Readers Write and Monday Miscellany

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An email from Leo M in response to the post about Burning Man:

What a strange ritual Otto.

There was a film made in Ireland or Scotland about this same idea which involved a policeman being sent to an island to investigate a disappearance. Famous actor.

Thanks, Leo.

The film you are referring to is the Brit pic The Wicker Man, made in 1973. 

The story is that Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) arrives on a Scottish island looking for a missing teenager girl, Rowan Morrison. The place belongs to Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) and is famous because of their plantation of apples and other fruits and their harvest, although the previous year’s harvest had failed. Sgt. Howie realizes that the locals are pagans, practicing old rituals, and Rowan is probably alive and being prepared to be sacrificed. The end of the film (spoilers ahead) reveals that Howie was lured to the island to be an adult sacrifice and that Rowan was part of the scam. He is locked inside a giant, hollow wicker man statue which then set afire. which he is then locked inside. The statue is soon set afire. As the islanders surround the burning wicker man and sing the Middle English folk-song "Sumer Is Icumen In", a terrified Howie curses them and recites Psalm 23 as he prays to God for accession to Heaven. The film ends as the burning head of the wicker man falls from its shoulders, as the sun sets in a blood-red sky. A good film to watch with the kids.

Britt Ekland and Diane Cilento are also in the film.

The film was inspired by an engraving called "The Wicker Image" in Britannia Antiqua Illustrata by Aylett Sammes in 1676:

An American remake of the same name, starring Nicolas Cage and Ellen Burstyn, was released in 2006. It was a box-office failure and has gained a cult following as an unintentional comedy.

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On Tuesday I will be attending a funeral of someone who suffered from Alzheimers for the last years of her life. A very sad illness and one that has touched most of us in some way.

Coincidentally I came across this on the weekend:

That You Remember Me

I’ve learned so much throughout my life
but there’s much I don’t recall.
I know it’s in there somewhere
but it’s hard to find it all.
It’s not that I’ve forgotten you,
or the things I said I’d do;
I remember everything
but it’s hidden somewhere I can’t see
just beyond my view.

You see, there is a shadow where
there didn’t used to be,
and sometimes when I look right there
it just confuses me.

I remember lovely flowers,
and songs I used to sing.
I remember springtime showers,
and rainbows they would bring.
I remember movies
and who would be the star,
but sometimes it’s so hard for me
to know just who you are.

I love to watch a baseball game
or listen to the birds.
I love to tell you secrets.
I love to hear your words.
I love for you to sit with me;
perhaps you’ll hold my hand
and tell me that you love me:
that I’ll understand.

My mind has ways of taking me
where I don’t want to go.
I know I know your name, you see;
just right now it’s hard for me
to think of things I really know,
and to know what really is
and what may not be so.

Though I might forget you,
it’s important that you see
just how much it means to me
that you remember me.

- Daniel Mark Extrom