George Carlin, R.I.P.
Comedian George Carlin died of a heart attack yesterday at age 71.
I don't know what to say. He's my countercultural-iconoclastic-comedic hero and I'm very sad to hear he's gone. I'm so glad I got to see him do a show several years ago.
Here are some of my favourite Carlin quotes.
"Not only do I not know what's going on, I wouldn't know what to do about it if I did."
"Standing ovations have become far too commonplace. What we need are ovations where the audience members all punch and kick one another."
"The very existence of flame-throwers proves that sometime, 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 have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it."
"When you're born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front row seat."
"Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck."
And, finally, a long book excerpt in which Carlin - a man after my own heart - goes off on incorrect word usage. His examples of irony should be used in school, since it's a word that's widely misused even by people with an excellent vocabulary. "If a diabetic, on his way to buy insulin, is killed by a runaway truck, he is the victim of an accident. If the truck was delivering sugar, he is the victim of an oddly poetic coincidence. But if the truck was delivering insulin, ah! Then he is the victim of an irony."
Goodbye, George. I'm going to miss you and I know lots of others will, too.
I don't know what to say. He's my countercultural-iconoclastic-comedic hero and I'm very sad to hear he's gone. I'm so glad I got to see him do a show several years ago.
Here are some of my favourite Carlin quotes.
"Not only do I not know what's going on, I wouldn't know what to do about it if I did."
"Standing ovations have become far too commonplace. What we need are ovations where the audience members all punch and kick one another."
"The very existence of flame-throwers proves that sometime, 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 have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it."
"When you're born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front row seat."
"Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck."
And, finally, a long book excerpt in which Carlin - a man after my own heart - goes off on incorrect word usage. His examples of irony should be used in school, since it's a word that's widely misused even by people with an excellent vocabulary. "If a diabetic, on his way to buy insulin, is killed by a runaway truck, he is the victim of an accident. If the truck was delivering sugar, he is the victim of an oddly poetic coincidence. But if the truck was delivering insulin, ah! Then he is the victim of an irony."
Goodbye, George. I'm going to miss you and I know lots of others will, too.