A rose by any other name

The police call it bath salts. The girlfriend calls it voodoo. The internet calls it the zombie apocalypse. Media calls is cannibalism. No matter the name one thing is clear, all is not well in the state of Florida.

Now the third case of cannibalism in Florida, not counting the initial outbreak. The media is never `100% clear about these things and the only way we ever know something for sure is by experiencing it for ourselves. But the case of Charles Baker, looks just a little bit too much like a slow transformation to me.

No matter what it's called, bath salts, cocaine induced psychosis, zombie virus. No matter what the reason, synthetic drugs, aggressive mindset combined with heavy drugs, voodoo, re-animation. The fact is, there is a plague in Florida and it's spreading. In just three weeks since Rudy Eugene ate the face of Ronald Poppo, there have been three other incidents of cannibalism in Florida, the latest with Charles Baker eating part of Jeffery Blakes' arm before being tazed and shot with a stun gun multiple times before finally being taken down with physical force. It may not be the T-virus and they may not be the walking dead but whatever is happening down south is definitely not a freak accident and any drug that can turn a person into an extremely violent cannibal immune to pain is a zombie drug.

Those in the Florida area be exceedingly careful. Obviously things are being hidden here and there is a big puzzle piece missing. While it is possible this is all due to drugs or unrelated events, we know the media is not trust worthy when it comes to giving the whole truth.

On something a little closer to home, and a little more old news. Independent film makers in Edmonton are excited over our own possible zombie invasion. Good old DEdmonton is finally putting funds toward indy film in the city. This means more jobs for artists who are trained here, want to live here, but have to go to Vancouver or Toronto to get work. Over the past few years Edmonton has seen the largest EXPORT of educated youth in Canada. Most of these youth have been artists. All across the country the same story, went to Grant MacEwan or U of A but there's no jobs in Edmonton, Alberta doesn't support the arts. Well I won't say this is a cure all but it definitely helps take a step in the right direction. Edmonton has been known for it's heavy horror-cult community and now the city is finally standing proud behind the name DEdmonton instead of trying to shove it under the carpet. So on the off chance any Edmonton artists are reading this but haven't heard about the new funding, now might be the time to watch how things are going and if you're lucky grab a piece of the pie.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Interview with the internet's top zombie forum's leader

Well survivors I think it is valuable to stick together, nay it is invaluable. So here is an interview with a man who leads one of, if not, largest zombie survival forums on the internet. Mister Whaturmuva (Matt)

ZLC: What inspired you to start this forum?
Whaturmuva: My interest in what people would do during a ZPAW. It's just a hypothetical, but I enjoy examining human nature.

ZLC: How much work do you put into the forum to keep it in it's top ranking?
Whaturmuva: Next to none at this point. I know how to work the search engines well enough that I have gotten every site I have made to the top of google.

ZLC: Do you have a large team of admin to help you? If so have you actually met any of them or just online?
Whaturmuva: Nope, just me and one moderator. Have not met in real life but he seems like a pretty good guy. Overall the forum is fairly spam free and the members are all really great.

ZLC: There are lots of forums out there about zombies. What makes your's as awesome as it is?
Whaturmuva: It seems to be the largest of the very few that looks at zombies as a true possibility. Most just write them off and in every thread there is the "zombies can never exist" posters. Here we don't allow that type of behavior. To make it here one needs to expand their mind and really examine what is possible.

ZLC: Have you been Admin on any other forums?
Whaturmuva: Yes, I've made a variety of forums all which have gained a lot of popularity and high google rankings. I actually had another top zombie forum in the past but had to sell it due to life circumstances. The new owner seemed to have no passion for the site and it died just a few months later.

ZLC: So you're also running a zombie roleplay site. Do you have any experience with roleplaying games or play-by-post?
Whaturmuva: Can't say that I do. I created it for a member of the main forum and he had problems. Meanwhile the site got to the top of google but had no direction. Recently I have picked up a few users to start building it and I expect it to thrive very soon.

ZLC: There's also the zombie blog. How's the format for that site work? With multiple people contributing to it.
Whaturmuva: It really doesn't, the blog is fairly dead as I can't find anyone to contribute to it. I'd gladly let someone take it over if they want it but I haven't been able to find anyone who does. It's "Bloggers Wanted" is actually in my forum signature at all times

ZLC: Favorite zombie film and why?
Whaturmuva: Land of the Dead. It shows how humanity would survive in times after the world was already filled with zombies.

ZLC: Why a zombie forum and not a forum about something else awesome?
Whaturmuva: To make a forum thrive the admin must have interest in the subject. Zombies have held my interest for a long time and it just was a natural choice to go back to.

ZLC: Are you a true believer?
Whaturmuva: I don't believe there are any zombies on this planet at the moment. But I know this universe is ever expanding and we don't know a ton about it. I think it's a possibility just like anything else.

There you have. A true leader who believes all it takes is passion, knowledge and good people to get the job done.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Unconfirmed Class 1 Whittier California

I faced a new challenge this week as I was presented with an outbreak to which I could find no further information.

On February 22, 2011 a name hit the forums of zombie enthusists looking for help. He believed he had encountered the walking dead or something like it. As one can tell this may not be the most reliable source, in fact it is a completely unreliable source. But not a lot of people will search out zombie experts claiming to have been part of an outbreak. Trust me, it's just not that common. So I decided to investigate further.

I breifly interviewed the man and his story is that he saw a man hunched over and breathing loudly and visibly as if he had just been running. He called out if the man needed help and the creature turned to face him. It had a bite wound on its arm which was red, swollen and besides bleeding was excreating some sort of green puss. He said the creatures face was contorted into a beastal anger and his nose was also bleeding and oozing green puss. The creature was grunting the witness said. He began to run and was followed by the creature who was discribed as trying to run but just hobbling. However when he lookd back to see how close it was, it was gone.

I looked into this as much as I could. Watching multiple news feeds from Whittier and LA nothing was mentioned. I scoured pictures looking for a corpse or assalant matching the creature's discription. White male in his 20's, black vest, blue jeans, white runners, clean hair cut. Nothing.

What I did find is a number of suicide cases in the last two weeks. I was able to find the details on three, including one double homocide, suicide but from what I was reading it sounded like there had been others. Not very special, especially considering it is suicide prefention week and the amount of people who live in LA. But what struck me as odd is all three suicides I was able to find details on had been done with firearms. Again not very odd considering firearms are quite common in the states and a fairly common choice when a person wants to leave this world. But also the most common choice when dealing with the undead. And an issue some zombie hunters have faced before the fall, is that local law enforcement does not accept zombies as real and as such treats a zombie death as a homocide.

The details breakdown-

Location: Los Angelus, United States of America

Time: 6:00PM, February 22, 2011

Infected: 1 (suspected)

Response: None

Media Coverage: None

My suggesion: I found no further evidence of this outbreak but some possible links. If you live in or around Whittier watch out for similar situations and if you encounter such a creature run, run as far and as fast as you can.

Stay vigilent, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.