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We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

I’m constantly impressed at how smart these guys were.
Happy Independence Day, everyone.

It’s that time of year, folks: Time to satiate the needs of the undead fan in your life. Luckily, there are some great options out there:

The Zombie of Montclaire Moors Sculpture
Thanks to MD for sending this priceless work of art – even before it ended up in Dave Barry’s gift guide. We used to get the Design Toscana catalog, and I always thought it was way too kitschy. This one piece makes it all worth it. My only concern is that it would get stolen if I put it in the front yard. Or my daughter would be emotionally scarred for life and not want to play outside for fear of her brain being eaten.

I would also anticipate using leftover Zombie Walk makeup on it for special occasions.

Left4Dead
There have been plenty of zombie video games over the years, but as a die-hard fan of first person shooters, it’s difficult to beat this Left4Dead – even putting non-zombie games into the equation. It only came out a few weeks ago, and I’ve already logged more hours on this than any other game in recent months (except, maybe, for Bioshock). My recommendation is to not waste your time playing the single-player campaign. The 4-person online co-op is spectacular, and even if you don’t have four people playing, the computer controlled replacements work really well.

My personal tips for playing:

• Use the repeating shotgun.
• Get the “Burn the Witch” Achievement by throwing a molotov cocktail at said nemesis.
• Do *not* shoot the cars with alarms (unless you can do it and run into the saferoom, thus hosing your co-mates in carnage).
• Stick together.
• Find propane tanks to throw and shoot them in crowds of undead.
• Friendly fire is always on, so take advantage of it when game play gets slow. Every game should end with everyone killing each other.

If you get it, let me know what your Xbox 360 gamertag is. You can play in a versus mode (which I have yet to do) that allows more than four people to play.

Don’t forget the Zombie Chic(k)
Handmade zombie apparel can be easily found, and this is just one good example.

Of course, additional possibilities are endless. Any of George Romero’s DVDs, Bruce Campbell zombie movies are a treat, and Shaun of the Dead is one of the all-time classics.

And don’t forget to mark your calendars for the 2009 Zombie Walk. If anyone from AFI is reading this, please work something good into your programming – preferably Shaun of the Dead. Halloween is on a Saturday next year, and I think the walk worked out best when it didn’t conflict with that. Maybe even the weekend before. As soon as you can give us a schedule, we can work around that.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Real Estate in MoCo
This morning on the Today Show, Matt Lauer was talking to a couple of guests about the dramatic drop in home sales. Unfortunately you can’t see it online until after 11:00am (I assume because of our West Coast Gangsta friends), so this is a loose recollection of the conversation. One guest said, “Whatever you do, don’t buy a house.” Matt, in his infinite wisdom, responded by asking about the fact that so many fo the real estate issues are local, and some markets aren’t as bad. The response: “Okay, Matt. Maybe Seattle, 10005 (Manhattan), and Montgomery County, Maryland would be the only places I would buy anything.”

They love us! They really love us!

UPDATE: MSNBC has posted the video.

Rock for Renovation
The Old Blair Auditorium Project is os putting on a “Rock for Renovation” Benefit Concert this Saturday, September 29, from 7-10pm featuring Featuring Derek James (from NYC), The Fighting Janes, Neil Foley (Irish Fiddle), and Blair High School’s InToneNation (a cappella singing). That last one almost sounds like a local incarnation of Jazz Times 10, the omnipresent band on SNL’s “Wake Up Wakefield.” Man, nothing gets me out of a funk faster than Jazz Times 10 going klezmer.

Doug Who?
Who does Doug Duncan think he is, anyway? Trying to nab funding from Montgomery County to help build The Birchmere in College Park? I would have expected more from him. Thankfully, we have a County Executive who won’t let that happen and a Governor on our side:

Leggett raised the issue yesterday in a meeting with O’Malley (D). Afterward, Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield said, “We are wholly unconcerned about the future of the project.” O’Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said the governor told Leggett “that he would follow his lead on the important revitalization efforts taking place.”

Looks like they’ll tweak the language in the legislation to make sure the money stays where it should.

Magical Montgomery
As if there wasn’t enough to do this weekend, Magical Montgomery Cultural Fair is coming back on Saturday from 1-7pm.

Ahoy! Speakin’ like mateys thar be parrrr for the course, arrrggghhh!

Any drink specials at Piratz Tavern? A pitcher of grog, yarrrr?