January 12th, 2011 by Conor
The Bomb Band is here! Well, kind of. They are going to take 7 days to process and then another days to ship. We are estimating that they will ship on January 26th. The bracelets are $10 and that includes shipping. Thank you to Alyssa Hussey for getting that ball rolling on those. These things are probably gonna be more popular than the Livestrong bands so make sure you get in early so you can say you had one first!
$10
January 12th, 2011 by Conor
It’s 1:57 AM. Today has been the smoothest day thus far. Danny’s ICP has been at an all time low (a good thing) until about an hour ago and it started to fluctuate. The numbers go up, the numbers go down. After about ten minutes of trying to figure it out, repositioning Danny and watching the number do it’s thing, Danny is finally comfortable…as comfortable as you can be in his state. Today a lady walked in that I’ve seen a couple of times. She likes to check in on his progress. Danny is a celebrity here. She asked me how he was doing and I replied, “He hasn’t had any paralytics since four o’clock. His ICP is stable. He shudders at times, but it hasn’t effected the pressure. They’ve increased his morphine and gave him a little something to get his gut going. Today has been mellow.” She gave me a surprised look and said, “you should be a nurse someday.” When you spend this much time in the ICU with Danny, you begin to feel like a nurse.
-Michelle
January 11th, 2011 by Conor
In between holding Dannys hand and sleeping Michelle continues to make hats. She just finished her second one. The last one sold in just 6 hours!
These hats are being made with lots of love while she watches over Danny. Ships quickly and makes for awesome pro ski/snowboard type gift. These hats are one of a kind and we love Michelle for making them! Michelle is also the Bomb!
This is her second hat. It is Gray.
$100 and it’s all yours!
January 11th, 2011 by Conor
Facebook Is A Beautiful Thing:
I never really knew Danny growing up, I probably should’ve – we were both Kennett teacher’s kids (Ellen and my dad taught together), he was my brother’s age, I knew Conor from band and, unfortunately, Senior Slave Day but that was it. I went on to pretty much loose whatever touch I had had with the Toumarkines’ after high school… and then along came Facebook. You can say what you’d like about it, but no matter your feelings on exposing information to the world, in my opinion, it’s a good thing, strike that, an amazing thing and the sole reason I reconnected with such an amazing family.
Almost two years ago now, I attended the Outdoor Retail Trade Show in Salt Lake with the company I work for and had the opportunity to meet some pretty cool people. A few of which had started a gear company that year, but we’ll get to that in a bit. A week or so later Conor posted a sponsorship video of Danny. I knew that Danny had been into snowboarding but, damn, he was good! I think I must have watched that video 3 or 4 times and lets face it I like skiing and riding but ‘d never really been all that into watching video of it. Danny’s riding style was mesmerizing. I found myself feeling proud of this kid I indirectly-sort-of-didn’t-know, he was talented and from the same place I grew up! I figured the least I could do was try to help him out. I messaged Conor and gave him the names of the contact I had made in Salt Lake, in hopes that they may be interested in sponsoring Danny.
I didn’t hear back from Conor, mind you I’d never asked him to respond after the initial, ‘Thanks for the look’ response, so I assumed that the start up company hadn’t been interested. They were small after all and who knew what their sponsorship budget was, or if there was one. I chalked it up to ‘it was worth a shot’ and pretty much forgot about the whole thing.
Fast forward to that fall, I run into Conor and company (one thing I have learned about the Toumarkine boys is there is always ‘company’, magnetic personalities are followed and they are no exception to this rule). Conor and I chit chatted a bit and I found out that the small gear company had picked Danny up as a rider and Danny was actually doing a little work for them too. Too fun! I love networking and helping people out in general so seeing that this had actually worked out made me smile.
I continued to hang out with Conor that fall and early winter and thereby Danny as well. Danny always had a smile for me or a sticker or some such thing that made me feel welcome even if we really didn’t know each other all that well. An especially memorable instance came one weekend just a few weeks before Conor and Danny made their trek back to Tahoe. The aforementioned gear company happened to make an appearance in town, I went over to say hi and reintroduce myself to them and hang out. Towards the middle of the evening they all decided to go down and work on more stickers. I followed them down and watched as Danny effortlessly created a string of different designs on his vinyl cutter. With the gear company owners and Danny arguing the merits of each one I had half tuned them out. All of a sudden Danny looked to me and said, “You’re the designer, which one do you like best.” I was caught off guard, not only because I needed to form an opinion when I hadn’t been paying much attention (typical me) but it is my opinion that Danny possesses more artistic talent in his pinky than I do in my entire body and therefore a better judge of this sort of thing than I am. But I formed an opinion anyway and stated my reasonings, I’ll never forget the half wink and “Good choice” I got from him. Phew! – Funny how even knowing him for only a short time makes you want to gain his respect and approval.
