The LRG Top Ten Books of 2010

We still have a few weeks left in this year but with holiday shopping at it's peak and New Year's Eve being fast upon our heels once Christmas is over,this seemed like a good time to reveal the LRG list of best books for 2010.

One of these titles is not a new release but my reading of this particular book was inspired by a companion book celebrating it's literary legacy(more about that soon),so that's enough to qualify it for inclusion here. Whether you're on the look out for a great last minute gift or making plans to pick something up in paperback next year,one or two of our Top Ten Best Books of 2010 should find a spot on your shelf soon:

A PAIR OF SAVVY STUNNERS



While many folks and fans alike despaired about the overabundance of vampire lore in the media these days, author Justin Cronin pulls off an incredible hat trick by pumping new life into the genre with The Passage,a summer novel that truly lived up to it's hype.

By blending sci-fi creation out of control tropes with futuristic survivor drama and a subtle touch of supernatural wonder,Cronin brings us a world where vampiric beings have overrun civilization and the only chance that the few remaining pockets of humanity out there have is a nearly century old little girl named Amy.

The Passage is the first of a planned trilogy and yes,the movie rights have been sold already. However,the time to jump on this brilliant bandwagon is now. Don't wait to see who gets cast in the film or what the reviews of the next two books will say about it. This is quality material that delivers the gruesome goods:





The horrors that appear in Emma Donoghue's Room are of an all too realistic kind,as five year old Jack details his daily life as one of the occupants locked in a shed by sinister Old Nick,who stole Jack's mother from the outside world and imprisoned her for several years as his personal object of obsession.

The miracle of this story is that through the eyes of Jack,the reader is able to see both the beauty and the terror of Jack's life,along with the determinedly devoted nature of his Ma,who struggles to set them free but has trouble coping with that freedom once it's found.

Why this book didn't win the Booker Prize is beyond me but don't avoid Room simply due to it's subject manner. You'll be cheating yourself of an amazing tale of wonder and hope renewed:



LOVE IS IN THE AIR



While many speculate about the lost loves of writers like England's Jane Austen,Kelly O'Connor McNees takes on a beloved all American icon for her novel,The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott. The setting of the story is the summer of 1855,where Louisa and her family are living on borrowed time and the loan of a house in New Hampshire.

During the Alcott clan's stay,Louisa meets Joseph Singer,a young man who annoys her at first but soon enough claims her affections and forces Louisa to make a choice between a possibly comfortable marriage or pursuing a literary career.

This touching and thoughtfully novel offers up a potential template for Jo March's best friend but never meant to be lover Laurie,plus an insight into the heart of an author who sacrificed more than anyone may have known for her art.



For those in search of a old fashioned steadfast saga with a bit of soap opera flair,Roses by Leila Meacham will fit the bill beautifully.

The lives of three founding families in an East Texas town are hopelessly intertwined over the decades,as lovers are divided by romantic and emotional circumstances,ambitions become won and lost and younger generations struggle to deny the legacy of an alleged family curse that dooms it's victim to denial of true love.

Roses is due out in paperback by early January,which gives anyone given a gift card to their favorite book vendor in their stocking a hot item to pre-order. With all of the compelling page turning antics of it's characters,Roses is an excellent distractions during those cold nights where even reruns of your favorite TV series can't keep your imagination warm. Plenty of compelling fussing and feuding here to keep you tuned in for more marvelous melodrama:



FOODIE FLAVORED FICTION



Alicia Bessette's debut novel,Simply From Scratch,first starts out it's story in uncertain steps similar to what the book's leading lady Zell does in the kitchen when trying to create a recipe worthy of being entered into celebrity chef Polly Pinch's baking contest in order to use the prize money to benefit a cause that her husband wound up unexpectedly dying for.

Soon enough,however,you're walking over into steady footing as Zell teams up with the young daughter of her new neighbor who also has personal reasons for being in the cooking competition and together they find a way for more than one person in their lives to find peace and purpose.

Like a great dessert,Simply From Scratch is sweet without being cloying and a tasty delight that makes your mental mouth water and wish for more.



The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake comes from a more seasoned author,Aimee Bender,who takes an intriguing turn to the notion of "you are what you eat". Nine year old Rose discovers on her birthday that she has a strange psychic power,the ability to taste the emotions of the person who makes her food.

This unwanted sixth sense causes Rose not only to alter her diet but shift her outlook on the people around her and find a way to cope with this intense level of awareness before it becomes a lifetime trap. Bender uses a subtle blend of inner family turmoil and otherworldly happenings to make this stew of sorrowful souls simmer in bittersweet delight:



FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT FOR GOOD BOOKS



At first glance,The Heroine's Bookshelf might appear to be just another cute little book about girl writers but,oh,how wrong you would be on that score.

