Blog of the Living dead

Co-op vs. Zombies: Leading Resident Evil to multiplayer shooter territory (Interview)

2012-02-24T15:36:00.006-08:00

February 24, 2012 2:16 PM
Heinrich Lenhardt
VentureBeats

Resident Evil is one of the most treasured names in video game history. Moving an action adventure franchise that has sold over 40 million units into the multiplayer shooter market seems like a scary endeavor. Looking for expert advice, intellectual property (IP) owner Capcom turned to Canadian studio Slant Six Games, developer of three multiplayer-focused SOCOM action games.

Since its 1996 debut on the original PlayStation, the Resident Evil series has defined the “survival horror” genre and became the most important franchise for Japanese video game publisher Capcom, while also inspiring a string of novels, comics and movies. Not bad for a game series associated with slow-moving zombies and clumsy controls.

More recent entries and spin-offs upped the tempo and action. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City could be the most ambitious offspring so far. It combines the familiar story setting of Resident Evil 2 and 3 with fast-paced online shooter gameplay, pitting four player teams against each other (and plenty of zombies, of course).

Ian Christ (Slant Six Games)

Vancouver-based Slant Six Games’ work on the tactical military shooter franchise SOCOM was a key attraction for Capcom. “Operation Raccoon City needed a degree of realism that was brought to it on the Slant Six side; that impressed the folks at Capcom,” said Slant Six Games Senior Game Designer Ian Christy, in an interview. “Zombies and monsters and all those things are fairly fantastic, so if you have a fairly technical shooter approach to that, then it gives it a bit of grounding.”

We met with Ian Christy after his lecture on working with established IPs during a recent event hosted by the Vancouver Film School. During his 16-year career, begun at Dynamix in Oregon, Christy has been the Lead Level Designer for the Scarface video game and also worked on a Captain America tie-in before joining Slant Six Games as Lead Campaign Designer for Operation Raccoon City. He is also moonlighting as a toy designer for Hong Kong-based company Toy2R.

To get creative sparks out of the constraints of an existing IP, Christy recommends designers to “dig in, explore the cracks and peripherals for inspiration”. For example, focusing on what happened with certain characters between time periods of an established story framework “gives me a whole giant bucket to work with”.

Quizzing publisher Capcom early on was crucial for the development oOperation Raccoon City. “Resident Evil has a massive background of stories and their continuities don’t all agree, to phrase it lightly”, says Christy. He eliminated “white noise” by asking Capcom simple questions like whether the canon of the Resident Evil comics could be ignored (it could, to his relief).

The development team at Slant Six Games has several members with personal military experience. Factoring in what a real soldier would do in certain situations guided the design process — to a certain extent: “There are some things in the game that soldiers wouldn’t do, but it makes fans happier – it is expected from [a Resident Evil game]. But a lot of time there’s a nice kind of integrity to the way that a combat group works. If you watch players work together, you can see them move tactically, and that’s what we want to get as an experience.”

The goal for Operation Raccoon City is to “reach new fans without alienating old ones”, explains Christy. However, “there are certain aspects of the typical Resident Evil games that we don’t do because they don’t fit with the gameplay genre we’re approaching. If you have four live humans playing, it doesn’t make sense to have massive inventory systems. It does in an RPG setting where the game moves slower. But with the amount of stuff that we’re throwing at you and the speed of things, it needs to be much more efficient than that.” To maintain the essential feel of the franchise, Christy and his team are doing “little things like using the iconic herbs as healing items”. Raccoon City also makes use of the series’ key characters and established monsters and is giving them more exposure in the narrative.

Asked if his team has looked at Valve’s Left4Dead as one the benchmark games in the genre, Christy replied: “Well, it’s impossible not to because it’s a four person co-op zombie game. So there’s no way around it.” He is quick to point out differences: “[In Operation Raccoon City] it’s not four survivors; it’s a trained military unit with a job to do in an environment that’s hostile. So that changes how we approach a lot of our design decisions. Left4Dead is very much about ‘can we stay alive and get to a rendezvous point?’ And while there are moments in a military situation where you have to evac, the majority of time we’re trying to do something else. And I think that shifts how you approach the missions and what’s going on. It definitely had an influence on our mechanics choices.”

