"The rule of no realm is mine, neither of Gondor nor any other, great or small." Gandalf refused to use his power to control the free peoples of Middle Earth, but no race or collection of people can long survive without some means of government or authority, to maintain order, uphold justice and protect the weakest and most helpless members of the society. [More]

There was a media pack out at the animal rescue park yesterday where Narnia's wolves are being kept - TheOneLion.net rounds up the news on that including a video clip online from the Holmes Show. Also, we're starting to get spy reports from people with contacts in the film, so that way we have some news from the sets about the film's progress. [More]

It has the makings of a rollicking script for a Revenge of the Nerds sequel: geeks give themselves cool codenames, create a website for movie spy reports, develop the power to make or break big-budget projects, and then launch careers as scriptwriters. [More]

Lomara writes: Next Thursday, the Arclight cinemas in Hollywood, CA will be having a special screening of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" with a Q&A following with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and actor Elijah Wood. This is the best theatre in Los Angeles, in my opinion. It seems to be sold out! I hope those of you planning to attend already have your tickets! [More]

Ringer Joe writes: The official site for EA's Battle for Middle Earth has just put up two sets of armies profiles: Isengard and Rohan! Now you can see the different types of Uruks, Rohirrim, and more that you'll have in these armies, as well as the different buildings and upgrades they have, and even descriptions of the heroes for these two armies. Very cool stuff! [More]

Kelly writes: David Wenham arrived in Hawaii yesterday to serve as a juror at the The 2004 Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival. David is also conducting a free seminar on Thursday, October 28, 6:00 pm at the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Tickets are free. [More]

Sean Astin will be on the Tony Danza show today (October 22nd) to talk about his new book. Check your local listings. [Tony Danza Show]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ABC on Wednesday ordered nine more episodes each of its darkly comic series "Desperate Housewives" and castaway thriller "Lost," giving an official vote of confidence to two of U.S. television's biggest new hits. "Housewives" and "Lost," averaging nearly 21 million and 17.6 million viewers, respectively, are among the first hour-long series to receive full-season orders from any of the Big Four broadcasters this season. [More]

Enedumiel writes: I thought you might like to know that there will be a Gandalf for President rally this Saturday (Oct 23) in Athens, GA. We will be meeting at 1pm by the arch. [More]

Gressli writes: I just recieved news from Oslo Kinematografer that the night to 6th of November at 12:01am a marathon screening of all three movies will take place at Colosseum THX. One of the worlds larges THX-certificated cinemas. It will cost 100 NOK for all three movies.

Amka writes: In an historical alliance, Hobbits and Elves, Men and Dwarves, Wizards and even Orcs will be combining forces to help the music department of one Jackson Elementary, an inner city school in Salt Lake City, Utah. Said to be of uncommon merit, this program teaches music and violin to every student, regardless of income. [More]

Tauremorna writes: Rhapsody and Christopher Lee will be making a very special appearance on the German MC Chart Show on Pro 7 on Saturday, October 23 at 6:00PM. This is the first interview with Christopher Lee and the band! They will also be performing their new song, Unholy Warcry, so be sure not to miss it!

We are very proud to announce our first guests for the One Ring Celebration. Joining is in Pasadena, CA, in January will be Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Brad Dourif and Bruce Hopkins, along with performances by Emerald Rose and Charles Ross (The One Man Lord of the Rings performer). Tickets should be on sale in the next 24 hours or so. It's going to be a fabulous Friday for LOTR fans. [OneRingCelebration]

The folks from Houghton Mifflin write: To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original U.S. publication of The Fellowship of the Ring on October 21, bookstores around the country will be hosting special LOTR events, including trivia games, costume contests, and other activities. See the complete list of participating stores below. [More]

Just remember to email your report to Xoanon@theonering.net Subject: HoughtonMifflinCONTEST

Actors Len Cariou, Gregory Hines, Ian McKellen, Brian Murray and Estelle Parsons, playwright A.R. Gurney, designer Santo Loquasto and producer Elizabeth Ireland McCann will be inducted into The Theater Hall of Fame on Jan. 24, 2005. The ceremony will take place in the North Rotunda of the Gershwin Theatre. [More]

Lord of the Rings Charity Auction raising money for World Vision Day with help from the film trilogy cast. DME Partnership the producers of the 2005 Lord of the Rings wall calendar "Discover England's Two Towers' have teamed up with the charity SeeAbility (the Royal School for the Blind), to raise money for the charity and increase awareness. [More]

