Dec. 2: Last night I dreamed of the City of Death
I have never watched an episode of The Walking Dead. This is largely
because I don't have television service and I don't have time to catch
it on Netflix. However, zombies are nothing new to me. I first became
aware of them when I watched the Stephen King movie Creepshow, which was
inspired by the horror comics of the 1950s. Before watching that movie,
I never considered the possibility that dead people might come back to
life so they could (a) twist my head off or (b) bite me and infect me
with a virus that would turn me into a zombie too.
How little I knew. Zombies have been popular cinematic antagonists since George Romero (Creepshow's director) made Night of the Living Dead in 1968. Since then we've seen a heck of a lot of zombie movies. And zombies are terrifying - much moreso than vampires of werewolves or creatures from the Black Lagoon. Why are they so terrifying? Maybe because they're reminders that death is permanent. That thing shuffling toward you might have, at one time, been your beloved Uncle Pete. But whatever is animating him right now has absolutely no intention of taking you for a hay ride or pulling a quarter out of your nose. His (or its goal) is to kill you and if you care about anything at all, you'd better pull that trigger and watch your Uncle Pete's head explode in a volley of black gunk.
-
I am reminded of something David Mamet said in one of his essays. In it, he is talking about the Jewish tradition of putting rocks on tombstones. He suggests that it's a subtle plea for the dead to stay dead. "Don't come back," the rock says.
Mark Twain once said this about his youngest daughter, Jean, who died in a bathtub on Christmas Eve at the age of 29: "Would I bring her back to life if I could do it? I would not. If a word would do it, I would beg for strength to withhold the word. And I would have the strength; I am sure of it. In her loss I am almost bankrupt, and my life is a bitterness, but I am content: for she has been enriched with the most precious of all gifts--that gift which makes all other gifts mean and poor-- death. I have never wanted any released friend of mine restored to life since I reached manhood."
Twain himself would die a few months later, himself having reached the three-quarters century mark. Still, I am perfectly willing to grant his premise that he never wished a friend restored to life but I am willing to bet my last dollar that he would have chosen resurrection had he lost a beloved dog.
-
I asked a Jewish friend about why the Jews place rocks on tombstones. She answered with a question: "Why do Christians adorn gravestones with flowers?"
Flowers die. Stones don't. It is entirely possible that if I were to lay a stone on my grandfather's tomb, that stone might still be there 50 years from now.
I was told that if a Jew is having a good time somewhere and he or she suddenly thinks of a friend who has passed on, he or she will pick up a rock and carry it with them until they next visit their friend's grave. It is a way of sending a postcard to heaven. "Having a great time. Wish you were here."
-
When I type in City of Death, Google shows me a video clip from Dr. Who. I have never seen an episode of Dr. Who (I also have never seen a complete episode of Seinfeld, Friends or Beverly Hills 90210.) This is because I have a non-conformist streak in me that's so extreme that I have come full circle and become a conformist too (negation is not freethought, it is merely a mirror image.)
-
When I think of a City of Death, I think of a bleak landscape with a fiery red sky and ground as grey as dirty concrete. There are black buildings everywhere, all of them empty, and a river of lava flows through the city's core. Skeletons, wrapped in black cloaks, patrol the city. Their mission is to kill everything that lives.
I guess I played too much Dungeons & Dragons when I was a kid.
-
I am not scared of a zombie apocalypse. I believe the chances of it happening are nil. But even if it did happen, I still wouldn't be scared. Nature would take care of the problem.
A zombie, after all, would be nothing but walking carrion. Carrion emits an odour that attracts buzzards and other parasitic beasts. A zombie shuffling down the street would probably be devoured by vultures within an hour.
-
If America has a City of Death, it might be Detroit. I read somewhere that city has the highest murder rate per capita than anywhere else in the country.
That could be partly because Kid Rock is from there.