Erin Blakemore takes a brief yet well thought-out look at the impact of such time honored literary ladies such as Elizabeth Bennet,Anne Shirley,Scout Finch and Scarlett O'Hara(to name a few) and shows how each of them represent an aspect of their creator's lives that may or may not have been realized in their time.

This captivating and clever set of essays is a must-have for book clubs and a great piece of inspiration to those would-be writers feeling rather low about their prospects in the rough waters of authorship. A real biblio boost to the spirits can be found within on this most satisfying shelf.



Marilyn Johnson's This Book is Overdue bears the subtitle "how librarians and cyberarians can save us all",a most timely topic with the dwindling budgets allotted to our local libraries in this tight economy.

Johnson showcases the advancement of the internet age with the growing need for library resources from communities big and small and how a new generation of library staffers are seeking to bridge that gap in smart and innovative ways.

The paperback edition is set for late January,with a new epilogue added to it but don't hold off on checking this insightful book on the current state of libraries and their struggle to survive and adapt in these tricky times. Certainly your local branch has a copy and seeking out this title is a great excuse to stop in and see what they have to offer:



KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STORY



This year was the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of To Kill A Mockingbird,Harper Lee's one and only novel that captured the racial strife and small town charm of the South both in print and on film. One of the tributes to that legacy was a documentary,Hey Boo, that had a tie-in collection of reminiscences about that memorable book called Scout,Atticus and Boo.

Mary McDonagh Murphy gathered together a number of people whose lives were impacted in one way or another by TKAM,including Oprah,Tom Brokaw,Anna Quindlan and Wally Lamb,who also wrote the introduction for this tribute to an American literary phenomenon.



Reading Scout,Atticus and Boo actually inspired me to go out and get a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird for myself and see what the fuss really was about. Unlike some,this book was not assigned reading back in my school days and even tho I did watch the movie at least once,being introduced to Scout's voice on the page was a revelation.

While this classic may be old news for plenty of readers,I'm happy to report that the writing still feels as fresh and lively as it did when the book first came out in 1960. A great book is like a fine wine,it only gets better with age and is a fine vintage that goes well with all generations:



This has been another grand year for books and let us look forward to next year,where many new wordy wonders await our eager perusal. There are also other pop culture pleasures to be had but some of them are not mutually exclusive.

Books are great to have on hand while watching TV,for example,since they fill those commercial moments between your favorite show so nicely. Also,plenty of heat can rise from those sassy onscreen couples when they have a nifty novel tied into them as well-just make sure that your bookmarks are fireproof,folks!:

Shamelessly begging for Bad Austen votes

As I have occasionally mentioned on this blog,I do have hopes of becoming a published writer of books and in pursuit of efforts to make that goal more attainable. Earlier this year,I participated in the Longest Literary Remix contest sponsored by Galleycat and had my full chapter be included in the e-book edition of the entries,which received a very nice response from folks.

My latest literary competition endeavor is an entry in the Bad Austen contest. With a limit of 500 to 800 words,you can write a brief parody scene from or based on the works of Jane Austen. The boundaries are rather broad,allowing the contestants to use either Austen's characters or ones of their own making and to mix and match from various genres,just as long your writing style is in the mode that Miss Austen wrote in herself.



The Grand Prize winner will be awarded $250 and have their piece published in a collection by Adams Media(to be released by Fall of 2011),along with two copies of the finished book. An additional 79 runners-up will also have their work included and receive a pair of the completed books as well.

The panel of judges for this contest include Patrice Hannon,author of 101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen,Gregory Bergman who is known for his WTF? humorous series of booksand Carrie Bebris,writer of the Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery novel series.

I've read most of the Darcy Mysteries and am thrilled to have my little sketch be read by her(as well as the other excellent judges here). What will also be a prime determining factor in who will win this contest is the number of votes that each story gets from readers,which is why I'm shamelessly promoting myself here.



My piece is titled Bennet Bridezillas,which also was going to bear the subtitle,"A Regency Reality Series"(word count came into play regarding that)and basically combines Pride and Prejudice with the infamous basic cable show featuring the best of the worst antics of brides-to-be.

My take on P&P is slightly in sequel form and naturally highlights Lydia,who would absolutely adore the whole reality TV scene(tell me that she and Kitty wouldn't be glued to the couch,watching marathons of Jersey Shore and Keeping Up with the Kardishians and let's see if you can hold a straight face while doing so!). Please follow the hyperlink and enjoy my vision of Lydia in all of her bad girl glory:





You can vote via star system at the top and add a Facebook comment near the bottom of the story. Any feedback that you wish to give will be truly appreciated. If this contest inspires you to send in your own short story,I highly encourage it.

