George Carlin (1937-2008)

It's such a sad day. I'm a big big fan of George Carlin as far as I could remember and it's a sad day to see him depart right before he was to be awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (although, I can see that he might make a scathing critique out of that award as well). Carlin is what Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert wish they could be: entertainer, comedian, satirist, political agitator, and master of language whose work became the basis for the 1978 US Supreme Court case of FCC v. Pacifica Foundation where Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" was aired at a radio station in New York City. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that limited civil sanctions can be levied against a radio broadcast of "patently offensive words."

I loved Carlin's political and cultural critique but unlike Stewart or Colbert, his work was not about innuendos or linguistic slights, that is, implied critiques. His comedy was open, in your face, dark, and punchy on topics that included Christianity, surveillance, politics, elections, excesses of American culture, materialism, and many other social issues and taboo subjects. It had a working-class roughness and his comedy was not for everyone. But that's what I liked about him and why I always thought of him as a political and cultural agitator of the best kind where his intents and motivations were clear cut and out in the open.

I last saw Carlin at a sold-out performance when I was vacationing in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. I can't believe that's the end of another wonderful man with a truly historic career.

Uh ...

... seriously?!?

Tagged!

I was tagged by Ortho who maintains his very cool blog Baudrillard's Bastard.

The Rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


"The Facts"
1. I am an avid billiards player who once considered going pro some years ago right when I started graduate school. In my undergraduate days I was ranked fourth in the western region and I competed regularly in tournaments. I once made $1000 in one week from winning several tournaments. That was a lot of work by the way.

2. I play World of Warcraft, well, for the moment anyways until something better comes along. The fascination of the game has since worn off and I only logon for pvp or chat with my Aussie and Kiwi friends. And in case you're wondering my main is a mage ... and a paladin ... and a priest ... and a hunter ... and ...

3. I'm still trying to quit smoking.

4. My favorite fantasy book is Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (2004). It's a wonderful read about the art of magic and war in 19th century England. And it reads like an academic book complete with footnotes and references to "magical scholarship."

5. My partner accuses me of being a Francophile. I will not deny it. But I will not admit it either. By the way, she speaks fluent French.

6. I was arrested in San Francisco in a citywide protest against the Rodney King decision ... and I had to appear in trial with sixty others who were arrested with me.

7. I just bought a brand spanking new Nikon D60 for my graduation present. I'm not a professional photographer but I love to go on photowalks whenever I can. I don't have a particular specialty; I guess I'm exploring different styles at the moment. If I had to choose one genre it would be night photography. The technical aspects of it fascinate me as well as the spectacular visual effect.

Hmmmm ... who do I tag? So many to choose ...

Quick Thought

What the hell is this war of words that pits racism and sexism against each other? As if one was worse than the other so therefore it deserves more attention and import than the other? Or that sexism was the cause of Hillary's downfall? Or that Obama needs to win because racism is worse than sexism?

Decaffeinated anyone?

How odd. I feel fine. But maybe it's about time to cut back, yes?


OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Off and away ...

With the final revisions done, I made two copies of my dissertation and mailed it off to CGU along with my check for processing.

I checked and double-checked my pagination, margins, titles, footnotes, and bibliographic format and all seems to be in order. If there's no major problem -- and there better not be -- I will be officially done with my degree by June 2008.

And now I have to take care of consolidating my pesky student loans. *grrrrr*

Quotation for the Day

If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.

- Ludwig Wittgenstein

TCM's Asians in Film

Turner Classic Movies is hosting a month long retrospective called Race and Hollywood: Asian Images in Film for the month of June. Every Tuesday and Thursday starting at 8pm and ending in the wee hours of the early morning, thirty-seven films will be aired representing historically significant and stereotypical images of Asians in cinema. It's an impressive selection from early films such as The Cheat (1915), Broken Blossoms (1915), Shanghai Express (1932) to recent films such as Enter the Dragon (1973) and The Joy Luck Club (1993). Although some of the choices for these recent films are totally random like Rush Hour 2 (2001) and Mr. Baseball (1992). It features some of the first Asian American actors and actresses like Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American movie star in the 1920s, James Shigeta who is considered to the first Asian American leading male in the 1960s, Nancy Kwan and her debut role as an exotic prostitute in The World of Suzie Wong (1960), and of course, the martial artistry of Bruce Lee and many others. It also covers the politically charged and problematic practice of "yellow face" with actors such as Peter Ustinov as Charlie Chan and Christopher Lee (yes, Count Dooku himself) as Fu Manchu.

I would totally give this an "A" but I'm not. It gets a "B" grade not because of a lack of content or bad selections, but who TCM hired as their "expert" on the subject of Asian American representation in film. I don't know how the hiring process works or what the mechanics that drove this retrospective, but the choice made me wonder if someone in TCM was on crack or just didn't know. I think the latter. There are numerous other scholars who have studied and researched this subject for decades, but I guess he's the one to represent all of that work. Whatever.