"There is this funny thing I do. It's called Thinking?"
George Carlin
And with that phrase,George had me,because he sold the line with a look, at once bewildered and rather impatient that he has to explain this concept. I liked him long before I got saved, but even then his language was not the sort that I appreciated or would ordinarily tolerate in my presence. But, there is nothing ordinary about George Carlin. He truly is a thinker. A brilliant man,who also happens to be incredibly funny...and unbelievably earthy.But the beauty of his mind is such, that you can delete...or substitute certain fringe words, for more acceptable words,and his jokes are still funny. That puts him on a level far above comics like Andrew Dice Clay and others of his ilk that couldn't entertain anyone if they didn't have profanity,obscenity,rudeness and filth to shock his audiences with. With Carlin, you don't get posing on the latest rumor, you get insights into every day things. Take sports, for example. Now, I am not a big sports buff. Neither is Mr. Carlin, to hear him tell it. It's been years since I heard him do this bit, but I think I can recap what he has to say about sports, albeit,not as humorously. He takes the position that not all activities called sports are actually sports!
Running?-Running is not a sport, it is a way to get from one place to another really fast! Especially if your being chased.
Bicycling?-Bicycling is not a sport, it's just another form of running, only with a mechanical device to make you go even faster!
Swimming?-Swimming is not a sport, it's a way to keep from drowning!
There's more to it, but the upshot is, for an activity to be considered a sport, there must be balls involved. And yet, he had things to say on that score too. Golf! What kind of a sportsman plays golf? You take a tiny ball, and hit it with a long stick,and then you walk after it....and then....you hit it again! Hey! You were lucky enough to find it the first time! Pick the ball up, put it in your pocket and go the heck home! Most other sports are just new ways of playing an old game.According to George, tennis is nothing new or even that classy...tennis is just table ping-pong played while standing on the table! His recounting of this bit is hysterically funny, while mine is just a lame retelling of it,and I remember it so imperfectly that I am sure that none of this was the slightest bit amusing to you. But that is not because I didn't use his vernacular,but because I am not George Carlin,with his timing, wit, and mugging that goes along with fresh-eyed take on ordinary things, that makes him an extraordinary entertainer. But, he's more than an entertainer, he is an artist. The buzz is, George is releasing a new book called:"3 X Carlin:An Orgy of George"!
Look for it. I plan to.
OUI?
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