How to Do the Zombie March in Three Easy Steps...

Okay, so this is the last post on the zombie march, as much fun as it's been.

I'm going to repeat my warning from the last post:  NOTE to the regular readers who are used to cute, fluffy squirrels and happy little song birds...  These zombie posts contain exactly what you'd think of when you hear "zombie".  A lot of stage make-up gray faces and latex flesh wounds and currant-juice fake blood.  If this is not what you signed on for, please feel free to look away now.  Personally, I found it all to be a lot of "Hey look someone in make up", but some people on the street were legitimately startled by some of the participants. Personally (and this is something I'll go into later) the only thing I found creepy were some of the contact jobs.  Even under all the grease paint, latex and Rice Krispies (more on that in later too) I still expect people's eyes to look like, you know, normal eyes.

So if this is not your thing, feel free to back-button now.  The next post I make will be back to the cute, fluffy, normal stuff you're used to from me. :)

But if you're into zombies... you have to become one.

The event was planned on the internet.  There's a website and a Facebook site and everything.  You have to wonder if this is one of the odder things Mark Z and the Twitter folks have found their inventions being employed for.  "Yeah, we created this great way for people to find old school friends and to chat with their cousins ... and it was just used to set up 2000 people to dress like zombies and attack Chicago."

If it's not one of the oddest things they've been used for, I want to know what *is*. :)

Anyway, the website said that if people needed help with make up, there would be people set up to help you.  But most people showed up either read to go, or they just bloodied themselves there or they made their friends undead.

These two girls were two of the first to show up and start getting ready near the Bean.

 I posted these girls before.  They were busy helping others get set up.  When I looked at their "victim", I saw this...

So I had to ask why they were sticking Rice Krispies to her face.  Turns out that they put liquid latex over the cereal and it gives the texture you can see on Ginny's face above.  Neat trick!

 I mentioned that the one thing that made me freak out a little - among all the gray and green and white paint and all the latex and fake blood - was the contacts people were using to do bizarre things with their eyes.  Like this zombie - with one blown eye and one normal.

Or these two.  I wish I had the aperture set a little better, so you could see the blue eyes in the blonde girl's eyes a bit better.  They're the freakishly light blue ones that make her look almost irisless.  And of course, there was scads of red eyes.  I wonder how many people went home and tried to use 'red-eye removal' on their photos. :)

 Once everyone was made up, we started moving all 2000 zombies and 100 photographers down Michigan Ave.

 Crossing streets was fun.  We um... annoyed traffic a few times.

Some of the tourists were a little taken aback.  I don't think this was included in the brochures. :)

At one point the traffic problems got us noticed by the cops.  They were totally cool with everything, and this guy - a bike cop - basically became our escort, helping us not, you know, completely hose traffic in the Loop.  He was also totally game for playing along with everything.

 When there was a lull or a rest stop at a landmark, certain Zombie Dramas would break out.  I want to note that these skits were completely ad libbed, but also completely consensual.  No actual 'innocent by-standers' were actually grabbed by the zombies.  Even this guy was totally on board with being "attacked".

 This guy was so into getting his picture taken with the Zombies that he kissed anyone who sat next to him on the cheek. (I don't think he actually made contact, because a.) creepy and b.) make-up... on both parties.

 When we stopped in front of NBC, the "Zombie Hunter" went after one of the zombies with a camera.

 He lost that battle.

 But when he got up to try again, this little tiny person (I wish I had a shot of her face - she was an adult, but actually smaller than me.  And in feetsy pajamas!) jumped on his back.

And held on but good until she took him down.

 As we moved through town, the locals began whipping out whatever camera they had.  dSLRs, point-and-shoots, cell phones...

You just have to imagine this guy getting home.

"Hi honey, how was your day?"
"Well, 2000 zombies went past the hotel."
"Oh be serious!"
"No, look, I even have pictures!"

Because, really, who would believe that?

