True Blood Music Video of the Day

Cure My Tragedy (a Letter To God) by Cold

With Obama election comes the return of the vampire

By Peter Rowe STAFF WRITER
November 8, 2008

( I'm going to post a few older articles in case anyone missed them and so that we have them in our archives )

Zombies are red, vampires are blue.
Whatever its challenges, the Bush White House has presided over a period of robust health for a genre that – if history is any guide – will soon fade: the zombie movie.
Tuesday's election of a Democratic president, meanwhile, comes at the start of a new cycle of vampire films (“Twilight,” “Let the Right One In”) and TV shows (HBO's “True Blood.”) Coincidence? Or something spookier?
“I think there's something to this,” said Peter Dendle, a Pennsylvania State University professor of English and author of “Zombie Movie Encyclopedia.”
“The question is, why?” asked Annalee Newitz, editor of io9.com, a pop culture Web site.
One answer: These gore-flecked flicks are really competing parables about class warfare.
“Democrats, who want to redistribute wealth to 'Main Street,' fear the Wall Street vampires who bleed the nation dry,” Newitz argued, noting that Dracula and his ilk arose from the aristocracy. “Republicans fear a revolt of the poor and disenfranchised, dressed in rags and coming to the White House to eat their brains.”
Or perhaps the bloodsuckers' latest incarnation, as less-threatening undead citizens, reflects a more inclusive politics. “Suddenly,” said Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, “the vampires have become people just like us.”
“After the upsurge of zombie films that symptomized the Bush era, the latest re-investment in vampirism signals hopefulness,” said Larry Rickels, a UC Santa Barbara professor of German and comparative literature.
Whatever the reason, when forecasting White House victories, monsters have been nearly as accurate as pollsters. By Newitz's tally, Bush's election in 2000 came at the start of a massive upsurge in zombie flicks: 183 in seven years, for an average of 26 a year.
This year, though, only nine zombie films shambled into theaters, while a rising tide of vampire flicks – 18 in '08, with more on the way – indicated that the blood-red tide had turned.
Penn State's Dendle noted that the political-horror nexus has been strong since 1968. “Night of the Living Dead” opened a month before Republican Richard Nixon's election, inspiring a zombie film boomlet that persisted until the mid-1970s.
Zombies fell out of fashion when Democrat Jimmy Carter took the White House; his presidency coincided with Werner Herzog's “Nosferatu,” the Frank Langella “Dracula” and “Love at First Bite.”
“The 1980s, the Reagan era, is the most prolific era for zombie movies,” Dendle said. “They drop off the face of the Earth in 1990, in terms of high-budget studio films.”
Vampires – and Democrats – swooped back to prominence. Ten days after Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush, “Bram Stoker's Dracula” hit theaters. The Clinton years were also haunted by “Interview with the Vampire,” “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” and “Blade.”
Zombies returned with a brain-eating vengeance during George W. Bush's tenure: “28 Days Later,” “28 Weeks Later,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “Day of the Dead,” “Diary of the Dead.”
Bush-era zombies, noted Chera Kee, a University of Southern California doctoral candidate studying these cultural icons, also wandered into video games and comic books.
Recently, though, there were signs that the zombie's heyday – and the GOP's hold on the White House – was ending. Between 2008 and 2010, at least 39 vampire films have been green-lighted for production.
Whether the current passion for vampires endures or quickly fades, horror genres resemble political parties in another eerie way: The base isn't going anywhere.
“You can never get away from the undead,” Kee said.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20081108/news_1n8vampire.html

Vampire novels adapted for HBO's 'True Blood'

By Kinney Littlefield, For The Associated Press ( an older article from September 2008)

CALABASAS, Calif. — As fictional lovers go, bubbly blond Sookie Stackhouse and tall, pale Bill Compton are as massively mismatched as they come. After all, Sookie (Anna Paquin) is exuberantly human and Bill (Stephen Moyer) is, well, totally undead in HBO's flamboyant new vampire saga, "True Blood."

