1. Weekend. I went in for a commercial shoot as an extra, and got picked out of a line of 70+ people to be the STAH. Well, one of 5 stars. They loved the interracial loving I bring. (I always seek out the People of Non-White because a) they're usually the fun people on set and b) white actresses/actors tend to be boring and/or narcissistic. Also, I have a thing for Asian men. I can't help myself.) So while it was awesome that I got to meet some new people who were totally fun and interesting, I ended up having an almost 24 hour day on Saturday. Up at 3:15am and to bed at 2:30am. So glamorous, the acting world. :)
2. Social awkwardness. The people that I hung out with were (with the exception that makes this its own point) so much fun. Relaxed, funny, chill-type people.
There was an old guy that was cast as a rancher fixing a barbed-wire fence. The man has been in Sam Shepherd movies, Tombstone, etc. You look at him and you expect to hear cowboys whistling to their herds. He looked like Wilford Brimley and I kept trying to trick him into saying "Di-uh-bee-tus." Hee. Good hell, this man talked about his average day and it was just grizzled and wry and interesting and funny. Anytime he spoke, we all shut up, smiled, and listened to Grandpa tell tales about the Wild West. He's worked with just about every man in a Western since the 60s. Boy, you should hear the things he had to say about Tommy Lee Jones. Er, they were not good. John Lithgow? One of the nicest men he's ever known. Ditto with Sam Elliot. Just a cool, grizzled old guy that has a ranch with horses and cows and donkeys that loves his dogs and comes in to act when they need a man that looks like him. Cool.
There was my Indian friend that has a movie getting into all sorts of film festivals, talking to us about Bollywood, the Indian culture in Dallas, how fast it's growing, etc. He's hilarious and sweet and totally easy on the eyes, and I'm so excited that he made made a film about his culture - Indian movies and American cities - and that it's being well received. Also, you should check and see if "Bollywood Beats" is coming to a town near you. FUNNY, sweet, poignant, it follows a young man who just wants to dance and starts a dance class to pay the rent and gets a ragtag group of Indian women (and a gay Indian man) who want to dance like they do in Bollywood features. GREAT movie, go see it, tell them Stoney sent you. :)
So, in a nutshell, fun people to spend that much time with, yes? Well, hold up. So there was "Jan," an older woman. At first glance, she looked interesting, like she could have some great stories. Well, if she did, she had no damn idea how to tell them. She cut everyone off mid story to tell HER story that was tangentially related. And her stories ambled and wandered, stopped and poked at the dirt, stared at the sky, got back on the road, then petered off. All. Day. Long. And by 3 in the afternoon, I wanted to nap in the greenroom (as did a few of the others) and we COULDN'T because "Jan" wanted to tell us all about how fabulous she was at skiing when she was younger, how she loves to blah blah blah.
This is my advice, and I say this as the mother of a son with a social disorder (Aspergers.)
IF: people look away from you a lot while you're talking, wrap it up. You've lost them.
IF: people give very small smiles and polite laughter (not loud, raucous, belly shaking laughs) wrap it up. You've lost them.
IF: people continue to say things (when you're done or you've paused) "...so anyway, as you [other person] were saying..." Sit out a few plays, champ, you've lost them.
I know that faces and body language don't always translate for people (see: Aspergers) so these are clues for you to memorize. Ask a trusted source is you have a tendency to speak in long monologues. If so, you need to learn how to either be quiet more, or break up your conversation for others. (Incidentally, this is what my son has been working on all weekend. But then, he's a kid. If you're in you late 60s, you should have figured this stuff out by now.)
Oy. Long day. Thank goodness for the really cool people that were also there. And the director/AD/etc were all the nicest, happiest people I've ever worked with. That made a huge difference. Oh, and the very hot tattooed man that cooked for us (grilled salmon, a curry-scented chicken salad, a light spinach salad with honeyed walnuts, mini cheesecakes, etc.) made things quite lovely, too. :)
3. Alexander Skaaaaaarsgaaaaard. I may have his name spelled incorrectly... Lol. OH MY GOD. He is why I watch True Blood. Hands down. It doesn't hurt that he's beautiful (and guys, I don't do blondes.) It doesn't hurt that he's a fantastic actor. And it doesn't hurt that he was completely naked in last night's ep. THANK YOU, ALEX. I mean, come on: he's a 6' 5" VIKING VAMPIRE. Well, his character is. Hee.
