Found: A quote from The Lord of the Rings

I’ve been checking out the writings of Minnesota resident and master blogger James Lileks for a few years now, every since cousin Mike brought “The Bleat” to my attention. One of Mr. Lileks’ features is “100 Mysteries”, an ongoing “review” of a DVD compilation of old, mostly black-and-white mystery movies.

James describes today’s entry, “The Man on the Eiffel Tower” as the “Worst movie in the series so far”. Mr. Lileks has a great way with words, but as sometimes happens, there will be a quote from someone in the comments section that will really grab my attention.

So, check this out, and notice the blog entry begins with a photo of Burgess Meredith, who both directed and starred in the movie. Then, the first comment: “Isn’t that guy your new US Senator?”, followed five comments later by “THAT is funny. Funny, ha - ha, not funny in that, you know, Franken is really going to be a Senator. That’s just, I dunno… disappointing? Disturbing? Sumpthin.”

Then, 13 comments down from the top, “…That’s just, I dunno… disappointing? Disturbing? Sumpthin.”

“Where now the horse and the rider? where is the horn that was blowing? The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.”

That last is what really got me thinking. It’s not only a meaningful quote from “The Lord of the Rings”, but also a poetic statement on our current state of affairs. A lament, I suppose.

Now, I’m not all gloom-and-doom, I just can’t do that. But sometimes I have to wonder.