Hey guys, this will be a short one today. Back in my zombie post I shared a comic that I made. I want to share another one with you today, enjoy!
Ok, so if you know absolutely nothing about Superman or Thomas the Tank Engine, then you probably won't get this one. So I'll explain it as simply as I can. In the Adventures of Superman TV show from the 1950's the intro states that Superman is "Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive..." so I just took those two lines and made them one, except I replaced the word "speeding" with "speaking". Thomas the Tank Engine is a train that speaks. So, that's how I ended up with a comic depicting Superman outrunning Thomas the Tank Engine. As a bonus, check out the two vids below.
I know we're already more than a week into May, but I wanted to post some pictures I took of Chloe on Easter when we visited her great-grandma. So enough talk, let's see em'. I'll provide commentary under each picture of what I think may have been Chloe's thoughts.
Where the heck am I?
Why am I surrounded by flowers?
Daddy, put the camera down!
Is this my new babysitter?
ZZZZZZZZZZZZ
That's a huge flower!
That one's even bigger!
That sun's too bright, let's go inside!
Ah, back inside, that's better.
Did I just lay these eggs?
What's that over there?
It's frightening!
No, wait. It's just Daddy
'Sup, Daddy-o!
You are photographing my good side, right?
That was just a trick question, both sides are my good side
No, I'm not ready for my close-up
Are you done taking pictures yet, Daddy?
I'm not so sure how I feel
I think I'm tired...
...or maybe sad.
Or maybe I'm happy...
...or maybe I'm not.
Nah! I'm definitely happy!
Where my peeps at?!
Hey, what's the big idea?!
That last one is my favorite. What a face! I hope everyone enjoyed these pictures. I'm sure more will come later. Peace.
Back when I started this blog, I had a theme for each day of the work week. Tuesdays were called Story Time Tuesdays. I had started a mini-series within this theme called the "Work, Work, Work, Edition". I will now continue this series with my experience working for Paris Uniform Company. The picture above is Gabe with some of my equipment on. I used to load my truck on Saturday or Sunday so it was all ready for Monday. Sometimes Gabe came along to help.
I named this one "From Paris with Lumps" because it always seemed I had some kind of bump, scratch, bruise or injury while working for this company. I started talking about this job in this post if you want to catch up.
I started my day by waking up around 2:45am. I'd drive to the warehouse and load up my 16' box truck and try to be on the road by 5am. I delivered to an average of 20 customers a day so I had about 100 customers total throughout the week. After delivering everything and picking up the dirty uniforms, mats, and other products that needed washed, I'd return to the warehouse and unload my truck and then do a bunch of paperwork. For the first few weeks this took me about 14-16 hours to complete. I wouldn't get home until almost 7pm some nights. This is probably the main reason why I stopped blogging. When I became more used to the job it only took me 10-12 hours to complete a day, once in while only 8 hours. This job was very physically demanding and I lost about 30lbs. while working for Paris. Regrettably, I have put that weight back since then.
That's pretty much the short story version of what my job was like. Now I'd like to share a few stories about my experience at Paris. I got to know quite a few of my customers well and built good working relationships with them and had some fun joking around with them sometimes.
One morning I was driving to my first stop and it took about 45 minutes to get there and I enjoyed listening to podcasts and music while driving. I was listening to a podcast called "We're Alive" which is like one of the old time radio dramas, only newer. I mentioned it in my zombie post. I had just finished listening to one that was pretty intense when I arrived at my first stop. It was still very early in the morning and it was still very dark outside. As I stepped out of my truck I heard someone come up behind me and yell "RAAAAAAAAHH!" It scared the living bejeepers out of me. Normally I don't scare that easily, but I was already a little edgy when he did it. The guy that scared me was one of the workers at the plant I was delivering to. I usually talked with him when I made my stops there. I liked to play jokes on him too. All the workers there were supposed to get new coats from Paris and I delivered a few at a time each week and this guy in particular didn't get his coat for a long time. So he would jokingly act like he was really upset when he didn't get his coat. The first time I thought he was serious. He asked me if his coat arrived yet and he got this worried look on his face and looked like he was going to cry. He said, "I just know the reason I haven't gotten my coat yet is because they're going to fire me" and he turned away and acted like he was crying. I started to feel really bad for him, but then he turned back around with this big grin on his face. His coat did eventually arrive. I put it in his locker and I later ran into him and said "Hey, your coat showed up. I put it in your locker. Your name is Mike, right?" which wasn't really his name. When he told me it wasn't his name I told him I was sorry and said maybe he'd get his coat next week. So the next time I saw him he realized I had pulled one over on him and he told me that was a good one.
