Once referred to as "Croppiedom's King of Controversy" Michael Glickman has long occupied a central space at the heart of public comment on the crop circle phenomenon. A former architect and teacher, he is now a renowned and inspirational speaker and writer. His work on the geometry and interpretation of the crop circles has spanned over 16 years. Michael has written several regular columns on the crop circles over his career, both in print and on the internet. Wheat from the Chaff is his latest incarnation. His book, A
moan, a whinge, a complaint...
It took me over eight years to finish my book. It
was to be called The Bones of God. I found a publisher who told me that - in the
information age - this title would not move product. It was changed to Crop Circles: The Bones
of God and I am happy enough with that.
The publication date is 12th May and Amazon in the
US are already taking orders. Amazon in the UK, however, though they acknowledge
the book’s existence, seem unready, for the moment, to offer it for
pre-order.
Being a proud author, I check every so often to see
whether they have chosen to shift their position. Last night, checking once
again, the phrase “crop circle” triggered some kind of banner which came up on
screen to let me know that there was a “stunning” new crop circle
DVD.
Who could not be curious? I was indeed to be
stunned.
As soon as the trailer opened I noticed that an
image was upside down, and then another, and yet another... I could not believe
my eyes. I accept that I am an irritable old curmudgeon with a disproportionate
respect and affection for crop circles, but each one of these carelessly
positioned images stabbed me in the heart.
I
watched the short trailer again. I counted (and I could be wrong) thirteen still
images. Of these, eight, I repeat EIGHT, were upside down! This means that
something over 60% of the images were mishandled in a trailer of just a few
minutes length. What does this say about the care with which the documentary
itself was put together? Is the editor visually impaired? Is the director a
blind person?
The crop circles are rare gifts to us. Nobody can
fully understand their significance but it is inarguable that they should be
treated with the utmost respect. The chosen language of their conversation with
us is form, shape and geometry. How crass, how careless, how offensive is it to
display them upside down? Many people, viewing this massively promoted DVD, will
be perplexed to notice these errors (and, be sure, they WILL notice) and have
their view of the crop circles and the research community diminished. We are
all, by inference, careless slobs.
It would be churlish to name the DVD and its
producers. They known who they are. Their only decent response now would be to
destroy their stock, carefully re-edit and to issue a public apology. I will not
hold my breath
The first copies of my book were delivered this
morning. All the photos were the right way up. MG.
PS Michael's new book will be
available from this website shortly (Ed.)
