Helping the Horde Get Animated!

There are now more than three hundred people on the Wall, zombie and trad alike. I had no idea that we would get so much support in such a short time.

I've been thinking about how I want to make Get Animated! more impactful this year; I think it will involve more than playing school sports and going to school dances. I want to initiate real change.

Can you tell I've been emailing Skip? That's why sort-of words like "impactful" start showing up in my vocabulary.

The Spirit

Great, great news on the Zombie present drive. Three amazing things--

A). Everyone who is participating in the work study at the Hunter Foundation has offered to donate one weeks' pay to "the cause".

B). The Hunter Foundation is donating a Wii along with a few games--Rock Band, Tennis, and Bowling. There's some stuff they are asking us to do--they want us to keep track of progress in the games to see if playing has any effect on zombie motor control. I didn't have the heart to tell them we don't have a television at the Haunted House; maybe one will turn up.

C). I emailed Skip Slydell about what we were trying to do and he sent along (overnight!) a generous assortment of Slydellco. samples and products, including

Z, the body spray for the active Undead Male

Lady Z, (which, although there's no tag line, is presumably for the Active Undead Female)

Kiss of Life lip gloss

Arise! Invigorating Facial Cleanser (Invigorating?)

and various shampoos, conditioners, and skin creams "specially formulated for active undead teens". There were also a few shirts and hats in the big box with some of his new designs. The one I liked most was a black shirt that says I Wasn't Finished in an elegant white Gothic script.

(All products trademarked by Slydellco.)

Things are shaping up for a festive holiday season at the HH. Let's hope nothing happens to wreck it all.

Zombie-sploitation

I've been approached by Skip Slydell, owner, CEO and mail clerk of Slydellco for a possible business venture. Slydellco, you may be aware, are distributors of such fine products as the Z and Lady Z lines of cosmetics and personal hygiene products, not to mention a whole line of what my trad friends like to call "inactive wear"--t-shirts with pro-zombie slogans like "Some of My Best Friends are Dead" and "Open Graves, Open Minds".

Skip wants to pay for me to put banner ads for his products on the site. I've purposefully tried to shy away from any corporate sponsorship, but there are some zombies in the Haunted House that think we could put the money to some good uses. Others, of course, are totally opposed. I asked Tak and his reply was "I...don't even know...why...you would talk...to a beating heart." Real helpful, that guy.

I'm torn. While I've written before about how cheesy I think Skip's profiteering is, he does use a percentage of his profits for pro-zombie causes. And despite their sometimes goofy message, I do think his products end up increasing awareness for our plight. To be totally forthcoming, I myself wear Z occasionally and am told it smells nice.

But straight-out corporate sponsorship? I don't know. I think I'd feel kind of icky.

What do you think?