Tuesday, May 24, 2022

The Life and Times of a Disappointed Idealist

If you have the access to the new HBO documentary on George Carlin, do yourself a favor and spend the four (4) hours to soak it in. It's worth it for a host of reasons:

- Most obviously, for the laughs. There are hundreds of jokes in there. Real belly laughs. Ones I'd seen many times, plus loads more I hadn't. 

- Then, for the sardonic truths. Head-shaking cynical acknowledgments about the shortcomings of humankind, civilization, and especially organized religion. Powerfully relevant right now.

- The appreciation for a 45-year career that saw a man simultaneously evolving into a new version of himself and yet unabashedly (save for Carlin v1.0) dedicated to the consistent theme of being allegiant to his truest self.

- The story. His life, the travails and true loves, his huge successes and pointed failures, his family saga, and his rocket ride through drugs, alcoholism, sobriety, and health challenges. 

He wouldn't want you to take a lesson, but he would want you to be entertained. And I was.

[This video has language not suited for high volumes at many of your in-person workplaces]

19 comments:

rootsminer said...

I'm looking forward to watching this one, once I get though Winning Time. My TV watching pace is glacial.

Mark said...

My pace has also become glacial. With the wife now working a couple nights a week, we are so far behind it's pathetic. Haven't even started the final season of Ozark. Trying to knock out Better Call Saul first. And there's a long list beneath those two.

Whitney said...

Well, here's a headline:

EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Plotting To Assassinate George W. Bush In Dallas

https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2022/05/24/exclusive-isis-plotting-to-assassinate-george-w-bush-in-dallas/?sh=17a3d05d180f

Whitney said...

Was teed up to watch Smashing Pumpkins tonight in Portsmouth, friends in box seats with a spare. And then Billy Corgan got sick. Damn that guy. I mean, I hope he's okay.

Whitney said...

Second show in as many months where I had a ticket given to me last minute and then the show was nixed. (Kurt Vile was the other.)

Dave said...

thanks for the reminder, i tried to watch this a couple weeks ago but it was just a trailer.

Whitney said...

I just watched the first episode of the new Kids in the Hall. It’s actually great. What a relief.

Whitney said...

And the Shadowy Men from a Shadowy Planet theme song is more than arguably the best in all of TV history. I mean, you have your Gary Portnoy Cheers, your MASH Suicide Is Painless, various Mike Post classics (Rockford likely at the top), and a bunch of sing-songy stuff, but this is another story. Worth a post. If we haven’t already done it. (Teej?)

Mark said...

A show I forgot to mention that's great is "We Own This City". I've read the book it's based on and, at least so far, they don't stray much at all from the true story of the Gun Trace Task Force in Baltimore. An unbelievable story of corruption and police misconduct that's done masterfully but a huge chunk of the folks that are responsible for The Wire. I'm half an episode behind. Well worth your time.

rob said...

dan lebatard did a great interview with david simon about 'we own this city' on his south beach sessions podcast. amazingly cynical corruption, and simon is a great talker.

rootsminer said...

That was a interesting conversation. Simon did better than most at not getting waylaid by lebatard's meandering questions.

rob said...

i enjoy lebatard's wandering. he gets a lot out of interview subjects.

rootsminer said...

I like him, too. I just think he could get more out of them if he asked more succinct questions and let them talk.

OBX dave said...

Hey Scott, are you familiar with these folks?

www.palmyratheband.com

They appear to be in the same ZIP code, musically, with you and your cronies. Wonder if you think they're interesting or worthy. They play a show here in the Outer Banks in a couple weeks. Coincidentally, their summer tour has them in your neighborhood for 3 nights coming up -- Rising Silo in Blacksburg Sat., June 4, then Roanoke for a couple nights, Sun., June 5 at Fork in the Alley and June 6 at Starr Hill Pilot Brewery.

rootsminer said...

I'm aware of them. One of their members is the kid of Beth Macy, an ink stained local legend who used to contribute to our local daily paper.

Beth has moved onto writing books that have garnered some acclaim (Factory Man, Truevine, and Dopesick). Her success is commendable, especially considering the fact that she once played my wife in a radio skit about a monkey getting into my home brew.

OBX dave said...

Wow. Had no idea. Macy is indeed a state, or at least southwest part of the state, newspaper legend. Her books are excellent.

rootsminer said...

She’s a tremendous person, to boot.

rob said...

you had a fake wife who let a monkey get into your homebrew? i feel like this could be a post.

rootsminer said...

I know the editorial standards can be low here, but I'm not sure an anecdote about a radio skit from 2014 is post-worthy. We didn't even have a real monkey, just someone making monkey noises. Zman would surely clown me over that.