Some of the other tales that I've read at Bad Austen are wonderfully amusing,such as a Twilight retelling,a writer's account of hunting down a literary agent and how Paris and Nicky Hilton would blend into an Austen world. The contest is open until March 1 of 2011 and remember,all sort of interpretations of Jane Austen are welcome,as long you stay within the word count,plus keep your writing in the key of Austen:



Thank you all in advance for any votes and other support you wish to give. I hope to enter more contests(especially ones with a Jane Austen theme!)in the future and that it may provide more of a platform for my budding literary career to take off from. Sorry to bore folks with my struggling artist stuff but as many a successful campaign has proven,promotion is the name of the game:

Top Chef All-Stars sleepover blues,Vampire Diaries get too close for comfort and will TAR finally have an all-girl team win?

For round two of Top Chef All Stars,the Quickfire challenge had a celebrity judge on hand to choose the winner. Joe Jonas(yes,of those Jonas Brothers)was the surprise guest for the annual children's sleepover at the Museum of Natural History and he asked the chefs to make a midnight snack for the kids.

The snack had to be eaten out of a paper bag,which was an important factor for the culinary contenders to take in there. It came down to Tiffani and her Rice Krispy treat snowballs with graham crackers and malted milk vs Spike's homemade potato and carrot chips with mascarpone marshmallow dip.



At that point,Tiffani and Spike headed up two teams to make enough of their treats to serve to the kids at the museum in order to determine the winner. Overall,the youngsters appreciated the late night sugar rush and Tiffani won immunity for the Elimination challenge.

The chefs wound up staying overnight,so that they could make breakfast for the children and their parents in the morning. The theme of each team's morning meal had to be based on the diet of either a Tyrannosaurus Rex(meat,dairy and eggs) or a Brontosaurus(veggies,fruit and grains. Tiffani went with T-Rex,thinking that it was the better option.



For some strange reason,Tiffani and most of her team thought they would have access to the fruits and veggies as well and were befuddled by their limited options. The Bronto breakfast turned out to be the tastiest choice for everyone,even offering up unusual dishes like a potato gnocchi made by Fabio and Stephen. Fabio fretted a little about the way the potatoes were handled in the kitchen but it didn't affect the end results.



The winning dish from Team Bronto was the banana parfait with mixed fruits and tandoori maple. Marcel,Angelo and Richard worked on that one and Marcel got fussy when Angelo decided at the last minute to have the plums sliced in half. Silly Marcel,whole plums are not appealing to kids!



Anthony Bourdain sat this round out,having the fourth seat at the Judges' Table filled by Katie Lee(former last name Joel)who was the original hostess for the first season of Top Chef. It's a good thing that he wasn't there since the anger expressed by the members of Team T-Rex would've lead to him having a fight with someone in the parking lot,no doubt in my mind about it.

Tiffani complained about not understanding the menu restrictions,others sniped at Jamie for leaving the kitchen to get stitches in her thumb(as a nurse's daughter,I don't buy into that whole "tough out the pain" attitude when it comes to major cuts like that)and the only dish that anyone liked was the steak and eggs plate with Hollandaise sauce that Tiff and Dale L. managed to pull together.



The person with the worst dish and the worst attitude was Jen,determined to defend her braised bacon and hard boiled eggs to the truly bitter end. First off,that plate looked unappetizing(many complained that the bacon tasted wet) and second,the main problem with the dish beside Jamie not being able to help with it was Jen's mindset of "I only cook for the judges,not the people",which she expressed in the Stew Room.

I don't recall Jen having such a highhat attitude during her original run on TC but her bitch switch was definitely flipped on this time. Judge Tom claimed that he didn't mind the angry feedback but Jen was asked to pack her knives and go,no mere coincidence in my opinion.

Well,this All Star season is certainly not boring,that's for sure! Next week, some lack of rushing around during a prep relay race causes extra tension for one team. Should be a nice bout of fast foodie fun!



The Final Three teams for The Amazing Race have now been determined at the end of the latest leg. As expected,Nick and Vicki fell far behind,due to the six hour penalty they earned that gave them a late start. At least Nick claimed to have learned his lesson about treating others,especially his girlfriend, with respect(let's hope he meant it,folks).

So,that leaves us with Jill and Thomas,Claire and Brooke and Nat and Kat. I'm personally rooting for Nat and Kat to be the first female team to win TAR. The two of them have run a very sportsman like race and given each other a lot of friendly support. Brooke and Claire are nice enough,but a tad too dippy at times.

Jill and Thomas did benefit by winning that Pass early on yet they are not that interesting a couple to follow. Best of luck to all of them and fingers are crossed for Nat and Kat to make TAR history:





Opposites certainly attract on The Vampire Diaries,as Caroline helps Tyler get ready for his first big werewolf transformation. I like how even a jerk like Tyler is getting a much more rounder characterization as the plot lines move on and linking him up with Caroline,another struggling to deal with a new found supernatural status person,is a good move.

