It’s sad when (almost) anybody dies. But when I think about the recent deaths of Tim Russert and George Carlin, I have to say that the media got it backwards in terms of the importance of the losses.

I suppose it was to be expected that Russert would get a lot of glowing coverage, being a member of the press and having died fairly young. But, it was a bit outrageous for it to go on and on as much as it did. I don’t remember that much of a fuss when Gerald Ford died. Russert was a decent television show host, and I’m sure he had many admirable qualities; but many equally competent and admirable people die all the time.

Carlin, on the other hand, was a giant. He was able to find and express humor in life and language as few others will ever hope to equal. And he wasn’t afraid to point out stupidity wherever he saw it. That’s something we need.

I’ll always fondly remember his classic routines like Baseball vs. Football, the Seven Words, Voting, and many more.

And, by the way, What is all this shit about angels?

I had to laugh to myself, at Tech·Ed last week, because attendees entering the party at Universal Studios in Orlando were offered large turkey legs to grab and eat while walking around.

I immediately thought about how offensive this would seem to Leon Kass, and that nobody there seemed to have a problem with it.

So, I took one and enjoyed my “shameful behavior.”

I’m off to Orlando for Tech·Ed 2008 next week.

I won’t be doing any blogging while I’m gone.