Feed (Newsflesh, Book 1)

Feed (Newsflesh, Book 1) by Mira Grant

I have a thing for zombies. I know, this is shocking news. That being said, there is a lot of media - and I mean a lot - in the genre I really despise. Poorly written books filled with unoriginal content. Terrible movies filled with bad acting that are also full of unoriginal content. Awful, awful, awful. Even so, I'll give anything zombie related a chance to wow me. Or even just not make me stop watching/reading a few minutes/pages in.

Within the first few pages of Feed, I knew I wasn't going to hate it. That was very promising.

From Amazon.com: The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

NOW, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.
 

It turns out, I didn't just not hate it. I loved it. I loved the characters - they were interesting and varied. The zombie back story was interesting and bordered on originality without going too far (and thus becoming unbelievable). The future tech is not so far advanced that you can't imagine that we'd make those kinds of advances in 20 years, but still manages to be new and interesting. All in all - very well done.

It also gave me my new favourite insult - Bright as a Box of Zombies. 


I really only have one complaint, and it's a minor one. It's the description of Shaun's style of reporting from Georgia. Not the actual description, but the repetition of it. We get it, Georgia. Shaun likes to poke zombies with sticks. You've told us 12 times (note: not actually, but I believe this number to be close), and the book started out with Shaun poking a zombie with a hockey stick. The point has been made. Lets move on now.


Now, lets talk about The Plot Twist. Well I guess there were two plot twists. Not the first one. The one at the end, with Georgia. A good plot twist you don't see coming. A great plot twist you don't believe it's happening while it's happening. I found myself thinking, No. What they're implying is about it happen, is not going to happen. No way. There's going to be some kind of surprise trickery that makes it not happen. And then it happened anyway, and I had to come to terms with it. The funny thing is it didn't really change the main plot of the story. It ended more or less exactly how I thought it was going to end. But, at the same time, it changed...I don't know. Something. The tone maybe, or the dynamic. I don't really know how to describe it. It changed nothing, and it changed everything. And I absolutely did not like it. Not at all. I know I said I only have one complaint. This isn't really a complaint, per se, it's a..I don't know what it is. I guess it just makes me wonder if I'll enjoy the other two books in the trilogy as much, in light of The Plot Twist. 


Prove me wrong, Mira Grant. Prove me wrong. 


On a scale from Totally Awesome to Horrifically Awful, I'd give it an Awesome. If there are two things I'm a sucker for its zombies and a well written trilogy. I can't wait to start the next one.

Zombie Survival Resources That are Way Better then Anything I've Posted All Month

It is the end of Zombie Survival Month! I hope you enjoyed it, and are thinking more about what you need to to do when zombies attack.

If you want more information about zombie survival, check out these links:

No Zombies (this one is my favorite!)

Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse (zombie survival from the CDC)

Zombie Survival and Defense WIKI

Three Articles from CRACKED: Zombie Survival Guide, What's Your Zombie Contingency Plan? 11 Practical Strategies & 5 Popular Zombie Survival Tactics (That Will Get You Killed).

ZOMBIES

1. Resident Evil..., 2. Don't Open Your Eyes When You Sneeze...., 3. Dirty Pretty Things., 4. Average Torontonian..., 5. Zombie Walk strikes SP!, 6. 104/365 - Zombie Prom Queen, 7. I think I'm turning Japanese I really think so, 8. Attack., 9. Tough Day..., 10. Don't Smoke Kids..., 11. Zombie Pooch..., 12. Bon Appetit!, 13. Raised by Sin, 14. Look Both Ways..., 15. Zombie walk

Music Monday: Walk Like A Zombie

Happy Halloween! Lets start the day off right with a little zombie tune and some Nightmare Before Christmas visuals!

Zombie Survival Guide Excerpts

Zombies in Plain English

The only issue with this video is that zombies eat flesh, not jut brains. Otherwise this is an excellent and informative video. You should share it with loved ones. It's the best way to show them that you care (if they are eaten by zombies).

Happy Friday! What'cha Drinking?

Happy Friday! Is it time for a drink yet? Maybe you want to make something with a cool and creepy name on this Friday before Halloween. Well, how about The Laughing Zombie? We all know the dead don't laugh, but that doesn't stop this drink from being absolutely awe inspiring!

How to Make the Drink:

Ingredients:

2 oz Gold Rum
0.5 oz Dark Rum
1 oz Lime Juice
0.5 oz Passion Fruit Juice
1 oz Grenadine
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Place all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake. Strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass.

