I don't know if there's a costuming way to honor George Carlin, but he
was a major influence on many of us. Actually, he died on Sunday - my
birthday celebration day.
Until later--
Carole
Begin forwarded message:
From: "bandit" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:29:30 AM US/Pacific
http://www.voanews.com/english/Entertainment/2008-06-23-voa12.cfm
Comedian George Carlin Dies
By Keming Kuo
Washington
23 June 2008
One of America's most popular and often controversial comedians, George
Carlin, died in Santa Monica, California. He was 71.
From the early 1960's, through the beatnik, folk and hippie eras, to
today's
cutting edge humor, George Carlin has entertained generations of
Americans. He
starred in several movies, wrote a popular book, "Brain Droppings,"
appeared
in several television series and was a guest 135 times on legendary
talk show
host Johnny Carson's Tonight show. But George Carlin will be best
remembered
as a wise and witty stand-up comedian.
George Carlin was born in New York City, the son of newspaper industry
parents. His father was an advertising sales representative for several
newspapers; his mother was a manager of the Philadelphia Bulletin's
New York
office, as well as Good Housekeeping magazine. During a 1999 visit to
the
National Press Club in Washington, Mr. Carlin recalled how his "Aunt
Aggie,"
who produced the Sunday comics sections, helped him be the first boy
to know
what was in the newspaper - and a popular kid in school.
"Here's the great thing about Aggie's job. Not only did she bring home
the
funnies every week. She brought them home four weeks early," Carlin
said. "Are
you hearing this? Every week, I had the Sunday funnies a month before
the
other kids. I guess you can realize the power this gave me in the
school yard
-- to be able to predict weeks ahead of time precisely the way
'Mandrake the
Magician' would escape from the lost cave. Or to describe in advance
the
details of whatever well-deserved catastrophe was next in store for
'Little
Orphan Annie.' It doesn't sound like much today. But in the days
before
television, and when you're eight years old, it was power beyond
belief!"
With that introduction to comedy, via cartoon strips, George Carlin
said he
was blessed with good schoolteachers in his early childhood.
"In the 1940s, I attended a school still in existence: Corpus Christi
in New
York City. It was not a typical Catholic grammar school education. For
one
thing, we had boys and girls together. We did not wear uniforms. The
desks
were all movable. And, there were no report cards - no grades or
report cards
of any kind. It was a garden; it was a place that let me flower,"
Carlin said.
George Carlin poses at New York hotel (2004 File)
But George Carlin's fortunes changed in high school. Its harsh
disciplinary
rules led him to drop out before graduating. He said that experience
helped
foster his contempt for euphemisms and being told what he could or
could not
say. In 1973, a monologue by Mr. Carlin that was broadcast on the
Pacifica
radio network was declared indecent by the government's Federal
Communications
Commission. The case was ultimately upheld by the United States
Supreme Court.
And, George Carlin became forever known as the comedian who uttered
the "seven
dirty words that can't be said over the air." Reflecting on the
incident, more
than 25 years later, Mr. Carlin wondered what the fuss was all about.
"There will always be language taboos in any culture. There are
aspects of our
bodies that certain religions have put beyond the pale. I don't think
it's
cheapened our discourse. I think it limits people," he said. "I've
always said
I enjoy using all the language. Human beings invented all of this
language.
When I was a little boy, I was told to look up to policemen and look
up to
sports stars, and look up to the military. And we all know how they
speak.
Apparently it hasn't corrupted them morally. So. I think these words
are
overrated for their power."
George Carlin's notoriety from the "seven dirty words" incident helped
make
him one of the highest-paid comedians in the 1970's. In the 1990's,
Mr. Carlin
starred in his own situation comedy, which lasted one season, and
provided the
voice of a train conductor in the children's series "Shining Time."
But he
told the Washington audience he was, most of all, a comedian - an art
form of
which he was proud.
"I found it was an honest craft and that art was involved," Carlin
said. " I
do like to point out that there is an artistic process involved in
observing
the world, interpreting it, and then writing something about it and
performing
it. It's the low end of the scale in art. Perhaps it's not fine art.
But it is
art. I found that out and it gave me a purpose and strength."
Popular American comedian George Carlin, died Sunday at the age of 71.
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