Adding some possible romantic tension to the mix is par for the course on this show but it would be fun to see where this pair of star crossed lovers could end up by the time the finale rolls around:





Meanwhile,romantic tension abounds as Stefan is trapped with Katherine in the tomb,leaving Elena vulnerable to more that just the likes of Klaus and his crew. Not sure when this series is ready to take it's midwinter break but each episode is heating up these cold nights rather sweetly:



RANDOM NOTES:

THE WORST COOKS IN AMERICA: A second season of this cooking for the clueless competition is due to arrive this January,with returning chef Anne Burrell facing off against Dinner Impossible's Robert Irvine to train a failing foodie. Hopefully,Food Network won't have any transmission barriers this time so that we can get right into the mix of things from the start:

When Bad Movie Trailers Attack!

There are just some things you can't avoid in life,especially when seeking out worthwhile entertainment. For example,last week I went out to see the next to last Harry Potter film(which was excellent)and out of the half dozen trailers that I had to sit through until the feature presentation was shown,a true blue stinker splattered across the screen.

As much as I enjoyed the Hanna-Barbera cartoon version back in my childhood days, the upcoming release of a live action Yogi Bear,in 3D no less, is not something that I would wish upon my worst enemy to endure. Why anyone soberly would think that a whole movie built around two bears stealing lunches from tourists needed to be a major Hollywood production is beyond me. Then again,the key word here is sober,if you know what I mean(and sadly,you probably do):





At least the Yogi Bear movie will be long gone by the time folks are sweeping up the mess from their New Year's Eve parties. What is even more terrifying are the cinematic horrors awaiting us by early winter and spring of 2011.

Currently on the prowl at a preview near you is The Beaver,starring Mel Gibson as Walter, a washed up toy exec on the outs with his family. During his emotional funk,Walter finds a beaver hand puppet in the trash and starts talking to it and with it in order to fix his life.

As is the way of these things only in the movies,Walter is able to get both his personal and professional lives back on track thanks to his new found furry friend. You wouldn't be completely off base if you asked "This is supposed to be a joke,right?" but I'm sorry to inform you that this premise is meant to be taken as seriously as an IRS audit.

Jodie Foster co-stars as well as directs this melodramatic mess and one can only hope she did this as either the repayment of a favor to Mel or as a trade-off to the studio to get a much better project off the ground. Otherwise,her involvement here may be proof that Mel's wackiness is contagious:





Speaking of contagious,sequel-itis is a disease for which there may be no cure,not even direct-to-video/cable release. The third entry in Martin Lawrence's Big Momma franchise, Big Mommas, is set to be out in theaters by next February as well as bear the subtitle "Like Father,Like Son".

The feeble thread of the plot line has the son of Lawrence's FBI agent needing to hide out after witnessing a murder. To sleaze things up a little,this truly unlikely to be taken for natural born females duo decides to take residence at an all girls' school.

With twice the number of prat falls,bawdy body humor and sad set-ups for misguided flirtation,Big Mommas is destined to be one of the least memorable midwinter releases of the season:





Hope springs eternal for a better movie once the weather warms up yet you may not keep that good feeling going after seeing this teaser for The Zookeeper. Kevin James plays the title role and is so great at his job that the animals under his care decide to let him know that they can talk.

Since Kevin is so lonely for love that he's considering leaving his position at the zoo,the chatty critters offer up some of their best tips for snaring the right mate. Prepare for some really sad jokes about being in heat and lots of pointless screaming,folks.

With it's studio having recently declared bankruptcy,the chances of this flick being shelved are strong but on the other hand,the vocals for the zoo residents are provided by the likes of Sylvester Stallone,Cher and Adam Sandler,so the odds of The Zookeeper showing up at the multiplex this summer are pretty good ones:



On the bright side,however,bad movies do serve a purpose as they make even mediocre films look better by comparison. Granted,artistic endeavors are subjective when it comes to audience appreciation and there are those films that are simply not valued for their merits at first viewing but gain acclaim later on.

Then again,some bad movies are just made because no one had the sense to say no.The only thing that can save you from wasting your hard earned money is to heed the warning signs in the trailer and resist the urge to fall for cheap emotional tricks, supposedly shocking plot twists and recognizable old school tunes. Only you can prevent bad movie watching,only you:

A double dose of Dickens,courtesy of Oprah

After making peace with Jonathan Franzen and praising his novel Freedom to the skies,Oprah announced her 65th Book Club selection which is two titles from the vast canon of Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations are her duel picks,to be read and discussed by the end of January 2011.

