
George Carlin dies at 71 - andreyf
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25322638/
======
DanielBMarkham
Carlin used to do a straight stand-up kinda gig, with a suit and a tie and the
lot. Used to play Saturday nights at the Holiday Inn to a bunch of middle-aged
salesmen.

Then he realized that he could do a 180 and instead do a routine attacking the
system. That's when he really took off. He hit his stride during the late
60s/early 70s with a completely new and growing market: the kids.

This is a good example of the same product (Carlin) working at a mediocre
level in one market and being a complete success in another. It takes guts to
change your market positioning!

I loved some of his stuff. In all fairness, to me some of his stuff towards
the end sounded like "old angry hippie tries to stay relevant"

But he was a genius by any measure. Somewhere up in Vallhalla Odin is probably
laughing right now at the cats and dogs routine.

~~~
omouse
"Ohhh the anti-system dollar, that's a _big_ dollar!"

Bill Hicks on marketing: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo>

~~~
trominos
That clip was like... the anti-humor. Why is that guy so popular?

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bayareaguy
I'll always remember him for this one:

 _Leftovers make you feel good twice. First, when you put it away, you feel
thrifty and intelligent: ‘I’m saving food!’_

 _Then a month later when blue hair is growing out of the ham, and you throw
it away, you feel really intelligent: ‘I’m saving my life!’_

~~~
dpapathanasiou
I always liked his " _plastics may be the reason for human existence_ "
speculation, which was part of his " _the planet doesn't need saving_ " rant
(<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw>)

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SwellJoe
Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.

~~~
aston
I'm lukewarm on Carlin being remembered for that (edit: that alone). His
comedy is a lot more intelligent than a list of dirty words might imply.

~~~
SwellJoe
Ratshit, batshit, dirty old twat, sixty-nine assholes tied in a knot. Hooray!
Lizard shit. Fuck!

In other words: You demean the work by dividing it into the bits and pieces
you consider polite.

~~~
Alex3917
Seven dirty words only became famous because of the court case. It's good, but
not nearly as brilliant as state prison farms, golf courses for the homeless,
euphemisms, etc.

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apu
Amazingly, he did indeed "die," and not just "pass away." Perhaps he did
indeed affect mainstream media slightly...

~~~
ojbyrne
There are, however, plenty of people out there saying he passed away and
"RIP."

I managed to find the bit where he talks about "passing away":
[http://youtube.com/watch?v=RrvyrxUpibg&feature=related](http://youtube.com/watch?v=RrvyrxUpibg&feature=related)
(starting around 4:30).

I feel an impulse to post it in a comment on every blog or article that uses a
death euphemism (I did <http://searchengineland.com/080623-082447.php> already
:-)).

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sealedidentity
Man was a genius! He hacked culture. Fondly remembered, badly missed.

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johns
Shining Time Station mourns.

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MisterMerkin
He hacked culture, I guess.

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jdavid
I love Carlin, but this IS NOT STARTUP NEWS. The article was on digg, slashdot
and wired. this feed used to be different. ;-(

~~~
gnaritas
This site isn't about startup news, it's about hacker news. Small reminder...

On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes
more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the
answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.

Carlin was damn interesting and someone I'd bet many many hackers looked up
to.

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icey
Serious question: Why is this one OK, but the news of Tim Russert passing was
not?

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=217591>

~~~
deathbyzen
Probably because less people liked Tim Russert.

~~~
raganwald
Please clarify: fewer people, lesser people, or both?

;-)

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elai
That's really sad. But 71 isn't that bad.

~~~
mpc
Really? Tell that to someone in their 60s.

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mattmaroon
Bad beat. Also a bad beat will be the flood of memorial crap in television and
film sure to follow.

~~~
aston
I'm calling shenanigans here. You can't use poker terms in real life, can you?

~~~
mattmaroon
Bad beat and bluff are the only ones allowed.

~~~
Alex3917
Anything beyond that is a flop.

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dreish
Hmm. He was just here a minute ago.

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snewe
Hacker News?

~~~
TrevorJ
I might as well go right to reddit from now on I guess.

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bluehatrider
Who is george carlin??

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Zarathu
This is wonderful advice for my start-up. Thank you.

