Dr. Morbius (Bill Weber) RIP

no, those are 3 different people I'm 99% sure

― here comes the hotstamper (jim in vancouver), Friday, October 23, 2020 2:12 PM (twenty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

haa

― lag∞n, Friday, October 23, 2020 11:35 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

doh. I guess maybe gygax ere Steve Shasta might be before my time

GODDAMMIT ALL TO HELL. Fuck this is sad. I haven’t been on ILX in a couple days so I’m late to this. It warms my heart to find out that Morbs was nowhere near the asshole in real life that he portrayed online and was actually rather sweet. Fuck. RIP you cantankerous bitter old crank. Fuck cancer.

still kind of a bit in shock about it. expect to see him sparring in the US politics thread, or posting dick Nixon twitter

doh. I guess maybe gygax ere Steve Shasta might be before my time

― here comes the hotstamper (jim in vancouver), Friday, October 23, 2020 3:54 PM (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i didnt know the answer either just thought the exchange was funny

I wonder who'll tend to the Ernie Kovacs thread?

I might take over that responsibility, in honor of my old friend, if you will have me.

watching movies is depressing knowing that he's dead

fuckin hell, I feel his absence

I was wondering whatever happened to Steve Shasta today.

Also, got together with the person who introduced me to ILX (who no later nger posts, afaik) tonight, and we had a beer for Bill

aw that’s lovely <3

The kind of guy you see the Mekons with in 2009 and he tells you what it was like to see them in 1989. The kind of guy who'd explain the correct way to hate Ed Koch. A kind of guy we're running out of.

— 'Weird Alex' Pareene (@pareene) October 22, 2020

I didn't interact with Morbs much, and I really only post here occasionally these days. I don't think I could explain to anyone off-board why I feel so bummed out since yesterday. The best I've got is "ILX is my NYC". It's loud and confusing when you first arrive, and there are a bunch of people who seem like assholes. And there's more culture than most people could consume in a lifetime. And many of the inhabitants are people who don't just have the expertise and knowledge of some topic, they're willing to share it with you if you engage. Morbs was a pillar of what ILX means to me. It's heartening to read the fond memories of those who knew him better and I'm glad he got the wake he deserves on here.

The first NYC ilx get-together I went to, the big attraction was supposed to be a Morbius showdown with j0n williams. It’s possible Morbz had threatened to kick his ass or some such thing. (That thread is presumably still around somewhere.) in the event, there were no fisticuffs and everyone got on fine as far as I recall. But it was funny to meet Bill in person after this big blustery build-up and realize he was just a New York smart-ass.

A kind of guy we're running out of.

this made me especially sad. i hope it's not true.

The first time I met Morbius was seeing the tin drum (hated it!) With him and jw at MoMA. Had never interacted w jw but knew who he was which was awkward as he barely spoke to me and I'm a chatty Cathy. Morbius was all sweetness but it was when we went for drinks in London that I really felt I 'met' him irl and very funny and without the vinegar he could have online. I don't remember him ever being rude to me in a way that I didn't deserve and enjoy tho! I've loved reading people's recollections of him on the various threads, particularly those accounts of deadly accurate shade.

watching movies is depressing knowing that he's dead

― flappy bird, Friday, October 23, 2020

I watched a movie last night imagining his scathing appraisal of it, it comforted me thinking about that

oh that pareene tweet made me teary all over again

The first NYC ilx get-together I went to, the big attraction was supposed to be a Morbius showdown with j0n williams. It’s possible Morbz had threatened to kick his ass or some such thing. (That thread is presumably still around somewhere.) in the event, there were no fisticuffs and everyone got on fine as far as I recall. But it was funny to meet Bill in person after this big blustery build-up and realize he was just a New York smart-ass.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, October 23, 2020 5:24 PM (twenty-one minutes ago)

I was terrified of Bill & his acerbic wit until he came to my housewarming where we ended up roughhousing & became friends. Over the years, he was a fixture at my debaucherous Christmas party, no matter the weather. He was a principled crank & kind friend. 💔 https://t.co/BsWQQcm1IK

— Jon Williams (@wizardishungry) October 22, 2020

A kind of guy we're running out of.

we absolutely are, though.

