As followers of this high-brow literary masterpiece of the human condition and pop culture, you will already know of my love of William Shakespeare. That being the case, I know you can appreciate the title. And speaking of the title, this week’s little nugget of joy will be about Reform UK.
Now, I know I have readers from around the world, which in itself is really rad to me, but hopefully this example of moral ineptitude can cross borders and languages.
Like last week’s blog post, I often write about the United Kingdom, as it still has a special place in my geek-laden heart, as I lived there for three years, so I’ll always care about it; hence why I’m discussing what Reform UK have been up to, or at least, what they have released to the media.
Before I venture into this new volatile voyage of humour, let’s put on our Hats of Culture and Understanding to briefly explain just what Reform UK actually is. This should be a doozy!
Known as Reform, or the Reform Party, Reform UK is a political party in the United Kingdom that has the (dis)honour of being placed on the right-wing/far-right political spectrum. Basically, whatever you think of the Conservatives (Tories), they are to the right of them. Just for the record, they firmly supported the Leave the EU- pro-Brexit decision. Charming, right?
Anyway, their inspiring and charismatic leader is the MP for Clacton, Nigel Farage. Yes, that Nigel Farage, the one who resigned in July 2026 over an Ethics Committee investigation into some donations he had received. This triggered a by-election, where Farage was going to run, but also the leader of the Recyclons of Sigma IX, Count Binface, stood up to run against him, among others.
On 13th August, the Clacton by-election was held, and, surprise, surprise, Farage won with 63.3% of the vote. However, it must be stated that the runner-up, with 26.9%, was Count Binface. Yes, over a quarter of the voters in Clacton preferred a man with a rubbish bin on his head to be their MP, over Farage. Awesome. I would love to discuss this public relations disaster with you further, but I want to discuss the real reason this blog post exists at all.
In September 2026, footage was released to the media involving some Reform UK officials. It was an undercover sting operation by journalists, as they posed as U.S. donors, wanting to help Reform UK. This involved an unfulfilled talk about channelling £500,000 into Reform UK, some foreign funding arrangements, and funding three public opinion polls.
The two Reform UK aides in the footage have both since resigned, although Farage was also featured in the footage.
On 7th or 8th October (depending on whether you’re dealing with UK time or NZ time), Reform UK released a statement declaring that after an internal investigation, the party found that the three party members featured in the undercover sting footage had not broken any of the party’s rules or laws, and were cleared of any wrongdoing by Reform UK. The party is also planning to sue the broadcaster.
The Metropolitan Police’s Special Enquiry Team has launched a criminal investigation into potential breaches of foreign funding rules.
Effectively, the story boils down to this: Reform investigated Reform and declared that Reform was innocent.
After Reform UK released this information, well, people had some strong and humorous responses to it. Because of this, I have trawled through the best and funniest comments that I could find for you. So, sit back and relax, and read the best comments about the result of Reform UK’s internal investigation, and see just how absurd it is.
And all of this insanity was before the story broke about Reform UK councillors being filmed making racist remarks. I do realise that our current general election campaign has gone off the rails and has become extremely humiliating and toxic, but Reform UK are a gift that keeps on giving with their corruption and incompetence.
Have you heard of Reform UK’s internal investigation? As always, please let me know. And that’s it, for another breath-taking week with New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website.
Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, go watch the Rugby League World Cup, and I’ll see you next week for another movie preview with Clayface. I have to go; Gotham needs me.
I realise the news about this event is old, over a week old now, but I’m playing catch-up. Why? We have a general election on 7th November, so it’s hard to absorb all the daily chaos, and you can bet all your peanut M&Ms that I’ll discuss that soon. However, that event is not today; you will be relieved.
So, after that charming little info dump, and before we discuss the title of the blog post, we absolutely need to understand what has happened to Manchester City F.C. and why a middle-aged white straight New Zealand man-child cares about it. Technically, I care what’s happened, not about the team per se.
If you would like an in-depth analysis of the event, then I suggest reading some professional journalism, not my woke musings. But, for the sake of time, let’s quickly go over one of the biggest sporting scandals I have ever heard about. I also want to establish three points about this scandal to put it in context for people who have no idea what I’m waffling on about this week.
1.) Professional football is a business, as it’s a form of entertainment. Hundreds of millions of every possible currency you can think of flow around the world and into various organisations that run and administer the sport at a national and international level, like FIFA, UEFA, and the Premier League. The money we are talking about, involving salaries, merchandise, tickets, and also sponsorship, is colossal.
2.) I care about this issue for two reasons: I love football, as you already know, but I also follow the Premier League. I have been doing this because my team, West Ham, played in it, but sadly they were relegated last season.1
3.) Manchester City was bought and owned by a company called City Football Group Limited in 2008, which, as I understand it, was backed by the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), which is majority-owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It also helps to know that Al Nahyan is the current deputy prime minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and his brother, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the UAE President.
The chairman of Manchester City is Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who has corporate, investment, and policy roles within the UAE government. There are at least two other companies involved in the ownership: Silver Lake and CITIC Group, but from what I have gathered, the scandal does not involve them, to the best of my understanding. Crystal clear? Sweet, because things are going to get a lot worse.
Manchester City Football Club are, wait for it, a football club that, would you believe, is based in Manchester. They play in the English Premier League, which is the highest domestic division in the country, as well as in the Champions League via UEFA.
Over the last 10-15 years, the men’s team have won the Premier League Title, FA Cup, EFL Cup, FA Community Shield, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup. Some of these titles have been won multiple times over that time period.
I can’t tell you 100% when the media first discovered the issues, but just like Two-Face, I have two examples. As I understand it, in 2017, a hacker obtained files from the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC). Some of these files were related to Manchester City’s potential financial breaches.
Later that year, Der Spiegel, a German magazine, published information concerning financial breaches committed by Manchester City. In 2019, UEFA launched an investigation into Manchester City’s potential wrongdoing and found them guilty in 2020 of “Serious breaches of the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016.” (UEFA investigation).