"Bill is really genteel but that doesn't stop him from being blood-hungry," Moyer says of his menacing 173-year-old character in "True Blood," adapted for television by Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under") from the popular series of Southern vampire novels by Charlaine Harris.

"The tension between Bill and Sookie is quite palpable," Moyer says in between scenes in which the courtly vampire, who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, escorts his lady friend Sookie, a telepathic roadhouse waitress, home on a dark and eerie night.

That sexually suggestive tension is key to "True Blood," premiering 9 p.m. EDT Sunday. Set in a small Louisiana town (actually the Santa Monica Mountains northwest of Los Angeles), the edgy series chronicles a time when synthetic blood supplies enable Bill and other vampires to live openly among humans, without necessarily feeding on them.

Like Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) in the classic vampire soap opera "Dark Shadows" (1966-1971), Bill has returned to his ancestral home, where he woos Sookie and tries to fit into human society. Like Frid's Barnabas, Moyer's Bill is an unresolved paradox -- part seductive protagonist, part menacing monster.

"He's not typically vampiric," says Moyer, who played a vampire in the Brit miniseries "Ultraviolet." No long black cape and ghoulish grin for Bill, who dresses yuppie-casual. "But we do get to see him sort of sex-starved at one point," Moyer says. "And there are moments when he is quite confrontational with other vampires, when other people are predatory with Sookie."

"True Blood" also pushes the content boundaries of premium cable, with plenty of extravagantly gushing arteries and over-the-top bedroom antics to rival Showtime's "Californication" -- all mixed with a good dose of Southern gothic goofiness.

Ball was looking to produce "lighter" fare after the life-and-death introspection of critically acclaimed "Six Feet Under."

"Charlaine has just created this amazing world that's funny and vibrant and scary and also a sort of social treatise, you know what I mean?" Ball says.

"The books are violent and that's part of the appeal," he says. "It's visceral and predatory and unapologetically sexual. And it's unapologetically romantic in the sense of an old-fashioned romance novel."

The centuries-old vampire metaphor is "also about the terrors of intimacy, and about any kind of misunderstood, hated, feared minority -- homosexuals, other cultures," Ball says. "When I first pitched 'True Blood' to HBO, I called it 'popcorn TV for smart people.' "

Still, vampire series are not always surefire. Last season, CBS spiked "Moonlight," despite its loyal following for undead hero Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin).

Like "Moonlight," "True Blood" plays on the thrill of a vampire-human hookup. But the mechanics of Bill and Sookie's romance proved tricky for Moyer and Paquin during filming.

"You do get fangs caught in places," Paquin says, remembering her first lip lock with Bill's lethal teeth, which pop down when he's lost in bloodlust. "Perhaps it's like people with braces trying to make it work. Puncture wounds aside, one gets used to it," she teases.

Although Ball says his series "is true to the spirit of the novels," there are differences. "True Blood" takes the powerful and ruthless nature of vampire clans a little further than the novels do, he says. Sookie narrates the Harris books but not "True Blood." Instead, Ball has given Sookie a female best friend and confidante named Tara (Rutina Wesley).

The events in the 12 episodes play out over a fast and furious two-week period, like they do in Harris' first vampire novel, "Dead Until Dark." As in the novels, Sookie's mysterious boss Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) is very much in evidence, keeping close to Sookie.

But Ball has greatly expanded the characters of the roadhouse's gay short-order cook, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), and Sookie's bumbling and sexually indefatigable brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten).

"They've given me some really outrageous story lines," Kwanten says. "Jason just jumps into things before he thinks about them. He thinks he's Louisiana's answer to Casanova. Any reservations or inhibitions I had before starting the show have well and truly gone now in a good way," he says of his sex scenes. Then he laughs. "One of the grips jokes that he sees me naked more than he does his girlfriend."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/2008-09-02-78205954_x.htm

True Blood Fan Art

Thanks vixenpup

Shopping for the True Blood/ Sookie fan in your life..

