The only thing counterculture about Carlin was he countered those he railed against -- the controllers of our society and their manipulations.
Also see: George Carlin VS the "Owners"
George Carlin has left the theatre (great video)
"George Carlin, 71, comedian and counterculture hero" by Keith St. Clair, Associated Press | June 24, 2008
LOS ANGELES - "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television." "Some People Are Stupid." "Stuff." "People I Can Do Without."
George Carlin, who died of heart failure Sunday at 71, leaves behind not only a series of memorable routines, but a legal legacy: His most celebrated monologue, a frantic, informed riff on those infamous seven words, led to a Supreme Court decision on broadcasting offensive language.
The counterculture hero's jokes also targeted things such as misplaced shame, religious hypocrisy, and linguistic quirks, Why, he once asked, do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?
:-)
Mr. Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. Mr. Carlin had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.
Actor Ben Stiller called Mr. Carlin "a hugely influential force in stand-up comedy."
"He had an amazing mind, and his humor was brave, and always challenging us to look at ourselves and question our belief systems, while being incredibly entertaining," Stiller said. "He was one of the greats."
Mr. Carlin constantly breached the boundaries of comedy and language, particularly with his routine on the "Seven Words," all of which are taboo on broadcast television to this day.
When he uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested on charges of disturbing the peace, freed on $150 bail, and exonerated when a Wisconsin judge dismissed the case, saying it was indecent but citing free speech and the lack of any disturbance.
When the words were later played on a New York radio station, they resulted in a 1978 Supreme Court ruling upholding the government's authority to sanction stations for broadcasting offensive language during hours when children might be listening.
"So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of," he told the AP earlier this year.
:-)
Despite his reputation as unapologetically irreverent, Mr. Carlin was a television staple through the decades, serving as host of the "Saturday Night Live" debut in 1975 - noting on his website that he was "loaded on cocaine all week long" - and appearing some 130 times on "The Tonight Show."
He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a few TV shows, and appeared in several movies, from his own comedy specials to "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" in 1989, a testament to his range, from cerebral satire and cultural commentary to downright silliness (sometimes hitting all points in one stroke).
"Why do they lock gas station bathrooms?" he once mused. "Are they afraid someone will clean them?"
:-)
In one of his most famous routines, Mr. Carlin railed against euphemisms he said have become so widespread that no one can simply die.
"Older sounds a little better than old, doesn't it?," he said. "Sounds like it might even last a little longer. . . . I'm getting old. And it's OK. Because thanks to our fear of death in this country I won't have to die - I'll pass away. Or I'll expire, like a magazine subscription. If it happens in the hospital they'll call it a terminal episode. The insurance company will refer to it as negative patient care outcome. And if it's the result of malpractice, they'll say it was a therapeutic misadventure."
Mr. Carlin won four Grammy Awards for best spoken comedy album and was nominated for five Emmys. Last Tuesday, it was announced that Mr. Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which will be presented Nov. 10 in Washington and broadcast on PBS....
--MORE--"
"Comedian Who Questioned "Received Reality" Of 9/11 Dies; Counterculture great George Carlin passes away"
by Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Monday, June 23, 2008
Grammy-winning American stand-up comedian, actor, author and anti-establishment icon George Carlin has passed away in LA aged 71.
Carlin died of heart failure after being admitted to St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon. The Comedian had a long history of heart trouble. His last performance was last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.
Always outspoken and never a man to hide his opinions, Carlin most recently hit the headlines after speaking of his doubts about the official 9/11 story during an appearance at Borders bookstore in New York City last October, just a few blocks away from ground zero.
Asked what he thought of the 9/11 truth movement and how Bill Maher's show was interrupted by truthers at the time, Carlin responded, "I always question the received reality."
"The consensus reality is often intentionally misleading," he added.
Asked if he would support a new investigation into 9/11, Carlin was skeptical, stating, "They don't investigate themselves in this country - it would be a whitewash, it would be like the Kennedy thing, it would be like everything."
"The people who are in charge do what they want and they will always do what they want, power does what it wants to and I wouldn't trust an investigation," Carlin concluded.
Watch the video.
Carlin created a storm in the seventies when his routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" initiated a regulatory battle which eventually went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
After Carlin said all seven words at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested on charges of disturbing the peace, freed on $150 bail and exonerated when a Wisconsin judge dismissed the case, saying it was indecent but citing free speech and the lack of any disturbance.
Carlin was described by Comedy Central as the second greatest stand-up comedian of all time behind Richard Prior and is famous for his scathing black humor directed at American culture and the political climate.
During a recent appearance on Keith Olbermann's MSNBC show, Carlin said that America was "finished" because "no one questions things anymore" and that the population had been bought off by distractions, toys and gizmos.
Carlin will be sorely missed purely because he was one of a very rare breed, an entertainer who spoke a truth uninhibited by any desire for success, fame or need of corporate backing.
Watch a stand-up routine where Carlin slams the education system and talks about the true power system that controls America.
WARNING: PROFANITY.Printed from: http://www.infowars.net/articles/june2008/230608Carlin.htm
