Comments on: "Television rots your braaaaaaains!"

"Television rots your braaaaaaains!"

ericb — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 15:51:12 -0800

A horde of zombies attacked the 'American Idol ' auditions in Austin, Texas. "No one was hurt." Photo gallery. [Note: Not believed to be shilling for corporations or any specific movie.]

By: Drylnn

Drylnn — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 15:54:57 -0800

Maybe they were inspired by Robot Chicken to make Zombie Idol.

By: iamck

iamck — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 15:57:42 -0800

This makes the flash mob participants a little sad.

By: PurplePorpoise

PurplePorpoise — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 15:59:51 -0800

Vancouver Zombie Walk 2005. Man, i wish that I knew about it ahead of time (and had the time).

By: Zonker

Zonker — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:01:41 -0800

"The pop-star wannabes were largely unimpressed. 'I don't get it,' said Jacob Gandia, a singer." You could not make it up.

By: nebulawindphone

nebulawindphone — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:02:21 -0800

He posted an ad soliciting people who would like to "raise awareness about the brain-melting nature of television by pretending ... to be a zombie, and terrorizing throngs of vapid pop-star hopefuls at the 'American Idol' auditions."... ...And that is how the zombies ended up squatting down on the concrete of the Erwin Center's second level, signing release forms to allow their images to be broadcast by Fox TV. Wow. That's one sincere protest there. Yup.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:06:58 -0800

The zombies are kind of cool in a kooky sort of way, American Idol though, makes my skin crawl. Bad music sung badly by people hoping some wanker doesn't rip them a fresh hole to shit through. Now, if the zombies had actually tried to eat some brains then we'd have a news story. And please, please, please, shoot me if I ever aspire to be a pop-star wannabe. Dang, that's depressing to think about. Look at me, I aspire to be Ashlee Simpson! Woohoo!

By: riffraff

riffraff — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:12:09 -0800

Their makeup is as flimsy as their intentions.

By: davy

davy — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:13:45 -0800

Thank you for the reference, eb. I really do need as much publicity as I can get; it's all part of my fiendish plot to conquer the Internet.

By: btwillig

btwillig — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:14:06 -0800

"Muntean's group is part of a "zombie renaissance" that, according to a Los Angeles Daily News article, is sweeping the nation. " Isn't this kind of missing the point.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:16:04 -0800

By: signal

signal — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:16:33 -0800

That's one of the dumbest 'protests' I've ever heard of. Jesus, real stuff is happening in the world and these geniuses are protesting a TV show? By playing dressup?

By: voltairemodern

voltairemodern — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:18:29 -0800

"Zombies, I need you back here!" Lynn shouted. "All you zombies, I need to get a group shot!" The undead complied, waving their bloodied limbs about for the TV cameras. Behold, the Zombie Master!

By: davy

davy — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:23:17 -0800

btwillig, there's a point? Yes, I agree, this was one goofy "protest". It's a good thing there's a difference between expressing basic solidarity by say not crossing picket lines and applauding crap like this. (Are their politicians pure?)

By: cali

cali — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:29:47 -0800

It may be a flimsy protest. But zombies are fun, and the juxtaposition with pop singers is inspired.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:38:47 -0800

Did someone say zombie?

By: everichon

everichon — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:47:31 -0800

Pirates...ninjas...zombies. When does voting for next year's Kitschy-Cool Archetype begin? I want it to be Snakes On a Plane. Take THAT American Idol! SSSSssssss!

By: btwillig

btwillig — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:50:56 -0800

davy, point taken. I just find it amusing the article aligns the group with a "zombie renaissance" that's "sweeping the nation."

By: davy

davy — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:55:03 -0800

everichon, I have an archetype for you: trolls. And I mean real-world old-fashioned trolls like Cadillac Man.

By: ericb

ericb — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:55:06 -0800

Well it appears that American Idol auditions are scheduled for Boston tomorrow (Wednesday, August 31), Memphis (Monday, September 5), Denver (Sunday, September 11 - yeah, great day for an audition, idiots) and Chicago (Friday, September 16). A call to arms to all pirates...ninjas...other zombies...and snakes-on-planes: you've got a shot at stardom!

By: davy

davy — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:58:22 -0800

Time for a Punk Rocker renaissance then, safety pins and all. Or maybe Madonna Wannabes? Or maybe we should sweep the nation with one big Flashdance.

By: geekyguy

geekyguy — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:09:35 -0800

I'm with tkchrist on this. Cool until they start posing and signing releases.

By: mkultra

mkultra — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:10:38 -0800

This thing just reinforces the difference between being clever and being good. The whole zombie thing is quickly becoming an overplayed parody. Turning it into an anti-TV art piece is clever, but yeah, that they just gave into the whole "we're wacky zombies" schtick, it just turned really lame. I can just imagine the recruiting meeting, where that guy says, "... and they'll TOTALLY put us in one of those segments next season!" Isn't this kind of missing the point. That's what the global zombie conspiracy architects want you to think.

