George Carlin dead at age 71 | Arthritis Information

Share
 

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - A publicist for George Carlin says the legendary comedian has died of heart failure at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. 

Jeff Abraham says Carlin went into St. John's Health Center on Sunday afternoon, complaining of chest pain. Carlin died at 5:55 p.m. PDT. He was 71.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. It was announced Tuesday that Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

The dean of counterculture comedians, Carlin constantly pushed the envelop with his jokes, particularly with a routine called "The Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV."

I still can't believe he is gone... my husband and I saw him a couple years ago.  I was laughing so hard my stomach muscles actually hurt the next day (and I ALWAYS laugh alot, so my laugh muscles are in shape!!!).  My husband had tears running down his face from laughing so hard.

The man was a genius and he will be sorely missed.
Had to post this. Loved him too.


George Carlin's Message for Life
This is an important message that I am excited to share with you... which speaks about the current human condition and the task at hand for every individual on this planet today. Have a slow read, then share it around!

A Message by George Carlin

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less.

We buy more, but enjoy less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life.

We've added years to life not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.

We conquered outer space but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less.

We plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.

These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.

A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it.
A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak!

And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

And always remember: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Quotation by George Carlin
Labels: breathe, George Carlin, I love you, Life Purpose, love, spirit, spirituality, values
I always felt sad for him since he didn't believe in god.So long George. We love you still.  I have seen George perform many times.  He comes to the theatre we are involved with every year.  The last couple of years I have seen a difference in his humor, it is still funny, but blacker and sadder.  (He did 20 minutes on suicide - a very funny 20 minutes, but you could tell there was pain behind it.) 
 
I think the loss of his wife was weighing heavily on him, and he missed her greatly.  When I heard the news today, I thought how wonderful it is that they are now reunited, and how happy he must be.
 
He was incredibly intelligent, and his humor was interesting, because there was something much deeper to what he was poking fun at in our society.  He literally was a comic genius, and his ability to look at us, and himself, was unlike any other performer.  He changed comedy and the country through his groundbreaking humor.  He will be missed.
[QUOTE=bubbagump]I always felt sad for him since he didn't believe in god.[/QUOTE]

I imagine he had the same pity for believers.One of my English teachers used to play his records for us in Highschool. Actually he has had heart problems for years. He was a great comedian and he will be missed.I like to imagine him laughing at me for being sad. Cause that's just how he was. lol He will be missed! He was a wonderful entertainer who just gave his perspective on life.

Sometimes you think that certain people will live forever and he was one of those.  I didin't realized he was 71 years old, I always think of him as younger because his comedy was so relevent and appealed to so many different ages.  I loved his comedy and even his saddness.  Lindy

It never ceased to amaze me that adults found such humor in filth. George Carlin believed that we should teach our children to use the foul language to express themselves, saw nothing wrong with that type of talk no matter who was listening. I think Eddie Murphy was another comedien that adults and teens found to be so humorous and there was another one even more filthy and the adults would have tears running down their cheeks even tho they couldn't keep up with the joke because every other word was mother....er, but that in itself is humor, right? Nothing humorous when your child says, Hey, go blank yourself you mother blanker. Why is that not funny? Why is it not funny in the restaurant or the bus or the plane or the church or at the dinner table? Oh yeah, that's adult talk, like they call titty bars adult entertainment establishments, good grief. Every life is missed, but I certainly find no reason to honor a person that made a living spewing filth.
 
LEV

An excerpt from TIME article, "How George Carlin Changed Comedy."

 
"Carlin saw the stand-up comic as a social commentator, rebel and truthteller. He challenged conventional wisdom and tweaked the hypocrisies of middle-class America. He made fun of society's outrage over drugs, for example, pointing out that the "drug problem" extends to middle-class America as well, from coffee freaks at the office to housewives hooked on diet pills. He talked about the injustice of Muhammad Ali's banishment from boxing for avoiding the draft — a man whose job was beating people up losing his livelihood because he wouldn't kill people: "He said, 'No, that's where I draw the line. I'll beat 'em up, but I don't want to kill 'em.' And the government said, 'Well, if you won't kill people, we won't let you beat 'em up.'"
 
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1817192,00.html
 
I actually don't know too much about the guy but I did read in USA Today, 12/27/04, that he voluntarily entered rehab for wine and Vicodin dependence so he did go out clean and sober if he maintained his sobriety.
 
Jan
I agree Levlarry.
 
I am one of many who didn't like what he stood for.  Eddie Murphy changed his whole way of doing things when his son watched one of his stand up routines at a friends house and told his dad that he hated it when he acted like that.  That's why Eddie has done so many family type movies through the latter years.
 
