The Death of Dr. Daniel Plummer
"I met a chick called Thelema and I bounced my head off of her walls" ~ DJP from Adrenochrome's Everything Falls Apart
Timefix: 1989 Chicago, Illinois
I'm 19 years old.
I walk into the Hothouse on Milwaukee and meet, in the flesh for the first time, other members of Thee Temple of Psychick Youth. We've written back and forth through the post for a few years using names and numbers to conceal our identities. We are Kalis and Coyotes, Dr. Dan would say we were cockroaches. We were aspects of society that most would rather stomp out, but we were far too resilient to succumb to boots. We created a publicly performed ritual right there on the spot and amidst the flashing lights of my Dreamachine we put it into action. If my bearings are right(things get a bit messy for me time wise here) this eve was the first time I was naked on stage. I was quite the exhibitionist back then. :) Illusion of Safety "opened" for us that evening and drove away half of the crowd.
Yeah, I met Dr. Dan that night. He had just taken over as Station Coordinator and moved the Station from Denver to San Diego. This night changed everything for me and though I returned to Detroit it wasn't long until I slipped into the underground network that was TOPY. From couch to couch and from Kali to Kali. Eventually I found myself living with Dr. Dan in San Diego. Then there was Gravity. Due to my inability to stay away from her, she became a huge rift between Dan and me. There was that campout near Death Valley. That was a night of firsts, I met Dr. Dagon and Lysergic Acid Diethylamide in the same moment. How funny is that?
Ah, I've now gone totally nostalgic. Anyhow, I just checked a few channels that I don't often check. Actually, it's been a really long time since I've checked them due to being in India. So I was stunned today when LOB sent me a note asking if I had heard the news about Dan. On New Year's Day he was hit by a branch while riding his cycle in Los Altos Hills and killed. I'm a bit stunned. We hadn't written in a few years but I've got to say that he was one of the most challenging people I had met in my life. He was a hard man to know and I don't mean that he was hard to get to know, I mean it was tough to know him. I always held him in the utmost respect as he stuck to his guns through thick or thin. I'm glad to hear that he moved on while doing something he loved. He had always been a cyclist but went hog wild on it after I moved to Carbondale, Illinois. He was a member of Team Spine and they've a nice memorial site up for him now.
After Gravity, Dan and I had an on and off relationship. We never hashed it out, we just let it go and moved on from there. I think my band, Bloom, opened up for Adrenochrome in LA once or twice. Dan and I were both drinkers and we would hold up in crap hotel rooms up and down the cost of California with cases of beer, fifths of whiskey and other things best not mentioned these days.
In 1995, in another life, I worked at a recording studio in Tucson and had the opportunity to record Adrenochrome's first Demo Tape. Ross, the bands bass player has made this tape available as two MP3s. Adrenochrome was a brain splitting occult punk outfit consisting of Dan on guitars and voice, Ross on bass, and a drum machine modeled after the Sister's Dr. Avalanche. It's rough, live, and best really really loud. It was recorded in a single weekend under the influence of way too much booze.
Demo Cassette A-Side
Everything Falls Apart
Full-on Bastard Potential
Dr. Adder
Demo Cassette B-Side
Story
Lungs
Speed Control
Crash
Rock on DJP!
You were an asshole, a life changer and a dear brother!
~Gregg
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4 comments:
This is totally bizarre. I skip through the ashtanga blogs daily looking for inspiration. However when I saw you title today my heart skipped. You see, I knew Dan. We met 'online' in 1987 long before people really met on line. I was in PA and he, of course, was in New England. I ended up moving to Massachusettes but he moved to CA after he graduated in 1988. We didn't keep in touch after that.
All I can say is, how totally bizarre. I'm sorry to hear about his tragic accident but glad he was doing something he loved. He was quite the tormented soul when I knew him and I agree that "he was one of the most challenging people I had met in my life. He was a hard man to know and I don't mean that he was hard to get to know, I mean it was tough to know him."
~Michele
Michele,
If you check this again, thanks for posting and justifying my blatantly nostalgic entry. I reflected more on that entire part of my life last night, particularly the bits that involved Dan. I came to zero conclusions. I don't know if I would say Dan was tormented when I knew him, which was right after he moved west, maybe disenchanted would be the word. But unlike others who become stagnant when disenchanted he used it to fuel a search for things he considered worthy. Of course, his disenchantment made him a downright bastard most of the time. I'd like to think he found worth on his bike and in the guitar. At least that's the way it seemed 10 years ago.
Anyhow, thanks for posting and being a witness to the fact that the world is totally bizarre.
Take Care,
~Gregg
I definitely think Dan had demons. As you know he was way out there on the intelligence scale but had an underlying depression that he learned to self medicate with. He was never self destructive when I was with him but what went on the rest of the week was nothing I was aware of. Yes, he could certainly be a bastard and he knew he could be.
He wasn't into biking when I knew him so that was a bit of a surprise, especially since it seemed to occupy most of his life. I do remember the guitar though. Or was it a bass? Not sure. But I agree that it looks like he found worth in his bike and guitar and even his work. That's really wonderful.
I'm also sorting through old memories. There are more 20 year old memories from a 9 month relationship than one would think one could have. I had a horrible Dunkin' Donuts craving yesterday that I thought was tied to Fat Tuesday indulgence. However today I remember that the first time we met it was at the Dunkin'Donuts on one of the T lines in Boston. Now I'm looking for connections!
Thanks for letting me know in the cosmic way of the universe. Now I just need to figure out why the universe needed to make sure that I knew this. I just started back to Ashtanga in mid-January after a 2 year hiatus and found the blogs to give me inspiration. If I had started this next month or last year I would most likely have never known. The universe is funny, isn't it?
Namaste.
This certainly had brought up quite a bit for me as well! Of course the things it's bringing up don't really pertain much to Dan but the aspects of my life that were active when he was around. In many ways I've come a long way since then, in others I've changed little.
Ashtanga is certainly new. I've been at it for about a year and a half. This month marks my year anniversary of daily Mysore practice. What an incredible thing Ashtanga is. It really helped me to clean up in more ways than one.
I just returned from Mysore and THAT was a blast!
Welcome back to the practice. If you ever need to vent or just post about yoga feel free to shoot things my way. As voyeuristic as it is, I do get a kick out of reading these Ashtanga blogs!
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