And on the whole I think vampire fascination is so intertwined with the whole idea of dangerous sexuality and that sort of scary edge to it.

WWD: What was it like down in Louisiana when you were shooting?

A.P.: Most recently, hotter than hell. I mean literally 108 degrees. You know it’s gonna be like that. I’ve been to the South in the summertime, but there’s still nothing that really prepares you if you’re not from there from stepping outside and feeling as if you just opened an oven into your face. But it kind of makes all the tiny, teeny, skimpy outfits seem incredibly justified.

WWD: Your waitress costume is quite skimpy.

A.P.: Yes, it is. And I had the most modest waitress outfit of all of them. Lynn Collins — who plays Dawn — I mean, it’s barely even underwear.

WWD: And then there’s the tanning business.

A.P.: I get the spray-painting thing. The first time it’s kind of awkward because you’re standing there naked in front of a stranger who is airbrushing your entire body and it’s not like, you know, you just need to get your arms and legs done. This is not a show where all the clothes stay on all the time, so there can’t be tan lines in places that reveal that you’re the palest girl on the planet.

WWD: Your character is a waitress. And there’s the cliché of the actress going to Hollywood and becoming a waitress until she gets discovered. Obviously you started off on a very different trajectory.

A.P.: I was lucky enough not to have to take that route to being an actress. But at some point it would have been nice maybe to at least have practiced carrying plates around on a tray before walking onto the set because I felt really stupid when everything went flying off.

WWD: But you picked it up quickly?

A.P.: Yeah, you know, I’m not actually stupid. Well, not quite as stupid as I possibly look now that I’m blonde.

WWD: Sookie has mind-reading abilities and you’ve played the mutant Rogue in three X-Men films. What superpower would you choose to have in real life?

A.P.: You know, I’m okay with being pretty normal.

http://www.wwd.com/lifestyle-news/eye/paquin-takes-on-the-vampires-1717893?module=today

Bon Temps : Who lives here ? answers

Home is where the heart is...who lives these places ?

Jamie, Vicki and Rita got it right

Dawn's is bottom left and Tara's on the right ...but Rita remembered that Sookie also temporarily lived in the duplex after her kitchen fire...

OK ...who owns Dawn's duplex ...? In True Blood
Who lives right next door to Tara in the book ?

Scott Sigler Ain't 'Fraid of No Vampires

Man, lots of killing vampires articles...

When it comes to wiping out monsters, you've come to the right place. You've come to the Wikipedia of monster slaying, the self-appointed expert on all things undead doom -- Uncle Scottie. And this month, we'll be addressing vampires. Because for crying out loud, the pesky bloodsuckers are everywhere. Everywhere. They are in the theaters with Twilight, they are on cable with True Blood and Moonlight and they are all over the damn bookstore shelves. Let's address how to kill these sonsabitches and make the night safe once again for things like drug dealing, organized crime and prostitution, because, dammit, that's the American way!

The Wooden Stake
Yes, the classic, time-tested method for busting open a can of undead whoop-ass. Just about any variety seems to work here, from a sharpened stake a la Buffy the Vampire Slayer to a table leg. Shards of wood also work just fine. But stakes are booo-ring, people, let's look at some more spectacular, Draculaic ways to bring a vampire down.

Holy Water
Awww yeah, lay down some blessed badness on those boogers. Holy water can, depending on the flick, mess up a vamp's complexion and set them up for the kill (via stake or other methods). That is, unless you're the Frog Brothers in The Lost Boys, and you fill a whole bathtub with the stuff then play dunk-a-vamp. (Results can be explosive; get a mop.) Holy water is particularly convenient if you have a priest in your D&D party who can take diarrhea-causing Mexican agua and convert it to convenient Holy Water Balloons, as seen in Dusk Till Dawn.

Sunlight
Back to basics for all you hippy REI tree-hugging types, forever complaining about global warming. Well, have a vamp chase you out of the haunted house and into the afternoon sun and then tell me Old Sol is such a bad guy. John Carpenter's Vampires gives us sunny good times, as does the climax from the '80s vamp comedy Fright Night. (Results can be dusty; get a broom.) A classic sunny automotive disposition is shown in Near Dark, when the sun and a tractor-trailer are put to good use, but for a true sunlight-based Weapon of Vamp Destruction, don't miss the mirrorball scene from Dusk Till Dawn.

Layeth the Smacketh Down (Including Decapitation)
Some vampires are beyond the basic "kill me with a stake/holy water/sunshine" variety. Sometimes you have to go old-school and pass down a serious gangland beating. When facing this variety of vamp, decapitation is always the best finishing move. In 1996's Night Hunter, the heroes do just that. Also see any Blade movie -- no one loves to brutalize a vamp like Wesley Snipes. Dial up some 30 Days of Night here as well, 'cause cutting off a child vamp's head with an axe is just a guaranteed good time.

Fire
Even the most die-hard vamp-lovers have a hard time denying fire's awesome qualities -- qualities that would promote Beavis to legendary slayer status (fire! FIIII-YAHHHH!). Brad Pitt in Interview With the Vampire gets his flame on, along with some wicked scythe work, on a fellow bloodsucker. Twilight's vampires also fall into this incendiary category. Since author Stephanie Meyers wanted to put vamps in high school (and high schools hold classes during the day), she conveniently did away with the traditional stake/sunlight/garlic/silver angles -- the only way to be sure is to tear them into pieces and set the pieces on fire.

Modern High-Tech Goodies?
I'm sure that this morning over breakfast, you were asking your significant other a question like:

You: "Hon, how would Nanohmic's electronic flash-bang grenade work against an undead blood-sucker?"
Spouse: "Gosh, pumpkin, I'm not sure. Can you pass the butter?"
You: "Sure, here you go. Don't forget to take out the trash."

Fortunately, I am not your disinterested significant other -- so here's an awesome story from Wired's Danger Room on how conventional and high-tech weapons work on the undead.

All of the Above
Just watch the Blade movies -- what hasn't he put to use? If a dented can of dolphin-safe tuna would kill them, Blade would have a StarKist bandolier. He's a firm believer in the "right tool for the job" school of thought.

Don't Wait - Decapitate!
Dear Reader, we are beset with a plague, and we must act. We must act now! Whatever method you choose, let's rid the entertainment world of this vamp vermin. Me? Oh, I'll be hiding in the church while y'all do your thing. Get goin'.

Check out Scott Sigler's suggestions for fighting werewolves and zombies.

New York Times bestselling author Scott Sigler writes tales of hard-science horror, then gives them away as free audiobooks at www.scottsigler.com. His new novel, Contagious, hit bookstores on December 30 and is currently available. If you don't agree with what Scott says in this blog, please email him scott@scottsigler.com. Please include all relevant personal information, such as your address and what times you are not home, so Scott can come visit and show you his world famous "Chicken Scissors."

http://blogs.amctv.com/horror-hacker/2009/03/killer-vampire-movies.php