Carlin the Great has died.

[JackRiddler]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/peopleNews/idUKN2339172520080623

Comedian George Carlin dies in L.A.
Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:57am BST


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71.

Carlin, who had a history of heart problems, died at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. PDT (2 a.m. British time) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters.

Known for his edgy, provocative material, Carlin achieved status as an anti-Establishment icon in the 1970s with stand-up bits full of drug references and a routine about seven dirty words you could not say on television. A regulatory battle over a radio broadcast of his "Filthy Words" routine ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Patricia Zengerle)

[dkf]

1. He went in for chest pains and they couldn't save him.

I guess our health care isn't as good as I thought it was.

[roguevalley]

10. ahhhh. the hippy dippy weatherman is gone. RIP, great funny man.

[musicblind]

18. Yeah that scares me. He actually WENT IN for chest pains.

Was ALIVE when he walked in, and they couldn't keep him that way? Dang. Makes me worry.

[Eurobabe]

2. Very sad. RIP, you motherfucker!!

:cry: :cry:

[JackRiddler]

3. June 18: "George Carlin To Receive Mark Twain Humor Prize"

Bleep! Bleep! George Carlin To Receive Mark Twain Humor Prize

PHOTO: The 71-year-old comic is known for his "Seven Dirty Words" routine, which got the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court. (By Robert Sebree -- Associated Press)

By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 18, 2008; Page C01


A comic quiz:

Who was the first host ever of "Saturday Night Live"?

Who appeared with Doris Day in "With Six You Get Eggroll"?

And who has appeared on "The Tonight Show" more than 130 times?

If you answered George Carlin, you perhaps have spent too much time listening to his 22 albums or watching his 14 specials on HBO, or are a true, true fan.

In the comic spotlight for more than 50 years, Carlin was tapped yesterday by the Kennedy Center to receive this year's Mark Twain Prize, a lifetime achievement award presented to an outstanding comedian.

Carlin, 71, reinvented social commentary, discussing everything from religion and politics to airport security. He excelled at stand-up, whether at the Roostertail in Detroit, the old Cellar Door in Washington or Carnegie Hall. His three books have been bestsellers. He has won four Grammy Awards, spanning 1973 to 2002. His TV shows have been nominated for five Emmys.

The Kennedy Center said his material and style made him a perfect Twain recipient.

"In his lengthy career as a comedian, writer and actor, George Carlin has not only made us laugh, but he makes us think. His influence on the next generation of comics has been far-reaching," said Stephen A. Schwarzman, the center's chairman.

Carlin issued a statement saying, "Thank you Mr. Twain. Have your people call my people."

He once summed up his approach: "I think it is the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."

MORE AT LINK
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/17/AR2008061702519.html

[Mr. Blonde]

4. Thanks for the laughs George

he will be missed.

[hfojvt]

5. what makes Carlin so great?

Was he ever on a bubblegum card?

He was pretty cool as Rufus in "Bill and Ted" and also as the Cardinal in "Dogma" and did some funny stand-up, although the last video I just watched on DU was pretty awful. And I see another thread that is bound to be uplifting "How stupid do you have to be to believe in Angels?"

All in all, he's not nearly as motivational as Chris Farley.

[ellisonz]

6. Carlin's standup was brilliant!

[Arugula Latte]

7. He spoke the truth, particularly about religion.

We're bombarded with religious crap all the time in this culture, and we're supposed to swallow it and smile. It was so refreshing to hear someone come right out and say what millions of us think but aren't usually allowed to say in public. There are churches everywhere; every once in awhile (and hardly ever on a large scale), the non-religious get their opinions heard. 99 percent the religious/Xtian viewpoint is put forward publicly in this country, but for that 1 percent of the time, Carlin was the best spokesman. He saw that religion was bullshit, and that pissed off lots of people who have invested so much time and money in buying into irrational thought.

[hfojvt]

8. Since I don't think religion is bullsh*t

I am more likely to think Carlin was an a$$hole. :shrug: At least in that regard.

[Arugula Latte]

9. That's fine. Carlin wouldn't have cared at all.

I personally think a supposedly celibate but probably child-molesting male telling me what to do with my body in the name of an invisible cloud person is an asshole.