But yep, I didn't find humor in anything George did and was offended by some.  To each his own and I prefer the susie home maker life style for my family.
I think that a whole number of comedians walked down the same road as Carlin. He certainly wasn't the first to use bad language on stage and he was much better when he didn't. When I was the assistant to our company's CIO not that long ago, I hired a comedian to liven up our annual Christmas party for the IT staff. He was very good, but I'm glad no one was watching my face when he started using off-color language. My boss told me that he was tame compared to the guys he had heard, but I was still a bit ruffled by it. All of these guys are plenty funny without the vulgarity. If you have to go to the edge a bit to get people excited, fine. Nobody needs to jump off the cliff. The very best comedians get people roaring with little more than a well-timed look on their face. There's always a critic.  Lev, I posted one of his works on page one. I saw nothing filthy about that. But then it does not surprise me that you would feel this way. [QUOTE=bubbagump] I always felt sad for him since he didn't believe in god.[/QUOTE]


Wow.....What does one say to this?[QUOTE=lorster] [QUOTE=bubbagump] I always felt sad for him since he didn't believe in god.[/QUOTE]


Wow.....What does one say to this?[/QUOTE]
 
Been wondering that myself

And finally, I've always drawn a great deal of moral comfort from Humpty Dumpty. The part I like the best? "All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again." That's because there is no Humpty Dumpty, and there is no God. None, not one, no God, never was. In fact, I'm gonna put it this way. If there is a God, may he strike this audience dead! See? Nothing happened. Nothing happened? Everybody's okay? All right, tell you what, I'll raise the stakes a little bit. If there is a God, may he strike me dead. See? Nothing happened, oh, wait, I've got a little cramp in my leg and my bosom feels like a nuclear reactor meltdown. And my balls hurt. Plus, I'm blind. I'm blind, oh, now I'm okay again, must have been Joe Pesci, huh? God Bless Joe Pesci. Thank you all very much. Joe Bless You!

George Carlin

Wow Lev, you do listen to George Carlin. I do want you to know that non believers are not bad bad filthy people. I do believe that Geroge Carlin gave more than he took. I would believe in god if I could hear him, see him, or meet him. Lorster,
 
I really don't listen to him. When he first started he was just a non funny comedien. He soon realized that there were alot of simple minded people that would laugh hysterically if he used alot of 4 letter words. So at the time that he became offensive to me, I quit listening to him being not simple minded. Maybe in later life he became something different than just the simple-minded's comedian, I mean we can all remember beevis and butthead, "he said nads, heh heh, heh heh". So funny for the simple minded.
 
I don't care who believes in God, that's not my business and not my job. The truth may come from the bible, I don't know. So many people wonder why so many people don't believe and have no desire to know even though the bible is very clear concerning that subject. It is written like this. Keep in mind that written "man" in the bible means man and woman: "No man comes unto the father but by the son, and no man comes unto the son unless the father sends him." So, I really never wonder about or feel bad about people that don't believe, that's thier grief.
 
Hey Lorster,
 
On the "obama no script, no eloquence" thread I've asked for an answer to a question twice and you won't answer. Why is it when the questions get tough, you and the other liberals seem to catch the dreaded ostrich disease? I noticed that as soon as I asked the question you ran and started your liberal thread. Keep in mind, you can run but you just can't hide.
 
LEV
You liberals are good dancers. When you are asked a relevant question, you start off with a cha-aha-cha and then right into a little boogie and then a quick two step right around the question. You seem to think that whether a person is a member of a pro race organization is not relavent. So let me ask it this way. Would you vote for a white man that promises to bring us all together, koombaya, but is a member of a pro white church? Would you vote for a white man that belongs to a pro white church, promises to bring us all together, koombaya, and is a democrat? If your answer is yes to either of the questions, then your ethics are questionable at least. If your answer is no to either of the questions, but you would vote for a african american belonging to a pro african agenda church, more than your ethics are questionable.

Lev, I had to bring your question up as I did not realize you were asking me a question.   To be honest, I have spent my entire adult life voting for candidates in spite of their church affiliation, not because of it. I consider their church affiliation and their religious convictions irrelevant. In fact, I really would not want to give the power of the presidency to any one who actually believed that the earth is 6000 years old and that someday soon, millions of live christians would disappear and millions of dead christians would fly up out of their graves and go up into the sky. This is the type of talk that scares me and makes me afraid. I do not wish to elect fanatics of any religion whose fondest wish is to see the prophecies of their faith fulfilled no matter what the cost. In America, you cannot be elected to office with out embracing superstition and magic. I have come to realize that many if not most candidates are disingenuous about their religious beliefs and are merely talking the talk in order to be elected. I don't believe that John McCain is a true believer in Hagees version of christianity anymore than I believe that Barack Obama is a true believer in Rev Wrights version. Both candidates belong to the church that they needed to belong to to advance their political careers. I'm not questioning either mans faith, I am just rejecting the dogma of their church communities as a measure of who they are. It is irrelevant when electing the president of a secular nation. I believe that this country will be fundamentally safe in the hands of either John McCain or Barack Obama because they are not kooks. I hope this answers your question.

Lorster, you would be more comfortable electing a President who believes their is no higher authority than himself?  Hmmm.  To me, that's a lot scarier.

Lorster,
 
No you didn't answer the questions, you danced around everyone of them, that's a surprise. You are a good dancer. Would you vote for a white man belonging to a pro white organization? Yes or no. Which is it this time a tango or another two step?
 
