After zany crash interview, fame hits Valley man hard - AZCentral.com
by Richard Ruelas - Oct. 5, 2011 12:00 AM
George Lindell was fetching a power cord so he could finish a painting job when his van was rear-ended. He didn't see it coming, not the SUV nor the Internet fame.
The 45-year-old Phoenix man was still dazed when he gave a series of television interviews about the crash, which took out power poles and left electrical lines cascaded over his van. He enthusiastically re-enacted the wreck. His wide-brimmed hat flew off his head as he jerked his neck back showing the "bam" of the accident. He scrunched up his face, baring his front teeth and flaring his nostrils. His forearm simulated the power poles crashing down with a "foom." He replicated the "arc, arc" of electricity popping around him.
Then he paused, let out a breath and said what would become his catchphrase: "Reality hits you hard, bro."
No one was injured in the accident. It was not especially newsworthy. But Lindell's enthusiastic pantomiming propelled it on to evening newscasts, bookended by tittering news anchors.
The video soon went viral. It was YouTube-ed and Facebook-ed and Twitter-ed. It was on Arianna Huffington's website and Glenn Beck's website. Lindell was embedded on the websites of TV and radio stations nationwide. With each view, his 1:41 of fame counts down in the corner of the screen.
Lindell's interview has more than 2.3 million views on YouTube, including more than 1.5 million of a version that added a backbeat, turning Lindell's interview into a bouncy dance song, which itself has inspired acoustic, guitar and rap cover versions.
Two weeks after the accident, Lindell remains a celebrity in the virtual world. In reality, his life is pretty much the same.
On Tuesday, he was preparing to move out of the home of a friend who was being evicted. Lindell didn't have enough money to get a new apartment, so he thought he might live in the van he was driving the day he rocketed to online infamy.
That van has not been repaired since the Sept. 16 wreck. Its doors battle to be opened. A back window is missing, sending exhaust fumes into the driver's seat, which is still cocked back several degrees out of place.
The driver who hit Lindell was insured, but he says the insurance company is still investigating. And as he recounts the wreck for the claims adjuster in frequent phone calls, using the same emotion the television cameras loved, Lindell said he keeps being told to calm down and lower his voice.
"I'm trying not to dwell on the bad stuff," Lindell said. "It's all about to change."
So far, the online frenzy has led to his friends and associates creating T-shirts, caps, phone cases, coffee cups and refrigerator magnets with the "Reality hits you hard, bro" phrase and a picture of Lindell's scrunched-up face. A local promoter is arranging live appearances and is hopeful about endorsement deals.
That it has brought any fame has Lindell perplexed. "I can't believe everybody thinks it's funny," he said. "I wasn't trying to be funny. That's why I think it's strange."
Lindell's friend Josh Irino, a drummer for the band Property Six, said the interviews captured an only slightly revved up version of Lindell's speaking style. The two met 16 years ago while Lindell drummed for various bands, including Psycho Circus. "It could be anything," Irino said, "and George is just excited about it that way."
Lindell said that all his life people have "found me funny" and that he's always had a hyper way of expressing himself. But the camera crews caught him full of adrenaline.
"You know how in life you go through low points and high points?" he said. "I was definitely on a high."
Lindell, a painter since graduating from Maryvale High School, said business slowed as the housing market crashed. Soon, he found himself unable to get by. He lived out of his van for a while before finding a friend's backyard apartment three months ago.
The week before the accident, Lindell spread fliers in the neighborhood around 19th and Northern avenues in Phoenix, looking to drum up business. That led to the house-painting job Lindell was working the afternoon of the accident.
In the late afternoon, Lindell drove back to his north Phoenix home to get an extension cord, though he would later tell camera crews he was on his way to Albertsons and Boston Market. "I'll bet this'll be on the news," he said. "I'll throw Albertsons a free one."
An SUV struck Lindell from behind and propelled the van forward. Lindell steered left to avoid the car ahead of him. The SUV that hit him veered right, flipped over and knocked over some power poles. The lines fell around the vehicles.
Lindell touched his keys and the top of his van and realized both were electrically charged. "You ever been shocked?" he said. "It wakes you up, bro."
He opened his door and gingerly duck-walked through the tangle of waist-high wires. He felt his hair standing on end.
He went to the windshield of the tipped SUV that hit him. He wanted to alert the driver to turn away so he could kick out the windshield. But he couldn't get the driver's attention. "He kept texting," Lindell said.
The police showed up and shooed Lindell to the other side of the police tape. A few minutes later, a television crew showed up. Sure, Lindell said, he would talk on camera, telling his story to at least three crews.
He made most evening newscasts. One station, Channel 10 (KSAZ), aired Lindell's full interview on its 9 p.m. newscast, including his "Reality hits you hard, bro" quote.
On the air, Kari Lake, one of the anchors, called that line "poetic." She also said she would want to have a beer with Lindell.
Lindell didn't see any of this. He went home after the accident and "daydreamed, just re-creating the events in my mind," he said.
He has no TV. And his Internet connection is too slow to allow him to watch videos. He didn't know he was being seen by thousands of viewers statewide.
The next morning, on his way to finish the house-painting job, Irino let him know he had been all over the news. Then Channel 10 called and asked if he would do an in-studio interview. He agreed.
Lake, who conducted the interview, said there were lots of employees hanging around the set. "It was like having Bono in the studio or something," she said.
For his part, Lindell was disappointed there was no beer.
The calls for morning radio shows followed. Lindell was live at two Phoenix stations and appeared by phone on seven nationally syndicated shows. The clip appeared on Comedy Central's "Tosh.0." It was also the closing "Moment of Zen" on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
Still, the gap between fame and fortune is pretty wide.
Standing outside the wrecked van that could soon be his home again, Lindell considered where his virtual exposure could lead. At least some more painting jobs. At most, maybe a career as a comic actor. He put his paint-splattered hat on his head and said, "It can go anywhere, bro."
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Tom Tingle/The Arizona Republic George Lindell re-enacts the crash while he scrunches-up his face and flares his nostrils to display the impact.
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