JuliaD Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popdude Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 Johnny was a true legend...and also one who was immortalized in a pop song ("Johnny Carson" by the Beach Boys). He will be missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostControl Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 I'm sure glad I come to this forum - I rarely watch the news (with a small child in the house, I don't want to expose him to violence or advertisements, so we mostly watch kids shows on PBS), and after he goes to bed I'm usually to tired to watch TV. So, you guys are my window on the world. Sad but true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor4Life Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Another true great has left us. Strange thing is, I considered buying his DVD box set today when I was at Best Buy, not even knowing he had died. I always hoped he'd make one last appearance on TV...Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew C. Clark Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 I was watching the football game when at 7:00 on CNN & on NSNBC that Johnny Carson had died at the age of 79. I went "oh no". He will surely be missed. R.I.P. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannoman Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 NBC did a super tribute to Johnny on DATELINE - Ann Curry did a fine job on very short notice.Good night Johhnny - we'll miss you.Ted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuliaD Posted January 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 I've always been a fan of comedy and of comedians, and the one thing I admired most about Johnny was that he never got his laughs at the expense of others. Sure, he did political jokes and all, but unlike Leno (and I'm not bashing Leno, I watch him every night), Johnny never had to "belittle" the working class. Leno is always making comments about people who drive Yugos, Volkswagens, or other inexpensive cars, and making comments about people who shop at KMart, and I have to wonder where the hell he gets his nerve from. If someone is holding down an honest job, and being a good citizen, if an inexpensive car is all they can afford, why make them feel sheepish about it? Just because Leno has more cars than some used car dealers have doesn't give him the right to take someone's dignity and make a joke of it. I hate stuff like that.Johnny was funny as can be without profanity, without being racist, and without making his audience feel insignificant. He was a good man.I remember vividly one night when he stuck a marmosset on his head, and the thing peed, and it ran down Johnny's face right on camera. He just sat there and laughed. And he didn't have one of those phony sounding staged laughs either, when he laughed, you could see his body shaking, it was genuine.When he retired, I figured "we'll see him on other shows as a guest, as a presenter on awards shows, etc", but we didn't... it truly was his last hurrah as an entertainer. But I think when people hear his name, they smile... we should all leave such a legacy.Here's to you, Johnny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hungryeyes Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Very,very sad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Julia, that's a really nice and perceptive description of Johnnys talent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Julia, Thanks so much for the link. Truly a great great loss for all of America. He will be remembered for all time. --Darlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor4Life Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Julia, very well put! I used to like Leno before he became host, and you're assesment of him is spot on. He asks the most inane questions, and that cackle of his drives me crazy! There'll never be another like Johnny...Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordharris Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Yes, I know, I heard the bad news here in Hamilton, around 5 30am.I heard he died of emphazema.I loved his guests, and his comical acts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 I stayed up and watched Johnny since I was 12 years old and got a TV in my room. Class act.Cigarettes probaly cost him 5 years, even though he cut down in later years.Eric, take notice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuliaD Posted January 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 Tony, I never smoked a cigarette in my life, but you know what? I *love* charbroiled hamburgers and steaks. And if a doctor told me "stop eating those and you'll live longer", I'd say "but I wouldn't enjoy being alive". I can't imagine a life without my favorites being a part of it.I think people who smoke feel the same way. People who have a tendency to drive fast feel the same way. People who have risky hobbies, like bungee jumping feel the same way. What is life if you're not true to yourself? Sitting back and letting life pass you by is for the timid, grabbing life by the horns and letting that bucking bronco run free is *living*.I'll probably die with a hamburger in my hand. If I do, know I died happy. The frame of mind those cigarettes put him in may have been a big part of what made Johnny a success. Without them he might have been a crabby old man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 Good point JuliaD. But smoking cigarettes is disgusting to people around the smoker. Eating a good burger is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuliaD Posted January 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 too much generalization there, Tony. I don't smoke, and I'm not disgusted by people smoking around me.And no matter how great I think a burger is, I'll bet some people who don't eat meat at all would have an aversion to watching me dig into one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 JuliaD, My girlfriend, Elaine, was a diabetic from childhood, but I never knew it. Only her roommate, Sharon, and our friend Helen, the nurse in the school we taught, knew. No one else in the whole school, nor our circle of friends ever knew while she was alive. (She swore those two to secrecy). We would all go out for a drink, and Elaine (who wasn't supposed to drink at all) would drink anything she wanted, anytime. Helen later said that Elaine told her that she knew she would have a shortened life, but that she would rather live a short life being like everyone else than a long one being different. She died at age 30, leaving us all griefstricken. But, later, we couldn't deny that she knew what she was doing, and wanted to do it that way.--Darlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 Racing cars, mountain climbing and other risky hobbies are endeavors of persons going for it in life,.....are acts of overcoming fear and lethargy to get the most out of life. The act of cigarette smoking is not. 95% of cigarette smokers are slaves to a habit they wish they could quit.... their smoking is not an act of living life to the fullest but a manifestation of their addiction.Jeepers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 I'm a non-smoker, but I've heard that there is a small percentage of people who just say they love the taste. That confuses me, because *I* don't, but some people love coffee in one hand, a cigarette in the other! --D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 Right on James, my clear-from-the-smoke thinking brutha'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuliaD Posted January 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2005 James, I'm curious as to if you can supply a URL to a reliable source for your "95%" statistic, or if it's just a number that popped into your head? I can't find a basis for this statistic anywhere, and of all the people I know who smoke, and there are many, no one feels they do it for any reason other than they want to. If you know of such documentation, I'd be interested in reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuliaD Posted January 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2005 darlene, your friend may not have lived a long life, but she lived *her* life her way, I have to admire that. My mother (at a much older age) pretty much decided to do the same thing when she refused to go on dialysis. She knew it would shorten her life, but quality was more important to her than quantity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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