Seven words, and way more at the top of my lungs.
George Carlin died. Shit.
I first heard about it this morning when I logged in to Salon.com, my newsmag website of choice. Thing was, they didn't run his obit at the top of the page, but the teasers to other new articles were all refering to Carlin in the past tense.
Damn, snarky bastards are becoming an endangered species, Ann Richards, Molly Ivins, Hunter S. Thompson, etc.
A few other folks on their blogs have reminisced about first coming across Carlin in their teens, listening to his comedy albums (on LPs, no less!) with there parents none the wiser. My first intro was a bit different. Way back in the day, there was a time when Nickelodeon was more concerned with filling up air time than providing wholesome educational programming. One such show was "Turkey Television" which was a mashup of comedy sketches from the UK and elsewhere, really weird music videos (French Ska Bands? Really?) and bits of standup. It was also the first place where I saw Dana Carvey's stuff. Anyway, obviously they didn't show the Seven Words Sketch, but they showed enough stuff that I got how he incorporated really sharp wordplay in his act.
As I listened to interviews with Carlin, I learned that he had the stereotypical lapsed Catholic background as myself. While I did my best to be inconspicuous in CCD class, I imagine George was the kid asking the questions that everyone has been asking since forever, but that even several centuries of Jesuits haven't figured out yet, much to the consternation of whatever nun was running the class. Because GOD FORBID anyone in authority ever say, "Well, we haven't figured that out yet. Hell, right now were busy on trying to find a way to pardon Galileo without accidentally contradicting 2000 years of Church teachings, we're a bit busy. Just don't play with yourself, OK?"
A great deal of his humor can be traced back to that experience, especially if you ever listen to his take on the Ten Commandments. When you are exposed to any institution that goes from guidance to rules for the sake of rules (Ordain women as priests? Excommunication! Aid and abet Molester Priests? Get a cushy job in Rome!), you begin to lose your patience with said institution, and get suspicious of other bases of authority.
At least The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are still going strong. Three guys are getting me though the second half of the Bush Jr. administration; Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Jim Beam. Thanks to the first two, I need less of the third.
I first heard about it this morning when I logged in to Salon.com, my newsmag website of choice. Thing was, they didn't run his obit at the top of the page, but the teasers to other new articles were all refering to Carlin in the past tense.
Damn, snarky bastards are becoming an endangered species, Ann Richards, Molly Ivins, Hunter S. Thompson, etc.
A few other folks on their blogs have reminisced about first coming across Carlin in their teens, listening to his comedy albums (on LPs, no less!) with there parents none the wiser. My first intro was a bit different. Way back in the day, there was a time when Nickelodeon was more concerned with filling up air time than providing wholesome educational programming. One such show was "Turkey Television" which was a mashup of comedy sketches from the UK and elsewhere, really weird music videos (French Ska Bands? Really?) and bits of standup. It was also the first place where I saw Dana Carvey's stuff. Anyway, obviously they didn't show the Seven Words Sketch, but they showed enough stuff that I got how he incorporated really sharp wordplay in his act.
As I listened to interviews with Carlin, I learned that he had the stereotypical lapsed Catholic background as myself. While I did my best to be inconspicuous in CCD class, I imagine George was the kid asking the questions that everyone has been asking since forever, but that even several centuries of Jesuits haven't figured out yet, much to the consternation of whatever nun was running the class. Because GOD FORBID anyone in authority ever say, "Well, we haven't figured that out yet. Hell, right now were busy on trying to find a way to pardon Galileo without accidentally contradicting 2000 years of Church teachings, we're a bit busy. Just don't play with yourself, OK?"
A great deal of his humor can be traced back to that experience, especially if you ever listen to his take on the Ten Commandments. When you are exposed to any institution that goes from guidance to rules for the sake of rules (Ordain women as priests? Excommunication! Aid and abet Molester Priests? Get a cushy job in Rome!), you begin to lose your patience with said institution, and get suspicious of other bases of authority.
At least The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are still going strong. Three guys are getting me though the second half of the Bush Jr. administration; Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Jim Beam. Thanks to the first two, I need less of the third.