What do you get when you take a bunch of people, some fake blood, and a hot June night?
I like to call this pic, "victim's last snapshot."
You get the Birmingham Couchsurfer's Zombie Crawl!
What is couchsurfing you ask? Well, it's a great travel organization used by millions of people. I'm not going to take the time here to explain it, but check out the link for more info. Birmingham has a very active CS community, and there is often a function taking place, as well as a weekly meet up. The Zombie crawl was my first official function. I'd been interested in joining the CS group for a while and this seemed like a good opportunity to get involved.
The undead football player, 80's mall pop singer, and granny.
We started the night at The Barking Kudu. At first, it seemed like there might only be three or four of us, which...well, doesn't make for a very good horde. However, as the dark and heavy blanket of night came to settle over the city, legions of the undead began to walk the streets...and get organized. After all, we were a Zombie horde with a purpose, not just a bunch of aimless, brain-hungry undead. Once a pretty good crowd had gathered at the Kudu, we broke off into teams and were given lists detailing a scavenger hunt and several meet up times.
"Haha! Pointing!"
Here we are finding one of the Couchsurfing stickers that had been placed in various locations throughout the city. There were many things on the list, 'find all the CS stickers, take a picture with an Elvis statue, etc, etc.
Most unattractive picture of me ever.
This however, was worth bonus points. There were two cops in the middle of the intersection and Vickie, aka, undead granny starts to hobble over to them. "Excuse me! Excuse me, officers!" The officer takes one look and goes for his gun. He doesn't draw, but you can tell he's freaked out to the max. Vickie proceeds to explain what we're doing and asks if we can get a picture. He laughs and says that he thought she'd just been attacked. As far as the picture, he didn't mind, "as long as it doesn't end up on myspace." No worries sir...it won't be on myspace. (However, you never mentioned blogger.) So, thank you to one of Birmingham's finest for playing along. Also, apparently I didn't get the memo that we were all going to be really happy in this picture.
Rowdy Roddey Piper!
We continued to drag ourselves through the city, stopping to stare into windows, startling unsuspecting restaurant patrons, disturbing local pubs, and causing general confusion and mayhem. Eventually, we invaded Innisfree Irish pub where the music was live and loud. Thank you Jasper Coal for a fun show!
Who doesn't love a little rough-throated Celtic punk, especially when they bust out the bagpipes! Yes, I admit it. I love bagpipes and I'm proud of it. Eh, anything that's got a Dropkick Murphy/Flogging Molly kind of feel to it is always good in my book.
To quote a friend: "Hoppppppps, GRAIIIIIIIINS!"
Zombie Michael Jackson up there is actually wearing my jacket. Why is the majority of my closet also ripe for costuming?
There was much dancing, singing, and clapping of hands...
...Oh, and of course eating of brains, that too.
The crawl was great fun, and our group scored pretty big in the scavenger hunt, but still, it wasn't the main event of the evening. You see, by now, it's close to midnight, and something evil's lurking in the dark...
White tights need to stay in the 80s.
What Zombie crawl would be complete without a performance of Thriller in the heart of downtown at the stroke of midnight? Yes, yes, I know, probably a lot of them, but ours wasn't! We had some audio problems and it's not like we're professionals, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it. We sure did!
At this point, with this many post dance, sweaty, thirsty Zombies roaming around, Dave's had the funk of forty thousand beers. It was a great night, and a fun event for a CS newbie. Oh, and why did we choose June instead of say October? Because, much like the Spanish Inquisition, no one expects it.
A big thanks to the wonderful Crystal Murphy for the pictures and for organizing such a great event, and to Vickie Edwards for such a great welcome into the CS group!
