News for pipesmokers – first a report from Kirby: “Here is the website of Tom Johnson of Luna Pipes who makes long LOTR “churchwarden” pipes as you see in the movie: CrossroadUSA He has been making these for some time out of Ash…both stems and bowls. Briar bowls on special order for just a bit more. Three sizes: “14 inch “Hobbit”, 16 inch “Strider” and 18 inch “Gandalf”. The prices are very reasonable too. $50, $65 and $75. The bowls are pre carbonized (less time for “breaking in”) and come with a fleece drawstring bag to keep them in. I know some pipesmokers who have bought these and say they draw very smoothly and the “pipeweed” smokes very cool because of their length of stem. (longer the stem, the cooler the smoke becomes). So if anyone is looking for a LOTR pipe that Looks like those used the movie/book…rather than a more commercial “churchwarden” with a vulcanite or acrylic long stem….then Tom Johnson has what you are looking for. As a pipesmoker myself, I came across his site while looking for “Churchwarden” long stemmed pipes. Called him up in Seattle Washington USA and spoke with him for awhile. Very conciensus about his work and a JRR Tolkien reader himself.”
We were also contacted by Ryan MacQueen of MacQueen’s pipes. “I was on your website earlier today when I noticed your article on your search for Lord Of The Rings style pipes and I thought I may be of some help to you. I actually own a small company that designs and handcrafts pipes 100% inspired by J.R.R Tolkien’s writing and the way he described them in his books: “In the middle of the Earth, In the land of The Shire Lived a brave little Hobbit, Whom we all admire. With his long WOODEN PIPE, And his fluffy woolly toes, He lives in a hobbit hole and everybody knows him, Bilbo, Bilbo Baggins, Only three feet tall. Bilbo, Bilbo Baggins, The bravest little Hobbit of them all.”
“We have kept our pipes completely wooden, stem and all because of this quote. Even the pipes featured in the movie fell short of J.R.R Tolkiens original description (They were actually made from clay to speed the production of them). We pride ourselves in the quality and care that goes into every pipe crafted for people looking for a little taste of Middle Earth.We have already ran a small ad campaign with your site and are planning to continue on stronger in the near future. You can check them out at MacQueenPipes”
DECIPHER ANNOUNCES NEXT EXPANSION FOR THE REIGNING #1 TRADING CARD GAME
Elves to play a starring role in the third The Lord of the Rings TCG expansion!
(NORFOLK, Va., April X, 2002) — Elrond, Galadriel, Legolas, and Arwen are just a few of the Elves who will headline the Realms of the Elf-lords expansion, the third installment of Decipher’s The Lord of the Rings™ Trading Card Game (TCG). The set will debut in stores with the worldwide release of the Starter Decks on June 19 and the worldwide release of Booster Packs on July 3.
The April and May issues of Comics & Games Retailer magazine report that The Lord of the Rings TCG has been the number one-selling trading card game for two consecutive months (January and February 2002). According to the magazine, this is only the second time in the history of TCGs that a game has displaced Magic: The Gathering in the top-ranking position.
The 122-card Realms of the Elf-lords set will introduce new gameplay strategies featuring the prominent Elven characters, including many of their allies from Lothlórien and Rivendell. Plus, the nefarious Saruman will enter The Lord of the Rings TCG playing scene for the very first time.
In addition, there will be two new starter decks — one featuring a new version of Legolas and the forces of Isengard, the other showcasing a new version of Boromir and Sauron’s Orc hordes. Exciting, new artifact cards, such as The Three Elven Rings, The Shards of Narsil, and The Palant’r of Orthanc. As with all Lord of theRings TCG cards, all cards in Realms of the Elf-lords will receive a foil treatment in a parallel set.
“Obviously, the Elves will gain incredible strength with this set, and now that Saruman has arrived, entire decks will be built around him,” says game designer Joe Alread. “But one of my favorite new design elements in this set is the introduction of the Isengard Orcs. For the first time in the game, we have introduced a whole new subculture, and it is extremely powerful.”
Players will get a sneak peek at the set during the DGMA Pre-release Tournaments scheduled for the weekend of June 15-16, 2002. Approximately 50 retail locations worldwide will participate in this exclusive pre-release tournament series. Prizes will be awarded to the top finishers, and a special Realms of the Elf-lords Pre-release Tournament card will be presented to all competitors. To find a location near you, log on to DGMA.com, which is set to debut sometime in May.
Realms of the Elf-lordsis available in two playable starter decks, which contain nine site cards, three random Realms of the Elf-lords rares, Frodo, The One Ring, and a mix of cards from all three sets: The Fellowship of the Ring, Mines of Moria and Realms of the Elf-lords. The set also will be available in 11-card booster backs. Recommended retail for the starter decks is $US 10.95 and for the booster packs is $US 3.29.
As you might have noticed, I’ve been pretty quiet on the Gaming Havens as of late. I’ve been moving around quite a bit and my online time has taken a hit as a result. I’m still involved with the Havens however, and am doing a lot of work behind the scenes. There is a lot of exciting stuff coming up soon on the Havens, so stay tuned.
