Ken Curtis Fan Club.

So, "Gunsmoke" is a show that is actually new to me, because I never really got to see it in syndication until recently on ME TV. The run of "Gunsmoke" overlapped my early years, but my memories of 1972-5 could be called hazy at best. I was too busy learning to walk and talk and use a big girl potty to pay much attention to tv, and westerns weren't really my parents' bag, anyway. For some reason, the character of "Festus" bothered me. The idea of the rural character who can barely be understood isn't too much of an oddity--Boomhauer on King of the Hill boasted a dense patois that I vaguely understand. Brad Pitt's character in Guy Ritchie's "Snatch" was well nigh incomprehensible, and one of the running gags in the long-running Italian police drama Commissario Montalbano is that the character of Catarella is barely understandable and frequently gets big words and proper names wrong.

But Ken Curtis, who portrayed Festus, had a voice that didn't match up with his face. But I recognized it. So, I had to look into it, and he was a big-deal singer with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and the Sons of the Pioneers. And, while his character on Gunsmoke was notoriously scruffy, Ken Curtis himself cleaned up beautifully. And in early episodes of Gunsmoke, they even let him sing. So weird he played such an odd character, but then had, you know. That voice. Glad I checked it out.

I Like Orwell but these quotes...

You know, in political writing, poor Eric Blair gets quite a bit of trotting about. He's so quotable. He was insightful and a very clear user of language. But I found these two quotes while looking for where he ever said "All art is propaganda"--because of course it is--and was immediately dissatisfied. Here they are:


He was an embittered atheist, the sort of atheist who does not so much disbelieve in God as personally dislike Him.

and

Liberal: a power worshipper without power.

I've considered myself an atheist and a liberal for some time, and have always imagined myself to be a god worshipper without God and a person who does not so much disbelieve in the use of power, as much as I personally dislike it.

So, there's my being a well-read contrarian for the day.

How the Hell Is Taylor Negron Dead?

Well, since he was the husband of the Rodney Dangerfield character's daughter in Easy Money I've kind of followed him. He was a great character actor and a funny, funny stand up. So, thank you, 2015, for already showing you are as brutal to the comedians I love as 2014 was. Taylor Negron. Shoot.