i've lived in brooklyn for 14 years now but am still basically a transient newcomer. i will leave eventually, having neither left a mark or truly understood the city.

morbs arrived in nyc 40 years ago and survived aids -- something i cannot even fathom -- and gentrification and the fucking mets and became part of its fabric. he was never an auteur or hot young novelist -- he was a medical proofreader, ffs, then lost his job and was hired back as a contractor doing the same thing for much less money.

i know nothing of his life as a gay man in the 80s (or ever), apart from having certain LES ratholes pointed out to me, but he was *there*.

let's slide past his brief stand-up career because awkward

he was a *real* New Yorker who knew all that was going on, filled his life to the brim with the art that interested him, and bitched about the parts that didn't.

i'm not sure that he ever really zinged me on ilx -- perhaps because he knew it would sting me, much more likely because i was always otm.

but yeah we've run out of him, and it sucks.

Didn't he work as a reader or something in advertising too? I remember him being reluctant to start Mad Men because he'd 'been there, done that, hated it'.

oh mookie that was perfect

except the part about you always being otm but we can let that slide i guess lol

morbs arrived in nyc 40 years ago and survived aids -- something i cannot even fathom

this is the part of his biography I wish we emphasized

that's the part I can most relate to

mookie, nicely done.

morbs arrived in nyc 40 years ago and survived aids -- something i cannot even fathom

this is the part of his biography I wish we emphasized

― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, October 23, 2020 7:20 PM (thirty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

that's the part I can most relate to

― Dan S, Friday, October 23, 2020 7:26 PM (twenty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I cannot relate, as I was born right as the crisis began, but I will say that I become simultaneously weepy and viciously angry even imagining what my older gay friends went through. I have a friend who has been positive for more than thirty years now, still lives in SF. I miss him terribly, and hope I get to see him again.

HIV, quietly and insistently, has shaped my outlook; it has shaped my approach to men. Having an uncle die wretchedly will do this.

hanging out with morbs and jon and tza back in 2006 was right about when i decided i was maybe gonna make it after all

<3

A lifetime ago, both Pseu Braun and Morbs were regulars on the Fake Matador Bulletin Board, a place many of us came from as ilx was growing in the early 00s. Pseu posted under the moniker "iman" and would tag team with someone else under the moniker "david bowie." They turned harassing me into a part-time hobby and, in fact, the reason I showed up at ilx lo these many years ago is because "david bowie" began posting here as me and I had to come over and put a stop to it. I never left, as it turns out.

In the years since, I've gotten to know Pseu online as herself reasonably well, so I finally asked her yesterday if it was indeed Bill who played "david bowie," as I'd always suspected.

Her response: "No, Morbius was Morbius. He stayed classy."

xpost
that was about when i met those guys too (not morbs at that point for some reason, but jw, tza, laurel, bell labs, ian, dmr and vic). weird that i didn't meet you til a bunch of years after that forks

also i was already too old and lame to really hang out much

jw became part of my d&d campaign for a couple of years though lol

xp <3

couldn't find a matt dc + morbs photo, but here he and laurel are behind ridiculous hippie max the same evening

https://i.imgur.com/yLolD0d.jpg

A kind of guy we're running out of

give me 5-10 years

In the future everyone will be world famous for fifteen minutesclaim to have been at that initial pavement-free JW/Morbius bro-down. Hoping nabisco will come back and tell us his version, as I recall he was there as well.

I went looking for photos and couldn’t find any of him, but I did find a photo of a Bill Clinton baseball I took at the presidential library in Little Rock and emailed to him.

Here's an update from Bill's sister Cathy. Good to know that Sunday breakfast is settled.

Thank you all so much for all your messages of sympathy and concern for us. Losing Bill Weber is devastating to us and I know to all of you who knew him. I just wanted to give you some info as the "official" obituary will not be published for a few days.

1. There will not be a memorial service until it is safe to do so, which sure as heck ain't now. I don't know when it will be as I don't have a crystal ball, and even if I did, I don't know how to use one. Bill implored me not to have any kind of gathering that could endanger anyone he loved; then I reminded him I am a scientist and he said, "Oh, right, of course!" Bill requested that his remains be cremated, so Bill's wishes are my command (Scientist by training, Genie as a side hustle).

