Zombie March Chicago 2012 - Post 4 - The Signs of The Apocolypse (alpha) - June 16, 2012

So... I got a bit of interesting feedback on my second Zombie March post for this year.  I made the comment that I wasn't sure if it wasn't 'too soon' for Zombie Amy Winehouse, given that she died less than a year ago.  Someone kindly pointed out that Zombie AW had actually originated back in 2007, long before she actually died.  Which just got me to thinking... I was a little ponderous about the AW zombie, because it seemed to me, that on some level, it was making a statement about a real person who was actually dead.

And yet I had no second thoughts about Obama-zombie.  I guess because unlike Amy Winehouse, he doesn't show self-destructive tendencies that would result in a real death at a young age.  I think.  I'm not sure.  I'm suddenly very introspective about how the kind of zombie you dress as says something about a person.

The same person said they found this sign more disturbing than the Amy Winehouse zombie because it was much more recent.

Now, to be fair, it was a good half-an-hour after I first saw this sign that the joke registered for me.

I make bath salts.  You know, scented epsom salts or sea salt that you toss into your actual bathtub.

I have never been a part of, or even had a high interest in, the illegal drug culture.

So it took me a while to remember that there is a mind/mood-altering substance out there called 'bath salts' that have nothing to do with actually cleaning your skin.  And that the use of them has caused some 'real zombie attacks' in the past couple months.  Apparently in a few cases, people who have gotten high on the stuff have killed others and then literally eaten a part of that person.

Pretty gross, right?

So now I *get* the joke, but I think because I was only peripherally aware of these cases as 15-second news bits, they don't have a lasting impact on me.  Maybe people with a lot more interest in zombie legend and cosplay have a greater interest and identification with these stories.  Because once I got the joke I was like, "Oh!  I get it.  Yeah, that makes sense now.  Next!"

So... it's interesting.  I mean, zombies are supposed to be, on some level, disturbing.  But to actually contemplate why some zombies are more disturbing or 'problematic' for some people is just *not* something I ever saw myself putting a lot of brain power into.  And yet...

Anyway!  There were signs!  Zombies with signs.  I always find the signs people carry at any parade/march/protest interesting.  I took many hundreds of pictures of signs at the John Stewert/Stephen Colbert rally in Washington D.C. a few years ago.

There were so many signs that I didn't even attempt to blog them all.  I made a music video out of a handful of my favorites, though.  I could have sworn I linked that here, but I can't find it if I did.  So just in case... here it is again.

Anyway, some of the zombies had signs!

This one was particularly noticable because there was very little lurching this year.  Apparently lurching takes more energy than walking and slows down the process.  Since it was about 93 degrees (F) during the march, no one was up for either wasting energy or going slower.

I like this one because of the hand silhouetted behind it.  It looks like someone's trying to claw through the sign to get away from the monsters.

Apparently "Zombie Rights" are a hot-button issue in the undead community right now.

And, of course, there has to be the Undead of the Occupy Movement represented.

I just hope she isn't implying that 99% of Chicago is zombies. :)









Okay, tomorrow will be one more quick post on signs. :)