How to survive a zombie 'outbreak'

I have previously written about zombies. What I have not considered (until now) is how to survive a zombie 'outbreak'.

Jake Halpern, a teacher at Yale and regular contributor at NPR, recently spoke about scenarios and how to survive.

For example: What would you do if the city of Boston were overrun with flesh-eating zombies, and you have to get to the last outpost of human civilization, which is nestled in the mountains in Winter Park, Colo.? Of course, first things first, you go to the gun store and pick up a heavy machine gun. Then you commandeer a car, preferably a Toyota Prius. Think about it — you really want to stop for gas?
...
For example, when fleeing zombies, [Max] Brooks advises against using a sedan. Instead, he suggests using an armored car. Even if you break down or run out of gas, you're still sitting pretty in a nice little fortress.
...
Brooks also scoffs at my notion of using a heavy machine gun, pointing out — quite rightly — that zombies can only be killed with a perfect head shot. I'd always imagined myself aiming my gun at head level, and then mowing down an entire crowd of the undead with one fluid spray of bullets. Not so easy, says Brooks, because zombies — like the humans they used to be — are not all the same height.

We should all think about our escape and survival plans and read Max Brooks' book, The Zombie Survival Guide.

When zombies attack

I did not understand why a philosopher professor would write about zombies. Scientists or mathematicians on the other hand, I can understand. Researchers at the University of Ottawa have published a paper in Infectious Disease Modelling Research Progress modelling a zombie attack called 'When zombies attack! Mathematical modelling of an outbreak of zombie infection'- abstract

Zombies are a popular figure in pop culture/entertainment and they are usually portrayed as being brought about through an outbreak or epidemic. Consequently, we model a zombie attack, using biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies. We introduce a basic model for zombie infection, determine equilibria and their stability, and illustrate the outcome with numerical solutions. We then refine the model to introduce a latent period of zombification, whereby humans are infected, but not infectious, before becoming undead. We then modify the model to include the effects of possible quarantine or a cure. Finally, we examine the impact of regular, impulsive reductions in the number of zombies and derive conditions under which eradication can occur. We show that only quick, aggressive attacks can stave off the doomsday scenario: the collapse of society as zombies overtake us all.

Finally, some valuable research on the zombie phenomena. See also BBC News. I liked this bit

The study has been welcomed by one of the world's leading disease specialists, Professor Neil Ferguson, who is one of the UK government's chief advisors on controlling the spread of swine flu.

"The paper considers something that many of us have worried about - particularly in our younger days - of what would be a feasible way of tackling an outbreak of a rapidly spreading zombie infection," said Professor Ferguson, from Imperial College London.

However he thinks that some of the assumptions made in the paper might be unduly alarmist.

"My understanding of zombie biology is that if you manage to decapitate a zombie then it's dead forever. So perhaps they are being a little over-pessimistic when they conclude that zombies might take over a city in three or four days," he said.

Yo.

what do you call 300 philosophers in a room?

The annual conference of the Australasian Association of Philosophy was held last week in Melbourne. Amongst the papers delivered was one by Professor Declan Smithies titled 'Do Zombies Have Beliefs?' - abstract

Zombies have no phenomenally conscious states, but beliefs are not phenomenally conscious states. So, do zombies have beliefs? I argue that beliefs are individuated by their relations to phenomenal consciousness and hence that zombies do not have beliefs. The argument relies on a thesis about the epistemic role of consciousness and a thesis about the epistemic individuation of belief. I go on to explore the consequences of this argument for functionalist theories of belief. Here, I distinguish between causal and normative versions of functionalism and I argue that belief is individuated by its normative role, rather than its causal role, in reasoning.

Not surprisingly, that wasn't the only absurd paper presented. What a waste of time - zombies are brain dead. They are dead, just re-animated corpses. Of course, zombies have no beliefs. I could have presented a paper to the conference on this topic in ten seconds without the pop/mock/pseudo intellectualism.

So what would one call 300 philosophers in a room? Pointless. Discuss.

Vampire-Con

Oh dear. It was eventually going to happen. Popular culture (film, television and fiction/books) are obsessed with this sub-genre.

