Where do Zombies go from here?

Zombie movies have been around FOREVER. They had a moment in the sun in the late 60's early 70's with George A Romero, but soon fell into nothing but camp and B movie.

In 2002 we got 28 days later which was IMHO a very fun movie...and shortly after in 2004 there was Dawn of the Dead, another gem of a zombie movie (and also a remake of a Romero film.)

Yea, these had a little cheese and camp, but only a little. I see them as full bore A list movies.

Since then there has been a Zombie Craze. The popularity of the old B movies has risen and a storm of new B movies have been made. Unfortunately not a lot of A class new movies have been made. Those that have been made have really moved out of zombie and into comedy (Shaun and Zombieland, both good movies, but while they have zombies, the are comedies first and zombie movies second)

(Well, Crazies was an A list Zombie Movie, I guess I just didn't like it as much as 28 days/28 weeks and the Dawn remake.)

It has also moved over into books (World War Z to name just one very popular novel), video games (Left4Dead), graphic novels, (heck, it invaded the entire Marvel Comic) universe for a time, which in turn lead to TV's The Walking Dead.

It has even moved over to the shooting world in the form of zombie targets

http://www.zombietargets.net/ (even manikin ones that BLEED!) http://zombieammo.com/zombiepress/

One of the AR-15 companies (DPMS) has been having a Zombie shooting event for 4 years now (check youtube for Outbreak Omega)

And...now we have this.

http://www.hornady.com/ammunition/zombiemax

I am going to buy a box of 9mm. I am a bit disappointed they didn't have 357 magnum.

However, this makes me ask...where can the Zombie Craze spread to next?

Dogs on Fire

Who Do You Think You're Fooling? from Mike White on Vimeo.

shut up and play your guitar

i got all excited about Rockband 3 and the pro mode last year. recently i was checking out the Stratocaster that is a real guitar with built in sensors to let you play it in Rockband 3. i went to Best Buy and to see if they had it and i found this instead.

i bought it, and played nearly until my fingers bled.

it is everything i wish Guitar Hero was five years ago when i succombed to the guitar game Dark Side. you can use ANY REAL ELECTRIC GUITAR. all it takes is a special cable that plugs into the guitar and into the Xbox USB port. the cable comes with the game.

my first complaint is that when you are in Amp Mode there is a noticeable fraction of a second delay from when you strum and you hear the notes coming out of the speakers. i assume it is a delay caused by my Xbox sound going through the HDMI cable into the receiver. the game suggests getting a component audio cable to plug directly into the reciever for the sound, and use the HDMI cable solely for the video. i haven't done this yet to see if it solves the problem. i assume it will. in any case, during game play you can't detect a delay as long as you have the lag setting correct. or maybe it's just that i am so bad at guitar.

my second comlaint is that they don't have Stairway to Heaven *or* Freebird.

how to trap Godzilla

Andrew's post about protecting your home from velociraptors made me wonder what to do if Godzilla shows up. this site ought to help you out.

check out this happy customer's testimonial:

"Hey I just received my new Godzilla trap a week ago and I must say that it works great and I have already caught two godzillas. The only problem I’ve had is finding a place to relocate them and transporting cost are outrageous. Also trying to fit the trap under bridges and power lines on the way to the relocation site is quite the task. I did not have the manpower to set the trap so I bought a large excavator to set it. Anyway thanks again for the great product. " -Chesley Hayman

Sweet Weeping Mother of Christ!

Am I bound (or maybe doomed?) to become a hardcore MMO player?

Just as I won't be able to let the Star Wars MMO go untried, I doubt I'll be able to take a pass on a Shadowrun one.

Leonard Nimoy's Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

I always find out about these things too late

Now that the month of September is almost at a close I am here to inform you that September is National Velociraptor Awareness Month!

The American Society for Velociraptor Attack Prevention, along with the North American Velociraptor Defense Association and the United Velociraptor Widows Fund, will be providing free velociraptor safety seminars at local Red Cross centers across the nation. Contact your local center for more information.

Velociraptor attack is the 3rd leading cause of death for men age 27-29. However, everyone must think about the implications of velociraptors: young and old, men, women and transgendered persons.

The American Society for Velociraptor Attack Prevention is a bi-partisan group of professionals, dedicated to the diffusion of knowledge concerning velociraptor attack prevention.

Know the Enemy

The velociraptor is a bipedal carnivore with a long, stiffened tail and can be distinguished from other dromaeosaurids by its long and low skull, with an upturned snout. It bores a relatively large, sickle-shaped claw, typical of dromaeosaurid and troodontid dinosaurs. This enlarged claw, up to 67 millimeters (2.6 in) long around its outer edge, is a predatory device, used to tear into the prey, delivering a fatal blow.

Velociraptors are often found on tropical islands, converted to millionarie amusement parks, but are commonly being sighted in the Pacific Northwest. Of the essential facts you should know about velociraptors:

• Velociraptors hunt in packs, and are known to form an equilateral triangle around their prey.
• Velociraptors can accelerate 4 m/s², with a top speed of 25 m/s on open terrain, 10 m/s while wounded, and 10 m/s in indoor laboratories.
• Velociraptors can open doors, but are slowed by them. They can open an initial door in approximately 5 minutes, and will take half that time for each subsequent door.
• Velociraptors do not know fear.

http://www.velociraptors.info/