Christy added that Slant Six Games also looked at other tactical shooters as well as “the experience the studio has with SOCOM and some of the other combat games we’ve done. Presentation-wise, we’re looking at some of the industry leaders, like Gears of War or Call of Duty, and the way they lead players forward in an environment that otherwise could be potentially very confusing. Anyone working in this space is looking at those exact same benchmarks.” He stresses that “the trick is not to look at them so that you can emulate them or copy their systems,” but rather learn what conventions players are used to in a specific genre: “This is the button that players are going to expect that’s going to do a particular function on this platform.”

Talking about the experience of working in a Canadian development studio with a Japanese publisher, Ian Christy emphasizes the importance of communication: “It’s been really awesome working with Capcom. We talk to them regularly, through email and video-conferences. Conversation is huge, so I love the fact that we’re communicating constantly. And it’s not like they are riding shotgun to tell us what to do. They’ve given us a lot of room to work with and do the right thing.”

Resident Evil: Raccoon City is due for release on March 20, 2012 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, followed by a Windows PC version on May 18.

The Last Mailman - A Book Review

2012-02-21T08:44:00.001-08:00

THE LAST MAILMAN
Written by Kevin J. Burke's The Last Mailman: Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Zombies.
Review by Stephane Martin.

Originally self-published, the book is now available in eBook, paperback, and audiobook from Audible.com.

The synopsis:

Four-year degree in business. Trained in hand-to-hand combat.
Works well with zombies.

This is the resume of the last mailman on Earth. It is the near future, and the modern world we knew has been overrun and destroyed by reanimated corpses who hunt humans for food. Mankind has retreated to small pockets of civilization and practically surrendered to the walking dead. But one man routinely leaves behind the safety and comfort to find the people and things we've long abandoned. He battles the elements. He battles his own brewing insanity.

But mostly, he battles zombies.

The Walking Dead -- StorySync Review- Play along live with the Show-- sort of.

2012-02-17T09:18:00.000-08:00

On Feb 12, The Walking Dead continued where it left off, before it's hiatus, with Episode 8 of Season 2-- http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead/story-sync

Along with much hype, the experience of watching the show was to be enhanced by interacting live, through your computer/iPad (internet connection) with The Walking Dead site, through a mechanism they called "StorySync."

Neat idea-- but have they really attained the holy grail of television -- something that makes you feel like you really are taking part in the episode. Are they even in the ballpark?

Dead Snow (2009) - A Film Review

2012-02-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

I had heard about this movie for quite a while, but only got around to watching it tonight.

And it was as entertaining, funny, and as bloody as I expected and hoped it would be.

One of the things I really enjoyed, something you really don't see much in these type of horror flicks, is brightly lit zombies-- and especially brightly lit zombies spraying blood and guts all over brightly lit white snow. That juxtaposition was awesome in itself -- and, in my opinion, had to really make the zombie and flesh tearing effects that much harder to pull off.

The Walking Dead with Live Interactive Content streamed as you watch the New Episode (8)

2012-02-12T17:40:00.000-08:00

Feb 12, 2012
The Walking Dead with Live Interactive Content streamed as you watch the New Episode (8)

Walking Dead StorySync

Joins fans live across the continent as we all watch Episode 8.
Discussions, Snap polls, cool trivia, exclusive video and more! See you at: http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead/story-sync

UPDATE: Interesting experience. Our review to follow. Feb 12, 2012 - This social and interactive function will be available on each episode for the rest of the season!

READ OUR REVIEW OF THIS EXPERIENCE HERE!