LEV
I've adored George Carlin since  he first started his comedy.
 my favorite  bits though are the things about everyday life.."please get ON the plane.." no, YOU get ON the plane , me, I'm going INSIDE the plane.."
 
 and his bit about "stuff" is just classic.
 
I will miss him greatly.. Mark and I always always watched his specials on HBO..
 
Lev, I don't look at pro white or pro black. You see. I was raised in an all white community. NO blacks, hispanics, or any other non white people. So, I don't see it as a pro white or pro black issue and to be quite honest, I don't understand that.   So I guess I"m not sure what you are trying to get at here. If Hitler was running(is this the type of person you are talking about in regards to a pro white agenda?), NO, I would not vote for someone like him. I want a candidate that treats all races the same. If you choose to vote for a candidate strictly because you THINK he/she has a pro white/pro black agenda (and I don't think either candidate has such an agenda), that is your business. I don't see a racial issue here so I will continue to vote with my head, for the candidate that I feel will represent all the people.Why did this thread about the loss of a comic genius have to turn into a "Liberal vs Republican" debate?  Must EVERY thread in EVERY forum I visit denegrate to this level?
 
The man is dead.  Show a little respect, please.  Take your political blather elsewhere.
[QUOTE=Linncn]

Lorster, you would be more comfortable electing a President who believes their is no higher authority than himself?  Hmmm.  To me, that's a lot scarier.

[/QUOTE]

Linncn, I don't think that McCain or Obama thinks that there is no higher power than themself I believe they are both believers. I don't think religion should enter into a political race. You know there are people out there that actually don't believe and actually are able to live quite well and don't think they are the highest authority. Do you need God to keep from killing your neighbor? No, probably not. Neither do I. I feel more damage has been done in history due to religion (look at the wars that have been thought). I look at it realistically, not what if. [QUOTE=Bizzalou] Why did this thread about the loss of a comic genius have to turn into a "Liberal vs Republican" debate?  Must EVERY thread in EVERY forum I visit denegrate to this level?

[/QUOTE]

Actually Bizzalou. I think George Carlin would enjoy a good political and religious debate.

Bizzalou,

This is a rheumatoid arthritis forum, must it degenerate to a George Carlin thread? I guess it must and did and probably will degenerate to other not rheumatoid arthritis discussions. We are real people with differring thought opinions and conversations, I guess we are just one big family and that many of us can be called disfuntional. I just blame it on the meds, or my mom, or the other members, anybody but me.

Lorster,

1-2-3  cha cha cha, 4-5-6 cha cha cha, 7-8-9 cha cha cha. Did you take lessons?you are such a good dancer.

LEV
Lev, I have decided that that all you want to do is fight with someone. So, why don't you and I just agree not to converse with one another. Please do not respond to my posts. And I will not respond to yours. It does not matter what people say, it is never good enough for you. You are a mean spirited, angry, sad man. I feel sorry for you. Point and case. In this beautiful free country that we live in. With freedom of religion and free speech. The right to vote with out getting killed for what your opinion is.
There is no such thing as friendly political talk, just to pass the time of day.
We are all here to get through another day of RA. You all have your opinions. They are all what makes this world what it is. But i do not believe that people should shove there beliefes down the throats of others. At least not an this forum. That is to each and everyone of you. Oh it is all a little entertaining. But at the exspence of hurting each others feellings. I myself am a bitter woman with a very painful neck at the moment. I could almost get mad at someone myself. No one special just anyone. Just if i could put a face on RA and kick the crap out of it. And maybe even enjoy it.
Well if it's what you like to do. Then don't get so upset about it. Thats my advise. Scince i know you all will continue to do so. As that is life. Thank you for letting me vent!!
[QUOTE=milly] wow I was just on way to bed...1975! I was in my prime! That episode might bring back good memories! Why did I take my contacts out already!Oh no, Mr. Bill!!! [QUOTE=wanttobeRAfree]wow I was just on way to bed...1975! I was in my prime! That episode might bring back good memories! Why did I take my contacts out already![/QUOTE]

Maybe watching it without contacts will kinda be like watching it while drinking

 

LOS ANGELES — He was the comedian who actually said the seven words you can never say on television, but close friends and family members remembered George Carlin as a man who, when he was off stage, had only a kind word for everyone he met.
At a private memorial service Sunday attended by some 150 people _ "That was as small as we could keep it," chuckled Carlin's daughter, Kelly Carlin McCall _ her father was memorialized by comedians Bill Maher, Garry Shandling and others as someone who had no enemies, in part because he was nice to everyone he spoke to.
"What everyone said tonight is if you spent time with my father, whether it was five seconds or five hours, he was kind, attentive, very connected to you, compassionate," said Carlin's daughter.


Here is the whole story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/30/george-carlins-private-me_n_109889.htmlHere, lets bump a couple of threads about how intolerant some of our members are. Enjoy.WTF?
Copyright ArthritisInsight.com