ZOMBIES: Merle's Dirge, or The Zpoc's playlist

MUSIC TO SMASH THE LIVING DEAD TO

by Bowie Ibarra

Merle Dixon, one of the most despicable, yet interesting, characters on 'The Walking Dead', met his fate making a final futile push against the leader of Woodbury, Philip the Governor.  One of the most fascinating choices he made as he girded his loins to go on his veritable suicide mission was to look for drugs and ask for liquor at the prison.  As he moved closer to his destiny, he apparently found a bottle of whiskey and jammed out to Motorhead's 'Fast and Loose' in a car as he got shitfaced and lined up zeds for his suicide attack on the governor at the rendezvous point.

Or maybe they were just Motorhead fans?

At any rate, as much as the song was a theatrical convention that was relevant to describing the character, it was also a great choice to go on an all-out assault of the enemy during the zombie apocalypse.

With that said, let's take a look at some musical pieces The Walking Dead has used, and music outside of the movie themes that have laced the background of many of our favorite zpoc movies and books.

Well, books from ZombieBloodFights.com, that is.

'THE WALKING DEAD - I Ain't a Judas'

The Governor apparently had a thing for the music of Frederick Chopin, because his music was played several times this season.  When Andrea returned to the Governor in this episode, the Governor was listening to Chopin's Raindrop Prelude.

In this same episode, Tom Wait's Hold On was also featured as well.

'THE WALKING DEAD' - Say the Word

Chopin made his music felt in this episode, where he used Chopin's 'Etude No. 3 in E', known popularly as 'Tristesse' to soothe his daughter as well as the guy that gave up his body to science to see if they could be saved.

DAWN OF THE DEAD '04 - When the Man Comes Around

Johnny Cash was a little played out after his death, but his song 'When the Man Comes Around' and the imagery behind it really set the tone for this re-envisioning of the classic Romero hit.  And who can forget the silly 'Down with the Sickness' interpretation by Richard Cheese?  Of course, the movie finished with the hard version by Disturbed.

28 DAYS LATER - Bach's 'Ave Maria'

One of the many haunting moments of the movie '28 Day Later' was when the survivors were traveling on the major highway out of London in a Taxi, this song played in the background.  We were greeted with images of a smoldering London and an even bleaker future for the survivors.

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD - Party Time

When the dead rose from the dead to attack the living, the skeletal face that opened its eyes and smiled started this song off, and you knew things were about to get real.  From this point on, it was running zombies (before running zombies were cool) and zeds talking on CBs asking for 'more paramedics'.  Brains, baby.  Brains.

DOWN THE ROAD by Bowie Ibarra - Albinoni's Adagio

George Zaragoza pulls out of his apartment complex off of IH-35 near William Cannon in Austin, Texas, and plays Albinoni's Adagio for Strings on his Chevy Cavalier tape player.  The song is used to accentuate the turmoil he sees in the traffic headed out of Austin.

DOWN THE ROAD:  ON THE LAST DAY by Bowie Ibarra - Bread of Life

The title of the story and elements within it were completely inspired by a traditional church song I grew up with called 'Bread of Life'.  The theme of the dead rising from the dead on the last day was the complete theme of the zombie apocalypse in Beeville, Texas, and its fight with the United Nations infiltration of Texas.

Incidentally, the story shares a similar theme as Woodbury in 'The Walking Dead', with the mayor securing the city with the citizenry.  The mayor, however, is not half as sinister as The Governor, but ten times more lascivious.

DOWN THE ROAD:  THE FALL OF AUSTIN

A car chase during the zombie apocalypse?  You betcha.

Two rivals chase each other up IH-35 into downtown Austin in a wild car chase that has shades of 'The Road Warrior' in it.  One of the rivals jumps into a vehicle to find Technotronic's 'Pump up the Jam' in the CD player, and the song plays as the deadly car chase ensues.

This is certainly not a definitive list of zombie movie music outside of the movie's main theme, or music from books.  But its a start.

Let me know a song that has played in the background of a zombie movie, book, or TV show that has added to the ambiance in the comments section below and I'll add it to the blog.

This offer is good FOREVER, so let me know.

And with that, RIP Merle.  You were a sonovabitch, but damn I'd have you on my Zpoc team if you didn't mind hanging out with my Mexican ass.

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BOWIE IBARRA is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His latest zombie story, The Fall of Austin, tells the story of military, police, convicts, and citizens of the Texas capitol as they deal with the zpoc.  It is available in Kindle and Paperback.

