Bye, Mr. DJ

I just got a very sad news today. One of the people I've known and worked with for quite a long time passed away.

It's surprising how people surprise you. I first met Mr. DJ (that's we all called him) around 1994. I guess he was in his early forties then. He was quiet, mild mannered, and seemed to be typical of most guys his age. That meant that I thought he'd probably be into "grampa" stuff. You know what I mean: getting up early, going to work, going straight home after work, and going to bed before nine. Well, at least for a couple of years that's the kind of guy I thought he was. No problem. That's pretty normal for anybody his age.

But then, the company we worked in participated in some kind of religious parade. I can't recall what the occasion was, but I do remember the company had a float constructed and some of us were to board the thing in keeping with the theme of the parade. I was cast as one of the no-good alcoholics who would waste their life drinking. Mr. DJ was cast as the big JC himself, complete with a flowing white robe and a long-haired wig.

It was at this precise instance when I got to see a surprisingly different (and totally unexpected) facet of Mr. DJ's life. While he was putting on his wig, getting ready to play JC, he said something like "Wow, I look like one of the members of Wolfgang!" Wolfgang was one of the hardest-rocking local alt-metal bands at the time. So I thought, "WTF? How'd this guy know about a band as loud and cool as Wolfgang?" He must've heard it from a teenage nephew or something, I thought. But he didn't stop with Wolfgang. He went on to rattle out names of a lot of the heaviest and coolest rock acts at the time. So I went like, "Whoa, this is one very cool old man!"

Later on, after getting to know Mr. DJ better, I learned that he's the real deal - not some trying-hard poser who's just over-eager to impress the younger set with a fake knowledge of what's hip and cool in local rock music. He really was a fan, just like me! He'd go to a lot of rock events, awards nights, gigs - everything! And we wouldn't know about it until much later when he'd hand out various memorabilia from all his rock n roll adventures. I still have with me a couple of NU107 stickers that he gave me, which he got from one of the gigs he went to. I'll be taking real good care of 'em now.

We'll all miss you, sir. I guess I can consider you one lucky guy - you will now get to jam with all the heavies up there in rock n roll heaven. Goodbye, Mr. DJ.