I was reading an article posted on Lew Rockwell Blog by an agnostic who has doubts about evolution, saying he thinks it's the political correctness of science. While he is an agnostic, he writes,
"To my eye, the damned place looks designed. By what, I am clueless."
That rather cracks me up.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Monday, July 28, 2014
Prepping and how it makes me feel bad
As I encountered preppers both in the libertarian interest and the zombie interest parts of my life, it's got me thinking.
I'm not a prepper. Not remotely. If the power went out, I would probably die of frustration in a few hours for not being able to Google things, like, "What to do when the power is out?" Or IMDB that actor. Although I guess the TV won't work either.
Nah, I'd probably read books. But you get the picture. That TV show Survivor? I hope they come save you if you're gonna fall off a cliff or eat poisonous mushrooms or whatever.
But thinking about it past the initial panic, be it from a zombie apocalypse or major tornado or the economy collapsing. Say life isn't going back to the way it was anytime soon, your day job is no longer valid, and that grocery store isn't opening back up anytime soon. We'd have a barter economy and all of a sudden need, say, gardeners and hunters way more than receptionists or lawyers.
The thing about prosperity is that we've been able to outsource most work to specialists. Instead of having to maintain our own cars, we take 'em to the car guy. Instead of having to garden, we go to the grocery store or farmers' market. We've gotten so specialized that up the ladder of jobs are people who know a lot of very specific things that are very useful for a society like ours, but might not carry to being useful if we were dumped back to the level of a third world country. Like aforementioned lawyers.
So I thought about my skills. I have a degree in journalism, I've worked as a receptionist, food service, and oil change service. I have a decent grasp of the English language in writing. Which means I will have no services to barter with and probably starve. I certainly don't have any skills I can use to keep myself alive.
David is in architecture. Complex, he needs to know a lot of things. However, he'll even lose much of his usefulness come apocalypse. Maybe as people start to rebuild, maybe to recommend fortifications against bandits or zombies. But not really skills to pay the bills. His experience in roofing might end up being more helpful in that case.
On a prepper website, I saw a page at ReadyNutrition.com that listed 10 essential skills for survival. We'll start with survival of yourself first, and then those are probably useful for the barter economy once you get to that holdout and have to demonstrate you are worth keeping around.
In short, and you can read the actual article if you want more, the page recommends learning:
Outdoor Survival Classes
Medical
Hunting Skills
Disaster Training
Gardening Skills
Firearm Certification and Training
Canning and Food Preparation
Amateur Radio Classes
Sewing Classes
Candle/Soap-Making Conventions
I keep sitting here having the CDC's zombie poster staring at me saying, Get a Kit, Make a Plan, Be Prepared. Yeah, I totally printed it out and hung it up because it cracks me up that there's a poster implying you should be prepared for a zombie apocalypse with the official CDC logo in the corner...
So say I wanted to start with a few of those skills, maybe have a group of people (a lot of prep stuff seems to suggest groups) with varying skills. Outdoor survival seems too... vast. Probably should learn it. I was on board with medical until it mentioned stitches, and then I was off. Can't do needles into flesh. Not much of a hunter either. I get sad killing the worm to fish, and then hurting the fish by ripping the hook out. Disaster training seems vague, more like telling you what you should normally expect and how to prepare. Gardening, while not a current skill, would be a useful thing to have. Even minus the apocalypse. I do want to know how to use a gun for self-defense (although I'd rather learn Kung Fu). Maybe Mom can do the canning. Amateur Radio Classes sound like awesome. I wonder how long it'd take to master ham radio? Mom can do the sewing too. Basically, I think Mom should survive first. I have no idea about candle and soap making. Could be fun I guess?
So out of those ten skills to survive... I can't check any off. If I bought a first aid kit, I wouldn't be able to identify the use of everything in it. I can sew a button on, but not much more. I don't know the first thing about outdoor survival (I read about what to do in event of lightning, but I couldn't recall it next time I was in lightning. Just figured I'd go down with my bike).
And that's why prepping makes me feel bad. Maybe I should get on that. Get A Kit. Make A Plan. Be Prepared.
I'm not a prepper. Not remotely. If the power went out, I would probably die of frustration in a few hours for not being able to Google things, like, "What to do when the power is out?" Or IMDB that actor. Although I guess the TV won't work either.
Nah, I'd probably read books. But you get the picture. That TV show Survivor? I hope they come save you if you're gonna fall off a cliff or eat poisonous mushrooms or whatever.
But thinking about it past the initial panic, be it from a zombie apocalypse or major tornado or the economy collapsing. Say life isn't going back to the way it was anytime soon, your day job is no longer valid, and that grocery store isn't opening back up anytime soon. We'd have a barter economy and all of a sudden need, say, gardeners and hunters way more than receptionists or lawyers.
The thing about prosperity is that we've been able to outsource most work to specialists. Instead of having to maintain our own cars, we take 'em to the car guy. Instead of having to garden, we go to the grocery store or farmers' market. We've gotten so specialized that up the ladder of jobs are people who know a lot of very specific things that are very useful for a society like ours, but might not carry to being useful if we were dumped back to the level of a third world country. Like aforementioned lawyers.
