Night of the Living Ryan

End of the World Religions

2009-09-02T22:21:00.004-05:00

I've been reading too much Philip K. Dick lately, and I've got religion on the brain. There is a short story called "The Little Black Box" where he first introduced Mercerism and the empathy box. I'm not sure if it is supposed to be the same world that Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? takes place in, but either way it's worth reading. In my mind, Mercerism is much more palatable than some of the gnostic ideas he put together in Valis et al. The pre-nuclear war Mercerism in "The Little Black Box" seems more noble than what we see of it in DADES, and that may be because things have yet to fall apart. In an "end of the world" scenario, I'd imagine that there would be a huge upswing in religious beliefs, mainly in traditional, fundamentalist beliefs. Of course, when the White Rider doesn't show up and the initial shock wears off, there will be a secular resurgence and the development of new belief systems (either created whole-cloth or amalgams).

I'm trying to think of examples of religions in a post-apocalyptic settings, and am having some trouble. I know that in A Canticle for Leibowitz, the Catholic Church has become a major power in the U.S. by reverting to a Medieval way of operating. There's an Orson Scott Card short story where the Mormon Church has done essentially the same thing. World War Z has the Orthodox Church take on the role of killing those infected to prevent the sin of suicide from being committed. But other than those examples (and Mercerism - after all, DADES takes place in a world that is slowly dying from radiation poisoning), I'm having trouble.

Well, I know what my next research project will be: Look for more examples of religious mutations. Just as societies would have to adapt and change, religions would too.

Edit: Duh. I forgot The Book of Dave, which, once you get the hang of the modified Cockney slang, is a fantastic read. The religion of Dave starts out fairly innocuous, but gets pretty fucked the more you learn about it.

Falling lights are fading... (updated)

2009-08-22T00:56:00.005-05:00

Apparently, Dr. Suess wrote The Cat in the Hat using around 240 first grade level words. Tonight I'll be working on doing the same, only about the post-apocalypse.

I know it's a bad idea, but that's why I'm going to do it.

---
Here's what I scribbled down before I passed out.

The Night Is Not Nice

My name is Alex. I have a big brother who is named Sam.
We were in our house, the night the animals came.
It was right after that rain quit and the air went bad.
And for a week we hadn't seen our mom or dad.
The animals knocked on our door, and said they were going to have some fun with us.
My brother said "No!"
The animals kicked the door.
Again and again, they kicked the door.
And soon it came down.
My brother said to me, "You go that way, and I'll go this way.
Go to the school. 'I can always help,' that's what Teacher used to say."
I ran and ran and ran, and made it to the school.
But the animals saw me and came to school, too.
I went to Teacher's room. She had a boy and a girl with her.
Teacher saw me, and said, "Who are you?"
"I am Sam's little brother," I said.
"Come in, come in," she said as she pulled me in.
"But we need to go, the animals are coming."

----
Obviously it'd be nice to have more descriptive words. I'm working with only about 150, whereas Suess had about 500 to work with. I went with the first decent word last I could find, and so I know I'm missing some necessary words (there's no "I" or "a" or "too," which, as sight words, count). I'll raid a few books for words and see what I can get put together.

Hows and Whys

2009-08-09T02:04:00.009-05:00

Since it's Sunday, here's a word from the scriptures:

My eyes fail from weeping,
I am in torment within,
my heart is poured out on the ground
because my people are destroyed,
because children and infants faint
in the streets of the city.

They say to their mothers,
"Where is bread and wine?"
as they faint like wounded men
in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away
in their mothers' arms.

Lamentations 2:11-12

Section of The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. Right wing, top third shown.

Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot.

Warren Ellis' Global Frequency volume 2.

Things are taking shape. Figured out the "how" and "why." Now to start putting the pieces together.

Music from the End of the World

2009-08-08T02:19:00.005-05:00

So apparently there is a (very, very) small trend on youtube to take post-rock songs by the likes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and translate them to songs that can be played on an acoustic guitar. Granted, some of the magnificence is lost, but its good to know in the event of an apocalypse, either zombie or other, I'll still have a chance to see some of my favorite songs preformed live.

