Psychosomatic Rants

One site is working to uncover this ‘eminent zombie apocalypse’ and that site is, Lost Zombies.

The goal of Lost Zombies “is to gather definitive proof that zombies are real and to compile that proof into a feature length documentary film. We are asking the general public to assist us by submitting any proof of zombies they may have. We believe as a community we can educate the world’s population of the reality of zombies and the potential, if not, eminent zombie apocalypse.”

Now at first, I thought this was a joke, don’t get me wrong, I love zombies, but zombie films (3D preferred) not real life walking dead. It seems that the folks over at Lost Zombies have really found out that an outbreak has happened and they have videos and photos that have been submitted by people from all over the world to prove it!

They even have images “that were pulled from a hard drive sent to Lost Zombies by an anonymous contact who goes by J. We believe J was a tester at the pharmaceutical company where the Zombie outbreak originated.” - According to the Lost Zombie website.

This is unreal, so for the safety of the human race, please if you have any photos, videos, documents that help uncover this zombie outbreak - send them to Lost Zombies, ASAP! (and have your footage in the first ever community driven zombie documentary.)

I know I always have my video camera with me and if I see anything, I will let Lost Zombies know.

The subject of banning the horse drawn carriages in NYC has been talked about a lot in some of my comment pages so I thought I would make it an official blog post. This will open the topic to everyone. In addition to opening this topic, I will also give some details on why it is important to get these horses off the streets of NYC.

There are many different reasons why a ban on horse drawn carriages is important. I wont go into every little detail here but I will list some of the important issues on why these horses do not belong in the streets of NY. (If you want more information about this issue feel free to ask me in the comment page on this post or just Google it - there is a ton of information out there from both sides.)

As you may already know, the ASPCA, along with the Humane Society of the United States, PETA, and local advocacy groups, argue that ‘reform’ legislation is not enough. The health hazards posed to horses by traffic, noise, exhaust, and hard concrete, as well as the industry’s proven unwillingness or inability to provide horses with decent living and working conditions, show that there can be no humane alternative to a complete ban on horse-drawn carriages in New York City.

According to a NYC comptroller’s audit of the horse drawn carriage industry found a long list of problems in the carriage industry, from lax veterinary care to infrequent inspections. The audit also found that the horses were not provided with enough water, were at risk of overheating on hot asphalt and were forced to stand in their own waste because of inadequate drainage. Vets even say that ‘Lameness and hoof deterioration are inevitable when a horse spends its life walking or jogging on the unnaturally concussive asphalt of city streets’

The horse drawn carriages also pose a threat to human safety. I have posted at the bottom of this post a short list of incidents involving horses used in carriage operations in New York City since 1999.

What can you do to help the horses in NYC?

If you live in one of the five boroughs of NYC, please ask your Council Member to sign on to Tony Avella’s bill AND contact Council Speaker Christine Quinn who is blocking this bill at City Hall.

Check to see if your Council Member has already signed on to the bill If you live outside of NYC, please contact Mayor Michael Bloomberg to let him know what you think of this industry.

Also, If you are in the NYC area and would like to help; please let me know because I will be here in the city working on this issue. (If you do not know how to contact me, please just leave a comment below.)

September 14, 2007: A horse who was spooked by a street performer’s drum ran nearly a block along the sidewalk before slamming into a tree and dying. The horse’s panic caused a second horse—who was still attached to a carriage—to dart into traffic and collide with a car. (The horses name was Smoothie)

July 4, 2007: A frightened carriage horse bolted away from his driver and collided with a taxi on Central Park S. A motorcyclist abandoned his bike in order to avoid the horse. The cab driver was treated for injuries at the hospital, the horse suffered several gashes on one leg, and the cab sustained significant front-end damage.

June 2, 2007: A spooked carriage horse galloped away from his driver and was hit by an SUV in an intersection. When the horse fell, the carriage broke loose, was propelled into the air, and landed on the curb, barely missing pedestrians. * April 13, 2007*: A carriage horse was hit by a taxi at Grand Army Plaza.

September 14, 2006: After collapsing in Central Park, Juliet, a horse who was used to pull carriages in NYC for almost two decades, was whipped repeatedly by the carriage driver in an attempt to get her to stand up. A horrified crowd gathered and begged the carriage driver to stop beating her. Juliet was eventually hauled away in a police trailer to her stable, where she died early the next morning.

May 5, 2006: A horse pulling a carriage through Manhattan was spooked and ran amok, narrowly missing several vehicles before colliding with and overturning a moving car. The driver of the car was hospitalized and witnesses claimed that the horse sustained a gash near his or her neck.

April 28, 2006: A young horse being trained to pull carriages was suddenly spooked and bolted, colliding with a 71-year-old bicyclist in Central Park. The bicyclist had to be hospitalized, and the carriage driver jumped out of the vehicle during the incident, injuring his knee.

January 2, 2006: A horse pulling a carriage in Manhattan was suddenly spooked and ran, colliding with an automobile. The horse had to be euthanized because of severe injuries, and the carriage driver was hospitalized in critical condition with a fractured skull.

May 14, 2005: Two horses broke free from the carriage that they were pulling after a hit-and-run collusion with a van. The driver was thrown from the rig and landed on his head. * October 25, 2003*: Four people got the “scare of their lives” when a horse pulling a carriage suddenly bolted down the street and barreled into another carriage, causing both rigs to flip over. Four people were treated for injuries.

January 22, 2002: A horse pulling a carriage through traffic became frightened and bolted. The carriage got wedged between two cars, damaging them and several others. The horse had to be tranquilized, and it took several people to free the animal and the carriage.

November 26, 2001: A taxi cab collided with a horse-drawn carriage in South Central Park, startling the horse and injuring the carriage driver.

November 2000: A horse pulling a carriage broke free, bolted, and struck a car while galloping down the street. The horse tripped and fell to the ground, injuring a leg.

August 27, 2000: A horse-drawn carriage turning a corner in Central Park tilted past its balance point and suddenly slammed onto its side. Four tourists were strapped to backboards and taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

April 26, 2000: A horse in a carriage-ride stable escaped and ran down the street, creating havoc as drivers slammed on their brakes to avoid hitting the animal. A traffic control officer avoided serious injury by jumping back when the horse was within three feet of her. The horse narrowly missed being hit by a bus.

August 5, 1999: A runaway carriage horse jumped onto the sidewalk, injuring two elderly pedestrians and hitting a car.

June 28, 1999: A hit-and-run driver crashed into a horse-drawn carriage, breaking the driver’s jaw and sending the horse galloping down the street. The horse was hit by an oncoming car.

January 8, 1999: A horse was fatally electrocuted while pulling a carriage.

1999: An “out-of-control” horse jumped up on the sidewalk and struck and injured two elderly pedestrians.

I have been waiting a long time for this film to come out - In fact, I was given a script before they started shooting this film to give my input on it. Of course, I am talking about the only movie you need to see this year (that is not in 3D), Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead!

Back in 2005, I had the privilege to go on location where Lloyd Kaufman was filming Poultrygeist. Lloyd and his crew gave me the royal treatment, showing me how they made the chicken dead and how they made 100 percent sure that no animal ingredients were used in making this gore fest.

For those who don’t know about Poultrygeist, here is the movie synopsis.

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead is cinema’s first chicken-zombie horror-comedy… with musical numbers!

When well-meaning but somewhat dim Arbie (Jason Yachanin) returns to the spot of his first (and only) romantic encounter with his high school sweetheart- the not-so-romantic Ancient Tromahawk Tribe Indian Burial Ground- he is shocked to discover two horrible realities:

Not only has the graveyard been bulldozed to make room for the newest fast-food “American Chicken Bunker” chain restaurant, but after only one semester at college, his girlfriend Wendy (Kate Graham) has been transformed into a left-wing, lipstick-lesbian liberal, and spends her free time protesting the corporate takeover of America. Reeling from heartbreak and a brutal beating from Micki (Allyson Sereboff), Wendy’s new activist girlfriend, Arbie channels his spite into applying for a job at the very restaurant they are protesting against.

But something else is feeling wronged by all of the construction and commotion… Something not human…

Meanwhile, newly employed Arbie’s new coworkers are a colorful group: the sassy manager Denny (Joshua Olatunde); the burqa-clad Muslim, Humus (Rose Ghavami); the animal-loving yokel Carl, Jr. (Caleb Emerson); the effete Mexican spitfire Paco Bell (Khalid Rivera); and a mysterious 60-year-old man who has been working in fast-food all his life (Lloyd Kaufman).

Together, they slowly uncover the supernatural secret of the American Chicken Bunker, while the owner General Lee Roy (Robin L. Watkins) tries to keep a lid on everything, lest the scandal taint his growing empire. But once workers and customers start dying in bizarre and grotesque ways, it becomes clear that this isn’t just a mild case of salmonella … but something much more FOWL.

Will Arbie and his friends stop the supernatural before they infect all the artificial food stuffs, the customers or even the world? Will Arbie be able to win Wendy back now that he’s making minimum-wage? What’s Carl Jr. doing with that frozen chicken? And what’s with all the singing and dancing?

It’s Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead!

If you want to see Poultrygeist there are several screenings;

In NYC - Friday May 9th at 7:30pm and 10pm And in LA - June 13 - go to www.poultrygeistmovie.com for more details

And now for the trailer - Only from Troma, of course!

Ok, this is ‘A Nerd in 3D’ revisited, well, in a strange way.

I own a device that allows me to make videos in 3D. Not the old fashion, but still loved, anaglyph 3D movies (you know the kind where you need the red and blue glasses) but in glorious field sequential 3D. (You know the kind where you need the electronic shutter lens glasses.)

Anyway, I have a huge pile of tapes of just random stuff that I had shot over the years in 3D and I came across this silly video I did back when Shrek 3D came out on DVD. Now, I don’t have a clue if the compression on YouTube will effect the 3D quality at all (don’t worry you can still watch it in 2D -its just not as fun) and since I am on the road I can not test it out with my 3D equipment. Come to think of it, it would be nice to have a 22” 3D Monitor from iZ3D to view this 3D video clip ….hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more, over at MarketSaw.

So, enjoy this

There is a new 3D movie coming out called 1.8 days, starring Gary Busey and drummer for the band Collective Soul, Will Turpin.

I am not sure what the movie is going to be about but it doesn’t matter with a promotional poster like this one - I am totally sold on this film.

But if you want a plot summary,

Two hustlers, their ex-fiancé, a ruthless crime boss, and a bounty hunter, all intent on killing each other, suddenly find themselves in the middle of an “invasion.” The lifelong enemies must band together to defeat the (what the hell are they!?). They just have to stop fighting each other long enough to survive.

I am going to be here in NYC for a while, working on the horse drawn carriage ban. So, I thought I would introduce a film that was just completed not too long ago, (it should be released soon) that talks about the NYC horse drawn carriage industry. The documentary is called ‘Blinders - The Truth Behind the Tradition.’

I had a chance to screen this documentary and it is amazing because it really takes a deep look into this industry and takes viewers behind the scenes to expose the truth behind the tradition.

I recommend ‘Blinders’ to anyone who wants to know about the horse drawn carriage industry here in NYC.

Here is the trailer.