Master Of The Rings UK Lord Of The Rings Convention is this coming weekend, 23rd & 24th October in Manchester UK. There is a great line up, talks on stage, parties, costume competitions and a whole load more! [More]

Estel_MM writes: Tomorrow (Oct. 21st) there will be a Celebrity Waiters Luncheon at The Toronto Marriott Eaton Center. My mother is going to this event and she confirmed that there will be a LOTR sword and poster signed by the cast. The auction items are not on the site though. [More]

Sideshow Collectibles has posted their finalists in the first annual Sideshow Collectibles Film Festival. There are a lot of Lord of the Rings related entries, so get over there and vote for your choice. The winner walks away with an Artist Proof original Balrog! [Click Here]

MR writes: The "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy (specifically the moment in ROTK when Aragorn and the congregation bow to the Hobbits) was #41 on E! Entertainments "101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment."

Today is Viggo Mortensen's birthday! Viggo was born on October 20th, 1958 in Manhattan, New York. That makes him 46 today! Happy Birthday Viggo!

If you're looking for an enriching and restful weekend in the company of seekers and Christians of many traditions who share an interest in the life and legacy of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, this is the conference for you. In the intimate woodland setting of Camp Allen Retreat and Conference Center, learn more about how Lewis and Tolkien wrestled with their times and ultimately created great works of fiction, apologetics, and other writings on spirituality that continue to speak to us today in wonderful and winsome ways. [More]

Liane writes: I'm a journalist (I've written for Entertainment Weekly, the LA Times, etc.) currently writing a book about the influence of pop culture on our lives, and I'm hoping to interview a LOTR fan, preferably one located in or around Los Angeles. [More]

This week on DVD Tuesday we present you two David Wenham films, 'Van Helsing' & 'After the Deluge'. Helsing primarily stars Hugh Jackman as the legenday monster hunter, Wenham plays Carl, Helsing's version of 'Q' from the Bond films. [Van Helsing Widescreen Edition] [Van Helsing Fullscreen Edition]

Also be sure to check out After the Deluge starring LOTR alums David Wenham and Hugo Weaving. The drama follows the stories of the four men of the Kirby family. [After the Deluge on Amazon.com]

Ringer Spy Emma sends along images of Christopher Lee who recently attended the London premiere of 'Finding Neverland'. [More]

The fifth Northwest RingCon will be held October 29th through 31st at the SeaTac Doubletree Hotel in Seattle. Lord of the Rings enthusiasts and fantasy lovers of all ages can experience a weekend of music, dance, costume-making, and fun, all in the context of the Middle Earth universe. [More]

Shana: I attended a Film Score Monthly Magazine forum on LOTR music when I was in Chicago for the Howard Shore concert October 9. The guy leading this was Doug Adams, who is writing a book on the music of LOTR. He had a proof copy of the book to pass around, and some great details to share, so I thought ya'll may be interested in this report that I did to post on Main on the message boards. [More]

Byrd writes: The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) Daily Poll for today (October 19th) askes which of the Trilogies that have movies in their "Top 250 Movies" list is the Best. LOTR is leading with 41.5% as of 9:30 AM Eastern Time. You have to sign up to vote, but it's free. [More]

You can catch the fist ten minutes of National Treasure on AOL Moviefone today. The film stars Sean Bean among others, seems like mix of 'The Rock' and 'Tomb Raider', it is due out on November 25th. [More]

From: DarkHorizons (via USA Today) The Oscars are about four months away, yet already there's a lot of talk about which films will be viable contenders. Now, USA Today scribe Scott Bowles is the first major critic to voice his early picks for which movies, actors and directors he thinks will be the front runners for the big awards shows:

BEST ACTRESS:
Annette Bening ("Being Julia"), Imelda Staunton ("Vera Drake"), Audrey Tautou ("A Very Long Engagement"), Julia Roberts ("Closer"), Kate Winslet ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"), Cate Blanchett ("The Life Aquatic")

Today is Howard Shore's Birthday! Howard was born on October 18th, 1946 in Toronto, Canada. That makes him 58 today! Happy Birthday Howard!

