Morrissey on Guardian

[Worm]

yeah, I had a similar feeling. celebrity interviews with S Morrissey simply don't work. he becomes too guarded and defensive.
in fact, I'm wondering whether interviews with him are a good idea at all these days. the best stuff I've read in recent times has been when he's published his thoughts via True to You, or responded to written questions from fans.

You're right. It's because he had time to write out his answers and give more thought to the form in which he cast his thoughts. His comment about China, on the other hand, was disastrously off the cuff. I've no doubt that if he answered a fan's question about animal abuse in China he wouldn't have offended the P.C. brigades.

 

[Clarksville]

Re: Morrissey with cat on his head

I can haz autograf?

 

[CrystalGeezer]

Re: Morrissey with cat on his head

An interesting Solex song called The Burglars Are Coming:

[voice: "Do you have any percussion instruments? We could all play percussion." Inaudible.]

Picked with a hairpin
I saw you come on now Eddy, Eddy, Eddy!
Picking it come on now Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie
The refrigerator is right there, right there, right
When you were
Young you had
Bones to chew I know

I saw you come on now Eddy, Eddy, Eddy!
Picking it come on now Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie
The refrigerator is right there, right there, right
Wish I had
A brick served
A brick served with cream

I said
And a
Chinese
Take away
Is food
For the
Gods to
You am I right?
Besides

I saw you come on now Eddy, Eddy, Eddy!
Picking it come on now Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie
The refrigerator is right there, right there, right
When you were
Young you had
Bones to chew I know

I saw you come on now Eddy, Eddy, Eddy!
Picking it come on now Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie
The refrigerator is right there, right there, right
Wish I had
A brick served
A brick served with cream

 

[PregnantForTheLastTime]

Why hasn't a furor erupted over whether the cat was, in fact, a real cat, or merely photoshopped in? I suppose it is far more plausible that Morrissey would put a cat on his head than hold a friend's baby son...

 

[Qvist]

Still, I can't help but cringe when anyone makes a sweeping generalization about a people group, even if that person is rather prone to hyperbole, as Morrissey is. It's one thing to criticize a group's words or actions--it's another thing to label that group.

OK, now I've read that line of reasoning so many times during the course of the present discussion that it is starting to assume the character of a separate issue, a black spot in the murky psychological territory of Morrissey reception.

The obvious first:

Belligerent ghouls run Manchester Schools/Spineless swine, cemented lines

Whether dressed in diciplined style, never mind/When you're small you're bound to look appalling

First week at the job you find / Everyone lies


For as long as Morrissey has written, "Sweeping generalisations about groups of people" have been his trade in stock, in his lyrics as well as in interviews. If you honestly think this is a problem but haven't found cause for complaint until now, you haven't been paying attention. And if the statements about the chinese are really so objectionable, it is not for this reason (again, unless you really haven't been paying attention).

So why are so many people resorting to this? It's mystifying.

cheers

 

[CrystalGeezer]

OK, now I've read that line of reasoning so many times during the course of the present discussion that it is starting to assume the character of a separate issue, a black spot in the murky psychological territory of Morrissey reception.

The obvious first:

Belligerent ghouls run Manchester Schools/Spineless swine, cemented lines

Whether dressed in diciplined style, never mind/When you're small you're bound to look appalling

First week at the job you find / Everyone lies


For as long as Morrissey has written, "Sweeping generalisations about groups of people" have been his trade in stock, in his lyrics as well as in interviews. If you honestly think this is a problem but haven't found cause for complaint until now, you haven't been paying attention. And if the statements about the chinese are really so objectionable, it is not for this reason (again, unless you really haven't been paying attention).

So why are so many people resorting to this? It's mystifying.

cheers

It's funny the things we forget.

 

[Worm]

So why are so many people resorting to this? It's mystifying. cheers

One of the most common refrains heard from Morrissey fans, for years, was how challenging and sophisticated his art was-- "like, he really makes you think, you know?"

The mystery goes back to Smiths lyrics, but doesn't need to: why was there was no uproar about Morrissey's earlier comments about China?

 

[Clarksville]

Why hasn't a furor erupted over whether the cat was, in fact, a real cat, or merely photoshopped in?

I did try to start a furore about that in this very forum! But there are so many threads about this I'm too lazy to prove it.

( I guess when it comes to starting furores, I don't have the knack.)

 

[Worm]

Why hasn't a furor erupted over whether the cat was, in fact, a real cat, or merely photoshopped in? I suppose it is far more plausible that Morrissey would put a cat on his head than hold a friend's baby son...

It is a pretty blatant Photoshop, isn't it? That cat doesn't just look thrown in there, it's practically clip art. Although, you know, if you squint, the picture looks somewhat plausible except for the tail. The tail is really the deciding factor.

I can't help but picture Morrissey lowered feet-first into a giant vat of boiling water to be cooked for a Chinese banquet, with the cat perched on his head, hoping to stave off death as long as possible. Cats are smart like that. They know how to make use of lesser creatures.