This guy had both a phone and a regular camera.  He's a roller-cop at the Bean.  The fact that he carries a dedicated camera makes me think that 2000 zombies may be 'just another day on the job' for him.

This guy even 'Flat Stanley'd the zombies.  If you don't know what Flat Stanley is, you can go here to read up on him.  The short version is, when you either can't go somewhere yourself, OR you go somewhere alone and can't get pictures of you in front of a landmark, you put a little picture/doll/figurine in the shot that represents you.  A friend of mine uses a Captain Jack Harkness  (from Torchwood) action figure, other people use a favorite stuffed animal.  It's a way of showing "I was here, I saw this thing in person, but I couldn't get myself into the shot."  This guy couldn't get a picture of himself with the zombies, but he held the little Amigurumi doll (which, IMHO, looks like Where's Waldo) to the zombie parade as a way of saying, "Look what *I* did in Chicago!"

 So we shambled past Broadway in Chicago...

 ...across the Chicago River.  (One thing I noticed about zombies - they're camera hogs. If I stopped for a second to get a shot, odds were good someone would stick their face against my glass.)

Clearly a zombie from years gone by got tired of being labeled and left this on the railing to the bridge over the river.

After making the loop around, well... The Loop, we made our way back to the Bean.  It was about four hours later... and there were still people there getting dressed up as zombies.  I have no idea what they were going to do or where they were going to go as a zombie, as the walk was over, but... there he was.

ETA: So this young lady with the red hair here is Alexandra.  She and I were chatting on Facebook and she explained why they were still doing make up after the march.  "If you were wondering why we were still doing make-up, we were just having fun I suppose.  I didn't understand why people wanted makeup after the march, but I was having fun so I did it."

The one last person I have to mention is Heather Myers.  Heather was going around with a small video camera, interviewing zombies, but not dressed as one.  I asked who she was interviewing for and she said that it was for her Masters thesis.  She is, no joke, getting her Masters in Zombies from HARVARD.  She turned in the proposal to her advisor as a joke and had her 'real' topic of... something about the aculturalization of Native American Trickster Gods... to turn in afterwards. Anyway, the advisor looked at the Zombies one and went, "You are so totally doing this!" So now she travels around and studies the zombie phenomena and its growth in America.  How wild is that?

This week I'm going to a bonfire event.  Those shots will probably be a little more along the lines of the stuff you're used to seeing from me.  But I have to say, I wasn't sure about hanging out with the UNnatural for a day, but it really was a blast.  Thanks to all you zombies.  I've never met friendlier undead people in my life.

OH!  That reminds me... I kept asking people if they knew this song, and I didn't meet one who did.  I'm not saying it's brilliant music or anything.  But it's "All You Zombies" by the Hooters.  It's an old 80's pop tune... that's vaguely about zombies.

If you want to be a popular Zombie, you need a bit or a schtick.

So, I posted a quick bit on the Zombie March in Chicago yesterday.  I'm hoping to finish on the subject in two posts tonight, but wow... there were a lot of pictures.

NOTE to the regular readers who are used to cute, fluffy squirrels and happy little song birds...  These zombie posts contain exactly what you'd think of when you hear "zombie".  A lot of stage make-up gray faces and latex flesh wounds and currant-juice fake blood.  If this is not what you signed on for, please feel free to look away now.  Personally, I found it all to be a lot of "Hey look someone in make up", but some people on the street were legitimately startled by some of the participants. Personally (and really, this is something I'll go into in the next post, not this one) the only thing I found creepy were some of the contact jobs.  Even under all the grease paint, latex and Rice Krispies (more on that in the next post too) I still expect people's eyes to look like, you know, normal eyes.

I promise that my next event will be far more family-friendly. :)

Anyway, I mentioned yesterday that about 2000 zombies and 100 photographers showed up for this 'flash mob' style event.

With that many subjects all wanting to be photographed, it was a bit of a challenge to decide who to shoot, where, how and then once I got the pictures back on the computer, thinning them down to a representative sample was a real challenge.