Oh, face it-- we know you are buying this for yourself !

There are some cool TB related items also to be found on eBay.
I've put a little eBay widget box on the blog (see below). I thought it would be fun, I will probably take it off next week but it searches TB related items and you will find it below and on the right.

Here is some stuff that I found last time I was poking around.

Friday perfect for dancing in the moonlight ( or for shifting)

It won't be your imagination if the moon looks bigger and brighter Friday night, like "a cosmic flood lamp."

NASA says the moon will appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter.

Every few years, a full moon coincides with the point in the satellite's elliptical orbit that brings it closest to the center of the Earth. Friday night, the moon will be fully illuminated just four hours after reaching that point, according to a feature story on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Web site.

The moon will appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than "lesser full moons we've seen earlier in 2008," NASA says -- provided it is being viewed in a clear sky.

At the moon's closest approach -- the orbital perigee -- it is about 30,000 miles (48,000 kilometers) closer to Earth than at the other extreme -- the apogee -- the space agency says.

The full moon, as always, will seem largest when it is near the horizon, as it rises and sets, "but it's really just an optical illusion," said NASA spokesman J.D. Harrington.

When the moon shines directly overhead, he said, it's hard to tell the difference in size.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/12/12/full.moon/index.html

2008 Golden Globe Odds Revealed

Yesterday the Golden Globe nominations were announced, and already online gambling sites are taking bets on the winners. BetOnline already has odds up on every major category. Here are some of the highlights:

• Heath Ledger is a heavy favorite to win Best Supporting Actor with 5/4 odds.
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has a 66% chance of winning Best Drama.
• Sean Penn is the odds on favorite to win Best Dramatic Actor for Milk with 4/5 odds.

Not such good odds for TB but here they are :

Best TV Drama:

Mad Men 3/2
House 2/1
In Treatment 5/1
Dexter 6/1
True Blood 6/1

Best TV Actress Drama:
Sally Field 10/11
Mariska Hargitay 3/1
January Jones 5/1
Kyra Sedgwick 5/1
Anna Paquin 10/1

read others here : http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/12/2008-golden-globe-odds-revealed/

You know you've watched too much True Blood when:

You start naming your pets or kids Bill, Eric, Sam, Pam and/or Sookie........

When you catch yourself about to pat a co-worker's shoulder and telling him to "man up, my friend."

When you look at all 7,860 pictures on True Blood Wiki

When driving home in the dark on a country road you keep looking for the Maenad and her wild hog.

When you start feeling the onset of a panic attack every time you think about the long wait ahead for season two to start

When you carry a Charlaine Harris Southern Vampire book around with you everywhere like a preacher carries the Bible.

True Blood behind the scenes: Fangtasia

Some of the cast from episode 4 posing before the shoot- you can catch them in various bar scenes

Author Profile: Charlaine Harris

The lovely librarians at the Warren Public Library ( Michigan) did a nice author profile of Charlaine Harris and you'll see some of the other series ( aside from Sookie) that Ms. Harris pens.

Author Profile: Charlaine Harris

A Southern writer with charm to spare, Charlaine Harris started writing mystery novels in the early 1990s, with her tales of Aurora (“Ro”) Teagarden, librarian extraordinaire and part-time, accidental crime solver. Once Ro had found her happily ever after in the ten-book series, Harris wrote for Lily Bard, from Shakespeare, Arkansas, the kind of girl even bad guys didn’t want to mess with. Finally, and most recently, Harris writes about Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic barmaid, and Harper Connelly, grave reader. Sookie’s famous right now because of the HBO series “True Blood,” which has just finished its wildly successful first season.

