Fidgety: The Day the Comedy Died...

June 23, 2008

The Day the Comedy Died...

In America, anyone can become president. That’s the problem. -George Carlin

I was eleven years old when I first discovered George Carlin, the great comic icon. He was the first performer to ever "host" Saturday Night Live. The year, 1975. My older brother and I had to beg my parents to let us stay up and watch it. We were hooked. George's outlook on life was so refreshingly warped. He said what everyone else was thinking. Filtered through the mind of an eleven year old, it was harmless humor. Of course, most of the political talk went right over our heads, but we loved his spoof on 'dogs and cats'. His comparison of 'football and baseball'. His timing, his voice, his face and his posture. We and the rest of the world couldn't get enough.

It wasn't until I was older that I could fully appreciate the genius of George Carlin. One could always rely on George to comment on the state of things "as they really were" and it never left him at a loss for material. He was in touch with America and its' clear imbalances and inequities. He put his finger on obvious issues and twisted them like silly putty. He got it. We knew he got it. It was comforting to hear the truth. He was one of 'us' and never claimed to be anything but.

I'm always relieved when someone is delivering a eulogy and I realize I'm listening to it.- George Carlin

George, We hope you're still listening. You will be sorely missed.

2 comments:

avoiceinthewilderness said...: What a nice tribute to George Carlin. He is definitely going to be missed.; June 25, 2008 at 9:41 PM
Margaret English said...: I agree with your comments about the late, great George Carlin. He was a truthful political and social commentator who managed to grab people's attention by putting his point across in an hilarious way. His talents and his refreshing honest will certainly be missed.; July 5, 2008 at 2:30 AM

Origin of The Rubber Room...(From Rubberroommovie.com)

Exact specifics as to when, why and how The Rubber Room came into being are next to impossible to come by, although wild speculation abounds. The likelihood is that, rather than being consciously created by any one person or group, The Rubber Room slowly but surely developed over a period of years through a process of trial and error, whereby teachers deemed unfit to remain in the classroom where "reassigned" to the nearest empty and available administrative space.
The term "The Rubber Room" appears nowhere in the formal legislative code governing New York City schools. When a New York City educator is sent to The Rubber Room, that educator is not openly or specifically told that he or she will be going to a place called "The Rubber Room". Moreover, if you telephoned an official in the New York City school system and asked for directions to "The Rubber Room", you may very well likely receive a response, possibly masked in faux confusion, telling you that there is no such place called "The Rubber Room". Nevertheless, "the room" undoubtedly exists and, because it has no official name, those three provocative and inflammatory words, "The Rubber Room", make up the default epithet by which it has come to be known, even by high-ranking school officials, many of whom find the phrase distasteful.
The exact meaning behind the words "The Rubber Room" is a topic of hot debate, particularly for occupants of The Rubber Room itself, some arguing that it is a reference to a padded room where mentally ill patients are placed, others proposing it is a room where once normal people are slowly and steadily driven crazy, still others believing it to be simply a generic allusion to a prison cell. There are even some -- more than one might initially suspect -- who claim to have been present during the exact moment when the phrase was coined, or even to have coined it themselves. Aside from etymological differences, however, almost everyone agrees that "The Rubber Room" is a pejorative term used to describe a room where New York City teachers are sent, usually involuntarily, to sit idle day after day while still collecting their salaries, often for months and sometimes for years at a time.
Over the years, many have made efforts to eradicate The Rubber Room entirely. For example, in March 2002, then Chancellor Harold Levy vowed to close The Rubber Room after becoming frustrated with a particular case, and in January 2004 Randi Weingarten, UFT President, called for an unconditional end to all of New York's Rubber Rooms. Despite best efforts, however, "the room" remains. http://www.rubberroommovie.com/

Do not believe...

Do not believe because you read it in a book,
Do not believe because you saw it on television,
Do not believe because science says so,
Do not believe because a famous person says so,
Do not believe because a wise person says so,
Do not believe because a wise person believes it,
Do not believe because your best friend believes it,
Do not believe because everyone else believes it,
Do not believe because others have believed it for a thousand years,
Do not believe because you've heard it many times before,
Do not believe because you are told you must,
Do not believe because others expect you to,
Do not believe because it gets you accepted
Do not believe because it will make your parents happy,
Do not believe because it will get you noticed,
Do not believe because you want to believe,
Do not believe because you can't afford not to,
Do not believe because it helps you cope,
Do not believe because you'd go mad if you didn't,
Do not believe because you must believe something
Do not believe because there's nothing else to believe,
Do not believe because it feels good to believe,
Do not believe because it makes sense,
Do not believe because your eyes tell you it is so,
Do not believe because it is your own experience,
Do not believe because it feels true,
Do not believe because you know it is true,
Do not believe any of this, Believe only that you are,
And do not even believe that,
For that is beyond belief.

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