From Vampire-Con.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 06.04.09

VAMPIRE-CON SINKS ITS FANGS INTO LOS ANGELES!
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14th TO SUNDAY, AUGUST 16th

The Vam-Pop Culture Weekend Celebrates Our Favorite Creatures of the Night with a Two-Night Film Festival, Celebrity Guests, 40th Anniversary Celebration of Vampirella ® And A Moonlit Danse Macabre

June 4, 2009, Hollywood, CA – Vampire-Con 2009, the world’s first convention devoted to Vam-Pop culture swoops into Hollywood, CA for a weekend-long event, August 14 – 16. In association with Harris Comics, Vampire-Con will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the sexy comic-book icon Vampirella ®.

The weekend kicks off with a Vampire Film Festival at The New Beverly Cinema on Friday, August 14th and Saturday, August 15th. The fest will feature celebrity guests, contests and a program of your favorite vampire flicks both classic and new.

On Sunday, August 16th, Vampire-Con takes wing to the famed Music Box Theatre @ Fonda in Hollywood. Find your inner vampire at the day-long event on two floors of vendors, SFX make-up demonstrations and celebrity panel discussions. Topics will include Inked in Blood: 40 Years of Vampirella ®, Why We Love Vampires: A Brief History of the Undead and Hot Blooded: Vampires & Sexuality.

On Sunday evening, The Music Box @ Fonda transforms into VAMPIRELLA’S ® BALL, a heart-pounding 21 & over danse macabre. Vampires and humans alike will experience the dark side of Los Angeles’ acclaimed underground vaudeville cirque “Lucent Dossier” and revel the night away to the blood-churning beats provided by DJ Gary Calamar, music supervisor of HBO’s TRUE BLOOD and host of KCRW’s The Open Road.

From Dracula to Twilight, Vampires have provided an ageless mythology that taps into our cultural pulse. As new generations become fans, Vampire-Con celebrates these scary and sexy creatures that capture our collective imagination.

Tickets are $15 for the Sunday day-walkers and $30 for Vampirella’s ® Ball. Film festival admission is $7 per night. Stay tuned for updates about celebrity guests, prizes, contests and more!

Heidi Johnson Hijinx
Social | Media | Marketing

323.204.7246

The real ones might turn up and feed. I would attend if I live in Los Angeles, but don't. I wonder if Anne Rice was invited. It was her books that hooked me.

Why won't these zombies die?

Films about zombies are now their own sub-genre of horror. Nobody has explained why zombies, which are dead and decaying, need to eat flesh. It's not like they are able to digest.

Anyway, Anne Billson wrote a good article in The Guardian about why the sub-genre is popular

Because zombies, even more than vampires, are symbols of so many of today's subconscious fears. They stand for any section of society that can be easily depersonalised for social or political reasons. They represent the great unwashed, that fearsome underclass of knife-wielding hoodies certain newspapers are always warning us about. Or they're metaphors for poverty, influxes of immigrants or refugees who (we're told) will steal our housing and jobs. They could be gangs of feral children, football hooligans or those anonymous carriers of swine flu, at first kept at a safe distance but spreading infection ever closer to home to threaten us and our communities.

At their most basic level, zombies represent anarchy, threatening to upset the established order. Whereas a decade or so ago this might have seemed undesirable, now we're not so sure, because the established order hasn't been doing us any favours lately. In fact, its representatives have taken refuge in their own version of Fiddler's Green, where they have been leading a life of hedonism, paid for by the sweat of our labours. So whereas zombies might once have been a metaphor for the dreaded underclass, the recession is a reminder that we are that underclass, those faceless masses that need to be contained lest they take bites out of the bankers and politicians.

Take a look at the footage of the G20 demos in London, which shows crowds of people herded, clubbed and beaten back by heavily armoured police. The establishment is treating people like the zombies in Romero's films - as a faceless mass, less than human, a tide of contagion to be stemmed at all cost. They are no longer just reminders of our mortality. They are us. We are all zombies now.

Interesting point Ms Billson, but why do they need to feed on the living?

naked clowns are still evil

In January, I wrote about evil clowns and coulrophobia.

As if that wasn't scary enough, they have decided to put out a Naked Clown Calendar.



