Michael Dahlquist (of Silkworm) RIP

And pardon my "ignorance," but who are Nick and Liz that are being mentioned as having passed?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0507150236jul15,1,1457621.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

Chain-reaction crash kills 2 people and injures 4

Published July 15, 2005

SKOKIE -- Two people died and four were injured Thursday afternoon in a three-car crash in Skokie, police said.

Two cars going east were stopped at a red light at Dempster Street and Niles Center Road about 12:20 p.m. when the driver of a third car struck the rear of the second vehicle and pushed it into the other car, said Sgt. Scott Anderson.

Anderson said police are withholding the names of the people killed until their families are notified. He said the injured victims were taken to hospitals and their conditions were not available.

"We're trying to determine what happened," Anderson said.

http://www.electrical.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8803

Local indie music blog The Perfect Face For Radio reports the following:

"Yesterday around lunch time Doug Meis, the drummer for Exo and the Dials; John Glick, the guitarist for the Returnables; and Michael Dahlquist, the drummer for Silkworm all died in a car accident in Skokie. They were coming back to work from lunch and were hit by someone speeding while talking on a cell phone (which is now illegal in Chicago)."

http://www.theperfectfaceforradio.com/home.html

...my heart goes out to all their family and friends alike.

Doug Meis is another really really nice guy. Shit. His band (the Dials) has been really helpful and great with helping our band out, he gave our drummer a lesson or two.

I don't know John as well but have played with the Returnables.

This is really fucked up.

This, and the news of Liz, is just a double kick-punch to my head right now.

What a great drummer and nice guy. My band played with SKWM earlier this year and they were really nice...one of my favorite bands.

Fuck fuck fuck.

RIP, what a shame.

RIP

that's all too fucking OTM....

a bit more on the silkworm messageboard: http://silkworm.net/
(already overrun by spam! he ran the site..)

Jeanette Sliwinski was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery in connection with the Thursday afternoon crash at Niles Center Road and Dempster Street, according to a news release from Skokie police.

Sliwinski, of 8915 S. Parkside St. in Morton Grove, was denied bond when a hearing was held in the Skokie Courthouse in her absence, while she remains hospitalized from the crash, Cook County state's attorney's office spokesman Tom Stanton said.

Stanton did not know which judge presided over the hearing.

Sliwinski was accused of intentionally ramming her 2000 red Ford Mustang into a 2001 Honda Civic, which was stopped at a red light, because she was distraught and trying to kill herself, Stanton said. He said her car was travelling more than 70 mph before the impact.

Three men in the Civic were killed. They were identified as Michael Dahlquist, 39, John Glick, 35, and Douglas Meis, 29, all of Chicago, according to release.

Stanton said Sliwinski was not seriously injured.

...????????????????

.this just makes me feel a little bit sicker and sadder.what a tragic waste.

By Brian Cox and Lolly Bowean
Chicago Tribune

July 15, 2005, 10:33 PM CDT

Three Chicago musicians who worked regular jobs by day and rocked at night were killed when a young woman bent on ending her life barreled into their car on a Skokie street, law enforcement officials said Friday.

Jeanette Sliwinski, 23, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder after telling police investigating Thursday's crash at Niles Center Road that she had been in a fight with her mother and "wanted to end it all," authorities said.

Sliwinski, of the 8900 block of Parkside Street, Morton Grove, was going at least 70 m.p.h. eastbound on Dempster Street and had run three red lights when she rammed her 2000 Ford Mustang into the car carrying the three co-workers who were out for lunch, authorities said.

Killed were Michael Dahlquist, 39, of the 4800 block of South Ashland Avenue; John Glick, 35, of the 2800 block of West Palmer Street; and Douglas Meis, 29, of the 4500 block of West Lincoln Avenue, all in Chicago. Condolences buzzed across music-related Web sites as friends and fans shared the news. The men were in the prime of their lives, and more concerned about touching people with their art than making hit records, friends and relatives said.

"They were people who were so smart and brilliant and amazing," said Rebecca Crawford, Glick's wife. "Everyone feels cheated that they haven't been able to accomplish what they set out to do."

Dahlquist, who moved to Chicago from Washington state five years ago, played drums for Silkworm, a band praised by critics for its independence and eagerness to experiment.