The show continues to grate on my nerves, and it continues to be when Anna Paquin tries to have comedy chops (she doesn't) and when Bill/Sookie are on screen. And MaryAnn needs to wrap her storyline up, too. NOT. INTERESTED. I watched this time because Lafayette was on, and girl, I will watch Lafayette paint his toenails for a half hour, because the man is awesome. I also love Hoyt/Jessica, and they should replace Bill/Sookie, I'm just saying.
BUT LET'S GET TO THE AWESOME THAT IS ERIC. And his gay love affair with Godric. And the awesome acting chops on Skaarsgard. And how he made me tear up. I teared up at TRUE BLOOD. What?! That is his skill. Also, him naked in bed with the camera aaaaaaalmost panning far down enough to see nirvana was a cruel joke. Do it again. :)
I don't like the liberties they're taking with the book in some cases, because it's changing the storyline considerably.
SPOILERS FOR TRUE BLOOD/SOUTHERN VAMPIRE CHRONICLES
I don't like that Bill dismissed his maker, because in the books, he TOTALLY LEFT SOOKIE for her. And then Sookie done kilt her dead. I liked that. I don't like the implication that Eric contacted Bill's maker to get him occupied so he could go after Sookie. I don't like that they killed Stan, who was supposed to look like a computer nerd but didn't. Stan shows up later in the books, huh? I don't like that they've COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN THAT SOOKIE CAN READ MINDS. That's the whole freaking POINT of the books and why she likes being with vampires!
How many of you were like me, completely baffled at how TB!Sookie is the worst mind reader ever and let that HUMAN KILL PEOPLE? Because she evidently can't always read minds? Or forgets? I don't even know, it's just lame. Writers: remember your own canon, for Pete's sake.
Also: Anna Paquin: quit trying to be wide eyed and sweet, because you just look vacant with dead eyes. Her scene with Jason and her scene with Godric - there's your strength. Kinda. I just don't think she's very good, guys. Dead eyes dead eyes. (And how many people got a Jason/Sookie vibe with them sitting on the bed saying how much they love each other? Siblings in their 20s hunkered down in bed together? So that's how it is in their family... Lol.)
In conclusion, MORE ERIC, PLEASE. :)
2. Social awkwardness. The people that I hung out with were (with the exception that makes this its own point) so much fun. Relaxed, funny, chill-type people.
There was an old guy that was cast as a rancher fixing a barbed-wire fence. The man has been in Sam Shepherd movies, Tombstone, etc. You look at him and you expect to hear cowboys whistling to their herds. He looked like Wilford Brimley and I kept trying to trick him into saying "Di-uh-bee-tus." Hee. Good hell, this man talked about his average day and it was just grizzled and wry and interesting and funny. Anytime he spoke, we all shut up, smiled, and listened to Grandpa tell tales about the Wild West. He's worked with just about every man in a Western since the 60s. Boy, you should hear the things he had to say about Tommy Lee Jones. Er, they were not good. John Lithgow? One of the nicest men he's ever known. Ditto with Sam Elliot. Just a cool, grizzled old guy that has a ranch with horses and cows and donkeys that loves his dogs and comes in to act when they need a man that looks like him. Cool.
