Vampire Transgression --A Novel-- Author: Michael Schiefelbein Rating: Two Thumbs Down

I had taken too many months to read this book; probably because I’m not one for a “Vampire” story. Towards the end I was getting into it and when it came to the end I was like… NAH! It didn’t just end like that! And unfortunately it did. I don’t know if it is to make a sequel book but it didn’t look like it would end a way to do one. I was very disappointed and let down after all the lead up it just left one hanging. Like a 90 year old mans penis, (no offense, I’m headed that way). The detail for imagery is fine although I have never been to the places described but the author was really descriptive. He tried to make it a little erotic but he was too quick to get the act over with. I wonder if that’s how he is in real life.  In my opinion pass the stake; this vampire book needs to be obliterated.

I have to admit, there are very few TV shows that I care to pay attention to these days. In fact, I can think of only two and one is on hiatus. Real Time with Bill Maher, and the current sensational season of True Blood, on HBO. I've been into vampires my entire life, but this Alan Ball HBO series is beyond engaging, especially with the knowledge that the show is an allegory for the gay rights movement.

Charlaine Harris, the author of the books the series is based on, said her initial characterization for the vampires was "...a minority that was trying to get equal rights." Ball has stated that is the take he chose for the series, which has included phrases with a similarity to those uttered within the LGBT rights movement, such as "God Hates Fangs" instead of "God Hates Fags" and "Coming Out Of The Coffin" instead of "Coming Out Of The Closet". Ken Tucker, of Entertainment Weekly, wrote that the show is built "around a series of metaphors: Vampire rights stand in for gay rights".

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The picture attached is what may be a controversial cover for an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone.

Faced with regular questions about the graphic nature of the show and the amount of sexuality seen in virtually every episode, Ball says, "The idea of celibate vampires is ridiculous, True Blood creator Alan Ball says. "To me, vampires are sex," he says. "I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I'm 53. I don't care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed."

I've watched since the beginning, and I can say, in my opinion, the series has only gotten progressively better with each year. True Blood is broadcast on HBO every Sunday at 9pm. As of this writing, there are only 3 episodes left in the current third season.

We could all probably use a laugh or two with the marriage stay being upheld until an appeal, so why not laugh at some Christian album covers. After all, they're the reason we're in this mess...Click on the images to enlarge...Courtesy of Funny Album Covers

The Boys and the Bees
 
Author Joe Babcock 
  
 
Rated: Two snaps up with a twist
 
I really liked this storyline because it took me way back to when I was in elementary school. (This, may I add, was not long ago.)I still remember the little sexual flings my and I had. My “friends” and I didn’t know really what we were doing but had a sense of belonging to each other. This story can really make a person related with inner conflicts of ones own personal identity and sexual frustration of not understanding what to make of the whole thing. (Talk about your Jekyll and Hyde personality.)
 
James loves his friend Andy. Andy is falling hard for Mark. And mark is …straight? Things are not always what they seem in a sixth grade catholic school class, as this charming and bittersweet novel shows.
Twelve-year-old Andy immerses himself in his love for comic books—when he’s not thinking about Mark, the captain of the basketball team, or dodging the pinings of his childhood friend, James. Ever since adolescence made James’ sexuality more apparent to his peers, Andy fears he will be exposed just by association. The only way to change his social status and get closer to Mark is to try out for the basketball team, which seems like a hopeless cause, not only because he can’t play, but because he sure Mark is more interested in the popular female student all the boys are after. Mark may be a jock, but one should never assume that means he’s straight…