Kirk Douglas - post by Morrissey on true-to-you.net

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Kirk Douglas - true-to-you.net
22 February 2013

Kirk Douglas

Excuse my happiness. Yesterday I decided to take a stroll and I found myself walking alongside Kirk Douglas. It generally takes me 4 seconds to feel disturbingly ridiculous, but yesterday I broke my own record. Overcome by an indescribably modest humility, I suddenly felt like the fat half of a pair of bow-legged twins. I froze, my eyes welled-up, my feet sank into imaginary mud. Only Kirk Douglas could reduce me to such an irrational fear of breathing, but here it was. It was one of those very silly moments where we act on the second instinct whilst ignoring the first instinct, and of course, the second instinct always warns us to "do nothing." Too incurably demented to tap his shoulder and pledge eternal thanks and servitude, I stood and I watched as my hero walked away.

I am not alone in knowing how constantly robbed Kirk Douglas was of that voodoo doll known as the 'Oscar'. Yes, he was given obligatory recognition once the best years of his career had wound down, but his magnetic force and colossal onscreen assurance in Two weeks in another town, Lonely are the brave and The bad and the beautiful still stand as the best screen acting yet produced, in years when the Oscars, as usual, were awarded instead to the blandly servile. If you haven't yet seen the above three films then your life is nothing. In his prime, Kirk Douglas was far too sexually disagreeable, and represented the soul of the world far too accurately. It was a self-realization that cannot be manufactured - or even found for a second time, because its poetry is built on a very particular time and space - one that doesn't return. In fact, Kirk Douglas sometimes didn't act at all - he simply observed and played with those around him (the hardest trick of all.) If male desire is tension, then Kirk Douglas had this more than any other screen star - yes, King Kong included.

Last night I went to bed exhausted. But I couldn't sleep.

Morrissey
Los Angeles
22 February 2013

 

[nothappynotsad]

Re: Kirk Douglas---from TTY

That's goddamn old.

 

[Skylarker]

Re: Kirk Douglas---from TTY

That's goddamn old.

I don't care.

 

[Anonymous]

He is always lovely...Kirk Douglas a giant! But Morrissey is up there aswell... blueroses for San Diego & Moz Angeles!

 

[Barking]

I don't want to needlessly scare anybody, but this is just getting a bit bizarre. When I reflected a few days ago on how illness changes people, I remembered that book someone had mentioned once: My Stroke of Luck.

And hey presto, Kirk suddenly materializes out of thin air...? Pardon me for thinking that's odd. Ain't gonna mention the word "sign", but...

You should have said hello. Oh well, I suppose fond written words make up for it...

 

[BrummieBoy]

"Yet another lesson"..."shyness is nice, but shyness can stop you..."

Crassus: Do you eat oysters?
Antoninus: When I have them, master.
Crassus: Do you eat snails?
Antoninus: No, master.
Crassus: Do you consider the eating of oysters to be moral and the eating of snails to be immoral?
Antoninus: No, master.
Crassus: Of course not. It is all a matter of taste, isn't it?
Antoninus: Yes, master.
Crassus: And taste is not the same as appetite, and therefore not a question of morals.
Antoninus: It could be argued so, master.
Crassus: My robe, Antoninus. My taste includes both snails and oysters.

I am writing this in the city of Barcelona where, many years ago, I discovered the American writer James Baldwin sitting alone and somewhat lost in the darkened lobby of one of the city's oldest hotels. Surprised at being inches away from such a great man, I froze in sheepish clumsiness, circled him eleven times, before I realized that he could not possibly have any interest in being approached by someone who had spent all 25 years of their life locked in an attic because too awful to look at. So, I did nothing, walked on, and shortly thereafter he was dead. Yet another lesson. http://true-to-you.net/morrissey_news_060721_02

http://bit.ly/VXeUsj

 

[Uncleskinny]

Lest we forget, this is from the preamble to the Sunny video, if you put the My Early Burglary Years CD in a computer...

P.

 

[Barking]

Lest we forget, this is from the preamble to the Sunny video, if you put the My Early Burglary Years CD in a computer...

P.

Oh ruddy hell.I'd forgotten about that.

reminds me. I used to have this neighbour, in her late 50's who was a vague alcoholic and slightly but who was also mad about Michael Douglas. It was always Michael this, Michael that...

There is something about the Douglases, isn't there.

Is it time to pack for Belarus?

 

[Girl-Afraid]

This is extremely odd. The last few days Morrissey has written more personal correspondence than he ever has; to my knowledge anyway.
Does anybody else think he has something up his sleeve? Perhaps the long awaited autobiography?!
I am not ashamed to say, each time I see he has written something new, I do feel an irrational child-like excitement.

I think if he was to reply to anyone personally, now might be the time to try!

 

[realitybites]

Had no idea Moz followed the Oscars. Wonder if he will be watching this Sunday? He obviously loves Hollywood and still has a soft spot for L.A. culture.

I really love his sweet, generous writing as of late. So much more becoming than his spiteful vitriol of the recent past.

