Having had the opportunity to interview George Carlin several times in the past thirty years, I was saddened to hear of his death recently. I saw him last year at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill but just weeks ago we gave away tickets to his show in Ridgefield Connecticut. Listener Bob Curtis was among the lucky ones who saw one of Carlin’s last performances……


Mike,

Just a couple of months ago, in late April, I won two tickets on WHUD to see George Carlin in Stamford. I did so by identifying the name of one of his early popular characters, the "hippy-dippy weatherman," Al Sleet. I even went so far as to repeat one of his bits, "The weather forecast for this evening is . . . . . dark," which you actually played on the air.

Initially, I was very excited to have won. But after receiving the tickets, I wasn't sure if I wanted to make the trip from Orange County to Stamford, CT to see him, as it was to be on a Saturday night, and I had other things I could have done closer to home.

Well, when I mentioned the tickets to my older daughter Heather (30) and that I was thinking of not going, she said "Are you kidding -- George Carlin -- free tickets, and you're not going to go! Let me see if we can get a ticket for Erik (her boyfriend), and we'll go together.

So she convinced me to go. You see, Mike, I had seen George early in his career in NYC, when he did his "seven words" bit, etc. I always loved him, have several of his albums, and have watched many of his HBO specials. But NOTHING beats seeing a legend like George Carlin live. So we went to Connecticut, had a great dinner, and then went to see the master at his best. He was funny, poignant, irreverent, sarcastic, cynical, hysterical, and displayed a mastery of words that no other artist could ever duplicate.

After we heard the sad news yesterday about his death, my daughter Heather e-mailed me -- "He was so fantastic. So sad. I'm SO glad I convinced you guys to go see him! And I'm so glad we got to see him before he passed. I'd always wanted to see him."

So Mike, on behalf of myself and my daughter, thank you for the opportunity to see George Carlin just one more time. I will never forget it.

My best,

Bob Curtis
Highland Mills, NY

P.S. Here is what Jerry Seinfeld had to say about George Carlin, I believe in the NY Times.




June 24, 2008

Op-Ed Contributor

Dying Is Hard. Comedy Is Harder.

By JERRY SEINFELD

THE honest truth is, for a comedian, even death is just a premise to make jokes about. I know this because I was on the phone with George Carlin nine days ago and we were making some death jokes. We were talking about Tim Russert and Bo Diddley and George said: "I feel safe for a while. There will probably be a break before they come after the next one. I always like to fly on an airline right after they've had a crash. It improves your odds."

I called him to compliment him on his most recent special on HBO. Seventy years old and he cranks out another hour of great new stuff. He was in a hotel room in Las Vegas getting ready for his show. He was a monster.

You could certainly say that George downright invented modern American stand-up comedy in many ways. Every comedian does a little George. I couldn't even count the number of times I've been standing around with some comedians and someone talks about some idea for a joke and another comedian would say, "Carlin does it." I've heard it my whole career: "Carlin does it," "Carlin already did it," "Carlin did it eight years ago."

And he didn't just "do" it. He worked over an idea like a diamond cutter with facets and angles and refractions of light. He made you sorry you ever thought you wanted to be a comedian. He was like a train hobo with a chicken bone. When he was done there was nothing left for anybody.

But his brilliance fathered dozens of great comedians. I personally never cared about "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television," or "FM & AM." To me, everything he did just had this gleaming wonderful precision and originality.

I became obsessed with him in the '60s. As a kid it seemed like the whole world was funny because of George Carlin. His performing voice, even laced with profanity, always sounded as if he were trying to amuse a child. It was like the naughtiest, most fun grown-up you ever met was reading you a bedtime story.

I know George didn't believe in heaven or hell. Like death, they were just more comedy premises. And it just makes me even sadder to think that when I reach my own end, whatever tumbling cataclysmic vortex of existence I'm spinning through, in that moment I will still have to think, "Carlin already did it."

Jerry Seinfeld is a writer and a comedian.

This morning we had the pleasure of interviewing Giada De Laurentiis of the Food Network (and the cover girl from last Sunday's Life Magazine). I love her shows "Everyday Italian", "Behind the Bash" and "Weekend Getaways with Giada". She was promoting a celebrity pasta cookbook from Barilla that will raise money for Second Harvest. If you missed Giada, you can hear the interview on the Mike & Kacey page at www.whud.com and you can download the recipes at www.CelebrityPastaLovers.com.

Got this e-mail from a Westchester listener who gave me permission to share it on my blog....not a bad list...check it out....

Hey Mike - I like your Top Ten favorite movie list! Isn't it amazing that when you love a movie so much you can watch it over & over and it seems like you're seeing it for the very first time!

My fave Top Ten movies are:

10. The Sound of Music
9. Dumb and Dumber (too funny
8. The Green Mile
7. Awakenings (DeNiro and Robin Williams! Strange combo, but good
6. Titanic
5. Gone With the Wind (a classic
4. Field of Dreams
3. Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
2. The Shawshank Redemption
1. This Property Is Condemned
(Natalie Wood & Robert Redford - How can you go wrong?? And Mary Badham in her only movie other than as "Scout" in "To Kill A Mockingbird"

I heard "Waiting for Guffman" is very good, but the person who told me it was good also told me that "Office Space" was "one of the best movies ever". And I hated that movie! To each his own!