So I thought about my skills. I have a degree in journalism, I've worked as a receptionist, food service, and oil change service. I have a decent grasp of the English language in writing. Which means I will have no services to barter with and probably starve. I certainly don't have any skills I can use to keep myself alive.
David is in architecture. Complex, he needs to know a lot of things. However, he'll even lose much of his usefulness come apocalypse. Maybe as people start to rebuild, maybe to recommend fortifications against bandits or zombies. But not really skills to pay the bills. His experience in roofing might end up being more helpful in that case.
On a prepper website, I saw a page at ReadyNutrition.com that listed 10 essential skills for survival. We'll start with survival of yourself first, and then those are probably useful for the barter economy once you get to that holdout and have to demonstrate you are worth keeping around.
In short, and you can read the actual article if you want more, the page recommends learning:
Outdoor Survival Classes
Medical
Hunting Skills
Disaster Training
Gardening Skills
Firearm Certification and Training
Canning and Food Preparation
Amateur Radio Classes
Sewing Classes
Candle/Soap-Making Conventions
I keep sitting here having the CDC's zombie poster staring at me saying, Get a Kit, Make a Plan, Be Prepared. Yeah, I totally printed it out and hung it up because it cracks me up that there's a poster implying you should be prepared for a zombie apocalypse with the official CDC logo in the corner...
So say I wanted to start with a few of those skills, maybe have a group of people (a lot of prep stuff seems to suggest groups) with varying skills. Outdoor survival seems too... vast. Probably should learn it. I was on board with medical until it mentioned stitches, and then I was off. Can't do needles into flesh. Not much of a hunter either. I get sad killing the worm to fish, and then hurting the fish by ripping the hook out. Disaster training seems vague, more like telling you what you should normally expect and how to prepare. Gardening, while not a current skill, would be a useful thing to have. Even minus the apocalypse. I do want to know how to use a gun for self-defense (although I'd rather learn Kung Fu). Maybe Mom can do the canning. Amateur Radio Classes sound like awesome. I wonder how long it'd take to master ham radio? Mom can do the sewing too. Basically, I think Mom should survive first. I have no idea about candle and soap making. Could be fun I guess?
So out of those ten skills to survive... I can't check any off. If I bought a first aid kit, I wouldn't be able to identify the use of everything in it. I can sew a button on, but not much more. I don't know the first thing about outdoor survival (I read about what to do in event of lightning, but I couldn't recall it next time I was in lightning. Just figured I'd go down with my bike).
And that's why prepping makes me feel bad. Maybe I should get on that. Get A Kit. Make A Plan. Be Prepared.
Friday, July 25, 2014
Zombies on a Plane
I wonder how far I could get off of making a blog devoted to current events, libertarian thought, zombies, and apocalypses.
What, you don't think those are connected?
Ok, fine, it's a tenuous connection at best. So I read Lew Rockwell Blog which has libertarians who comment on current events, some of whom are preppers who have an interest in preparing for disasters like apocalypses which may be zombie related.
But seriously, some of the stuff I could write about.
Ok, today's conspiracy theory is so out there that I don't think most conspiracy theorists would give it credence.
A little background. I'm reading a book called "Patient Zero" by Jonathan Maberry which is about the world post-9/11 and Islamic terrorists and big-pockets guys who fund them. They cook up a zombie plague and deliver it in the form of infected people to the US and then our hero must form a crack-team, blah blah, too bad it's not a season of 24. But anyway, I'm saying this to show where some of my thinking comes from.
An article from Lew Rockwell blog posted a chain of events and conjectures that are seriously far fetched, one of the claims being from something the Boston Globe reported, titled "Rebel leader suggests victims were dead before plane took off."
He basically said a lot of the bodies found in the wreckage of downed Malaysian Flight 17 weren't fresh, that they had been drained of blood, and reeked of decomposition. Also, blood serum and medications were found in the wreckage. I heard the plane was carrying AIDS researchers, maybe their luggage?
Anyway, the Lew Rockwell article suggested the former prime minister of Malaysia had been saying rude things about Israel, calling them murderers and accusing them of genocide. Malaysian Flight 370 disappears off the face off the map. Then Malaysian Flight 17 gets shot down and some reports say the bodies were... old.
A conspiracy theory site claims that the Malaysian Flight M17 is actually Flight 370, complete with passengers.
Another site indicates that the plane and bodies could have been a form of bioweapon, intended to spread contamination.
A plane full of zombies...? Patient Zero?
And even some of the websites themselves drew odd zombie connections. The Jimstonefreelance site wrote, "It is said that dead men can tell no tales, but when they are a planeload of rotting bodies that should have been perfectly fresh, THAT ALONE SAYS IT ALL, from THAT ALONE you can declare this plane to be flight 370, HOW ELSE COULD IT BE? Undead Zombies DID NOT board MH17." (Emphasis theirs)
The bioweapon-claim site writes, "In a worst-case scenario, and the facts thus far point to a hair’s breadth short of worst case, the MH17 crash on the Ukraine-Russian borderlands could have been the start of a real World War Z. Conversely the shoot-down could have been an act of twisted heroism in a desperate last-minute strike to prevent biological warfare on a global scale." (Emphasis mine)
I honestly can not make this stuff up.