Premiere Magazine Features Viggo's Photos

Ringer Spy Roheryn sends along these scans from the latest issue of Premiere Magazine. It features some great candid images from behind-the-scenes of LOTR, all taken by photograhper extraordinaire Viggo Mortensen. [More]

Emma, PippinSkywalker, bluelily17 & Naomi all send along great images and reports from various Sean Astin booksigning events in the north east last week. Take a look! [More]

The folks behind Ring*Con 2004 found a very good replacement for John Noble (who had to cancel due to filming commitments): none other then Bernard Hill! So far people from over 25 countries have signed up to attend the convention in Bonn, Germany so if you haven't already, are in the neighbourhood and don't have anything else to do Halloween-weekend come join us! [Ring*Con.de]

Kiwi Ringers might want to check out Bruce Hopkins and Cameron Rhodes in the upcoming stageplay 'A Christmas Carol'. The show, directed by Jennifer Ward-Leland, will run from November 11th till December 12th at the Skycity Theatre in Auckland! [More]

Mazzic writes: I visited the New Starcon II in Tilburg, the Netherlands earlier today. The only Lord of the Rings actor was Lawrence Makoare. He is truly a nice lad who enjoys talking to his fans and giving information on his acting performances and costume experiences. That is when I discovered this picture where... !!! EE SPOILERS !!! [More]

Composer Howard Shore thinks it�s great that his prodigious, two-hour �Lord of the Rings Symphony� is being performed in live concerts, like the one Saturday at the Fox Theatre with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, all over the world. But just as marvelous, he says, is the way his music, which requires boy and girl choristers, has suddenly made it �hip� (his word) for adolescent and teenage boys to participate in choirs. [More]

Tolkien 2004 Latinamerican & International Con Pics

The folks from Asociaci�n Tolkien write: Attached you will find some photographs taken during the Asociaci�n Tolkien Argentina's Annual Convention, dubbed Tolkien 2004 Latinamerican & International, which took place on October 9th and 10th in Centro Cultural General San Martin in downtown Buenos Aires. It was indeed quite a wonderful and busy weekend both for the ATA members in attendance and event organization and for the general public. The Convention was functional for a total of 20 plus hours during the weekend and this year we received many members from several Latin American Societies and international visitors, from Brazil, Uruguay, Per�, Germany among others. [More]

JovialNazgul writes: I went to see Sean Astin yesterday at the Museum of Science and since he could sign a copy of his book and one other item I had him sign my TORn shirt. I guess he hadn't seen one before because he read it out loud and said it was awesome. Here's a pic of it and a close up of the signature. [Images] [More TORN Shirts]

You can also read HobbitHearted's report from the same event. [More]

October 21, 2004, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first U.S. publication of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic The Lord of the Rings. It has been called the greatest book of the twentieth century, an unforgettable adventure story that has captivated nearly 100 million American readers since it was first published in 1954, and continues to find new readers every day.

To that end we are trying to organize as many people as we can to dress up in full LOTR costumes and head over to 'The Today Show' studios and attend a screening of the show! If enough people gather together in costumes, it will certainly get the news across that we are celebrating! Think of this as a 'Geek Flashmob'! [Join the Group!]

Lord of the Rings star Christopher Lee has defended Lauren Bacall's criticism of Nicole Kidman. Veteran actress Bacall shocked film fans last month when she claimed that Nicole Kidman was not a legend...82-year-old Lee is quoted by Female First as saying, "Lauren Bacall was absolutely right. She wasn't saying it personally against Nicole Kidman. But to be a legend you've got be dead or excessively old." [More]

Lord Of The Rings director and multi-millionaire Peter Jackson is creating a $4.5-million wonderland at his Wairarapa, New Zealand property. He is plans to build a 22 million-litre ornamental lake to go along with the three-storey fairytale mansion, two villas and Lord Of The Rings set pieces, including Frodo's home � Bag End, which are already on the property. [More]

Vicki Shane writes: Here is a link to an interview I did a couple of months ago with Jim Rygiel, Visual Effects Supervisor and three time Academy Award winner from the LOR film trilogy. Jim is a very down to earth man with a great sense of humor and it was a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to chat with him about the films and his work. [More]

Thorongil writes: About 400-500 fans packed the Book Revue on Long Island last night to meet Sean Astin and get a signed copy of his new book "There and Back Again". What the people received was more then they could of hoped for. After some of the crowd had been for waiting hours, Sean showed up fresh from a taping of the Bill O'Reilly show. The crowd of people cheered and went wild as Sean made his way through the crowd and he met up with one of his former professors who obviously had a positive influence on Sean as they embraced like old friends. [More]