Whine & Cheese

Vampire Crush: Being Human's Aidan Turner

Since we now get BBC America in HD, I have been paying slightly more attention to the channel.. and while I feel it is much too late to join the party on such BBC series and gay geek Internet faves such as Dr. Who and Torchwood... a couple of months ago I clicked to see what this Being Human show was all about... and it was definitely a "... and who do we have here?" moment when this face appeared on the screen:

I soon learned Being Human was yet another entry in the seemingly ever-growing vampire and werewolf genre, with this particular show upping the supernatural ante with the addition of a ghost! 

If you have been around here long enough you know that vampires are one of my guilty pleasures.  Long before Stephenie Meyer came around with Edward and Jacob (and Bella), I was well into the Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire books... and while those faded away long ago, I ultimately relented and jumped on the Twilight bandwagon (though, to date, I have only read the first 3 books of the series and just seen the first movie)... and that lead to watching the decidedly more adult vampire series True Blood on HBO and reading the first two books of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series on which the series is loosely based.

While I find entertainment value in the Twilight series, I never found them to be particularly well-written book regardless of the target audience (though to Meyer's credit, I think she's improved with each book).  Though I have understood how the the series really gained momentum thanks to the first movie and the appeal of Edward as portrayed by Robert Pattinson... and needless to say, after getting buffed up for the second movie forward, there is no discussion of where/what the appeal is regarding part-time werewolf Jacob/Taylor Lautner. 

And while I loved the first season of True Blood, the 2nd and just wrapped 3rd season has seen my enthusiasm flagging. I enjoy the characters, the cast, the tone... but I think it has just been unfocused and all-over-the-place since the first season.  I think it is over-ambitious and often too transparent in shock value thanks to their home on "anything goes" HBO.  Even the addition of a werewolf, and one just as hot and thankfully not near jailbait age, didn't really help matters out either.

So before stumbling onto Being Human, I was definitely experiencing a case of vampire fatigue... with a little werewolf wariness as well.  But I was so mesmerized by this guy.. have I named him yet?  I see not!

Meet: Vampire Mitchell, played by Aidan Turner that it made me hang on enough to see what else this show was all about. 

(Sidenote: I was initially confused by Mr. Turner. I was familiar with Aiden Turner (note the "e" in Aiden), a British actor from All My Children who was also on Dancing With the Stars (paired with Edyta Sliwinska)... and while I never thought they were the same person, a quick check of if imDB confirmed they were two different actors, with vampire Aidan (with an "a") of Irish origin)

Anyhow, while it was Turner that made me stop on BBC America (time and time again), when I allowed myself to looking beyond him, it seemed like the show was pretty darn good.  The only problem was that I was lurking on snippets of it in Season 2. Which was pretty good news, as British TV seasons are pretty short, thus it was  "catch-up-able."  I asked some friends how/if BBC America repeats stuff and while it doesn't seem as if they do it that often, I was lucky enough to see they were repeating the entire 8 episode Season 2 season ahead of the season finale this coming Saturday (Sep 18th).  So the only thing was to track down Season 1 (only 6 episodes), which I did via Amazon download for $2.99 a HD episode (so a bit more economical than tracking down and buying the DVD for $25-ish).

Here is the entire cast... George the werewolf (Russell Tovey) to the left and Annie the ghost (Lenora Crichlow) to the right... again, all who make the show worth watching beyond Turner as Mitchell the vampire.

While I don't like to pin myself as having a "type," at least one of the stronger ones seems to be a healthy mount of hair (but not too much) and an accent!   As before this latest one on Turner, I'll admit to having a bit of a thing for Henry Ian Cusick's Desmond on Lost... even at times Battlestar Galactica's Baltar (James Callis)... and of course, it's not limited to UK accents as my obsession with Rafa Nadal is well documented... though I think his hair is too short now!

Living Dead in Dallas (#15) / Eclipse (#16)

Welcome to a double book post.  Prior to our Italy trip, I wanted to read something mindless or at least something that could likely be dropped for a week+ and picked back up again without missing a step.  But given that there was some serious travel time... and thus lots of potential reading time... so I downloaded two books to my Kindle... both with one of my literary guilty pleasures at its core... vampires!

First up was Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris, which is the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series and the basis for the HBO series True Blood.  I had not been overly impressed with the first book, but it was good enough and was the type of book I was looking for.  I think part of the reason for my so-so feelings about the first book is that is so closely followed the first season of True Blood.  I realize that this was not Harris' fault, if anything, she should be applauded for providing the inspiration, but still it kind of felt to me like watching a sport event that I already knew the result of. 

I had thought this second book might be different as I knew the TV series took a "going rogue" approach with the book, using it as an outline of sorts but doing its own thing (i.e. one of the characters that was killed at the end of the first book lives on in the current Season 3 of the show).  But alas, while there were differences it still was a bit too close to each other and again I was finding it wasn't holding my interest as there was no tension in what would happen next.  Again, I can hardly blame Harris or the book for this...

