Sometimes All We Need…

…is some time in the pool to make life a little more rosy, not to mention wet.

 

 

That is WMD#3, looking up at WMD #1 and #2 get ready to jump in the pool, while SWMBO makes like Margaret Bourke White and snaps the photo.

George Carlin-A Lover of Language

What can be said when your childhood icons pass?  That thought came to mind on the way into work when I heard on the electric radio that George Carlin is dead.

I remember watching the first episode of “Saturday Night Live”, and the host of that premiere episode was George Carlin.  He was funny, he was sharp, he was on the cutting edge of what is now called observational humor.

What really caught the ear was his instinct for language.  Who can forget the “Seven Words”?

But Carlin was more than that. 

He is one of the few comedians who completely reworks himself in the middle of a successful career to become a different kind of comic.  Carlin began as your basic tell a joke kind of guy…the inheritor of Borscht Belt comedians.  But as detailed in Comedy at the Edge, during the late 1960’s he realized his true instincts were not with his generation but of that generation that was slighly younger and wanting to change society…you know, the Baby Boomers.  So Carlin restructured himself and became the observational comedian that we came to know.

An interesting aspect of the changeover was the way he found a unique comic voice that mixed the Borscht Belt joke technique with observational humor. Jokes have to be old a certain way to work…say something out of order, out of sequence, or use the wrong word, and impact is lost and the bit ruined. Observational humor is a bit different. A comedian can talk about a situation six different times to six different audiences and still be funny because they are drawing on a generally shared sense of something to get their laughs. Example-no matter how you lead up to it, a guy stands up to give a speech with his fly down…well, that circumstance is going to be funny almost any way you approach it.

Carlin took a middle path…he took that thing we were all aware of, pursued it from a different angle-like an observational comedian-but used specific language to make the routine sing-like the old style joke teller. Watch the Baseball/Football routine below, especially the conclusion, and think how precise the language has to be to get the best reaction.

Another way he was different is that Carlin never sought to be anything beyond a comedian. He never became a stadium concert stud ( as did Steve Martin) or tv star (Jerry Seinfeld) or movie star (Eddie Murphy).  He was a comedian who loved language and analyzing how folks did things.  Be it absurd, funny, or outrageous, he talked about us and how we did things.

Sometimes the language use is not purely analytical, but just fun… 

George Carlin-you will be missed…and in honor of his memory, I will relate a true story about my father, his love for language, and a word that got struck from the 7 words list…and more or less in Dad’s words.

“I was serving in Europe during the War.  It was Februrary of 1945, I was walking across the med camp I  was based at (imagine a 500 bed MASH unit), and a buzz bomb hit the camp.  The concussion blew me ass over teakettle about forty feet backwards, not unlike the ways bodies always went flying during those A-team explosions on television.

I struggeld to my feet and I found myself next to a supply truck.  Cawling out from underneathy of it was an African-American driver who apparently dove underneath his truck at the first yell of “incoming”.

He looked at me and said “Damn!  Those Motherf**king Motherf**kers done Motherf**ked us!”

 My father then looked at me and said, “Isn’t that amazing?  He used the same word three times in one sentence, and it was a different part of speech each time!”

I can easily imagine George Carlin telling that story, but I imagine he would have omitted the asterisks…and he may have added the word back to his list if only for its versatility.

George Carlin, R.I.P.  You will be missed.

UPDATE:

Other Links relating to Brother Carlin:

**Remembering George Carlin
**My Hero has Passed
**Goodbye, Rufus
w/, I am sure, more to come…

Bull Durham Twenty Years On…

Have you ever wondered what happened to the denizens of the wonderful baseball movie Bull Durham?

Have you pondered the ultimate outcome of the Crash Davis philosophy of life?

Wonder no more. To quote Annie Savoy, “Oh My…”

Enjoy!

Random Thoughts…

Today is the first day this month I have not started the day with some kind of painkiller, so my thinking is relatively lucid albeit remarkably unfocused…so just a few thoughts.

First, SenKen needs to buy new shirts.  See the photoblogging from the Fifth District GOP convention. My time in retail taught me that men with longer necks need to wear a higher shirt collar than others to camouflage the neck length-otherwise you get the weather vane look.

Cooch, trust me on this-you need a higher collar.