What, you don't think those are connected?
Ok, fine, it's a tenuous connection at best. So I read Lew Rockwell Blog which has libertarians who comment on current events, some of whom are preppers who have an interest in preparing for disasters like apocalypses which may be zombie related.
But seriously, some of the stuff I could write about.
Ok, today's conspiracy theory is so out there that I don't think most conspiracy theorists would give it credence.
A little background. I'm reading a book called "Patient Zero" by Jonathan Maberry which is about the world post-9/11 and Islamic terrorists and big-pockets guys who fund them. They cook up a zombie plague and deliver it in the form of infected people to the US and then our hero must form a crack-team, blah blah, too bad it's not a season of 24. But anyway, I'm saying this to show where some of my thinking comes from.
An article from Lew Rockwell blog posted a chain of events and conjectures that are seriously far fetched, one of the claims being from something the Boston Globe reported, titled "Rebel leader suggests victims were dead before plane took off."
He basically said a lot of the bodies found in the wreckage of downed Malaysian Flight 17 weren't fresh, that they had been drained of blood, and reeked of decomposition. Also, blood serum and medications were found in the wreckage. I heard the plane was carrying AIDS researchers, maybe their luggage?
Anyway, the Lew Rockwell article suggested the former prime minister of Malaysia had been saying rude things about Israel, calling them murderers and accusing them of genocide. Malaysian Flight 370 disappears off the face off the map. Then Malaysian Flight 17 gets shot down and some reports say the bodies were... old.
A conspiracy theory site claims that the Malaysian Flight M17 is actually Flight 370, complete with passengers.
Another site indicates that the plane and bodies could have been a form of bioweapon, intended to spread contamination.
A plane full of zombies...? Patient Zero?
And even some of the websites themselves drew odd zombie connections. The Jimstonefreelance site wrote, "It is said that dead men can tell no tales, but when they are a planeload of rotting bodies that should have been perfectly fresh, THAT ALONE SAYS IT ALL, from THAT ALONE you can declare this plane to be flight 370, HOW ELSE COULD IT BE? Undead Zombies DID NOT board MH17." (Emphasis theirs)
The bioweapon-claim site writes, "In a worst-case scenario, and the facts thus far point to a hair’s breadth short of worst case, the MH17 crash on the Ukraine-Russian borderlands could have been the start of a real World War Z. Conversely the shoot-down could have been an act of twisted heroism in a desperate last-minute strike to prevent biological warfare on a global scale." (Emphasis mine)
I honestly can not make this stuff up.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
And a mouth full of teeth
You might know, but I hate cheesy graphics with cheesy sayings on them that people share all over Facebook.
One I saw today said, "The most useful asset of a person is not a head full of knowledge, but a heart full of love, ears open to listen, and hands willing to help."
Yeah, that will get you real far during the zombie apocalypse.
One I saw today said, "The most useful asset of a person is not a head full of knowledge, but a heart full of love, ears open to listen, and hands willing to help."
Yeah, that will get you real far during the zombie apocalypse.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
I know nothing about it, but I know Russia did it...
Can we hold the propaganda, please?
Before I start, I'd like to point out what I'm not saying. I'm not saying Russia or the Ukrainian separatists for sure did not shoot down the plane. I'm not saying that Kiev did or didn't shoot down the plane. I'm not saying if it's an accident or intentional, mistaken identity or a false flag operation. I don't know of that. And neither does anyone else, excepting the people who actually did the shooting.
And yet I've had several conversations here in Iowa where people just toss out, "Russia shooting down civilian planes..."
Guys, the US government lied to us about WMDs, about who used chemical weapons in Syria, and somehow managed to get rid of not one, but two hard drives with email records and blame it on routine. Their business is to do what they want and make sure we think they're doing it for the right reasons. Obama's "not a smidgen" of corruption isn't true, it's just what they want us to believe: They aren't corrupt at all, trust them.
As far as the Malaysian plane goes, my first thought was that we should send a group in to investigate. But who? You have to immediately rule out all the parties who have taken sides in this conflict prior. That includes Kiev, the US, the separatists, Russia, and the EU as they just want to play nice with the US. So how can we just automatically believe everything the US is throwing at us as evidence against Russia/separatists? The propaganda is too early. The US government is sitting there, having John Kerry say things like "It’s pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia into the hands of separatists. We know with confidence, with confidence, that the Ukrainians did not have such a system anywhere near the vicinity at that point and time, so it obviously points a very clear finger at the separatists."
I don't want to get into a huge discussion, going through all the evidence that we know and trying to point fingers. I've read a lot of things that question the official US story so far, and if you want to ask questions, here are some good articles:
Guilt by insinuation: How American propaganda works
Awkward Questions for the US-Ukraine
What happened to the Malaysian Airliner?
What the Media Won't Tell You
Remember, I don't know who did it. I'm just saying that the US is jumping the gun by point blame, and they are far too involved in this incident to unbiased or maybe even honest. Don't trust what the mainstream media trumpets as fact; they're in the government's pocket.
