While I was sleeping...

There were three major passings during the NaturalBlog's two-day curling-filled break from blogging.

Darren McGavin, who played the dad in the holiday classic "A Christmas Story," died at age 83 in California. The AP says he was less likable in person than he was in that movie, but the LA Times writes a relatively glowing tribute. Did you know: He won an Emmy for playing Murphy Brown's dad?

Don Knotts also died this weekend. His Barney Fife character always reminded me of the police in the little town near where we lived. Barney kept his bullet in his pocket; the police chief in Stoneville, N.C., let her gun permit lapse.

And finally, the search engine Ask Jeeves is retiring Jeeves, and recasting itself only as ask.com. Ask execs may claim he's just retiring, but I know the truth: Google killed him.