I also delivered to an Italian restaurant. The owner didn't speak much English so his son would usually translate for me. But one of the things he liked to do was come up to me, look in my shirt pocket and say "Where's the money?" One time I bought some fake play money and put it in my shirt pocket so when he asked me where the money was, I gave that to him.
I also delivered to one of the Kellogg's locations in Muncy, PA. So, if you've ever gotten a hair in one of your pop tarts, it might be mine! Just kidding. They didn't mess around when it came to sanitation. Your pop tarts are safe. Here's what I had to look like before entering Kellogg's:
I look like Ronald McDonald and Bluebeard the pirate had a kid. Hairnet, Beardnet, earplugs and safety glasses. While I was still training with Paris, the route manager and I went into Kellogg's to deliver when a woman stopped us and yelled, "You can't wear shorts in here!" So They went and got us a couple of while plastic full body jumpsuits that we had to wear while we were there. Sorry, I don't have a picture of that. The best thing though is that the contact person that I met with when I was there was named Tony. I'll let that one sink in for a moment.....
...still don't get it?
There you go.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yea. One more story from working at Paris. I delivered to a large warehouse and I had to back my truck into one of the loading docks that are usually used by tractor trailers, so the back of my truck wasn't high enough to line up with the door leaving more than a two foot drop from the dock into the back of my truck. I must have stepped up and down into and out of the back of my truck at that loading dock hundreds of times, but this one time in particular I stepped down into my truck the wrong way and as I went down on my face all I heard was a *pop*. There was no snap or crackle, just a *pop*. I didn't know what happened at first but I knew my foot was in a lot of pain. I sat up to take my boot and sock off and as soon as I did I knew I was going to have the rest of the day off. I crawled up onto the loading dock and flagged someone down for help. They sent a little motorized cart for me to ride on and then one of the people on the safety team took me to the ER. While I was sitting in the ER I decided to take a picture of my foot. WARNING: not for the squeamish.
No, that big bump is not my ankle. the little bump under the big bump is my ankle. Yea, ouch, I was thinking the same thing. Actually I was feeling the same thing. By the way, do you like my tan line from my sandals? I was off work for the next three days and then I was on light duty for the next two weeks. Light duty consisted of me riding in the passenger side of my truck and playing games on my phone while the route manager did all the work :) The only reason why I had to ride along is so I would get paid.
Okay, that'll do it for this post. Sorry it took so long to get this one out.
I mentioned in one of my recent posts that I had a baby on the way. Well, she's here and I would like to introduce you to Chloe May Lewis:
She was born on February 2, 2012. Groundhog's Day! Which is also my mother's birthday. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 13 oz. and was 19 1/2 in. long. I can't even begin to describe what it's like to become a father. Now I know I've already been trying to be a father-figure to my stepson Gabe for the past three years and in some ways I've already felt like a dad, but watching my daughter being born was indescribable. I feel like I was instantly changed. I guess it just feels more official now, and I hope I can be even more of a father-figure now to both Chloe and Gabe. I feel so much more connected to my new family.
We didn't know if our baby was going to be a boy or girl until she was born. The last ultrasound we had was supposed to reveal the gender, but she was in a position that prevented us from knowing. At first we wanted to know if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl, but when we couldn't find out, it became fun knowing it was going to be a surprise.
It seems so funny, but I could just spend a whole day just holding her and looking at her, watching all the funny faces she makes. I never understood before when people would say "Couldn't you just eat her up?" until I had one of my own. My friend Jesse gave me a book called "The Expectant Father" by Armin A. Brott. That is an awesome name by the way. In the book there is a section on unconditional love. In it he says:
Sooner or later every writer tries to take a crack at trying to describe love. And for the most part, they fall short. But there's a line in Maurice Sendak's classic children's book 'Where the Wild Things Are' that captures the feeling of loving one's own child exactly: 'Please don't go—we'll eat you up—we love you so.' As crazy as it may sound, that's precisely what my love for my daughters feels like to me. Whether we're playing, reading a book, telling each other about our days, or I'm just gazing at their smooth, peaceful faces as they sleep, all of a sudden I'll be overcome with the desire to pick them up, mush them into tiny balls, and pop them in my mouth.
I don't know about mushing my daughter into a tiny ball and putting her in my mouth, but I understand now why people use the phrase "Couldn't you just eat her up?" I do get the urge to gnaw on her from time to time. In fact my wife made the observation that her toes look like tic tacs. So we've been calling them her tic-tac-toes.
So this brings us up to date on where I am in life. I still have so many things to share about the last couple of years that I was away from this blog. My wedding, our honeymoon in Jamaica and a few jobs that I've had over the past couple years as well. So look for more of my "Work, work, work" editions of this blog. Here's a few more pictures of Chloe to wrap up this post. Enjoy!
