Tragic News

[NorCalBob]

I was sorry to hear of this--I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Carlin several times in the 1970's through a mutual friend of ours, the jazz drummer Joe Belardino.  Carlin was a very, VERY funny man and a really nice guy.  You're right, he'll be missed.

Tom

 

 

Tom, Joe Belardino is my late uncle and George was a friend of the family for many years. It's nice to see that people still remember Joe.

Rest in Peace George & Joe!

[Phoebe Vet]

To quote another famous entertainer:

A couple of people in here have a heart two sizes too small.

I didn't realize that 71 years should be enough for anybody with health problems.

I also noticed that the complaint about his shortcomings was worth mentioning, but the fact that turned his life around and was no longer a drug and alcohol abuser was not.

And last, but not least, it amazes me that some people think calling someone left leaning or a liberal is an insult.

George:

Thomas and I will both miss you.

[WSOR 3801]

I guess watching him say (as The Conductor) "Mr. Topham Hatt was very cross" was the funniest part of the show, not using the 7 words.

[Dallas Model Works]

I grew up with GC but I fail to see what this has to do w/model railroading (not that I'm complaining).

Guess the mods who are so quick to jump on the seven dirty words are George fans after all!

 

[Tracklayer]

I wouldn't go so far as to say horrible, but indeed very sad...

I'd seen Carlin on TV as a kid and really never paid much attention to who he was. I always considered him to be that funny hippy guy until the late 70s when my brother-in-law told me who he was while watching an HBO special. After that I was hooked.

I know we all eventually have to go and I realize he had heart problems but I wish he could have been with us just a little longer...

Rest in peace George, and thanks a trillion for all of the laughs. There won't ever be another like you.

Tracklayer 

[zeis96]

For anyone interested and I know it's a little late, but XM radio channel 150 is playing a tribute all day.

[trainfan1221]

Besides there is nothing wrong with paying a tribute to someone who a lot of us obviously admired.  This is a place for trains of course but we all have communicated with each other enough to diverge about something of interest occasionally.

[loathar]

And what this all has to do with trains is????

He was Mr. Conductor! (Don't you watch Thomas??)

[Rotorranch]

And what this all has to do with trains is????

I believe, other than general discussion, the tie in to trains/model trains is that George played Mr. Conductor on the kids show "Shining Time Station"/ Thomas the Tank.

Rotor

[ndbprr]

And what this all has to do with trains is????

[lvanhen]

 

Pardon me, but George Carlin was seventy-one years old! can someone please explain to me what is so horrible about dying at the age of seventy-one years especially when you have had a twenty year history of heart ailments?

Not only heart ailments - he was not exactly a "drug free zone"!!

[Angus99]

Regarding the commentary about whether 71 was/was not a reasonable lifespan, I am reminded of something Woody Allen once said (paraphrasing): "I don't want to live forever through my art, I want to live forever by not dying."

[mecovey]

I laughed at George too - lines like "If a pig loses his voice is he disgruntled?" are, to quote Larry the cable guy, funny I don't care who you are. I wonder however if given his present circumstances, he still considers his anti God material funny. RIP? I don't know but I doubt it.

[WP 3020]

If one has nothing positive to give to the world then, perhaps in ones mind, one should die sooner rather than later. George had a way of bringing things (some so subtle we didn't notice it) to light and getting people to think about them, and that is  positive thing. I and others, with more educated guesses, think had he lived longer would have continued giving positively because he was always thinking. To me, he was a crusader and warrior for the freedom of common sense, individual thought and speech. Horrible? Tragic? Tomaytoe. Tamawtoe. I'm glad I took the time to listen, ponder and laugh . He is and will be missed.

[Anonymous]

George was one of my favorite comedians. I was bummed to find out he died too but kind of expected it given that he was in his 70s and had a history of heart problems.

[saronaterry]

I'll miss him. "I'm gonna snatch that *** and put it in a box!!!!" THAT'S funny!

[trainfan1221]

I literally woke up to the news of George Carlin's passing, not a great way to start the day.   I went with a friend a few years back and saw him in Atlantic City, very glad I did now.   He even worked Mr. Conductor into the act!

[modelmaker51]

I don't think his views on the world changed much at all, it is we who have changed, and not all for the better! RIP George, have a doobie for me.

 

Another man who will be even more sorely missed by me and hasn't been mentioned here on the forum was Tim Russert. His sudden passing really hit me, I will really miss him on Sunday mornings and his insights on the politics of the day. RIP Tim.

[R. T. POTEET]

Pardon me, but George Carlin was seventy-one years old! can someone please explain to me what is so horrible about dying at the age of seventy-one years especially when you have had a twenty year history of heart ailments?

Do you want to die if/when you reach 71? Wouldn't you like to live longer? Would it have made it any less horrible (in your mind) if he died of a car accident?

 Look, I liked George Carlin as much as the next guy and I am saddened by his passing buy why, may I ask, is it "horrible"?. "Tragic" might be a better adjective to his passing but then one has to ask what, since we all die sooner-or-later, would make that event a tragedy.He was only three years older than I am and that fact does tend to cause reflection on my mortality.

I most certainly would like to live beyond the age of 71; for that matter I even want to live beyond the age of 68. Would I like to live to 91? I'm not sure! we have a woman in our church who is 93. She requires a walker but she is as mentally vigilant as a woman half her age. We heap accolades on those who achieve the century mark - our president recently paid homage in the White House to the last surviving World War One veteran who recently celebrated his 107th birthday and I applauded that he had achieved that age - but most of those who do are, if you examine it closely, decrepit and I would, most certainly, above all else, like to avoid that.