This is not the first time that Oprah has gone old school with her book club picks(her oldest classic choice before Dickens was Tolstoy's Anna Karenina,published in 1877)or the first that she has had multiple novels by one author offered up before(Faulkner's As I Lay Dying,The Sound and The Fury and Light In August were her Summer of Reading selections back in 2005). No doubt that some like myself might have wished for Oprah to go for Jane Austen but Charles Dickens is quite the next best choice in British literary authors to take on:





During her announcement,Oprah mentioned that unlike her previous picks,she has never read Dickens before. That makes me wonder a little about her decision to start with these two particular novels. Granted,selecting the first one of Dickens' vast array of novels to introduce yourself to is rather a daunting task.

Not only is the sheer number and length of his works a bit intimidating but a good many of them are all too familiar to even the least of the pop culture savvy among us,thanks to numerous film and TV adaptations. A Christmas Carol alone has had dozens of versions made over the decades,including stage,screen and reworked sitcom plots.

I suppose that many scholars would recommend David Copperfield as a solid first Dickens but even that book has quite the formidable reputation,plus the status of being the most widely intimated masterwork,that can easily put a casually curious bibliophile off from tackling as a relaxing holiday read:





A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations were written in the latter half of Dickens' career(TOTC came out in 1859,followed by GE two years afterward)and may seem to be complete opposites when it comes to characters and plot.

One deals with the effects of the French Revolution upon both English and French folk caught up in the struggle and the other has a young man being put upon by dubious people and willing to be manipulated if it will get him the elusive girl of his dreams.

However,there is one theme that links both of these unlikely novels together and that is class. Pip,the leading man of GE,may be sympathetic at times yet his main flaw is snobbery,which has him fruitlessly pursuing the raised to be cold hearted Estella while overlooking the virtues of poor but kindly Biddy,for example.

Pip is also less than thrilled to find out the identity of the mysterious benefactor who gives him the means to be a "gentleman" is not the lofty person he assumed it to be. Pip's notions of "proper society" reflected his time period and in some ways,fits all too well into a few of our modern day presumptions:





A Tale of Two Cities gives the phrase "class warfare" a truly literal meaning,as some of the motivation for the violence of the French Revolution comes to life through many of the characters. The harsh disdain for the plight of the peasants by members of the nobility leads to a blind fury that sweeps up both the innocent and the guilty in it's wake.

One of the worst is the Marquis St. Evremonde,the vicious uncle of Charles Darnay who changes his name out of disgust for the legacy of vile behavior his family has among the locals. Unfortunately for his nephew,the renouncement of his uncle's base cruelty is not enough to prevent Darnay from being persecuted for the crimes of his kinsman.

Quite a bit of food for thought,especially in these turbulent times we find ourselves in-will Oprah address any of this in her book club discussion? We shall have to wait and see,folks(the following clip is quite spoilerish-you have been warned):



Regardless of how the reception of these two books will go over with Oprah's regular Book Club members and biblio bystanders,you do have to give the lady kudos for jumping into such time honored literary waters without fear.

Whether you're rereading either one or just discovering the both of them,Charles Dickens is a man for all seasons and there are plenty of reasons to delight in his engaging prose. Sharing that joy with others is just the icing on the classic lit cake:

Zombies vs. Vampires;which team are you on?

As the first season of The Walking Dead finished up for the year this weekend,while the promise of a few more episodes of The Vampire Diaries gives horror fans something to savor before the holidays are upon us,many a pop culture mind turns to the inevitable topic to debate:Team Zombie or Team Vampire?

Which one of these current fear franchises has the strength to carry on and for how much longer? Essayist Chuck Klosterman shared some of his thoughts on the subject in the NYT recently,being more in favor of the undead and their creepy clutch on the state of things.

Part of his reasons why zombies are enjoying such a nice upswing at the moment is due to our economic woes,which bring about feelings of helplessness and fear of being easily overwhelmed by our day to day life. In other words,knowing what to do if and when a zombie apocalypse occurs can be a real confidence booster.



While Klosterman does make several good points about the increasing appeal of zombies and as much as I can delight in any new take on the living dead,my overall preference is still Team Vampire. Whether they're old school "I want to suck your blood" types or modern day undeads who long to regain their humanity for the love of that special mortal,vampires are now and forever my favorite cup of terror tainted tea.

However,in the interest of fairness,I would like to give credit where credit is due and offer up some critiques about my favorite ghoul friends. Biased I may be but blind to the merits and minuses of these popular monsters I am not:



SCARY SIMPLICITY: While the rules for vampires keep on changing(more about that in a moment),the ones for zombies are pretty much the same as they ever were. Fast,slow or moving at a moderate pace,the key to killing them is taking out the head,preferably with a well loaded shotgun.

Sure,there are plenty of guidebooks out there that give people lists of items to stock up on and strategies on how to survive an attack or out live an invasion of flesh eating reanimated folk but the basic principles can be boiled down to two bits of common sense;watch your back and make sure that once they're down, they won't get up again:





TERRIFYING TEAMWORK: Vampire hunting can be either a group or a solo affair but when it comes to zombies,your best strength is in numbers. That's the advantage they have over you,after all.

