Offbeat "dead" related stories

[thxleo]

Anyone have any interesting and off the beaten path stories related to the world of George Romero? I've been fortunate enough that I've experienced many fun and memorable times with some of my "dead" heroes. I have one story that proves it really is a small world and thought I would share.
In October 2001 I was in my hometown of Savannah, GA at a local sports bar named Coach's Corner. I was watching the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Kansas City Chiefs and sitting at the table with me were several other Steelers fans. I spent most of the game talking with the guy next to me who was from Pittsburgh and I told him that I planned on moving to Pittsburgh some day soon. So he asks why I wanted to do this and I tell him about being a Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins fan and what a great city Pittsburgh is. During our talk I also mention being a big fan of George Romero and he say's "oh yeah, I was in one his movies". I'm thinking is this guy putting me on? So I ask which one and he tells me Day of the Dead. He begins to describe the scene and it's Rhodes' death scene, which I can't believe. Turns out the guy was Joey Granati, who played in a band called G-Force. Joey and his brother Rick were both zombies in the scene where Pilato is torn apart. If you watch the scene, Joey is the zombie on the left side of the screen who comes in right behind Taso Stavrakis. Taso plays the zombie wearing the motor cycle helmet and Joey steps in right behind him with his mouth hanging open.
On top of all that, the Steelers won the game. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShPsD2kKUeg&feature=related

[Philly_SWAT]

Well, this isnt quite the same thing, but it is offbeat and to me it is dead related. On a trip to Pittsburgh, I wanted to bring back a couple of bottles of Iron City as collectables. I planned to get them the morning I was due to fly back. So I go to a couple of convience stores downtown...not only do they not have Iron City, they dont have any beer at all. Thats weird, I thought, must be a city ordinance. So we get on the highway and on our way to the airport, I pull off somewhere, I dont remember the exit number or the name of the little town, go to the gas station/store and...they dont have any beer at all either. I ask why, and they say the only place in the county you are allowed to get beer is at a bar. So there is a bar across the street. We go in there. We had a few minutes to kill before the flight, so we sit down to have a couple of beers, and start talking to the locals in the bar. I notice the one guy I am talking to has on a Daytona Bike Week Shirt. I ask him about it...he says he got in while visiting his brother. Turns out his brother lived like 5 minutes away from where I was living! So, I didnt meet someone who was a zombie, but the only reason I was in Pitt was my being a Romero fan, and in the 'small world' vein that you mentioned, I randomly met a dude's brother who lived near me down here.