Also consider: The missile was made in Russia, but Ukraine using a lot of weapons made in Russia. The US has a satellite over Ukraine, but haven't released any of the images (why?). The YouTube video purporting a discussion between Russian military and the separatists talking about accidentally shooting down a plane is claimed to have the data marks of being made before the event. Just because someone says something is a fact, a damning piece of evidence on the news, doesn't mean it is, doesn't mean that's the only way to look at it.
I think we should wait to hear what an independent committee finds in their investigations.
Before I start, I'd like to point out what I'm not saying. I'm not saying Russia or the Ukrainian separatists for sure did not shoot down the plane. I'm not saying that Kiev did or didn't shoot down the plane. I'm not saying if it's an accident or intentional, mistaken identity or a false flag operation. I don't know of that. And neither does anyone else, excepting the people who actually did the shooting.
And yet I've had several conversations here in Iowa where people just toss out, "Russia shooting down civilian planes..."
Guys, the US government lied to us about WMDs, about who used chemical weapons in Syria, and somehow managed to get rid of not one, but two hard drives with email records and blame it on routine. Their business is to do what they want and make sure we think they're doing it for the right reasons. Obama's "not a smidgen" of corruption isn't true, it's just what they want us to believe: They aren't corrupt at all, trust them.
As far as the Malaysian plane goes, my first thought was that we should send a group in to investigate. But who? You have to immediately rule out all the parties who have taken sides in this conflict prior. That includes Kiev, the US, the separatists, Russia, and the EU as they just want to play nice with the US. So how can we just automatically believe everything the US is throwing at us as evidence against Russia/separatists? The propaganda is too early. The US government is sitting there, having John Kerry say things like "It’s pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia into the hands of separatists. We know with confidence, with confidence, that the Ukrainians did not have such a system anywhere near the vicinity at that point and time, so it obviously points a very clear finger at the separatists."
I don't want to get into a huge discussion, going through all the evidence that we know and trying to point fingers. I've read a lot of things that question the official US story so far, and if you want to ask questions, here are some good articles:
Guilt by insinuation: How American propaganda works
Awkward Questions for the US-Ukraine
What happened to the Malaysian Airliner?
What the Media Won't Tell You
Remember, I don't know who did it. I'm just saying that the US is jumping the gun by point blame, and they are far too involved in this incident to unbiased or maybe even honest. Don't trust what the mainstream media trumpets as fact; they're in the government's pocket.
Also consider: The missile was made in Russia, but Ukraine using a lot of weapons made in Russia. The US has a satellite over Ukraine, but haven't released any of the images (why?). The YouTube video purporting a discussion between Russian military and the separatists talking about accidentally shooting down a plane is claimed to have the data marks of being made before the event. Just because someone says something is a fact, a damning piece of evidence on the news, doesn't mean it is, doesn't mean that's the only way to look at it.
I think we should wait to hear what an independent committee finds in their investigations.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Biking in Ames... some more
You know what makes me mad? Well, yes, a lot of things. But one thing that gets me steaming is people who pull through crosswalks at intersections. Even worse is when they aren't even turning on red, so just sit there in front of me.
Incident 1: Guy pulls through a crosswalk. He sees me coming and backs up. He doesn't get glared at, even gets a wave.
Incident 2: Lady pulls through crosswalk. I glare as I am forced to swing wide either in front (if there is enough room and they see me) or behind. Even worse is when I'm forced to get off my bike and hike it onto the curb.
Incident 3: Guys pull through crosswalk and block it so completely that I can't get to the other side. I sit on the sidewalk and glare.
Incident 4: Cyride bus pulls through crosswalk and isn't turning. The light changes, and I only know by the pattern that it is a walk sign, because I can't even see it behind the bus. I have to swing wide in front of the bus. I write an email to Cyride telling them to remind their drivers not to do that.
Incident 5: This is typical of right-on-red and right-at-stop-sign turners, and I always have to watch to make sure they see me before I go in front of them. But anyway, I was waiting at a crosswalk for a light to change. It changes to red and I get the walk sign, but the lady driving up is a right-on-red turner and she doesn't even stop. She doesn't look at me once, sitting right there waiting to cross, she just looks at oncoming traffic, and while she slows, she doesn't stop. Failure to stop at the line on a red, failure to look for pedestrians (who have the right of way), failure to yield. I was mad for another half an hour. If I had just started crossing when I got my walk light, I would have been hit, because she clearly has a blind spot big enough for a girl on a bike.
Ugh! I'm following the rules, waiting at crosswalks for my light to change and I still have to watch like a hawk to keep from being hit by drivers who aren't paying any attention. I'd win the court case, but I'd lose the game of chicken.
Incident 1: Guy pulls through a crosswalk. He sees me coming and backs up. He doesn't get glared at, even gets a wave.
Incident 2: Lady pulls through crosswalk. I glare as I am forced to swing wide either in front (if there is enough room and they see me) or behind. Even worse is when I'm forced to get off my bike and hike it onto the curb.
Incident 3: Guys pull through crosswalk and block it so completely that I can't get to the other side. I sit on the sidewalk and glare.
Incident 4: Cyride bus pulls through crosswalk and isn't turning. The light changes, and I only know by the pattern that it is a walk sign, because I can't even see it behind the bus. I have to swing wide in front of the bus. I write an email to Cyride telling them to remind their drivers not to do that.
