One of my favorite comedic personalities, George Carlin, is dead at 71.
Oddly enough, just yesterday I mentioned to my wife how much I enjoyed his stuff.
Rest in peace.
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45 Comments
We will be a bit spiritually poorer in a funny sort of way without George to remind us of our endearing vulnerabilities.
He will be very missed, loved his earlier stuff. Gotta go find those albums and something to play it on..
Wasn’t he just here?
I just thought of him several days back as well, for no special reason. It makes me really wonder just how connected we all are . . .
There was a cartoon about him in today’s Joongang Daily:
The seven words you can’t say to Americans:
You Are Using Too Much Damn Oil
(I think that was right.)
I didn’t realize it was a tribute.
I’ll never be able to watch Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure quite the same.
His comedic sensibility revolved around a central theme: humanity is a cursed, doomed species.
“I don’t have any beliefs or allegiances. I don’t believe in this country, I don’t believe in religion, or a god, and I don’t believe in all these man-made institutional ideas,” he told Reuters in a 2001 interview
Gee, how uplifting.
From the same article:
Drug addiction plagued him for much of his life, beginning with marijuana experimentation as a teen, graduating to cocaine in the 1970s, and then to prescription painkillers and wine. During the cocaine years, Carlin ignored his finances and ended up owing about $3 million in back taxes. In 2004, he entered a Los Angeles rehab clinic for his alcohol and Vicodin abuse.
Wonder if his beliefs ( or lack of ) had anything to do with his inner turmoil ?
After the yuks subsided, Carlin always left me feeling worse than before his performance.
A keen social commentator perhaps, but a “comedian”, not in my book. His schtick came from a deep, dark, cynical place, a place we all visit from time to time, but George lived there 24/7.
Richard Pryor with all his demons, would leave you with a feeling of hope, heart, and redemption. Carlin took you down, and left you there.
Wherever he is now, hope he’s happier than he was here.
Fuck!
“Roboseyo”, that was *priceless*! I laughed so hard that I am lucky I did not do a spit-take.
I really am in awe over his diatribe about feminists and language too:
http://www.youtube.com/v/XD5L2.....&hl=en
He had some interesting ideas to get rid of the deficit. One was instead of regular executions he would institute Monday Night Football halftime beheadings. To make it interesting to the gambling populace and the mob he would have the head roll down into one of six holes. He always thought that executions were bullshit but he thought the manner that we carried it out was even bigger bullshit because we tried to anesthetize it in order to feel like weren’t just as bad for doing it in the first place.
He did have a belief in God but he thought the one we all believed in was just the regional coodinator. The real God was too busy throwing fireballs around the firmament. “Earth, it’s a planet, right?”
I never minded his dreariness. He was simply never as impressed with people as the rest of us. I will always thank him for quite a bit of my healthy disbelief in what we are told. Skepticism is not always bad.
Unlike some others I really liked his more recent stuff. A part of what has shaped me has been turned off. He didn’t depress me, he made me laugh with joy at his smash you in the grill honesty. He had stones!
If I had to choose between that sort of “uplifting” bullshit and Carlin’s brand of cynical truth, I’d take some Carlin every time.
It’s not surprising that he’s gone given his age and health history, but it sucks just the same.
He was funny, and he was spot on with his ascerbic, brutally honest observations. His comedy put a spotlight on society’s hypocracy and, contrary to AnunSaram’s comment he elevated you above it in a way that was liberating and uplifting.
He had zero tolerence for BS and that includes the mythical concept of god that people hide behind to justify whatever personal reassurances they need. In his last HBO special he deconstructed these myths using flawless logic that was nonetheless side-splitingly comedic. Possibly his best work to date. The world sorely needs genious like his to keep our self-deceptions in check.
To me, this was one of his greatest monologues:
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=ljNDbKpusT0
” He had zero tolerence for BS…..”
Really ?
He seemed to tolerate the ultimate BS of a decades long cocaine addiction.
The BS of alcoholism.
The BS of perscription drug addiction.
I get a real kick out of drug addicted, alcoholic, pill freaks who are convinced they have it all figured out.
anunsaram,
I don’t think his “BS of decades long drug addiction” is as blown up and decadent as you make it out to be.
“I get a real kick out of drug addicted, alcoholic, pill freaks who are convinced they have it all figured out.”
No, I don’t think you do. Which is a shame because some of the greatest talents and pioneers have had substance abuse issues. Not everyone is as perfect as you I suppose, and yet, their output may be far superior. Go figure.
Even though he was a good comic I really see no reason in remembering an atheist or giving them a funeral. If you only believe that you are a walking piece of meat with no soul then you should be treated as such, sorry.