Item next, Jason Cook performed on “American Idol” last night, and made a marvelous statement about the dangers of self-indulgent behavior. It is a lesson that is of benefit to anyone who makes or hopes to make their livelihood through communication of ideas.

There comes a time-and Jason has been in the middle of it for several weeks-where one has to decide if they want to focus on what they want to focus on or if perhaps they should focus on what their audience wants to focus on. Jason refuses to leave the comfort of his goofy rasta coffee house vibe. If it were a planned decision to take advantage of a perceived fan base, well…that’s one thing. More likely it is a simple unwillingness to try other styles or techniques that some viewers/voters might be interested in. The interest in staying in your comfort zone and doing only what you want or like despite the need to stretch is indulgent behavior.

We see this every day…the salesman who tries to sell you something because they like it-even though the customer clearly is not thrilled; the restauranteur who insists on putting certain favorite items on the menu even though they don’t sell and lose him money; the politician who regularly drives off message because he has an urge to touch on a particular topic, and in doing so diminishes his overall message.

We are surrounded by the indulgence, but Jason Castro is a most telling example…Starbucks Coffee is another one. As the campaigns stretch forth this fall, it will be interesting to see which candidates indulge their indulgences…

As much as Ben Tribbett and others may hate to hear it, I do believe the pant suited lady is singing for Hillary Clinton. She is about out of runway, about out of money, and running short on time. So let me suggest the model for her to follow now-Ted Kennedy 1980. Kennedy finished strong against an incumbent president. He translated this into a primo speaking slot at the convention, gave a memorable speech (often called his “Defense of Liberalism” speech), and moved from the role of presidential aspirant to Senate player and then powerhouse.

Senator Clinton can at this point fight it out to the convention or sulk in her tent, either of which helps the GOP…or she can begin to unify the demo’s and stake out her position as a major party player and capitol hill powerhouse. Maybe it isn’t head of the executive branch, but as can be seen in bios of the great legislators the ability to effectively move legislation to passage is a rare gift. Those that have it have power and influene beyond the title of their office.  Hillary, give it some thought…

Finally-if you are making chili and have the choice between Giant ground beef or Giant Chili Meat, use the latter…the thicker cut beef seems to hold moisture and spices better!

And it is now 1000 hours, and still no pain killers today…let’s hope it keeps up!

Huckabee Kicks off his New Campaign on SNL

Any doubt I may have had about Mike Huckabee and his current political plans were ended last Saturday night when Huckabee appeared on the “Weekend Update” portion of Saturday Night Live.

I have long suspected that Huckabee knows he is done for 2008, and stays in the game and on the stump as a way to continue building his organization and his name ID in preparation for a potential 2012 or 2016 campaign. Going on SNL and making fun of yourself is not something you do while you are in the think of a campaign. It is something done early in the process, before becoming an official candidate as part of an effort to make the candidate look more human and approachable.  John McCain did the same thing on SNL circa 2003 or so, and Obama made a quick stop on the last SNL episode prior to the writer’s strike kicking in (ironically, the skit was of a costume party hosted by Hillary Clinton).

Huckabee’s appearance is further proof that he knows he is toast this year, and is staying in the race as part of a future campaign.  He knows that his name ID and positives went up after his boffo appearance on Jay Leno the night prior to the Iowa caucus, and hopes this will do the same.

So click the link above, enjoy yourself, and remember you have just seen the first media appearance of the 2012/2016 campaign.

Must See TV-”Jericho”-February 12-Mark it Down!

The great televsion drama Jericho comes back one month from now on February 12. For an opening taste…

In the current wasteland of network television, I have three must see (or will be must see) dramas…”Life”, “Friday Night Lights”, and “Jericho”.  The first is currently still on hiatus due to the writer’s strike, and although NBC has (after 1.11.200 four original episodes of FNL left it is not promoting it at all as original episodes in a time when NO ONE has original episodes. Accordingly, I am troubled about its future.

Jericho is back after a fan protest and the shipment of tons of nuts to CBS made them change their minds.  I sincerely hope that this show, and all three, do well enough to come back next season!

Until then, watch all three.  I promise you will be entertained, and you will find it time well spent.

Homer Simpson and Mick Jagger

You never know when free education is going to slap you in the face…

I caught the audio for this on the radio on the way in.