My favorite so far is Blaise Bailey Finnegan III by Gihm. Others include a decent rendering of the Sad Mafioso section of East Hastings and Moya.

A nice post-apocalyptic song from The Decemberists.

Note to self: invent new genre of music, called post-apocalypse rock, then decide if that means only using instruments that would be readily available in an end-of-the-world scenario or just being concerned with tone/lyrical content. Right now I'm thinking it'd be like post-rock, only bleaker, with way more homemade kazoo solos. Paper towel tubes, wax paper, and rubber bands for the win!

Displacement

2009-08-05T01:59:00.007-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about moving lately. We'll see what comes of it.

People fleeing Manhattan.

A resource for and about Displaced People.

Sanctuary Cities. I know I've posted this before, but I really like it.

Ravenstein's 5 Laws of Human Migration.

every migration flow generates a return or countermigration.
the majority of migrants move a short distance.
migrants who move longer distances tend to choose big-city destinations
urban residents are less migratory than inhabitants of rural areas.
families are less likely to make international moves than young adults.

Roma Anthem -

I went, I went on long roads
I met happy Roma
O Roma where do you come from,
With tents on happy roads?

O Roma, O brothers

I once had a great family,
The Black Legion murdered them
Come with me Roma from all the world
For the Roma roads have opened
Now is the time, rise up Roma now,
We will rise high if we act

O Roma, O brothers

Mono - Follow the Map

End of the World/news

2009-07-28T00:06:00.007-05:00

Just got my laptop back from the shop, and the desktop should be returned soon. Some of the old NANAWRIMO stuff might still exist, and if it does, I'll throw it up here. Beyond that, I'm thinking about some new projects that might better fit my time constraints. If nothing else, I'll return to using it as a research dump.

From Glucozze after the election of Mr. Sarkozy.

Failed State Index.

End of the World: The Science and Ethics of Human Extinction, by John Leslie

Songs for the End of the World.

There is a short story called "The End of the World As We Know It" by Dale Bailey in the collection Wastelands. It turns the end to the world scenario on it's head, by making the point that every minute of every day, someone's world is ending. I highly recommend it.

Elsiane - Vaporous

2008-09-03T07:44:00.001-05:00

Second Impact Evangelion - Godspeed You Black Emperor

2008-08-25T07:54:00.001-05:00

Godspeed You Black Emperor - Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls

2008-08-25T07:46:00.001-05:00

Think of the Children

2008-06-05T08:51:00.006-05:00

by Jason Chan

Once again we are reminded of the difference that Zombie education at an early age can have. Imagine if these children were not drilled in standard Zombie defense tactics. Now, granted, a playground isn't the best place for a last stand, but notice the things they got right. First off, they have the high ground, granting them easy access to the Zombie's vital spot - the head. Secondly, their positioning allows them to dispatch the most amount of Zombies while limiting their exposure to attack. The slide is an ideal place to fend of the undead, as every one hit falls down, pushing the ones behind it down as it falls. The bridge area is being defended as best as possible, with the boy holding back his fallen classmates while the girl in pink brings death from above. I know a lot of parents are worried about damaging their kids' development by explaining to them the reality about the undead at an early age, but just imagine if the kids seen above hadn't been properly educated. Their first exposure to the truth could very well mean exposure to the virus.

We here at Night of the Living Ryan hope these brave souls managed to hold off the swarm of undead friends and classmates until they could be rescued, or at least managed to escape before the recently revived parents and teachers showed up looking for a meal. We'd also like to remind our loyal readers that it's never the early to start teaching your kids about the dangers of a Zombie outbreak. And, please, make sure you go over your household's survival plans at least once a month. Remember, only you can prevent having to put a bullet in a loved one's head in order to protect the uninfected members of your family.

Designer Survival Suits

2008-03-04T13:01:00.011-06:00

Japanese designer Kenji Yanobe has created a line of radiation suits that could easily double as zombie survival suits, and would be useful in many other survival situations.

Yanobe has also created specialized suits for both children and the elderly, ensuring that every member of the family survives long enough to provide a considerable drain on your dwindling resources.

The suits for kids are undeniably cute, but the survival car for granpa and grandma apparently includes a heated foot rest and built-in hot water bottle in the seat.