Deadsville Posting 6 - Additional Location Scouting

2012-02-12T11:53:00.000-08:00

Lead Character Bust

Writer Producer/Director Thomas Newman, creator of Bong Of The Dead has saddled up once again to take you on another great adventure. Those following Blog of the Living Dead know it as DEADSVILLE to be filmed in 3D!

Feb 7, 2012
If you are a fan of horror, action, zombie, or western movies, then there is nothing you won't love about this rising director's new concept. The biggest change from his first $5000 film (Bong of the Dead), to his next project, is not only the significant change in budget but also the caliber of talent who he has attracted to his next project. One such individual jumping on board with DEADSVILLE is local icon Stunt man/Writer/Producer/Director Danny Virtue - the man with all the connections. Not to mention he owns every western town studio and ranch from here to Kamloops BC.

The Walking Dead - Free Online Game Review!

2012-02-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

Just finished playing the new online "Walking Dead" game, called "Dead Reckoning."

In this Flash-based, "choose your own adventure" style game, you play Shane Walsh, just as the zombie epidemic is hitting the city. What this game gives you is a little backstory -- just before Season 1, Episode 1.

New Netlix Instant US/Canada Listing

2012-02-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

An up-to-date DAILY full Netflix Watch Instantly for the US and Canada is now available.!

GO TO THE NEW LISTING!

Indie director parlays web donations into rom-zom-com 'A Little Bit Zombie'

2012-02-06T08:16:00.000-08:00

TORONTO - It was in 2006 that Thunder Bay, Ont.-native Casey Walker set out make his first feature film and won over the web with his pitch to shoot an "unromantic comedy" for a million bucks.

A lot can change in five-plus years, including the idea for your film, and how much it'll cost to make it.

Walker eventually changed gears and decided to make his debut film a "rom-zom-com" called "A Little Bit Zombie," which is getting its world premiere this weekend at the Victoria Film Festival. And while he initially nicknamed the project "my million dollar movie," it ended up costing just about double that.

Speed Bump - Zombie Dad

2012-02-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

SPEED BUMP - Feb 4, 2012

Deadsville Posting 5 -- Be Part of Thomas Newman's latest film - Deadsville!

2012-02-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

Like REALLY be a part of it?

It's a Go-Go!

What would you do...? If a zombie apocalypse hit. And you ran out of weed???
www.bongofthedead.com
Bong of the the Dead now has ...worldwide distribution.
A movie made for $5000. And Yes. There was bud.

Lollipop Chainsaw -- Now with Hotter Outfits!

2012-02-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

Click to Expand

UPDATE:

Lollipop Chainsaw is the 'un-deadly' story of sweet but killer zombie-hunter Juliet Starling and her quest to uncover the root of a colossal zombie outbreak. With her wickedly awesome chainsaw in hand, Juliet slices, dices and splits her way through hordes of the undead, but soon realizes the horde is only the opening act to a festival of zombie rock lords determined to kill the chainsaw-wielding cheerleader.

Lollipop Chainsaw is still in Pre-order mode, but there are incentives if you get your order in now ( X-Box 360 and PlayStation (see below).

http://lollipopchainsaw.com/

The Annual CFC Online Gala and Auction

2012-02-01T13:34:00.003-08:00

NOTE: The Online Auction is now over. If you'd like to see photos from the event-- check them out here!

Nothing says meat eating like a BBQ! And the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is in fundraising mode with the Annual Online Gala and Auction. Yeah-- it's cold. Yeah, it's snowing, or raining or both. But it won't be in September. Bid on two tickets to the Annual CFC BBQ.

The BBQ is described as your chance to attend the Annual CFC BBQ in September 2012. Hosted by Norman Jewison during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), this invitation-only event hosts over 1,800 VIP guests including: key leaders, influencers and decision-makers from Canada’s film, television and new media industries. And I bet they've got burgers too.

And if that ain't enough, CFC is also auctioning "The Walking Dead" snowboards (useful now)!

These are one of a kind, limited edition, and can not be bought in stores.

