Dr. Morbius (Bill Weber) RIP

great piece, flappy bird

Good stuff, flappy.

yes, thank you

Will M. u are very otm with that post, I agree

Here's Bill's epic obituary which includes a shout-out to ILX.

“I was bullied as a kid. The moments I shared during recess and lunch with Bill were a refuge. I was safe with him. During a time when I felt like an outcast, he welcomed me. That was everything then. It still is.” Andy Parker

<33333

That was very beautiful KJB, thanks for posting.

really nice

lovely

wow. I think anyone would aspire to have an obit like that. a life well lived.

i agree

Thanks, KJB

"Bill was a mensch, a raconteur, a secret teddy bear, and one of our most cherished friends"

that sums him up nicely even though he could be a testy old cuss at times. I adored his heartfelt hatred of garbage politicians and all-consuming passion for old Hollywood - he was a true original.

beautiful obit, thanks KJB. and great article, flappy!

Wonderful, thanks for both.

Bill did stand-up comedy for a time in his early twenties, earning praise from the likes of Brett Butler and Jeff Foxworthy.

Morbz, you need to come back. I still have some questions.

Also, Bill's sister Cathy wanted to let you all know how much she appreciates all the comments she's been seeing.

xpost haha pp - I had the same thought when I saw Jeff Foxworthy

thirded lol

you might be a Morbius if you KO chickenshit hillbillies really fast

crying again rn

Instead of crying, y'all, go fucking watch The Prisoner of Shark Island.

we are going to cry if we want to

still planning on watching all of John Ford's movies but haven't gotten to them yet

Foxworthy used to be a skilled joke writer, and in the 80s and 90s would have been playing to general audiences. It's a good affirmation in context.

I still have questions.

His obit ;_;

And pardon me for saying so but he was so young! Only 58 what the fucking fuck!!!

Fuck cancer.

Yeah, I didn't know him and didn't interact with him much - mostly because I found his snark hilarious even though politically I disagreed with it. His presence is definitely missed. He was like the dad around here in some ways.

Yeah for all the jibes about morbs being old he was no age at all.

BOXCAR

I kinda liked finding out that his brother in law is called Gary Cooper.

thank you for that beautiful piece, flappy, which is not only a wonderful tribute to morbs but also describes the uniqueness of ilx -- as an institution, as a cultural archive, as a weird phenomenon -- better than anything i've ever read. i think there's an old (really, really old) post where i expressed some skepticism about john ford, and morbs's consistent high regard for him was one of the things that got me to go back and take a closer look. one more reason i'm glad i've stuck with ilx all these years. (and i have to add: thank you for slagging off noah berlatsky, the most mediocre writer on earth.)

I've just returned from a small break, and seen this. RIP Morbs :(

Bill's affection for Ford and Spielberg belied his standoffish reputation.

― Fat Tub O'Goon (I M Losted), Tuesday, October 27, 2020 2:13 AM bookmarkflaglink

Yeah for all the jibes about morbs being old he was no age at all.

― all cats are beautiful (silby), Tuesday, October 27, 2020 2:16 AM bookmarkflaglink

especially since those jokes started over a decade ago!

Who among us has not been making jokes about being ancient since we were about 32?

And pardon me for saying so but he was so young! Only 58 what the fucking fuck!!!

I hope to read this thread soon. I was aware of his illness, but had missed news of his passing til now. I will miss him here, terribly.

I had long read many accounts of what a kind good person he was irl, regardless his brilliant-but- curmudgeonly ilx persona. RIP morbs.

*sigh*

yeah

I'm still finding this quite hard to process

yeah i think that goes for a lot of us here for all kinds of reasons

I was pretty certain it was coming soon when he left the hospital back on September but still.

I got a message from the treasurer of Silent Clowns - she and her husband will really miss hanging out with "Young Bill Weber"

As someone that never ever posts here, seeing the sense of community implicit in the responses of everyone in this thread has made me yearn for what you all have and appreciate the value of individuals such as Dr. Morbius to exist as a centre of gravity for quality community. My condolences to everyone that knew this man whose name till now has resided in my filing cabinet (but now has significant importance to me). Love.

Craft

❤️

I dipped out of this thread for like a week because it got too intense but I just caught up with everything and am super moved by everyone's posts, it's made me reflect a lot not only on Bill but also ILX as a community and the ways in which it's gone so far past just "talking abt music on the internet" and how many ppl have formed meaningful connections both online and off through this, I feel super lucky to have had something like this in my life for so long (14 years!?)

Also, for others who have mentioned pleasant Julius' memories, they're selling t-shirts and have a GoFundMe on their website (https://www.juliusbarny.com/), I bought a shirt yesterday and will think of Bill fondly when I wear it.

and, boy, did our Bill disdain fashion!

Well, luckily, that's all he disdained.

lol