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One of my most favorite comedians died while I was on the road yesterday.  I’m quite glad I was able to see his stand-up live.  From CNN:

Comedian-actor George Carlin, known for his raunchy but insightful humor, died of heart failure Sunday in Los Angeles, his publicist said. He was 71.

Jeff Abraham said Carlin went into St. John’s Health Center on Sunday afternoon, complaining of chest pain. Carlin died at 5:55 p.m. PT.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

“He was a genius and I will miss him dearly,” Jack Burns, who was the other half of a comedy duo with Carlin in the early 1960s, told The Associated Press.

Carlin was best known for his routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television,” which appeared on 1972’s “Class Clown” album.

When Carlin uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested for disturbing the peace, the AP reported. The comedy sketch prompted a landmark indecency case after WBAI-FM radio aired it in 1973.

The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where the justices ruled 5-4 that the sketch was “indecent but not obscene,” giving the FCC broad leeway to determine what constituted indecency on the airwaves.

“So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I’m perversely kind of proud of,” Carlin said. “In the context of that era, it was daring.”

“It just sounds like a very self-serving kind of word. I don’t want to go around describing myself as a ‘groundbreaker’ or a ‘difference-maker’ because I’m not and I wasn’t,” he said. “But I contributed to people who were saying things that weren’t supposed to be said.”

Carlin, who was also an author, was slated to receive in November the 2008 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, given by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

“In his lengthy career as a comedian, writer and actor, George Carlin has not only made us laugh, but he makes us think,” Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen Schwarzman said in a statement. “His influence on the next generation of comics has been far-reaching.”

In a typically wry response, Carlin said, “Thank you, Mr. Twain. Have your people call my people.”

Carlin hosted the first broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” in October 1975.

He played the character of Mr. Conductor on the PBS series “Shining Time Station” and starred in more than a dozen HBO specials. Carlin was also a regular on The Tonight Show.

He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies, from his own comedy specials to “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” in 1989, the AP reported.

He also starred in three of comedic director Kevin Smith’s movie — 1999’s “Dogma,” 2001’s “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and 2004’s “Jersey Girl.” And his voice was so familiar and tuned to the craft of comedy that he was often asked to appear in cartoons, including Toon City’s “Tarzan II,” Disney’s “Cars” and two episodes of “The Simpsons.”

He won four Grammy Awards, each for best spoken comedy album, and was nominated for five Emmy awards, according to AP.

How horribly sad to wake up to.  Rest in peace, George!

Just a quick rant about people’s behavior in public.  Jess and I went to the Omaha Zoo this weekend and were constantly being pushed, bumped, run into, and bothered by children.  I wouldn’t be complaining too much if their parents were even attempting to rein them in, but most couldn’t be bothered.  Wanna feed McDonalds to the animals?  Sure, why not.  Want to open the door marked “DO NOT ENTER” next to the Mountain Lion cage and go in?  Sounds like a plan.  Stick your hand behind the fence to the Monkey Cage?  More power to ya.  These parents seemed to think that their children had the right to run off and do whatever they wanted, as they had already paid admission.  It was completely ridiculous.  You go to the zoo to see the animals, not turn into them.  It took me snapping a picture of one just to clear our path and get through:

No wait, sorry… that’s the wrong photo.  That’s a cute picture of a Sloth hanging from a tree… here’s the one I was thinking of (you can see how I almost mistook one for the other):

That’s right, this girl caused a traffic jam of people because she decided to climb on things in the middle of a path.  Were her parents around?  Not that we could tell.  Did she even see the signs saying to not climb on things?  Doubt it.  It really took me taking a picture for her to run off down the way.  It just drives me nuts.  I wish places like the Zoo had an “Adult Swim” type day.  You know, the second Tuesday of every month, no one under 21 allowed, or something similar.  I know I can’t be the only one that feels this way.  I’ll admit, it’s not just the child’s fault, but if the parent thinks that this is their vacation time, it is the only solution I have.  So annoying.

So, for those not aware, the New York Mets, who have been playing at Shea Stadium for over 40 years, are playing their final season at the stadium.  With that, they are letting fans choose the song that will be sung daily during the 8th Inning.  Go to this site:

Mets 8th Inning Sing-a-long Vote

Please do the following:

1. Go to contest page.
2. Write-in “Never Gonna Give You Up – Rick Astley”.
3. Fill out your Name, Phone Number, and Zipcode
4. Submit the form!

If all goes as planned this will not only be the best Rick Roll in history, but it may not be toppable, so that we can officially end the whole Rick Roll thing.  I think it’s a marvelous idea… you only have a limited time:

Fan voting is now open and concludes at Noon on Monday, April 7.

That’s only two days left, so please get voting!!!

And let’s be honest… what would be better than telling the Mets that you are never gonna give them up? 

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed April Fool’s Day as much as I did. For those who were fooled by anything posted, know this…

Every post I made on April 1st was fake, and will be tagged “April Fools” this morning to halt further confusion. Everything was an April Fools joke of some sort. There is, sadly, no Zelda movie, nor Google on Mars. There was no Election Deathmatch, Caffeinated Cereal, nor was Wii Sports being released for anything other than the Wii. Also, every link in my “Daily del.icio.us Bookmarks” for yesterday led to a fake article of some sort. Sorry!!

The biggest news, I should say, is the trick I made… there is no Windows Code-Name Livephase. Sorry. I wish it existed as much as you, but it was all Photoshop and nothing more. Here’s a big logo, for those who liked it:

Here’s a close-up of the e-mail (no need to worry about NDA, it’s a fake, too):

Here’s to another sucessful April 1st… did I fool anyone out there?