Etsy: Bed Spread of the Living Dead

2012-02-01T11:53:00.000-08:00

Etsy describes itself as "the world’s handmade marketplace."

In their words: Their mission is to empower people to change the way the global economy works.

"We see a world in which very-very small businesses have much-much more sway in shaping the economy, local living economies are thriving everywhere, and people value authorship and provenance as much as price and convenience. We are bringing heart to commerce and making the world more fair, more sustainable, and more fun."

Etsy is headquartered in DUMBO, Brooklyn, and also have offices in Hudson, NY, San Francisco, CA, and Berlin, Germany.

That being said, good friend and contributor Quentin Matheson, one of the undead team discovered the following family household item that every good zombie should own and cherish.

Yes, we are talking, a Bed Spread of the Living Dead.

It appears Melissa Christie, the creator of this wonderfully creative beddding of happiness has made only so many (they are all HAND MADE). I think that if enough of you critters try, you might be able to get Melissa to make more.

I feel warm all over just looking at the "Never Sleep Alone!" bedspreads, duvets...!
Mmmmmmmmm. Go here for more info!

The Junkie Quatrain -- A Book Review

2012-01-31T13:25:00.000-08:00

The Junkie Quatrain by Peter Clines
review by Stephane Martin

In an effort to properly attend to the 4 distinct stories/quatrains that make up this collection, this review has been written section-by-section [by sitting], in the order as presented by the author.

First sitting; [First quatrain]-

The author goes to great lengths to explain why the pandemic survivors [and main characters] in these stories are called zombie "junkies". Supposedly this can be ascribed to their similarity to "drug addict junkies/crack heads". I am as yet uncertain if this is an attempt at simple humor or if it is a parallel that the author has himself drawn from his [limited] interactions with heroin or crack cocaine addicts...

"The Walking Dead" are Walking right into Toronto -- Jan 31 CONTEST

2012-01-31T10:42:00.000-08:00

CONTEST CLOSED! For more great contests, keep an eye on Blog of the Living Dead, on https://facebook.com/groups/blogofthelivingdead, and on Twitter @ TweetAtTheDead

Also, keep an eye on that Twitter feed over there in the right hand column. It is an up-to-the-second feed on all that is Horror-- and many contests!!!

Toronto Dpt.of Zombie Disposal

2012-01-30T10:46:00.000-08:00

Toronto, as you know, is generally on the cutting edge of cleanup garbage disposal, despite our mayor's many attempts at cost cutting. Walk down any major street and see if you can find a Bazooka-Joe gum wrapper.

And so it continues. A snapshot taken of a specialized cleanup crew was captured by my good buddy Rob J. at Queen Street West and Dunn.

My chest swells with pride.

Click to Enlarge!

Photo Credit to Robert Johnson

Warner Bros. now adding restrictions to your Netflix DVD queue

2012-01-30T07:38:00.000-08:00

www.venturebeat.com
January 26, 2012 | Tom Cheredar14

Giant media company Warner Brothers might be taking further steps to ensure that its updated distribution strategy for newly released DVD movies has the maximum effect — regardless of how petty the company may seem as a result.

Earlier this month, Warner Brothers decided to delay all new DVD movie releases from becoming available through video rental services, like Blockbuster and Netflix. This means the rental services must wait 56 days after a new Warner Brothers DVD hits retail store shelves before it’s able to begin renting it out to customers. Of course, the video rental companies do have the option of buying the new DVD releases at full retail price, but this would raise over all operating costs for the rental service and ultimately dip into its profits.

The Walking Dead - Season 2 - Episodes 1 - 7 Hiatus RECAP!

2012-01-22T17:10:00.000-08:00

I was underwhelmed with the second season of AMC's "The Walking Dead." AMC hooked me in the first season.
Then something happened.

I have re-watched the first half of Season Two of "The Walking Dead." Thought I'd give it one more chance.

Point of view, maybe just a bad mood. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention. I tweeted my results, and they are, consolidated together below, with rankings.

And then I watched Episode 7.