Acropolis: “Even though he was a good comic I really see no reason in remembering an atheist or giving them a funeral. If you only believe that you are a walking piece of meat with no soul then you should be treated as such, sorry.”
Don’t apologize for what you believe in.
Substantiate it.
The only logic I can parse in the above comment is a perverse a desire to spite someone for not sharing your mythological framework.
“Aero-Care Employment Register
I really see no reason in remembering an atheist or giving them a funeral. If you only believe that you are a walking piece of meat with no soul then you should be treated as such”
This is the problem with so-called Christians these days, they have the sensibilities of devil worshippers. I don’t know what kind of meat you are Acropolis, but your soul is soiled by your comment. St Peter will probably have your soul hosed down, shaved for lice, and put in a white suit before letting it into heaven.
Please go to church this week and contemplate your actions and lack of goodwill to fellow man.
Toss-knot paedochild.
Way to judge swlee. You are obviously one of those hypocrits you talk about. Judging someone’s spirit. Only God has the right.
Would Jesus have been intolerant as you? The answer is no. God will decide and comment on how people should be treated, not you.
Your punishment will be even more severe you hypocrit. I have learned to expect such things from the vast majority of Korean Christians though.
The fact is you don’t have the right to even speculate about someone’s soul. Our how Christians are. Only God gets to do that.
Please go to Church this week and become a real Christian.
Right.
Oops.
We’re talking about friggin comedian here, people.
Because the “walking piece of meat” had friends and family. Funerals aren’t for the dead but for the living.
George Carlin On Religion
When it comes to bullshit, big-time, major league bullshit, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time!
But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!
But I want you to know something, this is sincere, I want you to know, when it comes to believing in God, I really tried. I really, really tried. I tried to believe that there is a God, who created each of us in His own image and likeness, loves us very much, and keeps a close eye on things. I really tried to believe that, but I gotta tell you, the longer you live, the more you look around, the more you realize, something is fucked up.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed. Results like these do not belong on the résumé of a Supreme Being. This is the kind of shit you’d expect from an office temp with a bad attitude. And just between you and me, in any decently-run universe, this guy would’ve been out on his all-powerful ass a long time ago. And by the way, I say “this guy”, because I firmly believe, looking at these results, that if there is a God, it has to be a man.
No woman could or would ever fuck things up like this. So, if there is a God, I think most reasonable people might agree that he’s at least incompetent, and maybe, just maybe, doesn’t give a shit. Doesn’t give a shit, which I admire in a person, and which would explain a lot of these bad results.
So rather than be just another mindless religious robot, mindlessly and aimlessly and blindly believing that all of this is in the hands of some spooky incompetent father figure who doesn’t give a shit, I decided to look around for something else to worship. Something I could really count on.
And immediately, I thought of the sun. Happened like that. Overnight I became a sun-worshipper. Well, not overnight, you can’t see the sun at night. But first thing the next morning, I became a sun-worshipper. Several reasons. First of all, I can see the sun, okay? Unlike some other gods I could mention, I can actually see the sun. I’m big on that. If I can see something, I don’t know, it kind of helps the credibility along, you know? So everyday I can see the sun, as it gives me everything I need; heat, light, food, flowers in the park, reflections on the lake, an occasional skin cancer, but hey. At least there are no crucifixions, and we’re not setting people on fire simply because they don’t agree with us.
Sun worship is fairly simple. There’s no mystery, no miracles, no pageantry, no one asks for money, there are no songs to learn, and we don’t have a special building where we all gather once a week to compare clothing. And the best thing about the sun, it never tells me I’m unworthy. Doesn’t tell me I’m a bad person who needs to be saved. Hasn’t said an unkind word. Treats me fine. So, I worship the sun. But, I don’t pray to the sun. Know why? I wouldn’t presume on our friendship. It’s not polite.
I’ve often thought people treat God rather rudely, don’t you? Asking trillions and trillions of prayers every day. Asking and pleading and begging for favors. Do this, gimme that, I need a new car, I want a better job. And most of this praying takes place on Sunday His day off. It’s not nice. And it’s no way to treat a friend.
But people do pray, and they pray for a lot of different things, you know, your sister needs an operation on her crotch, your brother was arrested for defecating in a mall. But most of all, you’d really like to fuck that hot little redhead down at the convenience store. You know, the one with the eyepatch and the clubfoot? Can you pray for that? I think you’d have to. And I say, fine. Pray for anything you want. Pray for anything, but what about the Divine Plan?