As part of my various journeys, I visited Washington State. While out in Washington, I was invited to take a tour of WXP, the developers of the Fellowship of the Ring for Xbox.
After re-familiarizing myself with the Washington State transportation system, getting lost several times in the process, I managed to stumble across WXP’s downtown Seattle office. I was escorted inside to a conference room, decked out with concept art from the game, as well as HDTV and an Xbox. I sat down with some of the developers from WXP and a team from Universal Interactive, and after introductions and some chitchat the action began.
The game was booted up and we began our journey through Middle Earth. Well, what will soon be Middle Earth, the game was far from finished. But even at this early stage the graphics looked great. Because the game is still early in development, I can’t get in to too much detail. But rest assured, the game is shaping up great.
The biggest improvement since E3 in my opinion? No more Frodo: Warrior Hobbit! You still control Frodo and you still have Sting, but now he’s more like the Frodo Baggins we all know and love and less like Link with hairy feet. No more slaying killer badgers with flaming pinecones, no more magical rune powered Sting. WXP’s new philosophy is: If it ain’t in the books, it ain’t in the game. While you can go around trying to hack to pieces anything that moves, you wont get very far. Just like in the books, it’s best to use your Hobbit stealth and keep fighting to a last resort. Frodo might be tough for a little guy, but he can only take so much damage.
Frodo wont be the only character you control either, which other members of the Fellowship you’ll be able to control are still up in the air, but you’ll definitely get a good mix of different tactics. We went through various sections of the Shire and Moria levels. The shire is warm and inviting, filled with playing children and squirrels. Moria on the other hand, is anything but warm and inviting. All darkness and shadow, filled with sneaking goblins and all kinds of other unseemly creatures, not a place to bring your family for vacation. Both levels look great, filled with a lot of detail. Not a lot to do though, combat is still a work in progress.
After the tour of virtual Middle Earth, we did a tour of WXP’s offices. After checking out some more concept art posted here and there on the walls, we visited some of the programmers at work. I got a look at some of the 3D models and the software used to control them, as well as software to actually build the levels, very cool.
WXP and Universal Interactive are taking a step in the right direction with how they are handling the game. This is a game for Tolkien fans by Tolkien fans. All the developers, artists, programmers, even management are Tolkien fans. And some of the top Tolkien experts in the world, like our own Green Books Guru Quickbeam, are involved with the project. The fans will have their hand in shaping the game as well. More on that later down the road. Check out Universal’s LOTR site for more info on the game, and keep your eyes peeled to the Havens for all your LOTR gaming news.
A few days ago we reported that Jeffery Hawkes, the hobbit extra injured in a car/train accident, had suffered a serious accident. We’ve heard from his friend Inger that he is doing well. “Awake, but still on the mend. Has had a lot of surgery last week on his arm. His leg has been amputated below the leg.” Inger gave us an update today: “He is looking a heck of a lot better than last week. Unfortunately he has also broken his other ankle so getting around will be a mish for him for a while.” Inger told us that Jeffrey played Pippin’s double as well as a party hobbit, and he was Pippin when he’s escaping the farmer in the corn field.
Inger Vos has agreed to accept e-mail “get well” wishes, and convey them to Mr. Hawkes.
You can send your get-well emails for Jeffery to Inger.Vos@Waikato-Times.co.nz
Lee Ann wrote in: “My 17yo daughter and I found several copies of the LotR soundtrack sheet music at the Music Mart in New Mexico. The skill level for these pieces is, in my daughter’s estimation, intermediate.
“She played through “The Prophecy” and “Many Meetings,” which were both lovely arrangements and true to the soundtrack. I was glad to see the words for “The Prophecy,” since I have trouble understanding the singers on the soundtrack CD.
People can e-mail info@musicmart.com for more information.”
Elisa suggests another way to get the music: “Go to this site and type “Lord of the Rings” into the search box–there are all kinds of goodies in there! See the second page of results for the piano/vocal score we discussed.”
She added “I would guess you’d need to be about level 3 or maybe 4 to handle the piano score (which is what I have) easily. My two kids both started piano lessons in kindergarten, and my 4th grader is working on “May It Be” with little difficulty. I’ve played piano on and off all my life (and poorly), and I can sight read these. They are not really in hard keys–E Major and A Major are the most challenging ones, and they’re designed to be eminently playable (so they’ll sell, duh). “Aniron (Theme for Aragorn and Arwen)” is perhaps the most challenging–it changes time signature a couple of times (3/4 to 4/4 and back) and has a lot of accidentals–it starts in A-flat Major and ends on a D-flat chord. But it is quite short and still not what I would consider hard at all.
The vocal lines are all in the middle range, mostly in the octave above middle C.
The nicest part is the English translation of all the Elvish lyrics! “Lament for Gandalf” is given, and “Aniron.” I don’t think these are in the CD liner notes.
And Elwing wrote in: “I found a site that sells the Warner Brother’s new piano music score for LOTR here
Another site selling the music, according to Daniela, is SheetmusicPlus.com
