Today’s nearly 3 hour long chat with Alan Lee was filled with questions about Alan’s involvement with the Lord of the Rings movies, his future endeavors, and his art in general. We had an open, unmoderated chat, so I’ve edited the log for continuity and reading ease. Questions for Alan have been italicized and his answers are in bold type. We’d like to sincerely thank Alan and Houghton Mifflin for giving us this opportunity to bring another live guest chat to you, the fans of JRR Tolkien. Enjoy! Continue reading “Alan Lee Chat Log Transcript”

The Brits are to beat Kiwi-born director Peter Jackson in creating the next Lord of the Rings movie. But the new film won’t have the $166 million budget the other movies had or the backdrop of green New Zealand pastures and snowy mountains. An amateur film-maker from England is digging into her own pocket, appealing to sponsors and has hired several actors willing to work for free to make a not-for-profit movie inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels. Briton beats Jackson to next Rings movie

Or Putting A Few Things in Perspective

The things we accept visually, rapidly and at face value, are legion. All those things we recognize, that “jump the synapses directly as a code” (as the folks in advertising just love to say), make up probably the majority of what we encounter in our daily lives. (One of the main attractions of travel is to satisfy the yearning to see rather than recognize; conversely, no familiarity at all would probably end up being very tiring or far worse.) I got to wondering about all those things of a varying nature, which we manage to identify effortllessly (likely the product of an umpteenth belated attempt to understand « Kant and the Platypus» by the ineffable and avuncular Eco, effort hardly effortless on my part, at least until I gave up trying yet again…) More…