Toronto Zombie Walk 2011: Working the Camera for blogTO.com

To any photographers that got in my face, I'd like to give a little apology from the actor-in-charge, so to speak - zombie Cassandra doesn't like lingering cameras, so if I started screaming and/or was incredibly violent to you, I'm so sorry, it was all in good fun!  I did find a couple of really awesome shots from some folk who have been kind enough to forward links - check these out!

Photo by Chris Cheung

Photo by Konstantina Photography

Photo by Chris Cheung

Photo by Jeff Currey

There was a particular memorable moment with a few handsome zombies and their tripod-and-camera setup.  They had the camera pointed at me, looking at the viewscreen while I was sitting on the ground, 'shackled' to Nick, trying to rip open my brain-and-Jell-O package.  I had noticed the camera focused on me and figure I'd have a little fun.  I had mentioned earlier that zombie Cassandra doesn't enjoy lingering cameras, and this one lingered for quite some time.  I had built up the zombie frustration to a point where I threw the brain aside and began to scream like a maniac at the camera, telling them in my best zombie-speak to F@#! OFF AND GET THAT CAMERA OUTTA MY FACE!!!  My message was lost in translation because handsome zombie man and friends started to applaud my 'demonstration' while Nick 'dragged' me away.  Nick had later discovered they were a couple of bloggers from blogTO.com, capturing images from this year's Zombie Walk - and they had included my zombie tantrum in their short video!  You can check it out here, it's a really impressive video - you'll find me and Nick's big gun at the 1:08 mark. 

Thanks to everyone who's been forwarding me links and pictures they snapped of me at the Zombie Walk!  Lemme know if you happen to come across any more!

'GunCam' Photos: Toronto Zombie Walk 2011

Nick had some fun taking pictures from his gun's point of view, and we had some awesome people playing along with the zombie-slaying madness.  Here are a few shots we had taken from about 5 pm and later, just in case you're looking for a time frame to see if you might be here!  You'll potentially recognize the moment by remembering a black cassette tape with a red stripe pointed at you - that's Nick's iPhone cover.  (We've seen a few versions floating around - I especially enjoyed the off-white with blue stripes we were shown by another fellow zombie!)

Enjoy!

Toronto Zombie Walk 2011: Your Not-So-Normal Acting Exercise

It's not every day you get to act out your zombie apocalypse fantasies.  I think it's a great idea to celebrate a birthday, too.  It's actually on October 25th, but everyone's always doing something on the weekend after my birthday, and they've usually planned it months in advance, y'know?  I figure I just join a party already happening this year with Nick and a couple of our friends.  And believe it or not, I took this in as a great acting exercise, since I had decided I wasn't going to break character during the entire event.  Preparations abound!

L-R: Tony and Nick as 'survivors' and me as their 'zombie captive'.  Check out the Nerf firepower!

Nick has an awesome collection of Nerf guns, some he's repainted to look like some heavy-duty artillery.  He's been waiting for an opportunity like this to put them to 'good use' in a costume or roleplay, so he and his friend, Tony, picked up a couple of 'em and dressed up as 'survivors'.  Tony's holding the Nerf Vulcan automatic machine gun with ammo belt, while Nick proudly shows his Nerf LongShot painted in grey and tan.  We kept teasing Tony that he looked like Jesse Ventura from Predator (pictured left), especially with the hat!  Tony's friend, Daniel, came as a companion zombie - the only time a man would ever let me put makeup on his face outside of a theatre.

The bathroom looked like Dexter's killroom when we were done.

Synergy Grand Opening in Snap! Brampton

Add the 'event planner hat' to the collection, I guess.

I had a hand in planning the grand opening of Synergy Performing Arts Academy's second location in September.  I had learned quite a bit from the whole experience, and I have to say it was a relative success from all accounts.  We had a fairly decent turnout with help from attractions like magician Gord Cadabra and string quartet Paganini Strings.  We had great support from local Brampton businesses like Green Cup Roastery, ROCK-IT Designer Clothing and The Dress People and more who donated some stellar raffle prizes.  I was crossing my fingers for the Green Cup Roastery gift basket ... alas, not meant to be.

SNAP! Brampton was by to photograph the event - and I got an email today that we're in the latest edition!  I snagged a few copies from the local library and snipped out a copy of the article for myself.  Check it out!

Find me in a sea of burgundy!

Pick up your copy of SNAP! Brampton in most local businesses and community centres!