... but that said, this book only confirmed that I prefer the TV series to the books.  While the books are light and entertaining, I can't say that it would be the fine writing that would bring me back to them... though again, they're not meant to fine literature.  So I do not see myself continuing on with this series.  While again I hear rumors that the show is detouring more and more from the books, at least in these early volumes the plots seem close enough that (a) I wouldn't want to read the book beforehand to have the TV series spoiled or (b) the situation that I found myself in with the first two book of reading a re-hash of what I already know.  I have plenty of other easy read/cleanse the palate fall-backs that I think I would think would be a better use of my reading time.  So while not a totally irredeemable read, it does get as low a I tend to go with book ratings... 2 out of 5 stars.

So it probably seems odd that my next book would be yet another vampire-centric one, but one where I have a history of being critical of the previous book and writing style.  While I didn't finish Living Dead until after our return for Italy, when it was time for a new book shortly thereafter I still wasn't feeling I had the mental capacity for a "serious" book, so since Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer was handy, I decided to just roll with it.

Unless you been living under that proverbial rock, I am sure everyone is familiar with the continuing saga of high school heroine Bella and her love for vampire Edward, which has been under threat from the increased challenge of werewolf Jacob.  So while I haven't been kind to earlier books (here are links to my posts to Twilight and New Moon), just from a pure pop culture phenomenon standpoint I have remained committed to reading the books ... and tend to do so just prior to release of movie versions (so I guess don't look for me to put a wrap on the books until 2011)... and truthfully, it has not been a burden on me, the books are certainly entertaining enough.

The good news here is that I maybe I am softening up in my old age... or else Meyer and/or the Twi-hards are wearing me down as I think this was easily the best book of the series.  Meyer's writing has definitely improved from book-to-book and the better news is that I did not find Bella to be anywhere as annoying in this one.  That's a big deal as my feelings for her really weighed down my opinion of the earlier books.  Also, while I was reading this one I finally watched the first movie (airing on Showtime) and I have to admit I started to "get" what all the fuss was about.  Granted it wasn't a great film or certainly award-winning acting, but could see what the Team Edward (RPatz) fuss was about... and obviously thanks the media the next two films have received, I certainly know what the fuss is all about with Jacob (and Mr. Lautner).

But before you think I have officially converted, I thought the book dragged on for far too long.  While I thought some of the back-stories were interesting, particularly the vampire ones (I am not good enough to rattle off/keep straight the Cullen clan), it just kept on postponing the big showdown... and by the time I got to it, I found it to be a bit anti-climatic.  Overall though a big improvement.  I gave the first two books 3 out of 5 stars, my standard "good"/a'ight rating... so grading on that curve, I gave Eclipse the bump up to 3.5 stars... though certainly it's the proverbial apples and oranges, not to be compared with other books that I give out 3/3.5 star ratings.

So that's your vampire update.  I have/had yet another vampire book on my to-be-read list... Justin Cronin's The Passage, which is the hot/"it" book of the summer... so while it is quite a different take on vampires (not objects of love/affection), I just don't see myself reading it for a bit longer until I let these books get out of my system!

Vampire I'd Like To...

While the second season of HBO's True Blood got a bit too strange/off the wall for even me (and I'm fairly tolerant/patient with that kind of stuff), I am still looking forward to the upcoming 3rd season which is set to debut in June (2010).  

I have always enjoyed the creative forces behind the show (and likewise, the Charlaine Harris book series from which they originate) from the vampire beverage which shares the name of the show to the vampire rights activist campaigns, etc. 

HBO is coming out with a teaser poster per week leading up to the new season.  The first one was a their trademark darkly humorous take on a blood-filled Mr. Coffee machine filled up with blood with the tagline "Nothing Like A Good Cup of Joe."  Though I am sure "good to the last drop," would have worked too... but I would guess Maxwell House wouldn't necessarily approve. 

Here the Week 2 poster:

Of course, a sly take off of on MILF or, for some of us, DILF (and just in case you are not familiar with the acronym, it's Mom - or Dad - I'd like to f&ck )...

But back to VILFs, that begs the question:  Team Bill or Team Eric?

I'd have to say Bill was dominant (no pun intended) in Season 1, but he got a bit whiny/annoying in the 2nd season, so probably leaning Eric here... especially since Jason is out of the running.

If you would like to see more, this link will take you to all the True Blood extras... and I believe that this page will update as each new Season 3 promo poster is added each week thru June.

Verdasco, Rated X

... or X marks the spot!

It's been July since I last used my Fernando Verdasco blog category, so we're long overdue... even if it has nothing to do with the Spaniard not quite doing as well as this year at the Australian Open.

Apparently Fernando has been doing a bit of (extra) modeling on the side and fortunately for us it's for underwear... though he hasn't been exactly shy being in front of the camera wearing even less!  If you are annoyed by the big X as I am, there is a good reason reason for it as Fernando is among the "celebrity" models for their new "X" underwear line.

