Free For All Fridays

5 Fandom Friday – My Five Gateway Fandoms

Color me super excited! I am so pleased to throw my blog in the link-up with The Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick for this Friday’s topic – Five Gateway Fandoms.

Now, if you’ve read my blog, you know that I like a looooot of stuff. But, even little Dahlia had her predilections (I love that word) and exquisite tastes. Which of course, were the gateway to even more predilections and super exquisite tastes. So sit back, dear reader, and find out what made me what I am today!

1. Girl Rockers – Joan Jett and Pat Benatar

Back when I was a wee impressionable one, they didn’t have a lot of ladies to identify with. Sure there was Babs and a folk singer or two, but the roof was really raised when Joan Jett and the Blackhearts hit the scene with “I Love Rock and Roll” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You.”. The heavy, recognizable guitar riff (wielded by a girl!) along with the tough look of black jeans, eyeliner and cool-ass hair…well, you can’t get any better than Joan Jett!

While Pat had a sweeter, smoother voice and her husband and band did most of the heavy musical lifting, “Hell is for Children”, “Promises in the Dark”, and her “breakout hit”, “Love is a Battlefield” had me singing in front of my mirror with a hairbrush and cutting my hair short!

2. The Police

I don’t even know where to start when these fellas. Suffice to say that I’ve seen nearly every movie Sting was in, even if he was simply there like…Dune (all I can say is….whaaaa? about that movie.) I even tracked down a 1983 Playgirl magazine to read his interview and I’m sure there’s a stack of magazine cut outs, Tiger Beats and Rolling Stones with them on the cover. That’s not counting the magazines my friends and I would BEG to order from England because just had to have the latest Police news. Also, purchased Carl Jung’s Synchronicity.

3. Star Wars

1977 in a movie theater that has since long closed. Feet sticking to the floor (of course) I watched the spectacle unfold. I had a remote control R2D2 robot. I was Darth Vader for Halloween. I was a Han Solo girl to the max and even have an autographed picture of Harrison Ford somewhere at my mom’s house. Before les Internets, we sat down and wrote our fave stars letters….and sometimes got and answer. I remember standing in the RAIN to line up to see Return of the Jedi. Wow. When they came along with those….other films…I kinda ignored the whole thing. However, I will sit down and watch Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and to a lesser degree The Return of the Jedi when they are on.

4. Mystery Science Theater 3000

This was what Saturday mornings were all about! Terrible movies with people actually cracking jokes about how terrible they really were. My favorite of ALL TIME? The Pod People. Awfulness at its finest. You can’t beat MST3K.

5. The Chronicles of Narnia

Who hasn’t, after reading these books, gone and knocked on the back of a closet or two? I firmly believe in the “you never know” and that magic can always around the corner. I’ve gone through so many sets of these books…I order a new set every two years, so they’re always a complete set around. My son had picked up an appreciate for Narnia also, and I certainly hope it brings magic into his life.

Some Honorable Mentions

Frank Sinatra – That’s cool music, baby!
Duran Duran
The Sims
The Little House Books

Most of these in this post, I still read and listen to today.

Banned Books Week – My Favorites

“It was a dark and stormy night.”
Ah, Banned Books Week always makes me rub my hands together in delight and dust off my old, decrepit paperback books. Taped covers, “bookworm” holes and dog eared pages – nothing beats a great book…..

Unless it’s been banned. Just like bad boys, if a book is deemed “bad”, well, hell’s bells, I can’t wait to read it, or at least see what all the fuss is about. Many of the books I’ve read, I didn’t even realize were banned.

Let me share the list of my top five banned books that I read over and over again. You knew there was going to be a list!!

1. 1984 by George Orwell – “Do it to Julia!” I can’t say that I “enjoyed” this book as a matter of entertainment, but it sure did make one think. As a romance writer, I notice many authors are accused of creating insta-love between the two protagonists. Well, 1984 has one of the quickest cases of “insta-love” that I’ve ever read, with note passing to boot!

Reasons for challenge: “pro-communist and contained explicit sexual matter.”

2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.”

Gosh another “downer ending” book. Atticus lost the case, Tom Robinson got shot. Poor Mayella Ewell. But at least Bob Ewell got his just desserts….and Boo Radley….we’ll never know. You laughed, you cried and yes, it has become a part of me.

Reasons for challenge: Using the word “damn” and “hell devil”. Does “psychological damage to the positive integration process “. Uses the word “nigger”. “Conflicted with the values of the community.” The book has also been charged with being unfit for junior high use. “Contains profanity and racial slurs”. “Is degrading to African Americans.”

The last reason make me laugh. Anyone remember how tough Calpurnia was on Jem and Scout?

