Happy Easter from ZESOB

Remember just because it was ok for Jesus to rise from the dead it doesn't mean when your dead neighbor does that it is ok.

The GREATEST Threat in the Zombie Apocalypse......

Nobody wants to see the forest through the trees, nobody thinks in a quantum physics mind frame so nobody in either in cinema or television wants to show you the #truth when writing, directing or producing a zombie genre film.

The Walking Dead graphic novel, which I highly recommend reading does explore this dark forest however sadly the television series does not. *Spoilers* The end of season two takes us to a place where we see Rick approaching his "Ricktatorship" which is something that also occurs in the graphic novel however the creation of our anti hero and his decent into madness does not occur in that manner at all.

The Fall of Shane however in the television series, leads up to but does not conclude the topic of this blog. Shane as we assume was an honorable man before the zombie apocalypse. He was Rick Grimes's partner in law enforcement and small town best friend that holds himself accountable for Rick's injury/hospitalization and in the madness of the zombie apocalypse retrieves and protects his best friend's wife and son. Consequently however Shane and Lori end up having an affair until the return of Rick.
Now I have to say that by allowing Shane to remain around longer in the series then in the graphic novel you are given some additional insight that is missed in the graphic novel. We get to see the complexity of Shane's evolving feelings and emotional state.

Now if you haven't read all or any of the graphic novels beyond this point I must quote Dr. River Song, "Spoilers".

The progression of the graphic novel is much more hurried than that of the television series however it is also slower for other points. Some characters die off sooner, some later and some never existed at all. (I'm looking at you Daryl) However we must consider the media source and how a person perceives things. You can't drag out a story over 16 comics like you can in 16 episodes.

In the graphic novel Sophia was not a zombie in the barn but yes Hershel had a barn of zombies, the group did not stay at the farm for so long before finding the prison via an unsuitable gated community after dealing with some snow and Lori's growing stomach because although Lori is also pregnant on the show she's not showing yet but like any classical soap opera we never fully understand how much time has passed, for all we know 16 episodes could only be a month in their world.

Alas there is SO MUCH MORE TO COME! *Spoilers* We have the Governor (which has been cast and is coming) and the sick little Thunder Dome like community he runs (If only Tina Turner and those hoop earrings where in this show- we don't need another hero...we don't need a way home....") we have the little band of prisoners, we have the downfall of the prison, the dramatic loss of characters, falling like dominoes to death by zombie and survivor alike, a band of cannibals and up to the point where I am, we have what seems like a new home.

All in all however in the graphic novel and ever so briefly in the television series, i.e. band other survivors met and killed in the bar, does it explore the very edge of the forest in the trees that in the zombie apocalypse the greatest threat to your survival is not the flesh consuming corpse slowly walking down the street it is the thinking and breathing neighbor struggling for their own existence and in most cases lost an immediate family member in the chaos of your new existence.

We all like to think that we would survive when the dead begin to walk, we all like to thing that we would be zombie killing, gun slinging, sons of bitches with the best hideouts and survival plans and besides the people on Doomsday Preppers none of us truly have mapped out our survival strategy, (and Survival Katie) have a basic set of supplies ready or have even thought about the notion that our family members, closest friend and that guy across the hall would survive with us. None of us take into consideration that we will have to band together with other survivors in order to survive or "rebuild the community" and none of us consider that dark nature that the human mind can take when it is faced with it's own survival or that fact that we would have to come together with people we would not normally mingle with to get by.


"Are you my mummy?"

Something that The Walking Dead graphic novel explores that the series has not fully explored and I doubt will explore is the dark side of humanity. What we would consider evil in nature by our standards I like to believe is actual nature.

From an evolution standpoint if you so choose to believe like I, we have evolved from apes that in their lives would have killed and eaten things "savagely", even each other to survive and in our desperate attempt to separate ourselves from the animal kingdom, remove ourselves from natural selection have "risen above" with reason.



I believe in this state, the Zombie Apocalypse that we humans would return to a semi animal state. Not saying we will grow hair all over our bodies or become random quadrupeds but I think between the shock and trauma of zombies and the instinctual need to survive a strong portion of society will turn to motives and action that what by today's societal standards are barbaric and detestable and that in order to survive the pandemic you yourself might have to take that turn as well.