Top with pineapple foam and garnish with a sprig of mint.

How to Make Pineapple Foam

Ingredients:

2 Egg Whites
1 oz White Rum
2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Simple Syrup
0.5 tsp Absinthe 

Shake all ingredients - no ice! - and then add to a pre-chilled iSi creamer. Charge the creamer, shake and chill in the fridge until ready to use. Makes enough for several drinks.

IMPORTANT INFO!!! Photograph and recipe both came from 12 Bottle Bar. You should go check out the site, because it rocks.
 

Zombie Survival Quick Tip # 5

Don’t get sentimental

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In anyway. First, possessions are just possessions. If you need to leave your home, don’t over burden yourself with objects that are not useful, but have sentimental value. Especially things that are heavy, like photo albums. If you’re not in immediate danger, then by all means, grab that one photo, but leave the rest of the album behind. Second, when your mom/best friend/husband gets bitten and turns...Well, you know what you need to do.

Don’t get sentimental. The zombies wont. 

Physical Activities for Zombie Survival Training

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Physical activity is always a good idea. It’s great for health, happiness and zombie survival. If you are thinking about taking up a new sport or activity, may I suggest one that would also improve your chances of surviving the zombie apocalypse?




The following activities, in no particular order, are all great for health and build skills that will aid you in surviving the zombie uprising:

• Baseball
• Soccer
• Boxing
• Any Martial Art
• Tennis
• Swimming
• Canoeing/Kayaking/other boating
• Paintball
• Motocross
• Parkour or Free Running
• Capture the Flag
• Jogging/Running
• Crossfit
• Fencing
• Cycling
• Mountaineering
• Rock Climbing
• Skateboarding
• Roller Derby

*please consult your doctor before beginning any new exercise regimen. We wouldn’t want you dying before the zombies even get here.

Zombie Survival Quick Tip #4

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Know Your Neighbourhood

Knowing your neighbourhood will save your life if you need to evacuate. Know all possible escape routes by car, bicycle and foot. Learn the shortcuts and know the obstacles. The more you know, the better your chance of escape. The best way to do this? Get out of your house and check it out. I like to just leave my house on foot and go which ever ways my feet take me. I take note of the yards I could cut through if trespassing wasn’t an issue, as well as buildings that might make good safe houses. This way I will be prepared when the uprising comes. Will you?

Music Monday: Zombie (x2)

Since the first Music Monday post was a little strange and may not be everyone's cup of tea, here are two other songs, both with the same title: Zombie by Pretty Reckless and Zombie by Natalia Kills. (I like the second one the best. The lyrics are pretty incredible)





"Do you want me for my body? Do you want me for my brain?"

Zombies Doing Yoga

This is sort of an ad for a book I haven't read (but want to!). It made me giggle and it's awesome, so you should watch it too.

What to Do in a Zombie Attack

When it comes to surviving a zombie attack, you can never have too much advice on the subject. Check out this charming vintage video. If you ignore the rampant propaganda, there is some sound advice.



Although this is an excellent video, there are a couple of myths I would like to dispel. First, zombies do not possess increased strength. However, their inability to feel pain sometimes makes it seem that way. Us living humans will stop if something hurts, but a zombie will just keep pushing until they either complete their task or loose an appendage. Second, zombies can work a doorknob! The video does suggest closing and locking the door, which is excellent advice on it's own, so I don't know why it would throw this myth on after that statement. Why bother locking the door if they can't work the knob? 

Remember to take all zombie advice with a grain of salt. That also includes all advice from yours truly, of course! Use your still functioning brain to gather as much advice and insight into surviving as you can, and make your own decisions on the best defense for you and your family.

Enjoy your weekend, and stay vigilant! 

Happy Friday! How about a Shot?

I just re-watched Resident Evil on Netflix the other night. How awesome was that movie? (The correct answer is "Totally Awesome!"by the way)

The shots by The Drunken Moogle are so perfect. There is no mistaking what they are supposed to look like.

T-Virus (Resident Evil Shot)                       T-Virus Antidote (Resident Evil Shot)

           Ingredients:                                                  Ingredients:

   3/4 shot Silver Rum                                        3/4 shot Silver Rum
              1/4 shot Everclear                                         1/4 shot Watermelon Vodka
1 Blue Twizzler                                              1 Green Twizzler 

The directions: 

Wind a Twizzler around a tall double shot glass.  It should stick to the sides of the glass.  Pour in the silver rum and top with either the watermelon vodka or Everclear, depending on the color Twizzler.  Drink, then fish the twizzler out of the glass with your finger. Eat the twillzer. Revel in your own awesomeness for serving such a cool drink to friends and loved ones.