3. A Wrinkle in Time: “Don’t try to comprehend with your mind. Your minds are very limited. Use your intuition.”

I can’t say enough how much I adore this book. Science fiction, themes of love and forgiveness, and a little love story to boot. Plus a female lead who was smart and wore glasses AND braces? Sign me up! The discussion of a tesseract (which is now termed a wormhole), space travel and life on other planets.

Reason for challenge: Challenging religious beliefs, contains offensive language.

4. In Cold Blood – First of all, let me say that Philip Seymour Hoffman was capitivating in his portrayal of Truman Capote in Truman. It is also said that the characater of Dill in To Kill a Mockinbird was based on him. Regardless of the personal history between he and Harper Lee, this book is one of the first “true-ish crime” books that I’ve ever read. It’s not a “fun, light” read, not by any means, but a truly excellent and absorbing read just the same. Capote knows how to write a book that captures the reader and pulls him in.

Reason for challenge: “sex, violence and profanity.”

5. A Separate Peace – “Sarcasm… the protest of those who are weak.”

I saw this book the other day under my dresser. Gosh, I read it so long ago, but it sure sticks with me. Gene’s jealously of Finney and what it ultimately led to.

Reason for challenge: “filthy, trashy sex novel.” “Offensive language”.

Honorable Mentions:

Lord of the Flies

Native Son

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

It’s funny now that I look over this list. I read a lot of these books in high school and/or college, and to be honest, the real meaning and themes within the book didin’t hit home until I actually got out of school and began to “live”. It’s interesting now, looking back, how many of these books were truly ahead of their time.

So hey! What are some of your favorite books that have been challenged or banned?

What's your Favorite Bond Theme? Free For All Fridays

I was going over my Google Playlists and I found one that I created a long time ago with the James Bond themes. Back in the day, I would never miss Bond movies on the television. Being a woman of a certain age, my favorite Bond was Sean Connery, next George Lazenby (even though he only appeared in one Bond film) and I tolerated Roger Moore. By the time the franchise worked its way around to Timothy Dalton (yuk!) and Pierce Brosnan, I had lost interest. Thought my interest was somewhat revived with the new Bond, Daniel Craig, my heart still belonged to Sean.

Never mind the movies, though, what about the songs? The iconic songs that told you that a cool movie was about to start? Many of these songs were sung by the hot artists at the time and were almost always chart worthy.

For this blog post, let’s take a look at my top five favorite Bond themes, starting with number five. As always, I’ll add some tidbit of trivia!

Number 5

Die Another Day – Madonna

I can’t even tell you which Bond was in this movie, but the song is hot.

Number 4

Skyfall – Adele

Her dramatic rendition of this theme recalls the old days of Shirley Bassey. While I did not see the movie, Adele does a wonderful job with this song and it won the Oscar!

Number 3

For Your Eyes Only – Sheena Easton

Sheena is the only singer to appear in the opening credits of a Bond movie singing the theme song.

Number 2

Nobody Does it Better – Carly Simon

When it comes to Bond, we all know what the “it” is.

Number 1

Goldfinger – Shirley Bassey

Aww, you knew it. Of all the Bond themes, Dame Shirley Bassey does it the best. She has also recorded the most Bond themes.

From Wikipedia: Bassey did initially have issues with the climactic final note which necessitated her slipping behind a studio partition between takes to remove her brassiere. Bassey would recall of the final note: “I was holding it and holding it. I was looking at John [Barry] and I was going blue in the face and he’s going, hold it just one more second. When it finished, I nearly passed out.”

Bad for her, but good for us.

Football Fridays and a Tiny Rant

Hello, my name is Dahlia and I’m an erotic romance writer. For those who don’t know what that means, “erotic romance” is an indicator that if you pick up one of my books (and please do) you will most likely stumble upon to an open door sex scene. You will most likely see the words “p*ssy”, “c*ck”, “d*ck”, “breasts”, “balls”, read about the exchange of bodily fluids and climaxes and orgasms (always a good thing). You will also read about people becoming aroused, thinking about having sex and invading others’ personal space, with sexy results.

I’m sure you’re wondering what’s up with the picture. Stick with me. You’ll see.

As a curious (nosy) person, I used (note the word ‘used‘) to peruse my Amazon book reviews as well as the reviews of other erotic romance authors. It is interesting to read how others view the erotic romance novel. Some of the reviews I’ve read have literally caused my jaw to drop.

I’ve read that some books are “pure p*rn”, nothing but “smut” or have “too much sex”. I’ve also read reviews in which reviewers commented that the heroine doesn’t “have respect for herself” because she f*cked a hot dude on page two. Furthermore, I’ve also read reviews that said “I don’t like books where the woman seeks sexual satisfaction”. I guess this last means the woman has to wait for the man to bring it.

