26. GEORGE CARLIN: On technology (EXPLICIT)
George Carlin week: PART 1, PART 2, PART 3
And you thought George Carlin week was over! Well, it was originally meant to be only three quotes but something happened – I got scared. I had second thoughts about publishing the Religious Hats comic that appeared last Monday and had in fact decided not to post it. I frantically did this piece last weekend so I had a replacement comic. I didn’t want to upset any of my religious readers and a few people told me not to post it or at least wait until the blog was more established. But then after thinking about it more I realised I HAD to post it because a) this website is meant to be an expression of MY personality, b) I always try to make everybody happy, which is stupid and c) I couldn’t rightly honour the spirit of George Carlin by being too chickenshit to express an opinion. So I went ahead and posted it and it was fine. There were no complaints. One reader didn’t like the profanity but didn’t have a problem with the subject matter. All that worry over nothing! Sheesh, what an idiot. On the bright side, you get an extra Carlin comic!
- I totally have to practice what I preach because I am an absolute slave to my iPhone. I get antsy, start to hyperventilate and twitch involuntarily if I don’t check my email/facebook/twitter every fifteen minutes. AND i’m planning on getting the new iPad. Damn you Apple!
- The above quote is taken from Carlin’s HBO special It’s Bad For Ya. He specifically refers to America (“Nobody questions things in this country anymore” and “Americans have been bought off …”), but i think it can apply to most of the world.
- You can buy all of Carlin’s albums and DVDs at the official George Carlin online store.
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Gav,
Another good one. Carlin was a genius and would say things that people wouldn’t want to hear but most likely in their heart of hearts, know that it is true. I’m glad you went ahead and did them. The world needs more shaking up.
I’m glad too Greg
Yeah good stuff…I’m making an extra effort not to listen to other people’s negativity and bull$#!t…
o the hypocrisy
I used to watch him in the 60′s when he was a regular on the Ed Sullivan show and the Jackie Gleason show. He was fairly straight-laced then (or they wouldn’t have let him on TV). Doing the Hippy-Dippy Weatherman and the like. But became more of a natural when he finally decided to say what he was really thinking, helped along by cable tv which had much less censorship issues.
“too chickenshit” haha I’m gonna start using that one. Gotta love your work (and George Carlin) by the way! Keep it up!
Brilliant… Oh the irony in viewing this on my computer, then my ipad and forwarding the email on to my friend in Sydney from my iphone… ??? But. I promise to take an hour away from them this evening, heading to the tan with nothing more than my keys and a wrist watch as my source of technology… I PROMISE! maybe?
Yeah one of those fancy ipod nanos that can be worn as a wristwatch I bet!
YES! YES! YES!
YES!
I love it how you are being true to yourself! Your work is awesome….
Thank u Claire!
Nice work! Thanks for filling in the backstory, and for “sticking your neck out” (even if it didn’t end up being so much of a big deal at the end). If you’re looking for further “calling it like it is” quotes about you might have ‘chicken out’ qualms, what about Richard Pryor? A classic purveyor of edgy yet to-the-quick material, I think Pryor earned his chops….
Keep it up, GAV!
Oh yeah, Pryor was brilliant. He’s definitely on my list.
This is brilliant, Gav. Please keep the Carlin ones coming. Been a huge fan of his, like millions others, and your comics have sparked in renewed interest in Carlin’s work.
Keep up the great work! Cheers from New Delhi, India.
Thanks Arun. Prob won’t be any more Carlin quotes for a long time. Four is enough … there’s so many more people to explore!
feels it everyday. i’m not a gadget (or perhaps smartphone) freak, but i’m addicted to my ipod.
Loving the site which I only discovered last week, and was smiling all the way up to this: “He specifically refers to America (“Nobody questions things in this country anymore” and “Americans have been bought off …”), but i think it can apply to most of the world”.
Really? You think most of the world is as rich and fat and happy as America? Seriously?
Fair point Simon. I should have said ‘most of the DEVELOPED world’. Australia definitely is. Any other non-Americans who agree/disagree?
I live in Costa Rica, a developing nation, and I’ve seen people talking on cellphones on the beach, while riding a bike in the rain holding an umbrella, and in other equally ridiculous ways.
There are people who live in one room houses with dirt floors who have cable or satellite and big screen TVs. The whole family (and friends) crowd in and sit on the dirt floor to watch TV. Of course, the more affluent people are just like affluent people anywhere else in the world, with all the latest and greatest gadgets
I recently saw a couple of gals in Changuinola, Panama, apparently on their lunch hour, more engrossed in their cellphones than in each others’ company, or anything around them, though one of the girls was also digging in her nose pretty determinedly. Multitasking!
Maybe the fat reference doesn’t apply to the rest of the third world, Simon, but the essence of the quote does apply to the whole world now. The core idea is of a society in decadence and a nation full of conformists. Individuality is severely repressed by our institutions and we live in a time where money is more valuable than values. Needless to say, you substitute gadgets with something of a materialistic indulgence and it could apply to virtually any country.
Thanks for cheering my shitty day :} read all the comics, they’re awesomeness! really nice work I don’t even have to tell u to keep up the good work since the love of illustration shine thru! thanks!
You’re welcome Mari
i love it, it is so true, the rebel we have inside is being sofocate by the luxury in the outside
great way to sum it up Rodrigo
really like the last panel gavin. Im glad you went ahead with “relegious hats” too. Many of the quotes you use are famous/important because they challenge us and dont conform to traditional or consensus thinking. never be afraid to push.
Thanks Icy
Glad you went ahead with the religious hats comic. As the late Hitchens would say: Never be afraid of the stridency that you would come to expect from an overly sensitised and conditioned society. Carlin was all about that. To say it like it is, irrelevant of others’ views or emotions. Look up Stephen Fry and his quote on “I’m offended”. He talks of ‘offense’ as merely a whine and nothing more than a whine. It could inspire you to make your next comic. Love your work. Big fan
Thanks Ashwin, Hitchens and Fry will eventually make an appearance here. Love them both.
Not so close to the truth, but actually that illustration is THE truth!
By Saying that it is literally true you have rendered it false. Smartphones do not actually do that.
Does the man real honor. Great art style I ran into your site via /r/running and ended up reading em all. Well done~
A-W-E-S-O-M-E teaching, inspiring and thatz what the world needs.. needs to see what is goin’ on..!!
No matter how racked by pain and profundity a generation is, there is always some cranky, over-indulged, old goat standing on the sidelines with a bullhorn yelling about how everyone in that generation is a pampered stupid cow. Back when men lived in mud huts there was some prat like Carlin standing there in his loincloth complaining that the current generation was dullwitted because it used writing instead of memorizing everything the shaman said, and spoiled because they used a spear to kill a rampaging sabertooth instead of strangling it with their bare hands— precisely the way they themselves NEVER DID IT EITHER.
Gavin, don’t DAMN Apple for your plan to purchase the new iPad, damn yourself. No one is making you do it – if you are choosing to live a lifestyle that you have qualms about you have only yourself to blame.
Just. Don’t. Buy. It.
Love the site.
Regards,
Thanks Ross, I was saying it tongue-in-cheek – I love Apple products. I guess it’s hard to convey when I type.
Good on you for doing what was right for you and not trying to please everyone by posting
that is a common fault we have in society and we have to remember to always stay true to ourselves.
George Carlin was definitely one of the greatest. So great groups like the PTC felt threatened by him.
Still, while I can see his point, this has two edges. In a way such gadgetry has helped some, with how networking has helped groups organize or heck, catching people in the act using a small camera.