Meghan, Online Community Manager for The Lord of the Rings Online writes: This week, Jill "Dwynna" Harrington has written a dev diary about setting up a character model for animation, with a Ringwraith as her example. [More]

TORONTO When the stage version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" opens here in spring, the show is expected to feature about 18 songs, a cast of 55 and about 12 million investors. Literally. That's because, in an act of unprecedented governmental showmanship, Ontario's officials - on behalf of their 12 million citizens - have signed on as investors for the show, which is expected to be one of the most expensive ever. Taking on a role traditionally played by impresarios, idealists and other theatrical gamblers, the provincial government will contribute some 3 million Canadian dollars, or about $2.5 million, of the show's $23 million budget, betting that the production's global appeal will justify a unique, and risky, public-private partnership. [More]

Emmanuel writes: FACTS 2005 will take place this weekend. FACTS is the biggest fantasy, science fiction & anime con in the Benelux (our previous edition attracted some 6000 visitors). It will take place in the ICC (Internationaal Congress Centrum), Citadelpark, Ghent, Belgium on October 15th and 16th 2005 from 10 AM till 5 PM. Moreover, the Belgian LOTR fanclub, Elanor, will be present as well. [More]

A comedy-horror film about genetically engineered sheep running amok, to be shot in Wellington next year, will be the first project financed under a new alliance between a Korean company and a New Zealand film house. WETA is doing the design work for the film. [More]

Kerewyn writes: Emiliana Torrini, performer of 'Gollum's Song' on the LOTR soundtrack, is touring Australia in November, to promote her new album 'Fisherman's Woman'. To see live dates link at her official site. [More]

Order 'Fisherman's Woman' on Amazon.com today!

TheOneRing.net -- in conjunction with Houghton Mifflin -- is delighted to announce that Alan Lee, the acclaimed LOTR illustrator and Academy Award-winning conceptual designer for the film trilogy, will join us in the Hall of Fire (on the TORn IRC server) on Saturday November 5 at 6pm EST for a live question and answer session.

That means you should mark your diaries or even submit a question now! Alan will be answering questions on his work illustrating Lord of the Rings, his involvement with Peter Jackson and WETA as a conceptual designer for the Lord of the Rings film Trilogy and his new book The Lord of the Rings sketchbook. [More]

(AP) -- Scientists say they have found more bones in an Indonesian cave that offer additional evidence of a second human species -- short and hobbit-like -- that roamed the Earth the same time as modern man. But the vocal scientific minority that has challenged that conclusion since the discovery of Homo floresiensis was announced last year remains unconvinced. [More]

You can all stop emailing me about this now, thanks.

TORONTO - When the stage version of J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" opens here next spring, the show is expected to feature about 18 songs, a cast of 55 and about 12 million investors. Literally. That's because, in an act of unprecedented governmental showmanship, Ontario's officials - on behalf of their 12 million citizens - have signed on as investors for the show, which is expected to be one of the most expensive ever. Taking on a role traditionally played by impresarios, idealists and other theatrical gamblers, the provincial government will contribute some $2.5 million of the show's $23 million budget, betting that the production's global appeal will justify a unique, and risky, public-private partnership. [More]

Three pretty interesting entires for tomorrow's 'DVD Tuesday'. First up we have the Orlando Bloom film "Kingdom of Heaven", the epic non-hit of the season. Next is Sean Astin's western mini-series 'Into the West' and last but not least (and just in time for Haloween) is Christopher Lee's "Dracula A.D. 1972". Take a look! [More]

Ringer Celebriel reports on the Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild's special event, An Evening in Rivendell: A secluded lodge in the Oakland hills was transformed Saturday evening into Elrond’s hall, surrounded by woods, lit by candles, and warmed by a bright hearth. Seventy two guests attended, most costumed as elves, but men and women of Rohan and Gondor, a handful of hobbits, a Haradrim mumakil driver, and a Ringwraith were also present. [More]

New York, NY - The Collegiate Chorale, led by Robert Bass, opens its 64th season with The Rings: Myth and Music on November 13th at 3 p.m. at Carnegie Hall. Excerpts from Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle, including Die Walkϋre and Götterdämmerung and a suite from Flying Dutchman, and the New York Premiere of Movements I and II “The Fellowship of the Ring” from The Lord of the Rings Symphony by Howard Shore, will be performed. [More]

Go ahead, call him Frodo. Many people on the planet still do. "Oh, it's pretty consistent," Elijah Wood says of being hailed on the street as hobbit Frodo Baggins by "Lord of the Rings" fans. "It doesn't bother me. But it is funny. It's literally everywhere in the world I go." Like on a tiny island in Malaysia, where he was vacationing a few months ago. This Southeast Asian dot on a globe was so small it didn't have a movie theater. "But everybody there knew 'Lord of the Rings,' " Wood says. "It's really amazing." [More]

Janet writes: I just found out that Craig Parker will be doing a stage play Oct. 29 - Nov. 26 at the Derby Playhouse in Derby, England. Here is a synopsis from the Playhouse web site: When soap-star heart-throb Andrew Lomas learns that scriptwriters are planning to write him out of the show he takes the storyline of “Heart of Hearts” into his own hands. A new comedy that looks at the absurdities of life in an Australian soap and the lives and loves of its cast and crew. Wicked humour from down under for everyone who ever loved or hated Aussie soaps. [More]

Roheryn writes: TORN readers may wish to check out two of their favorite LOTR alumni currently appearing in the annual Entertainment Weekly Photo Issue, featuring the year's best celebrity pictures. Portraits of Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortensen grace the gallery this year. [More]

After watching Orlando Bloom on Letterman you can stay up even later and catch Dominic Monaghan on 'The Late Late Show'. Dominic is there to promote his runaway sensation TV show 'Lost', which airs weekly on Wednesday's at 9PM EST. 'The Late Late Show' airs after 'David Letterman' at 12:35AM on CBS.

