14 June 2011

Zombies

Driving home the other day, I did something I almost never do (except in the case of baseball): I listened to AM radio. This time to get the traffic report for Atlanta. What I heard gave pause: traffic around such-and-such is backed up for several miles dues to...wait for it...ZOMBIES!

Yes. Zombies have invaded the ATL. Apparently, the AMC TV show "The Walking Dead" has chosen our area to film, and they've blocked roads to do it. I bet your city doesn't have traffic tie-ups due to Zombies. Just sayin'.

If you're worried about the undead, there's no need to fear: your Government is on the case. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control has published the official manual for surviving a Zombie Apocalypse. "If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak. CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states, or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation." I feel better already.

The CDC site may be a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it's for a good purpose—overall readiness. Wisdomie and Wisdaughter, the college kids, have both confessed to all-night dorm conversations (you remember them, don't you?) about the reality of zombies and how to deal with the coming zombie apocalypse. Their friends are worried. Are zombies real? Could a zombie apocalypse actually happen?

There has been at least one scholarly work about how, theoretically, a person could be zombified: PASSAGE OF DARKNESS: THE ETHNOBIOLOGY OF THE HAITIAN ZOMBIE, By Wade Davis. Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press. 1988. (reviewed here)

And Cracked magazine once examined the "5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen." Decide for yourself. But be prepared.

The previous generation worried itself about vampires. Vampires are all about the erotic and a desire that is greater than our selves: too much passion. Fear of zombies has to do with the fear of sleep-walking through life, merely eating and aggressing with no true fellow-feeling; fear that others are merely urge-driven: too little passion.

And maybe militarism. No?





2 comments:

Randal Graves said...

George Romero for president?

Jim H. said...

I had a friend in NYC who was an extra (a screaming victim in a phone booth) in the original "Dawn of the Dead". We adopted a cat from her, named after Rufus Thomas. That's as close as I ever got to GR. My dad served on a naval ship with Caesar Romero, though.