Incident 5: This is typical of right-on-red and right-at-stop-sign turners, and I always have to watch to make sure they see me before I go in front of them. But anyway, I was waiting at a crosswalk for a light to change. It changes to red and I get the walk sign, but the lady driving up is a right-on-red turner and she doesn't even stop. She doesn't look at me once, sitting right there waiting to cross, she just looks at oncoming traffic, and while she slows, she doesn't stop. Failure to stop at the line on a red, failure to look for pedestrians (who have the right of way), failure to yield. I was mad for another half an hour. If I had just started crossing when I got my walk light, I would have been hit, because she clearly has a blind spot big enough for a girl on a bike.
Ugh! I'm following the rules, waiting at crosswalks for my light to change and I still have to watch like a hawk to keep from being hit by drivers who aren't paying any attention. I'd win the court case, but I'd lose the game of chicken.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
More on the Zombie thing...
Last post, I wrote on why I was on a zombie kick again, how it might have started with running, and a lot about my Zombies, Run! app. This post is for non-app related zombie things. What other things have encouraged me toward a zombie obsession?
Books -
I still had the Max Brooks Zombie Survival Guide sitting on my desk. I wanted to add it to Goodreads as "read," so I kept reading it. Which made me interested in more books. I have "Patient Zero" sitting on my desk. I want to read "The Last Bastion of the Living," if I could get my hands on a copy. (Update. Don't read Last Bastion of the Living. It's poorly written, she "tells and doesn't show," and has profanity and sexual content. And that's all in like the first two chapters.)
Also, Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies. I had heard of it before, and I really enjoyed Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer as being equal parts accurate and absurd. In hindsight, I probably should have read the actual Pride and Prejudice first, but I think zombies rather improve on the book. It's pretty funny, although Lizzy isn't half as good humored in the zombie book. Lydia is still a pain.
Movies -
I watched Zombieland with David, since one of my brothers gave it to me for Christmas a while back. If there's any place I'll take a comedy, it's Zombieland. It was pretty funny, and rather gory. Then we watched World War Z. For those of you who know it's based off a book, know this: It's nothing like the book. I'd say the only things that remained similar are that it's got a global perspective (how the world is dealing with the zombies by different countries) and Israel shut itself off from the world. Oh, and I guess zombies, but those aren't even like the book. In the book, the zombies don't walk faster than a shamble, and turning comes by bite and the person bitten starts to get sick, lapses into a coma, dies, and a few hours later is reborn, the whole thing taking from 12 to 24 hours. In the movie, the zombies actually run, and it takes them only 10 seconds to change. Now, in the movie it's scary because things are changing into zombies right around you, in the book it's much more creepy because people wouldn't know they were going to change, or hide their bites, or whatever, and you'd think you were all safe and then there's a zombie. Maybe doesn't work as well on the screen. Also, there is no central character, no Brad Pitt of the book. The book is a bunch of different accounts of the zombie war from all over the world, many different people. You're lucky if any two actually refer to each other.
On a side note, World War Z is very statist, as in capitalism made it worse and only the government coming in and laying down the law gets the world back together again.
Dreams -
Most things I read about don't invade my dreams. I've had no Mr. Darcy dreams, no werewolf dreams, no wizard dreams, etc. But I've had zombie dreams. The most recent involved being in a building, surrounded, zombies on the ground floor, trying to get higher and higher, but out of the roof it's snowing and freezing outside and I'll die if I stay out there but there's zombies... I woke up panting, my heart pounding, and promptly wake David up and make him tell me there's no such thing as zombies.
Preppers -
Also known as homesteaders, survivalists, whatever, preppers are those who assume something bad is going to happen someday and they plan on being ready. That would include zombie apocalypse, nuclear war, collapse of the economy, and Hillary Clinton being elected president. In case of emergency... They make me slightly uncomfortable because I have no skills, and in the event of any of those things, nobody is going to let me into their bunker. But I had a conversation with a prepper recently (in progress, he's in the theory part of it), and apparently he was inspired by being prepared for zombies. I guess there are websites online about being prepared and using zombies as a theme. Even the CDC jumped on the bandwagon and making a comic and posters encouraging people to be prepared, assuming anything that's good for zombie prep is good for overall disaster prep. I'm guessing they're not thinking about the wide variety of firearms generally advised to deal with the horde. But they are encourage bug-out bags.
And that's all I can think of. I still have a thing for post-apocalyptic fiction and zombies is a good medium for it. Is the world too full of zombie books? How 'bout a zombie book that included vampires who are zombie hunters because they can't be turned in exchange for blood from the dwindling population of humans? Hey, blame the dreams for that one.
Books -
I still had the Max Brooks Zombie Survival Guide sitting on my desk. I wanted to add it to Goodreads as "read," so I kept reading it. Which made me interested in more books. I have "Patient Zero" sitting on my desk. I want to read "The Last Bastion of the Living," if I could get my hands on a copy. (Update. Don't read Last Bastion of the Living. It's poorly written, she "tells and doesn't show," and has profanity and sexual content. And that's all in like the first two chapters.)
