I mentioned earlier in this thread that I had his 2008 calendar at my work desk, so now that I'm in at work today, I figured I'd share yesterday's entry with you guys. and today's entry...
"The very existence of flame-throwers 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.” And spoken like a true Irish Catholic : “I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.” We had some good times Georgie!
He and Richard Pryor are probably my two favorite Comedians [sorry i didn't recognize the other two guys on the Mt Rushmore Post] Sadly There replacements are no where near as funny or Keen and cunning [Pryor --> Chris Rock *cringe - and I like Rock* ???] [Carlin --> Bill Mahr *cringe - and I like Mahr* ???] Rest in Peace . . . I hope all your questions are answered you sure left us with alot to ponder . . .and there is no better compliment of a life thank you George .. . . peace and Love man! Rocket River
I was driving around SWT's campus yesterday and as I drove past my dorm, I thought back to 11+ years ago when I first discovered the genius that was George Carlin. A good friend of mine and I would sit in the lobby for hours watching the random tapes we had been able to record off of HBO or wherever. Then I hear this morning he passed away. Had to send an e-mail to my buddy who hadn't yet heard the news. Sad, sad day.
I'm so damned depressed today. Woke up, looked at the paper, and there was the news. My favorite "social comic," Carlin was, quite literally, a genius with words. I first saw him in the 1960's, before he changed his routine, and I can tell you that he was hilarious before the transformation of his act and, if anything, more hilarious after. A real blow to America's culture. We won't have him pointing out, in his unique way, how we really are... how hypocritcal, crazy, screwed up and wonderful this country is. Rest in peace, George. There will never be another like you.
Maybe it's because he always openly and casually mocked all religion, afterlife, but his death has hit me like a real sign of my own mortality. The man who first imparted to me a practical, skeptical sensibility about the taboo nature of the dead, funerals, the sacred untouchable nature of the religious afterlife, and now he too has inevitably passed through that door. Definitely a shock to the system, I'm with Deckard... depressed and mortal.
“The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete... Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent. Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember, to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” - George Carlin
Carlin didn't write that. http://georgecarlin.com/home/dontblame.html "PARADOX OF OUR TIME" One of the more embarrassing items making the internet/e-mail rounds is a sappy load of **** called "The Paradox of Our Time." The main problem I have with it is that as true as some of the expressed sentiments may be, who really gives a ****? Certainly not me. I figured out years ago that the human species is totally ****ed and has been for a long time. I also know that the sick, media-consumer culture in America continues to make this so-called problem worse. But the trick, folks, is not to give a ****. Like me. I really don't care. I stopped worrying about all this temporal bull**** a long time ago. It's meaningless. (See the preface of "Braindroppings.") Another problem I have with "Paradox" is that the ideas are all expressed in a sort of pseudo-spiritual, New-Age-y, "Gee-whiz-can't-we-do-better-than-this" tone of voice. It's not only bad prose and poetry, it's weak philosophy. I hope I never sound like that.
^^^ Not authored by George Carlin. It seems as though half of the fiery speeches circulated by e-mail forwards are falsely attributed to Carlin.
I believe that is Carlin's take on "Paradox of Our Time" being attributed to him. So...it is actually authored by Carlin.
I imagine Carlin would berate common strangers mourning his death because he's technically old at 71 and he has lived a pretty full life.
genius <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jCljFYn3zTY&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jCljFYn3zTY&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> see ya on the flipside Gorge!
