LibriVox volunteers bring you 13 recordings of When First I Came Here by Edward Thomas (1878-1917). This was the weekly poetry project for July 19th, 2009.
Monthly Archives: July 2009
World War Z notes; Total War chapter 6
Disclaimer: notes transcribed as is, no editing has been made so as to preserve my original feelings as I read the chapter.
Part 7, Total War; Chapter 6, Andre Renard.
It sounds like the ex-French national had a fun time trying to survive in Paris. Those catacombs are ancient, dark and dangerous even without the zombie plague making things more difficult. I don’t think the tunnels underneath Paris have been mapped out properly and the conditions of the tunnels are uneven, atrocious and libel to collapse or cave in. Although the macabre section decorated in bones is probably safe, but that’s just a small percentage of tunnels.
Fighting zombies in these cramped tunnels sounds like a bloody nightmare of epic proportions. There wouldn’t be much room to swing a cat about, let alone try hand-to-hand combat with a few zombies. I know the French Resistance used those tunnels during World War II but I think they were used as a primary base, and to allude the Nazi’s, but I don’t recall many battles fought down there. At least not deep inside the underground network, maybe they had a few skirmishes around the perimeter but I reckon (or hope) that the Resistance knew the tunnels well enough to elude the German soldiers.
Zombies on the other hand, as they can only be destroyed in only one way, are not so easy to evade. It’s hardly surprising that new weapons, designed for close and cramped combat, were eventually being created. Necessity again. As with the “marsh covers” that somehow made it direct from America.
He describes battle situations in high water, how the new marsh covers were particularly useful against being bitten while wading through those waters. The stink, the gas masks and the inherent problems associated with them.
The whole idea of Cousteaus, the scuba divers who would fight against any deep water threat were probably the most unlucky of all those in the tunnels. When it comes to ratios of life or death, the Cousteaus had a 1 in 20 chance. Pretty piss poor odds, makes me wonder why.
Andre knows though, and the answer is chilling.
Heroes.
These poor people were sent to fight in that vast underground maze purely to fight and die so that France could have new heroes.
He points out how England cleaned out the zombies slowly and carefully. Continue reading this post
A Letter From A Girl To Her Own Old Age by Alice Meynell
LibriVox volunteers bring you 10 recordings of A Letter From A Girl To Her Own Old Age by Alice Meynell (1847-1922). This was the weekly poetry project for July 12th, 2009, and was recorded to celebrate the 21st birthday of Lucy Perry, who co-ordinated this project.
Happy birthday Lucy, and Happy Unbirthday to everyone else!
World War Z notes; Total War chapter 5
Disclaimer: notes transcribed as is, no editing has been made so as to preserve my original feelings as I read the chapter.
Part 7, Total War; Chapter 5, Master Chief Petty Officer Michael Choi.
I was beginning to wonder if the resources were available to hunt down all those underwater ghouls. Seems that’s the job for Michael Choi and others like him.
I don’t like the idea of donning a mesh suit or other such combat gear. Not underwater. Where there are still millions of them. They to calculate that there are somewhere between twenty and thirty million ghouls. Some washing up on shore or being caught in fishing nets, the majority still remaining in the oceans. Unfortunately they don’t rot, what fish in their right mind would want to try eating a zombie.
Like animals, they know that something is wrong with the ghouls and do their best to avoid them. The human population can’t afford to, and resorts to hunting them.
I think they are attributing too much to the ghouls, I don’t think they would have any way of predicting their movements. The ghouls don’t think, they just eat. They swarm where the food is and keep moving about until food is located.
Hunting them using Atmospheric Diving Suits, ADS, is preferable to scuba gear.
Unfortunately the Master Chief has seen or heard of many a diver having to surface too quickly and then succumbing to the bends. Being attacked by zombies with no escape other than surfacing is a terrifying prospect. A simple spear gun isn’t going to prevent Zack from trying to get your insides on your outsides, regardless of manoeuvrability.
However, who wants to die screaming into their demand valve (of their diving regulator) and who wants to pull of the mask of a diver who has died in such a manner. Continue reading this post
Drink to Her by Sir Thomas Moore
LibriVox volunteers bring you 18 recordings of Drink To Her by Thomas Moore (1779-1852). This was the weekly poetry project for July 5th, 2009.
