I remember the first time I heard him. Not the 7 words you can’t say on tv, an album called “Toledo Windowbox”, named after a flower pot growing pot. I was 17 I guess. Thought it was pretty funny to hear somebody cuss a lot.

Oh, I thought George Carlin could be funny. But too often I found his routines to peak the profanity meter. I can laugh at comedians who use 4-letter words, but Carlin used them so much it became less funny and more boring. Some routines seemed to include sentences with more profane words than not. So, sometime after I bought that first album, I became a former-fan.

And he hated Christians. Hated them. And God. Jesus Christ. Clergy. And the Bible. He thought it all a load of crap. or “Bull****” as the following clip shows. Sure, he had that right and he had the right to say whatever he wanted to say about people of faith. We deserve some of his criticism. But his tirades directed against God was way too much for me to hear.

George Carlin was an evangelist for atheism. He didn’t just make jokes about Christians (we’re an easy and often deserving target) He seemed to want to convert as many people as he could. I mean, some of his routines about religion weren’t that funny and sounded quite like a sermon. here’s one from you tube, and check out some of the comments from his fans from the youtube clip:

he converted me to atheism and im so glad im not just another one of them controlled religious people. just a waste of time and money. and where does it all go? to priests that rape little boys. f*** em. RIP george, im gonna start worshipping him lol

But I’m not going to criticize George Carlin. I’m not going to praise him either. I regret that his anti-religion, anti-Christian, anti-God rants kept me from enjoying his routines. I hate that he apparently never “got” the whole Gospel thing. I hate that he apparently rejected any belief in God. And I hate that he used his celebrity platform to lead others to reject God.

He had quite a talent.

The American Film Institute’s newest installment of the best that film has to offer, is one right now. I thought I might blog their list and mine.

First: Top 10 Animated Movies

I started this list late so pardon me if I miss some of AFI’s list or get them out of order. Theirs culminates with “Snow White” and includes “Toy Story”, “Lion King”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Nemo” and others. My top 3 would be:

3. Toy Story

2. The Lion King

1. Beauty and the Best

Their top 10 films in the Fantasy Genre are:

10. Big would be a lot higher on my list. Maybe a top 2 or 3 for me.

9. Thief of Baghdad haven’t seen it

8. Groundhog Day didn’t care for it all that much.

7. Harvey haven’t seen it but maybe once and maybe not all the way through then

6. Field of Dreams Would be #1 for me. Of course I’m a baseball nut who cries every time I see it. I have to watch this every March.

5. Miracle on 34th Street. The original which makes a regular appearance in our house every December.

4. King Kong. The original. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this but I know I totally didn’t like the remake from a few years ago.

3. It’s a Wonderful Life. Can’t believe this isn’t #1. What could it be???? I’d have this one #1 or 2. Who hasn’t been impacted by this film? The gold standard in the fantasy genre.

2. The Lord of the Rings. It’s me, I know, but this type of fantasy film or story doesn’t appeal to me.

1. Wizard of Oz. Of course. But I would put Wonderful Life ahead of this and probably Field of Dreams.

My top 5: Family Man, Serendipity, Oz, Field of Dreams, It’s a Wonderful Life. I like magic more than the fantasy.

Science-Fiction

10. Back to the Future Figured this might be higher on their list but there must be a ton to choose from. How many Star Wars installments make the list?

9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I’ve never seen the original all the way through.

8. Terminator 2 Judgement Day The first time a sequel has made the list. My wife likes these films more than I do.

7. Alien. I remember seeing this in the theatre. But the sequel was scarier to me.

6. Blade Runner. I went to see this at the drive-in when I was in high school. I don’t remember any of it.

5. The Day the Earth Stood Still. Would love to see this one.

4. A Clockwork Orange. I tried to watch this several times. The weirdest piece of film I’ve ever seen. I know the critics praise it for being different, but I hated it.

3. E.T. One of the only films I’ve seen more than once in the theater. Fantastic and unless Close Encounters and Star Wars are above it, should have been higher.