IMPORTANT LINKS! Drink recipe and photography are both courtesy of The Drunken Moogle. Click here for the T-Virus and Click Here for the Antidote.

Zombie Survival Quick Tip #3

Running is better then Fighting

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Never fight a zombie that you don’t have to. Every close combat battle you engage in is a chance that you will be infected, no matter how skilled you are. Run when you can, and live to fight another day.

Skills you should learn for Zombie Survival

Basic Wilderness Survival skills 

You might want to consider taking a wilderness survival course. Even if you live in an urban environment, these skills will come in handy during the zombie apocalypse. Specific skills include how to build a fire, How to build a shelter, How to Snare Dinner in the Wild (also a good skill to capture and exterminate Zombies) and How to Avoid Hypothermia. Knowing how to kill zombies is useless if you die of starvation or exposure. 

First Aid and Medical skills

It will be a crazy time and people will get hurt. I’m not talking about treating zombie bites here. Those people are doomed. It’s all of the other wounds and injuries that will need treating, so know how to treat them! Everything from cuts, sprains and broken bones, to bullet wounds and third degree burns. Learn how to dress a wound, make a splint, stop bleeding and how to treat a burn. Learn CPR. Once you’ve mastered all of that, you may want to learn some more advanced procedures. Because if you group up with other survivors, it doesn’t matter how much of an asshole you are*, if you can remove a bullet and suture the wound, they will keep you around and keep you safe.

Combat and Self-Defense

There are two types of people you will need to defend yourself from: Dead ones that want to eat you and alive ones that want to take things from you. Or are possibly just jerks. Either way, you’ll want to know how to defend yourself from both types. Consider taking some self-defense classes, or perhaps a martial art or two. Learn how to handle a firearm without blowing off an appendage.

Other skills you may want to consider

Construction - For building a shelter and barricading doors and windows. It would suck to die in your sleep because of a poorly barricaded door.

Welding - Welding can be also be used in barricading and shelter construction. It can also be used to create zombie traps and other such booby-traps. 

Electrical repair - If your group has a means of distance communication (walkie talkies, cb radio, etc), you will want someone around who can fix it if it breaks. You can’t just go out an buy new ones, you know.

Sewing - Again, you can’t just go out and buy new clothes every time something gets worn or rips. There will probably lots to be looted and scavenged in early days, but that wont last forever.


Did I miss anything? What skills do you think will be most important for surviving the zombie apocalypse?

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*Don’t be an asshole. (This is a good life rule in general)

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a mash-up Novel, where Seth Grahame-Smith adds Zombies to Jane Austin’s classic work. Jane Austin is credited as the co-author. 

Having never read the original Pride and Prejudice, nor seen any of the movies, I don’t know exactly how closely the plot follows the original(amended: I watched the movie version with Kira Knightly after the writing of this review. The story line is remarkably similar). The book transports us back to Regency-Era England. Except that there are zombies. The story follows Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters, who are all trained zombie hunters. Also, their mother  wants to marry them off, hopefully to rich men.

If you read the reviews, it seems you’re either going to love it or hate it, and there is very little in between. I happen to one of the few in between people.

I really enjoyed this book. On a scale of Horrifically Awful to Super Awesome, I would give it a Pretty Great. Because I don’t read a lot of classic literature, I found it a little hard to get into at the beginning (but the following scathing remark from Mr. Darcy helped quite a bit: "Miss Bingley, the groans of a hundred unmentionables would be more pleasing to my ears than one more word from your mouth. Were you otherwise not so agreeable, I should be forced to remove your tongue with my saber."). As I got into the flow of things, however, I really got into it. I’m not going to go as far as to say it’s the best thing I’ve read ever, or even the best thing I’ve read recently, but it was Pretty Great. It seems most of the people who hated it had really high expectations going in, and they were not met. So, start off assuming it will be just not terrible, and you probably will like it. That’s my prediction, anyway. If you like zombies, classic literature, and fun books, you probably wont hate this book.

Music Monday: Get Scared

This song isn't about Zombies, but the video is very zombie-filled. I liked the song well enough, so here you go.

Get ready: The Walking Dead Season 2

Tonight is the night.

Oh Hell Yes.



Will you be watching?

How to Make a Flaming Zombie

And no, it's not by lighting a zombie on fire.



Happy Friday!