The Fusion Reactor #155 - In Memoriam, Ryan Reott

The Moody Blues - Isn't Life Strange (5:59)
It's indeed strange when a 30-year old in great health just keels over dead of an aneurysm, leaving behind a wife, a stepdaughter and a 9-month-old son. We look and look for an explanation, but there just isn't one. Not in this life, anyhow.

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Smile of the Beyond (8:05)
Ryan was always wearing a smile. He never went anywhere without it. That's one of the things that everybody remembers about Ryan. I'm sure he took that smile with him to the Beyond.

Ian Parry - Smiley People (4:05)
Like I said, Ryan was one of those Smiley People. At least I didn't play R.E.M.'s Shiny Happy People, huh?

Genesis - The Battle Of Epping Forest (11:49)
Ryan did not fight in this battle. However, it has that line about the Civil War, and Ryan was quite the Civil War enthusiast. He did the reenactments and everything. I think he might have picked that up from my dad. The enthusiasm, not the reenactments. I'm thinking Genesis might have been talking about a different Civil War, but I'm referring to the American one.

Gong - Aeroplane (2:42)
National Health - Towplane and The Glider (5:12)
Random Touch - Moonrise With Plane (2:04)
Toy Matinee - Last Plane Out (5:13)
Big Big Train - Fighter Command (10:44)
Ryan's hobby might have been the Civil War, but his passion was for airplanes. Really, any sort of flying machines. He even worked with planes, doing maintenance and deicing for them. It's odd then, that he never went for his license to fly a plane. I guess he just preferred to work on them.

Alan Parsons - Brother Up In Heaven (4:02)
This is from Alan's "On Air" album, which is all about flight. I like the double meaning when applied to this situation though.

Ahleuchatistas - You Know My Family (6:12)
Mahavishnu Orchestra - All In The Family (6:02)
Mike Keneally and Beer For Dolphins - Friends And Family (3:56)
King Crimson - Happy Family (4:22)
Lusk - Hotel Family Affair/Black Sea Me (4:28)
Peter Gabriel - The Family And The Fishing Net (7:04)
Ryan left behind a family, as I've mentioned. He was a dedicated family man, and naturally this has been rather tough on all of them.

Jethro Tull - Hunt By Numbers (4:02)
Radiohead - Hunting Bears (2:01)
Primus - John The Fisherman (3:37)
Primus - Fish On (Fisherman Chronicles, Chapter II) (7:45)
Phish - Fish Bass (1:11)
Goodman, Smith, Levy & Burbridge - Sufferin' Catfish (7:16)
Ryan loved the outdoors. It's no wonder he got his Eagle Scout award, worked with me at Boy Scout camp, and liked to hunt and fish. He will be missed, and the world will not be quite as bright a place without him.

R.I.P. Ryan Reott 5/31/1977 - 8/14/2007