Posted By John Sears on April 2, 2011

I think today demonstrates once and for all the link between talking about the Differently Animated and discussing politics, for today here in Madison we had a fascinating example of peaceful political activism – by the Differently Animated and their allies.

Yes, it was the Zombie Walk Against Governor Walker, and the ZRC was there. We had our banner, pamphlets and a bunch of wristbands, and we mingled, discussed Zombie Rights and gently pushed our literature on anyone we could get to pay attention.

Ahh, activism.

The Zombies were out in force to show solidarity with the Living hordes, aka ‘Unions’, who are faced with having their fundamental rights to gather and work collectively to better their lives stripped away by a college dropout who somehow stumbled his way into the Governor’s mansion (and promptly cut corporate taxes by over 100 million dollars, in a recession).

Zombies know what it’s like to be told that they can’t gather together, can’t work together, aren’t allowed to form hordes to protest for a better Unlife, so they came out today to stand with their Living colleagues and lurch toward a brighter future. And this time, I think they got some serious results.

For who else should show up to the Zombie Walk but one of the two men running in a very tight race to be Madison’s next mayor, former Mayor Paul Soglin, also known as ‘Hizzoner’:

Mr. Soglin even discussed Zombie Rights with the marchers, promising to support rights for Zombies and talking about backing a referendum on the subject! Clearly we need to get this in writing from his campaign, as well as a response from his rival, Mayor Dave. Perhaps Madison will be the first major American city to officially recognize Zombie Equality?

We can only hope. I’ll let you know about their official responses. In the meantime, it’s good to see a politician catering openly to the Zombie Vote. That’s serious progress!

The full flickr set of all the pictures from today’s Zombie Walk and associated protests is here, and the collection of all pictures we’ve taken since this whole thing began is here, while the ZRC’s official Youtube channel is here.

Below I’m embedding two short videos from the rally as well. Enjoy, and thanks from the ZRC to everyone who came out today in support of Zombie Activism and Civil Rights.

Category: Zombie Media, ZRC News | 15 Comments »
Tags: Madison Protests, Social Justice

Posted By John Sears on April 2, 2011

We’re back, we had a great time, and there are lots of pictures.

Here’s the flickr set from today’s event.

I will be writing more comprehensive stuff after dinner; haven’t really eaten yet today. Starving.

Category: Zombie Media, ZRC News | No Comments »
Tags: Madison Protests, Social Justice

Posted By John Sears on April 2, 2011

Just a quick-heads up about the Zombie Walk on State Street starting this afternoon against Gov. Walker. We’ll be there with stuff to hand out, and we’d love to see you too.

Here’s the FB page.

Here’s the basic info:

Dress up like a zombie and make a clever sign.

I would like everyone to meet near Urban Outfitters on State Street. I will be there at 1pm and start walking towards the Capitol at 1:15pm. Or you can do whatever suits you.

I will be holding a sign saying; “Zombies Unite for Union Workers”. I have short bright pink hair and will most likely be wearing a black zip up hoodie and jeans.

PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS A PEACEFUL PROTEST

I DO NOT ADVISE GOING INSIDE THE CAPITOL

The FoodTable will be set up outside Grace Church by West Wash for this event.

I think the organizer is forgetting to include the *actual* Zombies in the area, but we can offer some gentle persuasion/correction on this point tomorrow.

Eep. I should sleep soon, I have signage to make in the morning.

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Tags: Madison Protests

Posted By John Sears on April 2, 2011

If Australia is sending us what may be the most promising Anti-Zombie satire since AACTV2, then Germany looks to make up for it with a slick indie retread of 28 Days Later:

It’s the story of Eloise, who wakes up in a destroyed, life-threatening world after
a bad drug trip. Separated from her friends, she learns to survive in a bizarre
reality. The world around her is chaotic. She learns that this situation originated
in a financial crisis and the following speculations about the last food recourses –
and the complete destruction of the latter. In addition, the use of biological
weapons spread a virus among the human species – causing them to become dangerous
mutants (sleepers).

In this desperate situation, she joins a group of people, who, like her, are
motivated by the longing to flee this nightmare.

Watching the trailer, which I’ve embedded below, it becomes clear that ‘Toxic Lullaby’ follows in the Boyle mold, trying to tie Zombiism to some trendy topic, or in this case, *range* of topics. Yeesh. I mean, I recognize that filmmakers often use Zombies as puppets to spout their critiques of everything from Capitalism (Romero), the military (Romero again), modern short-tempers and societal anger (Boyle), to, say, the shallowness and superficiality of interpersonal relationships (Cabine of the Dead). Still, to be so upfront about it is unusual. Most of the time the filmmakers at least pretend the movie is on the surface about Zombies, or their conception thereof at least.

I’m not sure I follow how food speculators could cause the world to starve, let alone due to a financial crisis that all took place within the span of *one* drug trip. Unless Eloise is the modern Hunter S. Thompson, it just seems implausible. A normal body can only sustain so much after all.

At any rate, as BuyZombie notes, with an English subtitled trailer it seems likely that it will be coming out here, or failing here then perhaps across the pond in England. I wouldn’t bet money against ‘Toxic Lullaby’ showing up at some of the more globally-inclined indie horror festivals either.

We’ll keep an eye out and give you a full review whenever we get a chance. The trailer is below.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Euro-zom, Movies

Posted By John Sears on April 2, 2011

We last talked about Dr. Steven Schlozman when the ZRC highlighted how a Harvard professor was pushing hate in a seminar for Living Supremacists. As disturbing as that was, it pales in comparison to the news that Dr. Schlozman has a new ‘novel’ out leveraging his medical expertise to spread more hate and fear about Zombies:

Presented as the journal kept by a neuroscientist investigating the medical causes of zombiism, Schlozman’s clever debut shows that there’s still life left in the overworked horror theme of the living dead. Dr. Stanley Blum is already infected (as is two-thirds of humankind) with ataxic neurodegenerative satiety deficiency syndrome (ANSD)—the virus that makes flesh-eating zombies lurch and lunch—when he decamps to Bassas da India, an island overseen by the U.N., to vivisect captive zombies in the hope of isolating the pathogen before he succumbs to it. Schlozman makes the science both accessible and plausible. In lieu of a meaty plot, he provides a grim vision of zombie apocalypse and a surprise explanation for the virus’s origin. Printed as a handwritten diary and illustrated in gory glory with clinical drawings by Andrea Sparacio, this book is sure to be scarfed up by ravenous zombiephiles.

Oh goody, we have a *doctor* using the knowledge imparted through his noble profession to spread fear and anxiety about an oppressed minority group, and guess what? It has lurid pictures.

Honestly, hasn’t the medical community learned from their past mistakes at all? What’s next, Anti-Zombie eugenics?

No, wait, forget I said that; Dr. Schlozman might be looking for sequel ideas.

There’s even a promotional video for the book out, drawing heavily upon Dr. Schlozman’s degree and background, along with copious amounts of footage from ‘Night of the Living Dead’, to sell this latest iteration of his fearmongering:

The Zombie Autopsies with Steven Schlozman, MD from GCP authors on Vimeo.

Really, there’s nothing here that wasn’t presented in his little seminar I highlighted above. Dr. Schlozman has concocted a fanciful explanation for why, precisely, it’s ok to malign and abuse the Differently Animated, harkening back to the tragic Italian School of Positivists who felt that they could trace criminality to organic defects of the brain, and then perhaps ‘cure’ society of undesirables, usually by removing them through one method or another.

Which Schlozman says, in fact, he would wish to do to any Zombies he came across, isolating and then ‘curing’ them though he seems confused as to where the reality ends and his own personal fantasy begins.

I think I don’t have to tell you where *that* sort of thinking led us. Oh, and by the way, the man who founded the Italian school? Who thought that people who behaved in ways he didn’t approve of were atavistic throwbacks, biologically defective?

His name was Cesare Lombroso, and he was a doctor and professor too, much like Dr. Schlozman.

History repeats itself, and unfortunately, Zombies are the ‘acceptable’ targets of scorn and discrimination in our era, according to conventional wisdom.

That’s just not tolerable for the ZRC, and so we will work to highlight the work of fearmongers like Dr. Schlozman, the modern-day Anti-Zombie Lombroso, whenever and wherever we can, and point out the proven dangers of listening to their siren song of hate.

For shame, Professor. For shame.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Academia, Anti-Zombie Products, Books

Posted By John Sears on April 2, 2011

No, that title isn’t some sort of mad-lib, and no, I haven’t had a stroke. It is, in fact, the actual title of an upcoming short film that looks like it may just be another Atomic Age Cinema-esque brilliant satire of the ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ genre:

I really wish I could give you more information on this great looking film aside from the trailers themselves. According to Horror Movies it’s going to be a short film that, if the trailers say anything, should be hilarious. If it’s not your cup of tea at the very least I’m sure everyone out there will appreciate the name of the film.

I’m embedding the full, utterly bizarre trailer below as well as a couple of teasers.

Isn’t that just amazing? First, the film establishes right off the bat that the survivor/protagonists are in fact the bad guys, and utterly insane, which is a nice touch and a good starting point. Then they highlight the inherent absurdity of the entire ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ concept by focusing on an all-new form of cinematic Zombie: the Waffle Zombie. In thrall, it seems, (for the purposes of the film) to a syrup-weeping Waffle Demon. By putting the spotlight on such a rare subgrouping of Zombies, albeit in a fictionalized setting, these filmmakers help to shatter once and for all the narrow Romero-Russo stereotypes about Zombiism.

Wow. I’m stunned. This film should help us to once and for all utterly bury the notion that upstanding Zombie citizens will some day all get some activation signal and fall upon the living, mouths agape, that all Zombies are of one monolithic persuasion, hostile to the Living. We’re very excited at the ZRC.

HorrorMovies.ca has some more detail:

Insane killer ice cream men (and women) half bear, half mountain and waffle zombies? It has to be seen to be believed, Killer Ice Cream Men and the Untimely Waffle, Zombies and Cat is a short Australian student film directed by Don Buppapirak. The short stars Jessica Keys, Shane C. Rodrigo, Brendon Byrne, Ben Calleja, Ally Pinnock and Alex Macfarlan.

Australia! Oh, how the countries in Oceania have let us down over the years, what with Peter Jackson and all, but this could totally help make up for it.

We really want to see the whole thing here at The Zombie Rights Campaign. A few years ago I would have bet that wasn’t going to happen, but lately the indie horror world has internationalized, so to speak, in a big way. Unfortunate travesties like ‘Cabine of the Dead’ make their way to America; why not something that, we anticipate, is a lot more positive?

We live in hope.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Movies, Romero, Youtube Mischief

Posted By John Sears on April 2, 2011

I mean, just look at this incredibly elaborate Youtube video/recreation of the events described in notorious Anti-Zombie hate speech/song ‘Re: Your Brains’:

Yeah. Isn’t that just stunning? A great deal of serious time and effort was put into this homage to intolerance, and all the ZRC can say is that we’re appalled. Appalled and stunned. Once again we see the truly insidious nature of Mr. Coulton’s plan, as the release of the original Re: Your Brains under a Creative Commons license has allowed these innumerable permutations and derivations to spread across the internet like a bad rash.

Of course, if you’d like something CC licensed that isn’t evil, all the ZRC’s original content is released under a CC-Non-Commercial-By-Attribution license. Just keep that in mind, copyleft enthusiasts.

Meanwhile we once again condemn Mr. Coulton in the harshest and most unforgiving of terms. For shame. For shame.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Youtube Mischief

Posted By John Sears on April 1, 2011

Well, the first batch of stuff for sale came and went recently; I’m looking to put more up soon, but in the meantime I’ve put the shirts and the wristbands (which are selling quite well) back up on Ebay; the link is at the bottom of this post.

I want to thank all the ZRC readers and purchasers; between the Ebay auctions and selling one piece of art the ZRC had been given, offline, we’ve raised about 250 dollars for the Red Cross so far, which is great.

But we can do better. So please, if you want one of the very last of the original series ‘Ban Headshots’ garments, or one of the not-terribly-limited-but-still-ridiculously awesome ‘Zombie Strong’ wristbands, buy one from the Ebay sale, and 100% of the proceeds go to the Red Cross. We get nothing except the knowledge that Zombie fans are once again helping out a worthy cause.

All items in the auction can be seen at this address. Thanks again from everyone here at the ZRC.

Category: ZRC News | No Comments »
Tags: Horde for Humanitarian Aid!

Posted By John Sears on March 31, 2011

The Zombie Rights Campaign pays special attention to the way that Anti-Zombie demagogues and raving Zombie hating conspiracy theorists try to market their violence and depravity toward children. Whether it’s cutesy Anti-Zombie videogames like Plants vs. Zombies making their way into American homes, potentially Anti-Zombie messaging in children’s books or vicious pranks against Zombies alongside the roads near public schools, we’re always looking out for the impressionable minds of the next generation.

But what happens when the next generation is shamelessly exploited, employed in crass mercenary fashion to convey an Anti-Zombie message? How successful has the Anti-Zombie Media-Industrial Complex been in brainwashing these vulnerable individuals against the Differently Animated, and how willing would they be to help indoctrinate their cohorts?

Tragically, we got to see some disturbing answers in a new short film available on Youtube entitled ‘KIDZ’:

After their parents are killed in the zombie apocalypse, a trio of kids battles for survival.
WINNER
BEST PICTURE
DEAD ON FILM 2010 Zombie Short Film Competition
Rio Theatre, Vancouver, Canada

‘KIDZ’ is indeed a harrowing short film. Starting off with an inexplicable ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ scenario in suburbia, the end of the world quickly finds three young children alone in their home with a stash of poorly secured firearms and knives between them and, well, your typical cinematic ‘hordes’ of Zombies. Adopting costumes and personas ala Kick-Ass or Watchmen, these children proceed to a vicious campaign of Living Supremacist violence, culminating in a savage attack on a schoolyard full of Zombies their own age.

Shocking. Revolting. Terrifying.

Although the ending attempts to put the genie back in the bottle somewhat, the damage, I think, was long since done by that point. These child actors have been turned into propagandists for a pogrom against the Differently Animated, violent poster-children for intolerance, exclusion and mayhem against those who just happen to be different than themselves.

Zombie children have parents too, you know. Often also Zombies.

The ZRC must therefore once again present another short film glorifying violence against the Differently Animated with our lowest rating, that of Living Supremacist.

Special dishonor for using children in this crass manner to peddle your divisive hate.

The full film is embedded below for our more stalwart readers to see.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Movies, Youtube Mischief

Posted By John Sears on March 31, 2011

Working with independent filmmakers is one of our favorite activities here at The Zombie Rights Campaign, and we’d like to think our travel to film festivals, attendance at innumerable conventions and consultation with independent filmmakers, actors and artists has made a positive and lasting impact. Naturally, when we come across a promising project in production, the ZRC would like to promote it in and help out in any way that we can. Doubly so when the filmmakers assure us that their work, and their work environment, is in fact Zombie Friendly.

So when we heard about the feature film ‘Mother’s Blood’, we wanted to help with the fundraiser, and we hope that you might too, even as it winds down this evening. Here’s the description from their campaign page:

The Mother’s Blood Story…
When attractive socialite Vivian (Kitsie Duncan) is involved in a horrible accident that destroys her beauty, she seeks to restore it by making a “deal” with a mysterious gypsy who warns her that by gaining her beauty and losing her deformity, someone close to her must lose theirs….much to her horror that “someone” happens to be her daughter. After years of locking her daughter away, much too ashamed for the world to see her, Vivian is once again visited by the mysterious gypsy who offers a grisly “solution” to restore her daughter’s beauty as well….a solution that includes murder, mutilation and cannibalism and causes Vivian’s life to spiral horribly out of control…..The cost of staying beautiful will be paid in the flesh and blood by those around her!”

Spooky. This just goes to show you that, no matter what sort of powerful worker of will you’re dealing with, be they ‘gypsy’, necromancer, wizard, warlock, sorceror or occultist, you should really negotiate the terms ahead of time and get them down in writing, preferably with a witness.

After receiving the above-mentioned assurances that both the film and production are Zombie Friendly, the ZRC reached into our miscellaneous budget and chipped in some cash to help ensure that this promising movie comes to fruition.

If you’d like to do the same, you have a few hours left to contribute!

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Movies