Also, Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies. I had heard of it before, and I really enjoyed Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer as being equal parts accurate and absurd. In hindsight, I probably should have read the actual Pride and Prejudice first, but I think zombies rather improve on the book. It's pretty funny, although Lizzy isn't half as good humored in the zombie book. Lydia is still a pain.
Movies -
I watched Zombieland with David, since one of my brothers gave it to me for Christmas a while back. If there's any place I'll take a comedy, it's Zombieland. It was pretty funny, and rather gory. Then we watched World War Z. For those of you who know it's based off a book, know this: It's nothing like the book. I'd say the only things that remained similar are that it's got a global perspective (how the world is dealing with the zombies by different countries) and Israel shut itself off from the world. Oh, and I guess zombies, but those aren't even like the book. In the book, the zombies don't walk faster than a shamble, and turning comes by bite and the person bitten starts to get sick, lapses into a coma, dies, and a few hours later is reborn, the whole thing taking from 12 to 24 hours. In the movie, the zombies actually run, and it takes them only 10 seconds to change. Now, in the movie it's scary because things are changing into zombies right around you, in the book it's much more creepy because people wouldn't know they were going to change, or hide their bites, or whatever, and you'd think you were all safe and then there's a zombie. Maybe doesn't work as well on the screen. Also, there is no central character, no Brad Pitt of the book. The book is a bunch of different accounts of the zombie war from all over the world, many different people. You're lucky if any two actually refer to each other.
On a side note, World War Z is very statist, as in capitalism made it worse and only the government coming in and laying down the law gets the world back together again.
Dreams -
Most things I read about don't invade my dreams. I've had no Mr. Darcy dreams, no werewolf dreams, no wizard dreams, etc. But I've had zombie dreams. The most recent involved being in a building, surrounded, zombies on the ground floor, trying to get higher and higher, but out of the roof it's snowing and freezing outside and I'll die if I stay out there but there's zombies... I woke up panting, my heart pounding, and promptly wake David up and make him tell me there's no such thing as zombies.
Preppers -
Also known as homesteaders, survivalists, whatever, preppers are those who assume something bad is going to happen someday and they plan on being ready. That would include zombie apocalypse, nuclear war, collapse of the economy, and Hillary Clinton being elected president. In case of emergency... They make me slightly uncomfortable because I have no skills, and in the event of any of those things, nobody is going to let me into their bunker. But I had a conversation with a prepper recently (in progress, he's in the theory part of it), and apparently he was inspired by being prepared for zombies. I guess there are websites online about being prepared and using zombies as a theme. Even the CDC jumped on the bandwagon and making a comic and posters encouraging people to be prepared, assuming anything that's good for zombie prep is good for overall disaster prep. I'm guessing they're not thinking about the wide variety of firearms generally advised to deal with the horde. But they are encourage bug-out bags.
And that's all I can think of. I still have a thing for post-apocalyptic fiction and zombies is a good medium for it. Is the world too full of zombie books? How 'bout a zombie book that included vampires who are zombie hunters because they can't be turned in exchange for blood from the dwindling population of humans? Hey, blame the dreams for that one.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Zombies, Again. Run!
So, you know how I said I was "mostly over" my zombie kick, I dunno, like six months ago? It's kind of resurfacing. Why?
I'm not really sure. I think this time it was because I was running.
For health and fitness reasons, I recently picked up a C25K app. Couch to(2) 5K is basically just a running program that starts with short run-walk intervals and works you up from jogging 60 seconds to jogging 30 minutes in eight weeks. If I hadn't done it myself, I wouldn't think it was possible. But then, when I started, I didn't think jogging 90 seconds was possible, not for me. I'm not inactive, but I'm really not a runner. So I got an app (from Zen Labs, if you want a basic one that works well) and was using that to train and I eventually asked myself, "What's next?" Because even if you can run, if you stop, you'll probably lose a lot of that stamina. The app was three times a week and I didn't miss a day since I started it because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do the next day after that. So I have to keep running.
Well, Mom told me about this app before it came out around two years ago. I thought it looked cool, but I run Android and they were making it for iPhone. Here's a trailer from pre-release.
So for whatever reason, I remembered it and looked it up. I found it in the Google Play store, meaning it's Android compatible. It costs a few bucks, but I figure it's my reward for running 5k.
My first run was Monday, and since then I've worked out a few of the features. I play Pandora in the background instead of using a playlist on my phone, the GPS was off, whatever. But I was also being dropped into Abel Township during a zombie apocalypse and my helicopter was shot down by someone and I survived the crash, having to run for the base, and being coerced into making a stop at the hospital to retrieve important documents before they would let me in.
And I couldn't stop thinking about it. Thinking about the story, what was in the CDC documents, who shot at me with a rocket launcher, and how many zombies I would have to evade to keep going. You can activate an interval training mode, which means periodically, you'll get chased and have to increase your speed by 20% for a minute to evade them. I haven't turned that one on yet... I can run 30 minutes, but that doesn't mean I can run any longer or faster.
Also, they have a 5k version. I really wish I would have known and gotten that one instead. I'm halfway considering paying the two bucks and redoing it just to hear that story. Maybe after I slack off this winter.