*** I am not endorsing the consumption of human flesh *** (especially now, so any of you cannibals out there reading this, do not justify yourselves with this as an endorsement) and there is a good chance that I might become vegan in a zombie apocalypse since I don't want to gut a rabbit or odd squirrel however I do understand I will have to do what I gotta do to survive and that at sometime you will have to ask yourself "Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight?" and if you ever have to, can you waltz out of the darkness to face the next day or will you fall victim to your own inner darkness and never see the light of day again? Can you face true human nature?

New Year, New Things Zombies

A belated Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from ZESOB. I hope everyone had a safe, sound and zombie free holiday season.

One of the many joys of living in the north is that when winter comes we are fortunately zombie free for a few months however this winter season (possibly brought to us by global warming) is snow less and warmer than usual. This will not aid the zombie threat as colder temperatures will slow these creatures down or stop them completely.

Alas, one of the best Christmas gifts I've ever received is..........



a Zombie Survival Kit!

Now this gift was part of a hysterical gift exchange where we were required to purchase items at Hu's Discount Store. A wonderful local business filled with goods of all kinds.

It's a new year so it's going to be a new things zombie as well. I've changed my primary job so I am no longer lost and traveling the country, giving up part of my life and focus on things that I love.

I look forward to a new year and new things zombie and look forward in my attempt to bring them to you. More and exciting things ZESOB!

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope your canning those summer veggies!

Zombie Apocalyse: for no other reason

How do YOU classify your zombies?

No matter what your zombie is doing they are still deadly.

Survival During a Zombie Swarm

Trust.

Bacon and Zombies

fact number three......bacon lovers will survive the zombie apocalyae.

ZESOB Gift Shop NOW OPEN

That's right fellow zombie enthusiasts, if you are for or against zombies the ZESOB gift show is now open and you can pick up all your favorite slogans on a t-shirt or mug from our shop!

Items like "Friends Don't Let Friends Become Zombies" and "Oh You A Zombie, HUH" are up and available!

There is a large variety of items that you can get your favorite saying printed on and shipped directly to you for a fair on convenient price.

Great for any zombie fan or just fun to wear for this Halloween season so please check out the ZESOB Gift Shop!

http://www.cafepress.com/zesobny

Hidden Zombies: Death Becomes Her

Death Becomes Her is a fantastic movie that stars Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis and Goldie Hawn (two of my favorite actresses). In this film they are both looking for eternal youth and through the magic of a potion obtain it. However a mishap that brings their death they come to find out that they are still "alive".

I always found this movie amusing in the past and found it a little sad that in the end they had trouble keeping up their appearances. While sitting here this afternoon with the movie playing it hit me. OMG they are zombies!

Both women of the film start the movie in their perspective living states however due to incidents that occur during the film that involve them trying to respectively kill one another the not so gruesome transformations occurs. The ladies mangle and destroy their bodies as the film progresses and comes to it's conclusion.

What was in this little magical bottle? Was it a magic potion that was meant to preserve their living bodies not accounting for accidental death or was it a carrier zombie virus that upon their death awakened causing them to rise from their deaths?

They may not have been bloody thirsty, brain eating, flesh craving zombies that we are use to but they are zombies nonetheless. This is a great reminder that we must be vigilant in our quest to be aware of the pending zombie threat, that zombies in any form can be any where. They can be a stranger, our neighbors, a family members, our favorite authors or a holiday celebrity.

Zombie Apocalypse: The Next Great Extinction

Let's first look at the definition of the two greatest words in our title.

Apocalypse: (1) a : one of the Jewish and Christian writings of 200 b.c. to a.d. 150 marked by pseudonymity, symbolic imagery, and the expectation of an imminent cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers of evil and raises the righteous to life in a messianic kingdom b capitalized : revelation (2) a : something viewed as a prophetic revelation b : armageddon (3): a great disaster

Extinct: (1) a : no longer burning b : no longer active (an extinct volcano) (2): no longer existing (an extinct animal) (3) a : gone out of use : superseded b : having no qualified claimant


Dodo Bird

So last night I had an interesting conversation with my friend Volcano Todd. We were discussing how zombies have become the perfect modern day villain. I wish I save that conversation because I know myself well enough that I can't recall it well enough now and won't attempt to.