The punishment from UEFA was to ban Manchester City for two years from the Champions League, which doesn’t sound like much; but it is. It really is because of the vast amounts of money involved. Anyway, Manchester City managed to get the ban overturned.
Fast forward to February 2023, when the Premier League brought 115 charges against Manchester City for serious financial breaches, from the 2009–10 to 2017–18 seasons. This included:
54 counts of failure to provide accurate financial information, 14 counts of failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments, 7 counts of breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), 5 counts of breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, and 35 counts of failure to cooperate with league investigations. (The New York Times).
So in 2024, an independent commission started an in-person, but private hearing to judge the charges. With me far so? Good, because now it gets crazy! On 29th September 2026, the verdict of the hearing was revealed to the media and public. Manchester City was found guilty of 114 out of 115 charges, and it has shaken the football world and the sporting community to its core. According to the release, Manchester City were found guilty of:
Creating sham and double contracts.
Disguised owner-injected funding money as sponsorship income (Over £800 million).
Inflating revenue, along with understating and reducing costs (Over £900 million).
Filing inaccurate financial reports.
Hid true funding sources from auditors.
Broke both Premier League and UEFA spending rules.
Failing to co-operate with the investigation.
I do need to say that Manchester City has filed an appeal, so we will have to see how that plays out. Reaction to the news has been swift and powerful, not just from reporters, sports pundits, and celebrities, but also from the general public, largely condemning Manchester City.
Credit: picturebox-uk.com/Alamy
Many people have proposed possible sanctions and punishments for Manchester City, but I give some much-needed context.
The Premier League have deducted points from teams before, with Middlesbrough (3 points, January 1997), Portsmouth (9 points, March 2010), and Nottingham Forest (4 points, March 2024). At the end of the 1994-1995 season, Tottenham were handed a £600,000 fine, a 12-point deduction, and a one-year FA Cup ban; however, they got the points and ban overturned.
Everton F.C. are the most recent club to have faced a points deduction. In 2023, an independent commission deducted 10 points for breaking the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules (PSR), going £19.5m over the limit. Their appeal succeeded in reducing the points deduction from 10 to 6 in 2024. The saga continued, with the club handed another points deduction, but this time it was just 2 points, because they overspent £16.6m during the 2022-23 season. They appealed the decision, but later withdrew it.
Just to clarify, in total, Everton was docked 8 points for £35.1m of financial breaches, over two seasons. During this time, they did not win any trophies.
Switching sports, we are going to look at rugby league, in particular the NRL (National Rugby League) in Australia. The NRL is the highest domestic rugby league division in Oceania; my team, the New Zealand Warriors (Up the Wahs!), plays in it. However, we are not talking about the Warriors, but rather the Melbourne Storm.
From 2006-2010, the Storm won the Minor Premiership (2006, 2007, and 2008), Premiership (2007 and 2009), Runners-up (2006 and 2008), and the World Cup Challenge in 2010. During this time, they were a juggernaut in world rugby league. But, as you might guess, some financial shenanigans were happening behind closed doors.
It was revealed in 2010 that the club was keeping a second set of books and was breaking the salary cap rules for over five years, which the NRL strictly enforces to make sure each club has an equal footing and chance. Because of this massive salary cap breach, the Storm had been effectively cheating, so the NRL could not turn a blind eye to the champions, and their punishment was swift and merciless.
Their punishments were:
Being stripped of the 2007 and 2009 premierships.
Being stripped of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 minor premierships.
Being stripped of the 2010 World Club Challenge.
Fined AUS$500,000.
Forced to return AUS$1.1 million in prize money, which was redistributed to the other clubs.
Deduction of all eight premiership points they had received in the 2010 season.
Barred from receiving any further premiership points (including points automatically awarded for a bye during the season) for the rest of the 2010 season.
Ordered to cut their payroll by $1,012,500 to meet the 2011 salary cap by 31 December 2010. If they didn’t, the club would have been suspended from the 2011 NRL season.
Sentenced to finish the 2010 season at the bottom of the ladder.
Like the Premier League, I follow the NRL, and this scandal was seismic in the rugby league and sports world. The champions were caught cheating through financial breaches.
So, I’m sorry if that felt like reading the Silmarillion, but we are heading into more entertaining shores, because that’s the crux of the blog post. We need to absolutely assume that Manchester City are, in fact, guilty of these financial breaches; so we need to imagine the next step: what should their punishment be?
Any form of punishment for Manchester City has yet to be revealed to the public, but as fans of the sport and justice, we can speculate. The Premier League’s punishment for such a large-scale fraud on England’s national sport has to be severe for the entire planet to see.
Some possible options could be:
Points deduction
Remember that Everton got 8 points deducted over two seasons because of financial breaches costing £35.1m, while Manchester City have spent a nine-season period breaching financial rules over £800m. It also pays to point out that Everton co-operated with the Premier League and Manchester City did not.
It’s been said that the punishment Everton received should be the benchmark. So by that standard, at an average of 4 points per season, a minimum of a 36-point deduction could be handed down to Manchester City. It would keep them out of the Champions League for the 2027-2028 season, but also, it would prevent them from winning the Premiership.
Relegation
Because of the vast fraud and deception committed by Manchester City, relegation is an option. It’s not practical to send them down immediately, or maybe it is, but at least they could be sent down to the EFL Championship (Second Division) for the 2027-2028 season. Granted, they would be back in the Premier League for the 2028-2029 season, but many players could leave, so promotion could be impossible.
Fines
A financial option the Premier League could enforce would be a fine or a collection of fines. Basically, it’s a slap on the wrist, but would a £10m fine mean anything to a club that has committed over £800m in financial breaches? If they are going for a fine, it would have to be at least a nine-figure number to really hurt them and set an example.