To any zombies who remember being photographed by a short girl in jeans and a gray/black/white flannel who aren't being shown here: my deepest apologies. I've had to reject a lot of really fun pictures just for lack of something to say other than, "Hey look, yet another zombie."  If you're reasonably sure that I got some shots of you and you'd like me to email them to you, please feel free to contact me.  You can leave a comment here or email kymberleericke at gmail [dot] com.

So here's a trick for next year:  Have a bit.  Have a theme or a skit or a schtick or something that makes you more than "and here's yet another zombie in jeans and a torn up t-shirt with fake blood all over."

Mad as a Hatter and Twice as Dead

Like this pair.  First off I love the gender-switch of the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts.  Second of all, the contacts I mentioned earlier?  Check out Miss Hatter's eyes closer.  Not only does she have creepy contacts, she has eyelashes longer than some dog leashes I've seen!

Black Swan, Red Blood

As if the Black Swan wasn't demented enough in the movie.  Now she's demented and dead.

Silence of the [Undead] Lambs

For some, being a zombie was a family affair.  There's something charmingly Radar O'Reilly about a little zombie that carries a cute stuffed lamb.

Movie characters were being undead all over the place.  Here Ginny Weasely and Dorothy were helping to do make up on a few people who weren't undead enough.

Old School Undead

Okay, so there was something very old-school about her outfit.  Very "Little Red Riding Hood" meets Abby Sciuto meets Night of the Living Dead.

A Little Hip Action

And if your costume is not the sort that stands out in 2000 zombies, get a schtick.  I mean, really, who can't help but watch a hoola-hooping zombie?

On my honor, I will die...

Okay, I think she takes my "all time favorite zombie" award for the year.  And yeah, that's probably not an expression I ever expected to use, but her details are just impeccable.  (Is it just me or is Blogspot washing out my photos today?)  If you can blow up the shot and see her patches, the top one is a brilliant re-creation of the normal patch a Junior or Senior scout would wear, but it says "Hurl Scouts" instead of "Girl Scouts" and her troop number is 666.  And to top it off, the irony of ironies is that she's wearing an ANKH!  If you aren't familiar with the ankh, it's an Ancient Egyptian symbol for... life! A zombie wearing a life symbol.  I love it.

From A to Z (Adorable to Zombies)

Of course, you don't have to stretch your zombie imagination too hard when you start with such cute little girls.  Cute little zombies score points any day.  What was absolutely adorable was when I asked to take their picture, the little one with the syringe in her head started to smile and the other one elbowed her and said, "Don't *smile*.  We're *zombies*!"  But then she couldn't keep her face straight.  Also, Zombies in little pink flower sneakers?  Sweet!

Starbucks: even animates the undead

Normally I'm a zombie until I've had my coffee.  Apparently she's a zombie even with it.

In either case, my brother's still safe.

 Also in the schtick department: funny signs.  I always wondered what would happen to undead vegetarians.

 There were a couple of zombie-brides (and a few real ones - see the last post), but this was the only one who came equipped with attendants.  It was a blast staging them in "real wedding" poses with the city behind them.  It confused a few tourists as there was, at the same time, a real wedding doing similar posings about fifteen or twenty feet down the railing from us.

Okay, hopefully I can get everything else in the next post.  A little about zombifying folks, a little on moving 2000 people through Chicago, a little on photographing 2000 zombies on the move...

So I went to a Flash Mob and a Wedding Broke Out

I have so very much to say about this, that most of it will have to wait for tomorrow, but I wanted to share this bit, because I found it hysterical.

Today was Chicago's Fourth Annual Zombie March.  Again, I'll go into it all tomorrow, but basically it's an excuse for 2000 people to dress up like Zombies and march around Chicago.

The gathering point is the Bean - Cloudgate - in Millennium Park.  This also happens to be a very popular spot for wedding photography, but it's not the kind of place you call up and reserve.  So, collisions happen.

The first two weddings I saw out there were all very, "OMG zombies... why are there ZOMBIES at my WEDDING?"