However, I think my favorite bit is the "for profit" escape pod. After certain conditions are met, the user must insert several hundred more yen to continue to wear the pod. Ideally, the money raised in these pods would be used to buy more, but I'm skeptical.

Kenji Yanobe Atomic Suit Project

I cheated

2007-10-31T17:08:00.000-05:00

NaNoWriMo doesn't start until tomorrow, but I figured this would be a nice Halloween treat. So, here's a rough, rough draft of the Intro.

Karen Newman met Jim Kowalski three days after the fall of Omaha. Three weeks later, as their refugee group made its way toward Denver, Colorado, they were spending all of their time in each others company. About a week after they left Denver, heading toward California because of reports of military defeats and zombie swarms headed their way, Jim and Karen were married in an abandoned church by a drunken judge, with only complete strangers - their fellow refugees - as witnesses. Their honeymoon was spent taking care of a sick, abandoned child, the first of four of their adopted children, they found on their way to California.
Karen remembers it like this: “We had left Denver and were finally getting further into the mountains. Our group was setting up camp for the night, and Jim and I decided to take a quick look around the area. We were in a relatively safe spot, and he had his beat-up baseball bat and I had my crowbar in case we were attacked. After about half an hour of walking the perimeter of the camp, we found ourselves on a rock outcropping that faced back toward Denver. The city was dark, and we could make out the refugee camps in the city and lining the roads by their fires. The moon was still low, and it looked like it was hanging just over the city.
“I was getting ready to turn around and head back toward camp, when, very quietly, Jim started singing. ‘When the night has come, and the land is dark, and the moon is the only light we’ll see. No, I won’t be afraid. No, I won’t be afraid, just as long as you stand, stand by me.’ I started to laugh - you see, Jim is a terrible singer - but then I looked up and saw how serious he was. We held each other tightly as he continued singing and we looked down upon the ruined city. When he finished, he said that even though it didn’t look like there would be much of a future, he wanted to spend it with me. That being with me gave him a reason to believe that tomorrow could be better. Then he asked me to marry him. Talking about it now, it sounds a little silly or corny, but at the time, it was . . . well, I don’t know. Before that, there had been nothing by tragedy and uncertainty for so long. But here, in the form of this goofy guy with a terrible singing voice, was the first sign of hope, of life, in a long time. So with a bloodstained crowbar in one hand, and the other in his, I said yes.
“When we got back to the camp, we made the announcement to the rest of the group. That went over well. [She laughs] It was met with stares of disinterest and disbelief and bitter, bitter laughter. But, so it goes. As sort of a symbol of permanence in those uncertain times we decided we wanted the marriage to be official, and, as luck would have it, a few days later our group met up with a group from Kansas City with this big, fat judge who spent most of his time out of his mind drunk, rambling about the constitutionality of the ‘death tax’ now that dead were up and walking. We managed to convince him to draw up the papers and marry us in exchange for a bottle of whiskey we found in an abandoned home along the way. So then, inside the first unlocked church we found, we were officially married.
“Most of the other people in the group were upset, and said we were wasting time. Others didn’t say anything, but had looks on their faces that seemed to say ‘how dare you find happiness now.’ Only a few actually helped us with the ceremony. One woman had her kids collect wild flowers for a bouquet, and an elderly couple lent us a suit and a dress, they were terrible fits, but the idea was nice. We had no rings, our photographer was a thirteen-year-old kid with a Polaroid and our wedding cake was a stale pack of Fig Newtons. Even with that, and what was going out outside of the church, it was one the happiest days of my life.”
According to the official records, Jim and Karen Kowalski were the first couple married after the Great Panic, and one of about three hundred couples to get married in the first two years of the Zombie War. When I interview Karen, we were at their home just outside of Lincoln, Nebraska. As far as I can tell, I am the first to record their story.