Observation - Zombie Skyscraper Window Washers

2012-01-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

I have to say, ever since we started working with zombies here in Toronto, there have been far fewer instancies of biting.

Take Zombie Skyscraper Window Washers, for example.

Now don't get me wrong-- I was a little skeptical at first, but once they developed that harness contraption that could not be decoupled easily from the washer platforms, all went pretty smoothly. Putting two or three zombies unharnessed into one platform proved just too chaotic.

Of course, the engineers had to design the moving platforms to climb up and down the sides of the skyscrapers automatically.

Three zombies, harnessed properly to one platform was found to be optimum.

At first, of course, there were alot of startled working folk enjoying their massively windowed corner offices that complained at first.

Most of the remarks were something like "I was half way through my breakfast bagel and there they were, three bloody, oozing faces staring sadly and hungrily at me, gnashing teeth and face-peices sliding with that odd squeeeeek as they were pulled up to the next floor".

This, of course, actually added rather than reduced the window cleanliness problem.

A junior egineer was the one who has been credited with solving this basic problem.

The answer was ShamWows (TM).

That's right.

ShamWows!

Strap a shamwow to each zombie's face (obviously with eyeholes cut out), and strap a shamwow to each hand and each knee (if present).

Why eyeholes cut out in the Shamwows, you might ask? This essentially turned the workers inside the buildings into eye-candy. Our window-washing zombies were in fact window shopping.

Sometimes it has taken several passes -- up and down to get a full skyscraper side completely clean-- but hey-- they never stop for lunch.

SURVIVING A...

2012-01-22T08:03:00.000-08:00

Zombie Pandemic Survivor Guide

We have managed to make it back to this building-- with what appears to be one of the only working computers in this damn place!

Christmas was a can of cold chicken noodle soup and some stale bread. Small blessings.

Our message is still clear. Keep moving!

While you are here, we've managed to cull a number of articles from "Blog of the Living Dead" -- and put them in this single message.

Anything you can glean from these postings will hopefully help you to stay alive... a little longer. We have only time to write these last few messages -- links to other sites that may help you.... don't make the same mistakes we've made...

If you're a little confused as to what this page is all about, then you're not engulfed in a Zombie Pandemic. If you want to be-- GO HERE!

Impenetrable Zombie Defense -- Tread Mills!

I would like to mention that "Bong of the Dead" used a zombie-powered treadmill water pump--

How To Weather the Zombie Apocalypse

When an intrepid weather professional contacts and tells us "How to Weather the Zombie Apocalypse" -- well... we listen. That's one of the 8 things we're here for!

Here we go.... READ MORE

Harvard Professor Explains what to do During a Zombie Breakout

Aside from campus-wide stagings of zombie attacks, when the world faces a real pandemic infection that results in blood-thirsty dead people causing utter pandemonium, one Harvard professor has studied the ins and outs of zombiehood and brought his knowledge to USU. READ MORE

Disease Control and Prevention -- and Zombies

The US Government Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- www.cdc.gov, motto is: "Saving Lives, Protecting People, Reducing Health Costs", has finally come to the realization that there could very well be an impending Zombie Apocolypse, and that the good citizens of the United States of America need to be prepared. What follows is pulled directly from their website... READ MORE

Weapons of the Living Dead -- TOP 10 - REVISED LIST

When placed in sudden imminent danger, people will do just about anything to survive. So we thought we'd celebrate the unconventional, and sometimes hilarious weapons our heroes have used against the living dead. READ MORE

Vehicles of the Dead

Most zombie movies have a few things in common. You have staggering, ashen-faced undead staggering through rubbish-strewn streets. You have a small band of mostly attractive young people fighting to survive.
And to survive, they need a good, reliable car. READ MORE

How to KILL a Walker-- Video!

