BBC

..

The star, who had a history of heart problems, was scheduled to receive the John F Kennedy Center's prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humour in November.

Carlin became known for his unpredictable performances and for pushing boundaries during his 50-year career.

He achieved status as an anti-Establishment icon in the 1970s with his provocative and controversial acts.

His Seven Words routine led to his arrest in 1972 for disturbing the peace after he performed the act at a show in Milwaukee.

Carlin became known for his edgy and provocative performances

The same routine, which was played on a New York radio station, resulted to a Supreme Court ruling in 1978 upholding the government's authority to sanction stations for broadcasting offensive language.

Carlin produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies.

He also hosted the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live, won four Grammy Awards - each for best spoken comedy album - and was nominated for five Emmys.

...

While I'm too young to have heard him in his radio days or the '60's running with Lenny Bruce and that crowd, I've managed to catch him now and again ever since his 'Carlin at Carnegie' performance (one of HBO's first).
What I always liked was that his insight wasn't spun outta sight by big words or fuzzy description: he was tight, sharp, clear, and spoke to me like a buddy would...no bullshit, just the facts, as he saw them.

I'm done now...I think I'll hit a pub tonight and hoist one to remember him by.

-5.75,-4.05
"We're all fucked. It helps to remember that." --George Carlin

a history of heart and drug-dependency problems

Another life cut short by drugs. Such potential! Flushed down the drain!

“The Playboy reader invites a female acquaintance in for a quiet discussion of Picasso, Nietzsche, jazz, sex.” - Hugh Hefner

and another one waits in the wings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VigOSFNtNMM

Requiem in Pacet

The world will be a smaller, duller place without him.

He also gave no one room to escape to!
jo6pac

swabbed the crap out of our eyes and helped us see the world as it really is.

Article Here

In the 1970s, George Carlin's seven dirty words routine was the center of a famous obscenity case. More recently, the comic was named the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, an award scheduled to be presented at the Kennedy Center in November. Carlin died of heart failure Sunday the age of 71.

These interviews were originally broadcast on June 1, 1990 and November 1, 2004.

Wapo's.

"Lord! What Fools these Mortals be!"

"I'm a Modern Man"

(Audio at Carlin

George Carlin, November 5th, 2005
Beacon Theater, NYC

I'm a modern man.
I'm a modern man.
I'm a modern man.
I'm a modern man.

I'm a modern man,
A man for the millennium,
Digital and smoke free.

A diversified multicultural postmodern deconstructionist,
Politically anatomically and ecologically incorrect.

I've been uplinked and downloaded.
I've been inputted and outsourced.
I know the upside of downsizing.
I know the downside of upgrading.

I'm a high tech lowlife.
A cutting edge state-of-the-art bicoastal multitasker,
And I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond.

I'm new wave but I'm old school,
And my inner child is outward bound.

I'm a hot wired heat seeking warm hearted cool customer,
Voice activated and biodegradable.

I interface from a database,
And my database is in cyberspace,
So I'm interactive,
I'm hyperactive,
And from time-to-time,
I'm radioactive.

Behind the eight ball,
Ahead of the curve,
Riding the wave,
Dodging a bullet,
Pushing the envelope.

I'm on point,
On task,
On message,
And off drugs.
I got no need for coke and speed,
I got no urge to binge and purge.

I'm in the moment,
On the edge,
Over the top,
But under the radar.

A high concept,
Low profile,
Medium range ballistic missionary.
A street-wise smart bomb.
A top gun bottom feeder.

I wear power ties,
I tell power lies,
I take power naps,
I run victory laps.

I'm a totally ongoing bigfoot slam dunk rainmaker with a proactive outreach.
A raging workaholic.
A working ragaholic.
Out of rehab,
And in denial.

I got a personal trainer,
A personal shopper,
A personal assistant,
And a personal agenda.

You can't shut me up,
You can't dumb me down.
'Cause I'm tireless,
And I'm wireless.
I'm an alpha male on beta blockers.

I'm a non-believer and an over-achiever.
Laid back but fashion forward.

Up front,
Down home,
Low rent,
High maintenance.

Super size,
Long lasting,
High definition,
Fast acting,
Oven ready,
And built to last.

I'm a hands on,
Foot loose,
Knee jerk,
Head case.

Prematurely post traumatic,
And I have a love child who sends me hate mail.

But I'm feeling,
I'm caring,
I'm healing,
I'm sharing.
A supportive bonding nurturing primary care giver.

My output is down,
But my income is up.
I take a short position on the long bond,
And my revenue stream has its own cash flow.

I read junk mail,
I eat junk food,
I buy junk bonds,
I watch trash sports.

I'm gender specific,
Capital intensive,
User friendly,
And lactose intolerant.

I like rough sex.
I like rough sex.
I like tough love.
I use the f word in my email,
And the software on my hard drive is hard core, no soft porn.

I bought a microwave at a mini mall.
I bought a mini van in a mega store.
I eat fast food in the slow lane.

I'm toll free,
Bite sized,
Ready to wear,
And I come in all sizes.

A fully equipped,
Factory authorized,
Hospital tested,
Clinically proven,
Scientifically formulated medical miracle.

I've been pre-washed,
Pre-cooked,
Pre-heated,
Pre-screened,
Pre-approved,
Pre-packaged,
Post-dated,
Freeze-dried,
Double-wrapped,
Vacuum-packed,
And I have an unlimited broadband capacity.

I'm a rude dude,
But I'm the real deal.
Lean and mean.
Cocked, locked and ready to rock.
Rough tough and hard to bluff.

I take it slow.
I go with the flow.
I ride with the tide.
I got glide in my stride.

Drivin' and movin',
Sailin' and spinnin',
Jivin' and groovin',
Wailin' and winnin'.

I don't snooze,
So I don't lose.
I keep the pedal to the metal,
And the rubber on the road.

I party hearty,
And lunch time is crunch time.

I'm hanging in,
There ain't no doubt.
And I'm hanging tough,
Over and out.

Funny Thing Is, George Carlin Couldn't Make It To His Big Night

Washington Post, By Paul Farhi, November 11

The late George Carlin, whose sense of irony was world class, would have appreciated last night's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony at the Kennedy Center, though it's not clear which rich irony he would have liked most.

Surely, he would have gotten a kick about being too dead to pick up the prize himself, as more than one presenter noted. Carlin died in June at 71, a week after learning that he'd won the 11th annual prize.

Perhaps, as a lapsed Catholic (and an extremely amusing atheist), Carlin would have dug the whole Irish wake aspect of the ceremony: Jokes were not just permissible, they were mandatory, in honoring the recently departed.

As a stand-up comic whose career ranged from the Ed Sullivan era to the Facebook age, Carlin might have been amused by the fact that none of the stand-ups who came to honor him (Bill Maher, Lewis Black, Lily Tomlin, Jon Stewart, Joan Rivers and Garry Shandling, among others) actually got to do much stand-up. Some great introductory cracks, sure, but mostly in service of introducing clips of some of Carlin's classic bits.