Well, one of my personal favorites George Carlin has died and I have little faith that his soul is in a pleasant place. Fortunately, Carlin would have agreed with me. George Carlin was essentially an evangelical atheist. Because of this he lived that one shot of his to the fullest. For this George Carlin should be both revered and pitied.
It is without doubt that George Carlin was one of my favorite comedians. I do not think he was the first observational comedian but he was certainly the most in depth and controversial. George Carlin is probably most remembered for his Seven Dirty Words, but his humor was more than just foul language. I think his legacy is mixed but as far as his comedy is concerned he was one of the greats.
I say his legacy is mixed for a number of reasons. First of all, George Carlin was a student of humanity generally and American society more specifically. A good example of this is the title of his second book "Napalm and Silly Putty." He was merely commenting on the capacity of the human mind to create two things that are so diametrically different. One is a gel like substance created to incinerate forests, villages, and people. The other is a gel like substance that's main function is copying cartoon strips from the newspaper. He also comments on how the government has demonized explicit lyrics on albums when the definition of the word explicit is "fully and clearly expressed or demonstrated." This is hardly something to be feared. Few comedians are as insightful as this. However, the thing many modern comedians have picked up on is his prodigious use of swear words. Often times today comedians rely on the foul language to be the humor. This is not a good thing.
Carlin is also to be revered because he pushed the envelope of the 1st Amendment. Carlin was arrested a number of times for his routines but was always exonerated. His Seven Dirty Words routine was the subject of a very important 1st Amendment Supreme Court Case. However unlike other 1st Amendment "heroes" such as Larry Flynt or 2 Live Crew, Carlin lost his case! George Carlin's Supreme Court case actually led to upholding of restrictions on 1st Amendment Speech. So although he should be remembered for pushing the 1st Amendment envelope, his contribution is actually one that limits the 1st amendment.
Finally, the work he did in his later years (post 2000 at least) was certainly not on par with his previous work. He seemed to be more of a caricature of himself. He was an angry old man rather than a commentator on humanity. It was a sad way for him to go out.
But hey lets not forget he was a very funny man who also did a number of children's projects, most recently being in the Pixar release "Cars." If you would like a personal suggestion of some of Carlin's work, I would recommend his books "Braindroppings" or "Napalm and Silly Putty." If you would like to see one of his many stand up specials, "Carlin on Campus" is probably his best known classic. For one of his great bits which fits the PG rating of this blog check out "Baseball and Football" Which I have linked right here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YphEUa5LPjM
Enjoy and if you feel the urge say a prayer for his soul. He wouldn't have wanted you to in his life but I bet he is wishing you would about now.
-J
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Fun with local news
There were two stories in The Daily Mississippian today that were absolutely fantastic for the discerning person. For those of you who do not know, The Daily Mississippian is the student newspaper here at the University of Mississippi. It comes out every weekday even in the summer. More often than not the writing is very adequate.
So much for the introductions. The first story is more of a picture that I found amusing rather than the story itself. As many of you know, the University here is engaged in marijuana research sponsored by the federal government. Recent reports released have announced that the potency of marijuana has increased over the last few decades. The pro pot group NORML has had responses in the subsequent issues of the paper. You do not need to read the article but check out the picture here: http://media.www.thedmonline.com/media/storage/paper876/news/2008/06/18/News/Norml.Director.Seeks.Pot.Regulation.Education-3382916.shtml
Now maybe its just me, but that looks like a hand rolled cigarette in the hand of the (presumably) woman out in the weed field. Of course we all know that most rolled cigarettes are of the marijuana variety rather than tobacco. I really have no opinion on the merits of the story of the controversy surrounding the potency of the drug, however it seems to me like the wolf is guarding the sheep.
The second story that I found amusing is this one: http://media.www.thedmonline.com/media/storage/paper876/news/2008/06/18/News/Unknown.Number.Of.Ferals.Roam.Oxford-3382922.shtml
Feral cats are a huge problem and packs of feral dogs wandering around a town is certainly no laughing matter. I do think the mention of a feral goat problem is fairly humorous. I have never seen, nor did I foresee packs of wildish goats menacing our local tin can population. This is made even funnier by the classified advertisement "For Sale: Quality Meat Goats. All Sizes Available. Prices vary according to size" which was also in today's The Daily Mississippian. It seems like the demand would be low for goats when you can apparently find them roaming about town. I applaud the paper for continuing during the summer even though there are few students and apparently nothing to really write about. When the work day grows too long, or the task grows too difficult, I hope those of you who read this blog will take time out to think of the packs of feral goats around town and have a chuckle.
-J
So much for the introductions. The first story is more of a picture that I found amusing rather than the story itself. As many of you know, the University here is engaged in marijuana research sponsored by the federal government. Recent reports released have announced that the potency of marijuana has increased over the last few decades. The pro pot group NORML has had responses in the subsequent issues of the paper. You do not need to read the article but check out the picture here: http://media.www.thedmonline.com/media/storage/paper876/news/2008/06/18/News/Norml.Director.Seeks.Pot.Regulation.Education-3382916.shtml
Now maybe its just me, but that looks like a hand rolled cigarette in the hand of the (presumably) woman out in the weed field. Of course we all know that most rolled cigarettes are of the marijuana variety rather than tobacco. I really have no opinion on the merits of the story of the controversy surrounding the potency of the drug, however it seems to me like the wolf is guarding the sheep.
The second story that I found amusing is this one: http://media.www.thedmonline.com/media/storage/paper876/news/2008/06/18/News/Unknown.Number.Of.Ferals.Roam.Oxford-3382922.shtml
Feral cats are a huge problem and packs of feral dogs wandering around a town is certainly no laughing matter. I do think the mention of a feral goat problem is fairly humorous. I have never seen, nor did I foresee packs of wildish goats menacing our local tin can population. This is made even funnier by the classified advertisement "For Sale: Quality Meat Goats. All Sizes Available. Prices vary according to size" which was also in today's The Daily Mississippian. It seems like the demand would be low for goats when you can apparently find them roaming about town. I applaud the paper for continuing during the summer even though there are few students and apparently nothing to really write about. When the work day grows too long, or the task grows too difficult, I hope those of you who read this blog will take time out to think of the packs of feral goats around town and have a chuckle.
-J
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