I’m so glad to have reconnected with such a wonderful family and look forward to seeing all of you back in the Valley as soon as possible! Danny, you’ll have to let me know when you wake up if I actually chose the ‘right’ sticker design or if you were just trying to make me feel better about being lost in space. 😉
Oh and PS Ellen, the ‘rents send their best!
Love to you all,
Talia Brooks
January 11th, 2011 by Conor
The guys at Glass Graphics have been crushing it and have already printed the first round of tee shirts. If you have already ordered a shirt it should be going out tomorrow as long nothing too wild happens between now and then. I only say that in light of how wild things can turn in an instant.
It’s not to late to show your support. Get your Danny is the Bomb tee today!
January 11th, 2011 by Conor
Ian sent me this through Facebook and I thought it was worthy of sharing. Just to catch people up to speed. This conversation started when I told Ian that I was the proud owner of www.chucknorristees.com. He was foaming at the mouth. Literally. Danny would want this message to be here:
Hey bro, just thinking about you and Danny, and i remembered one of the first times we met, hanging out on the river. we were discussing chuck norris joke tee-shirts. we had some laughs, so i looked up a few chuck jokes that i thought were hilarious, and hopefully lighten up the mood for u.
when the rock says “can you smell what the rock is cook’n” chuck norris replys it better be my lunch!
chuck norris has a daughter, her name is Hulk Hogan.
Chucks daughter lost her virginity… he got it back.
hope u had some laughs with that one man. liking the updates on danny. it sounds like he’s getting better slowly but surely. Miss you buddy, hope to hear from you soon!
-Ian
chuck Norris once lit a fart in the Sahara forrest.
life insurance gets cheaper the further u live from chuck norris.
chuck norris took a million sleeping pills… it made him blink.
when chuck laughs, milk comes out of your nose.
chuck norris puts the laughter in Manslaughter.
chuck norris drove his mom home from the hospital after he was born.
January 11th, 2011 by Conor
I’m Ellen’s sister,better known as Auntie Polly to Conor and Danny. I’m having a hard time focusing due to the erratic sleep patterns of the last week.
I remember some years ago I offered my cottage to Conor shortly after his Senior year in high school so he and Charlie Dixon could have a nice evening together to watch some movies in the quiet setting of Lovewell Pond. Silly me. Two years later, when Danny was graduating, I was looking at comments written in his year book. Much to my surprise they were all making reference to the “blast” of a party at the lake.
As a mother I can’t imagine what my sister Ellen is going through right now.
As a sister, I can’t imagine what Conor is feeling right now. Oh, the power of family. I keep re living our Christmas just three short weeks ago. There were 15 of us together for dinner every night for a week. It truly was the best Christmas ever. The last night Conor, Danny and my son Sam were all going to the Red Parka Pub for open mike night. I remember how enthusiastic Conor and Danny were for the trip to Montana. When we said good-bye, I remember saying to have a great winter, and ended with I love you. I am so happy I did that. Remember that the next time you say good-bye to someone that you won’t be seeing for a while.
Ellen, you are the most invested mother out there. It’s obvious how tight you are with the boys. You have a done a remarkable job with them.
Conor, everyone should be so fortunate to have a sibling like you…I love you
Danny…you, too!
Auntie Polly
January 11th, 2011 by Conor
I have been really meaning to compile and share some thoughts and experiences with everyone about Conor and Danny, whom are some of the closest friends that I have always had. Ever since I can remember these brothers have made me smile with their generous amount of laughing. This laughing has been an addictive phenomenon, in that everyone who happens to be in the presence of these Toumarkines, will undoubtedly smile and crack a bit of a giggle no matter what these young men are laughing at. As I have read these submissions that everyone has taken time to write, more than half of them mention the high octane giggles these guys put out. This phenomenon is something that I love to be a part of. Often when I am with the little nine year olds I coach at Squaw they mention; “you need to laugh more.” But in reality I am too busy making sure they are not jumping off of every rock on the mountain. What I need is the Toumarkine medicine, a nice song-like giggle that bounces off the tallest of walls and ceilings. I don’t laugh that often because these nine year olds make jokes that are for nine year olds. Here is an example; “So if a quiz is quizzical, a test is _____?” (you can figure that one out). This joke I actually did laugh a little at, and soon after told them to never mention testicles again. When it comes down to it I should laugh a little more, I am with a bunch of kids, so I should just act like one. Well here is a little information on laughter, which I believe to be one of the most effective ways a person can expressive themselves.
People have an acoustically rich repertoire of sounds–with some laughs actually sounding more like bird chirps, pig snorts, frog croaks, or chimpanzee pants than human laugh sounds.
— Humans produce a wide variety of laugh sounds with a remarkable range of pitch that, for males, can reach the highest pitch of a trained soprano. In females, pitches can be as high as twice those of a trained soprano.