[hfojvt]

14. Protestant ministers are not celibate unless they choose to be

Are rates of Priest child molestation much different than that of grade school teachers?

[Arugula Latte]

16. Dunno the comparative molestation rates. I do know that lots of Protestant ministers think

that woman was made from a man's rib and is his subservient help mate, that women shouldn't have a say over their bodies, that gays are evil, and so on. I consider those people assholes.

[hfojvt]

25. easy to consider people a$$holes

when you reduce them to caricatures. Like they are all Fred Phelps. I doubt if you could find 2% of Protestant ministers who would give credence to ANY of those statements. But that's a EG of course.

[Arugula Latte]

26. Those are "mainstream" Protestant beliefs in many sects (Southern Baptist, e.g.) and you know it.

Oh, by the way, you've got a lot of nerve calling Carlin an asshole just because he pointed out religion is based on checking rationality at the door, yet you're somehow taking issue with me criticizing religious figures, of which there are MANY, for their anti-woman and anti-gay and backwards 6,000-year-old Earth beliefs? :wtf:

[Political Heretic]

29. And not mainstream at all in many more "sects" - and you know that.

[Arugula Latte]

31. Right, but the point is, I was indicating the people I thought were much

more assholier (to coin a word) than George Carlin. It's so typical that he gets dumped on for being one of the few public voices dissing religion (which is obviously a mortal sin to so many of the religious -- many they can't seem to take their world view being challenged in any way, shape, or form), yet all these Catholic and Protestant assholes putting down women and gays and spouting anti-science bullshit are somehow supposed to be immune from criticism because they have "Faith."

[hfojvt]

40. Nobody is immune from criticism in my view

but I prefer a fair criticism to a broad sweeping strawman criticism.

If I consider religion to be primarily, if imperfectly, a good thing, then clearly I am not gonna care for somebody who makes a point of dissing it. Pointing out its flaws in order to make it better is good. Calling it bullsh*t is bad. IMO.

[hfojvt]

38. many, but how many?

You wanna call one person, like Falwell or Graham or Stanley an a$$hole, then have at it, but you are making a sweeping generalization that there are huge numbers of a$$holes in Christendom.

I find all of these to be caricatures

"that woman was made from a man's rib and is his subservient help mate, that women shouldn't have a say over their bodies, that gays are evil, and so on. I consider those people assholes."

The man's rib thing is not taken literally by many, if not most, and that seems to be a strange reason to consider someone an a$$hole anyway. What difference does it make since Adam was made out of dirt in the same myth?

'subservient help mate' is not gonna be preached without a lot of caveats, at least in the last 50 years.

A large number are anti-abortion, but that is not even close to the same thing as believing that 'women shouldn't have a say over their bodies'.

A large number believe that homosexual sex is evil. An even larger number believe that heterosexual sex outside of marriage is evil. That is no even close to the same thing as believing that gays are evil or any more evil than 'all who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.'

I think religion is based on leaving selfishness at the door, and attacking religion ends up being encouraging selfishness, giving it free rein. Excessively selfish people are a$$holes, ergo, encouraging selfishness is not at all cool in my POV.

[libnnc]

28. depends on where you live

I grew up in western North Carolina -- ALL of the churches my friends attended were "Bible believing" conservative congregations.

As a mainstream Methodist, I was in the minority.

[hfojvt]

39. I've been part of a few conservative churches

Baptist-affiliated, Free Methodist, and Nazarene, and still consider those to be caricatures. Might be accurate if phrased differently, but as stated, not a fair summary of beliefs even in most conservative churches.

[The Doctor.]

17. Jesus agreed with Carlin.

Organized Religion is wrong.

[hfojvt]

22. not sure he ever said that

and since the Reformation, it's been pretty disorganized

[The Doctor.]

27. Of course not, Jesus never knew Carlin.

Other than that, no, Christ wasn't a big fan of organized religion.

[tkmorris]

23. Well, thanks for checking in!

You go right on thinking whatever you like. Personally, I'm gonna go with Carlin on this one.

[TheWatcher]

43. And we are more than likely to pat you on the head and send you on your way.

[Mythsaje]

64. Revealed religion is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the human race.

And if saying that makes me an asshole, so be it.

