That Andrew left out. I’ll get around to a whole post on my own account at some point relatively soon…. My loganberry canes are still groaning loaded, I’ve got three loads of laundry pending, I’ve got bits of the refrigerator still to reorganize (anyone want some leftover hamburger buns?), and there’s sections of the garden that still need attention, but there are a few things that Andrew left out of his comments about the past weekend that need publicity.

First being that as we were walking down the street marveling at the crowd –the first time that is– we ran across a woman on a bicycle with a heavy germanic accent (Austrian?). All four of us were in makeup, but since we were on the *other* side of the street from the massive pileup of zombies and since we were speaking in some sort of rational English instead of moaning and drooling, I guess she thought we were the safest ones to approach. She asked what it was that was going on, when we told her it was a zombie walk for charity, and, for the record, the amount of canned food to say nothing of the financial donations that were collected Friday evening was quite impressive, she seemed a little less confused, but a lot more stymied. Americans, apparently, are very weird.
Secondly, if you watch the video you’ll see the zombie in the bathrobe with a can in his hand who was railing at people about sitting on the other side of the road just watching. The can was not beer. There were several advertising vehicles around the Freemont Outdoor Cinema as well as along the route that were handing out free cans of *shudder* energy drink. The stuff was flat out nasty, but, as with all energy drinks, loaded with sugar, caffeine, and other herbal energy boosters that all leant a wee bit more oomph to the weirdness that was thick in the air that evening. Bathrobe Zombie was trying his damnedest to get the onlookers on our side of the street to get up, get made up, and join the fun.
There was also a large presence of religious zombies. From Zombie Catholic Schoolgirls, to Zombie Priests, a Zombie Nun who didn’t walk because she had one leg in a cast, all the way up to Zombie Jesus complete with crucifixion wounds and a crown of thorns.
And law enforcement was even getting involved. There was a car full of SPD officers (crowd control and traffic directors as it turned out) who stopped outside the cinema and spent oh, half an hour getting their photos taken before they took up their official duties. But also, as we were waiting to walk, a fire truck turned off of 36th and started heading north up Phinney (right outside the cinema). When they saw what was going on, the two dudes in back started laughing their heads off. The driver pulled the mike for his loudspeaker and, driving very slowly past the spectacle, started moaning theatrically to the great approbation of the crowd.
I love, I absolutely LOVE living in a town where mass silliness is not only tolerated, but appreciated.
There were whole zombie families. An entire zombie wedding party had some of the most clever makeup. There are photos, even video, of the zombie family that I most appreciated. Mom, aunt, daughter, and possibly an older cousin. The daughter was tween-ish. Eleven or twelve maybe, and in a wheelchair. Her speech wasn’t good, I think she probably has cerebral palsy, but by god the kid has moxie. She was the one in the video that you see waving the leg around… although you don’t really see her, you more see the foot waving in front of the camera. She was moaning better than anyone and was obviously enjoying herself.

As we were leaving and wandering back to the car Andrew commented that it was the scattered random zombies that seemed the most entertaining. We came around a corner just as he was saying this and we spotted, across the street, a pair of zombies sitting on the corner up against a street sign. I mentioned, purposely loudly, that yes, it was the random scattered zombies that were the most entertaining as I was getting the camera to take their photo.
The man of the couple, as I had intended, heard me and laughed.
“We’re here because Zombie #1 (pointing to his female companion) locked Zombie #2’s keys in the car and we’re waiting for the AAA!”
We laughed, and commiserated and he went on with:
“Yeah, when I talked to the AAA dispatcher she asked if I was in a safe neighborhood. I told her that the neighborhood was safe enough. I didn’t think she needed the details.” “She asked what I was wearing so she could tell the tow truck driver what to look for. When I told her “I’m wearing ragged jeans, a white shirt, and I’m covered in…. Well, it’s FAKE blood” she just started laughing.”
Now that’s a story that the tow truck driver will dine out on for a while. I can just see it “Yeah, I responded to this lock-out on Friday night and you would not BELIEVE…..”

Municipal silliness rocks.