Ironically enough,it's a good way to reconnect to friends whom you've had a falling out with and to get along with enemies as well. Nothing unites unlikely forces like having a common cause to rally around and seek to destroy before all of you are victims in their gruesome wake. The results may not always be harmonious but your chances of survival are certainly increased,no matter how long of a run it is:





CAUGHT IN AN ENDLESS ROMANCE: Even for someone like me who roots for Sookie and Bill to make it on True Blood and feels that Bella and Edward are meant to be in Twilight(as well as seeing Elena and Stefan hook up on The Vampire Diaries but wouldn't rule out an Elena/Damon coupling completely),the lovelorn vampire trope can get a little too much there.

Eternal love is a great concept to play with in fantasy fare but like any tasty treat,the flavor can quickly lose it's flair if consumed too often. The risk of diluting the fear factor of vampires with an overabundance of what some may perceive as toothless Romeos is also rather high,another edge that the zombies have on the original unholy terrors at the moment:





CONSTANTLY CHANGING RULE BOOK: The boundaries set for vampires used to be a steady standard-death by sunlight or stake through the heart,must sleep in coffins and avoidance of garlic,holy water and crosses.

Other important points to remember included vamps can only enter your living space if invited,lack of mirror reflection and command over creatures great and small. Many of these restrictions have been tweaked,altered or simply tossed aside by creative folk who are either looking to spice the genre up on screens big and small or wanting to make their own mark on written vampire lore.

Quite a few of these upgrades are fine and I certainly can do without the whole garlic bit(which has morphed into easy punchline fare for a long time now)or the need for coffins but would it hurt to keep a few of the old tropes on hand? It seems as if every new vampire series has it's own special set of rules,which can be confusing to newcomers and make longtime fans long for the days where a Van Helsing type of hero and his bag of tricks would be most welcome indeed:





Who will ultimately win this pop culture war? Both and Neither are the right answers here,folks. Vampires and Zombies are part and parcel of our collective horror show and will be front and center or set aside as need be in the pop culture arena.

What it all comes down to is your personal preference. Some people would rather face a Michael Myers than a Freddy Krueger just as they may choose to have chunky over creamy peanut butter. Either way,their terror taste buds will be satisfied and that is what truly matters when all is said and done:

Black Swan makes it's debut dance into the Artist on the Edge genre

Opening up to a variety of positive reviews this weekend at the movies is Black Swan,starring Natalie Portman as Nina,an up and coming ballerina given the lead role in a highly anticipated production of Swan Lake.

Nina is struggling to keep her sanity on many fronts as her personal and professional inner demons begin merging into one major beast of burden. Caught between a demanding stage mother,an ambitious rival and the physical demands of her craft,Nina is on a dangerous downward spiral that threatens to destroy her body and soul:





Black Swan did very well on the film festival circuit and will no doubt become a major contender come Oscar time. Yet,the subject of artists suffering in more ways than one for their art is a familiar theme for many a film and should perhaps inspire movie buffs into checking out some of the earlier efforts in this genre.

A prime example is the 1947 Ronald Colman feature A Double Life. Colman plays renowned stage actor Anthony John,a performer who finds it harder than most in his field to separate his life from his work. While preparing for the lead in Othello with his ex-wife Brita,Anthony filters his angst about the breakup of their marriage thru the character and takes out some of his murderous intent upon his hapless mistress.

Colman won a Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Actor,due to his realistically intense performance which many a fellow thespian could identify with. Part of the power of the piece came from the precise care to the details of theatrical life that gives the casual viewer an interesting behind the scenes glimpse into a world where imagination can be both a blessing and a curse in disguise:





The Coen brothers are certainly not strangers to creative difficulties and in their 1991 flick Barton Fink,they invoked the struggles of a legendary writer while putting their own offbeat spin on things. John Turturro plays the lead,who is loosely based on playwright Clifford Odets,a plucked from Broadway writer brought to Hollywood and assigned a boxing picture to work on.

Fink finds this material less than inspiring and a bad bout of writer's block settles in upon him. Other sinister events occur during his stay in Tinseltown involving the mysterious death of a new female acquaintance and a salesman staying next door to Fink at his hotel that makes his artistic problems seem tame in comparison.

Barton Fink received a mixed response from audiences and critics alike,with the only element agreed on being that one viewing is not enough:





Even the Z grade realm of Roger Corman films took this theme on. A Bucket of Blood takes place in the beatnik era and takes several sly digs at the perceived pretension of those artists.

When a impromptu attempt at hiding the accidental death of a local pet by bumbling busboy Walter(Dick Miller)is mistaken for actual sculpture,the dimwitted young man is pressured to create more works of art to please his new found admirers. Walter turns to human subjects along with murder in order to keep up with the demands of his elevated social status.

