George Carlin, R.I.P.

I woke up this morning to the sad news that George Carlin had died. The guy was a maverick, one of his generation's great storytellers and thinkers, and a huge influence on me personally. All you youngsters out there owe it to yourselves to hear his work -- especially from this late '60s-to-early '80s heyday. The man was a genius.

So, in tribute, we'll be foregoing the usual Bollywood Monday or Mashup Monday post in favor of these classic Carlin bits.

As expected, every obit/tribute is beginning with this, his "Seven Words You Can't Say on TV" routine, which provided the fuel for a landmark Supreme Court case that eventually changed the face of obscenity law and television in general. The original routine exists only on audio, but here's an update from the late '70s:


Isn't this what we all want, a place for our stuff?


Personally, I prefer baseball to football:


Editing the Ten Commandments:


But the best of Carlin came from the pre-YouTube age. Thankfully, his comedy albums are still readily available. I highly recommend "Class Clown," "FM & AM," "Occupation: Foole," "Toledo Window Box" and "Classic Gold," which collects most of the highlights from that era.