George Carlin was actually arrested once for being a comedian.

Well, he wasn't actually arrested for his profession, but for what he said. In 1972, after performing his "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" routine in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Police Department arrested him for spouting off such expletives.

Granted, that was 25 years ago, but when Carlin appears at The Convo Saturday night much of his act will still be based on that anti-establishment material he has used since his career began in 1960.

But while George Carlin may have been in show business for what seems like an eternity, his work continues to thrill. Ten of his comedy albums have been nominated for Grammy awards and he's been on The Tonight Show over 100 times. In March his ninth HBO special aired.

Performing over 100 concerts a year throughout the country, Carlin is different than most chip-on-their-shoulder comedians. He has spouted off (and gotten people pissed off) about his views on Vietnam, drugs and Catholicism. He notices the world around him and basically tells it how it is from someone who feels the world, or at least the people who live in it, suck.

In 1970, Carlin began his career of shock-comedy. Before that, he was different but tolerable. (Anyone who appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show would have to be tolerable). But as the jacket of his Classic Gold album says, November 27, 1970 was a day that changed the world of comedy. It was on that day that Carlin appeared at the Lake Geneva Playboy Club and gave his radically different views on politics, drugs, sex and society for the first time. Trouble abounds.

Not only was Carlin booed off the stage, but the management fired him and told him he had to leave the premises immediately because they could not guarantee his security, as several people in the audience had asked for his room number.

Basically, Carlin's routine in the '90's is still meant to point out flaws just as it was in the early seventies. Today, however, he rips the world on a much larger basis.

"I have a whole half hour I haven't organized yet called ÔMy Entertainment' and here are some of the titles: Disasters, Diseases, Hopelessness, Bad News, Man-made Trouble, Additional Enjoyment," Carlin told The Columbus Dispatch in September last year.

What separates him from other comedians is his resume. While comedians who base their routine on four-letter words are quite common, you really don't see too many of them get their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and you certainly don't expect them to host a children's show.

Carlin has done that and more. In 1987 he received the Walk of Fame star, and simply commented "I only hope no one throws up on it." In 1992, the man who invented his own morality received two Emmy nominations for playing Mr. Conductor on "Shining Time Station." Apparently, he has no problem filling big shoes as he replaced Beatle Ringo Starr on the show.

Carlin's routine, like several comedians', has it's share of imitations and invented characters. Despite being over 30 years old, some characters still delight, such as the Hippy Dippy Weatherman who's brought to you by Parsons Pest Control. ("Do you have termites, bugs and roaches? Parsons will get rid of the termites and bugs and help you smoke the roaches.")

Part of the drug references hit home as well. In the '70's, he fought drug addiction which he overcame by self-rehabilitation. Looking back on those performances when he was high on coke, he said he is disturbed about how he wrecked certain moments on stage because of a buzz.

It may be hard for a lot of students to believe that Carlin, a man whose routine is known to shock, is the lead performer for Parents Weekend, of all weekends. Whether or not he goes off on four-letter words or dissing his own religion may seem irrelevant if the audience looks at his point.

"At heart, I'm an artist, and an artist has an obligation to be unencumbered by exterior structureÑthings that control his thinking such as political beliefs," Carlin told The Capital Times Wisconsin State Journal. "And I just think I'm much freer as a comedian if I can stand off emotionally detached from this whole process and look at it coldly. So that's what I do."

George Carlin is very #$&&%'n funny. His Stand-Up and his CDs sell millions. But, so much of Carlin's routines are based on his unique mannerisms. Could a book of Carlinisms really retain his spontaneous energy? Yes.

George's second book Brain Droppings is a collection of all things Carlin. Although his stand-up characters, such as the hippy-dippy weatherman, can't be translated, Carlin's best material is in the book.

Carlin is more than just a comedian. Like the best entertainers, his material has substance and purpose. His jokes are rooted in the deepest problems of society.

Brain Droppings' preface describes the sources of Carlin's material (the quirky English language, the "little world" jokes that include jokes about driving and relationships and the "big world" that looks at the lighter side of war, politics, race and death) as well as his outlook on life, the universe and everything.

Carlin's outlook makes his musings that much more hilarious. He skewers politically correct speech in the language section.

"I don't think a homely, disfigured, bald minority person with a room-temperature IQ who limps and stutters is necessarily always a victim," Carlin explains. "Although I will say she probably shouldn't be out trying to get work as a receptionist."

This section also has Carlin's favorite redundancies, such as "convicted felon" and "foreign imports," and his favorite euphemisms that include "blow job = holistic massage therapy" and "body bags = remains pouches."

Peppered throughout the book are Carlin's stand-up musings like "Don't get your cortex caught in a vortex." They don't make much sense, they are just funny.

Carlin's fake book club pops up from time to time, too. "The George Carlin Book Club: We've Got Books Out The Ass" has offerings anywhere from Feel This: A Braille Sex Manual to Eat, Run, Stay Fit and Die Anyway (it's a self-help book). And for you college kids there is Where to Throw Up Secretly.

Finally, Carlin leaves his readers with just a little bit more acerbic wisdom than they had before they picked the book up.

"Tomorrow is very much like today, except it's not here yet."

- j. yoders