Remember that? The Divine Plan. Long time ago, God made a Divine Plan. Gave it a lot of thought, decided it was a good plan, put it into practice. And for billions and billions of years, the Divine Plan has been doing just fine. Now, you come along, and pray for something. Well suppose the thing you want isn’t in God’s Divine Plan? What do you want Him to do? Change His plan? Just for you? Doesn’t it seem a little arrogant? It’s a Divine Plan. What’s the use of being God if every run-down shmuck with a two-dollar prayerbook can come along and fuck up Your Plan?
And here’s something else, another problem you might have: Suppose your prayers aren’t answered. What do you say? “Well, it’s God’s will.” “Thy Will Be Done.” Fine, but if it’s God’s will, and He’s going to do what He wants to anyway, why the fuck bother praying in the first place? Seems like a big waste of time to me! Couldn’t you just skip the praying part and go right to His Will? It’s all very confusing.
So to get around a lot of this, I decided to worship the sun. But, as I said, I don’t pray to the sun. You know who I pray to? Joe Pesci. Two reasons: First of all, I think he’s a good actor, okay? To me, that counts. Second, he looks like a guy who can get things done. Joe Pesci doesn’t fuck around. In fact, Joe Pesci came through on a couple of things that God was having trouble with.
For years I asked God to do something about my noisy neighbor with the barking dog, Joe Pesci straightened that cocksucker out with one visit. It’s amazing what you can accomplish with a simple baseball bat.
So I’ve been praying to Joe for about a year now. And I noticed something. I noticed that all the prayers I used to offer to God, and all the prayers I now offer to Joe Pesci, are being answered at about the same 50% rate. Half the time I get what I want, half the time I don’t. Same as God, 50-50. Same as the four-leaf clover and the horseshoe, the wishing well and the rabbit’s foot, same as the Mojo Man, same as the Voodoo Lady who tells you your fortune by squeezing the goat’s testicles, it’s all the same: 50-50. So just pick your superstition, sit back, make a wish, and enjoy yourself.
And for those of you who look to The Bible for moral lessons and literary qualities, I might suggest a couple of other stories for you. You might want to look at the Three Little Pigs, that’s a good one. Has a nice happy ending, I’m sure you’ll like that. Then there’s Little Red Riding Hood, although it does have that X-rated part where the Big Bad Wolf actually eats the grandmother. Which I didn’t care for, by the way. And finally, I’ve always drawn a great deal of moral comfort from Humpty Dumpty. The part I like the best? “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.” That’s because there is no Humpty Dumpty, and there is no God. None, not one, no God, never was.
In fact, I’m gonna put it this way. If there is a God, may he strike this audience dead! See? Nothing happened. Nothing happened? Everybody’s okay? All right, tell you what, I’ll raise the stakes a little bit. If there is a God, may he strike me dead. See? Nothing happened, oh, wait, I’ve got a little cramp in my leg. And my balls hurt. Plus, I’m blind. I’m blind, oh, now I’m okay again, must have been Joe Pesci, huh? God Bless Joe Pesci. Thank you all very much. Joe Bless You!
(Copyright 1999 by George Carlin. Printed without permission.)
If he wrote that on the Marmots hole hedd be banned quick smart.
@15 Well put. Bill Hicks put it another way:
“If you don’t think drugs have done good things for us, then take all of your records, tapes and CDs and burn them. Cause you know what? The musicians that made all that great music that’s enhanced your lives throughout the years? Real fucking high on drugs. The Beatles were so fuckin’ high they let Ringo sing a few songs.”
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating drug use, but like Mizar5 said,”some of the greatest talents and pioneers have had substance abuse issues.”
Hey Acropolis, ever heard of the New Testament? Do you think Jesus would be proud of what you said or would he weep?
Leave it to the largest organized group of hypocrites to turn a sad loss into a flame all about THEM. Selfish, ignorant, self important jerks you are! Keep your faith to yourselves where it belongs.
#26. Believing in having a soul or spirit is not confound only to christianity.
yes,in 21st century believing in soul or spirit in confined to religion of stupidity
My favorite of his:
Hormone: the sound a whore makes so you’ll think you’re a good lay.
Oh, right! You’re a member of one of those religions which propounds among its tenets that you wish as much ill-will to atheists and their families as possible in order to achieve a higher spiritual level. Anger and wrath is amongst its hallmarks.
Aaahhh… okay.
28. “yes,in 21st century believing in soul or spirit in confined to religion of stupidity”
Swlee, even though im not religious, I have to agree with the guy you are arguing against. He never mentioned how stupid Korea is being at the moment. The atheist North and the Capitalist/religious south. Believeing you have a soul at this point looks as stupid as a southern Netizen in Korea is about American health standards in 2008 A.D./C.E.
hardyandtiny LMAO! Thank you.
