I have always loved this scene. It reminds me that the most useful course at law school for my future practice of law was a trial practice course at the U of I which met in the evening and was run by working attorneys and judges. Their critiques were scathing of us and oh how so useful. Theory is necessary in all fields, but is useless unless tempered and applied with hard won practical experience. (Note the censorship of “The Japs” will kill us on the labor costs. Woke censorship is the worst censorship. Dangerfield would have had a field day with it.)
Bonus:
Very strong language advisory:
Totally agree about the class you described, very similar to the one I had. It was equivalent to about two thirds of a semester’s credits, and was by far the most interesting and most practically valuable time I spent in the entire three years in the classroom. It also included working with both the prosecution and the defense in low-level criminal cases in the local courts, which lasted the whole academic year. Marvelous training.
OT. Sam Kinison regrettably worked blue (mostly lapses into profanity), but he was an original talent. It’s indicative of how stultifying the cultural environment is right now that there wouldn’t be a place for him. Ditto Keenen Ivory Wayans and his crew.
His death was as interesting as his life:
https://ew.com/article/1997/04/04/kinisons-death-fast-lane/https://ew.com/article/1997/04/04/kinisons-death-fast-lane/
Dying people not infrequently talk about conversations with dead loved ones, angels and God. We are a moment in time surrounded by a vast infinity.
I get file not found with that link.
Not sure why the link isn’t working. Here is the article:
Sam Kinison died in the desert, talking to God. The high-decibel comic and former Pentecostal preacher was driving U.S. Highway 95 to a sold-out run in Laughlin, Nev., on the evening of April 10, 1992, when his Trans-Am collided head-on with a pickup truck. After the impact, as the other driver, a 17-year-old boy, reportedly exclaimed, ”Look at my truck!” Kinison stumbled from his car and collapsed, asking God why he had to die, why now. ”Okay,” he finally whispered. ”Okay … okay.”
The calm acceptance was literally a far cry from the howl of outrage Kinison, 38, had made his onstage trademark. His fury thrust itself up out of his past as the outcast, twice-divorced son of two evangelical preachers in Peoria, Ill., driving him from the ministry he had served for six years onto the stage to rant about women, the homeless, and, yes, televangelists. ”The ministry’s a hard thing to live up to,” he would later say. ”It was probably why I got into the vulgarity so much, because it was just such a trip to be able to live it out.”
So he lived it out hard and fast, rocketing from his national debut on the 1985 Young Comedians HBO special to two gold albums, spots on late-night TV, and concert appearances that paid up to $50,000 per. But given his gonzo gluttony for cocaine, Kinison played chicken with his own success. He blew off what would have been his first vehicle, the never-filmed comedy Atuk. Lackluster stage gigs resulted from his drug-induced stupor; he had to revive himself with backstage oxygen tanks. In 1990, as his third album languished, both MTV and HBO backed away from him.
By April 1992, though, Kinison claimed to have cut back on his alcohol and drug use. He had a two-picture deal cooking with New Line Cinema and a variety show in the works with Fox. And he had just married Malika Souiri, 27, who was in the passenger seat during the crash. (She suffered a concussion.)
Like Elvis, to whom he compared himself, Kinison remained a brand name after his death. Comedians still talk about how he ”pushed the envelope.” ”Sam was a forerunner of Howard Stern’s kind of raunch humor,” says his friend, comic Richard Belzer. ”If he hadn’t gotten killed, he’d be huge now.”
Meanwhile, the boy who ushered Sam Kinison back to God was charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and sentenced to 300 hours of community service and a year’s probation; he was released to the custody of his parents.
Disagree with that assessment. Kinison’s howls were not those of rage, but those of anguish and exasperation. There some raunch in his routine, but the raunch was ancillary.
That you kill someone and get probation and ‘community service’ is another item on the bill of particulars contra California judges and prosecutors.
The videos made me laugh, Donald! Great post!
We are a moment in time surrounded by a vast infinity.
To try to imagine that each Mass is a moment of time that is real time, the present, and in the shadow of the past.
Sam’s moment, while the veil was pulled aside, is a reminder of our insignificance and utter importance.
The former, viewing life as a non believer. The later, an intricate participate in salvation history.
Even non believers play a role in the great play. Sam believed.
Angst can be useful but only to a certain degree. It can be so burdensome on the Spirit. Implosion for many ie. J.Belushi, J. Candy too I suppose.
Sam Kinison made me laugh.
God, please give them a peaceful rest.
It’s great, but also frustrating. Rather like watching a teacher trying to explain basic addition to some first graders while someone else talks about all the algebra they’ll need to balance their chequebook. Rodney ain’t wrong, but there is a point to helping the ignorant with the basics before moving them on to reality.
And boy, a lot of kids – heck a lot of people – are bone ignorant of economics and business. (Would that was taught in school more than evolution.)
And boy, a lot of kids – heck a lot of people – are bone ignorant of economics and business. (Would that was taught in school more than evolution.)
Does not belong in a high school curriculum.
Thank you.