The good people at AMC's The Walking Dead have put together a Video How-To... READ MORE

Zombie "Help-line"

With all of this talk about real zombies-- read our earlier article regarding a WikiLeaks info at Dugway Proving Grounds, I think this initiative is one well over-due. READ MORE

WikiLeaks and yes-- Zombies

If you've not been hiding under a rock for the past couple of years, you will have read a lot about the WikiLeak website, and it's release of many top secret documents.

But some of these documents are mind-blowing, and one, in fact, makes reference to "zombies." READ MORE

ZOMBIE CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead

Multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry is currently on tour with his latest (and strangest) book, ZOMBIE CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead (Citadel Press, $16.95). This is a nonfiction book in which the author interviews over 250 experts in law enforcement, forensic science, medicine, the military, the clergy, the law and others to ask how they think the real world would react and respond if something like Night of the Living Dead ever happened. READ MORE

10 Worst Things To Do During a Zombie Outbreak

A wave of Zombie survival manuals have popped up recently, this one included, telling people what they should do during an outbreak of zombies. Thing is, nobody’s talking about what people shouldn’t do during a zombie outbreak.
Fortunately for you, our Zombiephile has scoured popular zombie movies and has isolated the Ten WORST Things to Do During a Zombie Outbreak. Sit back, enjoy, and take notes. READ MORE

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Read about the game and its development...

Zombie Pandemic - Multiplayer Adventure Game (Developers)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The boys at Pixel Pandemic, a small group of Copenhagen game developers have issued a press release surrounding their new browser-based adventure game, "Zombie Pandemic." It's an online massive multiplayer role playing game, and, best of all, it's free!

READ MORE

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Zombie Pandemic - The Interview (#1)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Intrigued by the prospect of an online, massive multi-player zombie game, we interviewed the developers of Zombie Pandemic.

READ MORE

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Zombie Pandemic -- Free Online Multiplayer Beta is Live - The Review!
Sunday, November 7, 2010

A while back we interviewed the makers of the Massive Multi-player Online Game "Zombie Pandemic". We waited, and waited and now the waiting is over. Their Beta site is up, and free to try out and explore! No Access codes necessary!

READ MORE

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The End is HERE! Zombie Pandemic Out of Beta!
Sunday, February 13, 2011

"Zombie Pandemic", the browser based MMORPG is out of Beta-- Version 1.0 is live -- and FREE!

READ MORE

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Zombie Pandemic - A Quick chat with the developers -- and perhaps an Easter Egg (Interview #2)
Friday, February 18,2011

Blog of the Living Dead continues to follow the intrepid team of artists, programmers, producers and everyone else that have come together to create awesome games-- online, offline, wireless...

Zombie Pandemic is one of these.

We've chatted with the producer Thomas Bjørn Krogh-Jacobsen, for a quick follow up to our discussion prior to, and during development.

READ MORE

Hannover House Pacts With Studio 3 Entertainment for Major Home Video Campaign Supporting "Humans Vs. Zombies" Release

2012-01-21T20:22:00.001-08:00

By Hannover House, Inc.
Published: Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 - 8:34 am

PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Jan. 20, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Hannover House, Inc., the newly rebranded corporate name for Target Development Group, Inc. (Pinksheets: TDGI), will unleash an apocalypse of horror and promotions with the May 8, 2012 home video release of "Humans Vs. Zombies," a new sci-fi-thriller from director Brian T. Jaynes ("Boggy Creek: The Legend Is True"). The feature thriller was inspired by the hugely popular role-playing game of the same name, and marks the second home video release between Hannover House and Studio 3 Entertainment.

‘The Dead’ follows Romero’s Rules of Order

2012-01-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

A new British zombie flick leads our list of movies showing around the town (San Diego).
By Anders Wright

It’s tough to get your zombie fix right now. The Walking Dead, AMC’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s series of graphic novels, is still in mid-season hiatus, and World War Z, the big-budget version of Max Brooks’ novel starring Brad Pitt, isn’t slated to hit theaters until December. In the meantime, there’s a small flesh-eating movie opening at Reading Cinemas Gaslamp on Friday, Jan. 20.

