Monday, June 23, 2008

George Carlin, RIP

I'll miss him.

Added note. Ponder ye these words of Carlin:

"I know I'm fighting a losing battle with this one, but I refuse to surrender. Collapsing a building with explosives is not an implosion. An implosion is a very specific scientific phenomenon. The collapsing of a building with explosives is the collapsing of a building with explosives. The explosives explode and the building collapses inwardly. That is not an implosion. It is an inward collapsing of a building followed by a series of smaller explosions designed to make it collapse inwardly. Period. Fuck you."

14 comments:

Erick L. said...

If George Carlin had burned out and died in the 1970's, probably no one would have been surprised.

If he'd settled into a safe "nostalgia tour" gig in the 80's, probably no one would have been surprised.

But he kept trying. Sure he had problems, and when your early material is as timeless as his you can never escape it. But he kept trying. And he chose his projects well. He leaves a 40+ year legacy that will deservedly receive attention from at least a few of the next generations that'll come along.

Right now, I can only think of a short blues tune he did early on called "My Baby's Dead". (A song he attributed to that great new group from England... 'The Kansas City Boys'). I haven't listened to that record in ages, but the song is as fresh in my mind as when first heard it. I guess it will be playing in the jukebox of my mind for a while. I hope you get that train, George.

Twilight said...

What a great, great loss - and such a shock!

Carlin was the first comedian I learned to love when I moved to the USA. I love everything about him - his voice, always recognisable immediately - not sure why, he had a very distinctive tone. Loved his Hippy Dippy Weatherman (seen in old recordings from his younger years), loved his use of words - he was such a "clever" comic, wasn't he? He must have spent months in preparation for his stage shows. We saw him a couple of years ago in OKC - a real thrill for me.

Oh, this is just so sad!
There'll never be another like him. He'll be in the same category as Sinatra - a "one-off" a true original.

RIP

Anonymous said...

I'll write to both praise, and disagree, with George Carlin.

Great social criticism in his comedy, but a certain lack of knowledge of vocabulary.

From the dictionary (the third definition appears to directly contradict Carlin's claim):

im·plo·sion (m-plzhn)
n.
1. A violent collapse inward, as of a highly evacuated glass vessel.
2. Violent compression.
3. The inward collapse of a building that is being demolished in a controlled fashion by the weakening and breaking of structural members by explosives.
4. Linguistics The pronunciation of a stop consonant with the breath drawn in.
[in-2 + (ex)plosion.]

...sofla

Anonymous said...

a bit off topic but important because of our NNN (Nazi News Network)

Reporters Say Networks Block War Reports
http://www.truthout.org/article/reporters-say-networks-block-war-reports
Brian Stelter, of The New York Times, reports: "Getting a story on the
evening news isn't easy for any correspondent. And for reporters in
Iraq and Afghanistan, it is especially hard, according to Lara Logan, the
chief foreign correspondent for CBS News. So she has devised a solution
when she is talking to the network. 'Generally what I say is, "I'm
holding the armor-piercing R.P.G.,"' she said last week in an appearance
on 'The Daily Show,' referring to the initials for rocket-propelled
grenade. '"It's aimed at the bureau chief, and if you don't put my story on
the air, I'm going to pull the trigger."' Ms. Logan let a sly
just-kidding smile sneak through as she spoke, but her point was serious. Five
years into the war in Iraq and nearly seven years into the war in
Afghanistan, getting news of the conflicts onto television is harder than
ever."

is this a death threat? Is thids similar to your "Glendale" nemisis?

Joseph Cannon said...

sof, I know what Carlin would say: "There's a reason why it's definition number three."

However, the house at the end of "Poltergeist" DID implode.

Anonymous said...

chronological entry order:*

Mort Sahl
Lenny Bruce
Dick Gregory/Woody Allen/Bill Cosby
George Carlin/Richard Pryor
Robert Klein
sucky hiatus
Bill Hicks

*Republicans, Conservatives, & Libertarians aren't funny, and they like doody jokes

Manny

Anonymous said...

Carlin is wrong. There IS such a thing as building implosion, which is caused by the use of explosives.

This didn't happen on 9/11, though. People who say that are crazy.

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Joseph Cannon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joseph Cannon said...

J -- actually, Carlin was right. See, for example, the Wikipedia page on "building implosion."

Implosion refers to a situation in which outside pressure exceeds inside pressure. For example, a submersible vessel can implode.

A building can't. However...

Language changes.

Carlin never liked to acknowledge that fact. He would always say: "No, it doesn't change, and fuck you if you say otherwise."

I'm a little more willing to go with the historical flow.

In the 1970s, careful speakers avoided "hopefully," except when the intended meaning was "full of hope." Good: "He waited hopefully for the morning mail." Bad: "Hopefully, Obama will lose in November." (The latter example works only if you think that Obama hopes to lose.)

But the wrong use of "hopefully" fulfills a linguistic purpose. No other word does quite the same job.

So I've made my peace with a usage formerly considered incorrect. Hopefully, others will do likewise.

BUT:

"Alot" is not one word. "Alright" is not one word.

One these points, we must never surrender. Fight unto death. Fight a lot. Those barbarisms are never all right.

Anonymous said...

I did check out the Wikipedia page. Although it's not always a good source, this is good enough: "It refers to strategically placing explosive material and timing its detonation so that a structure collapses on itself in a matter of seconds minimizing the physical damage to its immediate surroundings."

OK? Is that clear?

Another thing about Carlin. He could be very funny, but he could also be very unfunny. And dogmatic, and wrong. For example: not everything is funny. Rape isn't funny. And his routine on rape was ghastly.

Anonymous said...

Here's another website:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/building-implosion.htm

"But when you need to bring down a massive structure, say a 20-story skyscraper, you have to haul out the big guns. Explosive demolition is the preferred method for safely and efficiently demolishing larger structures. When a building is surrounded by other buildings, it may be necessary to "implode" the building, that is, make it collapse down into its footprint."

Collapsing a building with explosives is an implosion.

Carlin was wrong, And so are you.

Joseph Cannon said...

I would trust George Carlin over howstuffworks.com any day, at least on questions of English language usage.

The image of Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd didn't strike you as funny?

Anonymous said...

"I would trust George Carlin over howstuffworks.com any day, at least on questions of English language usage."

Very lame. And also, illogical. First you say you don't trust the source, without actually dealing with what I quoted. Then you change the subject, saying that it's an issue of usage, and not the in the cited article.

"The image of Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd didn't strike you as funny?"

Not in the slightest. And the way that Carlin used this ludicrous example to deal with the horror of rape was enraging.

The image of Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd isn't relevant to the issue. Those are two cartoon characters. Rape involves real human beings. What the fuck do a couple of cartoon characters have to do with the issue? Humor is supposedly truth. Using two cartoon characters to make his point is a lie. Everything is funny? Oh yeah? Take a look at a 13-year old girl whose jaw has been broken and whose anus has been ripped open and tell me that's funny.

Carlin was just as dogmatic as the Church he famously left because of dogma. And he was wrong about implosion.

Explosives bring about building implosion. The phrase "building implosion" wasn't invented by 9/11 liars. They exploit it to further their mania. But there is such a thing as building implosion. End of story.

Since he was an atheist - as am I - I won't bother to say "rot in hell." Or "rest in peace." He's dead. Big fucking deal.