So today isn't a running day. I'm going to run tomorrow morning. I didn't work out today. I ate too much food and had a really great dinner. My mom was going to go do a quick walk for 30 minutes to get some exercise in and invited me. I declined, saying that I was running tomorrow, although it's mostly the fact that while I can jog, I can't really walk fast. I fairly certain I couldn't keep up with her and fairly certain I'd get shin splints. Walking fast is not my thing. Although running wasn't my thing either.
By the time she drove me home, I was thinking about the zombies, Abel Township, and the mission. It was great weather outside. And I'm like, "Why not?" So I ran.
Don't run on a full stomach. Makes you feel sick. Better than getting eaten by zombies, I suppose.
I'm not really sure. I think this time it was because I was running.
For health and fitness reasons, I recently picked up a C25K app. Couch to(2) 5K is basically just a running program that starts with short run-walk intervals and works you up from jogging 60 seconds to jogging 30 minutes in eight weeks. If I hadn't done it myself, I wouldn't think it was possible. But then, when I started, I didn't think jogging 90 seconds was possible, not for me. I'm not inactive, but I'm really not a runner. So I got an app (from Zen Labs, if you want a basic one that works well) and was using that to train and I eventually asked myself, "What's next?" Because even if you can run, if you stop, you'll probably lose a lot of that stamina. The app was three times a week and I didn't miss a day since I started it because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do the next day after that. So I have to keep running.
Well, Mom told me about this app before it came out around two years ago. I thought it looked cool, but I run Android and they were making it for iPhone. Here's a trailer from pre-release.
So for whatever reason, I remembered it and looked it up. I found it in the Google Play store, meaning it's Android compatible. It costs a few bucks, but I figure it's my reward for running 5k.
My first run was Monday, and since then I've worked out a few of the features. I play Pandora in the background instead of using a playlist on my phone, the GPS was off, whatever. But I was also being dropped into Abel Township during a zombie apocalypse and my helicopter was shot down by someone and I survived the crash, having to run for the base, and being coerced into making a stop at the hospital to retrieve important documents before they would let me in.
And I couldn't stop thinking about it. Thinking about the story, what was in the CDC documents, who shot at me with a rocket launcher, and how many zombies I would have to evade to keep going. You can activate an interval training mode, which means periodically, you'll get chased and have to increase your speed by 20% for a minute to evade them. I haven't turned that one on yet... I can run 30 minutes, but that doesn't mean I can run any longer or faster.
Also, they have a 5k version. I really wish I would have known and gotten that one instead. I'm halfway considering paying the two bucks and redoing it just to hear that story. Maybe after I slack off this winter.
So today isn't a running day. I'm going to run tomorrow morning. I didn't work out today. I ate too much food and had a really great dinner. My mom was going to go do a quick walk for 30 minutes to get some exercise in and invited me. I declined, saying that I was running tomorrow, although it's mostly the fact that while I can jog, I can't really walk fast. I fairly certain I couldn't keep up with her and fairly certain I'd get shin splints. Walking fast is not my thing. Although running wasn't my thing either.
By the time she drove me home, I was thinking about the zombies, Abel Township, and the mission. It was great weather outside. And I'm like, "Why not?" So I ran.
Don't run on a full stomach. Makes you feel sick. Better than getting eaten by zombies, I suppose.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Righteous Outrage is my Hobby
People keep telling me to relax about current events. The seem to try unusual tactics like, "the world is corrupt and God is coming back anyway."
I still get mad about injustice. But that's ok, because getting mad about injustice is my hobby and passion.
Speaking of hobbies...
A recent Supreme Court case decided in favor of Hobby Lobby 5-4. For those not following the news, Hobby Lobby was contesting the Obamacare requirement that they provide some certain birth controls they feel facilitates abortion, that is preventing an embryo from embedding, and they argued religious reasons. They were willing to provide health care. They were willing to provide birth control in the form of condoms, the pill, and other contraceptives.
Hobby Lobby could have just not provided health care and paid a yearly fine. But they wanted to give that to their employees. Also, they pay $15 an hour. Hobby Lobby treats their employees really well.
And America goes crazy. Just watching my Facebook feed I have seen some of the most ignorant responses I could think of. Hobby Lobby apparently hates women and doesn't care about women's rights. People are calling for boycotts. People are arguing that they are an exception to the rule and need those birth control things for non-sex related reasons. Someone said it was just one step farther in Hobby Lobby's plan to install a theocracy. Someone posted a graphic that said, "Oh sorry, but paying my student loans violates my religious beliefs... The Bible says, 'All debts shall be forgiven every seven years' So I'll stop making payments."
I almost feel like I'm lowering myself by dignifying these absurdities with any sort of response. That's why I'm writing here and not on Facebook. I make it a general Facebook rule to not reply to belligerent opinions I don't agree with.
First off, I've already noted that Hobby Lobby does care about it's employees, male and female.
And, the decision was made because the Supreme Court intended a narrow ruling not necessarily applied to anything else, basically saying that Obamacare had so many exceptions for so many other things, then why can't they add this one on? Not going to hurt the law.
Let's see...