During the conversation I almost made the statement, but deleted it that a Zombie Apocalypse would be the most destructive element to occur, destroying the life cycle by eliminating animals and possibly plant life by contaminating soil and water sources. But then it hit me, how is that different then any other mass extinction that has occurred in the past?


"NNNNNOOOOOO, I just got my meal!"

I don't always like using Wikipedia as a source, due to it's free range edit and everyone now a days think they are a "American Jackass" Scientist. But we use and hope for it's accuracy, especially on certain topics that aren't normally discussed.

Per the Extinction Wiki, there are 5 major mass extinction events. The 5 major events are as follows, Cretaceous–Tertiary (KT) extinction event, Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, Permian–Triassic extinction event, Late Devonian extinction & Ordovician–Silurian extinction event.

From my "American Jackass" Scientist point of view, during each of these extinctions a large populations of species were eliminated. In a spiritual event a cleansing occurred that allow the Earth to start over again and allowed for the growth and development of new species. Mostly famously were the growth and development of dinosaurs and then life moving onto gigantic mammals. Dinosaurs have not remained on the planet, unless Nessie and Champ are real. Mammals have survived the last extinction however not in the size as they previously did.




Going back to my point, one of the Resident Evil movies showed a post Zombie Apocalyptic world that is barren and dead, I Am Legend showed a world that was wild with nature coming back into the cities between the cracks. I guess the outcome of the world will depend on just how great the virus or whatever causes the Zombie epidemic is. If truly toxic I would think that all life would be destroyed. Waters would be contaminated and die, causing their inhabitant to go, plants would be poisoned be either direct or indirect contact with such toxins as well. I would think in theory depending on the rate of decay, environment of the infected area i.e winters, rain fall, etc the plague upon the Earth would last several decades to over a century.

In following part of the context of the conversation with Volcano Todd, we American's are looking for our next great "unbeatable" and "unreal" villain. We are looking for something that says we are "bad" and will become extinct in some way that we ourselves would have created. Just how great would the Zombie Extinction be I think in a way from any books we read, any movies we see we all think we would be bad ass gun slinging sons of a bitches, going out and taking care of any dead that would get in our way. I often think just how would I handle a world filled with zombies. I think that I need to work with my trainer to become more athletic. Depending on the plague we would either get slow moving flesh eater or we could quick moving dead predators. Also what will be the mental capabilities of these new found dead neighbors. Will they be, not to put a pun on things brain dead as they were in Night of the Living Dead, will they mimic characteristics and habits they used while they were part of the living (per my impression) as on The Walking Dead or would they be more advanced creatures they have somewhat of a developing hive mentality as in Land of the Dead or I Am Legend?

I think either one of the last two would be the scariest occurrence to happen. I mean not only to have a target that cannot be killed easily, because let's be real. Most people do not have a perfect shot and most likely could not easily or quickly take aim at the head of a moving target no matter how fast or slow. Also taking into consideration that the object is or was part of the species in which you are a part of and probably in most cases someone you are familiar with. Also the depending on the array of available ammunition you may not actually hit the brain and do any damage to such target. Now add into the fact that this adversary that is not easily destroyed could have some sort of intelligence that would make it even more difficult to hunt and destroy and we are in a whole new ball game. Especially if it formed an effective hive mentality. I think of the faults of the human species is our inability to group together comfortably. We we do form some sort of cognitive mass however in the moment of crisis or over a long duration of time that mentality is easily broken and abandoned.




So where does this lead us, of course with the usual warning to be prepared. The undead can rise (haha) any minute. The Zombie Apocalypse is just another good reason to hone your skills, be the better man or woman that you can be.

Friend's Don't Let Friends Become Zombies

Great shirts are available NOW on Sushtique! Come check them out by clicking the link!! The designs are available in a varierty of styles and colors. If you make a purchase send us a pic and we will feature you on our blog!

The Walking Dead Poster

I want to give a big THANKS and shout out to Volcano Todd for getting me The Walking Dead Poster! You're a great guy and thank you for being my friend and fellow member of ZESOB.

With you I know we can keep the zombie threat at bay!

We need YOU!

Do you want to be part of an elite team that hunts down and eliminates the zombie threat.? Do you have the skills and desire to deal with the undead?

Then we want you!

Leave a comment with your contact info and we will reach out to you!