One of the virtues of living in Wellington is the chance to stumble across LOTR stars like Lawrence Makaore [Lurtz] doing a booksigning, as NZBoy discovered. [More]

NZboy had a bit of luck living in Wellington:
“I was just walking through town and saw a sign outside Dymocks bookstore, saying that Lawrence Makoare (Lurtz) will be in store at 2pm today. Time was 1:30pm and had left my camera at home, rushed around looking for a disposable camera, bought one and went back.

“Looked around for some books to buy, to get them signed. Got a couple, and then the big man entered the store. He was with Gino Acevedo from Weta. While waiting in line to get my books signed, he was talking away with people, saying how certain scenes happened, some of the funny moments but wouldn’t give any clues about ROTK. When my turn came, he happily signed my books and posed for a couple of photos.” Photos to follow.

For people who can make it to Oregon, BitofEarth.net [creators of the very successful Project Elanor] have three more exciting events lined up. The first is Tentmoot, a weeklong festival of Tolkien fun which will culminate in a showing of ALL THREE MOVIES, in December. [More ] In July, they’re holding a music festival, The Hall of Fire Concert Series and in September, a fan film festival, The Lost Palantir If you have a band or a film, they’re looking for submissions.

Sarah reminds fans near Birmingham that this weekend is another Tolkien Weekend at Sarehole. [More]

“There are plays and performances, and readings of Tolkien’s books. Crafts and guided tours of Mosely Bog which is right beside where the professor used to live. It is a site of special archaeological interest, and people have said that the landscape is “Middle Earth in minature” so there will be tours of both the nature, the history, and the Tolkien connection.

“There will be music and dancing and ales and plenty of food, and stuff like that you can get your hands stuck into, and plenty of general tomfoolery.” *winks*

Luke came across this interesting job advertisement in The Guardian. This might be the dream job for a LOTR fan with skills in research, sociology, and media studies. Seems to be a research project studying how the LOTR trilogy is received and understood in various cultures around the world. [More] [Hah, the TORN staff could tell them a thing or two….]

Fearing for what Denethor will do in his madness, Pippin has searched out Gandalf at the gates of Minas Tirith. At the turn of the tide, Gandalf must leave the battle and go to the citadel to face the steward of Gondor. Meanwhile in the Tombs, Beregond is fighting Denethors servants over the life of Faramir.[More]