Compensation
Another financial option could be compensating the other clubs in the Premiership. Whether the money went to teams that directly lost titles and trophies to Manchester City, or just every other team in the competition, compensation is a reality, considering teams are already planning on taking legal action against Manchester City.
This also covers returning prize money that the club has won during 2009-2018, whether directly to the Premier League or other Premier League teams.
Title and Trophies stripped
Like the Melbourne Storm, Manchester City are past winners of premierships, and they have been caught cheating. One punishment could be that Manchester City could be stripped of their Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, and FA Community Shield titles and trophies from 2009-2018. Whether these titles and trophies are awarded to the runners-up or left each year with no winner would be up to the Premier League.
Banned from Champions League
Manchester City indeed won the 2022-2023 Champions League, but it falls outside of the time period that was investigated; however, Manchester City still played in the competition between 2009 and 2018. Because of this, UEFA may decide to ban Manchester City from playing in the Champions League for an unspecified period of time. All of that sweet money flying around, and Manchester City wouldn’t be able to touch it.
Banned from English Football
The Premier League may also take the nuclear option of banning the club from all forms of football in England and Wales; this includes the women’s team, for an unspecified period of time.
The Premier League may decide to use all of these options, some of them, none of them, or even some punishments I haven’t listed. But, whatever the case, the punishment must be complete. There is a fear that this scandal may destroy the Premier League, so they must make Manchester City an example.
There are some people who believe that Manchester City didn’t cheat because it didn’t make the players train or play harder and better; it hasn’t altered any scores. They played with the correct number of players and did not employ any foul tactics in their games, so they did not break the rules.
I understand their position, but Manchester City cheated on paper. This cheating allowed them more money to buy more expensive players, altering everything. The British government did not make these rules; it was the Premier League; it’s their competition. A sports club can’t pick and choose which rules and laws to follow and expect no consequences, any more than I can.
Manchester City cheated for nine years and won multiple titles and trophies because of that.
I love football, and I know the amount of money players and clubs are involved in is obscene. I mean, we are talking about players earning over £100,000 per week is madness, compared to our tiny one-income family. But the fact is, people still believe in hope, fairness, and justice. And in these times, corporations, companies, and the elite seem to be able to skirt around rules and laws because they can.
So imagine if the organisation and people behind Manchester City could face justice. I’ve read and watched various things that promote the concept of nobody being above the law and that even the rich and powerful can still experience justice. They can’t commit this level of fraud and believe there will be no consequences.
On a personal level, I need to see justice for this disaster, because what Manchester City did was unacceptable, and there needs to be accountability to show the children of the world that what we do matters, and it matters what we do. I see that even Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and ex-mayor of Manchester, is being dragged into this mess.
I hope every single person involved in this fraud should be investigated and, if need be, prosecuted, because I still believe that it shouldn’t matter how much money you have in your bank account; you still must answer for your actions, just like anyone. Otherwise, what’s the point of laws and rules?
What are your thoughts about the Manchester City scandal? What should the punishments be? As always, please let me know.
I appreciate you listening to this week’s rant, so cheers! Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, Clayface is coming, and I’ll see you next week because Reform UK have outdone themselves. Later, gators.
I want to take this moment to assure all of my followers, readers, and haters that Some Geek Told Me is totally committed to providing you with the second-from-the-bottom blog experience this side of an NSYNC Reunion Tour. This includes bringing back one of history’s greatest ever literary projects: We Didn’t Start the Fire. The Bayeux Tapestry has nothing on me.
Yes, awesome readers, even though it’s been MIA since 22nd June 2026, We Didn’t Start the Fire is back with another entry to entice your historical leanings. Because I’m a firestarter, twisted firestarter, I have included a list of the amazing previous entries:
If this project followed the new FIFA World Cup format, we’d be entering the knockout round, like the round of 32. We are deep into the song now, standing at the precipice of the ninth verse, which actually covers multiple years.1 We have not done this since the start of the song with 1948-1949.
Another interesting point to talk about is the song’s time references, because I have seen both Ho Chi Minh and Richard Nixon back again, grouped under different years. When I get to the reference, I’ll go full geek and explain it. So, there’s nothing left to do but to shake what my Mumma gave me and move on.
Credit: Etsy
1964
There is no entry for 1964, sadly.
1965
Birth Control
This reference is connected to a court case, Griswold v. Connecticut. On 7th June 1965, a landmark decision was reached by the United States Supreme Court that ruled in favour of the constitutional right for married couples to use birth control. This decision struck down state laws like Connecticut’s that prohibited the use of or recommended contraceptives, and violated the right to marital privacy.
The results of this decision meant that birth control had become legal in the United States for married couples, and eventually, in 1972, it became legal for unmarried people.
The legacy of the 1965 decision is still being played out in courtrooms in the modern setting. The 1973 Roe v. Wade case, which recognised the constitutional right for a woman to choose to have an abortion, was overturned in 2022 by the Supreme Court. The result was that nearly half of the states enacted severe restrictions or total bans on abortions.
On June 7, 1965, the court released its decision. Echoing Estelle Griswold’s comment about policemen under the bed, Justice William O. Douglas asked, “Would we allow the police to search the sacred precincts of marital bedrooms for telltale signs of the use of contraceptives?” (Above, Griswold, left, celebrates with Cornelia Jahncke, president of Planned Parenthood in Connecticut.) Bettman, Getty Images
1965 (or 1969)
Ho Chi Minh
Here is the first of our dual references, with Ho Chi Minh being listed as 1965, as well as 1969. On 2nd March 1965, Operation Rolling Thunder started, which was the sustained and gradual aerial bombardment campaign by US forces against North Vietnam. This foreign policy of trying to bomb the Viet Cong into submission did not work the way they thought it would, as the campaign failed to dampen their resolve or stop the transport of resources across the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This policy dragged and entrenched the United States into deploying more troops into the conflict, which history would later call the Vietnam War.