Also, featured in the campaign is Mehcad Brooks who showed off his washboard abs (and a bit more than that too!) as "Eggs" on the 2nd season of HBO's True Blood.  He's also on that new ABC law firm series "The Deep End" (haven't seen it).  Here his "X" shot:

To review, for Google search hits we have:

Fernando Verdasco Shirtless, Fernando Verdasco Underwear, Fernando Verdasco Calvin Klein

Mehcad Brooks Shirtless, Mechad Brooks Underwear, Mechad Brooks Calvin Klein

Ryan Kwanten GQ

A little something for your Friday... Shirtless Ryan Kwanten from this month's GQ:

The little blurb that went with this picture may hit on the reason why I preferred the 1st season of HBO's True Blood to the current one as it mentions that Kwanten's character, Jason Stackhouse, "was naked (at least partially) in eleven of twelve episodes"... not so much skin from him this season.  I think a little more Jason nekkid booty would have made up for all this MaryAnn cr&p!

True Blood / Dead Until Dark (#14)

Time to kill the proverbial two bird with one stone... been meaning to do a post about one of my favorite TV shows and since I read the book that inspired it... it seems to makes sense to do a combo post, which means jumping ahead a few books in my book queue... scandalous I know, but I think you can probably handle it!

The show that I am talking about is HBO's True Blood.  Yes folks, we're talking vampires!  Again!  And my regular readers by now, well know my obsession with them (though I have yet to see the film version of Twilight ... and have only read the first two books in that series). 

The second series premieres this coming Sunday, but we spent the last week or so re-familiarizing ourselves with Season 1 has HBO had a bit of a 4-day marathon of past episodes.  Didn't watch the entire season, just the first 6 episodes since that was the point that I forced Todd to watch it... vampires are definitely not his thing, but I was enjoying the series so much that I said just watch an episode or two and if you don't like it you don't have to watch it... and he was sucked (ha!) in as much as I was... well, I am a bit more fanatical about it.

But even if I didn't have this things for vampires, there's a good chance that I still would have watched it as it was created by Alan Ball who was the mastermind behind one of my favorite HBO series (and perhaps, favorite shows of all-time) Six Feet Under... and given his other claim to fame, the movie American Beauty, you know he has a unique, dark, satiric way in his approach to the word and that is certainly the case with True Blood.  The show is sexy, funny (often in a wink and nudge way), violent, and usually a good surprise in each episode... and the cast is pretty awesome too...

One of the youngest Academy Award winnersr, the uber-likable/adorable Anna Paquin stars as telepathic cocktail waitress (yes, you read that right) Sookie Stackhouse... with a quite sassy friend Tara (think Rutina Wesley's take on the character as Wanda Sykes' cousin from Louisiana)... but the three selling points that really got me to get Todd try the show were:

Vampire Bill Comptom, Bartender Sam Merlotte, and Sookie's brother Jason Stackhouse

... or actors Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, and Ryan Kwanten....

And good news for the ladies and gay men (thank goodness Alan Ball is gay), all of them get naked... with Jason Stackhouse perhaps being the biggest himbo in television history... and they treat him as such with skimpy or as little clothing as possible (no complaints!).  But they are all incredibly sexy in different ways... Jason for the obvious reasons... vampire Bill for the forbidden and you can see how he smolders in that pic above... and Sam, your average good guy who just happens to fill out a pair of tight jeans quite nicely, thank you very much!

Oh,on a sidenote, two of them are putting on their Southern accents to hide their true roots... Moyer is British... and Kwanten is Australian (*swoon*).

Anyhow, the TV series is based on the books known as the Sookie Stackhouse or Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris.  The 9th book was just published, so this creation certainly pre-dates the whole Twilight phenomenon.  So after having the first season under my belt, I decided to give the first book in the series, Dead Until Dark, a try... and I am glad I waited as the book was pretty much the entire first season of the show.

That said, it was pretty much impossible for me not to compare the book to the TV series... and of course, I had all the visuals already in my head... typically I try to read the book before it comes out as a movie or TV show to avoid having those pictures in my head, but oh well.

I did enjoy the book.  My expectations were low as I didn't really expect it to be a well-written book, ala Stephenie Meyer and Twilight... though this is written for adults... and the vampires certainly act like adults in this one... no viginity is safe and kissing just ain't gonna cut it with this group!   So the writing was a nice surprise, though definitely "beach" material... light and entertaining.

But unlike a movie translation that would tell the story in approximately 2 hours (or less), the 12 hours of Season 1 allowed them to flesh things out (ha!) quite a bit... and while the main plot is similar between the book and the series, dare I say Ball seems to be more "inspired by" and taking things to his own direction.  The book is told from Sookie's perspective... so that limits things and pretty major storylines from the series were not in the book as folks like Jason and Lafayette (a flamboyant short-order cook at the bar) barely make it onto the page and, to best of my memory, Tara has yet to make an appearance.

So while I enjoyed the book, this is one of the rare instances where I really prefer the TV series/movie to the original material.  I hear that the upcoming season does borrow plot from Book 2 in the series, Living Dead in Dallas, but I am not still unsure whether I will read that one... certainly not before watching the show as I'd rather remain unspoiled... but I kind of wish the book and TV series were two separate entities, which granted they kind of are, but the show stilll seems to borrow enough from the book... and that ain't no fun knowing things in advance either, so it's kind of a conundrum!