There was my Indian friend that has a movie getting into all sorts of film festivals, talking to us about Bollywood, the Indian culture in Dallas, how fast it's growing, etc. He's hilarious and sweet and totally easy on the eyes, and I'm so excited that he made made a film about his culture - Indian movies and American cities - and that it's being well received. Also, you should check and see if "Bollywood Beats" is coming to a town near you. FUNNY, sweet, poignant, it follows a young man who just wants to dance and starts a dance class to pay the rent and gets a ragtag group of Indian women (and a gay Indian man) who want to dance like they do in Bollywood features. GREAT movie, go see it, tell them Stoney sent you. :)
So, in a nutshell, fun people to spend that much time with, yes? Well, hold up. So there was "Jan," an older woman. At first glance, she looked interesting, like she could have some great stories. Well, if she did, she had no damn idea how to tell them. She cut everyone off mid story to tell HER story that was tangentially related. And her stories ambled and wandered, stopped and poked at the dirt, stared at the sky, got back on the road, then petered off. All. Day. Long. And by 3 in the afternoon, I wanted to nap in the greenroom (as did a few of the others) and we COULDN'T because "Jan" wanted to tell us all about how fabulous she was at skiing when she was younger, how she loves to blah blah blah.
This is my advice, and I say this as the mother of a son with a social disorder (Aspergers.)
IF: people look away from you a lot while you're talking, wrap it up. You've lost them.
IF: people give very small smiles and polite laughter (not loud, raucous, belly shaking laughs) wrap it up. You've lost them.
IF: people continue to say things (when you're done or you've paused) "...so anyway, as you [other person] were saying..." Sit out a few plays, champ, you've lost them.
I know that faces and body language don't always translate for people (see: Aspergers) so these are clues for you to memorize. Ask a trusted source is you have a tendency to speak in long monologues. If so, you need to learn how to either be quiet more, or break up your conversation for others. (Incidentally, this is what my son has been working on all weekend. But then, he's a kid. If you're in you late 60s, you should have figured this stuff out by now.)
Oy. Long day. Thank goodness for the really cool people that were also there. And the director/AD/etc were all the nicest, happiest people I've ever worked with. That made a huge difference. Oh, and the very hot tattooed man that cooked for us (grilled salmon, a curry-scented chicken salad, a light spinach salad with honeyed walnuts, mini cheesecakes, etc.) made things quite lovely, too. :)
3. Alexander Skaaaaaarsgaaaaard. I may have his name spelled incorrectly... Lol. OH MY GOD. He is why I watch True Blood. Hands down. It doesn't hurt that he's beautiful (and guys, I don't do blondes.) It doesn't hurt that he's a fantastic actor. And it doesn't hurt that he was completely naked in last night's ep. THANK YOU, ALEX. I mean, come on: he's a 6' 5" VIKING VAMPIRE. Well, his character is. Hee.
The show continues to grate on my nerves, and it continues to be when Anna Paquin tries to have comedy chops (she doesn't) and when Bill/Sookie are on screen. And MaryAnn needs to wrap her storyline up, too. NOT. INTERESTED. I watched this time because Lafayette was on, and girl, I will watch Lafayette paint his toenails for a half hour, because the man is awesome. I also love Hoyt/Jessica, and they should replace Bill/Sookie, I'm just saying.
BUT LET'S GET TO THE AWESOME THAT IS ERIC. And his gay love affair with Godric. And the awesome acting chops on Skaarsgard. And how he made me tear up. I teared up at TRUE BLOOD. What?! That is his skill. Also, him naked in bed with the camera aaaaaaalmost panning far down enough to see nirvana was a cruel joke. Do it again. :)
I don't like the liberties they're taking with the book in some cases, because it's changing the storyline considerably.
SPOILERS FOR TRUE BLOOD/SOUTHERN VAMPIRE CHRONICLES
I don't like that Bill dismissed his maker, because in the books, he TOTALLY LEFT SOOKIE for her. And then Sookie done kilt her dead. I liked that. I don't like the implication that Eric contacted Bill's maker to get him occupied so he could go after Sookie. I don't like that they killed Stan, who was supposed to look like a computer nerd but didn't. Stan shows up later in the books, huh? I don't like that they've COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN THAT SOOKIE CAN READ MINDS. That's the whole freaking POINT of the books and why she likes being with vampires!
How many of you were like me, completely baffled at how TB!Sookie is the worst mind reader ever and let that HUMAN KILL PEOPLE? Because she evidently can't always read minds? Or forgets? I don't even know, it's just lame. Writers: remember your own canon, for Pete's sake.
