Join Cliff “Quickbeam” Broadway as he and other Tolkien fans celebrate Bilbo’s 111th birthday party with a picnic out at Los Angeles’ Griffith Park.

Trying to make Comic-Con a bit more Tolkien-centric, and to have a little extra fun and the world’s biggest celebration of pop-culture, we (TheOneRing.net) brought in the crowds at Comic Con in San Diego for a fun competition. With no space at the convention to call our own, we went to Weta for an assist and they provided a perfect setting to hold a “Voice of Gollum,” contest.

A collection of fun-loving convention attendees and some awesome Gollum impersonators stepped in front of the Slaveboy Films’ cameras and impressed TORn, Weta and everybody stopping to look on. We asked Weta to choose the best entries, and the guys at Slaveboy Films have put together a fantastic video of the Top Ten.

Weta has also agreed to donate 20 Weta Dollars (worth US$20 dollars) to each of the Top Ten entries. Now it’s your turn. Weta are going to assist TORn with the voting. Out of these 10 masterful impersonators, only one can be said to possess the true voice of Gollum and therefore be allowed to take home a swag-bag of extra goodies; a TORn T-shirt, a Weta T-shirt, 30 more Weta Dollars, a Weta keyring and a Lord of the Rings Location Guide book. Who is it going to be? Vote Today!

Check out the latest edition of TheOneRing.net Podcast featuring ‘Fellowship!’ the musical.

Hobbit director, Guillermo del Toro, has left the following message on our message boards:

Sounds intriguing! We’ll update the site as soon as we know what the special announcement may be. In the meantime, take some time and join TheOneRing.net message board community! [GDT Post]

TORn staffer Garfeimeo wrote in to let us know the date for the LA area Baggins Birthday Bash has changed from Sunday, September 20 to Saturday, September 26. All the other details remain the same: Southern California Tolkien fans are invited to join in the merriment of TORN’s Annual Baggins Birhday Bash, which will take place on Saturday Sept 26 starting at noon in Griffith Park near the Merry-Go-Round. Costumes are encouraged, and prizes will be bestowed upon the most beautifully or most creatively attired lads and ladies. There will also be fun and games, as usual, and maybe even the traditional impersonation contest (if partygoers are up to it). There will be lots of wonderful prizes to be won. The picnic is potluck so bring something to share. RSVP to Garfeimao@theonering.net. Please let me know what you plan to bring so I can make sure we’ve got all bases covered for a good, Hobbity meal.

For directions, visit the original story here.

Southern California Tolkien fans are invited to join in the merriment of TORN’s Annual Baggins Birhday Bash, which will take place on Sunday Sept 20 starting at noon in Griffith Park near the Merry-Go-Round. Costumes are encouraged, and prizes will be bestowed upon the most beautifully or most creatively attired lads and ladies. There will also be fun and games, as usual, and maybe even the traditional impersonation contest (if partygoers are up to it). There will be lots of wonderful prizes to be won. The picnic is potluck so bring something to share. RSVP to Garfeimao@theonering.net. Please let me know what you plan to bring so I can make sure we’ve got all bases covered for a good, Hobbity meal.
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Last week, with the release of James Cameron’s AVATAR trailer, we asked you, whether the Hobbit films ’should’ be in 3D. As of this morning, with nearly 3400 of you chiming in with your votes, the resounding result is ‘No’. 74% of you either flat out don’t want a 3D hobbit or strongly dislike the idea. Only 13% of you think it should be in 3D. Obviously we aren’t scientifically polling our audience here, but the trend is quite interesting. As we are told by James Cameron and others that the ‘next generation’ of 3D will blow us away, seems like most of us are not too excited when it comes to our favorite topic. We’ll revisit the poll after AVATAR is released in December and more of you have had a chance to see the ‘new’ 3D. You can still vote in the poll on the right side of this page if you haven’t voiced your opinion. We’ll be swapping in a new poll shortly.

The North Carolina Fellowship would like to remind you that tickets are still available for a Lord of the Rings Trilogy Showing at Raleighwood Cinema Grill in Raleigh, NC! Tickets are $15 and proceeds will benefit the North Carolina Children’s Hospital. If you’d like to purchase tickets, please click on the following link. There are a limited number of seats left in this intimate and uniquely comfortable venue, so get yours before they are all gone. [More Info...]

Thanks to Ringer B. Armstrong for sending this in:

Read the full story at Yahoo! [Read More]

Promoted as a journey through Middle-earth for the whole family, Theatre Sans Fil is bringing back ‘The Hobbit’ production to the Barclay theater in Irvine, CA.

Thanks to Diedye for the heads up from our forums and follow the links for more information on the production. [Press Release] [Theater Website]