What, may I ask, kind of future did we want for George Carlin with his twenty year history of cardiac problems? Did we want him to survive another twenty years confined to a wheel chair and suffering from intense dementia? I will mourn George Carlins death and move on to other things. I will not label it as "horrible" nor even as "tragic".  

[Walleye]

 

Pardon me, but George Carlin was seventy-one years old! can someone please explain to me what is so horrible about dying at the age of seventy-one years especially when you have had a twenty year history of heart ailments?

There may be nothing horrible about dying at age 71 - don't know, I'm not there yet. But mourning is a selfcentered emotion. When someone dies, we mourn our loss, not their passing.

Carlin made me laugh at my own attitudes at times - and laughing at yourself is always healthy. He offered insights and a point of view that challenged me to think about them, whether I agreed with them or not - again, a healthy thing. I regret that I will never again receive his particular, unique brand of mental stimulation. If Carlin made my life just a little bit richer by what he contributed to it, then my life has been made just a little bit less rich by his death.

And he would probably find my sentiments maudlin and poke fun at them!

 

[jackn2mpu]

 George Carlin, comedian/ Thomas & Friends Narrarator, died on Sunday, June 22, 2008 of Heart Failure. He will surely be missed.

It is sad news when any one dies.  But to post something about him in MR forums? 

I read the bio on MSN news about him and while I grew up in High School hearing his 7-words routine and saw him in Reno when I was 21, the bio made me lose respect for him.  He was a druggie and a counter culture, counter morals figure.  Read his bio, you'll see.  Certainly no role model to any one that I would recommend.  I'm sure many of us have things in our past we are not proud of and don't want to be remembered for, but people in the public eye are particularly open observation because of the nature of celebrity.  They are often glorified for certain talents while their lives represent something we would never want our children to emulate.

Funny guy?  Yes, for sure.  He was a funny guy, and many like him for his quirky and sometimes insightful humor or ways of looking at the funny side of life.  For those things most of us found him funny and entertaining.  Lets be realistic though, many celebrities, despite enormous talent, are often reverse role models if we knew about their real lives.  I often feel American society looks up too much to celebrities and entertainers, and not enough to many real, unsung hero's, like teachers, or parents, or family members.  Here's to them!

My condolenses to Carlin's family.  I'm sure his family and many admirers will miss him.

So George was counter-culture - BFD! He poked holes in the pompous as well as everyday people and their foibles. He held a light up to those that needed it. George helped you see things in ways the mainstream doesn't want you to see them, oftentimes him showing the truth of things. He was SO much more than the 7 dirty words - that was just his way to get a foot in the door. So Carlin wasn't pc - anybody who is just doesn't live in the real world.

So people should only look up to teachers, parents and family members as hero's? Truth be told, you'll find as many, if not more, skeletons in their closets that they'd rather not have known as you would in any celebrity's background. Ozzie and Harriet or the Cleavers don't live here anymore.

[PA&ERR]

Ditto to all of the above (can we still say ditto?)  I saw him in person over 25 years ago & he was very funny!!  That said, in later years his politics got way too far left for my taste, but he was still funny

I was thinking the same thing, however, I wanted to keep my remarks "politics free".

I wonder if he really moved that far to the left? Things he was saying in his later years were fairly consistant with what he was talking about in his 20s. The verbage may have changed with the times, but the same basic ideas were still there.

Perhaps it is ourselves who, over the years, have migrated (in unseen increments) to the right?

-George

 

[jackn2mpu]

Pardon me, but George Carlin was seventy-one years old! can someone please explain to me what is so horrible about dying at the age of seventy-one years especially when you have had a twenty year history of heart ailments?

Do you want to die if/when you reach 71? Wouldn't you like to live longer? Would it have made it any less horrible (in your mind) if he died of a car accident?

[wetidlerjr]

RIP

[CSXDixieLine]

He was great as Fillmore in Cars though. "I'm tellin' you maaaan. Every third blink is slower"

HAHAHA! Today we were talking about his role in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" but I completely forgot about his voice role in "Cars". My 4-year old son has a zillion of the Thomas DVDs and videos and Cars is his favorite movie. I can say Mr. Carlin has definitely sparked some laughter from my son (as well as me) over the years. Jamie

[loathar]

I remember him complaining about how evil children were and that he knew this from playing Mr. Conductor!

[Don Gibson]

A Counter Culture commedian and 'Wordsmith' in it's finest sense. Remember his 'Hippy Dippy Weatherman' routine? - A classic. Made the Networks.

I remember the night he was pulled offstage by local Gendarmes @ Milwaukee's Summerfest.    I was playing  Miller's Jazz Venue @ the time.

[dwRavenstar]

When one has a zest and love for life like Mr. Carlin had any time is too soon to close the book. 

Counter culture can be defined as counter conformity and there's no guilt associated with mentioning the King's lack of clothes.

Any nay sayers out there might watch Larry King Live tonight and see how those who knew him offstage feel about George.

His time has become finite but the laughs will fill the halls of my mind forever.

Thanks Mr. Carlin.  Break a leg on that stage in Heaven tonight. 

Ravenstar 

[R. T. POTEET]

 

Pardon me, but George Carlin was seventy-one years old! can someone please explain to me what is so horrible about dying at the age of seventy-one years especially when you have had a twenty year history of heart ailments?