Also: Anna Paquin: quit trying to be wide eyed and sweet, because you just look vacant with dead eyes. Her scene with Jason and her scene with Godric - there's your strength. Kinda. I just don't think she's very good, guys. Dead eyes dead eyes. (And how many people got a Jason/Sookie vibe with them sitting on the bed saying how much they love each other? Siblings in their 20s hunkered down in bed together? So that's how it is in their family... Lol.)
In conclusion, MORE ERIC, PLEASE. :)
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Date: 2009-08-17 02:45 pm (UTC)I'm so/so on Anna Paquin's performance as Sookie. (and yes to the S/J vibe. which was really icky. like Cordy/Connor icky. *shudders*)
But oh my God, I can't stand Bill. I wish the Earth would open up and swallow him.
Eric is made of win. And it's my opinion that the nude scene with Eric/Sookie was the only truly erotic sex scene they're aired thus far.
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Date: 2009-08-17 02:50 pm (UTC)And we are in COMPLETE AGREEMENT on that scene being totally erotic. Man, I was fanning myself, and for a show with as much sex as they have on it, that should tell you something, directors! MORE ERIC. :D
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Date: 2009-08-17 02:47 pm (UTC)Ok, I don't get the Eric love. Really. He's not that attractive, he's not that impressive, etc. But between last week, when he put on the aw-shucks accent and this week when he was allowed to emote, I might be warming up to A. Skarsgaard. And his lovelylovely nakedness? That is one fine Viking ass. No wonder he got voted 'sexiest guy in Sweden'.
I just don't think she's very good, guys.
Right there with you. Sookie in the books was not nearly as stupid as she's coming across on-screen, and I think that's because Paquin can't do 'naive'.
I love Lafayette, and adore Hoyt/Jessica (I was very much opposed to the Jessica subplot until she hooked up with Hoyt. Now they're the best part of the show), and I'll watch the guy who plays Sam read the phone book.
And how many people got a Jason/Sookie vibe with them sitting on the bed saying how much they love each other? Siblings in their 20s hunkered down in bed together? So that's how it is in their family... Lol.)
::snort:: Get out of my head.
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Date: 2009-08-17 02:53 pm (UTC)And ASkars is pretty hot, no matter how you slice him. Mmm, that was a good scene, lol.
Now, I like the actor that plays Sam, I just don't like what they're doing with him. I'm over the Maryanne/Manaed storyline. How can you make all of those orgies so damn boring? Jeez.
Hoyt/Jessica is just lovely. I was with you, too. I wasn't sure about her at the end of S1, and how I'm all over their scenes. Sweet and lovely.
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Date: 2009-08-17 03:30 pm (UTC)I liked the book Godric, too. But the Godric/Eric scenes almost make up for the AU-ness. And I liked the Hugo punishment in the book, too!
Hoyt/Jessica is hilarious AND sweet/sexy. FOR THE WIN.
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Date: 2009-08-17 03:44 pm (UTC)Sounds like you had a fun, action packed weekend.
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Date: 2009-08-17 03:48 pm (UTC)If you find good Eric fanfic, LINK ME, PLS.
I did have a fun weekend, and I got paid for it! Life is mighty fine as of late.
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Date: 2009-08-17 03:46 pm (UTC)So what did you have to do in the commercial?
I want to know what he said about Tommy Lee Jones!!! I would love to be an extra, and there are more opportunities out here in tiny RI than you would think. But I just dont think I could handle those long hours with so many of them being spent doing nothing.
I agree with everything you said about TB. I'm ready for Eric to be the main character already because him and Lafayette are scenes that get me excited (and not for obvious reasons perv). What I liked about the book is that Bill, even as the all powerful vampire, was still flawed and victim to things, (like Lorena). And I hate the way they are changing that course of events between Sookie and Eric. And yeah, WTF with Sookie barely reading minds anymore. You would think the mind of a suicide bomber in front of her would be loud and clear.
I love Trueblood, I do. I'm trying to see it differently then the books I love so much. But sometimes I just can't help but feel the scenes feeling rushed and im constantly thinking "they could have done such a better job with that scene if..."