Real Murders (Aurora Teagarden)
When Ro’s “Real Murders” club finds themselves and their members taken down by, well, real murders, it’s up to Ro and the club to figure out who’s behind it all, and stop them!
MYS Harris WDB TPL SHL

Shakespeare’s Landlord (Lily Bard)
Lily, a fiercely private cleaning woman and self-defense student, finds the body of her landlord hidden in the dumpsters behind her home. When she realizes that her prints are on the body, she starts to question her customers, and strikes up a relationship with the police chief and her karate instructor to get to the bottom of the murder mystery. Lots of action and excitement colors Lily’s world in this first novel.
MYS Harris WMB RSV SHL

Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse/ Southern Vampire)
If you’re reading the Sookie books because you loved the television show True Blood, you might be in for a surprise. While most of the characters and plot elements are the same, there are some differences that needed to be made to make the show pop. This novel is the basis for the first season, when young women who have associated with now-legal and “out” vampires, keep turning up dead in tiny Bon Temps, Louisiana.
Fic Harris ROG ROK FRA CHE
MYS PBK Har WCV

Grave Sight (Harper Connelly)
Harper was struck by lightning when she was a teenager, and ever since, has been able to ‘read’ graves – she can stand over someone’s resting place, and tell who’s under the ground, and sometimes, how they died. Seeking to make peace with her past – she has, thus far, been unable to find her missing, presumed-dead little sister – she travels the country trying to help people find their missing loved ones, with her stepbrother and manager, Tolliver.
MYS Harris WAM TPL SHL RSV
Available on CD and as an E-Audiobook at TPL

While you can read each series out of order, Harris does reference previous books a lot in her works, so here’s the chronological list for each series:

Ro Teagarden
Real Murders
A Bone to Pick
Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
The Julius House
Dead Over Heels
A Fool and His Honey
Last Scene Alive
Poppy Done to Death

Lily Bard
Shakespeare’s Landlord
Shakespeare’s Champion
Shakespeare’s Christmas
Shakespeare’s Trollop
Shakespeare’s Counselor

Sookie Stackhouse/ Southern Vampire
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone (coming May 2009!)

Harper Connelly
Grave Sight
Grave Surprise
An Ice Cold Grave

http://warrenpubliclibrary.blogspot.com/2008/12/author-profile-charlaine-harris.html

What's your name?

What are you ?

"Well. I'm Sookie Stackhouse, and I'm a waitress," I told him. "What's your name?" I thought I could at least ask that without being presuming.
"Bill," he said.
Before I could stop myself, I rocked back onto my butt with laughter. "The vampire Bill!" I said. "I thought it might be Antoine, or Basil, or Langford! Bill!" I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time. "Well, see ya, Bill. I got to get back to work."

Maybe Bill should use a Vamp name generator

http://www.emmadavies.net/vampire/

Bon Temp Christmas Carols - Jungle Vamp

(sing to Jingle Bell Rock tune)

Jingle Vamp, Jingle Vamp, Jingle Vamp Rock
Jingle Vamps swing and Jingle Vamps ring!
Bitin' and suckin' up lots of good fun
Now that Fangtasia has now begun!

Jingle Vamp, Jingle Vamp, Jingle Vamp Rock
Jingle Vamps hang with Jingle Vamp fangs
Drainin' and bangin' with Humans, they say
Never in the DAY!

What a right time, for a fright time
To Rock the night away
Jingle Vamp time is a swell time
To go diggin' in the Graveyard, Hey!

Drinky-up, Jingle Vamps, delicious Tru Blood
Serve around the clock
Warm and fuzzy in your Jinglin' tummies
That's the Jingle Vamp Rock!

Jingle Vamp, Jingle Vamp, Jingle Vamp Rock
Jingle Vamps hang with Jingle Vamp fangs
Drainin' and bangin' with Humans, they say
Never in the DAY!

What a right time, for a fright time
To Rock the night away
Jingle Vamp time is a swell time
To go diggin' in the Graveyard, Hey!

