ティージェーグレェI had a phone call that Merit Eliot Toutjian aka DJ Sifu passed away.<br><br>I don't have adequate words to express my sadness.<br><br>He was one of maybe two people in the past couple of years whom I considered a new in person friend.<br><br>Not just a deejay, Merit also ran a DnB Record label: Thermal Recordings (here's a 2003 piece in the East Bay Express with some quotes from him at the time: <a href="https://eastbayexpress.com/run-through-the-jungle-1/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://eastbayexpress.com/run-through-the-jungle-1/</a>) and also had been a DJ at KALX (UC Berkeley's radio station. he graduated from UC Berkeley in the 1980s I think?) and worked at the beloved local Leopold's Records (which later got bought out by the chain, Wherehouse Records). He played trumpet, synthesizers (one of his most recent acquisitions was a Moog Mother-32) and in addition to his musical inclinations, he clearly inherited his father's talents with calligraphy and the visual arts as well (the hand made birthday card he made for me a couple of years ago is a piece of art in and of itself and I've held onto it as a result). He even made fascinating robotic sculptures/toys out of salvaged junk. He was also a martial artist (presumably part of the inspiration behind his moniker of DJ Sifu) though I couldn't tell you the details of what styles he trained in nor what belts and such he was granted, I had the impression he was rather accomplished.<br><br>He was a thoughtful son, driving his elderly mother to her church even though it entailed driving across a bridge from Marin and a toll back home from the Easy Bay. Yet I am grateful for that, since that's how we met! He was one of the few people to correctly recognize and identify ThudRumble's "beetle" logo on a hoodie (I have since lost) as a Technics SL-1200MK2 head shell. A generous friend, he even gifted me the <i>entire</i> (or at least everything he still had unplayed copies of in his collection) Thermal Recordings catalog on vinyl!<br><br>It is with regret that I had not seen him in some time (maybe around his birthday last summer?). I had heard that his kind canine Tulip passed away last Fall. We texted back and forth somewhat recently (I think I last received a response from him in early January and had kind of shrugged off that he hadn't replied to a missive I texted him in mid February since we both led pretty busy and different schedules).<br><br>Yet, I had been expecting to see him again, sooner than later. If anything, his mother is getting up there in years and their family sold her home and put her into a retirement/assisted living community within the last year and I would have expected her to have passed away before Merit.<br><br>I'm not really sure what else to write at the moment. I guess there will be a memorial service and as I know more details about that I will share them.<br><br>As it stands my heart is heavy and my thoughts and emotions are full of the grief of losing one of the most well humored and talented friends I've had the honor of getting to know in recent years. No doubt others who knew him will have fond memories to reflect upon Merit's kind and vibrant soul.<br><br><a href="https://snac.bsd.cafe?t=obituary" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#obituary</a> <a href="https://snac.bsd.cafe?t=merittoutjian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#MeritToutjian</a> <a href="https://snac.bsd.cafe?t=djsifu" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DJSifu</a> <a href="https://snac.bsd.cafe?t=thermalrecordings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ThermalRecordings</a> <a href="https://snac.bsd.cafe?t=dnb" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DnB</a> <a href="https://snac.bsd.cafe?t=sfba" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SFBA</a> <a href="https://snac.bsd.cafe?t=music" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Music</a> <a href="https://snac.bsd.cafe?t=rip" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RIP</a><br>