Hira writes: Just to inform you in Singapore there will be a presentation about the visual effects in LOTR. This talk is only for Singapore Polytechnic students and staff. The speaker is from WETA, New Zealand and a graduate of Singapore Polytechnic. Cost per ticket is SDG $10.00. [More]

marie writes: At the juno awards yesterday ‘Sam Roberts’ won 3 awards, Roberts admitted he would have a hard time topping the album. “The second album suddenly feels as heavy as the ring on poor Frodo’s shoulders,” he said. [More]

THE casting of Cate Blanchett in a Sydney Theatre Company production in July was enough to sell out the eight-week season before it even started. This week ticket-holders have even more reason to look forward to their outing: Hugo Weaving has been cast to star opposite her. The two stars of the blockbuster Lord of the Rings trilogy will play the lead roles in Henrik Ibsen’s work Hedda Gabler. [More]

The company that holds the British rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings has topped the list of 100 private companies showing the fastest-growing profits in the U.K., according to a survey by the London Sunday Times. The newspaper’s “Profit Track” reported that The Entertainment Group, which receives a piece of the action from LOTR box-office receipts and home video sales and rentals in the U.K. has seen profits soar 197 percent a year since 2000. [More]

Ithron Angol writes: I just thought you might like to post that Billy Boyd will be a “Guest of Honor” at the upcoming Origins game expo in Columbus, Ohio. The expo is June 24-28. As far as I know, he will be signing autographs and speaking about his filming experiences on Sunday the 28th. [More]

The Phoenix Symphony’s “Lord of the Rings Symphony” concert, scheduled for May 26 at Symphony Hall, set new records for the orchestra in its first day of ticket sales yesterday. The concert presentation of Howard Shore’s music from the Oscar-winning films sold almost $13,000 in tickets via the web on Sunday, the first day of sales. [More]