yermom Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Very sad, indeed. Link to post Share on other sites
Wilco Worshipper Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 I literally gasped out loud when I saw the online news headline. My children asked me what was wrong. Sad day, indeed Link to post Share on other sites
Mrs. Peel Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 I'm so sad about this. We just saw him perform last month in Massachusetts. A large part of his act had to do with getting old and dying. I guess he's finding out right now if he was right or wrong about the whole afterlife thing. Link to post Share on other sites
embiggen Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 my husband is going to be crushed. Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Not exactly timely, since most of the people he mentions here have already passed, but I think this is a great (and fitting!) sample of his humor:“SUPER-CELEB KICKS BUCKET” I dread the deaths of certain super-celebrities. Not because I care about them, but because of all the shit I have to endure on television when one of them dies. All those tributes and retrospectives. And the bigger the personality, the worse it is. For instance, imagine the crap we'll have to endure on TV when Bob Hope dies. First of all, they'll show clips from all of his old road movies with Bing Crosby, and you can bet that some news anchor asshole will turn to the pile of clothing next to him and say, "Well, Tami, I imagine Bob's on the Road to Heaven now." Then there'll be clips of all those funny costumes he wore on his TV specials, including the hippie sketch, where they'll show him saying "Far out, man, far out!" They'll show him golfing with dead presidents, kissing blonde bombshells, and entertaining troops in every war since we beat the shit out of the Peloponnesians. And at some point, a seventy-year-old veteran will choke up, and say, "I just missed seein' him at two, 'cause I got my legs blowed off. He's quite a guy." Ex-presidents (including the dead ones) will line up four abreast to tell us what a great American he was; show-business perenials will desert golf courses from Palm Springs to O.J.'s lawn to lament sadly as how this time, "Bob hooked one into the woods"; and, regarding his talent, a short comedian in a check-ered hat will speak reverently about "Hope's incredible timing." And this stuff will be on every single newscast day and night for a week. There'll be special one-hour salutes on "Good Morning America," the "Today" show, and "CBS This Morning." Ted Koppel will ask Henry Kissinger if it's true Bob Hope actually shortened some of our wars by telling jokes close to the frontlines. CNN will do a series of expanded "Show Biz Todays." One of the cable channels will do a one-week marathon of his movies. And it goes without saying that NBC will put together a three-hour, prime-time special called "Thanks for the Memories," but at the last minute they'll realize Bob Hope's audience skews older, and sell it to CBS. Then there'll be the funeral, carried life on the Dead Celebrity Channel, with thousands of grotesque acne-ridden fans seeking autographs from all the show-business clowns who dug out their best black golfing outfits to attend "one of the hottest burials to hit this town in decades" -- Variety. And all this shit will go on for weeks and weeks and weeks. Until Milton Berle dies. And then it will start all over again. I dare not even contemplate Frank Sinatra and Ronald Reagan. Link to post Share on other sites
Twisted Acres Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Aww man... we went to see him in Las Vegas the weekend my brother Socko and his fiancee Jennifer got married. We sat up front at one of those long tables against the stage. He was doing his thing and we were in stiches. He said something that wasn't necessarily funny, but, having the giggles at that point, my brother and my wife Patti both laughed out loud. He stopped, walked over, looked at them, and said, "What the fuck are you two laughing at?" I think he was serious. RIP, another Native New Yorker moves on. Link to post Share on other sites
mountain bed Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Toledo Window Box was the first comedy LP I ever bought. I wore the grooves out on that thing - pretty rare for a comedy record. I'll miss you George. Link to post Share on other sites
quarter23cd Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Wow, I'm stunned. I can't remember the last time a celebrity death affected me, but this one hits home. RIP, George. And thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cousin Tupelo Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Not exactly timely, since most of the people he mentions here have already passed, but I think this is a great (and fitting!) sample of his humor: This is so true -- it would be like when Brett Favre retires. Oh ... wait ... Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 This is so true -- it would be like when Brett Favre retires. Oh ... wait ... Or when Tim Russert passes away Link to post Share on other sites