Enjoy the blog?  Share it with your friends using the 'Facebook', 'Blogger' and 'Twitter' buttons below.

Leave a comment below using your Google+ or Blogger account.

Follow Bowie on Twitter @wingback20

Follow Bowie's Facebook page.

You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories and check out his book trailers at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.

ZOMBIES: Notes on #TheWalkingDead 'I ain't a Judas'

by Bowie Ibarra

We've hit some peaks in past weeks, now we hit one of those valleys in regards to action and adventure in zombieland and get some character development in 'The Walking Dead: I ain't a Judas'.  Here are some notes, courtesy the boys and girls at ZombieBloodFights.com.

RUN OR FORTIFY?

-- That was the big question that started the show out.  After having been punked out and then spared (?!) by The Governor and his death squad, the team had a decision to make.  Merle let everyone know the Governor would be back.  So they had to decide what to do.

--  Carl looks out for his dad, telling him he needs to take a break.  Rick has been running pretty hard, and rest might stop the hallucinations of Lori.  Or finding Zombie Lori and putting her to rest once and for all.

--  Folks in the prison aren't to keen about Merle being part of the group.  Daryl has to stand up for him several times.  Glenn thinks they should sell him out to The Governor as a sign of peace.

--  The two dismembered members of the Prison team, Merle and Herschel, have a talk.  Merle spells out the ruthless intentions of The Governor.  In the immortal words of 'The Red Queen', they're all going to die in the prison at the hands of The Governor if he has his way.

--  Carol and Daryl are reunited.  Carol has no reason to bring up Axel, who was her bad-boy crush before he got shot in the head by The Governor.  Her bad boy is back.  But Carol also believes Merle is a bad influence on him.

--  Merle tries to mend fences with Michone to minimal avail while she works on her strength training.  He recommends conditioning work as well.  Merle the personal trainer.

--

THE WOODBURY MILITIA

-- The Governor wants his revenge and will stop at nothing to destroy the prison.  So he begins to recruit all the able-bodied people in town for the mission.  It's also established that there are only thirty-five people total in the city, so he's ready to sacrifice some of his own people he was once so happy to address to get his revenge.

-- Andrea hears about the assault on the prison and the follow-up and wants to go. Governor says no, but she ends up going anyway.  Milton finds out and rats her out to the Governor, but the Governor says let her go and keep tabs.

--  Great Nicotero special effects as the Governor looks at his gouged out and healing eye.

-- Andrea and Milton sneak into the nearby woods to snag a zombie, and we get to see some great Greg Nicotero special effects with Andrea chopping off limbs and performing a 'curb stomp' (as seen in 'American History X) to secure her a zombie to travel with, ala Michone.

--  It's here that Andrea and Milton run across Tyrese and company, who are ready to do what it takes to get along in Woodbury.  They reveal that they were at the prison to The Governor, who paces himself and lets them get comfy before a probable interrogation.

ANDREA RETURNS TO HER OLD FRIENDS

--  Using the armless and mouthless zed, Andrea gets the cover she needs to walk to the prison.  She's let in and disarmed.  She tries to work a truce, but no one is ready for something like that.

--  Andrea catches up with the gossip from Carol, who updates her on the body count since they were last together, including Lori.  She also sees Judith "Lil' Ass Kicker" Grimes.  This is a fun moment when Carol suggests the old female spy routine:  Bang out the Governor, "Give him the time of his Life" says Carol, then kill him in his sleep.  It's the perfect way to stop the feud, and its actually a pretty good assassination plan.

--  Andrea asks Michone about her grudge against the Governor.  Michone makes it clear when she was the target of one of his ragtag death squads, it became all about revenge and hurting The Governor AND Andrea.

--  They give Andrea a crappy car to drive back to Woodbury and say their goodbyes.

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

--  Andrea returns to her Governor, who is listening to Chopin's Raindrop Prelude as she comes in.  They embrace, and get it on.

--  Back at the prison, Beth begins to sing one of her family's traditional songs to put everyone at ease.  It's then Rick says he's going to go do some scouting and getting supplies, and he's bringing Carl with him.

--  Cashed out and satisfied, with Tom Waits 'Hold On' in the background, Andrea pulls a knife and walks to The Governor.  That was the first mistake.  Killing a dude is hard enough.  But stabbing a guy to death takes a special kind of psycho that Andrea just doesn't have in her.  She's had enough experience capping zeds with guns, she should have picked up one of them instead.  But she didn't, and she couldn't close the deal.

