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Tonight’s ESSCA meeting, as happens from time to time, is poorly planned in light of other events. I had to miss October’s meeting because I was out of town, but I think I can get in, provide some cynical, real-time tweeting, and get out in time to see opening kickoff. As a Dallas fan (SUCK it, G-Men), I’m wondering if there is a way both teams can lose tonight, thereby further softening the powerhouse that is the NFC East.

As for the actual meeting, the primary discussion will be with Ursula Sabia Sukinik and David Vismara of Montgomery Parks about plans for a community garden at Fenton Street and Burlington Avenue. If the South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association has time, they should come lobby against it, seeing as how ESSCA people hijacked a previous SSSNA meeting about their own community garden. Takers?

If I do suck it up and attend, you can once again follow the live-tweeting madness via @essca.

And in other area news…

And just when you think Montgomery County can be a pain in the ass, here comes Prince George’s County to make us look good. Again.

Back to Zombies for a brief moment

Here is the winner of the 2010 Zombie Safe House Competition. Genius.

Oh – maybe you can’t read the signs. Because somebody stole them.

First, let’s put aside the fact that our venerable WaPo decided to write about this six weeks after I did (more gripes about the Post in a moment). But to be fair, there’s some juicy stuff in this story. Let’s look at two items in particular:

I think someone pointed the finger at me
All of you who read this blog know the love/hate relationship I have with the East Silver Spring Civic Association. Mostly hate. Or disdain, perhaps. Reading along in the Washington Post story, I came across this:

One victim suspected a man who has posted critical comments about the neighborhood civic association on a local Internet mailing list. (He did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.)

Whoa. Are they talking about me? Can’t be. And anyway, I never got repeated requests for comment, so WaPo is either lying or talking about someone else.

Best Accusation Yet
By far, the best little bit of anonymous guessing in the story was this:

Another neighbor said his “deep, dark suspicion” is that the sign bandit is Bob Colvin, president of the East Silver Spring Civic Association, who is known to take walks late at night.

YES! Bob Colvin, the president of our very own Banana Republic, just got fingered as the sign vigilante. Classic. Of course, we all know he wouldn’t do something like that, and he says as much in the story. But the fact that someone said that it could be him – well, they deserve something. Perhaps my ESSCA membership card. Or a place on the board.

Speaking of ESSCA…

It’s that time of year again. Time to clear off your third Monday of the month for the next 9 months or so. ESSCA gets back into gear (supposedly) on Monday, September 20, with the first meeting of the 2010-2011 season. I’m going to start bringing a snare and cymbal so I can follow up my own snide remarks with rim shots. Be sure to follow @essca for all the live, twittery goodness.

Now back to the Washington Post

Let this “final” news item be another, gentle reminder that the 3rd Annual Silver Spring Zombie Walk is set for October 23. See the web site or Facebook group page for details.

Many of you may have seen a story about the University of Baltimore offering a zombie-centric English class this year. The story made the rounds of national papers (via AP), but what was interesting was the timeline of geographic publication. The story started, appropriately enough, in the Baltimore Sun. Then it went all the way out west and got picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Only then, three days after that, did it actually get picked up by the Washington Post. (Thanks to all who sent the links, by the way.) Scheduling conflict? Lack of interest? Slow to pick up on popular culture right here in the backyard? It was just disappointing to see WaPo be the last in line for what is almost a local story accompanied by a great local angle with the Silver Spring Zombie Walk. That’s all’s I’m sayin’.

One last serious comment:

Go vote in the primaries today. Now. Really.

Bonus:

Nando’s Peri Peri opens tomorrow (September 15).

ATTENTION WASHINGTON DC ZOMBIES!! Join your fellow DC Zombies at an advanced screening of Columbia Pictures’ ZOMBIELAND (Rated R) on Thursday, October 1 at a local movie theater to be announced soon! Admission is FREE  but you must dress like a Zombie. To reserve your seats, RSVP by sending an email to zombielanddc@gmail.com with the full name of each guest. You will receive a confirmation email with event details. After the screening, the undead will walk the streets of DC!

Stay tuned for news about an accompanying ZOMBIELAND Zombiewalk to be announced VERY SOON! Check out the Zombieland trailer here. View the Facebook event page here.

Editor’s note: This came from the Sony/Columbia pictures folks, and I told the people at the promotions company that I’d be willing to promote the hell out of this. Should be a great movie. Please feel free to pass it on. Details on actual theater and walk should be forthcoming any day now.

Boy – this zombie stuff has taken on a life of its own. We’ve gotten multiple requests for movie screenings from producers and filmmakers, and even questions about filming the event for a documentary on zombie culture in our society. This is gonna be something.

We have also been notified of a promotional screening of the new film Zombieland, due out in theaters October 2. The actual location of the screening is yet to be determined (most likely in the District), but it looks like it’s going to be scheduled for September 30. The company doing the promotion for Sony pictures plans on doing a zombie walk, and capacity notwithstanding, all the zombies in the walk will be granted free passes to the pre-release showing. There’s also talk of some good swag to go along with.

Stay tuned for details. The movie looks great, and it could be a good choice for next year’s walk if we can get a print at AFI.

This weekend’s romp through the Fenton Street Village and the DTSS Farmers’ Market brought some good laughs, as well as a dose of creepiness. Let’s start with the funnies:

Goat Bangers. I don’t think I need to say anything else.

Ditto on this one.

Now for the transition from funny to creepy (and definitely involving both), we turn to the Fenton Street Market. I know I can’t be the only one to feel this way about cat vests.

On top of this, we had what seemed like an abundance of mannequins. I don’t know if it’s some misplaced anxiety or if I’m the only one, but between the whacked facial hair, bizarre makeup, and a Sharon Stone look-alike, the whole place felt like an episode of The Twilight Zone.

And now for our Zombie Fix of the Day:
ThinkGeek.com now carries a remote control zombie. For the amazing low price of $24,99, you, too, can have an undead minion obey your every command, courtesy of the brain remote. As if that wasn’t enough: “To help your zombie, you can also pose its articulated neck, shoulders, and hips. Just keep reminding your zombie that it shouldn’t eat a big brain like yours; it should eat many little brains like those found in your coworkers’ heads. Because studies have shown that many little meals during the day are much better for you than one big meal.”

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!