Below is an awesome infographic detailing how social media can be vital in the days around a disaster. The image was created by Etón Corportation, a company that makes safety radios.
Continue reading “In Case of Emergency: Use Social Media [Infographic by Etón Corporation]”
Check us out; we’ve made it to the regional time!
A representative of the Safety and Survival Council will be running amok at New York Comic Con this October collecting all the latest in entertainment pertaining to zombies, the apocalypse, comics, and more.
Continue reading “In Case of Survival Will be at New York Comic Con!”
We’ve talked quite a bit about zombie survival. You know, how to keep zombies from invading your settlement, how to keep zombies from chasing you down and eating you, and how to toss those really annoying people who just won’t quit whining over the wall into the zombie encampment. (Well, maybe not that last one. But you know you thought about it.)
But what if the zombie is someone who’s close to you? Maybe someone who’s part of your survival group? Or—gasp—someone who’s part of your family?
And not the annoying great-aunt who gives you tacky reindeer sweaters at Christmas and force-feeds you fruitcake after kissing you while making fishy lips, either. No, we’re talking close relatives here. You know, your mom or dad (if you’re on speaking terms with them), your sibling (ditto), your spouse, or your kids. And what about your best friend? Having your best friend try to attack you and make you lunch just might be worse than watching your mother turn into a brain-eating undead humanoid.
Don’t get me wrong, having your mother turn into a zombie can also be pretty bad.
Especially if you’re a kid. Like this little girl here, who wakes up one morning to find that zombies have invaded her town. And instead of making her breakfast, her mother is now trying to have her for breakfast. (Crappy, that.)
In Y: The Last Man Yorick is the last man alive on Earth after a random, sudden thing kills all the men in all the world, and shit if I don’t wish he’d just kill himself so those poor women could just wither in peace.
Never before have I been so against a protagonist’s survival. He’s so dumb in a gross know-it-all way that I want him to get shot by the heavily stereotyped Republicans’ wives.
I want his poor monkey, Ampersand, to run away and maybe be the father of a new human-monkey hybrid species of the future. I want anything but for stupid Yorick to continue being a walking, preachy, tropey, asshole.
Frist there’s: “Wahh, I’m in love and that’s important.”
Then he’s all: “You women need to band together and act like civilized last people alive and do our forefathers proud.”
(Lady President promptly shut him up saying: “These women have suffered more than you can imagine. They don’t deserve to be lectured by a self-righteous child.[1. That, unlike the others, is actually a direct quote from issue #3]”)
Then he’s like: “I get that people are actively trying to kill me but I don’t want to hide from them. They’re just angry women. Is that a bear? Let’s poke it with this stick to check.
”
Continue reading “Post-Apocalyptic Graphic Novels (Comics): Y The Last Man”
I watched Contagion this weekend with Husband. Duh, I loved it. It wasn’t a hype machine for crazy-pants pseudo -science or mutants or zombies. It was crazy-pants really, real.
Unlike most of the post-apocalyptic stories we see in entertainment, there was an unsettling realism to Contagion. The fear that was so easily fueled and exploited just made sense. There are enough people in the world with enough mistrust to easily create chaos unrelated to the direct source of danger.
The movie followed a number of people in different places as far as the virus’ path, place in society, and ability actually do something for themselves or others.
It was interesting (and disturbing) seeing the little things break people down faster then the actual virus. The idea that the dead were only about 1%, give or take, of the population (maybe, as they only alluded to it), was scary. Society just fell apart. That’s one (maybe two) out of every one hundred people…
I might sound insensitive but, I honestly didn’t think I’d notice. The thing isn’t how long it would take us to notice though, it’s how long it would take the government to respond. Once they start hiding the President and organizing the national guard people start too panic.
We only know what we see on the news and we assume the government knows so much more than we do. We assume they know about science, suspects, cures, and have more than enough food for almost everyone. We assume they, like we would, well take care of their family and friends first and everyone else will have to prove themselves. When we take a good, hard look at ourselves we’ll realize that we probably don’t have the whatever-it-is that someone’s looking for when they decide to save a life at the expense of long term planning for people they actually give a shit about.
Contagion was more about the infectious nature of rhetoric and rumors than the damage done by actual the virus itself.
I say it’s definitely worth the watch but maybe not worth the money to see it in a theater.
In honor of anninyn being away on some steampunk adventure business, I bring you steampunk finds for post-apocalyptic life!
An amazeballs free guide to apocalyptic living steampunk style from the talented folks at steampunk magazine. This 56-page guide covers water filtration and storage, assessing your surroundings, self defense, an overview of contagions and much more.
I generally think about the apocalypse happening in one sudden apocalyptic event that takes everyone by surprise. But what if it doesn’t happen that way? What if the apocalypse is a slow, years-long decline?
After all, in some ways, the fall of the Roman Empire could be considered an apocalyptic event. And the empire’s decline took a long time, since it technically didn’t fall until Constantinople fell in 1453 (though, okay, the Western Roman Empire was in serious decline and almost completely taken over by Germanic tribes by the end of the 5th century).
Anyway. A slow decline or a sudden event—what’s better? Personally, I don’t know. They’ve each got their pros and cons. Let’s go over them quickly, so we can all secretly hope for one kind over the other.
Continue reading “The apocalypse: a sudden apocalyptic event or a slow decline?”
I live in a hurricane zone. Which is fun and all–at least, until a hurricane actually hits. I wasn’t affected by Hurricane Irene, and the only thing we got from Tropical Storm Lee was a bunch of wind and some (much-needed) rain.
So far, we’ve been pretty lucky that way. (Of course, the season’s not over yet.)
With the recent evacuation of much of the American Eastern Seaboard, I thought about my family’s own hurricane evaluation plan. You know, just in case we need it. It didn’t take long to think about, since we don’t actually have a plan in place. (Which will most certainly bite us in the ass should we actually need to run far away from an angry mass of hurricane.)
But that’s beside the point. (And a scenario to which my procrastinating self says, “I’ll cross that washed-out bridge when I get to it.”)
I’ve decided to learn how to knit. Not just because I want to make my own bloody scarves, but because I think it will be useful.
Of course, to the people who get a little concerned about me when I start yammering on about the end of the world, I’m pointing out the accepted benefits- it’s relaxing, it keeps your hands busy so you snack less, you get a pretty jumper out of the deal, learning new skills keeps the brain sharp- but as with all things, I’m mainly thinking about it’s usefulness post apocalypse.
Continue reading “Knitting: A post-apocalyptic skill you MUST learn.”
So, I’m a geek. (This isn’t news.) But because I’m geeky and would be a professional student if I could get paid for it, it’s no surprise that I like to read up on things. Partly so I have more useless trivia to spout during really awkward dinners with my in-laws, but partly so I’m prepared for all sorts of random things.
