Phil Dragash Design 01A few weeks back we asked Ringers to submit designs to skin TheOneRing.net. Since then we’ve had received a lot of wonderful artwork from all parts of the world. We plan on featuring one design every few weeks, so if you submitted something, please be patient! Our first skin comes from Phil Dragash. Among the many designs Phil submitted, this ‘Aragorn’ skin based on stills from The Lord of the Rings films, really stood out. (We’ll be seeing more of Phil’s skins in the coming weeks as there are many great ones) If you like this theme, please click on the ‘discuss’ link below to leave your feedback. If you are interested in submitting your own design for TORn, please check out our original request by clicking on the following link. Thanks! [Submitting Designs]

Witch-King CakeTORn board member, Maria_Campos, has posted some amazing pictures of a cake in the shape of The Witch-king! Yes, we said a cake! You have to see the pics to truly experience it. “I used black paste food coloring from Wilton to get the black color of the cloak, also silver food color and brass luster dust and more black paste food coloring for the mask, the metallic food coloring are edilble and can be found at any cake decorating supply store…” Read the full story of the Witch-King cake at our forums! [Description] [More Photos]

Everest conquerer Sir Edmund Hillary once credited a tour of Weta Workshop with restoring his confidence in New Zealand’s future, according to longtime friend Tom Scott. “He was a huge fan of Lord of the Rings,” says Scott. “He was a huge romantic, he loved the forces of good against the forces of evil. He took Richard Taylor and Peter Jackson aside and said `I’ve been a little despondent about the future of New Zealand, but today’s been an absolute tonic. You’ve made me confident in New Zealand’s future’.”

New Zealand is in mourning since the death of Sir Hillary early on Friday morning NZ time. A state funeral is planned on January 22. Read complete article on Stuff

Missed Manners Pelennor FieldsThanks to Ringer Mike for alerting us to some very creative ‘building’ that took place over the Holidays. The family that runs the Miss(ed) Manners Blog have re-created the entirety of The Battle of Pelennor Fields using candy. It really defies explanation, so check it out for yourself! They also created a Helm’s Deep with Candy Last year. [Pelennor Fields] [Helm’s Deep]

LOTR CruiseTo Celebrate Professor Tolkien’s birthday, The Lord of the Rings Cruise and Tour are offering a 1-category upgrade for new bookings on January 3, only. So if you were on the fence, don’t delay – book today! [Cruise Details]