The story starts in 1992 or so, when the 14 year old Brit, Dominic Stanton, bought turntables and started spinning early drum'n'bass. He transitioned from DJ to producer, made demo tracks, and got signed by age 17. He went on to produce broken beat* and jazzy downtempo*, even into the realm of disco edits. Then about two weeks ago, the 31 year old musician called it quits.

The point is that I am no longer Domu. He is a character, always has been, and as of Friday 13th November 2009, he no longer exists. Neither does Umod, Sonar Circle, Bakura, Yotoko, Rima, Zoltar, Blue Monkeys, Realside or any of the other names I put out music under. I am cancelling all my gigs and not taking any more. My hotmail is closed, my Twitter is closed and my Facebook is closed.

Furthermore, his website is closed and the original post of his farewell message is lost, though you can still view the cached version or find it copied elsewhere. Domu's website now simply states This really is The End . . . Step inside for an abbreviated journey. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Nov 30, 2009 - 46 comments

"I once proposed a solution somewhat tongue in cheek to the problem of pensions: turn retirement upside down ... people would be supported by society up to the age of 30. During that period they would study, travel, prepare for a profession, reproduce and give full-time care to their young ... After 30, they would work until they dropped dead or became incapacitated." Letter from physicist Cylon Gonçalves da Silva to The Economist in response to this original article on the problems of an ageing global population.
posted by rongorongo on Jul 28, 2009 - 32 comments

Castro Retires. "I neither will aspire to nor will I accept -- I repeat -- I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief," says Castro in Cuban newspaper Granma - where he regularly posts his thoughts on international news. [more inside]
posted by crossoverman on Feb 19, 2008 - 132 comments

Long rumoured , after 35 years on the show, Bob Barker is leaving the Price is Right. His first ever show was September 4th, 1972 (note how much less spazzy the audience is on that intro?). No longer will we hear his reminder to have your pets spayed or neutered, but there's still the DJ&T Foundation that he started to help distribute vouchers and help support low cost spaying and neutering of pets.
posted by antifuse on Nov 1, 2006 - 25 comments

He's 74-years-old, which makes him the world's oldest primate. He was a movie star. He lives a comfortable life as an older retiree. In his spare time, he paints. In fact, if you like, he will paint a painting just for you, and the money you donate for it supports his primate sanctuary. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Cheeta.
posted by Astro Zombie on Sep 5, 2006 - 37 comments

Retirement village VS permanent residence on a cruise ship. Crazy? Not so fast! Bea Muller has been doing it for years (and not on just any ship, mind you). It's not a hoax.
posted by spock on Feb 21, 2006 - 29 comments

AOPs on ASBOs - for non-Brits, that's Grouchy Old Nuisances. For instance, Roger Trotman, who feels like me about people who park their cars carelessly, or Alexander Muat, who just wanted a little peace and quiet, or John Kirkpatrick, who'd heard his neighbour warbling 'Jumping Jack Flash' just one time too many. It's enough to drive you to do a little 'Happy Slapping'
posted by TimothyMason on May 14, 2005 - 38 comments

UAL (United Airlines) dumps four pension plans[optional audio interview with Businessweek expert] ; bankruptcy court authorizes shifting of USD 5 billions (allegedly largest pension default in U.S. history) in pension obligations to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. As a result the burden of private failure and incompetency will be shared by all taxpayers (whose taxes finance PBGC which is already operating on a 23 Billion deficit) and by beneficiaries of the pension plans who will see their pension severely cut : pilots from 100K to 30K pensions but also less privileged workers will be hit. For instance Mrs Tamuk, spokeswoman from Association of Flight Attendants said her pension will be reduced from $1,700 a month to $800 a month.
posted by elpapacito on May 11, 2005 - 94 comments

One man's retirement math: Social Security wins At the heart of President Bush's plan to sell Social Security private accounts is a simple notion: You're always better off investing your retirement money than letting the government do it. By doing it yourself, you can stow some money in the stock market, and over the long run will get a better return on that investment than today's Social Security system offers. The idea is broadly accepted. That's why the administration's plan to partially privatize the system sounds appealing to many. But that better return won't always happen. Just ask Stanley Logue of San Diego. For 45 years, the defense-industry analyst paid into the system until his retirement in 1994. But with all the recent hoopla over reform, Mr. Logue, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, decided to go back and check his own records. Would he have done better investing his money than the bureaucrats at the Social Security Administration?
posted by Postroad on Dec 27, 2004 - 80 comments