-
Last night I did not dream of the city of death. However, I did dream that I was in Calgary and I was en route to visit an old friend from high school and when I got to the restaurant where we supposed to meet, I saw that she was eight months pregnant. I'm not sure how I felt about this. I think I was happy for her.
I hope I was anyway.
This title came from the American magician and mentalist, Max Maven.
How little I knew. Zombies have been popular cinematic antagonists since George Romero (Creepshow's director) made Night of the Living Dead in 1968. Since then we've seen a heck of a lot of zombie movies. And zombies are terrifying - much moreso than vampires of werewolves or creatures from the Black Lagoon. Why are they so terrifying? Maybe because they're reminders that death is permanent. That thing shuffling toward you might have, at one time, been your beloved Uncle Pete. But whatever is animating him right now has absolutely no intention of taking you for a hay ride or pulling a quarter out of your nose. His (or its goal) is to kill you and if you care about anything at all, you'd better pull that trigger and watch your Uncle Pete's head explode in a volley of black gunk.
-
I am reminded of something David Mamet said in one of his essays. In it, he is talking about the Jewish tradition of putting rocks on tombstones. He suggests that it's a subtle plea for the dead to stay dead. "Don't come back," the rock says.
Mark Twain once said this about his youngest daughter, Jean, who died in a bathtub on Christmas Eve at the age of 29: "Would I bring her back to life if I could do it? I would not. If a word would do it, I would beg for strength to withhold the word. And I would have the strength; I am sure of it. In her loss I am almost bankrupt, and my life is a bitterness, but I am content: for she has been enriched with the most precious of all gifts--that gift which makes all other gifts mean and poor-- death. I have never wanted any released friend of mine restored to life since I reached manhood."
Twain himself would die a few months later, himself having reached the three-quarters century mark. Still, I am perfectly willing to grant his premise that he never wished a friend restored to life but I am willing to bet my last dollar that he would have chosen resurrection had he lost a beloved dog.
-
I asked a Jewish friend about why the Jews place rocks on tombstones. She answered with a question: "Why do Christians adorn gravestones with flowers?"
Flowers die. Stones don't. It is entirely possible that if I were to lay a stone on my grandfather's tomb, that stone might still be there 50 years from now.
I was told that if a Jew is having a good time somewhere and he or she suddenly thinks of a friend who has passed on, he or she will pick up a rock and carry it with them until they next visit their friend's grave. It is a way of sending a postcard to heaven. "Having a great time. Wish you were here."
-
When I type in City of Death, Google shows me a video clip from Dr. Who. I have never seen an episode of Dr. Who (I also have never seen a complete episode of Seinfeld, Friends or Beverly Hills 90210.) This is because I have a non-conformist streak in me that's so extreme that I have come full circle and become a conformist too (negation is not freethought, it is merely a mirror image.)
-
When I think of a City of Death, I think of a bleak landscape with a fiery red sky and ground as grey as dirty concrete. There are black buildings everywhere, all of them empty, and a river of lava flows through the city's core. Skeletons, wrapped in black cloaks, patrol the city. Their mission is to kill everything that lives.
I guess I played too much Dungeons & Dragons when I was a kid.
-
I am not scared of a zombie apocalypse. I believe the chances of it happening are nil. But even if it did happen, I still wouldn't be scared. Nature would take care of the problem.
A zombie, after all, would be nothing but walking carrion. Carrion emits an odour that attracts buzzards and other parasitic beasts. A zombie shuffling down the street would probably be devoured by vultures within an hour.
-
If America has a City of Death, it might be Detroit. I read somewhere that city has the highest murder rate per capita than anywhere else in the country.
That could be partly because Kid Rock is from there.
-
Last night I did not dream of the city of death. However, I did dream that I was in Calgary and I was en route to visit an old friend from high school and when I got to the restaurant where we supposed to meet, I saw that she was eight months pregnant. I'm not sure how I felt about this. I think I was happy for her.
I hope I was anyway.
This title came from the American magician and mentalist, Max Maven.
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