That is going to come back to haunt her.

Anyway, if you enjoyed the blog, please take some time to explore some of the zombie horror books from Permuted Press and ZombieBloodFights.com.  Books are available in paperback and Kindle at some great prices.

ZombieBloodFights.com will be live Tweeting again next Sunday (@wingback20).  Use the hashtag #ZBF to join in the conversation, which was basically just me last week.  So join me for some fun during commercials.

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BOWIE IBARRA is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuster.  His latest zombie story, The Fall of Austin, tells the story of military, police, convicts, and citizens of the Texas capitol as they deal with the zpoc.  It is available in Kindle and Paperback.

Enjoy the blog?  Share it with your friends using the 'Facebook', 'Blogger' and 'Twitter' buttons below.

Leave a comment below using your Google+ or Blogger account.

Follow Bowie on Twitter @wingback20

Follow Bowie's Facebook page.

You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories and check out his book trailers at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.

ZOMBIES: RECAP - "S**t pops off early" in 'The Walking Dead: Say the Word, Ep. 5, Season 3

by Bowie Ibarra

Because I was going to let 'The Walking Dead:  Say the Word' start on DVR so I could fast-forward through commercials, here is the first text from one of the resident weapons experts for ZBF.com:

Weapons Expert - HOLY S**T!!!!!
ZombieBloodFights.com - Let me guess.  Walking Dead.  I'm about to watch.  No spoilers.
WE - s**t is popping off already!!!!
ZBF.com - Rock!  I'm going to finish watching 'Payback' and watch the DVR.
WE - Wooly's gone apeshit!!!!!  Hooah!!!

And that's how I was lead into the episode.

PARTY IN WOODBURY!  PARTY IN WOODBURY!

First off, was I the only one that thought the opening moments featuring the party in Woodbury featured the Ghost of Lori?  LOL!

Anyway, the scientist presents Andrea with a cup of cold water that the ghost of Lori handed to him.  She's impressed, but its using energy resources he could be using for his experiments.

Conspicuously absent from the morning activities is the Governor, who is combing the hair of a little girl who is sitting at his feet back in his house.  They are listening to an interpretation of Chopin's 'Etude No. 3 in E', known popularly as 'Tristesse'.  'Tristesse' is French for 'Sadness', similar to 'Triste' in Spanish, which means the same thing.  It's one of my most favorite classical pieces.

 The trouble is, the girl is a zombie.  Since Governor Philip said his daughter had survived the initial zpoc, he meant he kept his dead daughter around to keep him company.  When she gets out of hand, he places a bag over her head and preps to lock her away, telling her, 'Daddy still loves you'.  But did Michone just watch what was happening down on the street below?

Moments later, the governor gets on his porch for another inspirational speech to the people of Woodbury, claiming it all started with 'nine people in an apartment', to where they were today.  Everyone holds up their glasses of iced water in honor of all those that came before, looking a bit like they are, indeed, 'drinking the kool-aid' of the Governor.

While all the stump-speech hubbub is going on, Michone sneaks into the Governor's house to get her Hanzo sword.  While she's there, she snoops around, seeing the pic of Philip's family, a strange book with a list of names ending in 'Penny' before a series of pages with hash marks.

But before Michone can investigate movement behind a door, the Governor, scientist, and Merle return.  The scientist wants to stop the Woodbury City Faire to finish an experiment he started.  But since it will take him 6-10 days, the Gov. shoots down the idea.  Before they leave, Michone has already ninja'd her way out of the house.

She shows up in the back of a warehouse where she finds captive ghouls.  She promptly releases and dispatches them with her Hanzo sword.  Thought we get some CGI action, the visceral Nicotero effects are on display with a head-stomp by Michone.  That's when some dude shows up to feed the zeds and drops his grub when he sees her.

I need to emphasize that again:  A dude shows up to feed the zeds.

Feed the zeds?  Feed them what?

So Michone has to go to the principal's office.  She tries to get under the Governor's skin to get kicked out to no avail.  She even tries to bring up 'Penny', but the Governor keeps a poker face at the mention.  He won't let her leave for whatever reason, and tries to recruit her again to be a part of his Woodbury Death Squad.  But before he knows it, she uses her ninja skills to take the sword from his hands and almost kills him.  She spares him and walks out.

