We thought you all (or 400 of you) might enjoy a March diversion while our selection committee carefully seeds and plans our Middle-earth Madness tournament. That particular event with J.R.R. Tolkien’s characters facing each other in the ultimate battle to be No. 1 is coming soon. For now, we have a free NCAA basketball bracket game that the first 400 people who wish to can sign up for. In fact, we think we might have a prize sitting around TORn’s underground bunker where we are currently holed up and polishing the Middle-earth Madness content. (See inserted photo). Prizes not promised, so only play if you want to have fun. Not knowing if ANYBODY would participate, we posted this on Facebook and in a few hours it has proven to be popular. Wanna play along? It is free of course. Go here: http://tornfb.mayhem.cbssports.com/e and use the password “nobalrogs” and yes, you have to sign up for that website. There is no affiliation between TORn and any other entity. Meanwhile, if you or some corporate entity you know wants to donate a prize, email MrCere@TheOneRing.net and we can announce it here and give away stuff. Oh, and be SURE TO READ THE SCORING SYSTEM for our bracket on the site. Upsets are worth more points.
Category: Fans
World-wide attention is now focused on a little pub in Southampton, England (not to be confused with Southfarthing, Shire) called, The Hobbit. In service for more than 20 years, the location is something of a homage to the works and characters of J.R.R. Tolkien, one of which lends its name to the drinking establishment.
However, the book of the same name is also big business and The Saul Zaents Company, who purchased the rights to the book-name in question and The Lord of The Rings after they were sold by Tolkien, has threatened the pub with legal action. According to the BBC, “It (the pub) features characters from Tolkien’s stories on its signs, has “Frodo” and “Gandalf” cocktails on the menu, and the face of Lord of the Rings film star Elijah Wood on its loyalty card.”
Headquartered in Berkely, California, the rights-holding company says this on its website: Continue reading “Hobbit pub accused of rights infringement”
Welcome to the first
“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, so those familiar with them will know that the questions can be a little crazy and the answers even crazier.
This month we’re asking questions of our favourite Ent, and Host of TORn Tuesday, Quickbeam.
Once again, thank you for agreeing to take part in all of this Quickbeam.
Me: Remembering, of course, that your beautiful kitty passed on just before you left for “Where the Stars are Strange“. Do you have any cats or other pets?
Quickbeam: Ah yes, that was a blow. I remember very clearly how I wanted to just “close up shop” when my little feline friend died. The thought of pleasurable vacationing in New Zealand seemed out of bounds, but obviously I went. Perhaps that is a normal response for anyone who has taken guardianship of an animal… those are the bonds of love that are peculiarly the strongest. The idea then came to me of how I might be sharing my unique trip to Middle-earth with the spirit of my lost friend. Somehow it was therapeutic and indulgent at the same time.
Middle-earth Madness and all the fun that implies, is soon to be released to fans of J.R.R. Tolkien everywhere. Readers and moviegoers will be able to vote as we pit character vs. character in a showdown to determine the 2012 Middle-earth character champion.
In the spirit of the U.S.’ NCAA college basketball tournament, known as March Madness, we will create matchups that pit the likes of Gollum vs. Treebeard and Boromir vs. Balin. Unlike the NCAA bracket, ours will be a 32 team showdown. Using voting fan input and finally our own selection committee.
And, because there are hundreds of great characters across the Middle-earth catalog, we know not everybody’s favorite character can fit in a field of 32 and just like in the NCAA tournament, some deserving characters may not get in. (Unlike the basketball tournament however, all of the characters are fictional and none will have his or her feelings hurt and they all have “next year” to be a contender.) So, we hope you will join us for our voting and enjoy Middle-earth Madness! The Bracket will be revealed soon!
We’ve gotten a lot of great reaction to yesterday’s reveal of our Today in Middle-earth Calendar and want to share a quick update for those of you looking to add it to your feed or Apple’s iCal. For iCal, simply click on this link and the calendar will be automatically added to your iCal application (from there you can share it on your iPHone, etc). When we make updates to the calendar they should automatically populate your calendar as well. If you are looking for a XML feed of this calendar, click here. [XML Feed] [iCal Download] [TIME Calendar]
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 – March 11, 2012”