Yesterday morning, I got up for work like I would on any other Monday morning. The weekend had been good, but of course, not long enough. I turned on the news as I always do during breakfast, mainly to catch the traffic, weather, and to see what slant our newscasters will put on the stories of the day.
Of course, there was the usual political news, news about how bad the Mariners are playing, the Sonics/Key Arena court case, and gas prices. All of this was expected, and pretty much went by without much reaction on my part.
Then, the story of George Carlin's death Sunday night came on. I couldn't believe the news; it didn't seem possible. I'd heard him in an interview with Bob Costas a few months ago, and he seemed well, alive, and his usual self...Talking about the issues of the day, and about life, as only George Carlin could.
As all of you know by now, Carlin died of heart trouble at age 71. He'd heart problems for several years, and it all finally came to a head Sunday, June 22.
I'll never forget hearing George Carlin's stand-up for the first time as a sixth-grader, thanks to a good friend who played me several bits, including the infamous "7 words you can't say on TV". From that point, I was hooked, and have listened to every CD or HBO special I could get my hands on. His ideas from one special on what to do with prisoners were hilarious. Granted, if we acted on some of them, I suppose the government could be accused of inflicting "cruel and unusual" punishment, but fencing off certain states and turning them into prisons for specific types of offenders could be fun to watch.
My one regret is that I never had the chance to see Carlin perform live. The CDs and HBO specials are great, but I always wished I'd had the opportunity to attend one of his shows. Last time he was in my area, I think I was out of town, and I told myself "I'll go next time". Well, next time's not going to come.
Not only was Carlin a great comedian, but he inspired many of the stand-ups working today. Though there will never be another George Carlin, there's still plenty of great stand-up out there, and a lot of that, in my opinion, is thanks to the chances he took and the doors he opened. If you enjoy Carlin, you owe it to yourself to check out some of today's comedians...Everyone from Lewis Black, to Rodney Carrington, or Jim Norton, Doug Stanhope, and the list goes on. After hearing Carlin, I began to spin off into other comics at the time, such as the late Bill Hicks, a man who was almost as funny and as poignant as Carlin.
The point of these ramblings is to say that George Carlin will be greatly missed by the fans. He was a great comedian, and I feel, thanks to him, many other great comedians were spawned.
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