When I Heard of His Passing, I Said "@#$*)%*!!!" In His Honor

R.I.P. George Carlin. I was a big fan of his material in college, having a few recordings and an old videotape of one of his great HBO specials. I hadn't seen him on TV as much recently, but I tried to catch him whenever he was on Leno. I only wish I'd gotten to see him during the many times he played Dallas (which, until recently was often at the also late and lamented Bronco Bowl).

Althouse has a tribute that features several YouTube clips, including the classic "A Place for My Stuff" routine. Sure, he said the "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television," but he was really, really funny, and he had some great observations that were perfectly PG-13 rated. (Among my favorites: "Why do we park in driveways and drive on parkways?" "Why, if you deliver something by car, is it called a shipment, but if you deliver it by ship, it's cargo?") He will be missed.

Trivia I just learned today: One of Carlin's first jobs was at a Ft. Worth radio station.

UPDATE: Here's even more trivia: According to one of the brothers on my fraternity listserv, Carlin was a keyboardist who often played on his own comedy albums. Here are two quotes he had on the subject of music:

“I’ll tell you a little secret about the blues: it’s not enough to know which notes to play; you gotta know why they need to be played.”

“All music is the blues. All of it.”