The next one... less concerned.  :)

As people started to collect, someone put on Michael Jackson's "Thriller", and about a dozen zombies started dancing.

At one point I look up and notice that there's a wedding (wedding?  With the bride in teal?  If anyone knows of a different celebration this might be, I'd love to hear it, thanks!) gathering around the dancing zombies.

When the song ended and the zombies began to meander off, the guy in the white suit (groom?) taps the zombie with the boom box and asks him to run the song again.

And then the wedding party did "Thriller".

Even the little kid. :)

So while weddings spontaneously breaking out into flash mob-style dances these days is becoming commonplace, I've never heard of a flash mob gathering and having a wedding break out. :)

ETA:  It's been suggested that this may be a  Quinceanera party.  Personally, I've never heard of a Quinceanera that has people coordinating outfits like bridesmaids and groomsmen, but then again, I've never seen a bride in teal before, so...  ?

Lincoln Park Ponds, more new species - May 31, 2011

Wow, haven't posted in almost two weeks.  Sorry about that.  It's not that I haven't been out shooting, I just haven't had time to get a post together.

That and the fact that I'm completely obsessed with ProjectNoah.com.  It's a fantastic site to talk to people who do a lot of what I do here.

Anyway, on Memorial Day, May 31, I hiked all three ponds on one of the very first 90 degree (F) we had this year.  The weather has been very slow to warm up which has kept the cold-bloodeds in hiding for a long, long time.  They're *just* making their way out now, as the migratory birds (the warblers and some of the finches, etc...) make their way up and out of the city.

Sign of Summer

 One of my favorite signs of summer.  The dragonflies are back!  We don't have the clouds of them (okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration) that we had around this time last year, but slowly but surely, a few species are parking themselves somewhere easy to photograph.

Bowing Carolina

  I'll need to go back and check my posts from last year, but I think I was identifying all the bright red dragonflies like this as Red Saddlebags, but while checking this a few dozen times before putting it up on Project Noah (I *love* that people there will correct you if you get a spotting wrong, but I'd prefer to get it right myself the first time if I can.)  Anyway, it turns out that this is, in fact, a Carolina Saddlebags.  You can tell because a Red has these clear patches on their wings right where they attach to the body.  This one is red to the abdomen, so it's a Carolina.  Another tell is that the last couple segments on the Carolina are dark brown or black.  They're the same red as the rest of the tail on the Red Saddlebags.

First Spotting of a Twelve Spotted

 Like last year, one of the first dragonflies and easiest to identify is the Twelve-Spotted Skimmer.  This guy would perch for about eight seconds, I'd get a few shots and then he'd fly off in about a ten foot radius circle and then come right back to this stick and perch again before starting the process all over.  Made it easy to shoot him.  I just had to wait a few seconds everytime he left, since I could depend on him to come back. :)

Red Ears with Their Eyes on Me

 Another one I've learned better about.  Last year I thought all the turtles in the North Pond were Red-Eared Sliders. Turns out a lot of them were Eastern Painted.  So when I learned that, I started thinking that maybe I was just getting them all wrong and they were all Painteds.  But no.  Here are some honest-to-goodness Red-Ears.  In this case you have a male (the smaller) and the female (the larger).

A Bee on a Bud

The bees are making their way out too.  Here's a honey bee checking out the early goldenrod.

And about the time the bees come out, the wasps come with them.  Clearly my "this can puncture me and I should flee" instinct didn't recover over the winter.  I'm still trying to figure out which kind of wasp he is.  Any ideas?

Okay, so this guy clearly isn't cold-blooded, but I was really chuffed over this sequence of shots I got of him coming in for a landing.

I would have loved for that last shot to have been a little clearer, but he landed pretty far back. It's still a fun series of shots, though.  Night Herons are about as exotic as we get out here.

The Carolina Saddlebag and the Red-Eared Sliders (properly identified) are my only new species for this post, but that brings my total up to 35 of my 50 new species.