Air Force F-105 Thunderchiefs conduct a bombing run over North Vietnam in February 1966. The enormous “Thuds” were the Air Force’s workhorse during Rolling Thunder and as a result suffered heavy losses.
As stated previously, Ho Chi Minh could also serve as a 1969 reference for the President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh. He ruled the country from 1945 to 1969 and was a revolutionary icon who fought against colonial oppression. He died on 2nd September, 1969, which pushed North Vietnam further away from peace with the United States.
Some contemporary examples of Operation Rolling Thunder and the death of a 21st-century revolutionary icon can be seen in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the air campaign against ISIS, as well as in the lives of Yasser Arafat, Ahmed Ben Bella, Võ Nguyên Giáp, Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, and Hugo Chávez.
North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh dies, Published September 4, 1969.
1966-1967
Apparently, according to Billy Joel, nothing of note happened in 1966 or 1967. If you listen very carefully, you can hear English football fans screaming about 1966, while in 1967, we had Che Guevara’s death and the Six-Day War, which still influence 2026.
1968 (or 1969)
Richard Nixon back again
We met Richard Nixon back in 1950, and as the lyrics suggest, he’s back! When listing this reference, it can fall under 1968 and/or 1969, and the reasons are connected. With US federal elections, they are held on “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November.” So with the presidential inauguration, that is held on either 20th or 21st January. Since you get 10 hours of quality sleep, you’ll see where I’m going with this.
The former United States vice president won the 1968 US presidential election against Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace on 5th November 1968; but he was inaugurated on 20th January 1969, thus putting him under 1968 and 1969.
Its sort of obvious, but 21st century equalivanets of Nixon, would be George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and of course, the return of everybody’s favourite (insert your own word here____________) Trump.
Richard M. Nixon, right, is sworn in as the 37th US president, taking the oath administered by Chief Justice Earl Warren, left, in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC, January 20, 1969. Outgoing President Lyndon B. Johnson is behind Warren. (AP Photo)
1969
Moonshot
I was born after 1969, but I have talked to many people about the Moonshot reference and their memories of it. Being the clever little bees that you are, you would have deduced that Moonshot refers to the events of 16th to 24th July 1969, especially 20th July.
The above dates covered Apollo 11, the fifth crewed mission of NASA’s Apollo program, but more importantly, it was the mission that would land humans on the Moon for the first time. The crew were Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, and on 20th July 1969, the Apollo Lunar Module landed on the Moon, allowing Armstrong and Aldrin to become the first humans to walk on the Moon.
Not to be undone, Collins remained in the Apollo command and service module and set the record for human isolation. He spent roughly 21 hours completely alone in lunar orbit. For 48 minutes during every two-hour orbit behind the far side of the Moon, he was entirely cut off from radio contact with Earth, as well as being over 3,200 km away from his crewmates and over 400,000 km from the rest of the human race.
The legacy of Apollo 11 is the Artemis exploration program, with Artemis IV due to depart for a lunar landing sometime in 2028.
Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin. Commander Neil Armstrong, who took the photo, and the Lunar Module Eagle are visible as reflections in Aldrin’s helmet visor. Right: Aldrin’s bootprint in the lunar regolith. Credit: NASA/LPI
Woodstock
Back in 1969, a music festival was held on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, which was about 95 km from Woodstock, the town that’s the festival’s namesake. The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, or just Woodstock, was held from 15th to 18th August, and became famous for two main reasons: as it became a focal point for the 1960s counterculture movement, and for having music across various genres.
The first was the size of it; between 460,000 and 500,000 people were estimated to have attended the festival. The second was who actually performed, like Sweetwater; Melanie; Ravi Shankar; Richie Havens; Santana; Quill; Country Joe McDonald; John Sebastian; Canned Heat; Grateful Dead; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Janis Joplin; The Who; Joe Cocker; John Winter; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Sha Na Na; Jimi Hendrix, and many more.
The best examples of modern Woodstocks are annual festivals that draw in hundreds of thousands of people each year. To the best of my geek-influenced mind, these festivals include, in no particular order, Tomorrowland, EDC Las Vegas, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Lollapalooza, and Glastonbury. To nobody’s shock, Fyre Festival has not made the list.
I have yet to go to any of these festivals, but hope springs eternal.
Aug. 16, 1969 file photo shows a crowd of about 400,000 people attending the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in Bethel, New York. Woodstock was staged 80 miles northwest of New York City on a bucolic hillside owned by dairy farmer Max Yasgur. It was great spot for peaceful vibes, but miserable for handling the hordes coming in by car. Fifty years later, memories of the rainy weekend Aug. 15-18, 1969, remain sharp among people who were in the crowd and on the stage. Credit: AP
So for 1964-1969, we covered contraceptives, an aerial bombardment campaign, the death of the President of North Vietnam, the former United States vice president becomes president, the moon landing, and a music festival. This was a weird list because of the skipped years, but hold down your flares, because the 1970s are next, and they are going to mess up the order of this blog.
And speaking of messing things up, let us bring another shambles of a historical lesson to a close. The Warriors and the All Blacks have lost, so my heart is very fragile currently; however, there’s hope the Black Ferns can knock over the world champions next week.
Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. If you like pointless daily facts about nearly anything you can think of, my Twitter and Mastodon are for you. Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, go talk to a grandparent, and I’ll see you next week, when once again I try to be funny and fail.
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.
Credit: OPRY
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.
Credit: Instagram/summainfernoen
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.
Credit: Dan MacMedan
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.
A worker at La Esperanza Cemetery in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, northeast of Caracas, paints graves for unidentified victims of the June 24 earthquake. Photo / AFP
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.
Numbered identification tags placed inside pots mark the graves of flash flood victims at a mass burial site in Chitwan, Nepal, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
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.
