Some Fun and Memories

I really can't let this week get away without saying some more about George Carlin who died last Sunday. In the last fifty years there haven't been many of his overall quality and culture breaking approach. I can think of Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. Maybe a few others, but so many were co-opted by TV or movies. They lost their stand-up edge. Not Carlin.

I first saw him perform my freshman year at college. I don't remember anymore whether it was fall or winter, nor do I remember who he was opening for. It might even have been the Mitchell Trio (remember them?) In any case it was over 40 years ago and I still remember the laughter as he did the Hippy-Dippy Weather man routine:

Now for some partial scores. 5, 3, 7

Tonight's forecast: Dark. Continued dark throughout most of the evening, with some widely-scattered light towards morning.

He could also catch human sayings and life when it was really being stupid:

Jumbo shrimp. Is that a BIG shrimp or a tiny jumbo?

Hot water heater. I don't need my hot water heated; I need my cold water heated.

Non-stop flight. I want mine to stop. Preferably at the end.

But where he hit home and developed his greatest controversy was in truly being counter-cultural. Everyone has been talking about his Seven Words You Can't Say on TV. Well, I won't put them here. You can find them in many places. He was arrested at Summerfest in Milwaukee for using those words. The charges were dismissed with the judge saying the words were obscene, but free speech was more important. Too bad the FCC (and Supreme Court) didn't agree when WBAI played the seven words on the radio.

But that wasn't the extent of the cultural challenge:

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.

I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

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?

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.

And sometimes he just made us stop and think:

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.

Think off-center.

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.

We will miss that and a whole lot more.