What I find wierd is that in this so-called enlightened country founded by atheists like Adams, Jefferson, Franklin and Washington, atheists are expected to show deference to everybody else’s beliefs while everybody else is allowed to trample over them for their beliefs.
In the “God Delusion” Richard Dawkins cites several eggregious examples of anti-atheist discrimination in the US.
The irony of this is that atheism has never hurt anyone, while religion…well…you all know the story.
For those who fault Mizar5 for his criticisms of Korean culture, let the record show that there is plenty of good ol’ American hypocracy and irrationality to go around, and the top offender is the religious fascism.
The comments of anunsaram and a couple others here make it pretty clear where George found the quips about the guy who stays home from work to read in the closet so he can smell his own farts, which, unlike all others, smell pretty good to them.
Count me with the atheists, cynics, realists, humorists and fuck-em-if-they-can’t-take-a-joke set on this blog. The rest should go bomb somebody or save their souls for your piggy banks, or tie each other to chairs and force yourselves to watch normal people minding their own business, which includes taking a hell of a lot of drugs, licit and illicit.
Any volunteers around who are willing to go away and inhabit an earth on which not a single person has ever, in history, used a single substance to cope with pain, boredom, abuse, sleeplessness, sleepiness, or who just simply couldn’t get it up?
See ya!
Totally bogus, dude.
George Carlin was a great philosopher, comic, and social critic. RIP.
For those who fault Mizar5 for his criticisms of Korean culture, let the record show that there is plenty of good ol’ American hypocracy and irrationality to go around, and the top offender is the religious fascism.
Please be advised that Mizar5 is now referring to himself in the third person.
Netizen Kim: “Please be advised that Mizar5 is now referring to himself in the third person.”
Mizar5 would like to know what’s wrong with that.
The man tripped me out. May he RIP.
Just like writer Hunter Thompson, he was a pre-boomer (actually both born in 1937) who first tried to appeal to the conservative crowd but then adapted to the counter-culture movements, even though he was too old to be an actualy member of the baby boomer youth, of the late 60s (perhaps a little too much).
#23 I was going to google that, but you saved me the trouble. Cheers!
#34 “What I find wierd is that in this so-called enlightened country founded by atheists like Adams, Jefferson, Franklin and Washington, atheists are expected to show deference to everybody else’s beliefs while everybody else is allowed to trample over them for their beliefs.”
How dare you confuse Agnostics with Athiests. Those great men were Agnostic like Caeser was. Who believe that it is impossible to prove the existance of God or disprove it, but follow no indoctrined religious beliefs. Agnostics are always open minded to any possiblity unlike Atheists, who vehemently deny any existense of any being higher than mankind.
“Agnostics are always open minded to any possiblity unlike Atheists, who vehemently deny any existense of any being higher than mankind.”
Doesn’t that imply that Agnostics believe that there is a possibility that there is a bearded old guy in the sky? How is that rational?
Do they also take the middle ground on the debate weather pigs do or do not fly?
Do also Agnostics believe that it is not possible to determine if there are leprechauns, tinkerbells, sugarplum fairies and unicorns?
I personally don’t know whether Humanity is actually in the position to determine whether Agnostics are dumb shits like Christians or not.
#42, Ditto81 said he is not religious, I never said I was a Christian. Why are you jumping on Christianity when you should be doing so to my beliefs in Buddhism instead? Why do Atheists only go after Chrsitians? Are you to narrow minded to see that just because I believe I have a soul DOES NOT mean Im christian? Are yout that dumb?
Sorry, my mistake. I too study buddhism but my concept of soul seems to differs from yours, which I perceived as very similar to the Christian conception. I was merely trying to point out the similarity between theists and agnostics, and how they differ from atheists. Neither of these issues should concern Buddhism as they debate the existance of a greater being, which we know to not exist. Soul is another issue, which we have yet to work out ourselves.
Hey Acropolis7, im not mad at swlee,but thanks for sticking up for me. I’m sure that you me and swlee can all at least agree that Jesus was probably the furthest thing away from Christians in the conventional since. The man was in fact one of the great anarchists of all time, if not the greatest. Thats why they silenced him. I respect Christ and his teachings,
If many of his followers actually lived their lives like Jesus intended, then we would have no gay bashing, racism or Jerry Fallwells. So to say in a perfect world. But I think that you swlee and me can agree that there are some good Christians in the world, and I rspect the ones who rise against
the established church in terms of politics and suppresion of true Christianity.