Kia ora everybody, this is just a quick check-in with you, because I’m still on my mid-winter break. I know, how selfish of me! The world is still turning, with Spain conquering the world, bird flu is spreading, Trump and the United States have become the guardians of the Strait of Hormuz, and Nigel Farage is slowly regretting his decision to resign. It takes a special person in the House of Commons to rally against you.
Bin for the Win
Before I go back to playing board games with UMC1 and UMC2, I want to quickly acknowledge the death of Sam Neill, as he was one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s favourite sons. In all seriousness, I never met him, but his passing still saddens me, as he was one of our proudest exports to the world.
Whenever I saw him on screen, I would often think, “Hey, what’s that Kiwi boy doing there?” He was a fantastic actor, and again, having never met him, I always held the impression that he was a fantastic person as well. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to re-watch some of his films, as I have already started with Sleeping Dogs. Sam, cheers mate.
Clockwise from top left: ‘Dead Calm,’ ‘The Hunt for Red October,’ ‘The Piano,’ ‘Possession,’ ‘Peaky Blinders,’ ‘In the Mouth of Madness,’ ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Event Horizon.’ Everett Collection; BBC
I also want to quickly acknowledge the death of Sir Garfield Sobers, the great West Indian all-rounder cricketer. He retired before I was born, but I’ve seen footage of him destroying teams, including New Zealand. He was an idol for millions, and in New Zealand, he was highly respected, since he was so damn good.
I’m glad he wasn’t born later on, because I would have had mixed feelings watching Sobers take New Zealand apart. As a New Zealander, it would have been awful to watch, but as a cricket fan, he would have been glorious to see live.
Thanks, Garry, you were amazing.
Credit: Cricket West Indies
And with that, I’ll leave you, but my Twitter and Mastodon accounts are still operating, because what else am I going to do?
So, that’s it for today, and I’ll be back next Monday for a much longer blog, which will be in the form of The Odyssey Movie Preview. Take care, and I’ll see you next week.
I was thinking the other day about creating a new topic for this blog, since it’s difficult to maintain the moniker of being a trend setter. Luckily, I realised that I could always go back to look forward, and what better way to do that than using the way-back machine to travel to 1963.
That’s right, boys and girls, Some Geek Told Me’s: We Didn’t Start the Fire is back again. And just like observing the BFG with a telescope, the end is slowly coming into view. Please look up these previous uncelebrated posts:
Since you’re paying attention and you’re clever—getting at least 10 hours of sleep and eating your vegetables—you know we are going to explore the historical references in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire. With the World Cup playing in the background, let’s dive into it!
Credit: Hazelwoods
Pope Paul
Pope Paul refers to Cardinal Giovanni Montini, who was elected to be the 262nd pope of the Catholic Church on 21st June 1963, and took the name Paul VI. Pope Paul was an Italian who led large reforms of the Catholic Church, which included reorganising the Roman Curia (The organisation that administers the affairs of the Church), opening more interfaith dialogue, imposing a mandatory retirement for bishops aged 75 years, restructuring the system of Holy Orders, introducing a new Mass, and was the first pope to visit six continents.
He died on 6th August 1978, was beatified in 2014, and canonised in 2018. A modern example is very difficult to explain; it’s not like…I’m messing with you, sorry. A modern example is Pope Leo XIV, who became the 267th pope in 2025.
Pope Paul VI. Credit: Unknown photographer
Malcolm X
Born Malcolm Little, and later El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Malcolm X was an American civil rights activist, as well as an important Muslim leader. Being a non-American, Malcolm X was once described to me as Magento to Martin Luther King Jr.’s Professor X; both wanting the same thing, but going about it in different ways.
1963 was a controversial year for Malcolm X, which involved some negative comments about President Kennedy’s assassination, which led to censorship from the Nation of Islam (NOI); widespread media presence; his growing feud with NOI leader Elijah Muhammad; criticising other civil rights leaders, creating speeches, like “Message to the Grassroots” in Detroit or his interview at Berkley.
For a contemporary equivalent of Malcolm X, I’m not sure how to quantify that. Would this be for the United States or worldwide? Does it just cover Black civil rights, or LGBTQIA+ and women as well, or any civil rights? Every country, even New Zealand, has civil rights issues; however, if you look for them, you’ll always find some amazing activists campaigning for them.
Malcolm X, circa 1963. Credit: Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Image
British politician sex
Get ready, because this one is a cracker! British politician sex sounds like a popular university band, but it’s far more interesting and depressing. Basically, this scandal has become known as the Profumo Affair, named after John Profumo. At the time, Profumo was married, as well as being a Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon, and the Secretary of State for War (The title has changed to Defence Secretary) in the British Government, which at the time, was ruled by the Conservative Party, under the helm of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.
In 1961, a 46-year-old Profumo met 19-year-old model Christine Keeler at a party and began a brief affair, which lasted for an unknown time. Keeler was later involved with other men, like Yevgeny Ivanov, who was a Soviet naval attaché. A shooting outside the house she was staying at drew the attention of MI5. They arrested the shooter, which drew Keeler into the public spotlight, and MI5 started to investigate her. Stephen Ward was also a player in the scandal, having a connection to Keeler and Ivanov.
Eventually, the affair with Profumo was revealed to Parliament and the public, highlighting the Profumo-Keeler-Ivanov connection. The fallout of this resulted in some trials, as well as Prumo lying to the House of Commons; both Prumo and Macmillan resigned in 1963; the Conservative Party lost the general election in 1964; Keeler was sentenced to nine months for perjury; Ivanov was recalled to Moscow; and Ward committed suicide before his trial could begin.
For modern politician sex scandals, get a world map, blind fold yourself and throw a dart at it. You’ll pretty much be guaranteed to hit a country that could give you an example.