The Governor tries to get Andrea to talk Michone into staying to no avail.  She tells him she slaughterd some captured zeds, making Andrea wonder for a moment.  Andrea tries to make Michone stay, but its no use.  She is let out of Woodbury on her own, leaving Andrea behind.

Meanwhile, The Governor's death squad goes to a secret location that has a strange device that attracts zeds and makes them fall into a trap.  The squad, led by Merle, recover the zeds like lobsters in a trap, find worthy candidates, and start pulling their teeth.

Night falls over the secured town (similar, but different than the secured town in 'Down the Road: On the Last Day'), and the Woodbury Jamboree culminates in one of the most glorious moments in ZDay TV History:

ZOMBIE BLOOD FIGHTS!!!

That's right!  The Governor has been providing the proverbial Roman 'Bread and Circus' for the people of Woodbury.  He gave them a day of food, iced beverages, and now the circus.

ZOMBIE BLOOD FIGHTS, BABY!  WOOHOOO!!

Here's how it plays out:  About six zeds are chained up in a circle, creating a fight space for the two competitors, Merle, and another dude with some pretty good hands.  Merle salutes Greg Nicotero's teacher, Tom Savini, with some one-armed push-ups before the fight begins.

Apparently, Merle took some kind of Tae-Kwon-Do class, because he hits his opponent with a spin kick before he responds with some kind of Capoeira/Eddie Gordo kick, and the two mix it up while trying to stay away from the chained (but toothless) zombies.

The whole event doesn't sit well with Andrea, who says the whole thing is sick.  But the governor says Woodbury 'needs entertainment' to 'make the people feel better about themselves'.  Then, echoing the philosophy of Roman gladiator battles for the ancient public, the Governor says it helps the people to 'not be afraid', very much like witnessing gladiator combat was supposed to desensitize the public to the brutality of war.

Bread and Circus in Woodbury during the zpoc, folks.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE PRISON....

Rick is still a mess as the WD Crew learns the baby is fine, but needs formula.  Daryle puts on his 'Man with No Name' poncho and takes Maggie on his Hog to find formula.

As that's going down, Rick snaps like a rubber band and goes on a (my fantasy) rampage through the prison.

Glenn occupies his time by digging a grave.  He lets the prisoners dig two others before going in to look for Rick.

Big Mistake.

When Glenn tries to talk Rick down, Rick assaults him and roams deeper into the prison.

Rick snaps like a rubber band as baby needs formula.  Daryl, Maggie, and Glenn make a formula run.  Glenn ends up digging three graves and lets the prisoners help as he goes off to find Rick.  When he finds Rick, he's in the zone and assaults Glenn.  It's clear to Glenn Rick isn't ready to leave, and he goes deeper into the prison.

Daryl and Maggie infiltrate an old nursery school and find formula. Also, a possum.

Daryl and Maggie returns to feed the baby. And while Carl rattles off the worst names in the world for the baby (read: the names of everyone from their WD crew who has died gruesome deaths.  Good job making everyone remember the gruesome fates of so many friends, little kid), the WD Black Angel Daryl bottle feeds the baby, and every one of 'Dixon's Vixens' in the world ovulates.

The next morning, Daryl leaves a 'Cherokee flower' for Carol's grave, though we have yet to see her remains and did not see her buried.

While the awkward moment of Carl bringing up the dead females of the group and Daryl feeding the bebe, Rick has found Lori's death bed.  The floor is bloody, and he finds the knife that cut her open.  But there is no sign of her.  It seems zeds dragged off her remains (?), and he finds the bullet Carl shot (?).

He also sees a zed fattened up from eating a lot of Lori.  Rick moves to the zed with the knife to cut him open.  After blasting its brain out by sticking his gun in its mouth and pulling the trigger, he moves to cut the zed open, but ends up stabbing it multiple times in its full belly.

After their tender moment, Rick takes a seat and spends the night in the room.  That's when the phone rings.

The phone rings?  WTF.

Rick answers it....

And that's the end of the episode.  Until next time, thanks for dropping by.  Please comment, like, share, and follow, because zombies, blood, and fights rock!

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Enjoy the blog?  Share it with your friends using the 'Facebook', 'Blogger' and 'Twitter' buttons below.

Leave a comment below using your Google+ or Blogger account.

Follow Bowie on Twitter @wingback20

Follow Bowie's Facebook page.

Bowie Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His latest zombie story, The Fall of Austin, tells the story of military, police, convicts, and citizens of the Texas capitol as they deal with the zpoc.

You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.