Balin with Tehanu

With sadness TheOneRing.net announces today the passing of staff member, friend and Tolkien fan 'Balin'. He was a fixture on the TORn chat room (Barliman's) where he made many virtual friends that became close personal friends from around the globe.

Balin moderated Barliman's with wit and humor and his good nature and knowledge on a wide range of topics that will be missed. He also was instrumental for TORn in establishing the scholarly track at the ORC and ELF events and helped to bridge the gap between scholars and Lord of the Ring movie fans.

Most of all Balin will be missed by friends and family for the wise, humourous and thoughtful person that he was. Private services will be held for his family.

Balin's family had this to say to his closest friends and TORn staff: "We want to thank everyone for all the kind words and support you have given us. Balin thrived on the camaraderie and friendship he found in all of you, and we thank you for all the care, love, and friendship you have given him and us."

The death followed a long illness in which Balin stayed active and enjoyed his family and friends with vigor and joy. He was a TORn regular at conventions and gatherings, making many friends and closing many bars.

TheOneRing.net extends its deepest sympathies to Balin's family, now also friends of the Tolkien community. We loved your father and husband and will cherish our memories of him.

Add your comments to the condolences thread on TheOneRing.net message board here.

Friends of Balin's are gathering in the site's chat room to share their memories.

Do you have a photograph with Balin? We are collecting images to post into a special scrapbook gallery devoted to his memory. Please email them to spymaster@theonering.net.

In lieu of flowers, Balin's family are suggesting donations in his memory to the Joliet Area Community Hospice or the Colon Cancer Alliance. If you should choose to donate, please indicate the donation in memory of Gregory Grieman.

From Yahoo!: Actress Liv Tyler poses for photographers during arrivals at the premiere of the film Lonesome Jim, in New York, Tuesday, March 21, 2006. Lonesome Jim is the latest directorial effort by actor and director Steve Buscemi. [More]

TORONTO — Move over, The Lion King. Another epic adaptation is nipping at your heels — one even longer and more commercially extravagant. The Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings franchise is now moving to the stage. It opens Thursday in Toronto. In fact, when the new stage version of The Lord of the Rings opens Thursday at the Princess of Wales Theatre, it will become the most expensive theater project on record, having cost $23.2 million. But veteran producer Kevin Wallace would rather you not focus on the price tag. "I'm skeptical of people being impressed by the money," Wallace says. "It is The Lord of the Rings, which meant that there would have to be a great deal of research and development before we even went into a rehearsal room." [More]

John Howe writes: I think my main reason for working in the movies or for games companies is to get the t-shirts. Happily, I've now managed to eliminate the middle man and make my own, thanks to Spreadshirt. Personal and wearable heraldry, brought to you by john-howe.com! [Shop] [TORN Shop]

Bruce Hopkins writes: I am just wanting to let you know that on my web site there is now a link to a photo gallery of absolutely stunning shots from the theatre show I was in at the recent Wellington International Arts Festival The Holy Sinner. The Holy Sinner had Cliff Curtis (Bringing Out The Dead, Three Kings, Runaway Jury, Blow) in the lead role. Also in the show were Cameron Rhodes (Farmer Maggot), and Ian Hughes who was a featured Gondorian in ROTK. LOTR's Grant Major was the designer of the show. Cheers, and all the best for whatever is going on in your life.