I prefer being THAT kind of an asshole to being a priest who molests little boys or a perverted bigamist preacher who "marries" underage girls.

Fuck religion.

[krabigirl]

63. yep :)

[JackRiddler]

12. Who is Chris Farley? Seriously.

[hfojvt]

19. Shirley, you jest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU_Syu_2DSw&feature=related

but this Matt Foley, motivational speaker skit has strange things added to it, and does not even include the "living in a van down by the river" line.

[Cerridwen]

21. Dog! And they say feminists don't have a sense of humor.

chris farley?!

Oof!

[TheWatcher]

42. Comapring Chris Farley to George Carlin is like Comparing Sam Bowie to Bill Russell

There is no Clue in your Reasoning.

[SoCalDem]

46. Chris Farley made me sad.. I saw a lonely, pathetic young guy

desperate to make people like him.. I never saw him as funny:(

Carlin was a genius..and I will miss him .. He loved his wifedesperately and when she died, he gave up comedy for a while because he said there was nothing funny to him anymore.. He was anti-religion, but if there is a hereafter, he's with her again..

[TheWatcher]

48. Chris was a good guy. And he was quite talented.

And he died way too young. It is unfortunate his excesses caught up with him. I really liked that kid, to be honest.

But he didn't compare to Carlin.

Very few did.

[hfojvt]

50. it was a not so grand allusion

Farley - motivational.

Get it?

But also Farley who I saw regularly on SNL and having the DVD of "Beverly Hills Ninja" probably entertained me more than Carlin who I rarely saw, and particularly the recent video about "sanctity of life" which I didn't think was either funny or true.

Sam Bowie though? Who is that? Couldn't you have used World B. Free or Walt Bellamy or Jack Sikma or Mark Eaton? Somebody that I might have heard of and wouldn't think invented the Bowie knife or sang about Major Toms.

[TheWatcher]

67. I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

Farley WAS good, and he was quite talented, but MOTIVATIONAL?..... Ah, boy. And I hate to say it, but if you cite Beverly Hills Ninja as an example of how Farley was more entertaining and culturally relevant than Carlin, we are REALLY going to have to agree to disagree. :rofl:

All that aside, you should probably try to expose yourself a little more to Carlin's work in depth before making such judgments, because his contribution to comedy and to culture VASTLY outweighed Farley by a long way. You might change your opinion. Then again, maybe Carlin isn't for you, and that's fair.

As for Farley, like I said, he was a good kid, who died way too young, and tragically at that. We never got to see what his full contribution or ability might have been.

As for Sam Bowie? Know thy NBA History. :) #2 Pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, and was highly recruited and touted, and ironically, along with another big man from that Draft, Ralph Sampson, was being touted at that time as the next Bill Russell, or someone of similar stature and importance.

Now sadly he is only remembered not only as one of the all-time biggest Busts in NBA Draft History, he is even more famously known as the guy that was chosen before the #3 pick in the 1984 NBA Draft.

You may have heard of him.....Some guy from North Carolina by the name of Mike.

Mark Eaton and Jack Sikma, huh? Wow, now THAT brings back some cringes. :)

I'll see that and raise you Bryant Reeves and Manute Bol. :rofl:

[JackRiddler]

60. Funny, out of those four names, I'm only sure I know one.

[lildreamer316]

51. ...van...down by the RIVER! n/t

[RadiationTherapy]

53. I'm sure you will convince his millions of fans with your

boring, uncreative, wooden "Arguments" that relate primarily to your taste or lack of taste in comedic arts that he "wasn't so great".

[eShirl]

55. oh wait, you're serious?

Wow.

Maybe Carlin's "Thomas The Tank Engine" work would appeal to you.

[LWolf]

57. If you have to ask,

there's no help for you.

Chris Farley was good. I was sorry when he passed.

Carlin was unmatched, imo.

[hfojvt]

68. actually my 'question'

was a copy of a Peanuts cartoon where Lucy asks Schroeder "What makes Beethoven so great? Was he ever on bubblegum cards? How can you be great if you were never on bubblegum cards?" And Schroeder says :eyes: "Oh good grief"

Another time she asks "What makes you think Beethoven was better than Elton John?" and Schroeder runs off and comes back with a big trophy "Congratulations," he says. "You asked the world's stupidest question. Here's your trophy."