Bucket of Blood was remade for TV in 1995,as part of Showtime's "Roger Corman Presents" series(with a VHS release under the title of "The Death Artist")with Dick Miller playing a bit part in homage to the original. While superficiality still haunts the art scene of today,the beatnik vibe of the first film carries the concept off far better:





For a truly out there take on dangers of angering an artist,Phantom of the Paradise fits the bill to the key of E. Winslow Leech's transformation from hopeful singer/songwriter to dark avenger of his vision cruelly co-opted by charismatic music mogul Swan certainly qualifies for this category in abundance.

While director Brian De Palma delivers this rock n' roll remix of Phantom of the Opera in broad strokes similar to Corman's in Bucket of Blood, the cult following for this movie is much stronger for numerous reasons. Key amongst them is the music specially created for the soundtrack by Paul Williams who also plays Swan.

That blend of sly wit and emotional resonance gives the whole movie some solid ground for the characters to strut their satirical(and sometimes scary) stuff on:



With the potential success of Black Swan waiting in the wings,chances are that more projects with the same theme have a better shot at getting made than they did before. Not that folks in Hollywood are reluctant to approach scripts that deal with their favorite set of insecurities but some do cringe at the "tormented artist" persona,especially in suspense films.

However,as long as there are those out there who still feel that they're being overlooked or ignored by their peers,edgy artist stories will survive as sure as mundane cocktail party chatter does but hopefully more emotionally nourishing than the former:

TAR's taste test turmoil, The Walking Dead pauses to mourn and Top Chef All-Stars savory restart

Top Chef All-Stars has finally arrived,with plenty of seasoned players from past seasons ready to do battle. Promises of extra cash rewards and a huge payday for the winner were made by Padma,which naturally whetted everyone's competitive appetites. For their first Quickfire challenges,members of each particular season had to team up and make a dish that represented the city they competed in.

Team Chicago(Richard,Dale T,Spike and Antonia) won that round and received immunity. They whipped up a pork and sausage take on the hot dog with mustard ice cream,thanks to Richard's set of molecular gastronomy tricks.



The Elimination challenge was a solo outing,with each chef tasked to make the dish that took them out of the running during his or her season and improve upon it. The winner would be given ten grand,a very sweet incentive there.

The food was served at the Russian Tea Room,with one set of chefs joining the judges to critique the plates of their fellow competitors and the others watching them on a TV in the kitchen. Joining the regular panel of judges for this season was Anthony Bourdain,an awesome choice. He pulls no punches and says what he thinks,which is always good for a show like this.



For most of these chefs,this was a chance to redeem their culinary honor and quite a few of them succeeded. Spike had been sent home for using frozen scallops rather poorly but his addition of lime dressing with a heart of palm salad won him some major kudos and a spot in the winner's circle. Richard was called forth to join him but since he was still plating as time ran out,he was told that his dish was disqualified.



Angelo took the win and the ten grand,for the glazed pork belly with homemade ramen noodles and watermelon that divebombed on him last time. With his loss being the most recent,Angelo was extra elated at this opening victory.



For the folks in the Bottom Three,their biggest problems with their dish was due directly to their ego. Fabio took major offense at Bourdain's assessment of his casrecci with crawfish as an "inside out animal" in appearance. He actually had the nerve to complain at Bourdain during the judging,saying he wanted "helpful" criticism,not mockery.

To begin with,Fabio,it's clear that your ego is writing checks that your culinary skills can't cash,ok? Not to mention that Anthony Bourdain is not here to hold your hand but to let you know how good or bad your food was. This isn't your first time at the rodeo,buddy,so man up!



At least Stephen had the sense to be a little humble about his triple of food failures. Elia was beyond clueless as to why her red snapper wasn't even cooked all the way through. She really seemed shocked that the fish was raw and admitted that she didn't test any of them during cooking.

Elia also made the mistake of saying to the judges"Don't eliminate me,I have more to show you." Guess what,hon-no one wanted to see anything from you. Elia disappointed me in Season Two when she decided to join Ilan's gang of Marcel haters so it was fine with me to see her be the first to pack her knives and go.

Top Chef All Stars has gotten off to a great start and I look forward to watching more of this foodie showdown. Next week, sugar hoarding becomes an issue for a kid's food challenge and that battle should be bittersweet,indeed.



The folks on The Walking Dead took a real beating from the zombie campfire massacre last episode and spent most of this one clearing up the physical and emotional debris from that horror show. While Rick and Shayne debated on what to do next,Andrea had to find a way to make peace with her sister Amy,a casualty of the gruesome assault.

