If gray-eyed left-handed lacto-ovo people can fight for their rights, then why not vampires? It's time to let the people of the night emerge from those musty old coffins and shake off those dusty old stereotypes that have been around for centuries.

The American Vampire League seeks to fight for the "human rights of vampires" and let them "emerge from the dark" (OK, these may sound better in print than in practice, since vampires aren't technically human, if you want to get all scientific about it. And if they emerged from the dark they might melt or something. But you get the idea.)

If you don't get the idea, then check out the American Vampire League Web site. It's brought to you by the good folks at HBO, who as part of the Time Warner media conglomerate know a thing or two about good old corporate bloodsucking! But I digress...

The American Vampire League just happens to be affiliated with a new TV program by the aforementioned HBO, called True Blood. It's named after Tru Blood, a new synthetic blood substitute that will eliminate the need for vampires to suck blood from human creatures. The tagline for Tru Blood is, "All of the flavor, none of the bite." Sounds like a win-win to me. (You can learn more about the beverage at the Tru Blood Web site.)

How does Tru Blood taste? I haven't sampled it, but it can't be any worse than Red Bull...