ENTERTAINMENT, TELEVISION and BOOKS: George Carlin Died

This is from me, NOT some reprinted from somewhere else. - OlderMusicGeek

Some people have said George Carlin has passed on or that we lost him. Well, neither are true. He's dead, maybe even screaming up at us.


I have to admit I haven't listen or watched George Carlin much in the last 20 years.

And that's unfortunate, because from what I have seen and read, he was still putting out some very good and funny material.


I guess in some ways, I had felt I had outgrown George Carlin. George said, "I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately." And that was great in my teens and 20's.

But as you get older, you find rebelling for it's own sake doesn't seem that fun. I remember an interview with Jon Waters, a director who did many gross films in his youth. The interviewer asked him about how his movies weren't the same now that he is older. I don't remember his exact words, but he said something along the lines of making wild films that are gross in your 20's is fun - doing it in your 40's is pathetic.

That's kind the way I felt about listening to George Carlin. I thought I'm willing to stand up for what I believe in and take the heat, but I'm not interested in just shocking people.

And that's what my friends and I used George for, shocking people. "Hey, listen to this." "Listen to this comedian rattle off these cuss words." George Carlin and Cheech and Chong were our mild, white, midwestern way of rebelling! We loved it because we knew our parents and teachers didn't!

Well, when I didn't need to shock anybody anymore, I thought there was no need for George. Unfortunately, what I didn't realize - was that George wasn't shocking people just for shock's sake either. George was also standing up for what he believed in and taking whatever heat came with it.

So then after a few interviews and a couple of HBO specials, I finally realized that. But I still never watched him much. "Ehh, I catch it later. I don't have the time now." Unfortunately, now that there will be no new material, I might be able to catch up on his stuff.

George Carlin didn't believe in an afterlife. Hopefully, he's wrong, because he deserves a good place in it.

George Carlin’s Secret News from ‘When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops’
Announcer: Good Evening ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the secret news.
Ssshhh.
Here’s the secret news:
All people are afraid.
No one knows what they’re doing.
Everything is getting worse.
Some people deserve to die.
Your money is worthless.
No one is properly dressed.
At least one of your children will disappoint you.
The system is rigged.
Your house will never be completely clean.
All teachers are incompetent.
There are people who really dislike you.
Nothing is as good as it seems.
Things don’t last.
No one is paying attention.
The country is dying.
God doesn’t care.
Ssshhh.

A link to George Carlin's home page
An interview with George Carlin from NPR's Fresh Air

MOVIES/VIDEOS and COMICS: General Zod For President

I've seen some interesting sites for people running for president - or people who want someone to run.

But this site is the best by far! - OlderMusicGeek


When I first came to your planet and demanded your homes, property and very lives, I didn't know you were already doing so, willingly, with your own government. I can win no tribute from a bankrupted nation populated by feeble flag-waving plebians. In 2008 I shall restore your dignity and make you servants worthy of my rule. This new government shall become a tool of my oppression. Instead of hidden agendas and waffling policies, I offer you direct candor and brutal certainty. I only ask for your tribute, your lives, and your vote.
-- General Zod
Your Future President and Eternal Ruler

Kneel before Zod!
RAPID CITY (AP) -- The ideological and spiritual source of the "Kneel Before Zod" campaign is General Zod, outstanding leader of the national liberation movement of the United States. Reflected in the idea are the love of might and absolute trust in the ruler. General Zod embarked upon the road of revolution with the idea as valuable ideological and spiritual pabulum and mixed himself with the people to find a new road of the revolution. While in the Phantom Zone in 1979, he came to have the idea that one can win a victory only when one is responsible for the revolution in one's country and carries it out in reliance on the strength of one's people.


I do not take orders. I give them. Congress shall no longer have the ability to impeach me or override my decisions, and the Supreme Court shall not meddle in government affairs.

Your freedom will be expanded. You will be even more free to give your money and lives to me, and to be my eternal subjects.

Eliminate the Iraq War. The Iraq War has shifted $187 billion to the defense industry. How is this "defense industry" to kneel before me? Are my praises to be sung as footnotes in their paperwork? You will stop giving these corporations your wealth. I suggest you put the money into your own schools and health care, so that I may have intelligent, healthy servants. I will indulge your wishes if you all want a Westernized, unpopular regime in Iraq, and I too shall gloat in its troubles, but it will not be done at my expense.