2. Star Wars IV. That’s the first one. We sometimes forget about what a great story this was. Fantastic and makes me want to watch them all again.

1. Got to be: Close Encounters!…. No? 2001 a Space Odyssey Maybe but I’d put Close Encounters here or at least somewhere on the list. AFI really digs Kubrick.

My top 4: Aliens, ET, Star Wars, Close Encounters

Sports Pictures. I immediately think of Hoosiers

10. Jerry Maguire Just okay for me. I think because I kept hearing how good it was before I ever saw it. Never lived up to the hype

9. National Velvet. Probably saw it as a kid. Don’t remember it.

8. Breaking Away. Awesome movie. Wouldn’t have been on my list only because I’d have not remembered it as a “Sports film”. As it is, in my top 5

7. Caddyshack. Thank you AFI for having a sense of humor. How many lines from this movie do we hear repeated at work today?

6. The Hustler. I loved this one too. And the follow up The Color of Money many years later was good too. Jackie Gleason was fantastic

5. Bull Durham. My second favorite baseball movie behind Field of Dreams. I don’t think that’ll make two lists. Does any actor play baseball players better than Costner?

4. Hoosiers. I remember having to talk my girlfriend into seeing this movie on Spring Break. She ended up loving it as much as I did. how many coaches have used something from Hoosiers to motivate their team?

3. Pride of the Yankees. A bit of a surprise only because there’ve been so many other huge sports movies.

2. Rocky. Figured this one would be 1 or 2. Sly Stallone wrote the screenplay, not many people know that. I loved 2 and 3 too. My buddy Buck and I stood and cheered watching this in the theater.

1. Raging Bull. No arguments here. Though there are many others that could have made the list somewhere. I loved Tin Cup, and Cinderella Man would be in my top 3.

Westerns

10. Cat Ballou. Bet most of you haven’t seen this one. Funny stuff though I might would have put Shakiest Gun in the West above it. Maybe.

9. Stagecoach. I’ve seen this one. The Duke. Wasn’t this the first full-length motion picture?

8. McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Saw this in college but don’t remember anything about it.

7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. One of the most entertaining movies I’ve ever seen. Wouldn’t mind watching this again soon.

6. The Wild Bunch. I liked The Magnificent Seven better than this one. Wonder if it’ll make the list? Surely. One of the more realistic Westerns (violent) that I’ve seen.

5. Red River. Too many John Wayne movies to consider and only the second one mentioned so far. I’d put “The Cowboys” in this space. We’ve still got to get True Grit, and The Searchers. don’t we?

4. Unforgiven. Who was going to be the good guy in this movie? No arguments, maybe the most recent Western on the list?

3. Shane. I almost forgot. 55 year old movie and I can so picture the last scene. Alan Ladd. there was a cowboy.

2. High Noon. I loved this movie and the music…wow. I watched this in a college film class but need to see it again. So what’s #1? True Grit or The Searchers?

1. The Searchers. My favorite western and one of my top 10 favorites. James Woods said tonight “The real search is for John Wayne’s soul”. I hadn’t thought of that and need to watch this again. I’ve got it on DVD so it’ll be soon.

I’d add The Cowboys and Blazing Saddles and maybe The Shootist, Wayne’s last film.

a commercial break so I’ll update below the line

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It’s one of those sweeps stories that gets told and retold every few months. It’s used alot because it works.

Out of Utah, one of the better news pieces I’ve seen in quite a while. I didn’t care for the live intro using the signs (remind anyone of Dylan?) but the story was powerful.

Can’t embed it…but watch it here.

It woke me up around 4:40. It felt like one of those strong thunderstorms with wind that we’ve had roll through the last couple months. But after a few seconds it dawned on me: Earthquake!

It lasted long enough for my wife and I both to sit up and try to process it. She asked me at least three times “what is that?” It lasted long enough for me to get up and look out the window.

Turning on the tv my station, was the only one in Nashville talking about it. Even now, 30 minutes later, one station is a story on their “teacher of the week” or something like that.

Here’s what I know right now. 167 miles away near Evansville, Indiana there was a 5.4 earthquake.