theology&geometry

Welp, in mere hours, it’ll be time once again for the you-know-what. I’ve said the word “zombie” so many times this week that I’m kind of tired of it and would like to not say it again for a few months. So it goes. Every year.

I’m paranoid about turnout, of course. I always imagine that it will be, like, thirty people, all of whom will be immensely bored. It’ll be good. I know it will. It’s just that, every year, so many people around me who are so seemingly gung-ho about it drop out at the last minute. Shit happens, this I know. But that kind of thing skews my perception of the whole and I assume that everyone is going to spontaneously decide not to show up. And that’s when I get to start kicking myself for not doing a better job of getting the word out. Even though, damn, we got on Fox 13 news last week (even though they did tell everyone the wrong date) and we’re in Friday’s paper and I’ve seen a fair amount of web buzz about it. And I’ve been slogging through the nightmare that is MySpace for months and months, making sure the kids know all the details.

It’ll be fine.

Breathe breathe breathe.

The only thing that’s going to suck about it is running around, trying to make sure people take the correct turns, and trying to take pictures that don’t suck. All while being completely out of shape. That I don’t look forward to. So if you see me running around and I’m not, shall we say, verbose, it’s probably because I’m out of damn breath and don’t want you to see me pant. And sweat. Which I will also be doing because it is going to be very warm.

Can you tell I’m nervous? I haven’t even had anything to drink to fuel this bloggeherrea. I’m just straight-up anxious.

Okay. I’ve got to clean up a bit since I’ll have a houseguest. And I should probably go to sleep at some point and hope this hurty throat I’ve got going will disappear overnight. The hurtiness, that is. I’d like to keep the throat.

Look what the massively talented Shane McDermott (who looks a little like Edward Norton and Chris Hardwick’s lovechild) did! He zombified Newsbot, just in time for Friday’s undead uprising! So freaking awesome.

Soon enough, a template for this sweet sweet zombie Newsbot papercraft will be available on The CA‘s website (I’ll link it when it’s ready). And word on the street is that The CA will be giving away a fully assembled Zombot, who’ll come with a little somethin’ extra that’s not included in the template.

[Project 365]

It looks as though Memphis’ undead uprising these past few years has caught the attention of a group of folks who, according to their MySpace page, want to “shoot ‘em in the head.”

Their “about me”:

The Shelby Metro Zombie Response Unit is a group of like minded individual with one common goal:To be prepared in the likely event of a zombie outbreak.

These kids even have a password-protected bulletin board site, with topics like “blunt objects,” “firearms,” and “sharp objects.”

Oh my. This is going to be interesting.

(Feel free to click and download the flyer to use online, or you can print and distribute the old-school way. Thanks!)

Busy busy busy busy day. No time to take a photo until very late, after work.

Three weeks, people. Spread the word.

[Project 365]

Click the flyer, get the code, spread like a virus. Government-made or from outer space? Your call.

And here’s the MySpace page, which will have route details and whatnot once they’re finalized.

Best mark yer calendar, boys and girls. And spread the word. More flyers to come.

Art, as always, by the awesome Jamieslan.

Every few months I scour the interwebs for evidence of the Memphis zombie invasion.

Here’s something I hadn’t seen before:

I’m busy busy busy today but I just have to get in a quick post about the zombie walk. It went off more or less without a hitch and I was again impressed with the turnout and the amazing creativity of the horror-obsessed in this town. I mean, seriously. I love being able to help foster an outlet that is so much fun for so many people. It’s corny, but I love that part of it. I love hearing onlookers talk about the zombie walk — “they do it every year,” I heard someone say; “there’s three ways to become a zombie” I heard some well-dressed young woman explain to her friend as they saw us pass — and it tickles me to no end to think that it’s becoming some kind of yearly Memphis cultural staple.

Spring is zombie time in Memphis, Tenn. I love it, love it, love it.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the walk (full set is here), but there are a ton of much better ones in the official Flickr pool here.

Sorry, gotta post one more of this baby. The kid looked absolutely gobsmacked.

My nerves are all jangly. To calm them, I’ve mixed myself some ungodly combination of rum and Sobe LifeWater that looks like urine and tastes slightly less repulsive than urine. The nastiness of the drink is taking my mind of my nervousness, which I just wrote as “nervisness,” if that tells you anything about my state of mind right now.

I’m worried about tomorrow’s zombie walk turnout. Last year was so unbelievably huge that, as I told a friend the other day, I’m afraid we’ll experience a sophomore slump this year. It’s hard to gauge the turnout on these things; last year I thought maybe 30 people would show up and it ended up being more like 300. This year I’m anticipating a couple hundred and that makes me worry that it will be more like 30.

The potentially rainy weather makes me worry even more. People who would come out for this are pretty hardcore and probably wouldn’t mind a little rain, but I figure substantial rain and anything remotely stormy will keep people — especially families — away. Which sucks. I love me some zombie families. Not to mention the tourist turnout on Beale and the foot-traffic turnout for the art trolley tour will be lighter if it rains.

Oh well, it should be a fun time regardless. Or as Courtney likes to say*, irregardless. The Creeping Cruds are going to play at E&H afterward, and I’m looking forward to seeing them. I can’t wait to see what kind of pictures I can snag of the whole thing. (Another reason I’m hoping the rain holds off: I don’t want to eff up my camera.)

Plus Fritz and his Fuckleberry Hound are coming to town to visit. And Sarah might come into town, too!

So cross your severed appendages for us, please. Actually, you can do one better and come downtown to be part of the madness at 6:30 p.m.

* Hahahahaha! You’ll have to wait until Saturday to punch me for that.

Oh, fuck yes:

Kudos to Chris Blank and the CA‘s video team for making this. Very cool!

[The embed code is giving me fits; click here if the video doesn't load.]