George Carlin is dead at 71. His heart failed him over the weekend, though his mind was still brilliant and his motivation to call B.S. on, well, everyone was strong to the end.
He skewered every foible and convention of society during his long career with his incisive wit and envelope-ripping delivery. Yes, even hockey:
“People think hockey is a sport. It’s not. Hockey is three activities taking place at the same time: ice skating, fooling around with a puck, and beating the sh*t out of somebody. If these guys had more brains then teeth, they’d do these things one at a time. First go ice skating, then fool around with a puck, then you go to the bar and beat the sh*t out of somebody. The day would last longer, and these guys would have a lot more fun.”
“Another reason why hockey isn’t a sport is that it’s not played with a ball. Anything not played with a ball can’t be a sport. The only other place you’ll find a puck is in the urinal to control the smell in the bathroom.”
As Tim Parent put it at The Bleacher Report, “So when you’re standing at the urinal today, think of George Carlin. He’d probably like that.”
Farewell George — hope you enjoy that big Mongolian Cluster@#$% in the sky.
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Carlin was someone who loved language — and I mean the language itself, the games you can play with words, and poking fun at society’s attempts to limit words and dumb down the world. Read more about his life and comedy at TIME:
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1817192,00.html
He always said he wanted to be exploded when he died. I wonder if he’ll get his wish.
I wonder how they’re going to break it to all the fans of Thomas the Tank Engine that the Conductor has died?
TG, last time I saw my brother Steve (and my little nephew Brayden), Steve played some Thomas the Tank Engine vids for Brayden & asked me if I could identify the narrator’s voice. I think I new it immediately on some level, but it took me a minute to reconcile the idea of George Carlin in that context and realize it was actually him. Carlin did a great job.
In more recent years, because of my 4 1/2 year old, I’ve heard Carlin on Thomas more than his stand-up. The wife and I would always catch his HBO specials to return us to the proper perspective.
http://www.pollsb.com/polls/poll/16663/george-carlin-7-words-video
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