The first annual SFX Blog Awards are open for voting and TheOneRing.net is humbled to find that we’ve been nominated in the ‘Best Franchise Film Site‘ category. As described by SFX, the awards…
…celebrate the best that SF and fantasy fan-driven and insider-developed internet activity has to offer. These awards arenโt for big, profit-making sites but for sites that were created for the love of the genre, and are maintained by people out of love rather than money.
If you feel TheOneRing.net is the best in this category, we encourage you to place your vote. And it goes without saying, TheOneRing.net is only as successful as the efforts and dedication of our all volunteer staff and the constant encouragement from Tolkien fans worldwide. Thank you for your support! [SFX Blog Awards] [Best Franchise Film Site Category]
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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 12 2011”
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Donato Giancola’s artwork will be familiar to many readers of TORn. His paintings have been used as the covers for many books, including the Science Fiction Book Club’s combined edition of The Lord of the Rings. Recently, he published a volume which brings together many of his Middle Earth depictions. If you haven’t yet seen Giancola’s gorgeous book Middle Earth: Visions of a Modern Myth, then you’ve missed a treat. Crammed with beautiful prints of his paintings and sketches inspired by Tolkien’s writing, the book includes fascinating comments and up close images of details from Giancola’s amazing pictures. It’s a great opportunity to see Middle Earth afresh; we know so well the images from the movies or from John Howe and Alan Lee (amongst others); but here we find well known characters and places reimagined. Giancola’s focus tends to be on faces, and he brilliantly brings to life the anguish or ecstasy of a moment as seen in a character’s eyes. His drawings of anatomy are like ancient Greek sculptures, with every muscle seen as, for example, Gollum struggles against Sam and Frodo in Emyn Muil. I especially love his ‘The Great Dragon Smaug’ and ‘Eowyn and the Lord of the Nazgul’. Ted Nasmith wrote the foreword for Visions of a Modern Myth; he writes of Giancola, ‘His art is exactingly and lovingly rendered with consummate skill, yet the end result is typically relaxed and very pleasant to the eye – no easy feat!’
Donato is a good friend to TheOneRing.net, and he was recently interviewed by another good friend of ours, George Beahm – writer of books such as The Essential J.R.R. Tolkien Sourcebook (with Colleen Doran) and Kirk’s Works (with George Barr, on the artwork of Tim Kirk). Beahm’s interview appears below. I hope it wets your appetite to see more of the stunning art of Donato Giancola.
Continue reading “Donato Giancola: Drawn to Middle-earth”
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Peter Thiel, famous for making billions off Facebook, tells SFGate.com he’s finally found “utopia” โ New Zealand.
To summarize the story a bit, Mr. Thiel is a big fan of Tolkien and named his latest firm Valar Ventures:
The name of Thiel’s firm Valar Ventures comes from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe. Thiel is a huge Tolkien fan and the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in New Zealand. In Tolkien’s legendarium, the Valar are deities who created the world of Middle-Earth (portrayed by New Zealand in the movies) and then descended on it to help nurture its infancy and development.
Hey Peter – do you happen to have a spare million to help TORn with some server costs? ๐ Pretty please? hah. Enjoy the rest of the article at SFGate.com. [Read More]
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EXCLUSIVE – Deadline hinted first but TheOneRing.net can confirm that Elijah Wood will step in front of Peter Jackson’s cameras and return to Middle-earth for a part in ‘The Hobbit,’ โ and we even know how. Despite how some fans will respond at first, the reasons are organic and natural and might not upset some of the most ardent purists.
***MAJOR HOBBIT MOVIE SPOILERS AFTER THE BREAK*** Continue reading “Elijah Wood will be in ‘The Hobbit’ (and we know how!)”
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In another two weeks we will finally be able to price out the roundtrip air needed to get to the cruise and back again. At that time I will be able to announce the New Zealand tour pricing, with the Australian tour options to follow shortly afterwards. Please visit our special cruise website for current details on the cruise itinerary, pricing and how to contact me for more information.
*SPECIAL OFFER* And as a nice little Mathom from me, in honor of The Professor’s birthday, here is a special incentive for all new bookings on this cruise, valid January 3-9 only. In addition to the amenities already listed for this cruise, I can now offer up to $150 of additional onboard credit. This is money that can be spent onboard for items such as spa treatments, in the shops onboard, on the Celebrity shore excursions or at the bar, among other onboard expenses. The amount is determined by the cabin category you choose, so just ask me and I’ll explain all the details. This is a really great opportunity to add some real value to a trip that promises to be amazing already. Just remember, this is for new bookings this week only.
[Contact Cathy] [Cruise Website]
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