Or A Few Thoughts On Creatures That Don’t Exist
Last October, I was asked if I would write a foreword for a book on… dragons. Having just had Forging Dragons publish at about the same time, they were still very fresh in my mind. Small world. Full of dragons. They seem to be everywhere, their ubiquity matched only by their variety. No other creature speads such colossal wings or drags its scaly belly across the mythical lands of so many cultures over the aeons. They span the spectrum from devilry to divinity, from blackest evil to boundless good. They come in all configurations, they speak, or they make our minds reel with the power of their thoughts, they squat athwart hoards of treasure untold. They are story. They are dragons.
But just what is it about dragons ?
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The director of The Hobbit, Guillermo del Toro, settles down at his favourite Wellington cafe to talk to Tom Cardy about bringing his debut novel to life. When Guillermo del Toro was 13, he wrote a short story about a girl who lives near a graveyard. Lightning wakes her one night. She looks out of her bedroom window and sees an animated corpse on the street staring back at her. The girl goes missing and is later found inside a coffin in the cemetery, the corpse’s arms wrapped around her. Inside the mind of a vampire lover
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The New Zealand tourist board is expecting The Hobbit, the new film based on JRR Tolkien’s book, to have a similar effect on tourism in the country to the hugely successful Lord of the Rings movies. Guillermo del Toro is taking over directing duties from Peter Jackson for The Hobbit, which will be released as two films in December 2011 and 2012. The Lord of the Rings trilogy led to a major boost in tourism for New Zealand, with the locations used in the films seeing more than 37,000 annual visitors after the films were released. The Hobbit set to benefit New Zealand tourism
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DAVE MCKEAN AND NEIL GAIMAN COMBINE ON MYTHICAL NEW STAMPS FROM ROYAL MAIL
A boulder-wielding giant and a fire-breathing dragon are just two of the illustrations on Royal Mail’s stunning Mythical Creatures stamps.
Issued on 16 June, the six stamps feature fantastical characters from the UK’s rich history of folklore and legend, brought to life by the artist Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman, bestselling novelist and creator with McKean of the Sandman comic.
Look closely at his astonishing set of illustrations and the imagination is quickly working overtime; which is probably why these creatures – and the stories behind them – have such an enduring appeal.
Gaiman, who has collaborated with McKean on many occasions, has written a special Presentation Pack, designed by McKean, which contains all six stamps. In it the author delves into the history of the creatures featured on the stamps. Continue reading “UK’s Royal Mail Goes Mythical”
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Jack M sends this in: Looks like the northerly storms did some pretty serious damage to the Lothlorien bridge. It was pretty unique – it’s the only pre-existing manmade object to appear in the movie. It had just been restored in the last year, as the lake area was being renovated. Although that the weekend storms have now receded somewhat, we’re still trying to make contact with the owners of the property, Colin and Rosie Bevan. Continue reading “Storm Damage Ravages Lothlorien Set”
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Would you like to run and jump and fight and talk with friends and compose songs in Middle-earth? Would you like to do it on your XBox 360? Long regarded at a PC-only venture, the stereotypical MMO (Massive, Multiplayer, Online games) may be expanding to a much large audience.
Turbine is the current producer of “Lord Of The Rings Online” and just celebrated its two-year anniversary. In a recent hour-long interview (story found here) the movers and shakers behind the game talked a fair amount about changing MMOs from the current model to fit all the ways people use new technology. They didn’t mention LOTRO, but there have been rumors and now GameDaily has this solid story, sent in by Ringer spy Robin, rings true. As for me, the idea of the excellent Turbine game delivered to my big-screen TV, well, I only hope it is true.
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