The Book of Carlin

The face over there on the right is not Alonzo but an incredible simulation. In actuality, for those who don't recognize him, it's comedian George Carlin. Carlin is a stand-up comedian that started an act back in the fifties that contained a lot of observational humor. By the seventies, his act had evolved to include a lot of political and social issues that appealed to the counter-culture audiences he was playing to at college campuses. This wasn't pandering on Carlin's part, but a change in his outlook and the way he wanted to speak to people. His observational humor was still there, like the famous "a place for my stuff" bit, but it was now intermixed with material like his "Seven Words" bit, which led to a Supreme Court case on obscenity. This new material put some of his old audience off while attracting a new one.
 
At age 67, he's still going strong cranking out HBO specials every few years or so, and I'm still a big fan. Although some of what he says is over exaggeration and not meant to be taken as good advice (i.e. Ignoring red lights and pedestrians while driving), much more of what he says is heartfelt and makes so much sense:

"And now they're thinking of banning toy guns, AND THEY'RE GOING TO KEEP THE F--KING REAL ONES!"

You don't need to explain to me the reasoning behind such a ban, because I know the reasoning for it is sound. It also has to be recognized, however, that this statement is a chilling observation of how absurd our society has become.
 
I'm not going into depth on Carlin in this post. That's for future posts when certain points are more topical and worth discussion at that time. Suffice to say that Carlin's spirit has a strong role in my site, and don't be surprised at his popping up now and again.