Glick grew up in Boston and moved to Chicago six years ago. He was a guitarist and singer with the Returnables. Meis played drums with Glick's wife in a band called The Dials, described by Matt Priest, a talent buyer, as "loud and noisy but super melodic and super poppy."

"Michael was friendly to an extreme. He was a very outgoing and upbeat guy," said Tim Midgett, who played bass and guitar with him.

Without Dahlquist, the band is over, he said. "He can't be replaced."

By day, the three worked together at Shure Inc. in Niles, which manufactures microphones and other audio electronic products, said Paul Applebaum, company vice president.

The deaths "really devastated a lot of people here," Applebaum said. "We are trying to make some sense of it ourselves. These people were highly respected and well-liked around here."

Sliwinski, who is in fair condition at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, declined to be interviewed, hospital spokeswoman Christine Rybicki said. Sliwinski also has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery, authorities said.

People who answered the door at her Morton Grove home declined to comment.

Skokie police said Sliwinski was not tested for alcohol or drugs.

Police did not say if she was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

The three men were stopped at a red light at about 12:20 p.m. when their Honda Civic was rammed from behind, said Colleen Daly, Cook County assistant state's attorney.

Daly said Sliwinski made no attempt to stop. Her car pushed the Honda into the car in front of it, injuring two others, and a fourth vehicle received minor damage, the prosecutor said.

The Honda and Ford went airborne and flipped over, with one of the victims being ejected. The brakes in Sliwinski's car were functioning properly, Daly said.

The Cook County medical examiner's office Friday ruled the deaths homicides.

"She said she wanted to end it all when she ran into the back of the car," Daly said.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Consuela Bedoya ordered that Sliwinski be held without bond Friday. She is under guard at the hospital.

Prosecutors may seek the death penalty, Daly said.

Cook County court records show Sliwinski pleaded guilty April 5, 1999 to retail theft and was sentenced to community service. On Jan. 21, 2000, she pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol as a minor and paid a $100 fine, records show.

Applebaum said grief counselors were helping Shure employees Friday.

"Some people who knew them had to leave work," said Applebaum, adding that customers also were upset and offering sympathy.

"The remarkable thing is how many people said they knew these people personally," he said.

Glick was a senior marketing specialist and had been with Shure since June 2001. Dahlquist was a senior technical writer who started with the company in October 2001. Meis started in December 1998 and was a customer service specialist.

Crawford said she was still in shock over the deaths.

"The three of them created an enormous amount of laughter and happiness in other's lives," she said. "They had a certain exuberance about life that is really hard to come by."

http://www.onemodelplace.com/member.cfm?ID=52448

I've been feeling sick all day about this...

Matt's the lead singer in my band. He told me tonight that he wants to organize a series of shows at the Beat Kitchen as a tribute to the deceased. I hope it happens.

Booking guy at a club.

This is simultanously lovely and incredibly sad. I had no idea these two guys were brothers either

it's too sad - i saw them play but once at the knitting factory - it was loud and jubilant!

With that said, she's going away for a long, long time. As she should.

One of my best friends was hit on her bike and killed at age 21. The woman who hit her was old, in her 60s or 70s. I have often wondered at the guilt and/or burden she must have felt.

I have little faith in punitive justice, and jail seems like an insufficient answer to such a thing. Extensive community service perhaps? I can only hope that she is truly sorry in her heart.

Today, the waste of a life responsible for these 3 deaths was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

...of which she'll most likely serve 19 months figuring in time served/good behavior. She needs to have lifetime Mental Health requirements at the very least - but 19 months for 3 human (musician!) lives is despicable. Musta had a damn good lawyer.

Time served is time served. Put your rage in perspective.

Chicago Sun-Times story.

It adds up to four years, which still doesn't seem like much, but which is a lot more than 1 and a half years.

this makes me very angry.

the new bottomless pit record is a nice eulogy for michael.

Wow there really are two sets of laws in this country...

It's a good thing this chick wasn't a black man!

tim midgett from skwm posted this on the electrical audio forums, surprisingly fairminded about it considering i think:

It is very fucked up, but to state the obvious, the fairness of the situation went out the window the moment she killed our friends.

The judge was hamstrung the moment he decided she wasn't guilty of 1st degree murder. In essence, he had to choose between life in prison or what she got today.

If he's right, and she is not a threat to society from here on out, then whatever. Good for her for avoiding life in prison. If she's not going to do anything remotely like this again, then it's not going to make our lives any better if she stays in there and rots.

