Monthly Archives: August 2005

Bob Moog, one of the fathers of electronic music, has died at 71. From [“Moog Music”:http://www.moogmusic.com/]:

bq.. ASHEVILLE, N.C. – August 21, 2005 – Bob died this afternoon at his home in Asheville, N.C. He was 71. Bob was diagnosed with brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme or GBM) in late April 2005. He had received both radiation treatment and chemotherapy to help combat the disease. He is survived by his wife, Ileana, his five children, Laura Moog Lanier, Matthew Moog, Michelle Moog-Koussa, Renee Moog, and Miranda Richmond; and the mother of his children, Shirleigh Moog.

Bob was warm and outgoing. He enjoyed meeting people from all over the world. He especially appreciated what Ileana referred to as “the magical connection” between music-makers and their instruments.

No public memorial is planned. Fans and friends can direct their sympathies or remembrances to www.caringbridge.com/visit/bobmoog.

Bob’s family has established The Bob Moog Foundation dedicated to the Advancement of Electronic Music in his memory. Many of his longtime collaborators including musicians, engineers and educators have agreed to sit on its executive board including David Borden, Wendy Carlos, Joel Chadabpe, John Eaton, David Mash, and Rick Wakeman. For more information about the foundation, contact Matthew Moog at mattmoog@yahoo.com.

We’ll miss you Bob.

p. I grew up five miles away from Moog Music, and used to spend time as a teenager at Moog’s showroom in Cheektowaga, NY. It was always thrilling when a new Moog synth was released.

In accordance with his last wishes, Hunter S Thompson’s ashes will be sent into the sky in 34 fireworks mortar tubes. From [“Rocky Mountain News”:http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4011107,00.html]:

bq.. Hunter S. Thompson’s cremated remains, mixed with fireworks and packed into 34 mortar tubes, were en route to Woody Creek Wednesday.

The unusual shipment from New Castle, Pa., via padlocked truck is one of the final steps towards a funeral Saturday expected to mix solemnity with pageantry.

Thompson’s only son, Juan Thompson, stresses the respectful tone he wants to strike, but acknowledges that his father’s funeral wishes were unusual. Based on Hunter Thompson’s comments in a 1978 BBC documentary, fireworks launchers will arc his ashes from a 153-foot structure capped by a double-thumbed, red Fiberglas fist.

Actor Johnny Depp, a friend of Thompson’s who portrayed the writer in a film, is footing the estimated $2 million cost of the send-off.

From the [“Hollywood Reporter”:http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/people/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001017139]:

bq.. Joe Ranft, Pixar Animation Studios’ head of story for more than a decade and a cornerstone of the company’s creative team, died Tuesday when the car he was riding in plunged into the ocean after running off the road in Mendocino County, Calif. He was 45.

A spokeswoman for the Mendocino County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office confirmed Wednesday that Ranft was one of two people who died when the 2004 Honda Element they were traveling in veered off the road while heading north on Highway 1.

Ranft was a co-writer on 1995’s “Toy Story,” for which he earned an Oscar nomination, and 1998’s “A Bug’s Life.” Before Pixar, he was a leading member of the story department at Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he was a writer on 1991’s “Beauty and the Beast” and 1994’s “The Lion King.”

Ranft’s voice-over work for Pixar included such characters as Heimlich in “A Bug’s Life” and Wheezy the Penguin in “Toy Story 2.”