 

[Girl-Afraid]

Had no idea Moz followed the Oscars. Wonder if he will be watching this Sunday? He obviously loves Hollywood and still has a soft spot for L.A. culture.

I really love his sweet, generous writing as of late. So much more becoming than his spiteful vitriol of the recent past.

I agree with your comment there, realitybites. It's almost as if he finally wants us included in the life that we ponder over daily.
I hope this is a sign of things to come.

 

[realitybites]

I agree with your comment there, realitybites. It's almost as if he finally wants us included in the life that we ponder over daily.
I hope this is a sign of things to come.

It is very introspective and yet not self-absorbed like his usual prose. I like it!

 

[Anaesthesine]

I've long admired the fact that Morrissey refuses to participate in social media: everyone in the public eye knows the drill, and most celebrities use facebook, twitter and instagram as a platform to sell themselves (usually at the behest of professionally aggressive pr agents). It's often a necessary evil, and I'm one of those people who believes that celebrity familiarity can breed contempt (unless you're someone like Stephen Fry, who has raised the media blurt to an art form; truly the Oscar Wilde of his age).

I agree with other posters: Morrissey's interviews of late have had a somewhat nasty edge, but his "blogging" on True-To-You is delightful (so like his correspondence): playful, funny and somewhat haughty (much like I imagine the man himself to be). I hope he continues.

 

[Anaesthesine]

Oh, and Morrissey's comment about Douglas' "self-realization that cannot be manufactured" is dead-on; that is what makes a true "star," and it's something that Morrissey shares with his idol.

 

[Johnny Barleycorn]

Paths Of Glory, 1957, starring Kirk Douglas & directed by Stanley Kubrick. Check it out if you haven't seen it.

 

[Barking]

Well, after a nap, I've realized that this is the equivalent, for me at least, of going to the little supermarket next to my building and finding Viggo Mortensen there, contemplating pasta sauces.
It is a G.A.M.A. (God Amongst Men Apparition). I think it's meant to be taken extremely seriously. How, I don't know, but this kind of sh@t doesn't happen everyday, dude!
Morrissey must be in a right state, poor fellow.

That said, I think there's a pretty good chance Kirk will take the exact same walk soon. Old people have rather repetitive days. (I mean, look at us.) And perhaps he'd like to chew the fat. Old geezers often do. That's, if he's a man, besides being a god...
I think at this point it's more a question of whether Morrissey is interested in actual people, or in taxidermy... And in life, rather than writing about it.

Oddly enough, he had no problem knocking on Nancy's door.
I mean, what has the world come to?

 

[Anonymous]

I don't want to needlessly scare anybody, but this is just getting a bit bizarre. When I reflected a few days ago on how illness changes people, I remembered that book someone had mentioned once: My Stroke of Luck.

And hey presto, Kirk suddenly materializes out of thin air...? Pardon me for thinking that's odd. Ain't gonna mention the word "sign", but...

You should have said hello. Oh well, I suppose fond written words make up for it...

No, it's not bizarre. Illness does change people. When your body breaks down and you're at the mercy of it and other people's (mainly doctors) decisions for you, your perspective on life can change a great deal. It sounds like he is less guarded, more open, less self-conscious, and I am glad that he is sharing with us. After what he's been through -- and none of us really know -- I'm happy for him that he's been enjoying himself this past week.

Now roll on, recovery, and roll on, tour!

 

[Anonymous]

It's quite odd how much we've been hearing from Morrissey lately. It's refreshing that he's communicating with fans for the first time in a while and it feels very sincere. It was getting a bit frustrating that the only sort of statement we seemed to be getting was always about the royal family or ticket sales. I empathize with his distaste, but it always seemed like the only thing that the interview would discuss. It's much better to hear somebody talking about somebody they truly admire rather than something they hate.

 

[123xyz]

It's interesting ( no , not the irony overload from Skylarker/Viva! ) ... Moz ditched the Q & A on True-To-You years ago but , as a poster above mentioned , he's never been quite so forthcoming in his personal posts. Is he craving the communication with which the concerts usually supply him ?

 

[joe frady]

Lest we forget, this is from the preamble to the Sunny video, if you put the My Early Burglary Years CD in a computer...

P.

Lest we also forget, didn't he later state in interview that he went off him when he found out he was a big-time hunter. But I guess time heals all wounds, cos only last year he was asked by 'Billboard' magazine ~

"Your fans are known for running on stage and hugging you during your concerts. Which living artist, if any, would you rush the stage to embrace?

Moz: Kirk Douglas. And if you think I'm joking, I'm not."

He also used this still from the wonderful "Champion" (1949) as a backdrop on the 2000 tour ~

Oh well. Whatever meds Moz is on....I want some

 

[Barking]

No, it's not bizarre.

Oh Anon, believe me, it is. Even more so than an anon contradicting me, clearly without understanding my post. But yours was a harmless well-meaning post (well, apart from contradicting me, which is very naughty), so it's ok.

For future ref though, when I say something is bizarre, it's bizzaro.
As in the comics? Possibly...

Oh btw, I'm thinking about this dude: