IN APPRECIATION
THE ONE AND ONLY GEORGE CARLIN
During the month of February 2008 the designated month sat aside for blacks to celebrate their history, I was reading a magazine interview with comedian George Carlin. The interview immediately got my attention. I have been a George Carlin fan for as long as I can remember. His concerts on HBO are classics.
George Carlin was an award winning comedian, actor and writer, he died on June 23, 2008 of heart failure. He was seventy-one years old. He was due to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center here in Washington, DC in November.
The comic genius of Red Fox, Richard Pryor, Paul Mooney and Eddie Murphy had a lot in common with George Carlin, they all had foul mouths and made us laugh whether we wanted to or not. They all took issues with the powers to be (politicians and ministers) and took profanity to a new level.
When I discovered George’s interview I was coordinating a Black History Forum at my apartment complex in Bowie, Maryland: The forum was titled “The Young and Restless: Youth Violence in our Community and Schools.”
I decided to use the thought provoking interview of George Carlin in the hand-out program for the forum.
The thing I loved about George is that he had a no cut-card and nobody was off limits no matter your gender, race, creed or religion. He was definitely an equal opportunity offender. He went places with comedy that others dared not to go. I am thinking that he and Red Fox brought stand-up comedy into the 20th century.
In an interview with Keith Oberman on MSNBC television last year he told Keith “I hate the Bush White House and what they have done to this country. When I am on stage I just want to destroy them.”
George’s 1972 album “Class Clown” contains the monologue ‘Seven Words you can never say on television.’ This morning I needed something to laugh about and I went to the internet and found the printed monologue and laughed my ass off. The monologue contains the words that got him into trouble with the FCC. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court and a decision was rendered that these seven words could not be use during the television family hour. The decision made George a bigger star and now a legendary figure in the world of comedy.
Adding George’s interview to the Black History program was a great move on my part. During the reception after the program it was a topic of conversation among the youth and senior citizens in attendance.
I named his interview “An American History Lesson” 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 enjoy less. We have bigger houses and no time for dinner, more conversations, but less time. We have more degrees, but no common sense, more knowledge but less judgement, more experts yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink 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 too much TV, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. There are more opinions and money, but more liars and thieves. We talk too much, love too seldom and player hate too often.
We’ve have learned how to make a living, but not a life. We have added years to life but not life to years. We have been all the way to the moon and back, but we don’t even know our neighbors. We have conquered outer of 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 have conquered the atom but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more but accomplish little. We learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, we produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less.
These are 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 the days of quick trips, disposal diapers, throw away 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.
Remember to spend some time with your loved ones they are not going to be around forever. Remember, to 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 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! Make sure you give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind. Always remember life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.
Footnote: It sounds like George was speaking from experience, he had just lost a love one.
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