matilda is carrie for kids

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True Blood Season 3: Team Jacob or Team Spike???

okay first, everyone watch this:

Trailer 2

Now we can talk. Here's my backstory with vampires in pop culture. With the exception of Interview with a Vampire, which I saw when I was a kid like I was supposed to, I've experienced everything backwards. I read all the Twilight books, got completely sucked in and then retroactively became like a born-again sane person, reprogrammed to see the error of my ways. Then I started watching "True Blood." Now I'm catching up on "Buffy, The Vampire Slayer" and "Angel."

I'm not touching the CW's "Vampire Diaries." XOXO, no thanks.

Sidenote: I will still be attending the midnight showings of all Twilight Saga movies. Sorry 'bout it, but I love a damn midnight release. It doesn't matter.

I haven't read any of The Southern Vampire Mysteries/The Sookie Stackhouse Novels or whatever. I plan to. But after watching HBO's latest trailer, I can't help but marvel at how wonderfully/oddly familiar this plot is. No hate, just observations. It's actually helping me deal with the fact that Buffy is over and practically a period piece. (Do you know how many conflicts could have been prevented if the Scoobies had cell phones in the early seasons?) I can move on now.

I'm not going to do crazy things like compare Pam to Drusilla, or Jessica Hamby with Jessica Stanley. But honestly:

Spike and Eric. Do I really need to provide an explanation here? They are the same. Better, blonder, badass-er. Obviously this is what Twilight needs. A blond Anti-Hero. Such a shame.

Though I suppose Sam is a better comparison to Jacob Black as far as what they are and what powers they have, werewolf Alcide is being set up as an actual love interest for Sookie, so we'll go with that. Plus they are both vaguely ethnic. And Alcide has a "pack." However, we'll have to get into the season to make this comparison meatier.

Then there's these guys. Bill, Angel and Edward Cullen. I don't even know where to begin...

They brood. They are filled with self-loathing. They're chivalrous to the point of chauvinism. They like to disappear for unspecified amounts of time. They withhold information. They get really, really attached to the female lead. We're all in love with them and then the next guy shows up and half the fandom switches teams. Granted, Angel is less annoying than Bill and Edward IMO, but everything I don't like about him is something I recognize in the other two.

Thankfully Sookie, Buffy and Bella are very different. Some of them are actual, real life, dynamic characters.

Another Sidenote: Why does so much vampire literature take place in the deep South? Is this similar to how aliens always abduct farmhands?

What have I learned? I'm excited for Season Three. Vampires really like jackets. Nothing is original. I also love the way all of these different franchises pick and choose from the vampire lore salad bar as far as what will be real and what will be myth. Hilarious. I also promise that I'll get to sci-fi eventually with this blog. I've just been on a vampire kick lately. I'm trying to stay true to the zeitgeist ;-)

hang on spider monkey,

Leah

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3 Fall Shows that Are Relevant To Your Interests (Part 1)

Heroes is gone. LOST is gone. What's a girl to do this fall without her primetime sci-fi/action fix this fall? Watch reruns of VIP?

WRONG!

Do you like Action?

Do you like Adventure?

Time Travel?

Intrigue?

Attractive people being attractive?

Well guess what, y'all? Christmas has come early.

There will be approximately 7 brand new genre series airing on many major (and less major) networks this fall. Here's a sampling of the 3 I will definitely be tuning into. Will it be for love or lol's? Only time can tell.

1) Undercovers

This is the new offering from the JJ Abrams camp, the same folks that brought us ALIAS, LOST, the now deceased Heroes, and my personal cocaine Star Trek (2009).

Why am I amped about it?

For one, Alias was my jam. And for two, why wouldn't I want to look at Boris "Brown Sugar" Kodjoe getting his espionage on every week? The series also features Gugu Mbatha-Raw, from Doctor Who (series 3) fame, she played Martha's sister, Martha being the Companion with the best hair. If you haven't noticed yet, this means that Undercovers will be (to my knowledge) the first hour-long primetime drama to feature two lead characters of color, this is no small feat, and makes a show that was already sporting about 10 scout badges in "badassery" even more badass.

What's the buzz?

Since it's Abrams, this show is getting as much hype as any show possibly can, especially following in the footsteps of LOST and Heroes.

What's the story?

Two married ex-CIA operatives get called back into the game to find the Big Bad, in the process, they find that action and intrigue are really great aphrodisiacs. A lot of people have been complaining that the show sounds like a rehashing of the Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt movie Mr. And Mrs. Smith. To me it sounds more like Remington Steele on the rocks with a twist.

Check the trailer here:

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mash-up literature is out of control; will schuester loves it

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith) has created a monster. I thought it was just as awesome as the next girl willing to indulge in Jane Austen while also harboring a penchant for the supernatural. But this literary trend to take a classic novel and "insert" original passages to change the story around has taken off exponentially. It slapped me in the face the last time I was in a bookstore.

No really. Look at all these existing/upcoming titles:

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, by Jane Austen and Ben Winters
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, by Steve Hockensmith
Android Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy and Ben Winters
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, by Seth Grahame-Smith
Queen Victoria, Demon Hunter, by A.E Moorat
Little Women and Werewolves, by Louisa May Alcott and Porter Grand
Little Vampire Women, by Louisa May Alcott and Lyn Messina
Jane Slayre, by Charlotte Bronte and Sherri Browning Erwin
Mansfield Park and Mummies, by Jane Austen and Vera Nazarian
Emma and the Werewolves, by Jane Austen and Adam Rann

This list goes on. I got bored. Other "ruptured" classics include Alice in Wonderland, Dante's Inferno, Huck Finn, Robin Hood, War of the Worlds and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!

I didn't make any of these titles up. It was tempting. Look out, public domain. What is this published fanfiction? Is nothing sacred? I hate it and I love it. I think these are very funny books, I love that this type of creativity is being recognized, and I'm glad that people are reading them and potentially revisiting (or discovering) the orginals. But this is just, as I said before, out of control. Of all the trends, right?

don't tell me what I can't write,
Leah and John Locke Read more...