Zombie Survival Guide Review

The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead, Brooks. Non-fiction. Again, billed as humor. I mean, sure, it’s ironic and po-mo and all, but I still didn’t find it a laugher. I was interested that it creeped me out in a way no fiction has in a long time. I think this was mostly because so much of the survival advice is applicable to a wide variety of unpleasant-to-contemplate situations. I wonder if broader exposure to the zombie and survival genres would have enhanced my enjoyment. Brooks seems like a pretty nice guy in his Suicide Girls interview. I’m somewhat relieved to see this exchange in his World War Z interview:

[SG]: Survival Guide wasn’t exactly humorous and World War Z is definitely not that humorous.
Max: Anyone who thinks this World War Z is funny has severe emotional problems.

But maybe they’re being ironic.

Make a Ukulele Lady Out of Me

A very entertaining ukulele lesson with many useful tips.

Ukulele is the miracle music instrument . The ukulele sound won’t interrupt the talking of business or the whisper of lovers.

If you softly hold a baby or cat under your arms, usually some people will smile and say “How pretty this baby is! or How cute this cat is!” On the other hand, the ukulele will not make people so excited.

If your family and friends’ faces turn bitter, you don’t have to worry. If you are a poor player, just back up slowly and fade away.

Try the stuffed celery

The current episode of the Ken P. D. Snydecast contains a quite entertaining discussion of the menu (and staff) of the Musso and Frank Grill in Los Angeles. And indeed, as discussed, their menu is straight out of the fifties. The actual fifties, not the Happy Days fifties. Chiffonade salad! Imported sardine sandwich! Creamed spinach!

The Secret Hour Review

Midnighters Vol. 1: The Secret Hour, Westerfeld. Yes. Written for a younger audience than Peeps and The Last Days, but I found it no less compelling. I was disappointed in the mathematical error made by the master trigonometrician, and I imagine I should be troubled by the implication that there’s something magical about Greenwich, if only on principle, but these defects did not diminish my pleasure in any serious way.

The Campfire Collection Review

The Campfire Collection: Thrilling, Chilling Tales of Alien Encounters, ed. Hyams. Yes. The final section disappoints (other than the Tiptree story, of course, which I optimistically fancy to be dated), but the rest of the stories are solid—in many cases classic—SF. I do need to check the credits to They Live, or Google for lawsuits.
Update: The acknowledgment is right there in They Live‘s credits.