George Carlin

One of my idols died yesterday. George Carlin. He was a comedian, but he was also part of my soul. I first saw George on The Ed Sullivan Show, since I was not allowed to watch The Tonight Show. I loved Al Sleet The Hippy Dippy Weatherman. If you don't know about that, maybe it is on Youtube. I would just laugh and laugh growing up. I bought all of his albums. I bought the first one, Take-Offs and Put-Ons, on a trip to Alabama in 1971. He helped me get through college with his albums like Class Clown, AM & FM, and Occupation: Foole. He made you laugh about words and people. I saw him for the first time in concert while living in Fort Worth. He had to leave after 35 minutes. He got sick. He was doing a lot of drugs then, and supposedly he had gotten bad cocaine. I continued to buy his albums. A friend died the same weekend as On the Road came out. He did a routine on death. It got me through my grief for my friend. Listen to "Two Minute Warning". Very funny. When I moved back to Columbia, I got to see George again in the 1980's. He was still funny, but he had gotten more socially conscious. His humor had turned a bit darker in his humor, but he was still funny. I got a t-shirt and book at his show. George was also writing books. I got all of them. George came back to Columbia last year. I couldn't afford the ticket, but I entered a contest and won tickets to the show. He said that he was testing out material for an HBO special and DVD for 2008. I hope the DVD will be released. He was a comic genius, and he shaped a lot of my humor. Although I never personally met George, he was a dear friend in my heart. George said in one of his albums that he didn't want to be buried or cremated. He wanted to be blown up. Boom, there he goes! Thanks, George. You allowed me to laugh.