John Profumo and Christine Keeler. Credit: Getty Images/PA
JFK blown away
You don’t need to be Batman or Sherlock Holmes to understand this one. On 22nd November 1963, President John F. Kennedy was travelling in an open-top limousine in Dallas, Texas. Accompanying him was his wife, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally, Governor Connally’s wife, Nellie Connally, and the driver, Secret Service agent William Greer.
At 12:30 p.m., President Kennedy was shot on the top of his head and in his neck, along with Governor Connally, who was also wounded. Kennedy was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, but by 1 pm, he was dead. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of Police Officer J. D. Tippit, about an hour later, and then also charged with Kennedy’s murder. Only two days later, Oswald was murdered by nightclub owner Jack Ruby.
Like Flat Earth, Kennedy’s assassination has been the first step for many conspiracy theorists into a more unhinged world. Sadly, assassinating world leaders is not a new concept, just ask Julius Caesar. However, some notable modern examples of (ex)world leaders being assassinated include Shinzo Abe (2022), Jovenel Moïse (2021), Idriss Déby Itno (2021), João Bernardo Vieira (2009), Benazir Bhutto (2007), Rafik Hariri (2005), Zoran Đinđić (2003), and Laurent-Désiré Kabila (2001).
Texas Governor John Connally adjusts his tie (foreground) as President and Mrs. Kennedy, in a pink outfit, settled in rear seats, prepared for motorcade into city from airport in Dallas, Nov. 22, 1963. After a few speaking stops, the President was assassinated in the same car. Credit:Bettmann / Getty Images.
What else do I have to say?
‘Nuff said on this one, though we still have 12 more years to cover.
So for 1963, we covered a pope, a civil rights activist, a politician’s sex scandal, and the assassination of a US president. This was a short one, but from here on out, we’ll be skipping years, according to the lyrics, as they stop going from year by year. Sounds confusing, but it will all make sense. Maybe.
And that brings this week’s rant from a middle-aged, white, straight man, living in the South Pacific, to a close. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Also, you should check out the world’s worst social media accounts on Twitter and Mastodon, though I don’t even know why they exist at all; they are so terrible.
Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, watch more World Cup games, and I’ll see you next week for my Supergirl Movie Preview.
I have mentioned this before, but today’s blog reflects a sad reality that seems to occur more frequently on this account. This, of course, is part of the human experience. I am also aware that terrible things have happened, are happening, and will continue to happen in the world to many people. Some can be prevented, and some can not, regardless of how we feel as members of humanity.
We can’t save everybody, which is a horrible thing to say. I can’t save the 7-month baby murdered in Palestine, or the 21-year-old killed on the frontline in Ukraine, nor can I save the 84-year-old woman who died alone in her cold, dark, damp house. These things shouldn’t be happening, but they do, and all we can do is to save and help as many as we can, and celebrate the ones we couldn’t.
This brings us to this: I would like to take the time to acknowledge the deaths of Tatjana Wood, Marcia Lucas, Anthony Head, and James Handy.
Tatjana Wood died on 27th February, in New York City, aged 99. She was only three days short of her 100th birthday; though if you ask me, because of all of the leap days she experienced in her life, I’m sure those days could be traded in for three. If you don’t recognise her name, you can be forgiven. Just.
Wood loved the arts, as she worked as a weaver, dressmaker, and also as a comic book colourist. This involved covers and the interior artwork. She won several awards for her skills, as she mainly worked for DC Comics, but also EC Comics at the start of her career. Some of her work included Swamp Thing, Animal Man, House of Secrets, Our Army at War,The Flash, Tarzan, The Brave and the Bold, Green Lantern, Detective Comics, Batman, Action Comics, World’s Finest, Orion, and so many more.
Wood was the first female comic book creator I had ever heard of, and it blew my mind. I was young at the time, and I thought females didn’t like comic books. Men wrote them, and men drew them. It wasn’t that I thought females weren’t allowed to create or read comics, but rather that maybe girls and women were far too intelligent to be interested in the world of comic books. Girls at school didn’t read them, and I didn’t know of any female writers or artists.
My study of Wood’s work and the discovery of more female creators led me to an important conclusion: girls enjoy comics as well. I later realised that there were likely girls at my school who liked comics but felt embarrassed to express it, as the interest was often seen as something exclusive to boys. I’m very grateful Wood shared her love of comics with the world and me.
Tatjana Wood with her Eisner Hall of Fame Award, circa 2023. Photo courtesy of Lee Dillon.
Marcia Lucas was a film editor and producer who died aged 80 years old, on 27th May in California. Some of her famous works include THX 1138, American Graffiti, Taxi Driver, Star Wars: A New Hope, and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Lucas won an Academy Award and a Saturn Award for editing in 1978 for Star Wars.
She also helped with many films behind the camera, with their stories, plots, direction, and themes, like Raiders of the Lost Ark and especially Star Wars. It’s astounding to understand how many classic points from the franchise came from her. I can’t ever thank her enough for her contributions to those films.
Marcia Lucas. Credit: Vice TV
Actor and singer, Anthony Head, died at his home in England on 1st June, aged 72 years old. Head worked on stage, television and film productions, starting back in 1978, and worked around the world. Some of his most notable roles included Merlin (Uther Pendragon), Little Britain (The Prime Minister), and Ted Lasso (Rupert Mannion).
Though arguably, his most famous role was Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was where I first discovered him. Yes, he’s had many various roles over the years, but he will always be Giles to me, and that’s not a bad thing. Even when he was being a scumbag, as Mannion in Ted Lasso, he was amazing! Thank you, Anthony!
Credit: BBC
Finally, we have James Handy, who died on 3rd June, aged 81 years, at his home in Los Angeles. Handy was a veteran actor of film and television, having starred in roles since 1977. Handy was one of those actors who you see in a project, and say, “Hey, I’ve seen that guy before!”, but you wouldn’t necessarily know his name.
