here is a post from Playground PDX:

From: Mahvi (Original Message) Sent: 9/6/2003 1:18 AM
hey y'all!

Hope everyone is having a great summer! i know it's over, but, what the hell...

Everybody welcome our newest member: MurphDogg411

Murphy is a friend from Kelso, Wa., and has been an inspiration for me. He is the best friend/sidekick of our dear-departed friend Karl Halverson (Karl was killed in a tragic car accident on Thanksgiving Day, 2001). Karl & Murph epitomize the kind of people we are reaching out to.

Karl was a music producer, who composed his work on his home computer. He had aspirations to develop a career in visuals and lighting. He also shared our vision for developing internet and cable television broadcasting that nurtures our scene by making it available to the communities surrounding Portland. He will be missed by all who knew him, and perhaps his inspiration will propel me to accomplish our manifest...

I met Karl at the 4th of July, 2001 celebration, here in Longview. The live band performance was wrapping up it's gig, on the shore of Lake Sacajawea, with a soulful rendition of 'Brick House'... we were jammin' and spirits were high...
everyone in the crowd was dancing in celebration. The excitement drew me in, and I worked my way towards the front of the stage...
to my surprise, a young man caught my attention: he was doing Likwid!!! I greeted him, exclaiming, 'you go to parties!', he said he had been to a couple events, and loved Jungle...

That was Karl.

I told him about my outreach project, and how I was sharing it with the people in our area, and promoting our efforts at our event info booths. He wanted to help, and offered himself and his buddy Murph, at the next event I was working. Rite On! They were both seniors in high school, and 17 years old.
Since they were minors, they had to get permission to go with me, out of state, to an outdoor party in Oregon. I'll never forget, 'selling' his conservative Mormon parents our scene, the project, and basically convincing them this was an effort with good intentions... 'the right thing to do'.
Our meeting of the minds took place under the blazing summer sun, in the Fred Meyer parking lot! We were stoked, and headed out of town. Unfortunately the party was shut down before we could get to the site. We hung out at the rest area, dancing to a portable soundsystem, outta the back of a station wagon... the cops made us leave, and everyone re-grouped at Heaven Cafe (on MLK). It was awesome!
DJ Daze, DJ Bear, DJXL, and other locals rocked the house.
When it came time to leave, Karl and Murph's enthusiasm was overflowing and joyful. They thanked me for bringing them to the best party of their lives... I was drenched in PLUR that night!
Weeks and months passed. I ran into the two of them several times... they were busy with school. Even though we didn't see each other, as often, I knew they were 'out there', carrying our fond memories in their hearts...
Then, one day, Murph saw me at the computer center. He had some bad news: while driving with his girlfriend, from dinner at her grandmother's, they had a terrible accident. In a torrential rainstorm, and poor visibility, they hit a Mt. St. Helens tour bus, head-on... in Karl's Honda CRX.

He died instantly.

His girlfriend barely survived, and was life-flighted to Portland, where she remained in a coma, for like a month. She was only 15. Eventually she recovered, and returned home.
I didn't see Murph for quite some time. I'm sure he was heartboken. We all were.

The next time I saw Murph, wasn't so somber. In fact he had happiness to share. He had a new girlfriend, and they had gone to some parties... and with glee in his eyes he reminded me of that party at Heaven, and how it made an impression on him. He loved the music, and the beauty of dance...
The image of Lala, spinning her glowstix, on the darkened roadside in the woods, must have become etched in his mind.

He said he had been practicing, and had learned how to spin...

I welled up, with tears of joy... FUCK YEAH!


Thank You Murph, for the inspiration... and for carrying on!

And thanks for finding our group, and joining us! So kewl!

I Love You Dude,

Mahvi

PLUR 2 U!