And no, Michael Moore did not have this tattoo inked on himself.
Photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. Thanks to Tom for the heads up on this.
Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.
I do like watching Moore's film's; in fact I even made it into his first, "Roger and Me'. The problem I have is I actually had dealings with him back when I was in the band "Pursuit". Now don't get me wrong we were almost as crooked as he was but he really is a phony. The last time we talked on the phone we were threating each other with legal action. My first experience with him was in 1978 I believe when he had the local rag "The Davison Hotline". We were setting up the groundwork for a three day concert at the Genesee county "Youth & activity Center". He told us in my basement/studio that he would supply 100 volunteers to help with printing posters and such. The scam being that he was listed as a charity organization so we would get a lot of breaks with the local government and many tax breaks. Even though the event would be for the homeless & less fortunate his group & ours were an overhead expense that would actually take the lions share of the proceeds at the gate. His partner in crime was Doug Cunningham. They always had their wives/girlfriends with them. For six months they strung us along pretending to be the top dogs when in reality there were three oldtimers pulling the strings. They shut us down at a final meeting when the old guys showed up stating we had no big name entertainment so they were going to pass on our concert. The next time, my partner went behind my back and had our promotions running in his then "Flint Voice" rag based in Burton Mi. We spent a total of $10,000 dollars for this one night show at the I.M.A. now Perani arena. We had our commercials running on WJRT TV12 and WNEM TV5 plus the local rock station 105 FM. Well Moore decided to get in on the action by hosting his own show because we did not cut him in on the action this time. So he puts out commercials billing his show at the Capital theater as "FLINTS ONLY SUMMER ROCK CONCERT" even though we had a half page ad running in his paper. The last time we met was in front of old Fisher Body #1 on the last day of production. He even got those facts wrong in "Roger & Me" stating only three people showed up to picket but as with everything else he dose don't pay to close attention to the facts. This Quote was even reused in the book "The American Automobile Factory". One sad thing is I was mistaken for him a few years back when I was at the Flint City Hall and you never seen so many people running around going and getting people out of their cubicles. I kept telling everyone "I Am Not Michael Moore" and I don't even like him. When they heard my voice they knew it was a mistake but Jeez can you imagine being mistaken as being Michael Moore?
ReplyDeleteI agree w/Gerry. when Moore was making 'Roger and me', he was thrown out of my Aunt's store, the 'Book Stall",across from Genn. Towers, by my Dad, because Moore wouldn't quit running his obscenity laden language. And now, he's up here in the North Country, running his mouth again...
ReplyDeleteI'm also a fan of Moore's work. One interesting tidbit according to Tanya Narhi (bass player for Dissonance)...he was doing some type of management work at WFBE in late 1982/early 83 when he signed the form that kicked the the late, great Phill Hines off the air with his show "Anarchy" for saying "fuck" on the air.
ReplyDeleteOn the brighter side, Michael Moore was also responsible for getting Ben Hamper to start his "Take No Prisoners" radio show on WFBE in the Spring of 1981, when there was virtually no local music scene to speak of.
and Gerry, I fail to see the resemblance between You and Moore. Your obviously much more handsome and intelligent looking than Moore. who got the tattoo by the way? and how drunk/doped were they when they got it? do you s'ppose that they have since had their arm ripped out by the roots, after sobering up? maybe Moore will do a movie about it, and premiere it in Traverse City...
ReplyDeleteFor me, this sounds like a case of separating the person from their artistic output. And I think a pushy, often offputting personality was needed during the Bush years. At least somebody stood up and took a stand.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, as much as I like Michael Moore, who the hell would get his tattoo on their arm?
I got this from the Entertainment Weekly website, and they had no info that I could find on who got the tattoo. It does seem like an odd choice, but what percentage of tattoos are logical?
ReplyDeleteI wish it was on Rasheed Wallace's arm or some other famous sports person. That would be hilarious.
standing up to bush is one thing. spouting filth to several older ladies is another.
ReplyDeleteYou have to be pretty fat to have Moore's image tattooed on your arm.
ReplyDeleteis this like an equivalent to a devil or dragon tattoo? or was the person seriously that in love michael moore? you're sure this isn't his own ?
ReplyDeleteThis is strange... I found this post by clicking on a quote (on the right), but it doesn't show up chronologically on your main page. In fact, I've never seen it from your main page.
ReplyDeleteAs for 'Robber and Me', I always thought the brilliancy in that movie was the editing, so I credit Wendey Stanzler and that other guy for the success of that film. I've stated my views on Michael Moore before. I never knew him personally, but his reputation speaks volumes.
Nice tattoo, but they should've gone with Brenda Starr instead...
Haha that sucks!
ReplyDelete