Some of his most famous roles were in Burglar, K-9, Arachnophobia, The Assassin, Jumanji, Unbreakable, Ash Wednesday, Logan, Top Gun: Maverick, Wiseguy, L.A. Law, Equal Justice, The Young Riders, Quantum Leap, Wings, Melrose Place, The X-Files, Law & Order,Alias, Profiler, and many more. Thank you, James, for entertaining us.
Credit: Fox/Disney +
As I said, thank you to these people for making life on Earth just that little bit better. This blog was a lot shorter than usual, but that’s life. Thank you for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Once again, I need to remind everybody that my Supergirl Movie Preview/Review starts in two weeks, along with my mid-Winter annual break, and my 300th blog post, which are also coming soon.
Don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, and go watch some FIFA World Cup and Women’s T20 World Cup games. Look after yourself because next week, we’ll be going back to 1963. It’s going to be cool if you define cool as in reading about history.
Welcome to this brief and special blog post! It’s a Friday, which is quite uncommon for me to post on, but today is a celebration of the 100th birthday of Sir David Attenborough. In my opinion, he is one of the greatest science communicators of all time.
Since 1954, this broadcaster has brought fantastic content into our homes, educating us about the natural world, ourselves, and the responsibilities that come with that knowledge. Over the years, I have learned so much from him that I would genuinely enjoy listening to him narrate even the most mundane activities, like paint drying on a bathroom wall.
Sir David Attenborough with a black lion tamarin Credit: Photo: BBC/Emily Garner
Just like many of my other heroes, I have never met David, but his animal and plant education, coupled with advocacy for animal welfare and the protection of the planet, have had a huge impact on me and how I view the world, and the non-human residents who live on it.
The man is a national treasure to the United Kingdom, but also a treasure to the world.
Essentially, what I’m saying is, Happy 100th Birthday, David! My birthday wish for you would be for more people, companies, and governments to not just listen to you but actively change and bring about environmental reforms. You are amazing.
And after this short blog post, I’ll return you to your scheduled programme on Monday. See you then.
This title sounds awful, but I have my wife’s permission to write about this. To take a step back, I have written several blog posts about my wife, particularly on the topic of reading, so the idea of me doing this is not new. See here for a reference.
For a condensed version, my wife enjoys reading, but usually only a series she already owns and has read multiple times.
She generally only starts a new series if all of the books have been published; therefore, the story has finished. She likes to read Book one of a series, and work her way through them, until she reaches the final book. She does this by reading them one after another, either through the library or from her own collection. In her mind, reading 3-4 books in a row of a particular series is like reading one very long book.
If she likes a certain series enough after reading them through the library, she will buy them second-hand to complete the set. She often rereads a great deal of content—I’m talking about a significant amount. Some of the series she has deemed worthy of her collection include the Twilight saga, the Harry Potter series, the Fifty Shades of Grey saga, and The Hunger Games series, among others.
This makes her cautious to branch out and try an unknown series, because what would happen if she tried a new book and she didn’t like it? She would have wasted her time, so it’s easier to stick with books and characters that she knows and loves; but also, a completed series has a beginning and an end, so she doesn’t need to wait for future instalments.
This is also because, and this is important, my wife hates waiting for things, as she can be very impatient. Seriously, you don’t know what it’s like. We once read the Image comic series, Saga, together, but she gave up reading it, because…can you guess? Yes, she had to wait a whole month for a new issue, which was far too long for her, let alone when the creative teams went on their 6-18 month hiatus. She didn’t cope well with that.
Ultimately, she would make a terrible comic book reader, as she only wants to read a story that is finished, so waiting a whole month, just so you could read the next chapter, was torture for her. With me so far? Great. So here is where my wife is showing some growth and development. I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but I believe it’s because her friend works at a local book shop and would recommend various book series.
Enter a new genre, at least to me: fairy smut and or fantasy smut. Upon advice from her friend, my wife stepped out of her comfort zone of beloved books and tried a new series, from scratch. She started reading a new series, The Plated Prisoner, but it was still a completed series, with all six books already published. To my amazement, she started looking for more series in that genre, but only completed series. It’s so important to remember that point.
This had led her to devour various completed series in the genre, as well as giving me a detailed update on each story, when I’ve been stupid enough to ask. She’ll describe some physically impossible sex scenes and positions, but since these characters have magical abilities, nothing is off the table. Or on the table, under it, against the wall, flying, and the list goes on.
Books containing plots where sex is a major driving force in the story aren’t something that I look for. I mean, the book with the greatest amount of sex that I have actually read could be The Time Traveler’s Wife, Brave New World, or anything about Greek Mythology, like Mythos.
I don’t know how to interpret that. Is that a positive or negative thing? Am I normal or abnormal? Though, to be fair, what is normal? Whatever it is, I’m properly not it.
Now, here, my wife’s reading habits can relate to mine, to a point. Reading One-Punch Man opened my eyes to the world of manga, and my bookshelf has never been the same. The same can be said with my wife and The Plated Prisoner, because after that series, the veil has been lifted, and she’s reading other completed series now, which are fairy smut or fantasy smut related.
Her reading habits have changed so much that it’s now hilarious to see what she’s become.
She now tries new series, not stand-alone books, of course, that’s just crazy. However, these series have a catch: some of them are incomplete, as in, they are not finished. There are still more books to be published in the different series, and she has now become someone she tried in vain to avoid, but fate had a plan for her. My impatient wife now has to wait for books to be published and released, and the consequences of this are far too funny to describe.
She has preordered certain books from the local book shop and checks in once a week, just in case her books have arrived. She follows particular authors on Instagram and Facebook for updates, as well as receiving monthly newsletters from the publishers, in a desperate attempt to gain new information about future books. She has even taken to making requests through the library to persuade them to purchase the upcoming books, just to get her hands on them faster.
She has multiple series on the go now, and my support and empathy for her can only go so far. When a much-anticipated book finally arrives, she is stoked and so happy, and I’m happy for her. In saying that, when she discovers a book from a series that will be released in 2027 or even 2028, she does not take the news well. When this happens, I play the nice and supportive role of her loving spouse, but internally, I’m doing everything I can, not to laugh.
