Hi everybody, and how are you feeling today? I’m sorry for interrupting my own weekly rant about science, movies, politics, comics, sports, and just about anything I can think of, to discuss life and death. Yes, 2026 has once again farted in our face and left the party, leaving us to pick up the pieces.
Last week, I was talking about the dwarf planet Haumea, but today it’s something different, though not unfamiliar. Sadly, I have mentioned this type of blog post before, but that reinforces the whole concept of doing it in the first place. Basically, I want to acknowledge the deaths of Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, Peter Cullen, and two special groups of people.
Dolly Parton died on 25th August 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, aged 80. As you already know, Parton was a music legend whose career spanned over six decades. She released over 60 albums, including studio, collaborative, live, and soundtrack albums, and sold over 100 million albums, in addition to her acting career in film and television. She also wrote over 3,000 songs. I have trouble saving $3,000.
Apart from her music and acting career, Parton was also famous for her advocacy and philanthropy work, like the Dollywood Foundation. Part of the foundation operates Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which, as I understand it, mails one free, high-quality, age-appropriate book every month to registered children from birth until their fifth birthday. Since its inception in 1995, the Imagination Library has given over 330 million free books to over 120 million children.
I remember growing up listening to Dolly Parton on the radio because both my parents liked her and country and western music. As I’m writing this, I’m flipping back and forth, singing between 9 to 5 and Jolene. You have to wiggle your shoulders if you sing 9 to 5 as well. Those two songs are infectious for two vastly different reasons, as I can’t resist singing them.
Tim Curry was an actor and singer who died at the age of 80 on 25th August in Los Angeles, California, United States. It’s been said that how you know Tim Curry from his acting career, which spanned nearly six decades on screen and stage, can say a lot about your personality.
Curry has given us some classic movie performances like Dr. Frank-N-Furter (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), “Rooster” Hannigan (Annie), Darkness (Legend), Wadsworth (Clue), Dr. Yevgeniy Petrov (The Hunt for Red October), Mr. Hector (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York), Herkermer Homolka (Congo), Long John Silver (Muppet Treasure Island), Roger Corwin (Charlie’s Angels), and Colonel Anatoly Cherdenko from the computer game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.
He also voiced several roles, including Sir Nigel Thornberry (The Wild Thornberrys), Hexxus (FernGully: The Last Rainforest), Professor Finbarr Calamitous (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius), Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), and many more.
However, Curry scared the shit out of my whole school and me as Pennywise from the TV mini-series, IT. Later on, as a man-child, I managed to read the book, and in my mind’s eye, when Pennywise was running around in it, I only saw Curry. He had an astonishing talent at playing villainous characters, and I loved him for it.
On 26th August, one day after the deaths of Parton and Curry, Peter Cullen died, aged 85, in Los Angeles, California, United States. I could be wrong about this, but I believe Cullen had mostly worked as a voice actor. His iconic voice had enabled him to work on many animated shows, as well as movies.
In saying that, some of his most beloved roles have been Thaedus (Invincible), KARR (Knight Rider), The Predator (Predator-he provided the iconic vocal effects and clicks), Monterey Jack (Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers), and Eeyore (Winnie the Pooh).
However, the role he is universally known for is the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, from the Transformers franchise, in both animated and live-action series since 1984. When I’m watching a movie or television show and I recognise Cullen’s voice, it’s like, “Hey, it’s Optimus Prime! What’s he doing there?!” That is never going to change for me.
And to close out this uplifting and positive blog post, I also want to acknowledge the victims of the 2026 Venezuela earthquakes and Nepal–Tibet floods. On 24th June, two earthquakes measuring Mw 7.2 and Mw 7.5 struck Northern Venezuela, which caused damage across the region, especially in the capital city of Caracas. To the best of my knowledge, the current aftermath has resulted in 6,509 people being killed, with 226,696 injured, but 18,100–50,000 are still missing.
As for the Nepal-Tibet floods, on 26th August, a glacier collapsed on Langtang Lirung, a mountain in the Himalayas, along the Nepal-China border. The section of the glacier dropped ice from around 5,200 to 5,600 m in elevation and fell about 1,200 to 1,900 below into the valley.
This created two things: a seismic event measured at Ms 5.2, as well as a catastrophic flash flood, with the wave estimated to have reached a median height of 70 m, ranging from 40 to 134 m. The wave also managed to reach speeds of 167 to 170 km per hour, which is about 47 to 52 m per second, and the debris travelled for over 100 km. The human cost of this disaster across Chinese-controlled Tibet and Nepal is, at the time of writing, 1,138 dead, with over 5,300 injuries, and over 5,610 people still missing.
There are many aid agencies and international emergency relief organisations still working in Venezuela, Nepal and Tibet, such as:
- UNICEF
- Red Cross
- Oxfam
- Save the Children
- World Vision
Several other organisations are supporting the victims with rescue and relief operations, so if you spare some money, please donate to one of your national organisations, or an international agency. It’s cliché to say, but it’s still true: every bit counts.
I don’t know what else to say about this blog post, other than to thank Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen for sharing their skills and talents with the world, and to the relief workers still working in Venezuela, Nepal and Tibet, trying to help the victims’ families and other survivors rebuild their lives.
Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you next week.
SOME GEEK TOLD ME 
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