Observation - Zombie Barbers

2012-01-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

Here's something that irks me. It's stressful enough getting a haircut. I really hate having to do that explaining thing to the barber.

Guys-- You know what I'm talking about. To have to describe, each time, exactly what you we want the cut to look like-- "Yeah-- I want to look like Brad Pitt."

So, of course we refrain from that, for many obvious reasons. Now, try doing that with a zombie barber.

I know, I know. It's only been recently that they have been allowed into the "academy."

Yup, they have an Hair Cutting academy, and apparently they accept the undead.

To be honest, I'm wasn't entirely sure this was a good business decision.

Let's walk through a hair-cut -- zombie-style.

It's Ok when you first get into the shop. The muzak is playing (actually it's usually an AM radio station that is tuned to about 4/5 the frequency wavelength). The undead can't hear very well, so that leads to at least one advantage-- they aren't distracted. It does, however, annoy the living.

Fine enough. I'm there with a mission-- and let's get to it. Hair shampoo. Can we really come up with a better name than shampoo for men?

Really. Shampoo. Say it with me. Shampoo. I can feel my testicles shrinking every time I say that word.

Now, to my point earlier, comes the moment to explain what you want done with your hair. I have tried to cultivate a pseudo-relationship with a favorite slicer/cutter/hacker. It's the one that you managed to actually get more often than not in the last 10 or so haircuts.

That barber is, of course, always busy or not there at all. You don't want to make any of the other barbers/haridressers feel inadequate-- but do you really want to regurgitate the last 10 haircuts into 8 seconds, which include gesturing and making karate chops all over your head. And with zombies, there is a chance, albeit small, that it just might set one off in an awkward and delayed display of pseudo-self-defence.

So, you get the distant and far off look doe-eye look or hollow eye-ball cavities of alone-ness and despair from several of the workers, hidden mostly in the shadows..

Lord knows I empathize.

Then you get to it, and pick out a zombie. Once again, the fear that you're going to have to explain the cut you want all over again is everpresent, even if you've picked out the same zombie ten times in a row. They have the goldfish-bowl syndrom, and generally stop remembering you about half way through the cut (and you have to explain again). I do like the mumbling and the barely discernible dialogue. If he's talking that way-- I really don't need to answer. You know, he's just going through the motions, so a grunt from you is all that is really needed.

The fear, of course, is to lose an ear... or an eyebrow. My suggestion to you is to keep a keen eye on the mirror in front of you, and bob and weave as necessary.

All in all-- generally pretty successful. You have to be ready to swat away an ear nibble-- right quick-- but really-- is that much worse than the bad barbers?

Zombie barbers. Not all bad. And if the shop is essentially a zombie hoard, you can often even get away without paying.

Not that I've ever done that; but face it, they're just happy to see you.

Observation - Zombie Hitchhikers

2012-01-15T22:02:00.000-08:00

My mother told me to never pick up hitchhikers. I will reinforce that wisdom for you now.

Even if there's a possibility that the target hitchhiker is just a drunk person trying to get home (and avoid hypothermia)-- do not pick him up.

Lesson learned.

So I picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be a zombie late one night near Jarvis and Wellsley. Yeah-- it is also the primo pickup spot for men who aren't men and want to be paid for the fact that they aren't women.

I assure you I was on my way to Harvey's for a late-night burger (aka Hooker Harvey's).

I noticed the zombie I picked up was looking a little under the weather and I should have just kept on going, weaving my way through the lady-men, but compassion overcame common sense, and well, I stopped to pick him up.

Now the first thing I noticed was that he didn't really know how the doorhandles on the passenger side, so it was quite a chore to get him inside..

After a bit of grappling, some snapping on his part, I did manage to get him in. It was then that I realized the hand and thumb that he had been sticking out for a hitch was not in fact his hand and thumb. That rascal.

He wasn't particularly talkative. And he really didn't know where he wanted to go.

I drove him around the block and dropped him off where I picked him up. With the lady men.