She usually goes through the five stages of grief when receiving bad news about the publication of her desired upcoming books.
The first stage is that she will deny the information as real, believing the publishers have just gotten the titles confused. It couldn’t possibly be my title they are discussing!It can’t be coming out in 2027, it’s not true!
Anger is the second stage. She’ll point out that she can’t wait that long, and that she wishes she had never started reading that series in the first place. She may suggest that the series wasn’t that great to begin with.
The next stage is all about bargaining. This takes the form of rereading all of the current series, several times, as well as any spin-offs and prequels, before the new book is released.
Depression sets in now, when the publication date has been worked out in years, months, weeks, or days. She will mention how old she’ll be when she gets to read it, in addition to the ages of the boys, for some unknown reason.
This, of course, brings us to acceptance, where she knows that nothing that she can do, absolutely nothing, will alter the timeline of the publication of the book.
As a monthly comic book reader, I understand that delays can happen for various reasons. However, the common practice seen with titles like Saga, where creators go on hiatus to regroup, teaches you patience. Additionally, I can’t help but be frustrated by the release schedules for manga titles, but that’s life.
But considering that, I’m the Patron Saint of Patience compared to my impatient wife.
And that’s it for another week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, and go and watch some of the Women’s Six Nations Championship. I’ll see you at the weekend for a rare Saturday post. See you then.
So…how is everybody doing? It’s an interesting period in human history right now, and it can seem that things could be getting out of hand. Maybe things are already out of hand. Regardless of the truth, I want to take the time to acknowledge the deaths of two people who were recently announced.
Before I do, I realise I have discussed the deaths of people on this blog before, especially people I have never met, which is somewhat awkward and strange. How do you convey your thoughts and feelings about the matter? Do we have the right to do so? I don’t know what the proper answer or response could or should be; I never have.
I have no stirring speeches about the deaths of people with influence, only that by looking and examining ourselves, we can see that humanity can still shine through in these dire times, but also, understanding and being grateful that we got to experience their gifts that they shared with the world. Because maybe, just maybe, that’s the point.
Anyway, I want to talk about Sam Kieth and Chuck Norris.
Sam Kieth died on 15th March, aged 63 years old, and from what I can understand, he died from complications from Lewy body dementia, which is a form of dementia I never knew existed, I’m sorry to say.
For those not in the know, Kieth was a comic book creator who worked with many companies, including Aftershock, Dark Horse, DC, Image, Marvel, and others. Kieth created and co-created memorable characters, including, but not limited to, Cyber, Mr Gone, Mervyn Pumpkinhead, Mad Hettie, Goldie, Zero Girl, Roderick Burgess, Azazel, and Julie Winters, along with the three most well-known: Lucifer Morningstar, The Maxx, and Dream of the Endless.
I can’t tell you what the first Sam Kieth art I saw was, but I can tell you how it made me feel. I always thought just like his characters, Kieth’s art was not conventional; it was kooky, surreal, weird, offbeat, and odd. But that’s why I felt it stood out from the crowd, and that’s why his art worked. I would see his art somewhere and think, “That looks bonkers, it must be Sam Kieth’s. I love it!”, and it usually was. I enjoyed his art and storytelling, so his talents will be missed.
Sam Kieth in 2013 at a retrospective of his work at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. His bold art aesthetic and exploration of mature themes gave an adult edge to his comic book characters. Credit: Stephen Lam
It’s difficult to believe, but Death finally found the courage to tell Chuck Norris that he was actually dead. His formal death was recorded as 19th March 2026, in Hawaii, aged 86 years. Born Switchblade Killingsworth, Norris changed his name because he believed it didn’t sound tough enough.
Norris was a famous actor, martial artist, author, and screenwriter. Walker, Texas Ranger was one of his most famous roles, along with his scene-stealing cameo in Dodgeball.
He was the most dangerous, courageous, intelligent, and lethal man in the world. Norris managed to achieve some truly mighty feats, which include:
He could delete the Recycle Bin.
He once won a game of Connect Four in three moves.
He counted to infinity. Twice.
He could slam a revolving door.
He could strangle a man with a cordless phone.
He could start a fire by rubbing two ice cubes together.
He could divide by zero.
He could kill two stones with one bird.
He once played Russian roulette with a fully-loaded gun and won.
He would drink napalm to fight his heartburn.
He could manage to achieve a bachelor’s degree in scheduled time.
He didn’t read books. He would stare them down until he got the information he wanted.
He once beat paper, rock, and scissors, all at the same time.
He never blinked in his entire life. Never.
He could speak Braille.
He could build a snowman out of rain.
Chuck Norris appeared in the ‘Street Fighter II’ video game, but was removed by Beta Testers because every button caused him to do a roundhouse kick. When asked bout this “glitch,” Chuck Norris replied, “That’s no glitch.”
Chuck Norris did go hunting because the word hunting implies the possibility of failure. Chuck Norris went killing.
The only time Chuck Norris was ever wrong was when he thought he had made a mistake.
There are many more, but my eternal thanks go to Chuck Norris. I read books documenting his feats to UMC1 and UMC2, while they were baking in the womb. It did this for four reasons: to build a connection to them with my voice, to watch my wife suppress her laughter, to educate them on what a roundhouse kick was, and to inform my unborn children of the adventures of the world’s greatest man. Death has a Chuck Norris problem now.
Chuck Norris being Chuck Norris. Credit: Fickeringmyth
Seriously, both Sam Kieth and Chuck Norris have helped me become the geek I am today. Thank you.
This was a short blog post, so it is what it is. Thank you for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. It wouldn’t be New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website without your support.
Remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, go watch Heated Rivalry, and I’ll see you next week. Look after yourselves and your family.
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