I just hope he's right. I hope she doesn't hurt anybody else. I would not bet against this happening, myself.

Which is why I wish she'd been put away, as a friend put it, 'past her partying years.' As it is, she'll have plenty of time to drink/drug/drive in the future. Or not. Crossing one's fingers on this one doesn't feel like enough, but that is what civilized people are left to do.

So glad it's over. So many people, so much pain, so much money out of pocket on travel and hotel rooms and so forth. So many goddamn court dates.

It's over.

Spending one more minute thinking about some flimsy pole jockey is wasted time.

Becky and the rest of the Glicks, the Dials, the ex-Returnables, the Meis family, Heather and my wife and the rest of my friends and family, me--we're all still here, we're all still dealing one way or another, and we all still need each other and YOU more than you can know.

Thanks.

Tim

I wonder what her parents think of her.

I still think about this every time I drive by the Shure building.

Cannot imagine how anyone directly involved in this nonsense can maintain composure on any level.

A recent story in Chicago Magazine.

guh

Yeah. I just read that and shook my head.

FWIW, the show Snapped (on the Oxygen network) just aired an episode about this.

Might be nice if they got the year right in that summary.

there's nothing i would like more than swift and brutal justice

more...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-sliwinski-24-sep24,0,7641351.story

"She desperately wants to blend into the woodwork when she goes home," Breen said.

yeah, they need all that jail space for the potheads.

One of the victims' friends, Heather Whinna, attended every court hearing for 21/2 years after the nearly 90-m.p.h. crash in Skokie. Arriving at the courthouse early one day, she watched a man receive a 42-month sentence for stealing a scarf and hat from a Louis Vuitton store.

Whinna recently recalled the case when she learned of Sliwinski's imminent release after serving about 38 months of the 8-year sentence.

Are we still surprised that the criminal justice system in this country is completely fucked?

^^^

I didn't mean this to be flip, far from it. I live about 3 miles from the intersection where this happened and drive by the scene every day and still think about the frustration of this entire situation on a constant basis.

someone should blend some woodwork into her face

It is not the least bit surprising.

Not easy to shrug off, though.

xpost

Maybe the second post in this thread should have said something like, "Are we still surprised that people die every day?"

As dj mencap alluded to upthread, Michael's brother (a well known guy in doom circles) posted on the SL board and posts on DFFD now, and I really feel for him after reading this. I cant imagine what he and his family, and of course the family of the other victims, are going through. This just isn't justice. Truly heartbreaking story.

I'm just so disgusted by this - I wish I had the reference handy, but I seem to remember reading that statistically those who attempt suicide with a vehicle and fail have a very high chance (argh - too mad to google - what is the exact figure?) of attempting suicide with a vehicle again later. I'm going to have to go back and re-read that Chicago magazine article - that seemed like a pipe organ for this early release in a lot of ways.

I have to admit - I do wonder what the 'fairer' sentence should be ...

As dj mencap alluded to upthread, Michael's brother (a well known guy in doom circles)

aren't there some weird Sunn O))) and silkworm connections? like some of those dudes used to be in the same band way back in the day or something?

and, yep, this is still a fucking shame.

i loved silkworm so much and micheal was such a joy to watch play drums.

aren't there some weird Sunn O))) and silkworm connections? like some of those dudes used to be in the same band way back in the day or something?

The connection is Michael's brother Stuart, who leads Asva and has played with SunnO))) etc. Asva's new album is quite wrenching.

ah ok thx ned

Stuart was also in Burning Witch. Greg and Soma were in that too.

five years today

:(

Damn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jeKiNzV-h4

Rest well, all three.

This thread hurts every time it pops up.

What is up with the first three posts though? Obviously a glitch of some kind, but when are they actually from?

Kills me to think about this every year.

such a tragedy. great drummer, great band, and by all accounts a great guy.

Ten years.

A remembrance from Jon Solomon.

http://www.comedyminusone.com/blog/dear-michael/

Wow 10 years. Unreal.
That was a nice piece.
Michael's death makes me so sad.

RIP, Michael, John & Doug.

jfc what an awful story

Fifteen years ago today.

Awful.

I still think about this every time I drive through that stretch of road.

Ugh - yeah - I think about it too, every time I drive through there. Good day to play some Silkworm (what day isn't?).

RIP
one of my favorite musicians ever to see play live