So I was surfing the internet today, and I came across a brilliant little monolog that Louie C.K. did as a tribute to George Carlin.  George Carlin died in 2008, and if you didn’t know, he’s probably the greatest and most influential standup comic next to Richard Pryor.  He had an absolutely relentless ability to speak the truth in a hilarious and brilliant way.  He was a genius who just took the art form of standup comedy its apex, which is basically standup philosophy.  The first video is Louie C.K.’s tribute video to George that’s gonna convince you that watching the next four videos below is well worth your time.  What are these videos?  They are four incredible videos which contain George’s greatest moments in standup comedy.  All I can say is that watching these clips is utterly thrilling and thought provoking, and will inspire you profoundly.  George tackles politics, religion, the English language, the poor, class warfare, sports, the homeless, brainwashed populaces and much more.  There is not much I can add to this, other than, watch.  If you are just some random internet visitor who has never watched George Carlin, or have never heard of him, please, watch, now.  It’s your duty as a human being.  Oh, and I have one more autocratic order, please vote for me as CBS’s best local NYC blogger.  The contest ends September 9th, so please click the link!  Thanks, folks.

John Lennon was really offended by Bob Dylan’s latest single, “Gotta Serve Somebody.” Dylan recorded the song for his 1979 album Slow Train Coming.  The album and the song was part of Bob’s short lived conversion to Christianity.  In his diary, John wrote, “The backing was mediocre by Jerry Wexler, the singing was really pathetic, and the words were just embarrassing.”  The Grammy people didn’t think so, they gave Dylan a huge spotlight at the 1980 awards, and let him take home the trophy for “Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male.”  In a snide retort, John wrote/improvised a funny little rant called “Serve Yourself,” a track which never got an official release.  Well, the Grammys are a joke, and always have been, and I fully understand John’s sense of embarrassment and betrayal by Dylan, but I kinda love “Gotta Serve Somebody.”  I think the message is clever enough that it extends beyond the religious into the philosophical, and it sets up an interesting battle of ideas between the two rock gods.  I always suspected that “Gotta Serve Somebody” was Dylan’s response to Lennon’s line from ten years earlier when John proclaimed, “I don’t believe in Zimmerman [Dylan’s real name for the uninitiated],…I just believe in me” from “God” (Plastic Ono Band.)  It’s Dylan rejecting Lennon’s idea of discarding all figures of worship and idolatry and claiming that in the end, whether you like it or not, you are serving something, whether it be a God, a devil, or just a concept.  Lennon disagrees, and he makes no bones about making it known, or he would have had he lived.  Anyway, here are both tracks, in all their glory.  Who do you think wins?  Dylan, Lennon, God, or the devil?  Let me know.