There have been other histories of the Zombie War, that focus on the big decisions: the stories of those making policy, planning battles, and managing resources. The goal of this book is to document the untold tragedies and triumphs that came out of the war: the small victories and the hidden defeats that have been unexplored since things have settled down. My purpose is not to pick away at old wounds or glorify a few, but rather examine the ways in which average people struggled against the overwhelming armies of the undead and came through to the other side recognizing that no matter what happens, life goes on.
Sadly, not every story in this book has a happy ending. For every one where hope succeeded, there is a tale of those who should have survived, but gave into fear and dread, mistrust and avarice, ignorance and superstition. This book would be worth much less if it did not examine these tragedies. And so, like the oracles of old, we will examine the entrails critically, looking for lessons that should have been learned.

When I talked to Karen, she and Jim had just celebrated their 8th anniversary, and Karen is pregnant for the first time. While we were talking, their four adopted kids played soccer outside. All four kids are war orphans, and all four, ranging from ages sixteen to ten, call Karen and Jim mom and dad. Karen admits to me that it hasn’t all be roses: getting married so quickly and raising four kids who have all been through severely traumatic experiences, all while going through the closest thing to hell on earth was never easy. But, she says, “we’re a family, we love each other, and we’re happy.” Looking at their home, their refrigerator covered in report cards and art projects, the photos lining the halls of a family brought together by the undead, it is hard to deny that something so wonderful can come from something so terrible.

research, part 6

2007-10-24T00:50:00.000-05:00

Council of Conservative Citizens, Mississippi - Goddammit.

League of the South - Neo-Confederate Separatists

Project Megiddo - FBI look at possible millennialist threats.

Grim Meathook Future - One possible future, that is looking more and more possible.

On a less depressing note, WiMax - Long range Wifi, capable of bypassing the wired stage in developing regions.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Gathering Storm

Small School Initiative - A group that wants to cap high school populations at 400.

Also, a history of squatting in New York City.

research, part 5

2007-10-21T20:10:00.002-05:00

Abandoned School, Post-Katrina.

Underground Coal Fire in Colorado.

CDC - Coping with traumatic events/mass casualties.

Legend of the Locust People - Bedtime story for the little ones, explaining where all these ruins came from.

Currently Listening:
Silent Hill Soundtrack (sadly, I can't seem to find it online at all) (edit: nevermind)

The Good Book(s)

2007-10-21T14:36:00.000-05:00

Please don't check out this website. It has all of the low points of a wiki, with none of the high ones. Lame. I think the only place I've see dumber comments is on youtube. There's only one trusted source for this kind of information: The Good Book.

Also, World War Z is out in paperback now. You should totally pick it up. Also, try the risk calculator on their website, it's loads of fun.

research, part 4

2007-10-21T13:44:00.001-05:00

ATTRA - Sustainable Agriculture

Tillers International - Low tech farming

Water Purification in Ketchup Size Packets.

Squatter's Rights - Adverse Possession laws.

mono - 16.12

research, part 3

2007-10-21T00:14:00.001-05:00

This machine kills zombies.

Keep the Fire Burning - Perhaps the most inappropriate use of a Kenny Loggins song title ever.

Ben E. King - Stand by Me

PWA - Rebuilding industry. Rebuilding confidence. Rebuilding lives.

Sanctuary Cities - Essentially, decriminalizing illegal immigration in certain cities.

research, part 2

2007-10-20T16:34:00.001-05:00

Smoke over Borneo, from slash and burn farming.

How to Guide: 1959 fallout shelter (from flickr)

Dust Pneumonia - . . . and the land we belong to is grand!

Bruce Clayton's Life After Doomsday (at Amazon)(or bittorrent)

Alpha Disaster Contingencies : Happy fun time survivalist essays.

FDR's Fireside chats - look for number 21, from April 28, 1942.

research, part 1

2007-10-20T11:45:00.000-05:00

From Human Marvels.

Mean World Syndrome - One more reason not to watch Fox News.

Sociology of Witch Hunts - huh?

This American Life - Apocalypse

Snake Handlers - Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Westboro Baptist - Hate, pure and simple.

Long Pig - Yum!

First!

2007-10-20T08:33:00.001-05:00

This seems like the perfect way to kick things off. I know it's not new, but it sets a tone I'm happy with. The new work station is up and running, and things should start moving along pretty soon.

Current Music:
All Angels Gone - Stephen H
Loss of a Child - Gone and Forgotten