I loved George Carlin, but only late recognized his kinship with the best of traditional music, mainly because his language would have offended many of the artists and their audiences. I never did solve that dilemna, but my fascination with roots music was always partly because of the way it dealt with real life, much of it in metaphor. That was partly due to the religiousity which provided a sustaining comfort, glue for their community and a place people could speak. But also, this music is always, always made by oppressed people who have to cover their meanings, or else! Think the coded language of spirituals during slavery. It also held for white people, though deeply affected by the crumbs offered by racism. I had serious discussion about this with both Merle Travis and Johnny Cash, both of whom were very aware and sensitive to realities in their people. Artists. George and his wife recognized what the Ash Grove meant and donated a lighting system for the short-lived SM Pier club and we spoke about his performing there when he did a set at a benefit at the club. Amazing man. -Ed
PS. The Venice Eco-Festival came to me late, but looks great!! Language Games: The Legacy of George Carlin by Peter LaVenia / June 24th, 2008 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/06/language-games-the-legacy-of-george-carlin/ George Carlin, one of the most important social critics of the last half-century, is dead. Carlin, like he was for millions, was a formative influence on my youth, and via the collective youths of multiple generations, the national consciousness. He will forever be remembered for being part of the wave of comedians that turned simple humor into biting social commentary — the children of Lenny Bruce. It strikes me that, in many ways, Carlin had turned himself into a modern Socrates, always questioning our words, thoughts, and actions, and finding himself disappointed in the lack of reflection in the rest of us. Carlin acknowledged this in perhaps his most important routine: “I love words. I thank you for hearing my words. I want to tell you something about words that I uh, I think is important. I love, as I say, they’re my work, they’re my play, they’re my passion. Words are all we have really.” The Seven Words routine was a milestone not just because Carlin managed to highlight the dilemma at the core of the modern condition, but also because it gave us a landmark Supreme Court case on freedom of speech that highlights how dangerous words can be to the guardians of mainstream mores, FCC vs. Pacifica Foundation. Carlin’s monologue, played on Pacifica Radio in NYC, engendered a dispute as to what constituted decent speech on broadcast media — and the Court decided that the population needed to be protected from hearing those “deadly” words spoken by Carlin, who had done so in an effort to help us enlighten ourselves about the power of speech. Justice William Brennan, writing in a stinging dissent from the majority on that decision, stated that: “because the radio is undeniably a public medium, these actions are more properly viewed as a decision to take part, if only as a listener, in an ongoing public discourse.” Censorship of language is an attempt to silence this public discourse, to stifle thoughts, actions, and ideas. George Carlin understood this perfectly well. Carlin was concerned with pointing out how we, as a society, have started using euphemistic language as a way to avoid dealing with tough concepts. This is a corollary — and perhaps more dangerous than the official censorship — to the FCC’s abrogation of speech on TV and radio: self-censorship. In one of his books he noted: “I mentioned several reasons we seem to employ so much of it [euphemistic language]: the need to avoid unpleasant realities; the need to make things sound more important than they are… but no matter what the purpose, the one thing euphemisms all have in common is that they soften the language. They portray reality as less vivid. And I’ve noticed Americans have a problem with reality; they prefer to avoid the truth and not look it in the eye. I think it’s one of the consequences of being fat and prosperous and too comfortable.” Of course, the easy political examples are those we’ve been familiar with for a time now: George W. Bush’s “enemy combatants,” the “homicide” bombers, collateral damage. Carlin was adept at pointing these out along with the more common expressions we use between friends and colleagues. Religious, political, and cultural hypocrites were not spared his withering gaze — I once noted how a portion of his audience left during one of his anti-religious diatribes at a concert of his that I attended. So what, then, is Carlin’s legacy? At the end of another of his famous routines he said that “the planet is fine, the people are fucked.” He was amused with our capacity to, essentially, kill ourselves off as a species. He said that: “… it amuses me. Because it means the system is beginning to collapse, beginning to break down. I enjoy chaos and disorder. Not just because they help me professionally; they’re also my hobby. I’m an entropy buff.” We are inundated with food yet prices are rising and people starve; we are awash in oil and prices have never been higher; we are aware of the effects of human-caused global warming and most of us choose