These types of comments truly puzzle me and bring me to a couple of questions:

1. Why are you reading erotic romance novels if you don’t want to read about sex? That’s like watching the NFL channel and getting angry that it has too much football.

Sidenote: To the reviewer who didn’t like the woman who pursued sexual satisfaction, aren’t you doing the same thing by reading a sexy novel? What the f*ck?

2. If you thought an author’s book was pure p*rn, then why did you buy the rest of the books in the series? Who’s the dummy? I’m allergic to peanut butter. So, I go out and buy a Snickers bar, eat it, get sick, then complain?

3. If you don’t like the depiction of blow jobs/p*ssy worship….yeah, why are you even reading an erotic romance? There’s a high chance you’ll run into some c*ck-sucking or **gasp** p*ssy-licking if you read enough of them.

Point is, writers write because they love what they write. Readers read because they love what writers write. I am so glad that there is a place where writers can express the sexuality of their characters and appeal to the readers that like the hot stuff. There is no shame in that game. I have a ton of writer colleagues who write stuff that make me blush, but like I always way, chacun son goût…. les yeux sans visage…. voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir …that’s my French for the day.

I’m not even going to call these people haters, because why bother? My advice? Stick to the sweet romances. Avoid any romance that mentions the word “heat” in the blurb. And, if the cover has a couple enjoying a sweet, sexy embrace, stay far, far, FAR away. You don’t want to get bumped in the face with a stray erection.

As I typed this, I found a brilliant way to tie this all in with Football Friday. My fantasy football stud quarterback, Peyton Manning will wrap this up nicely. Let me give you a little history. Peyton has played in a dome – Lucas Oil Stadium (aka the house that Peyton built) for most of his career. When he went to Denver, there was all sorts of talk that he couldn’t play in the cold. For while, that’s been true until this past game with the Titans. With a kickoff temperature of 18 degrees F, Peyton threw for 397 yards with four touchdowns with no interceptions., The Broncos won, 51-28. Furthermore, the 39 completions established a new franchise record.

Now, does the graphic make more sense?

Football Fridays – Frustrated Tom Brady and Week 2 Matchups

Well, Geno Smith and the Jets’ one game winning streak has been broken! Most of us were in suspense regarding the game: Who would win?

Yeah, right.

Despite the gutting of the Patriots’ offense by free agency, injuries and (alleged) murder, the Jets suffered from poor performance on both sides of the ball.

I am not a Pats “fan” per se. I admire their work ethic and the coaching of Belichick, but I simply cannot abide a team that uses cheating tactics to win. Don’t they have enough film to study?

On the other hand, I am not a Jets’ fan, nor am I a fan of Geno Smith. So when it comes to these two teams, I go with the more mature QB.

That being said, the game was sloppy on both sides. Dropped passeds turnovers (not the tasty kind) and interceptions made the game a disappointment to watch. I expect more from Tom Brady, though I understand that he’s working with super-brand new players. But Tom showed his frustration, yelling on the sidelines about his immature receivers.

Either way, the Pats won and Tom Brady didn’t put up many fantasy points.

Let’s take a look at this weekend’s matchups:

Weekend Matchups –

(note…I only comment on the games that will probably be shown in the New York metro area. Your mileage may vary.)

Chargers at Eagles

The Chargers like to give away games and the Eagles seem like they are on a serious mission. With the addition of coach Chip Kelly, the Iggles are a team to be reckoned with. I pick the Eagles.

Saints at Buccaneers

Drew BREES! As a former New Orleans resident, I like Drew Brees. As a current New Jersey resident, I do not like former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano. But I do like former Tampa Buccaneer, Warren Sapp. Hmmmmm. I pick the Saints.

Redskins at Packers

I am neutral on the strength of both these teams, but I like RGIII much better than Aaron Rodgers. Despite my affection for the running quarterback, I have to pick the Packers.

49ers at Seahawks

I laughed this morning when the fellas on WFAN reported that someone on the 49ners called the Seahawks, the “Shehawks”. Juvenile? Yes. Fun? Most definitely. This will be a hard fought game between two tough teams. I can’t even venture to pick a winner.

The Manning Bowl – Broncos at Giants

What else can be said about this matchup? I don’t do point spreads and stuff like that, but let it be said that Peyton has won every Manning bowl so far. In addition, the Giants defense isn’t what it used to be – but the Broncos offense is hot! Either way, it should be a good game to watch.

Let it also be said that the Eli does have two championship rings to Peyton’s one.

Who’s your team? Who’s your player? Comment and let me know!