Rolling Obituary Thread: 2016

Yes, but remember when she ended America's drug problem with that Very Special episode of Diff'rent Strokes?

An attempt at balance.

One of those somebody-must-have-invented it guys:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/07/ray-tomlinson-email-inventor-and-selector-of-symbol-dies-aged-74

^^^ I worked with him for 3 years and was just about to post his obit; he was a fantastic guy and someone I regretted falling out of touch with

That's amazing.

Concur re: that's amazing

I am really saddened by every early Internet person who passes because even though my field isn't really Fundamentals Of Internet I do feel like a lot of the people who invented what I do are getting closer all the time and nobody, as far as I know, is trying to do even a cursory oral history of how this business started and who did what, like handling "the posse" in the early 90s or any of the series of other similarly nasty internet worms that followed Morris

http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/6/11168718/ray-tomlinson-dead-inventor-of-email-obituary

as he liked to say, "It's the only preposition on the keyboard."

I read this a few years ago and learned lots:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Qk3dIqeNL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Will take a look to see if Tomlinson's in there.

So why was the @-sign on keyboards before email? What was it used for?

price

as in "i bought 3 slices of pizza @ $2.00 each"

Okay, thanks for the info!

Don't know if this is true, but I was told it stood for 'each at', so is a combination of an e and an a.

bbc commentator tony gubba:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/21740038

doh, that's from 3 years ago

well rip anyway old tones. until next time!

We could do with a "people you forgot were dead" thread to sit alongside the "people you forgot were still alive (except half them are now dead)" one.

everything would be so much simpler if people just stopped dying tbh

People who died twice.

It's a blessing to live so long everyone thinks you're already dead.

Reported on FB: Music Writer John Morthland

Saw that. RIP

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/john-morthland-renowned-music-journalist-and-longt/nqgXx/

http://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2016/03/08/17739955/andrew-loomis-drummer-for-dead-moon-has-died

George Martin

Nana Vasconcelos :(
http://musica.uol.com.br/noticias/redacao/2016/03/09/morre-o-musico-nana-vasconcelos-aos-71-anos.htm

Oh no!

Sad, loved his work on Pat Metheny's Offramp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZF17VwrOYQ

george martin and nana vasconcelos are kind of connected through their work with collin walcott

shit, at this point can we just say "everybody"? fucking bowie even had to beat everybody to dying.

Was tempted this morning to start a thread titled "they're ALL going to be bad years from here on out" this morning, to explore the idea of what is turning into constant cycle of mournful tributes supplied by a now neverending supply of elderly celebrities of whom we are fond.

Based on

jesus, 2016 has been a bad year. RIP.

― Bee OK, Wednesday, March 9, 2016 12:27 AM (18 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

from the George Martin thread. No offense to Bee OK. It just got me thinking that this bad streak isn't going to stop now, its going to keep on going.

Seriously, given the ages it's going to be bam bam bam bam, one after another, as it's playing out.

the bad streak has been going since they invented death I think

yes it's just that the lords of what the young-turk academics call boomer hegemony are reaching deathy ages.

One day we'll be dignified and ... oh wait

It just got me thinking that this bad streak isn't going to stop now, its going to keep on going.

― how's life, Wednesday, 9 March 2016 23:38 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I too predict that this trend of notable people not being immortal will continue

I am really saddened by every early Internet person who passes because even though my field isn't really Fundamentals Of Internet I do feel like a lot of the people who invented what I do are getting closer all the time and nobody, as far as I know, is trying to do even a cursory oral history of how this business started and who did what, like handling "the posse" in the early 90s or any of the series of other similarly nasty internet worms that followed Morris

http://www.amazon.com/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-Late/dp/0684832674

my coworkers and I all got a free copy of this when it was published

lol I should have clicked on clemenza's picture; images off strikes again

xxp:

Yeah, but I think we're really starting to approach the end of natural life cycle for people from the peak of the music industry. Late 60s/early 70s to me feels like the onset of a glut of approachable celebrity. Yes, notable people from earlier eras have always died, but I don't know if there were quite so many of them. Or maybe there were similar numbers of them but they weren't relevant enough to me personally? But at any rate this year it feels like they're going down like dominoes.

being totally selfish here but the real problem imo is that i'm getting ever closer to the front of the queue

Pop culture as youth culture, we're talking '50s and beyond, right? Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, ground-zero folks like that are still around, but not for long, and after that, things are really going to accelerate for pop/youth culture icons of the 20th century.

Those three in particular have remarkable longevity.

production designer Ken Adam

http://www.filmandfurniture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/dr-strangelove-ken-adam-film-set-war-room.jpeg

good innings

also did all the early Bond films

Probably mostly personal on this one, but the founder of Catalinbread pedals in Portland, one of the most creative effects companies out there, and in an endlessly tragic way.

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/03/37-year-old_portland_man_trave.html

I'm so sorry jjj. I remember when you got your first batch of his pedals. This is real sad.

oh that sucks bad

Ugh. Sorry

Yeah a bunch of us in th pedal industry are sorta reeling about this - we're all in the same age category, and it's a small and very personal world. It's also bringing up memories of Andy from Zvex from last year for a lot of people i think. Dark stuff.

John Gutfreund, Wall Street thief

http://fortune.com/2016/03/10/john-gutfreund-died/