HBO’s comedy channel ran a marathon of all of George Carlin’s Stand-up Specials this weekend. And in-between it had some nice, little tributes and interviews with the man. Then NBC reran the 1st Saturday Night Live, which Carlin hosted.
All in all, I was quite happy to see these things on TV over the weekend. The man deserved nothing less.
I only wished that Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure or Bogus Journey played somewhere. Alas, I was stuck with Jersey Girl, a flick people love to slam, but nonetheless Carlin is damn fine in it (and let’s face it, Kevin Smith was a perfect dialogue writer for Carlin).
BOOKS I’M CURRENTLY READING Truman by David McCullough A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers Hey Rube by Hunter S. Thompson What I’d Say to the Martians and Other Veiled Threats by Jack Handey Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross
MOVIES I’M WATCHING The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Something is wrong with me for having this movie lie around unwatched for a month) Broken English WALL-E Wanted Son of Rambow
Hancock The Woods In the Shadow of the Moon Buffalo Soldiers (the Joaquin Phoenix one) Romper Stomper
TV I’M WATCHING When We Left Earth: The Nasa Missions 24 (Season 5; rewatch) Rescue Me (Season 1)
MUSIC I’M LISTENING TO
Weezer: The Red Album (I’m honestly surprised by how much I’m digging this album. I honestly had lost my interest in the band after Make Believe, but I’m back on the boat now.)
A sudden and violet urge to nap devoured me when I arrived home this afternoon. The type of fever-inducing nap of which I awoke from 2-hours later and felt as if all my blood, guts, and muscle had slid down to my ankles when I stood up and I was dragging a 200 pound dress train behind me. I have yet to make up my mind on whether such naps are beautiful casino chips handed out by baby Jesus…or a danger not just to body and soul, but to national security. If I’m napping like this, are the terrorists winning?
Which sort of ties into exactly what was on TV the moment I came to–actually it probably doesn’t tie in whatsoever, but I’m not much for smooth transitions today. The movie: Dr. Strangelove. The scene:
I always forget how bloody brilliant George C. Scott is in this film. His facial ticks on point 5 equal pure comedic gold.
And what else! Oh yes my birthday weekend. Yes, my 27th was on Thursday and I celebrated it several nights in a row–which is sort of ironic since 27 is one of the most meaningless birthdays imaginable and I partied like a cop decked out in full riot gear thrown into a crowd of hippies, which is to say I had a good time. Good times spent with friends and loved ones. Good presents. And lots of good old-fashioned drinking. How much drinking you may ask. This much: And Tubby Boy Gooooes Down!
We scored gallons of free beer (we got the connections) at the yearly carnival that sets up camp a block from my mom’s house and terrorizes the locals for a weekend with all sorts of carny shenanigans. That’s what happens when you’re talking to pals while squatting at the end of a picnic table and sort of lose your balance. I don’t care what this pic shows. I wasn’t that drunk. Seriously. Why don’t you believe me?
First Jesse Ventura. Then Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now Sonny Landham. Yep, Billy the Indian guy who gets punked out in Predator is running for the United States Senate.
Before long Carl Weathers will get his shot.
Screw being a governor. I say let’s go for an OBAMA/WEATHERS ticket!!!
As lame as it is to admit a celeb’s death upsets me, I confess this one has–although George Carlin would be the first to roll his eyes and deride such whiney, mawkish bullshit. But. Sometimes you can’t avoid it.
I started listening and watching Carlin’s act at an age that’d make most uptight, baby proofing buzzkills condemn my parents as degenerates for allowing their young son to hear such filth.
Oh, but the filth was genius. Poetic. Honest and true. And my parents knew I’d be better off from listening to it. Carlin was a writer’s comedian, a cunning linguist. Yet, he was also an astute observer of human nature, often commenting on the darkest parts of it, the type of hard truths we seldom acknowledge exist within ourselves. He was a rare, half-crazed mutineer against the status quo, a man who could pry humor from chaos and nihilism.
Carlin heavily influenced my sense of humor and philosophy towards life. And I am truly upset by his death. Yet, he leaves a legacy of laughter and insights that few in our lifetimes will match.
It’s not that I’m the type who fears birthdays, I’m just always befuddled that I’ve actually hit the age XX when it seemed so weird and distant just a few years ago.
Oh and my annual birthday movie shall be The Incredible Hulk…b/c I love the shit out of it.
Hulk and Me, circa age 23. Oh to be young and 30 lbs. lighter again.
First, Tim Russert. Now Stan Winston. Giants in their respective trades. Gone. Sad. Not a good week for very cool people of the world. Oh and anyone who created this:
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (I should have had this finished weeks ago, but for some inexplicable reason I stopped reading it…and The Right Stuff took hold.)
MOVIES I’M CURRENTLY WATCHING
The Right Stuff (rewatch)
Hulk
The Incredible Hulk
The Happening
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (I swear I’ll get to my Netflix movies this week)
news feeds