I took this photo of a shop window display in London Road this afternoon...


Each and every one of those letters is printed on a single sheet of A4, so the people responsible actually went to the trouble of printing out an extra 'M' especially. You've got to admire that kind of dedication to bad spelling. I also like their illustrations of traditional Indian culture: Champagne and Christmas. Marvellous.

But anyhoo, when I'm not toasting the festive season with a bunch of Hindus, I'm busy trying to dodge the undead on street corners. You can't move for zombies in Brighton at the moment. Tragically I missed the Crawl of the Dead on Wednesday night, due to being up at the Devil's Dyke throwing tomatoes at freaks, but I did encounter the Beach of the Dead on Saturday. They were gathering at the train station as I walked past at 4pm, so frankly it's a miracle I spotted them. After all, if you're a group of pale, half-dead zombies who have long since abandoned hope, you're not going to stand out from the crowd in the ticket hall at Brighton station.

Sadly I couldn't quite bring myself to take part in any undead staggering (I'm obviously too full of life), but I do like the advice given out by the organisers of both events. The Beach of the Dead, which is apparently "Not suitable for the living", advises participants to "Be careful pouring fake blood INTO your ear, don't let it get in your inner ear canal, as it may cause infection." Yes, and that could prove fatal. If you weren't already dead.

Meanwhile the Crawl of the Dead website told its zombies to "Remember to bring lots of blood, false limbs, chunks of rotting flesh etc" (all items which are easily forgotten), before ending with the kind of sage advice we'd all do well to follow:

"Basically, if you’re coming along, then enjoy yourself - but don’t be a dick."

It's wisdom to live your life by.