quarter23cd Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Just overheard in the hallway at work: Random Office Girl 1: Did you hear who just died?Random Office Gril 2: Who?ROG1: Um, he's a celebrity. George........Wallace?ROG2: The comedian?ROG1: Yeah.ROG2: OMG, George Wallace died?!!? I LOVE him!!!!ROG1: I know! Me: I hope that the afterlife exists purely because I hope somehow he got a chance to hear that. Good stuff. Link to post Share on other sites
Duck-Billed Catechist Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Reminds me that shortly after September 11th (it might have even been that evening), I heard a coworker talking about a speech W made. She said "You have to read between the lines...he's talking about that Habib guy (Osama Bin Laden)." Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Very sad news. Carlin was one of the funniest people on earth, although in recent years his routine not only turned a bit sour, but bitter as well. Indeed. Link to post Share on other sites
theologian Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 What most impressed me about him recently is in his last HBO special he was able to offend me several times...way to go old man! Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Carlin and Hicks were my two favorite comics and now they're both gone . Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Tony Margaritatime Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Bummer. I think George's comedy always gave me a fresh prospective on different issues. I think he was one of the most underrated philosophers of our current age. We'll miss you buddy! Link to post Share on other sites
tongue-tied Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 bummer, i hope he got his warning, gave a rousing speech and said "and if i'm wrong, may god strike me dead" Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Heartbreak Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 This weekend, I didn't shave at all, a rarity for me. So this morning I woke up with a pretty heavy shadow. I went downstairs to shave it with my electric razor, and while I was shaving, I was thinking about the following lines from George Carlin: Here's my beard:Ain't it weird?Don't be skeard;It's just a beard.That's the thing, the word beard shook a lot of people up. Beard. Sounds too foreign. Beard. Lenin had a beard. Gabby Hayes had whiskers. Then I went back upstairs, logged onto my computer, and read that George had died. Now that is weird. Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 No one was able to call bullshit on bullshit quite like Carlin. A cynic's cynic, maybe he got bitter because there was just too much bullshit piling up. I will miss him - some of the funniest things I have ever heard came out of his mouth. Link to post Share on other sites
uncool2pillow Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Carlin was one of the smartest, funniest people. I lean conservative, so I disagree w/ a lot of his politics. However, he was so damn smart and funny, he always made me appreciate his point of view even when I disagree w/ it. He will be missed. I hope he's wrong about the afterlife for two reasons. 1) Just to shock him, 2) So we can all hear him again. Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 I lean conservative, so I disagree w/ a lot of his politics.Interesting. I'd agree that he skewed more left than right overall, but in his later years he seemed to delight in tweaking conservatives and liberals in roughly equal measure. ...or maybe that's just how my liberal bias saw it. Link to post Share on other sites
Garp Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 I tried. Well wishes to his family and friends. Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 His bitterness was entirely appropriate for the times, I think. Interesting. I'd agree that he skewed more left than right overall, but in his later years he seemed to delight in tweaking conservatives and liberals in roughly equal measure. ...or maybe that's just how my liberal bias saw it. Not trying to quote cyprtique twice, but I saw his last HBO special a few months back and I found him to have turned remarkably conserative in his old age, complaining about things that were far more right wing than I would have imagined for a guy who always took a more left turn. I could certainly understand his bitterness, but much of it seem directed at groups that just didn't deserve it. None the less the overall guy's career was magnificant. Right up there with Bruce and Sahl in general. LouieB Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Not trying to quote cyprtique twice, but I saw his last HBO special a few months back and I found him to have turned remarkably conserative in his old age, complaining about things that were far more right wing than I would have imagined for a guy who always took a more left turn. I could certainly understand his bitterness, but much of it seem directed at groups that just didn't deserve it. None the less the overall guy's career was magnificant. Right up there with Bruce and Sahl in general. LouieB That Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cousin Tupelo Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Whether it was genuine or not, towards the end, he emphasized his disillusionment with humanity in general, and came to consider himself a neutral observer looking in - often with bemusement - at the mess we have become Link to post Share on other sites
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