Orlando Bloom is slated to be a guest on the 'Late Show with David Letterman' tonight. Bloom is there to promote his latest film "Elizabethtown", due out at the end of this week. 'The Late Show' airs on CBS at 11:35PM EST.

From fortune.com: Imagine being a famous director who gets to create elaborate fantasy worlds filled with elves, giant gorillas, and starlets. Now imagine getting a blank check to do so. After Lord of the Rings' 17 Oscars and $3 billion box-office performance, Jackson has more creative control than most directors can even imagine. His remake of King Kong—a project he's been wanting to do since age 13—hits theaters in December, and the trailer already has fans salivating. As if that's not enough: While working on Kong, he had an extreme makeover, losing 70 pounds. He also ditched the oversized specs thanks to laser eye surgery. [2005 Envy List]

Ruthe Stein writes: Toronto -- In my experience, actors who become explosively famous while still in their 20s handle it in one of two ways. Some are extremely arrogant, probably out of insecurity. They frustrate publicists by showing up way late for interviews or disappearing altogether. A certain young star whose celebrity rests on spinning webs is notorious for such bad behavior. The other approach is to show humility, to marvel at how the gods of fame have favored them. Orlando Bloom is tap-dancing through this aw-shucks-why-me routine, sequestered in a hotel room away from his throng of fans, primarily teenage girls. [More]

Weta Digital has bought 250 more blade servers with a total list price of between $2 million and $3 million to complete post-production work on Peter Jackson's King Kong, due out in January. The IBM Xeon blade servers, each with two 3.4 gigahertz processors and 8 gigabytes of memory, are housed at the New Zealand Supercomputing Centre in central Wellington. They have been added to the centre's existing bank of 1144 Intel 2.8GHz processors, boosting its power by 50 per cent to create a supercomputer with the equivalent power of nearly 15,000 PCs. [More]

Kendra writes: The Greater (San Francisco) Bay Area Costumers Guild (GBACG) is pleased to invite you to spend an evening in Elrond's hall at:

THE LORD OF THE RINGS FEAST
Saturday, 8 October 2005
7pm - Midnight
Sequoia Lodge, Oakland Hills
http://www.gbacg.org/lotr.htm

Elves, hobbits, dwarves, men, ents, wizards -- and yes, even orcs -- are invited to join us for an evening of feasting, music, dancing, and the magical words of Tolkien. Our location is a beautiful redwood hall surrounded by trees in the hills of Oakland (Rivendell for our purposes). [More]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Landing a blockbuster is every actor's dream. Especially when an actor hasn't established himself as a marquee movie star. But like many things in Hollywood, one person's opportunity is another's downfall. Take the stars of the Oscar-winning global blockbuster trilogy "The Lord of the Rings," several of whom boast new fall movies. Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) is earning critical raves for his role as a family man with a violent past in David Cronenberg's smart-house draw, "A History of Violence." Elijah Wood (Frodo) embraces his quirky side in Liev Schreiber's Ukrainian odyssey, "Everything Is Illuminated." Orlando Bloom (Legolas) goes mainstream as Kirsten Dunst's love interest in Cameron Crowe's darkly romantic comedy "Elizabethtown," which opens October 14. And Andy Serkis (Gollum) squeezes back into his white-dotted blue body suit in order to perform the title role in Peter Jackson's remake of "King Kong," which hits screens worldwide December 14. [More]

Mafgrl writes: Last night at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Downtown Los Angeles a very unique and inspiring event took place. Entitled "Voices of a People's History of the United States", the event sampled speeches, letters and more by the likes of Susan B. Anthony, abolishionist John Brown, Mark Twain and Cindy Sheehan. These excerpts read by many of Hollywood's great actors and political advocates, including Viggo Mortensen. [More]

Tom writes: There is a special on the food network (Channel 231 on directv) about Paula Deens part in Elizabethtown and if the commercials are any indication Orlando Bloom will be in several parts of the show. It airs this saturday Oct 8th at 9:00pm Eastern and will be repeated on Sunday at 1:00am, it also airs 2 more times later in the month.

Dominic Monaghan will be on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' tonight at 11:35PM. He is most likely there to promote his show 'Lost', you may have heard about it, the TV sensation of last season? 'The Tonight Show' airs on NBC at 11:35PM...stay up late and watch!

Were Legolas, Gimli, Merry and Pippin essential to the quest?

This is the question we will be posing in the Hall of Fire this weekend.

Gimli, the stought-hearted dwarf of Erebor. What is the sum of his contribution to the quest? Is it any more than being Legolas's passenger on the back of Hasufel and helping Gandalf thread a path through the dark depths of Moria? [More]