Maybe the adventitious animal is a clue about how we should read the Guardian article which the photo promotes.

 

[Clarksville]

It's the shadow that foxes me. Few photoshoppers would bother to provide such a lovingly rendered shadow. That's what makes me think it's real.

 

[Worm]

It's the shadow that foxes me. Few photoshoppers would bother to provide such a lovingly rendered shadow. That's what makes me think it's real.

I agree, it's a nice job on the shadow, but I think the whole bg is fake. The shadow is convincing because the touch-up artist recreated the whole shadow, not just the cat's, to make it run together believably. To me it looks like Morrissey was cropped out of another bg and one of the layer effects was used to create a simple backdrop with shadows. It's not worthy of inclusion on the Photoshop Disasters website, but it doesn't really fool the eye, either.

 

[CrystalGeezer]

I did try to start a furore about that in this very forum! But there are so many threads about this I'm too lazy to prove it.

I know, I'm half-heartedly trying to prove in crazytalk using lyrics that Morrissey was tricked into sounding like a racist by a bunch of sun worshippers using arcane lyrics but there's so many threads started on this I don;t know where I've put my earlier crazy arguments.


"Booze" are ghosts, they go "boo." Morrissey makes a splash in the papers and is accussed of racism and sun worshippers hop on the bandwagon and get to see their signatures of their art with so much press surrounding the man who normally keeps to himself. In the meantime he gets massacred by the literal press and it hurts him despite how strong he says he is and how high he lifts his head.

Solex: That's What You Get WIth People Like THat On Cruises Like These...

I won a cruise
I'm on the loose, loose
loose loose loose
Jump in a pool with lots of booze

In my bright blue suits
From Taiwan, China
And bright yellow shirts
With my collar spread open.

I won a cruise
I'm on the loose, loose
loose loose loose
Jump in a pool with lots of booze

In my bright blue suits
From Taiwan, China
And bright yellow shirts
With my collar spread open.

In my bright blue suits
From Taiwan, China

 

[Black Cloud]

I agree, it's a nice job on the shadow, but I think the whole bg is fake. The shadow is convincing because the touch-up artist recreated the whole shadow, not just the cat's, to make it run together believably. To me it looks like Morrissey was cropped out of another bg and one of the layer effects was used to create a simple backdrop with shadows. It's not worthy of inclusion on the Photoshop Disasters website, but it doesn't really fool the eye, either.

It's totally fake. We tried it at home.

 

[starless]

I think it's real.

It's also one of those pictures that are easier to shoot than try to collage together from two separate ones. Besides, the cat looks exactly the way I imagine it would look if perched on somebody's head.

 

[Clarksville]

I know, I'm half-heartedly trying to prove in crazytalk using lyrics that Morrissey was tricked into sounding like a racist by a bunch of sun worshippers using arcane lyrics but there's so many threads started on this I don;t know where I've put my earlier crazy arguments.

Sweetness, he was only joking when he said by rights all Chinese people should be bludgeoned in their beds.

 

[Worm]

I think it's real.

It's also one of those pictures that are easier to shoot than try to collage together from two separate ones. Besides, the cat looks exactly the way I imagine it would look if perched on somebody's head.

You think? The cat looks so sharp and clear, though. You think a cat would sit that still? I think if it were real Morrissey would have a grey blur on his head.

Incidentally I wonder if this "The Cat Is The Hat" photo is his idea of slyly commenting on the cruelty of bear hats? Don't put dead things on your head? Insist on life? Eat more yogurt?

 

[starless]

You think? The cat looks so sharp and clear, though. You think a cat would sit that still? I think if it were real Morrissey would have a grey blur on his head.

This could be due to the sharpening of the image. As there is more detail in the cat's fur than on Morrissey's face, "Unsharp Mask"-ing the image will sharpen the fur much more than his face.

Of course the cat wouldn't stay still. It must have taken a few takes do to it. Why not even someone propping the poor animal with their hand (which is then removed in Photoshop)

If this image was possible 60 years ago, after 28 takes, then why not a cat on the head?

 

[Worm]

Of course the cat wouldn't stay still. It must have taken a few takes do to it. Why not even someone propping the poor animal with their hand (which is then removed in Photoshop)

Smart. I didn't consider that. Would take an excellent touch-up artist to remove the person's shadow, but I can see it.

If this image was possible 60 years ago, after 28 takes, then why not a cat on the head?

Bringing up the work of a surrealist isn't exactly the best way to argue for photorealism, but point taken, point taken.

Sixty years ago? Sheesh. Pretty good. And the CIA couldn't hire him to fabricate the Lee Harvey Oswald "backyard" photo?

 

[starless]

Nah, there is nothing realistic about photography in this day and age ...

 

[Clarksville]

Nah, there is nothing realistic about photography in this day and age ...

That's right. The gun in your avatar, for example, was clearly originally a hairdryer.