| Down The Road (more Zombie books) |
[Nov. 15th, 2009 ☆03:30 pm] |
| [ | Tune |
| | Little Richard - Good Golly Miss Molly | ] |
This week I have been mostly reading: Down The Road - On The Last Day by Bowie Ibarra.
I like Bowie Ibarra's books. A while ago I read "Down The Road - A Zombie Horror Story" and Ive just finished reading "On The Last Day". Both books contain some fairly enjoyable levels of Romero style Zombie mayhem but there is something else going on in his books - a healthy cynicism about government.
His first book looked at government run FEMA centres and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina they were portrayed as probably more sinister than the zombie outbreak itself. On The Last Day takes a look at a community that has managed to fortify itself against the undead but then has to stand against the US/UN military trying to restore its version of authority - with distinct echoes of Waco.
Its interesting stuff. |
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| WOOPEE! |
[Nov. 14th, 2009 ☆08:30 pm] |
So I finally (after two years of questing) found crocus bulbs. Pickwick, unless I'm mistaken.
Only question:
Can I plant them in a six inch pot now and leave it outside for the winter so they'll bloom for spring?
And how long after I plant them before I can dig them up to separate bulbs?
Anybody else who grows spring bulbs in pots outdoors?
Question coming from outside Philly, PA, zone 6b/7a. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 11th, 2009 ☆08:33 pm] |
This t-shirt is interesting:( Read more... )
If you were to create a piece of clothing to aid in surviving not just a Zombie emergency but the aftermath, what would you put on it? Could we as a community create such a concise shirt?
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| Know Your Enemy. |
[Nov. 11th, 2009 ☆11:52 pm] |
So you go home after a long day at work on Friday and crash only to wake up sick and spend Saturday in bed. That bites. You wake up refreshed on Sunday and turn on the tv to hear that widespread panic and chaos has overtaken at least the city, possibly the world. You don't get much information because the newscaster suddenly stops in the middle of his script, looks horrified at something offscreen and speaks the words you will never forget: "Wait, why is that guy getting back up, he is already dead." Than the channel suddenly goes to static.
Like I said, that bites (pun intended).
One of your first jobs for survival will need to be learning what the zombies are capable of because that will dictate how you deal with them. It is important to know what to look for (ie: how do you tell zombie puppy apart from injured rabid dog with stamina if you see it), how to evaluate your sources (ie: "dude, it was 30 feet tall and ate virgin babies" is probably not trustworthy), and have alternate sources of information in case your main sources go down or is less than helpful (ie: if radio, tv, and internet all go down/are censored than you need to know where to go next). If you are going to learn by personal observation than it would be good to have some fallback plans in case they are more powerful or hearty than you originally expected.
Some things to consider and some possible variations (but not all):
How to kill: any headshot kills, brain only, brain-stem only, heart, burn every part, cannot be killed.
Movement: slow walking zombies, runners, climbers, swimmers, jumpers, crawlers
Distribution: generally solitary, always solitary, heard instinct, swarm instinct, pack instinct.
"Infection": turned when injured by zombie, turned when bitten, on any death, the past graves will rise.
Intelligence: Braaaains...., dumb animal intelligence, dog-like, human, extraterrestrial guidance, hive mind, memories of life, skills from life.
Strength: Human strength minus injury, super strength, rigor-mortise hampered, clumsy strength.
And, of course, anything else that might be important: Give your ideas on what else might be important and how you would learn about it. |
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| Oh No, Aphids! |
[Nov. 10th, 2009 ☆03:29 pm] |
So, this is really weird. In late August I planted some chili seeds that I was planning to overwinter indoors (I'm in zone 7). So they sprouted outdoors and I re-planted them in larger pots in October and brought them inside. Only earlier this week I was watering them and noticed these tiny green bugs on them. I assume the bugs are aphids.
My gardening book recommended making a citrus spray with orange peel, so I did. I've been squirting the plans for three days now and I don't see any aphid death. However I am loosing some plant leaves (due to aphids I think).
Any advice? I have pets and people with allergies in the house, so eco-friendly advice is preferred.
TIA! |
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| we finally have eggs after many months of waiting! |
[Nov. 9th, 2009 ☆09:59 pm] |
first off i got to say, if i had known how much work and how many chicks it would take to get to this milestone when i first set my heart on having backyard chickens over a year ago i may have laughed myself off. that said i am one proud hen owning woman. we've had some major bumps, none-the-least being a chupacabra attack leaving us with one sickly pullet who sadly several months later passed.
( Read more... )
oh yeah because they took so long to lay their eggs have been pretty large, uniform and all have yolks, so this was a pleasant surprise too. |
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| ♥ COMPLIMENTS |
[Nov. 9th, 2009 ☆08:15 am] |
One little compliment can make you feel amazing.
So give me a compliment, anything in the entire world, even that my shoelaces are pretty. Put this in your journal. And once you get some comments, put that entry in a memory or tag and when you are feeling down, just go to that entry and this will remind you how great you are.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
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| Garden progress… |
[Nov. 9th, 2009 ☆07:27 pm] |
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It might not sound like much… but today I pinched out my first laterals from my tomato plants. Looks like they have mostly survived 
I’ll post some pics sometime soon, but till then, have a comic ’specially from AppleGeeks:
Originally published at Kiwinewt.Geek. Please leave any comments there. |
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| Not laying.. molting? |
[Nov. 7th, 2009 ☆01:20 pm] |
My chickens were hatched on the first of April, and while they have not yet been what would be considered "consistent layers," they have now stopped altogether. I was reading about possible reasons for this & read about molting.. which is what I assumed to be going on because there are tiny chicken feathers everywhere and they look pretty raggedy. Not unhealthy, just raggedy. BUT I was reading some threads on the backyardchickens forum & someone said that another person's chickens that hatched in February wouldn't be molting yet. So would mine be?
I know the light/time change recently affects things.. I have decided not to put artificial light out in their coop. The weather here has also been crazy up and down (blizzard last week, this week hot in the 60s-70s all day), so I don't know if that's got to do with it. I ALSO changed their feed with this last bag and they don't seem to care for it much.. I don't know if that's also got to do with it.
So I know there seem to be a lot of factors at play here. I'm just wondering about the molting thing, since it seemed to be suggested that chickens the age of mine wouldn't be molting yet. Any info or suggestions? |
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| False alarm. |
[Nov. 7th, 2009 ☆12:25 pm] |
| [ | Spirit |
| |  pleased | ] |
Fluff P. Came home, and she looks fine.
Sorry for the false alarm. |
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| School Forts? |
[Nov. 6th, 2009 ☆09:46 pm] |
| [ | Spirit |
| |  contemplative | ] |
| [ | Tune |
| | Fly From the Inside by Shinedown | ] |
Some time ago I made a post about using abandoned schools as forts. The local high school has some really impressive stats. So, I went out and did a small trek though these to see what was able to be used and what wasn't such a good idea.
Most of them happen to be well, small schools (100 student max), but have plenty of room for living and secure grounds with heavy earthen walls or modern fenses. The one I choose to do the MOST looking into was the local high school, which is pictured below the cut w/ stats.
( School Forts? )
Here are the stats:
A: The main building houses 600+ students, 2 floors w/basement.
B: Vocational Studies building houses 100 - 150 students, has work shops for electronics, automechanics, carpentry/wood working, and metal shop.
C: Track area suitable for additional space.
D: Football area suitable for additional space.
E: Gym which is suitable for additional space or storage.
F: Technology Building has a small radio broadcasting facility as well as computer access and electronics access with a cafe.
G: Pool suitable for additional space or large water collection if needed, also contains assortment of filters.
H: Baseball area suitable for additional space or using portions for bunkers or fortified storage lockers.
I: Softball area suitable for additional space.
J: Vehicle Garrage suitable for secure vehicle transport area or working on automobiles with a 3 medium vehicle garrage.
K: Sanatation area suitable for keeping a clean sanatized facility which takes care of the main building only, other building have seperate systems that should be intergrated soon.
L: Local graveyard which is secure yet a bit too close for comfort.
M: Access point, a bridge that enables you to get to the facilities.
N: A local dam that can be used for water collection or hydroelectric power.
O: A 3 - 4 small vehicle secure garrage.
P: A local residence that has access to the main highway and facilities.
