what we talk about when we talk about zombiesThink our current cultural fixation on zombies is just part of the zeitgeist? A Clemson University literature professor says that it’s not that simple. Focusing on the zombie walks occurring in many cities, she points out that people have become more interested in playing zombie over the last decade as we feel powerless, peniless, and disenfranchised. [CBS Charlotte]
Between “The Walking Dead” and “Warm Bodies,” there’s a lot of zombie-related entertainment in the zeitgeist right now. But do people have a possible zombie apocalypse in mind when they’re looking for firearms to defend themselves in an emergency? Maybe. Sort of. Not really. [More]
Selling something that isn’t perfect can be okay in some situations. An apple? Just cut the bruise out. Shirt missing a button? Ask for a discount and sew one on. But when it comes to technology and video games, if your product isn’t up to snuff, those playing the games are going to be very unhappy. The distributors of zombie survival game The War Z learned that this week and ended up pulling it from game site Steam. [More]
When you look down at your fast food meal, you don’t expect to see the terrifying, misshapen face of a zombie staring back at you. But that’s what happened to a McDonald’s customer in New Jersey, who could have just gobbled the offending nugget and never thought of it again. No, this nugget is bound for greater things. They’re selling it on eBay. The bidding currently stands at $2.75. [More]
Nothing like the undead to put some life into your business… or at least, that’s the tack a hardware store in Omaha is taking by marketing their goods as items ideal for Zombie Preparedness. [More]
Remarkably, no one at ClearChannel Advertising seems to have realized that it might be a bad idea to post a giant ad for a zombie-themed television program on the exterior wall of a funeral parlor. That’s precisely what happened in the town of Consett in England. The advert for post-apocalyptic drama The Walking Dead has now been taken down, and the company responsible has apologized, but how on earth did this happen in the first place? [More]
In an encouraging step, Sears has made its merchandise and web shopping experience more accessible to a marginalized population that most retailers ignore: zombies. They’ve even translated the site into Zombian. As they put it, “Zerger bargarz zambah barg!” Yes. [More]
Some economist eggheads might believe that the recession is over, but try telling that to the zombies of Harrisburg, PA, who had to move their march of the undead after the city tried to squeeze them for some fees. [More]
At some point, we’re going to have to stop referring to every red-hued outbreak map as being zombie-like, but this is not that point. It’s nearly Halloween, the #2 movie in the nation is Zombieland, and yesterday the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis warned that unemployment may exceed 10% before the end of the year. This is the appropriate way to view unemployment today.
Hallmark’s Shoebox Greetings has a blog. This week, the blog published a delightful cartoon on the subject of Christmas creep.
Our reader Jennifer isn’t the only former Time Warner employee whose AOL account has risen from the dead, prompting collection notices and confusion. Wall Street Journal investing columnist Jason Zweig, a former Time Warner employee, found himself in precisely the same situation, and wrote about his epic customer service adventure.
Jennifer, like many people, one subscribed to AOL. She paid for the service originally, then received a free account while employed with Time Warner. Then she joined the 21st century and didn’t use AOL at all, but her free account remained in the system. Until AOL started billing her. Nine years later.
The first surprising part of this story is that the Boston Police Department has a Twitter feed. They use it to post breaking police-type information that’s useful to the public, such as roads closed due to car accidents, crime data, big arrests, etc. Sometimes they also reply to reader questions. And that is how TruTV learned that the Boston police will not hide the zombie invasion from the public.
TigerDirect bought CompUSA, and just announced a grand re-opening of 15 stores and the regular opening of one store.
Reader Kevin has a problem with Verizon and the zombie debt collectors they’ve unleashed on the account Verizon said was paid off and closed…
Paul Trinder, who awoke to see the body at the end of his row, last week described the journey as “deeply disturbing”, and complained that the airline dismissed his concerns by telling him to “get over it”.