Until Chris Rock or Bill Maher can do comedy for 50 more years then you can put them on the same list as Carlin, Pryor (although I'm sure Pryor did comedy back in the black and white tv set days but not sure about 50 years)
Louis C.K., another great comic, wrote a great tribute to Carlin on his website. http://www.louisck.net/2008/06/goodbye-george-carlin.html Goodbye George Carlin George Carlin died today. george carlin 03 extra goofy.jpg I loved George since I was a kid. I first used to hear him on a radio show called "Doctor Demento" which I listened to religiously and always featured lots of Carlin clips. As soon as I had my own money I bought a cassette tape of a Carlin album (I don't remember which one) and I wore it out. Jesus, he was just so good. To me, the timeless titans of comedy have always been George Carlin, Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor. But George was more than funny to me. george_carlin_1.jpg He had a huge influence on me in regards to being prolific, honest and working hard at being a comedian, something that a lot of comedians, even funny ones, just don't do. Let's start with honest. Please watch this clip. Just watch the first joke, then come back here for the point I'm making... George walks straight off of the street onto the stage. A crowd of 3200 people is going ape****. A LOT of comedians would take that in, stand there looking proud and get every last clap and holler on tape before saying "Thank you. Thanks. Alright. How we doin? This is great!" But George is SO eager to get his first thought out, he's trying to make them shut up so that he can do the bravest, boldest opening joke ever. "Why is it the people who are against abortion are people you wouldn't want to **** in the first place." Whoa. What a brushback pitch. Amazing. Any comedian with a joke like that would bury it inside of an act full of goodwill so that they wouldn't lose the audience. George is DYING to tell it to a primo special taping audience. He OPENS with it. This was a great man. An honest man. I loved him. His courage inspires me forever. It was from him that I learned to just say what is on my mind on stage and to stop worrying about who might not like it. As long as it's true and it comes from a real place, you have to say it and not mince words. I got that from him. Prolific, hard working... This is the way I would say George has had the most direct influence on me personally as a comedian. The guy did about seventeen full hour standup specials. Very generously, he explained how he pulled this off in a terrific interview that is available on a cd called Carlin on Carlin. He talks about spending every year on the road, working specifically on the next special. Every show has a goal, to hone the specific set he is expecting to shoot at the end of the year. Like writing a book. When he shoots the special, it's over. That material goes away and he starts again. I listened to that interview one night, in my car, while coming from a show where I had just done my regular, stump speech hour that took me fifteen years to perfect, at a Chinese restaurant in Saugus Massachusettes. The show had gone well. And I didn't care that it went well. It was solid material. It had been working for years. I'd been doing comedy for almost twenty. So what? Then I heard George explaining his process and I was terrified and inspired. What balls, to just chuck out perfectly good material and start again. My first hour of material took fifteen years to write and I did it for another five. My second hour took one year. I shot it as a special called "Shameless" and never performed that material again. After a hard year of touring I shot "Chewed Up" and now that material is gone and I'm working on another hour now, from scratch. This is something I never dreamed I'd be able to do, let alone learn to do this late in my life and career. It has given me a new lease on life as a comedian and as a person. It's made me better, more honest and has made every single show of the last three years mean more than any shows in the previous 20. All of that is due to George. His example, and his words in that interview, were an absolute revolution in my life. I owe him EVERYTHING. I only got to meet George once. It was about 1999, I think. Chris Rock and I were both in LA and he invited me to go see George at the Comedy Store on Sunset blvd. George was working on material for his next special and it was a rare opportunity to see him do a solid hour in a club. Chris and I sat in a booth with Janine Garafolo and a very famous actor who I completely forget because who cares? George came out and just blew me away. I mean, I already loved him, had grown up with him, but never got to sit and watch him perform for an audience that I was part of. you can't really know a comedian until you are in their live audience. Espeically a guy like George because you get the very distinct feeling that he did that show for you. It is an awesome connection. I watched him and I learned. I still tell myself things that hatched in my head that night. Sometimes I'm on stage really trying hard and pushing and "Performing" the "Jokes" and I remember the authenticity of George that night and I tell myself "Just talk to the people. Just talk to them." AFter the show at the Store, Chris took me back stage and introduced me to George. I was afraid to meet him because that sort of thing is always dissapointing. Chris was very gracious (as always) and gave me a real introduction, telling George I was a really good comic. I shook his hand and told him in as few words as possible that he made me want to be a comic and that I owed him a lot. I'll never forget his response, because it was just plainly polite and decent. He shook my hand and said "Aw, that's nice. Thanks. I'll try to check out your stuff sometime." I knew he probably wouldn't. We were on different plains, different time lines. But he was just nice about it and allowed me to feel less than stupid. Back in March I shot my last special (Chewed up) in Boston. The weekend before, I spent in California, working the set out for the last time at the Hermosa Beach Comedy and Magic Club. It happens to be really the perfect place to run an hour before you shoot it on tape. I was there for two nights and I saw on the schedule that the very next night, and for the following entire week, George would be there doing the same thing for his special. He shot his special (It's Bad for ya) on the very same night that I was shooting mine. March 1st, 2008. We were on stage, shooting our specials that we had worked on all year in the same way, all the way down to working on it in the same last stage, at the very same moment. I don't think that makes me special. But I knew it was going on and I thought about it the very second before I walked out on that stage to do that special. In my mind I thanked George for showing me the way and giving me the courage to say what I wanted on stage and to keep getting better and doing more. And I remember thinking that I was honored to shoot mine on his night. And that even though I never got to know him and I'll never know if he ever maybe caught me on TV and if I ever made him smirk or laugh. But even from a distance it was, and is, an honor to know that I run in the same circle and do the same thing as that great man did. I am intensely sad that he is gone. I owe him a huge debt for the rest of my life. Thanks George. And goodbye.
They not on the list but are they descendents of those masters? Rocket River Who else is even cose. . . not that either of them are close at all
Wow. That photo flips me out. I never realized before how much I resemble Carlin, except for having much baggier eyes. Probably just the angle.