Drinky-up, Jingle Vamps, give 'em some more
The night is still quite young
Mix and mingle, NO silver that will twinkle!
That's the Jingle Vamp
That's the Jingle Vamp

That's the Jingle Vamp Rock!!!!

Sookie books in Germany

I have a weakness for different Sookie book covers. We've seen one version of the UK publications as well as some published in France.

What do you think of the German ones ?

The book is described : Die Kellnerin Sookie Stackhouse hat eine Pechsträhne. Zuerst wird einer ihrer Kollegen ermordet und es gibt keinerlei Hinweise auf den Täter. Kurz darauf steht sie einer Bestie gegenüber, die ihr mit giftigen Krallen schmerzhafte Wunden zufügt. Dann: Auftritt der Vampire, die ihr nicht ganz uneigennützig das Gift aus den Adern saugen ... und das ist erst der Anfang.

True Blood Music Video of the Day: Closer- by Nine Inch Nails

* [Dallas fans herself, "Whew, is it summer yet ?"]
(lyrics not for work or kids)- Happy Friday

Closer- by Nine Inch Nails

Alan Ball Drops Hints About The Second Season Of True Blood

By Editor on December 11th, 2008

With HBO’s vampire thriller True Blood earning a Golden Globes nomination today for outstanding drama series, creator Alan Ball dropped a few hints to The Hollywood Reporter about what fans can expect in Season 2.

“Jason goes into the Fellowship of the Sun church in a big way and is surprised by what he finds there. There’s a new creature in town that is unlike any other. Nobody knows what this creature is, I’m not sure if it will be entirely explained in the show - it’s not a werewolf. There are new romances for Tara, Jason and Sara. Bill and Sookie have a lot of issues to sort out - including having made a new teenage vampire that’s living in their house. Bill and Sookie also go to Dallas to find one of their own who has gone missing.”

True Blood is based on a series of books. Ball described the summary as about as much as he could say right now without tipping anything crucial. His description of season two does vary greatly from the second book, Living Dead In Dallas.

In the second book Jason has nothing to do with the Fellowship of the Sun and is actually accepting and friendly to Bill and vampires. The good news here is that Bill and Sookie will be going to Dallas which is a major plotline of the second book. The big question is the new creature, which in the second book is a Maenad. In the second to the last episode of the first season, Michelle Forbes was introduced as Maryann. She was walking in the road with the pig when Tara crashed her car. So it would seem she is the Maenad. Now in the second book, the first time she we see her, she attacks Sookie. Sam spends many nights, in dog form, with the Maenad and she plays a big role in the conclusion of the book. So we will see where Ball takes the storyline.

I liked the show a lot less after reading the books. Ball left a lot of good stuff from the first book and added a bunch of plotlines that ran contrary to some of the book storylines. I am really concerned about Jason and the Fellowship of the Sun much like season one’s V storyline. Bill’s new vampire, Jessica, is also an expanded storyline, that seem left in just to frustrate the Sookie/Bill dynamic. Hopefully Ball stays true to the second book because it was a really good story.

http://www.thetvremote.com/alan-ball-drops-hints-about-the-second-season-of-true-blood/

also more here http://www.thrfeed.com/

What was Miss Jeanette's real name ?

Not the actress’s name ( it was Aisha Hinds) but her real name as Tara finds her working in the drug store ?

You know you've watched too much True Blood when:

You see an empty can of Fresca, and you sigh deeply and realize you will never, ever look at a can of Fresca the same way again.

When you Map Quest "Bon Temps."

When you feel the side of your neck to see where the vein is.

When you mention Stephen Moyer in every conversation.

When you read Southern Vampire fan fiction on the computer late at night until you practically see spots.

When you shop online to find a shirt for your husband that looks like the shirts Bill wears.

send me your favorites
truebloodindallas@gmail.com

thanks to eripmay and the posters on the HBO forum