Zombie Shuffle, 28 October 2012

Zombie closeup

Central Melbourne was overrun by zombies on Sunday 28 October – all shapes and sizes. They assembled first in the Carlton Gardens, along with an extraordinary number of onlookers and photographers, before setting off for a parade through the CBD down to the Alexandra Gardens by the Yarra. There was bit of confusion at the start, when large numbers set off at the advertised time of 2.30pm: there were no police on hand to stop the traffic and the situation became chaotic and even dangerous. Organisers attempted to recall those who had already set off, but with only limited success. The result, when the parade re-started about 3.30, was that the numbers were proportionately reduced, but remained very impressive. A few zombies held placards making explicit political protests – mainly referring to the current Victorian government’s cuts to TAFE funding – which may be taken as justification for inclusion here? There were a few community groups identifiable, including on shown in the second video below. (The quality of the video may be better on the YouTube site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjOC80fhIps and http://youtu.be/f2P_KDNaBs0)

See also http://www.facebook.com/melbournezombieshuffle
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Pussy Riot Solidarity Action – 10 October 2012

We are all Pussy Riot placard at State Library, Melbourne
There was a brief but loud and colourful solidarity action this afternoon at the State Library in Melbourne in support of jailed members of Russian Punk band Pussy Riot. Peter from Anarchist Black Cross Melbourne was MC, and the Melbourne Ukulele Kollective contributed amongst other things an English version of the “Punk’s Prayer” which Pussy Riot members originally performed in an Orthodox church, which in turn led to the arrest of the three women currently appealing their two-year jail sentences.
See http://freepussyriot.org