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Date: 2009-08-17 03:51 pm (UTC)I got to hold hands in an endless chain of happy bank customers. Then they had me alone on set, being happy and looking off in the distance. It's hard work, yo. :D
Being an extra can be fun just by meeting people. But yeah, if you don't have anyone good to hang out with, that's pretty miserable.
Hahahaha, I would not have a problem with Lafayette and Eric together more, they're both fun, engaging actors. And hot. Hee.
How can Sookie not have heard the bomber in his mind? Was he reciting his grocery list in his head? JEEEEEEZ.
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Date: 2009-08-17 03:56 pm (UTC)I don't get HBO so I can't keep up (antsily awaiting next round of DVDs), but I've read all the books and it does irk me that they've taken so many liberties with the storyline (again, having only seen the first season), but whatever. If it's fun, it's fun, and I shall just endeavor to distance the two and enjoy it for what it is.
Sounds like a fab time on set, esp. the grizzled cowboy. :)
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Date: 2009-08-17 04:42 pm (UTC)It was a fab time, and they FED me! Nice. :D
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Date: 2009-08-17 04:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-17 04:41 pm (UTC)SHE DOES NOT, Oscar or no.
ALSO: HI CENTURIES OF FAITH AND LOVE OH MY GOD.
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Date: 2009-08-17 04:43 pm (UTC)Eric pretty.
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Date: 2009-08-17 04:49 pm (UTC)Oh my goodness, isn't he? That picspam I linked to is just happy-making. :)
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Date: 2009-08-17 05:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-17 05:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2009-08-17 05:12 pm (UTC)I wonder if in the meeting over this episode Intern Bambi (it's so ironic, like her haircut!) said: hey, guys? can't she read minds? But that was after the script was polished and they were like DOH! handwave! I betcha it went like that.
Yeah, I am wondering SPOILERS FOR THE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the Sookie/Bill break will be the Sophie-Ann/Bill reveal. I wonder how TB!Sookie will react to that.
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Date: 2009-08-17 05:26 pm (UTC)I am REALLY HOPING they stick to that storyline, because Bill was a DOUCHE BAG. And I loved that her first time was with someone that was being ORDERED TO BONE HER. That's awesome! And fitting for her, TB!Sookie, esp.
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Date: 2009-08-17 05:28 pm (UTC)oh my gosh, he made me tear up during the cheesiest, most crack-tastic show ever. HE IS AWESOME. I'm right there with you on all points re: how he's playing it. I LOVE THEM.
HEEE.
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Date: 2009-08-17 05:29 pm (UTC)::coughs:: also I'm not pleased with how some of the story is turning either--like Admiral Ro Laren MaryAnn needs to be gone the second after she was introduced. Tara was...I don't know.
But back to the important--I can not WAIT For the picspam from Eric in bed.
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Date: 2009-08-17 05:34 pm (UTC)Oh, honeychile, I've been all over the net looking at picspam. Google Eric/TrueBlood and you'll get an eyefull. Happy Monday! :D
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Date: 2009-08-17 05:31 pm (UTC)Those changes to the books are lame, but I will excuse them because LAFAYETTE LIVES. Except the reduction of Godric's badassedness. Is he still a Pict? He better have the blue tattoos. If Bubba Elvis (preferably played by John Rhys-Meyers sp?) shows up I WILL EAT A HAT. Also, the conveniently-not-psychic worst-psychic-ever has happened so often in X-Men (which I have been a fan of mostly out of loyalty coming up on 20 years), good psychics are the exception to the rule.
Paquin/Moyer IRL? Weirdness abounds! I know I wouldn't do an unsexy sex scene with my significant other to be broadcast to the world, while forcing a difficult accent on my non-southern self. Creeeeepy. (Almost as Creepy as actor-who-plays-Dexter and actor-who-plays-Dexter's-sister being together in real life. ICK.) Well, the accents aren't creepy. Those are somewhere between nerve-grating and humorous. ...MY POINT STANDS
Arrrrrgh, Stoney, you got me hooked on bad TV based on entertaining, if flawed, literature!! Usually I only let my mother do that to me!!
