zombie saturation

it's gone overboard when cnet has zombie articles...the second link is for a $24k zombie kit, but it can't be a real kit that they're selling...just an ad to sell their optics

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57532644-1/zombie-survival-kit-features-real-tactical-ax-and-a-spork/?part=rss&subj=crave&tag=title&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cnet%2FpRza+%28Crave%29

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57473499-1/your-last-hope-the-$24000-zombie-survival-kit/

more zombies

no end to the zombie craze...

interesting "crowd-written" book about the zombie apocalypse...might be worth reading if i can find it for a buck or two at a used bookstore...don't think i would pay full price for a few pages of notes and no real story...seems like a good idea but probably not enough material

http://www.lostzombies.com/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1452101086/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

cdc

the cdc posted about emergency preparedness in case of a zombie apocalypse...harmless fun or do they know something we don't :)

http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp

There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for. Take a zombie apocalypse for example. That’s right, I said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you’ll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency.

A Brief History of Zombies
We’ve all seen at least one movie about flesh-eating zombies taking over (my personal favorite isResident Evil), but where do zombies come from and why do they love eating brains so much? The word zombie comes from Haitian and New Orleans voodoo origins. Although its meaning has changed slightly over the years, it refers to a human corpse mysteriously reanimated to serve the undead. Through ancient voodoo and folk-lore traditions, shows like the Walking Dead were born.

A couple dressed as zombies - Danny Zucco and Sandy Olsson from the movie Grease walking in the annual Toronto Zombie Walk.

In movies, shows, and literature, zombies are often depicted as being created by an infectious virus, which is passed on via bites and contact with bodily fluids. Harvard psychiatrist Steven Schoolman wrote a (fictional) medical paper on the zombies presented in Night of the Living Dead and refers to the condition as Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency Syndrome caused by an infectious agent. The Zombie Survival Guide identifies the cause of zombies as a virus called solanum. Other zombie origins shown in films include radiation from a destroyed NASA Venus probe (as in Night of the Living Dead), as well as mutations of existing conditions such asprions, mad-cow disease, measles and rabies.

The rise of zombies in pop culture has given credence to the idea that a zombie apocalypse could happen. In such a scenario zombies would take over entire countries, roaming city streets eating anything living that got in their way. The proliferation of this idea has led many people to wonder “How do I prepare for a zombie apocalypse?”

Well, we’re here to answer that question for you, and hopefully share a few tips about preparing for real emergencies too!

Better Safe than Sorry

Some of the supplies for your emergency kit.

So what do you need to do before zombies…or hurricanes or pandemics for example, actually happen? First of all, you should have an emergency kit in your house. This includes things like water, food, and other supplies to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp (or in the event of a natural disaster, it will buy you some time until you are able to make your way to an evacuation shelter or utility lines are restored). Below are a few items you should include in your kit, for a full list visit theCDC Emergency page.

• Water (1 gallon per person per day)
• Food (stock up on non-perishable items that you eat regularly)
• Medications (this includes prescription and non-prescription meds)
• Tools and Supplies (utility knife, duct tape, battery powered radio, etc.)
• Sanitation and Hygiene (household bleach, soap, towels, etc.)
• Clothing and Bedding (a change of clothes for each family member and blankets)
• Important documents (copies of your driver’s license, passport, and birth certificate to name a few)
• First Aid supplies (although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado orhurricane)

Once you’ve made your emergency kit, you should sit down with your family and come up with anemergency plan. This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your door step. You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake, or other emergency.

Family members meeting by their mailbox. You should pick two meeting places, one close to your home and one farther away.
1. Identify the types of emergencies that are possible in your area. Besides a zombie apocalypse, this may include floods, tornadoes, or earthquakes. If you are unsure contact your local Red Cross chapter for more information. Family members meeting by their mailbox. You should pick two meeting places, one close to your home and one farther away
2. Pick a meeting place for your family to regroup in case zombies invade your home…or your town evacuates because of a hurricane. Pick one place right outside your home for sudden emergencies and one place outside of your neighborhood in case you are unable to return home right away.
3. Identify your emergency contacts. Make a list of local contacts like the police, fire department, and your local zombie response team. Also identify an out-of-state contact that you can call during an emergency to let the rest of your family know you are ok.
4. Plan your evacuation route. When zombies are hungry they won’t stop until they get food (i.e., brains), which means you need to get out of town fast! Plan where you would go and multiple routes you would take ahead of time so that the flesh eaters don’t have a chance! This is also helpful when natural disasters strike and you have to take shelter fast.

Never Fear – CDC is Ready

Get a Kit, Make a Plan, Be Prepared

If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak. CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states, or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation. This assistance might include consultation, lab testing and analysis, patient management and care, tracking of contacts, and infection control (including isolation and quarantine). It’s likely that an investigation of this scenario would seek to accomplish several goals: determine the cause of the illness, the source of the infection/virus/toxin, learn how it is transmitted and how readily it is spread, how to break the cycle of transmission and thus prevent further cases, and how patients can best be treated. Not only would scientists be working to identify the cause and cure of the zombie outbreak, but CDC and other federal agencies would send medical teams and first responders to help those in affected areas (I will be volunteering the young nameless disease detectives for the field work).

zombie apocalypse

http://graphjam.memebase.com/

i've gotten a bit of zombie fever after watching The Walking Dead and reading The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead and World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War...a very well done tv show...the two books are quick and fun reads...i'll probably do reviews of them later

zombies have been gaining popularity over the years with more zombie related tv shows, movies, books, and games to show for it...part of the appeal and scariness of zombies is that unlike other traditional horror monsters like vampires, zombies can't co-exist with humans...vampires in today's mythology have feelings, desires, can be reasoned with, and even have souls...they try to blend in with society, causing vampires to cease even being scary anymore...on the other hand, zombies just want to eat your flesh...they're relentless and feel nothing...they're more like a force of nature

i think the reason why the zombie apocalypse is interesting to many is that it forces us to think about what we would do in what survivalists like to call "end of the world as we know it" or "shit hit the fan scenario"...what would you do if all the rules of society broke down and the only thing you had to be concerned about was survival?...would you cling to your morals and try to live as you did or to hell with everybody else and make sure you survive...maybe something in between...would you even have the skills to keep yourself alive?...we've become so dependent on technology that most of us probably can't survive for more than a few days out in the wild...many people don't even have any real skills as most are trained for "office" jobs (can make an awesome powerpoint presentation but can't start a fire)...obviously, a zombie apocalypse won't happen, but what if there was a war, massive pandemic, or huge natural disaster where you had to fend for yourself and social infrastructure and laws provided little help...post apocalyptic shows like the walking dead and even battlestar galactica (at least the first two seasons) are able to explore these extreme situations, which make for good drama when done right...other examples are The Stand and The Road... simply put, zombies are good, scary fun and can be a good vehicle to tell a story...however, i would agree that they are getting a little too much exposure, considering they're starting to add them to classic chick-lit like this one - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

as for what i would do in a zombie apocalypse?...if the zombies were the fast running kind like in Zombieland and 28 Days Later (some would argue that they're not really zombies), then i wouldn't even bother to try to survive...that's just too scary, and i'm too lazy and fat to outrun them...if they're the slow walking kind, then i think i would have a chance...i would have to brush up on my survival skills by re-watching MacGyver and A-Team episodes...pack up some duct tape, champ swiss army knife, my guns (macgyver didn't like guns but the a-team did), and my  annihilator, and i'll be all set to survive the zombie apocalypse