— Laughs can be separated into three basic categories: 1. Song-like laughs, which are akin to our stereotyped notions of laughter and are sometimes characterized by remarkably high pitch; 2. Snort-like laughs, with sounds that exit primarily through the nose; and 3. Grunt-like laughs produced through the mouth, but with no measurable vocal pitch.
“Among primates, humans are unique in the extent to which they rely on cooperative relationships with unrelated kin,” Bachorowski said. “Being able to produce a signal such as laughter, which makes others feel good, may make it more likely that they’ll be disposed to behave positively towards us, both now and in the future.”
After this bit of research I realize that Danny and Conor both manifest the category 1 laugh, that of high pitched laughter. Personally I don’t know where I fit, but I have witnessed them all, and song-like is obviously the one everyone strives to create. Although, the snorter just allows others to laugh at them and in turn create more laughter. Well that is enough on laughter, and I’ll have to give it to the Toumarkines, they produce some of the most contagious feelings a single human can secrete.
We all grew up riding at Cranmore and now we are all in Tahoe, making the best of what this world can offer in terms of that white magic we call snow. We occasionally get together to make some turns, but not nearly enough as we really should, and that’s gonna change. There has been talk of a ski date that all of MWV is going to be part of and I think we have the biggest posse in Lake Tahoe. Once Danny gets back on the snow he is going to be leading the pack with the rest of us eating his snow dust.
Well I have been thinking about you guys a lot, your family, my family and everyone that is important to us, even the old dog I loved – Magic. And Danny, I think he left a little magic for you my man. Conor and Danny, you guys are good, good, good people and that’s why there are so many others out there reaching out to supply you guys with support and anything that needs to be done. This evening I am attending a birthday party for Steve Wallace and part of this get together is going to be dedicated to Danny with some fund raising to take place. The memories I have with you guys, your parents, your pets, the Penguin (which I loved when your dad was the main man there), are some of the best I will have and I will cherish them forever.
I Love you guys.
I have included a picture of Conor, Danny and I shredding old school on the mtn. bikes. If you look closely I think you can see remnants of Danny skiddin’ into the shot, shredding at an early age.
Love, Max
January 11th, 2011 by Conor
Please keep these coming. They are very easy to do and they will mean the world to Danny.
send them to donations@dannyisthebomb.com or 603-496-6621
~Conor
January 11th, 2011 by Conor
Like a lot of people, I can’t remember the first time I met Danny. We are both from New Hampshire and I spent a lot of time in the Conway area where he is from, so I’d like to say we met there? But I honestly have no idea, sometimes I wish I could remember, because I’m sure it’s a great story. None the less, the important thing is that I did meet him and I have a slew of hilarious stories to share.
One of the earliest times I remember was in January of 2009 at the SIA convention in Las vegas. Danny, Conor and I all found ourselves in the city of Sin and decided to take on the town. As only appropriate for a story about Vegas .. my memory is a little scattered but my most vivid memory is thanks to the photo I have shared. While standing in line for a taxi outside a casino, I believe while Danny and Conor attempted to convince me to go to my first strip club, Conor in a random act of genius bolted for a nearby strech limo. Confused and extremely entertained we watched from a distant as Conor worked his magic with the driver, and 10 minutes later we were partying on the strip in a limo we hadn’t paid for, with no destination.
A few months later Danny made his way to Colorado where I live. That trip is what started the hilariously strange inside joke between Danny and I of inappropriate emoticons to replace the “confusing” smiley face. Danny and I rapidly texted eachother our new creations while sitting on the chair lift as I choked back tears of laughter. No matter where we were, or what we were doing Danny always had the ability to make me laugh like that. Gut-hurting, red in the face laughter, usually at something weird he had said or done. I will never again be able to watch the Epic pass commercial with out thinking of him. “RING RING Danny.. its me! I’m on my Epic pass!” Haha At the end of his visit we coincidentally had both planned to fly back to NH on the same airline and with a quick switch were able to get on the same flight. We dragged ourselves out to bed at 4 in the morning and onto a plane where Danny claims I proceeded to drool on his shoulder while I snoozed ( which is false.) Drool or not, it was definitely the most entertaining flight i’ve had.
As I look back on these memories, I realize that they probably aren’t as funny or memorable to a lot of you, but as most people people know, Danny had the ability to make any moment a memorable one. He could make any one laugh, and left a stamp on the heart of every person he met. The week before his injury my mom was lucky enough to catch a chairlift with us at Cranmore. When she had to break the news to me about the accident it was like she had known Danny her whole life. Everyone who is reading this right now has been touched by Danny’s loving personality, charismatic style and talent and i’m sure, just like me is trying their hardest to help in what ever ways they can. I’m praying, every day and every night for his recovery, and I hope you all are too.
I love you Danny, get better soon because you still owe me ice skating.
Ashley ~0
