I'm back from the long and by-no-means-finished NZ summer holidays, and I want to apologise to the many people who've emailed me in the last two weeks and have got no reply. Sorry about that. I hope to catch up on some of that correspondence soon.

Having been away from TORN for the same time, I don't know if this has been said already, but I'd like to say a big thank you to the spies who've contributed to TheOneRing in the last 18 months or so. You've made long journeys on foot, boat, plane and train and you've waited up long cold nights under rain and stars. You've lugged heavy binoculars and telescopes around, you've pestered your friends and worried your families...well, you might have done that anyway, as dedicated Tolkien fans, but all of us in this internet community owe you thanks for sharing your experiences with us. And so we do thank you.