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Thursday, 19 March 2009
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AVL: The American Vampire League
Recently I discovered the website of the American Vampire League, an organization fighting for the equal rights of vampires. Their tagline reads, "Vampires were people too." I thought to myself, You have got to be kidding me! I am a vampire lover, but is this for real?
Well, it actually turns out that it is not for real. After exploring the site further I realized that it is affiliated with HBO and is a promotion for the True Blood series. But I definitely suggest that you check out the website because it looks professional and is quite entertaining. I want to become a member of the AVL immediately!
The site includes information about vampires and why they can peacefully coexist with humans, testimonials of the benefits of having vampire neighbors, and even a clever FAQ section.
Pro-Vampire Rights Ammendment Commercial by the AVL at Youtube.
Photo from Google Images.American Vampire League. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2009, from http://www.americanvampireleague.com/index.html
Pro-Vampire Rights Ammendment Commercial. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2009, from www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEhG5DKmkHQ
american vampire league - Google Image Search. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2009, from http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&um=1&q=american+vampire+league&start=0&imgsz=&imgc=&imgtype=
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
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Sookie Stackhouse Box Set (books that True Blood were based on)
I didn’t realize until after I saw the first season of True Blood on HBO that it is based off a series of books by Charlaine Harris called the Sookie Stackhouse series. Naturally, when I found out, the series was at the top of my Christmas list.
I began to read the first book and found that not much was changed when making the TV show. However, True Blood was one of the rare instances (perhaps the only instance) in which I liked the visual interpretation better.
Harris, in my opinion, is a poor writer. Being a writing major, I noticed so many of the things that my writing professors constantly preach to omit from writing in her books. The story is truly great, though, so I will eventually get to finishing them.
There are currently seven vampire mysteries in the set, and it is much cheaper to buy the boxed set than to buy them separately. I got mine at half.com for less than $30.
To read others’ reviews on the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris go to Amazon's Customer Reviews.
Photo from Google Images.Amazon.com: Sookie Stackhouse 7-copy Boxed Set (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood): Charlaine Harris: Books. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2009, from http://www.amazon.com/Sookie-Stackhouse-Box-Charlaine-Harris/dp/0441017770/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224939381&sr=1-17
Half.com / Books / Sookie Stackhouse Novels. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2009, from http://product.half.ebay.com/Sookie-Stackhouse-Novels_W0QQtgZinfoQQprZ70961288
Harris, C. (2008). Sookie Stackhouse Boxed Set (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood). New York: Ace.
sookie stackhouse box set - Google Image Search. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2009, from http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=sookie+stackhouse+box+set&start=0&imgsz=&imgc=&imgtype=
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
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True Blood: An HBO Original Series
I am always initially skeptical of popular vampire media because often, the vampires portrayed in these TV shows, books, and movies are commercialized and unrealistic. However, I must say that after I give them a chance I often find myself addicted.
According to HBO, True Blood is an HBO original series that started in fall 2008. The second season is scheduled to start in summer 2009. In this show, Japanese scientists have invented a synthetic blood beverage called “trublood” which has allowed vampires to mainstream with humans. This radical change is highly controversial causes all kinds of problems.
True Blood follows the lives of a handful of people from a small Louisiana town who are dealing with the change in their own ways. The main character, Sookie Stackhouse [Anna Paquin] (who can read minds) finds herself falling for a vampire named Bill Compton [Stephen Moyer].
The twelve episodes of the first season of True Blood are available on HBO on demand, and I would highly suggest you check them out. The plot is intertwined with juicy and dangerous twists that keep you on the edge of your seat and always wanting more!
Visit the True Blood official website for more information.
Photos from Yahoo! images.
HBO: True Blood. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2009, from http://www.hbo.com/trueblood/
Yahoo! Image Search Results for true blood. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2009, from http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=true+blood&fr=fptb-yie8&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
Monday, 16 March 2009
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A Tribute to Nosferatu: The First Cinematic Vampire
One class stands out in my mind as the best class of my high school career: cinema with Mr. Preston. I was so interested in learning the history and “behind the scenes” aspects of films, and I saw some films that I would never have been inclined to pick up on my own.
When I received my syllabus in the beginning of the year, I noticed that the course was broken up into different units of study. There was only one that I absolutely dreaded: silent films. We had to watch a whole unit of those annoying silent films? Give me a break!
But, as Mr. Preston promised, not all was bad. It was in the silent film unit that I was exposed to Nosferatu, the earliest cinematic adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
According to IMDB, F.M. Murnau’s Nosferatu was a German film released in 1922. Newly engaged real estate agent Hutter is sent to Transylvania to meet Count Orlok [Max Schreck] who is planning on purchasing the house across the street from Hutter’s home. Hutter arrives at a creepy castle and has his blood sucked by the Count.
He escapes the castle but the count is already on his way to Hutter’s neighborhood, and he is infatuated with Hutter’s new wife, Ellen. The townspeople begin to attribute the frequent deaths with the plague. Ellen suspects otherwise and finds a book called Book of Vampires which tells her that she needs to keep the Count with her until after sunrise to get rid of him.
Pictures from Google Images.
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922). (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2009, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/
nosferatu - Google Image Search. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2009, from http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=nosferatu&sa=N&start=36&ndsp=18
Sunday, 15 March 2009
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Vlad the Impaler (Ruler who inspired the character Dracula)
Many people recognize Vlad the Impaler to be the person that Bram Stoker's Dracula character was based on. This sparked my interest to investigate this legendary prince further. The information I found was so interesting, juicy, and gruesome that I thought I would share it with you!
According to Vlad the Impaler: A Brief Biography, Vlad Tepes (meaning the impaler) was born in Transylvania in 1431. He was the son of Vlad Dracul (meaning devil), which accounts for the name Dracula (meaning son of the devil).
Vlad the Impaler was appointed prince of Wallachia at the age of 18 and set out to rid the place of all crime. To do this, he brutally punished all criminals (and many who were not guilty of anything). His favorite type of punishment was impalement. Apparently, he impaled up to 100,000 people and tortured many more to death in other ways. Rumor has it that he liked to sit and eat a feast while the impaled people died slowly in front of him.
Vlad was captured and thrown into a Hungarian prison for 12 years where it was said that he conversed with bats and killed rodents in his cell and drank their blood. When he escaped, he was mistaken for a Turk and killed by his own men. Later, his grave was found empty and his remains have never been discovered.
A portrait of Vlad the Impaler and a sketch of him enjoying a feast while people died before his eyes available at Realm of Darkness.
Realm of Darkness: Vlad the Impaler and the Vampire Legacy. (n.d.).Retrieved March 17, 2009, from http://realm-darkness.tripod.com/vlad.htm
SamanthaJade7
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- Name: Samantha
- Gender: Female
- Member Since: 3/2/2009
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Hello, my name is Samantha. I am a junior at Rowan University and am writing this blog for my Writing Research and Technology class. I am excited to become a part of the online blogging world! My blog will be about everything to do with vampires including myths, legends, books, movies, poetry and more. I chose this topic because I have been infatuated with the idea of vampires ever since I was Dracula for Halloween in first grade. I am open to any comments and ideas. Thanks for reading!
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