This guy could give someone nightmares with that evil smile

Name: Jonah Katz
Hometown: Sebastopol, CA
Year of Birth: 1988
Special Skills: Tap dance, eccentric dance (pop/lock, robot), acrobatics, juggling

Terrifying.

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We were allowed to sign out at 2pm from work. We had work drinks, then I went home. Despite returning home at 3pm, I fell asleep on the couch, and woke up in time to take Kane on a walk.

the hidden dangers of hotel rooms

I found these news items about the hidden dangers of hotel rooms, disturbing.

the glasses in your room, are they really clean?


how about bed bugs and other germs?


are those actually clean sheets?


What was disturbing about the news items was the impression it gave of the 'dangers' so out of proportion to the actual risk, which is pretty much minimal.

People who might have become worried to the point of compulsive obsessive about cleanliness should try backpacking and staying in budget hostels.

evil clowns and coulrophobia

BBC News (15 January 2008) has reported that a University of Sheffield study published in the Nursing standard magazine found that children are scared by clowns.

Researcher Dr Penny Curtis said: "As adults we make assumptions about what works for children.

"We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable."
...

She said: "Very few children like clowns. They are unfamiliar and come from a different era. They don't look funny, they just look odd.

BBC News (16 January 2008) followed up with an article on why clowns are scary and suggested that popular culture may be to blame with horror films spawning an 'evil clown' genre which began with Stephen King's It.



Pennywise the clown from It


Aren't all clowns evil? Little wonder that coulrophobia is quite common.



What's really scary is a clown encouraging children to eat junk food. Why do clowns want to hang around children anyway? Something sinister there.


How many children have disappeared from fast food restaurants, only to be eaten by a certain clown?

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Today was a do nothing day as it has been raining and cold. Some new posts in my music blog.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

As every aficionado of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (tv series) knows, the story didn't end after season seven.

Season eight continued in comic form.

I have been collecting them and today I picked up my stash of #7 to #10


cover of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: #10 Anywhere but Here

Buffy and Willow meet a demon who reveals a dim future, forcing the two to reflect on their past. Meanwhile, back in Scotland, Dawn confides in Xander the deed that led to her mysterious growth spurt.

Woohoo!

zombies are coming

The Establishment

ZombiesAreComing.com is an online organization, established in 2007, for the purpose of promoting zombie awareness and preparation for the coming tides of darkness.

While outbreaks have been limited in the past to controllable levels, this trend is changing, and we must be proactive in defense of our homeland. Those in power have been able to contain and downplay any and all outbreaks, despite underground movements to inform the general public of pending danger. This site will help you take matters into your own hands and regain your options for self-defense against any ghoulish outbreak. Here, you are free to discuss with other survivalists about tactics, equipment, weapons, buildings, and any other methods to prepare for the days that the dead walk the face of the earth.

We have to take matters into our own hands, folks. It is us or them. This is our time to be prepared. This is our time to live.

Don't say you weren't warned!

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Today I watched episodes 8-13 of the second season of Kyle XY online. It took up a lot of the day, but it was entertaining.

I also mowed half the lawn (chest high over-grown weeds) in the backyard. I will do the rest on Tuesday evening.

mutant sheep killers...

There is a saying that Australia's wealth was was built on the sheep's back - "riding on the sheep's back". Early last century, wool exports drove the Australian economy, which was highly protected of course by tariffs.

Both Australia and New Zealand continue to have a large sheep industry where the sheep population often outnumbers people.

Hence there are a lot of sheep jokes. Some of them are rather unsavoury.

Now from New Zealand comes a horror flick about mutant sheep that attack people called Black Sheep.

Hmmm... I like that idea. A must watch.

Trailer





sheep skin jacket? no wonder the sheep are angry


violence of the lambs

genetic engineering gone wrong

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Kane, the German Shepherd, came over late this morning to stay for the weekend. I took him on two walks today - one to the local shops, and then this afternoon around the local neighbourhood. He's a great dog.

Finally, one of my team's games is being shown live on TV tonight. It is a rare luxury to be able to sit at home and watch it live. Mind you, I do prefer being at the actual game.