Thirsty for a Fresh Take on All Things True Blood?

WELCOME! Thirsty for a fresh take on all things True Blood? Pull up a virtual barstool at the Pierced Pomegranate Tavern where sisters Rachel and Rebecca are serving up juicy feminist analysis with a twist and opening a vein of thoughtful sociocultural dialogue on HBO's hit series.

Like the epic literary salons of eras past - theaters for conversation and debate which were, incidentally, started and run by women; where the spirited debate about the issues of the day ran as copiously as the actual spirits did - but updated for the digital age, the Pierced Pomegranate Tavern is a fun forum for exploring questions ripe for discourse about the human condition & today's most crucial social issues through the medium of True Blood.

Your salonnières are not peddling liquor per se, but they are offering up new and alternative ideas informed by such diverse influences as pop culture, art, music, cultural history, Goddess studies, transformative theory, literature and poetry, and archaeomythology, filtered through the sieve of their own lived experiences as feminist women of a particular age, background, and culture.

This is a space where you - patrons and passersby alike - can view and engage with these perspectives through the lens of True Blood and contribute your own thoughts. So, no matter if you're a Truebie or a more casual viewer of True Blood, or your drink of choice is a pomegranate martini - one of Rachel's favorite cocktails to drink and Rebecca's to mix - an herbal tea, a frothy double mocha latte, or a can of Fresca (wink, wink) you're invited to join the conversation on the show's complexities in a way that can spark transformation.

Hopefully you'll find something to sink your teeth...err...straw, into! PLEASE ENJOY RESPONSIBLY ;-)

YOU'VE BEEN SERVED (A WARNING)...

The Pierced Pomegranate Tavern is dedicated to exploring social issues and more through the lens of True Blood. As such, you may encounter:

*SPOILERS
*TRIGGERS
related to the often provocative and adult themes presented by the show

If you choose to enter and participate in this virtual salon, please be prepared to do so in a thoughtful, respectful, and mature fashion with the above in mind. Click here to check out our comment policy. Thanks!

Disclaimer

No copyright infringement is intended, all rights to True Blood belong to HBO, credit is ascribed to sites where images appearing here were originally found.

Monday, March 28, 2011

We Were There (In Spirit): The 22nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards

No, unfortunately WE weren't actually there - the title for this post is a riff on the piece written by our friend Kristina who was most certainly in the house covering the event for Cherry Grrl along with our favorite vampire king, Mr. Russell Edgington himself (Denis O'Hare) who picked up the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series on behalf of the cast and crew of True Blood. Thanks to Kristina for making us feel as though we were there through her intrepid reporting!

Click the link below to read her article on the 22nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards held right in our backyard...NYC!

We Were There: The 22nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards.

CONGRATULATIONS to True Blood on being recognized for its outstanding representation of the LGBT community in the media!


Fellow NYer (Brooklyn, to be exact) Denis O'Hare at 22nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards gala
~ Rachel

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

We're (still) getting the hang of this technology thing...

You'd think we were raised in the dark ages but I can't tell you how tickled pink I am with myself that after a mere three hours yesterday spent attempting to dowload and install the amazing True Blood font created by SpideRaY - after which I had a crushing tension headache and a sinking sense of personal failure - plus another hour or so tonight, I have finally been able to access the program that creates lettering just like the opening credits sequence on the show! Not that I can manage to apply it here...but maybe in due time...at least I can count on using it in my presentation on True Blood I'm giving in San Antonio next month!

I'm also proud to point out the True Blood ticker you see to the left; it's a Season 4 countdown clock we created just for the PPT...again, not that I can get it to pop up on my Facebook page or anything, but this is a start...

...and don't even get me started about Twitter!!!

Rebecca & I attended a social networking for business seminar last month with the stated purpose of conquering the Twitter hashtag situation, but for some unknown reason we still cannot get any of our tweets to upload into any hashtag feeds, i.e. #trueblood, etc.

What can I say, we're working on it, and I give us an "A" for effort ;-)

Any technophiles passing through the PPT may want to help a sister out!

We'll be back soon with some material on Women's History Month (yup, it's March) and our blogging intentions for the remaining months before Season 4 premieres.

So please stay tuned!

~ Rachel

Sunday, March 6, 2011

True Blood and Treme Making TV Safe for Representations of Diversity...NAACP Awards or Not!

I'm disappointed to report that our True Blood nominees did not prevail at the 42nd NAACP Image Awards. I'm also sorry to see that another great HBO show, Treme (set in post-Katrina New Orleans the show follows a core cast of characters as they rebuild their lives and their city after the storm...the music! the unique culture! the spirit! the resilience! the heart!) was snubbed.

But nothin' can keep two brilliant shows set in Louisiana down for long, what with Carnival season is in full swing and Mardi Gras just around the corner!

our take on a Mardi Gras parade float

In lieu of the "Halfway to Mardi Gras" party Rebecca and I have hostessed at my house for the past three years (one part blowout theme party, one part fundraiser for the ongoing rebuilding efforts; the money we've raised at the annual fest has supported ACORN and MUSIC RISING and the Gulf Coast still needs our support as they rebound from the storms of 2005 and the oil spill last year) we will be celebrating Mardi Gras a few days early with a big dinner at our parent's house tomorrow. Rebecca will be making her amazing New Orleans-inspired sweet potato bananas foster...there'll be dirty rice and veggie gumbo (I know, not trad, but I'm a vegetarian as is our mom) and plenty more good eats to be had...and I'll be eating! Perhaps there will even be a hurricane of the beverage kind, too ;-)

Being nominated for the NAACP Image Awards is an honor in and of itself and we celebrate the work Nelsan Ellis, Alexander Woo, and Alfre Woodward have done on True Blood to make TV more open to diversity.

~ Rachel    

Friday, March 4, 2011

NAACP Charges True Blood with Crimes Against Homogeneity

Slap on the cuffs. Shove 'em in the cell. THROW AWAY THE KEY, gosh darn it!

  
True Blood has really done it. Yup, guilty as charged. There's simply no escaping it. And even worse, they're repeat offenders! Yet again, the show has been caught opening doors for pluralism and diversity on TV. I know, unbelievable, right?!? The nerve!!!

Hot on the heels of our last post on True Blood's nomination for a GLAAD Media Award in the category of Outstanding Drama Series, the PPT is very hapy to announce that two actors and one writer associated with the show have been nominated for NAACP Image Awards!

I knew there was a reason we love this show!

Airing live in about 19 hours from now on March 4th, 2011 at 8/7C on FOX the 42nd NAACP Image Awards is the nation's premier event celebrating the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts (television, recording, literature, motion picture and writing & directing), as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors.

source: http://www.naacpimageawards.net/

Billed as as multicultural awards show from an African-American point of view, the Television and Writing & Directing Categories of the NAACP Image Awards show will be the ones to watch for Truebies. Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette Reynolds) is up for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Alexander Woo is nominated for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, and although she's not being honored for her role on True Blood, Alfre Woodard (Ruby Jean Reynolds) is up for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work on another show.

I might just be stepping out on the town tonight, but you know I'll will be firing up my DVR for this one!

The PPT wishes Nelsan, Alexander, and Alfre the best of luck; their work on True Blood deserves to be honored for its contributions to our wider culture.

~ Rache