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Date: 2009-08-17 05:37 pm (UTC)Yes, Godric still has the tattoos. They add a little backstory to Eric and Godric, which is nice. But they keep forgetting that Sookie can read minds, which is IRRITATING ME.
HEE, I am eeeeeevol. Muah ah ah!
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Date: 2009-08-17 08:34 pm (UTC)Eggs, while pretty, is TOTALLY boring. Lafayette busting him up and handling his bidness was pretty sweet, I love that actor.
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Date: 2009-08-17 08:52 pm (UTC)In short, I have to watch True Blood! :-D
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Date: 2009-08-17 09:09 pm (UTC)Yes, you need to watch it for him, he's FANTASTIC.
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Date: 2009-08-17 09:04 pm (UTC)I am not suprised to hear about Tommy Lee Jones OR John Lithgow - I am a good judge of people that I will never meet, aha!
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Date: 2009-08-17 09:11 pm (UTC)I'm sorry your country woman is so bad. She's just... Well, she's pretty? LOL.
I like how good a judge you are. I'll keep you as my assistant so you can pick out the skeevy people and locate the awesome ones, aka the ones with booze that like to share.
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Date: 2009-08-17 11:33 pm (UTC)I don't get it either. All he had to do was maneuver Bill into confessing to having been ordered to boink Sookie.
Also, this whole business with Bill warning Sookie about Eric's blood making her lust after him, well THAT wasn't too bright. Aside from implicating Bill as a manipulative bastard, since he didn't exactly tell Sookie that would happen when she had HIS blood the first time. Heh, random plotbunny - maybe he hired those vamp-drainers to nearly beat Sookie to death, and to make it LOOK like they were about to kill him, so he'd have an excuse to give Sookie his blood. Seems like the sort of thing he would do.
At least Eric isn't trying to pretend he's all squeaky clean. Loved his smirk while Sookie was sucking silver bullets through his nipple.
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Date: 2009-08-18 12:27 am (UTC)That smirk of Eric's... Man, I howled out loud. Love him.
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Date: 2009-08-18 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-18 12:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-18 05:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-18 06:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
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From:deja WHOA
Date: 2009-08-18 03:22 pm (UTC)I haven't read the books so I'm really enjoying the show as it is...however, they really need to wrap up the Mary Ann thing quickly.
I am so in love with Hoyt/Jessica. Such a fun story and such a great way to show a man come into his own.
Re: deja WHOA
Date: 2009-08-18 03:40 pm (UTC)Wasn't that scene with Godric and Eric amazing? It's such a crack show, then they have something as touching as that. <3 Maryann needs to GO. (That whole thing, plus the Jessica/Hoyt story line aren't in the books. Well, there's a manaed in the books, but it is nothing like in the show.)
I LOVE Hoyt/Jessica, however. LOVE.
Re: deja WHOA
From:Re: deja WHOA
From:no subject
Date: 2009-08-18 08:46 pm (UTC)I decided to friend you 'cause I was linked to your Twilight sporkage and then saw that you had an awesome journal, so I hope you don't mind.
And, coincidentally, I found this loverly picture right after I saw your post here, so I thought you'd like it. :)
http://img.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/aaalexander-skarsgard1.jpg
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Date: 2009-08-18 09:02 pm (UTC)Oh my stars, that picture. Good lord, it's just too much, lol. :D and welcome aboard the crazy train! ;)
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Date: 2009-08-19 10:02 pm (UTC)I don't have a problem with Bill sending Lorena away, since this still can set up what happens to him in book 3, when Sookie kills him. Regardless of him sending her away or not- she is still his maker.
I loved the scene with her and Godric. And of course Eric/Sookie moments FTW!! =)
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Date: 2009-08-20 06:24 pm (UTC)One of these days we will Netflix True Blood. We're wrapping up the Torchwood and Doctor Who DVDs, and then we'll start in on True Blood.
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Date: 2009-08-20 06:33 pm (UTC)