2. In lieu of flowers, Bill asked that people give in any way they can (volunteering, monetary gifts, etc.) to the following organizations. So follow your inclination to support:
WFMU - wfmu.org
A freeform radio station in NJ that Bill has supported as a volunteer for decades. Many of the DJs are his closest friends. Great bunch of folks.
The Silent Clowns Film Series - silentclowns.com
NYC's Longest running showcase for classic silent film comedy. Bill's friends Steve Massa, Ben Model and Bruce Lawton run this series. It is virtual right now but post pandemic they will be back at the NY Library for the Performing Arts at the back of Lincoln Center. Ben plays live accompaniment to the films - it is quite an entertaining and unique experience.
Amnesty International - amnesty.org
Amnesty International campaigns to end abuses of human rights all over the globe. Bill has supported this organization since high school.
SABR - sabr.org
Society for American Baseball Research
This is a global organization for anyone interested in baseball. Bill has been a member for decades. If you love baseball - check them out.
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation - mmrf.org
These are the folks who fund research and drug development to treat the disease that Bill has dealt with for the last 8 years. They are a stellar organization.

3. Pancake Sunday - Bill almost always had pancakes for breakfast on Sunday. Simple, straightforward - just maple syrup on them. And Bill did not hold back on the syrup. I once said to him - "You know you just poured about $7 worth of syrup on there." And he said "Yes, don't worry." And when his pancakes where gone, he picked up his plate and drank the syrup that remained. Such a hedonist, that Bill! May I suggest you have some pancakes on Sunday morning (even if morning is 1 PM for you) and take a photo and post it as a tribute to Bill? I know he would think this was more than a little silly, but he would know right away it was me suggesting it. As Bill often said to me "You're such a girl."

I promise to post some photos and stories about Bill in the coming days and weeks. Love to all, Cathy

Thanks again, Kevin. Pancakes it is.

Memorial page: I learnt of Paul in Santa Cruz's death a few months ago.

https://news.ucsc.edu/2019/08/nauert-in-memoriam.html

couldn't find a matt dc + morbs photo, but here he and laurel are behind ridiculous hippie max the same evening

So this thread is the motherlode for pictures/memories of that night, although it appears to be 90% pictures of Max.

Also it contains this truly iconic picture of Morbs.

to the extent that Morbz thought of me at all, i'm sure it wasn't pleasant. the two of us really pissed off each other here and got into some nasty fights. so it's strange to think that we did meet IRL once and he was very nice and pleasant. and i did think that his posts on movies were always interesting and insightful.

after reading all of the touching testimonials here, i really wish that i could have patched up any bad blood that existed between us before he passed. perhaps we could've done so at a Phillies-Mets game at Citi Field, or at an old-timey movie in NYC or Jersey City.

RIP, Bill -- i will contribute some money to WFMU in your honor.

Aw, hello Tadeusz xx

Thanks Kevin. Lots of good organizations there that could always use donations, for Bill or for anyone.

Memorial page: I learnt of Paul in Santa Cruz's death a few months ago.

Oh shit, that guy was an amazing poster too. Awful news!

I had no idea that Paul in Santa Cruz was Paul Nauert-- a friend who teaches disability studies with a focus on art practices has written about him, so I've known of his work for a while.

damn... RIP, Paul.

Yeah Paul was great, we even ‘collaborated’ for the Wire tribute though he did the work, really. I last spoke with him some years ago and he was already very ill.

ALS is just awful

It is. A music writing colleague in the Terrastock fanbase -- one of the best of them, Lee Jackson by name -- died of it early last decade, a horrible thing to contemplate. We ended up putting together a tribute for him as a fundraiser.

https://forleejacksoninspace.bandcamp.com/

watching movies is depressing knowing that he's dead

― flappy bird, Friday, October 23, 2020

i've had the opposite reaction--i watched Ernst Lubitsch 'To Be Or Not To Be' (which morbs once recommended to me) and relished every second of it with renewed zeal :)

i also saw "Tetsuo: Iron Man" at the local rep/art house theatre and made a donation in Morbs' name. not sure what he thought of j-horror tho