Garden of Thought

I can't help but wonder who gets paid to write the schlock I so often find on some of my favorite movies or books - jacket blurbs that seem to indicate the writer never even scanned the book, much less actually read it, 'summaries' on dvds that make you go "are they talking about this movie or just making something up - and just how many drinks did they have first?"

I would love to see publishers of media offer fans of those works a chance to submit 'reviews' for the packaging - certainly would be less annoying.

And what brought this little rant about? I just got a copy of one of my old favorites, The Scarlet Pimpernel, the one with Ian McKellen and Anthony Andrews on dvd... and what does it say on the back?

The swashbuckling classic comes to rip-roaring life in this lavish production, filled with breathless romance and derring-do!.... ack....gack.... ptui! ptui!

Then to add insult to injury, they add a quote from the 'New York Times' - "A whale of a yarn! Crammed with adventure...lavish...sumptuous!"

Just kill me now....A whale of a yarn? The Scarlet Pimpernel is a whale of a yarn???

Help!