The Mick Jagger dance instruction sequence is priceless…who knew he had a move he called the “school marm”

I am looking forward to the next Stones stop in Burke, so we can officially classify it as “the wildest town in the whole damn world”!

Whoopi Steps in it Again

Reeling from a hellacious first day hosting The View, Whoopi Goldberg attempted to frame and rationalize her comments that seemingly defended Michael Vick and his dog fighting enterprise.

In the course of her second show, Goldberg complained her comments were taken out of context.  After playing tapes from the first show, which included the back and forth with Joy Behar (as described many places, here from the WaPo):

“One of the things I haven’t heard anybody say is . . . this is not an unusual thing from where [Vick] comes from. It’s like cockfighting — cockfighting in Puerto Rico. . . . There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of our country.

“He’s from the South,” she continued. “From the Deep South. Dogfighting is a lot –”

“How about dog torturing and dog murdering?” interrupted “View” colleague Joy Behar

“Unfortunately, it’s part of the thing,” Whoopi responded”

Whoopi, refusing to take her medicine, continued along the same lines yesterday:

Barbara Walters asked if Whoopi thought Vick should not have been “sentenced as he was” because “you say it goes with the territory?”

“I thought, if it had been somebody from New York City, my feelings would be very different,” Whoopi replied, “but this is a kid, kid to me . . . this is part of his cultural upbringing.”

H’mmmm….it seems Whoopi just doesn’t get it.

First, Whoopi needs a geography lesson.  Michael Vick grew up in  Newport News, Virginia. This is hardly the deep south. he plays ball in Atlanta, but he grew up in Newport News and had his kennels within fifty miles or so of his home. If his conduct is being attributed to some regional obsession, the deep south argument ain’t gettin’ it.

Second, while it is nice to see that Whoopi holds the denizens of Gotham to a higher standard of conduct than we poor, benighted souls further to the south, the fact is that dogfighting is not an integral part of southern culture. Dogfighting is, however, illegal in the USA…and it doesn’t matter what your cultural background is.

Third-and this is where we get down to the roots of the problem-what I suspect Whoopie is trying to excuse conduct that she thinks is acceptable in some portion of society, yet she is unwilling to name that portion specifically. It may be the inner city, it may be a particular socioeconomic group, it may be a particular ethinic group. But…..rather than step right up and say it outright OR work from a much higher view and ponder what in his upbringing had him fighting dogs and what caused the light to come on and ‘fess up, instead she tries to excuse his actions by attributing it to some combination of nature and nurture.

Ultimately, I am sure the producers of the show will tell her to move on to more recent tragedies and atrocities. So in the spirit of being helpful, let me pass this on…

Note to Whoopi-when the whole english speaking world thinks your words meant a particular thing, your best shot is to go the Kennedy route and apologize, say you won’t do it again, and move on. Otherwise you end up like Brer Rabbit, and the chances of getting tossed back in the briar patch before you get skinned is unlikely.

UPDATE: Linda Sharp again nails it…is Whoopi going to tell us dog fighting is “indicative” of Ireland, too? Or is she going to just back up and say stupidity knows no border?

UPDATE 2: Norm Leahy at Bacon’s Rebellion examines the details of the “sport” Whoopi views as “indicative” of the Deep South…perhaps after reading this she will send an additional contribution to PETA.

Whoopi Defends Vick

Whoopi Goldberg kicked off her tenure as host of The View by defending Michael Vick and his dogfighting activities.

Goldberg said some activities are part of the unique to various regions of the USA.

“It’s like cockfighting in Puerto Rico,” she said. “There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of the country.”

Well, Whoopi, let’s check the scorecard…

1. Dog fighting is illegal in the USA, I am not sure cock fighting is illegal in Puerto Rico.
2. Vick endangered millions of dollars in salary and endorsement by participating in this illegal activity.
3. Dog fighting is not something unique to the South. Perhaps to certain elements in rural regions, but not to the entire region. Please don’t smear a region while trying to defend the indefensible.

Apparently Whoopi is more concerned with making a splash as host of The View than she is in making sense.

Good Luck with that.

For another more pungent take on the same matter, see the divine Linda Sharp comments.

Have the French heard of Copernicus?

Clearly, rumors of academic excellent in Europe only go so far.

Apparently the theories of Copernicus are not currently in vogue in France.

H/T to Donkey with a Trunk for alerting us to this educational spectacle!