Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker & Tits

George Carlin passed away on Sunday evening. Very sad. But he’d be the first to say that we were fools for mourning his passing. He was just a guy. That’s it. Nothing more. On this, I’d disagree. He was by far my favorite comedian. He was a throwback to the days of the court jester, who was able to put down anyone and joke about anything and get away with it.

He lived to be 71. And if you know anything about him, he sure squeezed a lot of life into those years. Actually, he waited in a dark alley and waited for It to walk by before he grabbed It from behind, dragged It into the shadows and beat It senseless. Drugs, arrests, landmark court cases, at least half a dozen heart attacks. He lost his beloved first wife several years ago. There are those of us who believe he was never the same after that. He was still hilarious but, he became a little more bitter year after year. He missed her, even after he remarried.

He was the inaugural guest host of Saturday Night Live. He loved wordplay. Some of his best bits had to do with the absurdities of the English language. He claimed to be a “recovering Catholic.” He also had the foresight to snatch up the rights to www.laugh.com early on in the Internet Age.

I was fortunate enough to see him live a few times. Once even at the Stardust in Vegas, before the historic building was finally demolished in 2007. I’ve only had premium channels like HBO since 2003, so I’ve only caught his HBO specials live and first run a couple of times. I’ll just say this: I’m glad he got to do one final show. In the second-to-last one, he seemed…very bitter…very dark, even for himself. But in what turned out to be his final special, he was back in form. Funny, insightful, intelligent.

Today, the Mercury News has a guestbook on it’s website that you can sign in honor of George Carlin. I find it ironic that they didn’t post my entry. Censorship of a note written to George Carlin. And I tried twice!! And all I wrote was the seven words which George said you can never say on television or radio. Seven words which would “…infect your soul, curve your spine and keep the country from winning the war.” How did he know our country would be at war at the time of his death? Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits. Hmmm.