I, and squinney as well, would be happy and look forward to tuning in to HBO everytime we saw that he had a new special coming on. We went to see him live one night.
This is really depressing... a lot of my icons and not heroes, that's not the word, but people whose life meant something to me and were entwined in my consciousness... are dropping like flies and I'm sure I'm not the only one here who is being reminded more and more often of their own mortality by observing these deaths. When did I arrive at a point where it might only be 20 more years but then again maybe 5? It sucks. And if these larger than life types can just snuff out..... well no doubt I could go any time.
Does anyone else have this reaction?
Oh yeah.
Two of my group of college friends died last month. That really brought it home for me.
I have not even hit 40 yet and I have thought about that too bear.
i hope
THE HIPPY DIPPY WEATHERMAN has just changed stations and will resume broadcasting soon !
Carlin was an icon and, in my estimation, he reached far beyond being a stand-up comedian -- as important a contributor to entertainment becoming an art form as he was contributor to modern political philosophy.
His comedic riffs at some point were brilliant, taking the cue from where the fire-brand Lenny Bruce left off. He took up that gauntlet and went far further. He took social commentary, at times. to an advanced level - perhaps, even approaching an art form. His views of the world at first glance seem distorted (think Picasso abstract); however, after you observe his political commentary for awhile, would come into sharp focus.
This fact I didn't know and I'm surprised at how early (circa '62-'64) it was in his career:
"Carlin was present at Lenny Bruce's arrest for obscenity. According to legend the police began attempting to detain members of the audience for questioning, and asked Carlin for his identification. Telling the police he did not believe in government issued IDs, he was arrested and taken to jail with Bruce in the same vehicle."
He always made you think and he even gave The Supreme Court fits and a run for their money. They revised their rulings on FCC standards for broadcasting and standards for obscenity and decency.
At times, though, later in his career, I feel he took himself and his importance a bit too seriously - supplying strident social criticism and political commentary beyond the boundaries of what seems to be common sense, as he discussed matters like airport security and natural disasters with comments such as the following:
"A routine in Carlin's 1999 HBO special You Are All Diseased focusing on airport security leads up to the statement: "Take a ******* chance! Put a little fun in your life! ... most Americans are soft and frightened and unimaginative and they don't realize there's such a thing as dangerous fun, and they certainly don't recognize a good show when they see one."
and ... the following:
"... he openly communicated in his shows and in his interviews that his purpose for existence was entertainment, that he was "here for the show". He professed a hearty schadenfreude in watching the rich spectrum of humanity slowly self-destruct, in his estimation, of its own design; saying, "When you're born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front-row seat." He acknowledged that this is a very selfish thing, especially since he included large human catastrophes as entertainment.
In a late-1990s interview with radio talk show host, Art Bell, he remarked about his view of human life: "I think we're already 'circling the drain' as a species, and I'd love to see the circles get a little faster and a little shorter."
"In the same interview, he recounted his experience of a California earthquake in the early-1970s as: "...an amusement park ride. Really, I mean it's such a wonderful thing to realize that you have absolutely no control... and to see the dresser move across the bedroom floor unassisted... is just exciting." Later he summarized: "I really think there's great human drama in destruction and nature unleashed and I don't get enough of it.""
Whether or not he truly believed this sort of Misanthropy could be debatable, but it was not isolated and was often part of his latter-day routines.
Perhaps after years of having several heart attacks and also losing your wife of many decades...severely alters your altruistic views about the world being a benevolent place.
I remember him saying, "when you grow up with a name like George, you have to be separate from it.....you be my name.......and I'll be me..."
RIP, George. You were an original.
American dream
I hope I didnt post this one already.
it is familiar to me..
This sucks.
He was funny and insightful.
Only someone with a true talent for humor (and enormous balls) could deliver some of the lines he did without being arrested.
We'll all miss him.
Re: George Carlin
Oh no!
I will never forget what he said in his show on 9/11. I paraphrase: This is the time for our country to unite behind governor Bush. And who knows, maybe we'll elect him president in 2004. Priceless.
PS: Since I read Bear's post: It was Squinney and Bear who introduced me to George Carlin when I visited them last year. Thank you very much, both of you!
Nothing was sacred with George. NOTHING! Loved that man. Admired and respected him too. And he made me laugh. I'm gonna miss him.
His humor reflected and influenced my outlook. It is like the fraying of that fragile bridge that links past to future.
I followed Carlin's career from the beginning, and loved him from the start. He was just brilliant. His comedy and social commentary really made you think--after you finally stopped laughing. He went after sacred cows and cut them down to size. He showed us the absurdities in our language and social discourse. He was truly one of a kind. I will miss him.
I prefer to remember him in his own words:
Quote:As a matter of principle, I never attend the first annual anything.
Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.
Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect.
If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.
If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted?
It's never just a game when you're winning.
Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."
There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.
There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?
When someone asks you, A penny for your thoughts, and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?
I don't have hobbies; hobbies cost money. Interests are quite free.
This is from an interview in 2001:
Quote:You write in your book that people are too willing to die quietly.
How would you like to go?
I'd like to explode spontaneously in someone's living room. That, to me, is the way to go out.
Anybody in particular?
Just a friend -- so they can be there to describe it to the press.
Thank heavens for re-runs of his performances on HBO--I never tire of watching them.
he was one of a kind.
my admiration for him grew when i learned he grew up about 7 blocks from where i did on the UPW of manhattan...
Region Philbis wrote:he was one of a kind.
my admiration for him grew when i learned he grew up about 7 blocks from where i did on the UPW of manhattan...
You mean Morningside Heights. He had Riverside Drive park to wander through, and Broadway for soaking up the humanity. I believe that may have an effect on one's perceptions. the Upper East Side was not even completely built up at that point in time.
Bi-Polar Bear wrote:
This is really depressing... a lot of my icons and not heroes, that's not the word, but people whose life meant something to me and were entwined in my consciousness... are dropping like flies and I'm sure I'm not the only one here who is being reminded more and more often of their own mortality by observing these deaths. When did I arrive at a point where it might only be 20 more years but then again maybe 5? It sucks. And if these larger than life types can just snuff out..... well no doubt I could go any time.
Does anyone else have this reaction?
It is not the fact that one can go anytime, but the fact that the time will arrive when one will have gone, and the world continues without the benefit of one's existence. And, the world will strangely continue. One will miss so many interesting headlines. I am sure I have discovered some great truth here!
I am watching him on a re-run of Inside the Actor's Studio right now. For the record, his favorite cuss word is "motherf*cker." He says it just "has such a nice bounce to it."
RIP, too bad, whatever happens next, we could use the perspective...
he said he swam in the hudson river when he was a kid, right next to the sewage treatment plant.
claimed it was the reason he never caught colds as an adult
Today's New York Times features an obituary by Jerry Seinfeld.
You can read it here.