Women do not have a right to birth control. As far as I'm concerned, you have the right to life, liberty, and property, and the right to be free from aggression on said life, liberty, and property. The word "right" is getting thrown around a ridiculous amount these days, and I believe we have forgotten what rights mean. If you wish to go purchase birth control, that is your own business. But you are aggressing the rights of private businesses by demanding that they provide something they do not believe, or demanding they provide anything at all, beliefs aside. We shouldn't have to use religious beliefs to keep from doing something we think is wrong. This used to be a free country.
Hobby Lobby employees are paid well. They feel the need for that morning-after pill, use some of your money and go buy it. You know, like people used to do when they wanted something? Before trying to make everyone else pay for your pet desires? Really doesn't work for you? Go work somewhere else. Somewhere that supplies it. Cause that's how things should work.
Hobby Lobby has no intentions for a theocracy. Notice they haven't tried to be involved in anything political until the political things came after them. Please.
And as far as that graphic goes...
Sigh.
The seven years thing was for a particular Jewish society (actually a theocracy) with particular rules and not a command in general. Student loans are signed up for voluntarily. You voluntarily promised to pay them back and cannot go back on that promise.
Also, to the people saying that somehow everyone's religious beliefs are running rampant on everyone elses' rights... (please see paragraph on rights)... The Supreme Court made it fairly clear this was a limited ruling. The Supreme Court has not ruled for religious rights in many other cases. And they can (and probably will) continue to rule against religious rights in the future. They get to do whatever the hell they want because they are the Supreme Court. I find that Supremely scary, but people should chill and take comfort in the fact that chances are, in the future, they are going to get their own little selfish agendas pushed on other people who don't believe in it, whether for religious reasons or just because they don't believe that anybody should go around forcing anybody to provide things they don't want to provide.
I still get mad about injustice. But that's ok, because getting mad about injustice is my hobby and passion.
Speaking of hobbies...
A recent Supreme Court case decided in favor of Hobby Lobby 5-4. For those not following the news, Hobby Lobby was contesting the Obamacare requirement that they provide some certain birth controls they feel facilitates abortion, that is preventing an embryo from embedding, and they argued religious reasons. They were willing to provide health care. They were willing to provide birth control in the form of condoms, the pill, and other contraceptives.
Hobby Lobby could have just not provided health care and paid a yearly fine. But they wanted to give that to their employees. Also, they pay $15 an hour. Hobby Lobby treats their employees really well.
And America goes crazy. Just watching my Facebook feed I have seen some of the most ignorant responses I could think of. Hobby Lobby apparently hates women and doesn't care about women's rights. People are calling for boycotts. People are arguing that they are an exception to the rule and need those birth control things for non-sex related reasons. Someone said it was just one step farther in Hobby Lobby's plan to install a theocracy. Someone posted a graphic that said, "Oh sorry, but paying my student loans violates my religious beliefs... The Bible says, 'All debts shall be forgiven every seven years' So I'll stop making payments."
I almost feel like I'm lowering myself by dignifying these absurdities with any sort of response. That's why I'm writing here and not on Facebook. I make it a general Facebook rule to not reply to belligerent opinions I don't agree with.
First off, I've already noted that Hobby Lobby does care about it's employees, male and female.
And, the decision was made because the Supreme Court intended a narrow ruling not necessarily applied to anything else, basically saying that Obamacare had so many exceptions for so many other things, then why can't they add this one on? Not going to hurt the law.
Let's see...
Women do not have a right to birth control. As far as I'm concerned, you have the right to life, liberty, and property, and the right to be free from aggression on said life, liberty, and property. The word "right" is getting thrown around a ridiculous amount these days, and I believe we have forgotten what rights mean. If you wish to go purchase birth control, that is your own business. But you are aggressing the rights of private businesses by demanding that they provide something they do not believe, or demanding they provide anything at all, beliefs aside. We shouldn't have to use religious beliefs to keep from doing something we think is wrong. This used to be a free country.
Hobby Lobby employees are paid well. They feel the need for that morning-after pill, use some of your money and go buy it. You know, like people used to do when they wanted something? Before trying to make everyone else pay for your pet desires? Really doesn't work for you? Go work somewhere else. Somewhere that supplies it. Cause that's how things should work.
Hobby Lobby has no intentions for a theocracy. Notice they haven't tried to be involved in anything political until the political things came after them. Please.
And as far as that graphic goes...
Sigh.
The seven years thing was for a particular Jewish society (actually a theocracy) with particular rules and not a command in general. Student loans are signed up for voluntarily. You voluntarily promised to pay them back and cannot go back on that promise.
Also, to the people saying that somehow everyone's religious beliefs are running rampant on everyone elses' rights... (please see paragraph on rights)... The Supreme Court made it fairly clear this was a limited ruling. The Supreme Court has not ruled for religious rights in many other cases. And they can (and probably will) continue to rule against religious rights in the future. They get to do whatever the hell they want because they are the Supreme Court. I find that Supremely scary, but people should chill and take comfort in the fact that chances are, in the future, they are going to get their own little selfish agendas pushed on other people who don't believe in it, whether for religious reasons or just because they don't believe that anybody should go around forcing anybody to provide things they don't want to provide.
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