Christine Wright
Cortlandt Manor

I'd love to see your Top 10 Movie List....Mike@WHUD.com

Movies are such a big part of my family's shared experiences and we all have our favorites but with the Golden Globe Awards last night and the Oscars on the way, we decided to draft a Top 10 All-Time Favorite Movies list. So here's mine:
10. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (..the jump will kill ya')
9. Young Frankenstein (its Frank-en-steen)
8. Saving Private Ryan (best war movie ever)
7. What About Bob? (Is this some radical new form of therapy
6. Groundhog Day (I Got You Babe)
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (come on Chief..put your hand up)
4. Stripes (Hey a little help
3. Waiting for Guffman (I'm going home and bite my pillow)
2. Trains, Planes and Automobiles (Those aren't pillows)
1. Field of Dreams (Hey Dad...wanna have a catch

I should explain that I lost my father at a very young age, so Field of Dreams means too much to me not to top my list. I really don't consider it one of the great movies of all time....just my favorite.
Although Robert Duval is my favorite actor none of his movies make the list (I guess I like his performances more than the movies themselves). Also note three Bill Murray flicks...obviously I love his work! So make your own list and e-mail it to me...Mike@WHUD.com
Its a fun exercise and not at all easy to do.

One of the most popular Christmas songs we play each year is "Posada" by Santana. Its only found on the CD "Holiday Sounds of the Season-2001" which is on BMG records. Its code number is: B00022TNSG. I include this information to make it easier fopr you to find it since we get so many inquiries about the song. If you "google" the words "santana posada" it pops right up and is available at amazon.com. Enjoy!

If you have Time-Warner cable in Orange, Ulster, Rockland or Sullivan Counties you should watch the new Mike & Kacey In the Evening TV Show. It airs on Tuesdays and Fridays at 6pm on channel 6. This month's show features our Halloween Monster Mash and our radiothon to benefit Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center.
Please send in your comments and story ideas at www.mikeandkacey.com
all the best...Happy Thanksgiving!

On Saturday, June 3 the Westchester County American Legion gave 100.7 WHUD an award based on our Pledge of Allegiance program each weekday morning at 7:30. I accepted the award on behalf of those who really deserve the credit for this popular feature. Former GM Fred Bennett (no relation) had the original idea and current GM Jason Finkleberg and Program Director Steve Petrone put the plan into action. Our Promotions Director, Courtney Bennett (my daughter) and her assistant Jessica personally recorded each pledge at the individual schools in Westchester, Putnam, Orange and Rockland counties. Courtney also followed up with e-mails and phone calls to let the schools know when their classes would be on the air. Tom Ragone from our Production Department took the recordings and put them in our studio audio file. And webmaster Jay Gaulard keeps updating the Pledge schedule on-line at www.whud.com. A lot of teamwork goes into Mike & Kacey playing the Pledge every morning and we're all very proud of the award from the American Legion.

I admit I watch a lot of TV. Its part of my job to know what's going on so when we do interviews with actors I know what I'm talking about. The other night CBS replayed an episode of one of my favorite new shows, "Criminal Minds". This one featured a death-row couple and the actress who played the wife has got to be considered for an Emmy nomination. Her scenes with Mandy Patinkin were incredible.
Sorry I don't know her name. Mandy has been on the show with us before although it was before his starring on "Criminal Minds".(Yes he used to voice those" MTA, Going you way" radio commercials) Some of the other CBS "crime" shows have gotten a bit too graphic for my tastes. Another new show I recommend to anyone who will listen is "Hustle' on AMC Saturday nights at 10. It has an all-British cast with the exception of Robert Vaughn (Napolian Solo himself from the Man From U.N.C.L.E.) Its very clever.. check it out, I think you'll like it! Got to go...don't want to miss "Deal Or No Deal"

Well here goes...my first blog entry. I'm not sure what I'm "supposed" to write in a blog but I was inspired to post my impressions of where my day took me today.
It started out as a normal weekday...going on the air at 5:30am but instead of getting off at 10am, I left early to drive to NYC to join a group interview with Phil Collins. He's promoting the new Broadway musical "Tarzan". The interview went well and you'll hear highlights next month. After driving back from the city I found myself as an observer at a very serious accident on I-84 in East Fishkill. I watched in the pouring rain as passersby and firemen struggled to free a man from the wreckage of the car he had driven under the rear of a tractor trailor. While I'm sure the westbound motorists who were stuck in the resulting traffic jam were annoyed by the inconveniece, I was moved by the extraordinary efforts of the rescuers. A Hyatt's Garage tow truck was even pressed into service to help pull the wreckage apart. Monday I'm going to check on the driver's condition but to watch the men and women who responded to his plight was to understand what volunteerism is all about. It was awe-inspiring!