Eric Machleder's 15 30 Minutes of Fame
Eric was initially just Internet famous, after he became a tent model for the Walmart web site. That earned him 15 minutes of fame. His second 15 minutes came when a tree fell through the roof of his house during a fierce storm. The local news interviewed him and he was on the evening news. That earned him his second 15 minute block of fame.
Eric as a tent model for the Walmart web site, June 2007.
Eric on the local news in San Francisco, January 2007. In this screen shot he is probably discussing how he was trying to stabilize the tree before it fell. Or he may simply be demonstrating his technique for milking cows.
This is a photo of Eric's roof after the storm hit. The tree actually punctured his roof. He had a very witty caption for it on his web site: This is my house. Normally there isn't a tree sticking out of it. The caption was, of course, in reference to an earlier episode and photo caption I had on my own website, after a tree fell on my car when we were in college.