So, here we are. This blog has been dead for almost two years and now this website is rising up from its grave-site. So I think my first post should be about the living dead. That's right, ZOMBIES! For quite a few years I have been intrigued by the whole Zombie-craze that's been going on. Growing up, I hated horror films. My family would watch them as I sat on the couch covering my eyes with my hands repeatedly saying "Tell me when it's safe to look." But as I got older I started to enjoy horror films. And the ones that I thought were the scariest and most entertaining were zombie films. I've watched quite a few of them and believe me, there are just as many horrible zombie films as there are good ones. I guess for me what makes zombies so scary is the fact that anyone could become one. You, a loved one, uncle Bob. (Yes, I know zombies aren't real just for the record...or are they?) So it's not so much the blood and gore part of zombie films I find scary, but it's scary in a psychological sense that anyone could become one. It would be difficult to kill a monster that was once your mother, father, brother, sister, spouse, or your best friend. And it would be difficult to know that this thing that used to be a loved one is now emotionless and wants to eat you alive.
I guess my fascination with zombies started back in the mid to late 90's when CAPCOM released the horror survival game: Resident Evil. By the time this came out, I had gotten over my fear of horror films, but this was a whole new ball game. How many of you who have played this game almost jumped through the ceiling while playing? I know I have, and I still do. There's something about playing a survival horror game that immerses you into the story more than a film can. It wasn't until many years later though that I started getting into the whole zombie phenomenon.
After watching a handful or two of zombie films, I decided to watch the original 1968 film "Night of the Living Dead" by George A. Romero. I don't usually like to watch movies that are older than me, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good this movie is. By today's standards it's pretty tame, but considering the time in which it came out, even I was shocked at some of the imagery. The movie caused some controversy when it was released. This film was released just before the MPAA rating system was put in place so kids were not prohibited from seeing this film. Even though the film was controversial and heavily criticized it was eventually selected by the Library of Congress for preservation into the National Film Registry as a film deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". Other film by Romero include: Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead.
Romero never actually referred to the Living Dead as "zombies". The term zombie actually comes from Haitian religion. It means an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means, such as witchcraft. But in today's terms the word zombie refers to an undead race in horror fiction.
Zombie Rules
Max Brooks, the son of actor/director/funny man Mel Brooks, wrote "The Zombie Survival Guide". I haven't read it yet, but I hope to someday as well as his other book "World War Z". So there are some rules about Zombies I'd like to talk about now. I think when movies, video games, and other zombie related things follow these guidelines, it make it a more enjoyable experience for me. I tend to prefer Romero's Zombies/Living Dead. The slow, lumbering ones that aren't extremely hard to deal with, but when in large hordes, become unstoppable. I don't like the fast moving Zombies that can run and climb walls and seem to have almost super-human strength. Zombies should have no more strength than that of their former self minus the sensitivity to pain. Whether zombies actually feel pain or not, it doesn't seem to bother them or slow them down.
We'll break this part down into categories.
How does one become a zombie?
Initially, I don't really have a preference on how zombies first come about, whether it's from radiation, a virus, or top secret government laboratory testing. But as the zombie invasion grows, how do others become zombies? Anyone who is bitten, scratched, or gets any kind of bodily fluid in their system from a zombie is bound to become one.
How long does it take to become a zombie?
Again, I don't have a preference on time. I think anywhere from a day to three days is an acceptable time. It should never be instant. Also the infected person would also notice changes as they are turning. They would slowly fade away, as the person becomes something entirely different than they were in their former life.
The Zombie lifestyle
Actually, zombies don't have much of a sense of style, or life for that matter. The only thing that keeps a zombie going is the need for food. They are very picky eaters and only enjoy the freshest meat, preferably the kind that tries to run away. Fast food, in a sense. This is why you don't see zombies eating each other and it's also how they know the difference between themselves and the living. Zombies seem to travel in large groups but I don't think it's because they enjoy socializing, I think it's just because they all happen to be in the same area at the same time. They all move together as a group because they are all driven by the same thing. Zombies are devoid of any personality and only resemble of what they once were. Whereas the basic daily routine of a person is eat, sleep, poop, the routine of a zombie is eat and then walk around until it finds something else to eat. Zombies never sit around after a big meal and think to themselves, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" or "I'm never eating again." Some of them don't even have a stomach to fill, but it doesn't slow down their appetite. Also, zombies do not say "BRAINS!" they have no vocabulary other then moans and groans.
