Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week.  If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights.  Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions.  Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join in the fun!

Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – June 17, 2012”

The Tolkien Society has announced the addition of Peter Gilliver to the guest list of its Return of the Ring event in August.

Peter, who is Associate Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, will be delivering a talk titled “Making the Music: a possible source for the Ainulindalë”. Peter is well-known to Tolkien fans as co-writer of The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary, and has described Tolkien’s time at the OED as “crucial” in shaping Tolkien’s works. Continue reading “Tolkien Society adds Peter Gilliver to Return of the Ring”

Billy Connolly returned to New Zealand today after a brief tour to promote the animated movie “Brave,” which was three years in the making. He was glad to be back to complete his role as Dain Ironfoot.

“I have a war to fight. Elves to kill. Orcs to maim,” he says.

And he has really enjoyed working with Peter Jackson, who obviously sets a high standard.

“He knows what he wants and he stays on the case until he gets it. It’s highly technical and we do a lot of takes. It’s not like normal movies where you just have to get your words right and avoid the furniture.”

But Billy isn’t sure how long he will be in New Zealand although he hasn’t done much sightseeing yet and revealed he has an invitation to “The Hobbit” wrap party on July 7th. So only a little while longer for Billy to be a dwarf warrior. Pickups are expected to take place after the official wrap, so some filming will go on after the July 7 party.

MSN

Welcome to this months Cruise Middle Earth“Getting to know…” questions that need answering.  It’s based on the old Getting to know you threads that I used to post on the message boards here on TORn, so those familiar with them will know that the questions can be a little crazy and the answers even crazier.

This month, in the lead up to ComicCon, we’re asking questions of the other stripey TORn Kitty and intrepid traveller, Garfeimao.

Thanks for joining us this month Garf.

Me: What, in your opinion, are the best places to visit in California?

Garfeimao: Hah, that’s funny, since I’m at just about the most touristy spot in all of California, Disneyland, right now. In fact, if you put these answers up pretty quickly, you may well get a bit of a scoop, since I’m at the Press Preview of the new Cars Land at Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim, California. The’ve added Radiator Springs, a 12 acre park with 3 full rides and loads of shops and restaurants and new entertainment options, and it’s just adorable. They built up the background to look like the desert mesas and mountains you see if the film, including the waterfall and bridge sequence from the film. It’s really cool and very immersive, and the opening night party tonight was awesome. I ran into Andy Garcia, twice, Larry the Cable Guy (who voices Mater in the Cars movies) and I ran into Scott Hamilton, the Olympic Figure skater, among several other celebrities that were here.

Continue reading “Getting to know Garfeimao”

The film panels for Comic-Con’s 6,500 seat Hall H are beginning to shape up nicely, which helps TheOneRing know where its staff will be spending its time. Warner Bros. has booked a three hour slot on Saturday for the largest hall, and “The Hobbit” will likely be featured and be assured TheOneRing.net team will be there to fully report. Perhaps the Tolkien fans need to ready their sleeping bags. Rumors place significant “Hobbit” actors at the event but we have no confirmations at this time.

TheOneRing.net also has been invited by Comic-Con to present a “Hobbit” panel as we have done for several years in a row. We also expect to feature some cool bonus content from Weta Workshop and chat about our Gandalf / Fandalf effort. Exact times will be announced very soon, perhaps as soon as tomorrow so stay tuned. Continue reading “Official panel for ‘The Hobbit’ at Comic-Con 2012?”

Did you know the creator of TMNT was a bigger fan of Tolkien than we ever expected? His wedding ring is actually a One Ring of Power! Today on our *LIVE* weekly webcast TORn Tuesdays, we have a very special guest: Kevin Eastman, creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (and also a dyed-in-the-wool Ringer fan)! We’ll talk about creating worldwide fan bases, Comic-Con experiences, and the power of mythology through popular culture. What is it like for a creator to deal with other people adapting / redoing his most famous creation? Come join the show via Stickam (account “theoneringnet”) using your own Skype login or come join us via our Live Event Page with our unique Barliman’s chat embedded in the show! Soon we will have live guests IN THE AUDIENCE at Meltdown Comics Theater in Hollywood for every weekly show!

Tune into our show at 5:00pm PDT (that’s L.A. time folks — click here to see when it is in your city!), and just click to our Live Event page.