Still on the scale of greatness. ??? The passing of John Kenneth Galbraith did not warrant nearly this much attention on DU, nor did Kurt Vonnegut, in my memory. I guess Carlin, like Russert, is legendary in some quarters, because he was on TV.

[LWolf]

69. I don't remember much said

about Galbraith's passing in '06. Quite a bit of attention was paid to Vonnegut's death at DU.

[okieinpain]

59. my 2 cents, farley wasn't even in the same universe as george.

but some people do prefer fart gags to serious humor.

[slay]

11. It's all bullshit - and it's bad for ya!

a quote from one of his recent hbo specials... what an awesome guy.. definatly knew bullshit when he saw it.. rip george.. :(

[ccharles000]

13. RIP.

[The Doctor.]

15. "Keep my ass alive!"

First thing I remembered.

Like many of the great social philosophers, he was a premier comedian.

[JackRiddler]

20. Carlin videos on Youtube

Starting with his most important speech, on tyranny in America.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=oI5EY5kqiBU

[Contrary1]

24. I love this little snippet:

"...While in the Air Force he started working as an off-base disc jockey at a radio station in Shreveport, La., and after receiving a general discharge in 1957, took an announcing job at WEZE in Boston.

“Fired after three months for driving mobile news van to New York to buy pot,” his Web site says."

:smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke:

[JackRiddler]

30. Shit. Does this mean I also don't live forever?

[crickets]

32. "Tonight's forecast:

Dark. Continued dark throughout most of the evening, with some widely-scattered light towards morning."

The Hippy Dippy Weatherman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1uaw3WIOlc

Another fave - Wonderful WINO Radio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0DpQrs4dUU

George Carlin: FM & AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWVeyCKbEMY

You were amazing, George. One of a kind. Thanks.

eta:

How could I forget my favorite?

Baseball and Football
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YphEUa5LPjM

and
Seven Dirty Words
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB59GLjhR1c

Seven Dirty Words (revisited, whee!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTyzTJTNhNk

[brettdale]

33. RIP

RIP.

He will live on forever in the form of youtube videos.:-(

[FrenchieCat]

34. I certainly will miss him.

I always liked listening to what he had to say!

RIP, Mr. Carlin. :cry:

[blogslut]

35. This one hits home

I loved that man. They'll label him a comedian but I'll always think of him as a philosopher.

I have loved him since I first saw him on "That Girl" 42 years ago.

Damn.

[deacon]

37. I hear ya. He was my favorite. A brilliant stand-up comedy writer. :(((((((

A kick for George.

[calimary]

41. AAahhhh... you watched "That Girl" too? I glued myself to our TV for that one.

George Carlin did a lot of those sitcoms back then.

DAMN he was wonderful.

This one hurts.

Tim Russert? Meh.

George Carlin? :cry: :patriot: :(

[JackRiddler]

54. That Girl! Now there's a forgotten series. Remember vaguely it was on, back then.

He was on it? NO doubt this will surface through the magic of youtube soon.

[latebloomer]

36. Like all my favorite comedians

he ripped the powers that be for their hypocrisy- but man, did he make it funny!

He was one of the very best and will be sorely missed.

[TheWatcher]

44. Safe Journey, Good Man.

George was one of the all-time greats.

[opihimoimoi]

45. ALOHA and RIP.....you were the Greatest for telling the TRUTH

[YankeyMCC]

47. I will miss him nt

[ChoralScholar]

49. R.I.P. George

You are a comedic icon.

I just heard a special on XM radio Saturday interviewing him on the history of his work. I guess it will have been his final appearance - not sure though.

[WritersBlock]

52. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Fuck.

RIP George.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

56. RIP George..........

No better social commentator stalked this earth.

[Jack Rabbit]

58. ( )

Mojoko.com

[JackRiddler]

61. Carlin top story on news.google.com right now.

Wish it had happened while he was alive!

[JackRiddler]

62. George Carlin on language - delivers his own obituary.

Priceless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h67k9eEw9AY

[scheming daemons]

65. He really was our "Mark Twain". It will be another 100 years before there's another like him

[JackRiddler]

66. I'm more optimistic.

The world provides every cause for comedy.