I read the news today. Oh #%*&!
When I woke up and saw the news of George Carlin’s death at age 71 this morning, I smiled. I didn’t smile because it pleased me that he was gone. Just the opposite was true. I smiled because memories of him delighted me.
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I grew up listening to scratchy old LPs of Carlin, Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby and Cheech & Chong. Long before iPODs turned recordings into things that flow directly into your brain, my friends and I would hole up in one of our basements and pay our favorite LP tracks over and over again until the stylus wore out on the record player. (Note to younger readers: You can look up LP, record player and stylus on Wikipedia.)
Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words” routine was not only hilarious, but it forced the federal government to come to grips with “decency laws” that prohibited naughty language on the public airwaves. He was ground-breaking, cynical, nasty and just $*&#@! hilarious all at once.
And the man hated golf with a passion. He did a number of comedic riffs on the game during his 50 some years of performing, but his best known attack came in the early ’90s when he halfway seriously proposed that golf courses should be turned into cheap housing for the homeless. It’s a bit harsh for those of us who love the game, but it’s enlightening to hear his views because they represent those of many in our country.
Here it is in a YouTube clip preceded by another classic critique of the game by Robin Williams (you can skip the Williams bit and go right to Carlin at 4:56 into the clip).
WARNING: Both comedians use many, many bad terrible awful words that will offend some of you. If you don’t like bad words, don’t listen.
Pat Jones is president of Flagstick, LLC.