Jerry Reed 1937-2008

courtesy of dustyjumpwings

A sad, sad day for the Dude.

I can’t really describe how much Jerry Reed meant to me over the years. I must have listened to his greatest hits album more than any other in college. I still know the words to all those songs by heart. And let me tell you, they’re not easy songs to remember. Let’s just say Jerry had a knack for cramming alot of lyrics into very short songs.

Just the other night, I was with Elbows and our respective better-halves at The Green Turtle in Sneads Ferry, NC enjoying some dinner. Two guys were playing guitar and singing country songs. They entertained us with some Waylon, some Merle, and even a little Jimmy Buffett. They were taking requests and I thought about yelling out, “Jerry Reed!”. But I was too busy enjoying my She Crab Soup. Now I wish I had. I would’ve loved to hear some East Bound and Down.

I’m pretty busy at work right now…but I’ll probably expound on this later.

Until then…a moment of silence for the “Guitar Man”.

courtesy of thestranger

George Carlin 1937-2008

I loved this guy. The man had 14 HBO specials. Most of which I had seen before I was 15 years old. I used to have this segment memorized word-for-word. I remember reciting it verbatim to my baseball team on road trips. My teammates were impressed I could recall it all. The adults were shocked my parents let me watch that much HBO. Hey, it’s easier than giving the sex talk.

The clip above it fantastic. It’s quintessential Carlin. The bit about air travel kills me every time. Especially the last few moments.

By far, the bit that stands out the most is the one he once did on the little weird things that we all experience on a daily basis. Picking up suitcases that you think are full, but they’re really empty. And so just for a split second…you feel really strong. Or how if you stand at just the right distance from a chain-link fence, it goes 3-D. “How do they do that?!?!?” Or when you’re talking to yourself when someone suddenly walks into a room…and you have to pretend you’re singing. And you hope the person really believes there’s a song called What Does She Think I Am, Some Kind Of A Putz? Or ice-cream throat…

…you know when you eat it too fast and you get that little numb spot in the back your throat. But you can’t do anything about it because you can’t reach it to rub it. So you just have to wait for it to go away. And then it does. Then what do we do? EAT MORE ICE-CREAM! WHAT ARE WE FUCKIN’ STUPID????

But my favorite part of that bit was the following, because as a little kid, I thought I was the only one on Earth who had experienced it…

You ever fall asleep in the late afternoon…and you wake up after dark…and you don’t know what goddamn day it is???

That line still kills me to this day.

Lenny Bruce blazed a trail and George Carlin paved it. I’m gonna miss him.

NSFW – Headphones strongly recommended.

In the tall grass…in the weeds.

I don’t want to continue to dwell on the horrible news that came out of NBC yesterday, but ‘Lil Russ’s passing is really starting to sink in. It’s become very obvious to me that this upcoming election just won’t be nearly as exciting as it would’ve been. What’s watching election returns without Russert pulling out his whiteboard and crunching the numbers?

He’s already missed, to be sure. But just wait until November. That’s when it’s really going to hit home. Nobody can fill those shoes. Let’s just hope it doesn’t come down to Florida again. Because there won’t be anyone there to explain it all to us.

Tim Russert 1950-2008

Unbelievable. A very sad day this has turned out to be. This guy was one of the best. So young, too. With a young son left behind. I still can’t believe it.

Go here for the full story.

The third: Bo Diddley 1928-2008

Let’s hope it stops here.

Harvey Korman 1927-2008

Damn. At this rate, I’m not sure I want to know who the third is going to be.

I don’t know about you guys, but when I was a kid, The Carol Burnett Show was on every night in my house. My parents couldn’t get enough of it. The theme song is still stuck in my head to this day. There were few things funnier to me than Harvey Korman. His sidekick on that show, as you may know, was Tim Conway, of Dorf fame. Tim has kept fairly busy in recent years, even appearing in the series finale of 30 Rock. But Harvey had kept a pretty low profile since the old days. Too bad. The man was just funny.

Rest easy, Harv. After the jump, remembering two of his best roles.

Sydney Pollack 1934-2008

The. Man. Was. Simply. A. Badass.