The last place I expected to encounter an intriguing piece of folklore was in the middle of a gritty crime movie like Serpico.

In Serpico, Al Pacino plays the part of an honest cop who is trying to cope with the rampant and widespread corruption of his colleagues in the New York Police force.

It’s a confronting and tense drama – one that saw Pacino nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1974 [1].

What it isn’t, however, is the sort of movie in which you expect to encounter a fairytale; and yet, in a scene in which Serpico and his girlfriend, Laurie, are talking about his dilemma, the following story is told:

Read the rest of this entry »

Footnotes:

1.	He lost to Jack Lemmon in “Save The Tiger”.
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I stumbled on an interesting news piece over at The Arizona Republic about 3 men who are suspected of having perished in the Superstition Mountains [1] while chasing the legend of The Lost Dutchman Mine.

According to the article, legends have circulated in the area for almost 120 years that somewhere in the Supersitions the location of an incredibly rich gold mine has been lost. The legend says that the last person to know the exact location of the mine was a Dutch immigrant, who left clues to its whereabouts to 3 people on his deathbed. Since then, according to George E Johnston of the Supersition Mountain Museum, people have come from all over the world to search for the mine.

Sadly, it appears that an obsession with this legend may well have led 3 adventurers to their deaths…

For the article: 3 hikers on treasure hunt in Superstition Mountains feared dead, The Arizona Republic

Footnotes:

1.	Probably one the most aptly named mountain ranges in the world for this story.
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I have to admit, I’m sceptical of the historical existence of King Arthur at all, however I admit I enjoyed the Arthurian Legends when I was a lad.

Historically accurate or otherwise, it would be madness to deny the impact the Arthurian Legends have had on folklore and literature throughout the UK and Europe and other parts of the globe.

So, I thought you might be interested to discover that some historians believe that they may have discovered Arthur’s legendary ‘Round Table’ — except, that it’s not a table…

But rather than it being a piece of furniture, historians believe it would have been a vast wood and stone structure which would have allowed more than 1,000 of his followers to gather.

For the whole article, vist: Historians locate King Arthur’s Round Table, Daily Telegraph

While we can’t take incidences of domestic violence seriously enough, it’s surprising to see it pop up in the context of a potential Urban Legend.

According to an article on the NationalReviewOnline site, authorities in the UK have tied World Cup matches to an approximate (and appalling!) 30% rise in domestic violence in the UK.

However, the article explains that all is not as it might seem with this statistic, or the public awareness campaign that accompanied it. It also explores a similar possible legend surrounding the popular belief that domestic violence skyrockets in the US during Super Bowl Sunday.

For more from the article: The World Cup Abuse Nightmare, NationalReviewOnline.

If you are concerned about domestic violence in your situation, please do a search for local resources that can help you. There are also many online communities you can reach out to for support and advice.

I’ve just finished watching the rather spooky movie, Shutter Island, an atmospheric thriller set on a remote island off the coast of Massachusetts.

Aside from making me very thankful that I have never had to spend a night on an island like Shutter Island, the movie got me thinking about why islands feature heavily in scary stories.

What is it about islands that makes scaring the pants off people such an easy task?