Zombie pioneer George A. Romero dies
MOVE over Pokemon, there’s a new craze in town.
GeeRocks is a new craze catching on in Geelong and is the brainchild of Highton father-of-two Seton Lillas.
He said the game, which has been a big success with his own kids India, 9, and August, 7, sees children of all ages paint stones or rocks and then hide them in public places for other members of the public to find.
He said clues as to each rock’s whereabouts were posted on their Facebook page and if players find a rock, they’re encouraged to post a photo of it on social media.
“When they are found, the finder posts a photo on Facebook, and then rehides and the process repeats itself,” he said.
“I came up with the idea earlier this year after a business trip to New US filmmaker George A. Romero, whose 1968 cult classic Night of the Living Dead spawned the zombie movie genre, died on Sunday aged 77.
Tributes poured in from Hollywood and beyond for the legendary director who, according to his manager Chris Roe, passed away “listening to the score of The Quiet Man, one of his all-time favourite films”.
“He died peacefully in his Zealand. I happened to catch up with my niece Nikita, who lives in Hamilton. She was obsessed with creating, hiding and finding these things called TronRocks,” he said.
“A TronRock, I learnt, is a stone or rock that is decorated by kids and hidden in a safe public place for others to find,” he said.
“Everyone in Hamilton seemed to embrace the concept and people of all ages were getting involved.”
Mr Lillas said it was “a great way to get kids outside exploring and enjoying all that Geelong has to offer”.
To learn more about how to get involved with GeeRocks, visit www.geerocks.com.au or www.facebook.com/ TheGeeRocks. ‘A new year, a new fad’ — Discovery, PAGE 18 sleep, following a brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer, and leaves behind a loving family, many friends, and a filmmaking legacy that has endured, and will continue to endure, the test of time,” Roe added in a brief statement.
Shot in black-and-white on a budget of just over $100,000, Night of the Living Dead daringly featured black actor Duane Jones as its lead in a script about a group of people attempting to survive an attack by re-animated corpses.
Some film scholars later suggested it was a subversive critique of US society during the 1960s, while its gory realism was reminiscent of footage from the Vietnam War that was airing on American TV at the time.
The film went on to gross over $30 million and led to five sequels including Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, inspiring an entire genre.
He is survived by his wife and daughter.