Retirement Reality Check Lazy days for the current generation, mostly, but not for current working stiffs says Allstate. Since more and more states and cities are making homelessness illegal don't ever expect to get off the grind.
posted by billsaysthis on Nov 10, 2004 - 13 comments

An announcement from Trey: "So Coventry will be the final Phish show...For the sake of clarity, I should say that this is not like the hiatus, which was our last attempt to revitalize ourselves. We're done. It's been an amazing and incredible journey."
posted by methree on May 25, 2004 - 20 comments

There go my dreams of retireing in Ouagadougou or Baghdad but Vancouver, B.C. and mmmmmmAmsterdam are still in the running. A little help, please?
posted by dreeed on Mar 1, 2004 - 20 comments

"It's good policy and good business." NYC's Employees Retirement System (5 funds managing $78.6 billion in holdings) is targeting Fortune 500 companies to adopt policies that specifically bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. One of them, CSX Corp., didn't even wait for their shareholder meeting, but immediately amended their policy in response. These funds recently had great success after a decade-long battle with Cracker Barrel Restaurants--infamous for firing gay and lesbian employees because they don't “demonstrate normal heterosexual values." Here's wishing an especially happy holiday to employees of those companies that have stopped discriminating and hopes for many more to join in. More info on this "shareholder activism" at The Equality Project.
posted by amberglow on Dec 24, 2003 - 4 comments

Would you like fries with that? Saturday's Washington Post has a touching story about a 58-year-old grandmother who thought she'd be retired by now, but instead finds herself popping four different prescription medications at 4 in the morning while beginning her shift at Hardee's. As a journalist, I found this incredibly detailed story an example of newspaper writing at its rare best.
posted by GaelFC on Oct 6, 2003 - 44 comments

Vaclav Havel is retiring as president of the Czech Republic this weekend. The former dissident and playwright-cum-politician is profiled in the Guardian, the Globe & Mail and Radio Prague's site; or you can browse the great man's website.
posted by plep on Jan 31, 2003 - 12 comments

TV night or a drag show? Gay retirement homes are starting to open as the Stonewall Generation grows old. A study by the Brookdale Centre on Ageing at Hunter College in New York found that fewer than one in five elderly gays have a life partner and only one in ten has children. By contrast, nearly half the overall general senior population has a spouse and four in five have children. America’s first, of course, was in Florida.
posted by gottabefunky on Nov 22, 2002 - 13 comments

A 401(k) is not a Pension! In a pension plan, your employer invests some money and gives you some of it when you retire. In a 401(k), they, um, don't. Congress seems a little confused on this issue, however. It turns out that the 401k might be more boondoggle than boon to average people planning to retire before they die.
posted by ilsa on Apr 11, 2002 - 21 comments

Akebono's sumo retirement ceremony American-born sumo Yokozuna Akebono retired from the sport Sepetember 29th in Kokogikan, Japan.

This excellent photo essay talks about a few of the 300+ people scheduled to help cut off the topknot, a little on the history of Sumo, and why he needs 8 men to help him with the belt tying ceremony.

Also a few good photographs of another American-born Yokozuna, Musashimaru, and one Japanese one, Takanohana.
posted by swenson on Jan 5, 2002 - 10 comments

Bob Barker, inspiration to all of us who want to someday host a mid-morning game show, seems to be throwing in the towel.
posted by geoff. on Oct 17, 2001 - 14 comments

I thought they were content to just sit at home and watch Matlock?! "Community officials in Sun City West, Arizona, have reported that over a dozen senior couples have been caught having sex in public in recent weeks. Sexual incidents of heterosexual and homosexual couples engaged in amorous affairs in parking lots, park benches, and swimming pools."
posted by Brilliantcrank on Jun 25, 2001 - 25 comments

Bernard Shaw to retire. I guess the election foo-faraw was too much for him. :-)
posted by baylink on Nov 11, 2000 - 6 comments

I hope my retirement is like this. At least I *hope* I can still enjoy it by then.
posted by plinth on Apr 5, 2000 - 0 comments