The final shambling steps

You may have noticed a distinct lack of posts over the last few months, sadly we lost authors and then real life took all the time we had to put into the site.

Thus the remaining members of Zombie outbreak have decided that the site shall come to an end. 

Zombie Outbreak started January 2011 as the fevered dream of a single man, who then recruited everyone he knew to do the work for him. In that time 11 people have made just 2 posts shy of 600 hopefully entertaining posts.

As that original fevered dreamer I want to thank (in chronological order):

Friday Voni

Wednesday Luke

Sunday Matt

Thursday Will

Saturday Simon

Tuesday Shanice

Thursday Lindsey

Sunday Tyler

Thursday Santoro 

Saturday Andy

So from me Monday Richard, Thank you all for reading. 

Watch this space, like any good Zombie the site will not stay dead forever.

Even if when it returns, it's in a whole new form.

Tuesday Shanice's - Fancy Food on a Budget (Pt1)

Tuesday Shanice's Easy Italian Chicken Pasta 

- with a creamy mix of four cheeses and pesto sauce, mushrooms and red onion

This fabulous recipe is inspired by the rich flavours of Italy, a certain restaurant I worked at in the past and the fact that I have to cook for myself now that I have moved out; it's so delicious, quick and cheap to make!

 Ingredients (Serves 2)

-100g Mushroom, sliced 
- 1 Red Onion, sliced 
- 70g Pesto
- 400g of Creamy Four Cheeses Sauce
-150g Pasta
-100g Chicken, torn
- 100g Mozzarella, torn
-20g Grana Pandano, grated

First wash your mushrooms. Then slice them length ways. Do the same with the red onions. To take the edge off the onion, slice in half and remove the inner core, this will reduce the tears. If that doesn't work, wear goggles!

Put the mushrooms and red onion in a bowl and add a little olive oil. Mix and leave to one side.

Boil a pan of slightly salted water and then cook your pasta as per the instructions on the packet. (It's usually 5 minutes on a medium heat). Drain the pasta then add it back to the pan with the four cheeses sauce. Add the pesto and stir them together well.

 After you have cooked your sliced chicken (no pink remains and it is slightly golden brown) add the mushroom and onion mix and cook together for around 3 minutes on a low heat.

Next, add all pasta, sauce, chicken, mushrooms and onions together. Stir well in the pan then separate the pasta into two microwave safe dishes. Now, scatter the mozzarella and grana padano and  over the pasta. 

 Cook further in the microwave for around 2 minutes to allow the added cheeses to melt. Sprinkle with a little more grana padano and serve!

Enjoy!

Warnings and advice

* Contains nuts. Pesto is derived from pine kernels and may not be suitable for some nut allergy sufferers. Also some brands of pesto are made with cashew oil so do check the label!

V ** For a Vegetarian option remove the Grana Padano as this contains animal fats. Also opt for Quorn chicken or tofu.

The Roller Derby Debate: Real names vs. Pseudo names

In the world of Roller Derby, a storm is brewing. The whole 'to name or no to name' is the big question. Should skaters make pseudo names (made up) or use their own when skating? Some people argue that using pseudo names adds to Roller Derby being fun and quirky, like no other sport! Others say that some pseudo names ruin it for the rest of the roller derby community because of their vulgar/obscene content which can hinder its chances media coverage.



I for one am stuck on the fence with this one for so many reasons. Ive got a lot of for and against's but ultimately I dont know which to choose....

Let the battle commence ... *ding' ding,ding*

Round 1) 'The pseudo names represent the skater's alto ego which can boost their self-esteem'

Pusodo names can be empowering! You can be boring old Betty Brown from accounts by day and then Dee Stroy'her the badass blocker by night. (example). And vise versa, your pseudo name adds to your whole roller derby persona.

Round 2) 'The names skaters choose are sometimes rude and disgusting.'

 Some names are vulgar, explicit or obscene. Some reference female/male genitalia that I can't share with you here. It's the same for the Merby guys too.

The name registering site twoevils.org doesn't really have rules about what type of name is OK and what isn't. There's only the rule of not copying others.

 I mean just a short rule about not being too rude or 'would you say that to your mother?' should work but where and how do you draw the line?


Round 3) 'Cool, imaginative names really are just another awesome aspect of Roller Derby'

Yes, yes they are. Creative play on names, pun and celebrity mash ups are some of the thing that make roller derby AWESOME! Here are some of my favourites:

- Dora the Destroyer
- Katniss EverMean
 - Bear Thug and Fu-Man Drew from Wolverhamoton Honour Rollers
- My lil' Pwny from CCR (Friday Voni!)
- Smashlee Simpson and Babe Ruthless from Whip-It
- Battle E. Portman from FoCo Girls Gone Derby
 - To infinity and Yvonne from from Denver Roller Dolls (Toy Story)
 - Luna-Tic Lovegod from Slaughterhouse Derby Girls (Harry Potter)
- BootyVicious (I wanted this one sooo bad but it's taken :/ ! 
- Dee Stroy'her

...And the list goes on!

Generate your own Derby name at Mia Psycho's Roller Derby Name Generator. 

Let us all see your derby name in the comments below!

Round 4) 'If I was a TV channel or Network, I wouldn't air Roller Derby matches with names including swear words, references to sexual acts of violence, drugs etc. I'd be fired instantly! 

Ideally the roller derby community will continue to grow and improve regardless of name choice through word of mouth but the quicker way to expand would be through the media.This can't happen with obsenities and vulgar words. Think about the bigger picture is all im trying to say.

" Think of the roller derby community as a whole not just at your own level. "

Can you imagine at the olympics....'And the gold medal goes to 'INSERT VULGAR/OBSCENE NAME HERE'

As Sonicthetrackhog said

'Don’t be douchebags, derby nation. Lead by example. Take responsibility for your sport, your audience and yourselves. No matter who the sport is for – our current derby family or a bigger, future sporting incarnation, you make the rest of us look bad with your icky names.'

At the end of the day I would love to see Roller Derby loved by all with lots of fun, witty pseudo names. Maybe then we will get more coverage in the media which will help our sport expand worldwide....and then THE OLYMPICS! 

Wolverhampton Honour Rollers! Look at the happy bunch! :D

Links!

Check out the Roller Derby names rooster at twoevils.org. Have a look and see the best and worst names...some are pure genius! 

See Ginger Snap's opinion here

Generate your own Derby name at Mia Psycho's Roller Derby Name Generator. Let us all see your derby name in the comments below!

What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them!

Weird and Wonderful Burlesque

After viewing Burlesque Beauty - Pt1, and Burlesque Beauty - Pt2 you're probably thinking 

Burlesque is a straight forward, glamorous affair, right? 

Well....Burlesque branches off into many different and 

crazy areas and I've found some of the weirdest around!

Warning, the links in this post are not safe for work!

Epic Win Burlesque

A Burlesque company who specialises in nerdy, geek-chic productions. From Ghosbusters to Batman, every nerdy taste is catered for!

Star Wars 

Nerd dreams really do come true!

Princess Peach - Super Mario Bros

Link - Legend of Zelda

Samus Aran - Metroid 

Muppets

Alice in Wonderland

The Bible!

Susan Boyle

A STRIPPING Susan Boyle act has teased his way to the World Burlesque Games.

Sean Coates claims to be Sunderland’s only boylesque – male burlesque – performer and is in the running for Best British Male at the country’s biggest celebration of the art form.

The 30-year-old, from Plains Farm, will be performing one of his most memorable acts at the games when he de-robes while playing the role of SuBo.

Complete with wrinkled stockings, chintzy floral dress and curly wig, Sean steps into the Britain’s Got Talent winner’s sensible shoes for a comedy take on burlesque.