By: growli

growli — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:35:20 -0800

Lynn shouted. "All you zombies, I need to get a group shot!" Heinlein fan?

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:57:42 -0800

everichon writes "I want it to be Snakes On a Plane." Tremble made fun of some production stills from Snakes on a Plane last week. It's gonna be awesome!

By: jonmc

jonmc — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 18:07:36 -0800

All You Zombies hide your faces...

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 18:35:21 -0800

This is good.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 18:40:39 -0800

Behold, the Zombie Master! Hmm, someone from Fox can control zombies.

By: punkbitch

punkbitch — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:12:40 -0800

Fashion industry take note, "apparently, zombies are the next big thing." Metafilter you are dead to me.

By: kika

kika — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:23:07 -0800

Photographer of the third link: Shaun Stewart Stewart What's in a name.

By: Sparx

Sparx — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:36:56 -0800

According to the article: "Zombies are not real." Phew. I was starting to get sorta worried about my co-workers.

By: fungible

fungible — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 20:17:06 -0800

I don't think it's fair to attack it for being a flimsy protest. It's not a protest, it's more of a dadaist exercise in stupidity and publicity. They're kids, for fuck's sake. Lord knows in my day at UT, I participated in all sorts of stupid pageantry. I remember at the time, we had a ongoing controversy over the possibility of a MLK statue on the south lawn (an area surrounded by statues of Civil War heroes.) So we tried to beat them to the punch by putting up a statue of Martin Luther, nailing up his 95 Theses. It seemed funny at the time. Not so much now.

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 20:18:51 -0800

If they would have ignored the PA and kept Zombie-staggaring into the audition moaning "braaaaaains" until security was called - THAT would have been something. But signing releases? What the hell kind of sell-out Zombie is that? Fool! We know their weakness now! Release forms! God damn it... release forms, why didn't I see it before? To The Kinko's!!!

By: davy

davy — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 21:34:48 -0800

When protesters show up in drag to do the Time Warp and then start signing releases I swear I will drown myself in Beargrass Creek. By the way, fellow Louisvillains, when did Woody's Tavern reopen?

By: Extopalopaketle

Extopalopaketle — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 22:55:16 -0800

Only fifteen zombies, and you call that a horde? Vancouver had a couple hundred (at least -- I'm not good at counting numbers in crowds), and the procession took 3 city blocks, closed a lane of traffic and 4-6 "Skytrain" cars. When all the people entered Pacific Centre Mall, the sound of moaning "Braaaaaiinnnssss" resonated through two levels, with the zombies leaving a trail of sugary blood on all the walls and windows. Hundreds of pictures here.

By: signal

signal — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 05:24:45 -0800

fungible writes 'They're kids, for fuck's sake.' Yep, dumb, bored kids.

By: NationalKato

NationalKato — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 07:03:50 -0800

Yep, dumb, bored kids. With a message!

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 09:33:18 -0800

In my hometown of Oshawa, Ontario, there was a Zombie Walk about ten years ago or so. People just got incredibly bored and decided to walk to City Hall dressed up as Zombies. I think there was about 50 or so participants. It was supposed to become an annual event, but I think it ended up being just the one year. Does anyone know where the first Zombie Walk took place BTW?

By: davy

davy — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 13:12:22 -0800

So what IS the message of all this zombie stuff? "Look everybody, we're the new 'nonconformists!'"? Or maybe it's just "You 'normal people' are too stupid to figure out we're making fun of you." To me it looks like "We have lots of makeup and nothing better to do." Not that that's wrong, it's just not much of a 'message'.

By: MiltonRandKalman

MiltonRandKalman — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 15:27:01 -0800

Pirates...ninjas...zombies. When does voting for next year's Kitschy-Cool Archetype begin? posted by everichon How about the Grizzled Killjoy?

By: davy

davy — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:14:40 -0800

In today's issue of our local "alternative" weekly there's an article about -- you'll never guess -- a zombie attack. Speaking of which, at a discount chain store nearby I found a cheapo DVD of a bad print of Romero's original "Night of the Living Dead" for only a buck so of course I bought it. It turns out that if I ever saw it all the way through I don't remember much of it, but that doesn't mean much because my memories tend to be spotty in places. So anyway, like I said it was a bad-quality copy but clear enough to be able to really dig the movie. I'm still not about to go running around in goofy makeup though, or at least not THAT kind of goofy makeup. ("But my friends call me Evangeline.") Was that "Grizzled Killjoy" comment directed at me, and if not why not? I think it kinda fits, at least about what this thread's about.