The End of an Era

This morning I woke up the usual way as I normally would. Started my regular routine, and grabbed a book that I have been reading called "My boring ass life" by Kevin Smith. Essentially the book is a diary of his life during the time that he was preparing and eventually working on the film Clerks 2.
He began to talk about another movie that he was in called Catch and Release, and how it was appropriate for him to be part of the movie because it was very much in line with the style of his movie "Jersey Girl". It was at this time that I started thinking about Jersey Girl and how it was not as bad as many people have deemed it to be, the saving grace of the film being that he got some people to act for him that made the movie what it was... one of those people being George Carlin.
I began thinking about how Carlin had done some amazing things over the years and how his brand of humor has been one truly reflecting the best points as well as the most asinine ideals that we maintain as a culture.
In fact it was only about 3 weeks ago that I dug out his book "Brain Droppings" and I presented it to my girlfriend to read. She knew about Carlin, but from what I know never really followed a whole lot of his work. I told her that since she and I think along the same level, she would probably really get a kick out his book, and his perspective.
This morning I also had one other thought.... this is odd for me to understand because I have had this thought many times before over other well known celebrities... the thought was "Man, things are gonna really suck when Carlin goes, the world is going to lose an amazing person, a brilliant mind, and what could be conceived to be a modern day philosopher." It was roughly 40 minutes later that I learned that George Carlin died last night at roughly 6pm PDT, (9 pm EST).
While 71 seems like he lived a long life, the average lifespan these days is about 78 - 79 which means to me that he died younger than he should have.
His life was exceptional in the idea that he was one of the few people that experienced things from multiple perspectives but did not allow the worst of things to take him down. Over the years he was an admitted drug and drink addict. It took a number of years for him to work his way past that but once he did he remained clean and sober. He could speak clearly on the subjects that many people haven't experienced first hand and offer a clear perspective of what things are like in layman's terms. He also did this successfully by being descriptively funny. He liked to point out things that people knew existed, but make sure that it came about in a way that it really made them think about what others were actually saying.
Over the years his observations became less playfully observant and more of an attack. His material became more abrasive and brash as it dug into issues that no one wanted to have thrown at them. Even up to the point where after 9/11/01 Carlin prepared for his latest HBO special and ultimately had about 25 minutes of it cut out because the execs thought that he went after the 9/11 subject too abruptly at a time when people might take serious offense to his opinion.
Carlin wasn't what one would call a man of few words, for words were his weapon of choice and he wielded them as only a master could. If you haven't had the chance I would highly recommend finding as many of his albums as possible and seeing the progression of his comedy. Also read his books, he wrote 3 best sellers which can now be bought in one paperback collection. While he may no longer be with us, his obscure thoughts and poignant observations will always remain strong.

It is with a sense of loss that I write this, a final farewell to one of Americas most amazing minds, it was truly a pleasure to bare witness to the brilliance that was Mr. Carlin. While there may be many others that follow in his footsteps there will never be another one quite like him.

-Ryan Fulton