Universal health care. Even a criminal like myself is shocked that millions are not able to get health insurance and cannot pay for basic surgery. Who are these power brokers that allow the pigpen to become wormy and filthy? I demand your very lives, but I am not such an imbecile as to institutionalize suffering and poverty. You have my assurance that this shall change swiftly.

Corporate reform. You people have become disgusting minions to these things you call "corporations". These things take your money and your land, put you into debt, send your jobs overseas, provide you with unsafe foods, and sue you when you say anything bad about them. Yet you people fatten them up at the ballot box. You give them free land, name your stadiums after them, allow them to telemarket you, and even sacrifice your own bankruptcy protections. Quite frankly it astonishes me. I will break this sickly codependency. It is I who shall be your ruler. I shall empower you with wealth to give me as tribute. A corporation cannot bow to me or give me tribute that comes from the heart.

You will buy U.S. made items. Why do you buy Chinese-made items when you know that it sells out the jobs of your family and friends? How will you buy those cheap things when you have no job? You are sending my wealth and tribute to foreign lands. I will not tolerate this.

A link to the General Zod for president home page

MUSIC: Real Names Of Some Musicians

I found this on Yahoo when I was checking my email. The original piece had ten, but I just put the ones I found most interesting. - OlderMusicGeek

List Of The Day: Performers Who Won’t Be Changing Their Stage Names Anytime Soon
by Rob O'Connor

Would a rose smell any sweeter if it had been named a bowel evacuator? It'd be a little odd. Celebrities often change their names because their real ones suck. Or they know no one will remember it. Not everyone can be born with the name Bruce Springsteen, after all. In the case of Miley Cyrus, well, she got stuck being Hannah Montana because someone thought it'd be a better idea if the name rhymed! That may be true for song lyrics, but it's not necessary for a stage name. So we here at List of the Day applaud Ms. Cyrus' taking back her name, but it made us wonder what would happen if others followed suit.

Now Prince tried to change his name to hieroglyphics. And Johnny Cougar slowly worked his way to John Cougar Mellencamp and finally John Mellencamp, but here are some others who have never looked back. They are who they say they are.

John Denver--Henry John Deutschendorf: Well, first off he's dead, so he won't be making any new decisions. But even had he lived I don't see Henry here opting to switch back to that last name. I wonder if he had trouble spelling it. I wouldn't want to have to fill out forms and endorse checks with that many consonants to worry about. Imagine getting pulled over for a DWI and being asked to spell your name. Stick with Denver.

Cher--Cherilyn Sarkisian: Once you're a one-name celebrity, you don't look back. You've made it.

Gene Simmons--Chaim Witz: As music's most famous marketer, Gene Simmons saw his future and knew it wasn't Chaim Witz. Just like he didn't name his band Radio Free Vestibule. Kiss was obviously a stronger choice. The man may have difficulty singing and A&E knows his "reality" show has the most scripted feel of anything I've seen in terms of "reality" (I didn't even realize he had a dog until they spent an entire episode looking for it.), but the man knows how to put his name and image on everything. So break out the Witz! (I like how he talks of how proud he is of being a Jew - even said in an interview that the interview wasn't a "real Jew", but he didn't take a very Jewish stage name! - OMGeek)

Lou Reed--Butch Firbank: Ok, Lou Reed really is Lou Reed's name, but that didn't stop a rumor started in CREEM magazine that Lou's real name was Butch Firbank. Someone had written in to ask if Lou Reed was a pun on "Lurid" and the cheeky editor decided on Lou's new name of origin. It still from time to time gets considered a fact. My favorite kind: the ones that aren't true but should be.

Elton John--Reginald Kenneth Dwight: Oh Reggie! Supper's ready! You can hear why this wasn't going to work. Though why he would to decide to pick a last name that could either be interpreted as a toilet or a person who frequents prostitutes. If it's considered hard to be a pimp, imagine how much worse it is to be the guy on the other end. Look at that Spitzer dude. He wishes he was only likened to a toilet these days.

I'd like to add David Bowie to this list, just because he changed his name from David Jones because he didn't want to be confused with Davey Jones of The Monkees. And because I actually got a question on a trivial game right because of this. It asked which name was most common in England like John Smith is in America. And I figured if there were two famous musicians named David Jones, that had to be the name! - OlderMusicGeek

a link to the original piece.