Community Corner

Fridley Resident with ALS To DJ at New Year's Eve Party—with His Eyes

Friends helped David Anderson with equipment for '1 Blink = Dance' NYE event .

New Year's Eve is the culmination of an effort by friends of a Fridley man to help him DJ a party, using only his eyes. 

David Anderson has ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease. It has stripped him of most muscle control, but he can still move his eyes and blink. But using computer hardware and software friends developed with online Kickstarter funding, Anderson can communicate and do what DJs do—selecting songs to play. 

Watch the livestream from the party (Anderson DJs 9:30–10:30 p.m. Central)

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See a new YouTube showing preparations for the show. 

Anderson will put his DJ skills and equipment to work Monday night, programming the music for "1 Blink = Dance," an elaborate New Year's Eve party at Old Arizona in Minneapolis. 

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You can buy $25 tickets to the event online, or simply donate to the ongoing project at the "1 Blink = Yes" website, where organizers promise to carry a livestream from the party for people who can't be there. 

Fridley is a new home town for Anderson. At his blog, started in 2004, he wrote expectantly about it over several posts this year:  

"Looking forward to the Mississippi River view from the new house in FrIdley [July 9, 2012] ... Despite spending close to 9 months looking for a single level adaptable house (a rare thing in Minneapolis proper), we had not been able to find a match. But we knew we wanted to be near or on some water ... So now we have found our house and are in the process of adapting it for our needs. [Oct. 11, 2012]"

Watch the YouTube video above to learn more about David Anderson, the "1 Blink" project, and the New Year's Eve event. 

Visit: 

Related: 

  • NOON Year's Eve at Springbrook Nature and Other Family NYE Events
  • New Year's Eve Events in the Twin Cities Metro


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