to do nothing except complain about the weather; our government openly lies and violates Constitutional rights and all we do is shrug. Carlin’s choice was not to simply laugh at the downward spiral we were all on (by our choice); that is too superficial a reading of his humor. He was deeply concerned by the stupidity and violence we do to each other through laws, morals, and simply not acting. His legacy, I think, is that our understanding of speech, of words, and our constant questioning of their meaning and use is our only outlet to discovering potential truths, to exposing lies, and perhaps building a world that’s a little nicer to live in, or at least, a little more amusing. It is, perhaps, a call to action, to understand that he was bitterly disappointed in how passive most people are in the face of injustice. In that respect, those of us who are political activists, or even those of us who are just trying to make small changes in our lives, could learn from Carlin to keep thinking and to be the gadfly that won’t let things rest, to tell the truth about the world in which we live. Carlin, of course, put it best: “Here’s the Secret News: All people are afraid. No one knows what they’re doing. Everything is getting worse. Some people deserve to die. Your money is worthless. No one is properly dressed. At least one of your children will disappoint you. The system is rigged. Your house will never be completely clean. All teachers are incompetent. There are people who really dislike you. Nothing is as good as it seems. Things don’t last. No one is paying attention. The country is dying. God doesn’t care. Shhhhhh.” *** The first annual Venice Eco-Fest is this Saturday FREE at Windward Avenue & Venice Beach! (See attachment for poster art) Come experience the future NOW with 140 Eco-Booths, Plus Performances and FUN! On June 28, 2008 Venice Beach will be transformed! Festival Location & Description (Festival Hours: 10 am – 7 pm): Venice Beach at Windward and Ocean Front Walk (north of Venice Blvd). Windward Ave. will be closed off from Pacific to Speedway, and filled with booths. Across Speedway, the booths will continue into the Venice Beach Recreation Area. · Over 100 exciting Eco-Exhibitors with important planet preservation tips · Sun-powered Sound Stage - All day music, dance, poetry (see schedule below) · Kid's Explor-o-rama with exotic animals, and interactive shenanigans · Graffiti Artists at work using eco-friendly paints on the world famous art walls · Food as Fuel Court with vegetarian delights · E-Salvage Recycling Truck in Ross Parking Lot (see location below) for LARGE E-Waste Bring your used: CRT Monitors, Television Sets, Stereo Equipment, DVD & VCR Players Computers & Accessories, Scanners & Fax Machines · E-Salvage Recycle Bin on the Beach for SMALL e-waste Bring your used: Cell Phones & Accessories, Cell Phone Batteries, Laptop Battery (only) · Filtered Water Stations - BYO reusable water bottle! · Million Trees Campaign Tree Give-away · Green Outposts for recycling/waste/and compost · PLUS-- Free Bike Valet on the handball court Public Parking: · On Venice Blvd. and at the beach lot at the end of Venice Blvd. (Beach lot fills up early!) $6 before 9:00AM, $12 after. · Westminster Elementary School parking lot, on Main St. between Brooks and Westminster Avenues, for $10. Walk two blocks west to Ocean Front Walk, then head approximately 4 blocks south to the festival site. · Free parking behind Ross Dress for Less on 1400 Lincoln Blvd. (Venice 90291) at California Ave. Park there and cross at light to the north-west corner of Lincoln and California to catch the Big Blue #2 Bus, which runs down California Avenue every 20 minutes, a 7 minute ride to Pacific Ave. and Windward, in front of the festival site. Only 75¢ bus fare per person. Ø Also at the Ross parking lot location will be the station for large electronic waste disposal, i.e. televisions, computers, radios, etc. You may park your car there and dispose of your electronic waste. Ø You could also ride your bicycle from this location, and check it at the FREE Bike Valet. Ø Morning volunteers get free parking at the beach. Call 866-220-2370 Sun-Powered Stage Performance Schedule: Hosted by MC, Stephen L. Fiske 10:00 am: Ritual: Blessing of the festival 10:30 am: The California Dance Institute (CDI) Westminster School Dance Troop (Carole Valesky, Director) 11:00 am: Canalagators 11:45 am: Shoeflies 12:30 pm: Stefani Valadez & Band 1:00 pm: Welcoming Ceremony with Councilman Bill Rosendahl (Honorary Chair), Heart of Humanity Award to actor Ed Begley, Jr., plus Earth Anthem Dance by Blankenship Ballet. 2:00 pm: Stephen L. Fiske & Band 2:45 pm: Blankenship Ballet 3:00 pm: Superbroke Brass and Tin and String Marching Ensemble 3:45 pm: Blankenship Ballet 4:00 pm: Alfred Johnson & Friends 4:30 pm: Eco Fashion Show 4:45 pm: Preeta & the PeaceMakers 5:15 pm: The Luminaries 5:45 pm: Blankenship Ballet 6: 00 pm: Kathy Leonardo 6:30 pm: The Backboners Poets from Beyond Baroque will also be reading Enjoy the delicious treats, music, art, and dance… GO GREEN! This festival is carbon neutral. You can be too: www.CarbonCounter.org Festival Powered by the Sun All flyers, posters and handbills printed on 100% recycled paper from Topanga Eco Mail ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
