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...an humiliating kick in the crotch.



Ouch.  Just plain, ouch.

This past Sunday evening, the Mrs. and I attended the George Carlin concert at
the Pike's Peak Center in Colorado Springs.  A wonderful arena to see a show,
it's an old-style theater that seats roughly 2500 or so people, with high
ceilings and opera boxes on the sides overlooking the stage.  It was a nice
night and good buzz in the air; people were ready to have a good time.

We arrived shortly after the opening comic started his thing and while he
wasn't very funny, the crowd was generous anyway.  Like I said, there was a
good buzz in the air and despite the fact that this comedian stole more jokes
than Milton Berle, the crowd was laughing, including myself.  The guy's
closing bit consisted of him strapping on an acoustic guitar and doing song
parodies of popular rock stars (yep, you can guess what's coming...).

First, he did a rather lame Bruce Springsteen parody to the strains of "Hungry
Heart" ("...everybody's got to blow a fart."  I told you it was lame.) which
was greeted rather coldly by the audience.  But after that, he quieted and
started the opening chords of "Pinball Wizard".  The crowd didn't recognize
the song at first, but I felt myself tense up.  This guy was a cheap comic,
(he even stole Dennis Leary's nuclear war/Keith Richards joke) and I knew that
Pete would be easy prey for a cheap prick like this guy.  But when the opening
chops of Wizard leaped into the furious strumming that is the signature of the
song, the crowd immediately recognized it and roared it's approval.  In that
instant my apprehension about the upcoming Pete joke was relieved and
listening to the crowd cheer Pinball Wizard put my faith back into humanity.
But like every glorious moment, it was fleeting.

As Bozo got to the first verse, he sang, "Ever since I was young boy, I've
played with little boys..." to the howls of the audience.  Son of a bitch.
Shit.  Fuck...  I didn't boo and shout and hiss, I just hung my head in
disgust.

I've come to the obvious conclusion, aside from the fact that I believe this
"comedian" should be stripped naked in the middle of the town square and have
his tiny tinkler ridiculed for a day or two, that Pete Townshend is hereby and
forever fucked as a viable and important artist.  The public is too shallow
minded to care if he's innocent or not and he will always be remembered as a
man who likes to diddle children instead of the humanitarian, musical genius,
and philosopher of the human condition that I believe him to be.  Unless some
miracle occurs, I believe his legacy is forever lost - except with us, I
hope.

So Sunday night was interesting, to say the least.  George Carlin was funny as
usual and I enjoyed his gig.  But all in all the night was...  Well, see the
subject line.

Jim in Colorado