Zombie Movement
Zombies have poor motor function because for the most part they are dead. Rigor mortis has set in, as well as body decay. Just about anyone could out-run a zombie, but that zombie never gets tired which gives it unlimited endurance to keep moving without ever resting. Because of their slowness and quietness, they are able to sometimes sneak up on unsuspecting victims. But this isn't a strategic zombie tactic, it's just their nature and it works to their advantage.
Getting rid of zombies
Unfortunately there are no zombie extermination services as of yet, but we should really prepare ahead of time. So how do you kill something that's already dead? Zombies are dependent on their brains which have been reanimated. So, destroy the brain and the zombie is no longer a problem.
Well, that is a summary of "zombie rules". Click here for a more extensive look at the rules.
Zombie Films
Like I said before, there are just as many bad zombie films as there are good ones. I'm going to talk about some films now and explain why I think they are good, bad or don't quite fit the category of a zombie film in my opinion.
Let's start with the good:
George A. Romero's films. I've only seen "Night of the Living Dead" and "Dawn of the Dead". I have yet to see his other films, but I am looking forward to watching the other ones.
I've only seen the first three of the "Return of the Living Dead" films. I don't agree with a lot of what goes on in these movies such as talking zombies and severed body parts that still move, but I actually enjoy these movies because they're so ridiculous and funny.
Speaking of funny, I think the best Zombie comedy has to be "Shaun of the Dead" with Simon Pegg. There was also another zomcom (I just made up a new term!) called "Last of the Living" which was filmed in New Zealand. This one wasn't too bad either.
The Resident Evil series also gets a thumbs up. Movies based on video games usually have nothing to do with the game, but this one does pretty well, even though some of the characters in the movies aren't portrayed the same way they are in the game. I wish they would have left the game characters out of the movies altogether. I have yet to see the fourth installment in this series.
Here are some bad zombie films:
Zombie Honeymoon was horrible. It could have been good, but the movie kept going back and forth between being a comedy to being a drama and it just ended up becoming a flop.
Aaah! Zombies is another zombie comedy that gets a thumbs down in my book. It was an interesting concept, but they just went the wrong way with it. Four friends become zombies, but they don't realize it. To each other, they look normal. But to other people they look like zombies, except for drunk people who see them as normal. Yea...stupid.
The Horde is a French zombie film. Sure, it's action packed, but it lacks plot.
Day of the Dead, no, not the George A. Romero version, but the remake by Steve Miner. It wasn't absolutely horrible, but there is a brief scene where a zombie quickly crawls up the wall and then on the ceiling. It ruined it for me.
Films that don't quite fit the zombie category for me:
28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later are great movies, don't get me wrong. They just miss the criteria for being zombie films though. Rather than being driven by hunger they are driven by the rage virus which causes them to violently attack anyone who is not infected.
I am Legend is another great movie and the novel of the same name by Richard Matheson is what inspired George A. Romero to write and direct "Night of the Living Dead". But again, the creatures in this film are able to think and crawl up walls, so it doesn't work for me as a zombie film.
The Passion of the Christ is also not a zombie film. Sure, Jesus comes back from the dead, but with a much greater purpose than eating people. Jesus comes back to share a message of hope, love and peace and encourages us all to do the same which is contrary to what a zombie would do.
The next thing I want to talk about are other zombie-ish things I am into right now.
"The Walking Dead" series on AMC is probably one of the best things on TV right now. I've been keeping up with it online since we don't have cable right now. The first season is on Netflix if you're interested. Not only is The Walking Dead one of the more graphic and gruesome shows I've ever seen, it also has a great story line. I've heard people say they're not really into zombie related stuff, but because of this show's great story line, they watch it. In fact the end of the last episode I watched left me speechless, I won't spoil it for you, but it was the episode from season 2 titled "Pretty Much Dead Already".
"We're Alive" is an audio podcast I listen to on iTunes. It's just like the old radio dramas from the old days, only newer. Great voice acting and great sound effects are all that's needed for you to visualize what is going on. This is great for those long car rides. Just don't listen and drive if you are too jumpy. Listen with caution.
"Plants vs. Zombies" is a really fun game. I have it on my mac and my stepson has it on his Nintendo DSi. In this game you defend yourself from attacking hordes of zombies by planting various plants in your yard. The plants have the ability to fight off the waves of zombies that try to invade your house. It's a very light-hearted and comical game. To get an idea of how fun this game is, watch the video below.
Here is the music video from the game as well.
I think I'll wrap up this post now, it's gone on long enough. I'll leave you now with part of a little project I've been working on. I used to draw comics in study hall back in high school and I miss doing that, so I decided to start up again. I just happened to make a zombie related comic. Enjoy!