Q: A local store/residence that isn't secure yet could be easily.
R: The water treatment facility for water storage and filtering from the local river and dam.
The different colored areas are the areas that are secure and enclosed with a heavy solid backed chainlink fense and gates at several points. If you guys want more pics, I have them. ^^ |
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| Yahr! |
[Nov. 6th, 2009 ☆01:40 pm] |
| [ | Whereabouts |
| | 94036 | ] |
| [ | Spirit |
| |  exanimate | ] |
| [ | Tune |
| | Vampire Diaries | ] |
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| The two books combined would be EPIC. |
[Nov. 5th, 2009 ☆07:08 pm] |
In response to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) shaved_ape's assessment of Zombies - A Record of the Year of Infection. I'd agree for the most part, though I wouldn't really call it a "cheap paperback" - it's printed on good paper and has some pretty good artwork in it. I think of old Del Ray paperbacks with pulpy paper when someone says "cheap paperbacks." Also, I don't think it's unrealistic to ask for a little suspension of disbelief when it comes to pretending that it's a collection of field notes from a doctor trapped in a zombie outbreak. It is a book about zombies, after all. Besides, the publisher couldn't actually tape newspaper clippings to the pages, or stain the paper with a coffee mug - not without making it twice as expensive.
I'd definitely agree that it presents no new concepts or story lines that haven't already been explored in other zombie stories. Maybe the idea of a scientific journal dedicated to zombies is original, but that alone certainly isn't enough to call anything about the story "original".
I received this book as a gift and I'm pretty happy about it. I might be a little more critical if I'd spent $20 of my own money on it. |
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| Zombies (another book) |
[Nov. 5th, 2009 ☆11:15 pm] |
| [ | Spirit |
| |  disappointed | ] |
| [ | Tune |
| | Skunk Anansie - Weak | ] |
This week I have been mostly reading: Zombies - A Record Of The Year Of Infection by (The Improbably named) Dr. Robert Twombly.
This book models itself on a "found" journal of a medical researcher and catalogues the first year of the zombie infection, from outbreak to global pandemic. It does this competently but with little that hasnt already appeared somewhere. Where the book falls down is that it markets itself as a "found manuscript" and is supposedly a handwritten journal, complete with the authors own illustrations. No attempt has been made by the publisher to make the book look or feel anything remotely like that. Its very obviously a cheap paperback. The "publishers note" which is supposed to explain the books origins just ends up cheapening the whole affair.
Its not a bad book and some of the illustrations are pretty cool, it just doesnt do much of anything that is original. Its a let down. |
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| The Big Chill |
[Nov. 4th, 2009 ☆08:16 pm] |
I've been re-reading WWZ recently and it mentions that the global human survival rate was helped by a series of severe winters.
If we assume that industrial manufacturing activity drops to effectively zero, and car travel likewise drops to 1% then within a year we would see CO2 levels drop to the same level as 1900. Looking at the temperature for London for that period (it was accurately measured and so a good yard stick) we see that it isn't until 1911 that we get a year that is described as 'warm'.
While this helps us fighting Jonny Zulu it does put the kibosh on farming in some areas.
Your homework for today: Find out what the weather and harvests were like in your area in 1900-1910.
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| had a zombie dream last night... |
[Nov. 4th, 2009 ☆01:41 pm] |
| [ | Whereabouts |
| | 94306 | ] |
| [ | Spirit |
| | worried | ] |
| [ | Tune |
| | The Daily Show | ] |
...and it woke me up.
Not quite a nightmare, it didn't get to that point, but it was heading there. Sleepy, barely awake me stumbled around for a bit still operating as if that were the reality, it being pitch black I was nervous at every sound, and I had this one nervous thought.
I'm safe so long as I don't go outside!
Along with whoever is currently living in your house with you, how long do you think you can survive with the amount of food and water that you currently possess? |
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| zombie dreams |
[Nov. 4th, 2009 ☆11:28 am] |
I had a zombie-related dream last night. This one a bit weird.
Anyone else have zombie dreams? Care to share?
Here's mine below. But this wasn’t your typical “Holy-Crapola-I-Just-Woke-Up-There’s-Zombies-Everywhere” zombie dream.
( alternative history? ) |
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dorky