Love It: "True Blood"

Love It: Alan Ball's new black dramedy True Blood.

I'm enjoying the series so much, in fact, that I now want to read the books that inspired it. If author Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Series is as authentic, contemporary, Southern, sexy, and witty as True Blood, consider me a Harris fangirl.

I have a crush on at least half the cast already: Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin); Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer); Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley); and Diane (Aunjaneu Ellis), for starters. Like Ball's previous forays into film and television, American Beauty and Six Feet Under, it's character-driven, smartly written, and visually transfixing. I'm thirsty.

True Blood trailer:

Creator Alan Ball's True Blood POV:

On a semi-related note, I'm anxious to see Ball's new allegedly challenging, controversial, and wildly satirical new film, Towelhead. Apparently, it had a very limited U.S. release on Sept. 12 and another is scheduled for Sept. 26. Please, please, please come to Albuquerque, Towelhead.

Towelhead trailer:

Culture Vulture, v. 1

• A new study out of the University of Georgia finds that:"... the number of Facebook friends and wallposts that individuals have on their profile pages correlates with narcissism. Buffardi said this is consistent with how narcissists behave in the real-world, with numerous yet shallow relationships." [EurekAlert!]

• If the shoe fits, god help us. Want to check out some of the least attractive and most impractical shoes in the history of footwear? Click on. [HuffPost]

• Have y'all seen "The Gits"? The multi-award-nominated documentary chronicles the vibrant and poignant life and death of artist, poet, lyricist, and vocalist Mia Zapata and Seattle punk band, The Gits. Pitchfork.tv is currently screening "The Gits" for your pleasure. The week-long streaming download feature will end Friday, Sept. 26. Get your Gits on, y'all.

• George Michael asks fans to have faith after his second toilet arrest; this time his illegal cottaging turn included possession of coke and weed. After displaying "remorse", Michael was not charged on possession or any other, er, counts. [MailOnline]

Proposed Conscience Clause to Restrict Reproductive Healthcare Access

Hilary Clinton co-wrote an editorial with Planned Parenthood Federation of America's President Cecile Richards for Thursday's New York Times that rails against the proposed Department of Health and Human Services "Provider Conscience Clause" rule which would allow employees of any health care provider that receives any federal funding to refuse to participate in any medical procedure they might find objectionable.

Clinton and Richards opine: "Laws that have been on the books for some 30 years already allow doctors to refuse to perform abortions. The new rule would go further, ensuring that all employees and volunteers for health care entities can refuse to aid in providing any treatment they object to, which could include not only abortion and sterilization but also contraception...

The definition of abortion in the proposed rule is left open to interpretation. An earlier draft included a medically inaccurate definition that included commonly prescribed forms of contraception like birth control pills, IUDs and emergency contraception. That language has been removed, but because the current version includes no definition at all, individual health care providers could decide on their own that birth control is the same as abortion.

The rule would also allow providers to refuse to participate in unspecified 'other medical procedures' that contradict their religious beliefs or moral convictions. This, too, could be interpreted as a free pass to deny access to contraception.

Many circumstances unrelated to reproductive health could also fall under the umbrella of 'other medical procedures.' Could physicians object to helping patients whose sexual orientation they find objectionable? Could a receptionist refuse to book an appointment for an H.I.V. test? What about an emergency room doctor who wishes to deny emergency contraception to a rape victim? Or a pharmacist who prefers not to refill a birth control prescription?"

The full text of the proposed clause is here. Public comment is being sought prior to Sept. 25. Send your comments via e-mail to: consciencecomment@hhs.gov
For more explicit instructions on comment submission, click here.

Pass it on.

Panegyric for Polaroid

A B&W '60s ad featuring Ali MacGraw and a swingin' soundtrack:


An '80s ad featuring Hugh Laurie:


An '80s ad featuring James Garner and Mariette Hartley:

Smoke-Filled Room, v.1

● National interest in the presidential campaign is up at 63 percent, from a pre-convention 52 percent. That's also up from 52 percent in September '04. [via NY Times, The 2008 Campaign, Now Even More Interesting]

● Palin plays it safe on the campaign trail. After her Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac taxpayer gaffe and her televised ignorance of the Bush doctrine, is she better off not taking questions? Yeah, probably. And is it just me or does it sound like she's describing a Shake 'n Bake solution to our economic crisis? [via NY Times, On the Road: Palin Plays It Safe]

● A sign of the impending apocalypse? You decide. [via Salon's Broadsheet]

● "Voting machines in several critical swing states are causing major problems for voters. A Government Accountability Office report and Common Cause election study [PDF] has concluded that major issues identified in the last presidential election have not been corrected, nor have election officials been notified of the problems. How long can we afford to trust our elections to black box voting practices? From the article: 'In Colorado, 20,000 left polling places without voting in 2006 because of crashed computer registration machines and long lines. And this election day, Colorado will have another new registration system.'" [via Slashdot, Voting Machines Routinely Failing Nationwide]

● It's the end of the financial market as we know it. And I feel fine... Well, actually, I'm understandably freaked, but that doesn't have that R.E.M. sound. [via NY Times, Congressional Leaders Stunned by Warnings]

● McCain Camp takes Rovian advice on new ad; HuffPost's Sam Stein reports: "On Thursday evening, the Senator's campaign released an advertisement declaring that [former Fannie Mae executive] Frank Raines was an Obama economic adviser. 'Shocking,' declared the ad, citing the mismanagement that occurred under Raines' reign, as well as his large compensation package. Shocking, indeed. The Associated Press and other news outlets reported hours later that the claim was not honest. Raines had even told a senior McCain aide, in a private email, that he was not an Obama adviser." [via Huffington Post, New McCain Attacks Echo Rove Advice]
"Advice":