George Carlin, one of the most popular comedy acts of the past 30 years, passed away this weekend at the age of 71.

George's agent must have called me 10 times last season trying to line up a date for him here at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts as she routed him in Florida. Alas, we were never able to find an open date for him.

During my career, I booked George three times...and every time he sold out.

It's hard to be funny for 30 years...a lot of comedians don't last anywhere near that long. Towards the end, George became very political in his shows, some audience members couldn't handle it and walked out or booed. That was sad to see.

I will remember him most for the "Seven Dirty Words" and all his albums we used to listen to in the 1970s when I was a little kid. Me and my buddies would sit around in the garage on a hot summer day and recite the Seven Dirty Words over and over, laughing and giggling until my parents would come outside and tell us to knock it off.

George was quite the party guy and I remember going backstage at some of his shows...it was quite the scene if you know what I mean.

Hard living finally caught up with him.

This past weekend was a busy one with Father's Day, Tiger Woods and The Hulk dominating the headlines. In case you missed it, here's a breakdown of Sunday's Tony Awards for the best of Broadway this past season.

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=awardcentral&jump=article&articleid=VR1117987516

Are we ready for "Brokeback Mountain" the opera?

In the Big Apple? Check out this story...

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/am-brokeback0608,0,5436173.story

Live Nation, the biggest concert promoter in the United States, is in negotiations with the City of Ft. Lauderdale to bring a mega concert festival to downtown on Memorial Day weekend. They are pitching this as an annual event to replace the now defunct Air & Sea Show.

Having lived near that area for nearly 10 years, traffic would be a nightmare for this type of event. I can see all the seniors locked up in their Galt Mile Ocean condos calling 911 about the noise levels, can't you?

http://encore.celebrityaccess.com/index.php?encoreId=132&articleId=26541