As Amy slowly returned to the world in undead form,Andrea got a chance to say goodbye and do the best she could for Amy under those circumstances. Too bad the Emmys are over already because this scene was one of the most touching bits of acting that I've seen this year:



This first season of The Walking Dead is nearly done and the wait for the next batch of episodes will be hard to endure. Well,we might as well enjoy what we do have before us and with finding that lone CDC scientist working on a possible cure,this debut run should cap off with a hell of a bang:





The Final Four teams on The Amazing Race landed in Hong Kong for this leg and had the traditional offbeat eating challenge. Everyone had to look over a buffet table of Chinese food and pick out the artificially made dishes from the real ones.

Any actual food they touched had to be consumed,which lead to a run for the bathroom for a couple of contenders. Claire from the Home Shopping team got nauseous first but managed to finish the Roadblock and move on. The next one to be taken ill was Vicki,whose partner Nick was being a total jerk about the whole thing. His bad attitude started when they caught a late ferry to the Roadblock and kept getting worse and worse.

He was completely unsupportive when Vicki got sick and then during the Detour,totally gave up on her and insisted that they take the penalty and not finish. Since this was a non elimination leg,they are still in the game but with a Speed Bump and a long wait to be checked in at the next Pit Stop ahead of them,this team's days are seriously numbered. As much as it pains me to quote Vanilla Ice,Vicki needs to drop that zero and get with a hero,stat!:



RANDOM NOTES:

TABATHA'S SALON TAKEOVER: Season Three of this tough talking hair diva's mission of no mercy for wayward beauty parlors starts up next Monday and yes,it should be a hair as well as hell raising experience:

Lauren Willig livens up your holiday reading with some Mischief of the Mistletoe

In Lauren Willig's latest entry in her Pink Carnation series, Arabella Dempsey is looking forward to a rather dismal Christmas time indeed. During her visit to Bath,she accepts a teaching position at Miss Climpson's Select Seminary for Young Ladies,a preferable alternative than staying with her Aunt Osborne and her new,much younger husband.

The husband in question happened to have once paid Arabella some very particular attentions until he realized that the only way to get at her aunt's money was to marry her aunt himself. That awkward circumstance,combined with the near dire straits of her family,gives Arabella no other respectable choice but to seek suitable employment fitting her station in life.

While settling into her new situation,Arabella literally runs into a casual acquaintance,Reginald "Turnip" Fitzhugh,a goodhearted soul with wits as sharp as the vegetable he's nicknamed after. Turns out that Turnip's sister Sally is a student at the school and is the one who hands her brother an oddly placed holiday pudding that links Arabella and Turnip together in the most unexpected of ways.



Upon further examination,a secret message written in French is found on the inside of the pudding wrapper that asks for a meeting at Farley Castle. Since Turnip has already been invited to a party being held at that location,he insists that Arabella join him in order to find out a bit more about this mystery.

Arabella reluctantly does,but also brings along her good friend Jane Austen,whose keen insights and lively mind have offered her plenty of comfort and advice especially during this most troubling time in her life. Jane did warn her about how treacherous a girl's school could be but clearly wasn't expecting such a social sticky wicket for Arabella to be caught in:





As Arabella and Turnip follow the trail of odd clues and strange events that point towards the workings of a spy within the school walls,the two of them find each other to be more appealing than at first notice. Their strong yet hidden feelings soon lead to an impulsive kiss that could either bring them closer together or drive them further apart.

However,this business with the Christmas pudding is much more serious than they first realized and may have cause for Turnip to reach out to a few of his friends involved in the League of the Purple Gentian,which conceals the most sorted after spy of them all,the Pink Carnation(who Turnip has been mistaken for,due to his loud taste for floral ensembles).

As Arabella tries to decide between following her heart or her common sense,furtive forces are being arrayed against her in search of a list that could put more people in peril than that original package of pudding did. Never mind her heart,Arabella could truly lose her head before the end of the holidays:





The subtitle for The Mischief of the Mistletoe is "A Pink Carnation Christmas" and several of the characters from the other titles in the series do make appearances within the narrative. However, even those who haven't read the earlier books can easily get into the merry mystery that makes each page a delight to turn.

Along with the romance and spy escapades that entangle the leading lady and her less than stealthy suitor,there is a great deal of engaging humor that plays into their budding relationship and adventures as well. Whether it's a comedy of errors or a means of lighting the tension in more than one quarter of the story,Mischief of the Mistletoe is a true Austen themed amusement to behold:





The Mischief of the Mistletoe is readily available for holiday shopping and hopefully you can catch up to it before the next Pink Carnation book,The Orchid Affair,arrives in the new year.

In the meantime,it's a good idea to curl up by the fire and bask in the glow of this charming Christmas themed caper,only don't look to Turnip for fashion tips this or any season.

Not everyone can pull off such formidable flair so it's best to stay out of the way of those who dare to. Turnip Fitzhugh may not be sharp of wit but he's certainly quite the sharp dressed man: