How Did Anne Frank Die

Comic-Con 2011: The Walking Dead

It’s safe to say The Walking Dead is the best zombie show we’ve ever seen on television. OK, there’s not much competition. But the AMC series, adapted from Robert Kirkman’s comic books, has drawn in "regular" fans as well as less zombie-savvy viewers. After Friday’s panel at Comic-Con, we sat down with the cast and crew to discuss what’s coming up in Season 2, which premieres October 16.

To tide you over 'til then, here are some reflections from cast members Andrew Lincoln (Rick), Jon Bernthal (Shane), Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori), Laurie Holden (Andrea), Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale), Steven Yeun (Glenn), and Norman Reedus (Daryl), as well as comic writer Robert Kirkman, show creator Frank Darabont, producer Gale Anne Hurd, and makeup artist Greg Nicotero.

On the survivors splitting up…

“Basically what you’re seeing … is just an intensification of the situation that they’re in, and how it is affecting all of the different people in the group. So the group is going to be pulling apart in different ways. Different people are going to be coming into conflict. And it’s just going to be an overall sense of just the ordeal that they’re all surviving through together.” – Kirkman

“Andrea doesn’t want to be there, OK? She wanted to go with the CDC. That was not her choice. Dale manipulated her a little bit. … I think that if there is a leader of the group that wants to go solo, I think it’s the natural impulse to want to go with that alpha male.” – Holden

On the high stakes…

“What’s cool is, it is scary to arguably lose a job if you die, but all I know, the way that you go out is probably going to be awesome, so hopefully you do it justice. And then you get another show!” – Yeun

“One of the big themes that does come up in Season 2 is, is it worth it, this desire to survive? What are we living for? What’s the point of—we’re trying to do all these different things to get to this next point—but where is that next point? We’ve lost everything. The world that we knew is gone.” – Bernthal

On killing zombies (which they have a tendency to do in the show)…

“We were all on the same page going in. It’s really nice when the standards and practices guy gives us notes like, ‘That was a really cool zombie kill,’ as opposed to, ‘You can’t show that on television.’” – Hurd

“At the end of the day, it really does boil down to blunt head trauma, basically. But you can certainly slice them and dice them in very clever ways before you get to that point. And we’re trying to come up with everything we can.

What do my favorite books say about me? « Andrea's Balancing Act

I was sorting through some files and I came across a list of books.  About two years ago on Facebook people were inviting their friends to “List 15 books you’ve read that will always stick with you. They should be the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.”  I did it and here is the list I posted to my profile:

1.     The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

2.     Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

3.     Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

4.     The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

5.     Nancy Drew  by Carolyn Keene

6.     Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume

7.     The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

8.     The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

9.     The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

10.  Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

11.  Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck

12.  The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

13.  Harry Potter by JK Rowling

14.  Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

15.   The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

It went all the way back to my childhood. So,that first one,“The Giving Tree,” was probably read to me by my mother.  I’m pretty sure I read “Charlotte’s Web” on my own.  What strikes me,though,is that the common theme of the two most recent (“Tuesdays with Morrie” and “The Last Lecture”) revolved around death.  Both were stories about real men who were dying and how they shared their final days with others.  There were tremendous lessons to be learned.  I decided to take that last one off my shelf and read it again.  Not your typical summer/beach fare but it was worth a second look.

On September 18,2007,computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” which sparked his book.  He was battling cancer and chose this opportunity to give a final lecture that could be saved for his three young children after his death.  I saw the video of it which had gone viral (as of today,there have been more than 13 million views of it on You Tube). Then I watched a television profile of him,and I also read Wall Street Journal columnist Jeff Zazlow’s coverage of Pausch. When I finally read his book it was one of those bittersweet experiences where I was touched by his lighthearted stories and I also cried.  It made me wonder how I would behave if I was in a similar position.  I am impressed by the grace some people exhibit as they die. Zazlow wrote that “Randy had a way of framing human experiences in his own distinctive way,mixing humor here,unexpected inspiration there,and wrapping it all in an uncommon optimism.” So while we face death with the author as we read his words,we come away inspired.