By the way while in Wellington I called in for 5 minutes, as that was all the time I had before having to be at a show, to say hi to Tehanu, Vic James, Suzie Knight and a Red Carpet Tour group, who were having dinner at a nice restaurant up from the Embassy Theatre. It was wonderful to meet another group of LOTR enthusiasts. [More]

We have recently added four new fanfilms for you to enjoy! Take a look at 'The Trouble of the Rings', 'Ring Fiction', 'Orodruin Dogs' and 'Natural Born Orcs'! [TORN Fanfilms]

Based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated stars Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings) as Jonathan Safran Foer, a young Jewish man who wants to learn how his grandfather escaped from the Nazi incursions into Russia. From the U.S., he hires the hip-hop loving Alex (Eugene Hutz, leader of the gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello) and his surly grandfather (Boris Leskin, Men in Black) as tour guides--only to discover, when he arrives in Odessa, that they are perhaps less than dependable. [More]

When Middle Earth comes to a stage in Toronto this week for the world premiere of a musical version of The Lord of the Rings, diehard fans of the trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien could be forgiven for feeling sceptical. It's one thing to turn one of the most popular stories of our time into an epic film. It's quite another to bring it to the stage as a musical - with actors on three storey-tall stilts, an Elvish chorus, a set that morphs from woods to battlements to a volcano and a Gollum who sings. [More]

NEW YORK (AP) -- He's been in the "Matrix" and "Lord of the Rings" trilogies, which grossed a mere $4 billion-plus in worldwide box office. Lines he's uttered infuse the pop-culture lexicon. Yet, he's pulled off being a successful movie actor while remaining relatively anonymous. "Shhh. Shhh," Hugo Weaving hushes, laughing conspiratorially. That's the way he likes it. The 45-year-old Weaving has always maintained that becoming famous or making it big in Hollywood was never a goal. And his career choices bear that out, typically low-budget Australian films. [More]

Today is Lawrence Makoare's birthday! Lawrence was born on March 20th, 1968 in Auckland, New Zealand. That makes him 38 years old today! Happy Birthday Lawrence!

Ashlee & Rachel Scott write: Hi again. We wrote to you a few days ago thanking you for putting fan films online (available here). We've been getting hundreds of requests from schools, teachers, students, friends of friends asking for a copy of our 3 hour full length ROTK parody. People have been coming into work, leaving notes in our mailbox, stopping at our house, following us and doing the same to friends of ours from work. We appreciate their interest and support. But, to be perfectly honest with you, our Mom has ovarian cancer and our family can not afford to duplicate and ship any copies of our ROTK parody to all these people. I hope you understand. [More]

Xoanon here, instead of sending the Scotts money so YOU can get a LOTR DVD, take that same money and use it for a good cause. Please donate to the The National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, I think it is something much more important, don't you? [Donate]

Ringer Spy Lyonkeeper sends along the March 20th, 2006 edition of People Magazine featuring an article on Sean Astin. [More]

At noon, Hugo Weaving slid into the worst table for two in the Odeon, next to the wet coats, and ordered himself a three-egg omelet. He sported a massive beard, close to but far fuller than Trotsky's, really more like Marx's, though not white or quite as bushy. With his jeans and short-sleeve T-shirt over long-sleeve shirt, he looked like a naughty hippie-surfer daddy. The beard also made his Agent Smith face invisible. That suits Weaving — 46 in a few weeks — who on film always is, and always wants to be, something slightly less present than a ghost. [More]

Sean Astin was a guest on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' on Thursday, March 16th. He was there to talk mainly about "24", but they also spoke a bit about his children acting, death scenes and more. Follow the link for a clip! (27.2 MOV) [More]

From fractalmatter.com: V for Vendetta is hitting cinemas. Is this the most serious ‘action’ movie ever made. John Mosby met with two the movie’s stars, Hugo Weaving and Stephen Fry, to talk comics, chaos, characters, and what they thought of the material. [More]

Today is Brad Dourif's birthday! Brad was born on March 18th, 1950 in Huntington, West Virginia. That makes him 56 years old today! Happy Birthday Brad!

This weekend, Hall of Fire will focus on the stewards of Middle-earth. Several characters take up the role as stewards in Tolkien's Middle-earth. Some are obvious - Denethor, Manwe (and, indeed, many other Vala), Theoden and Samwise, for example. [More]

Adrian writes: I was wondering if you could mention in your news section that the film "Guerrilla Distribution" is being made available to download from www.realkong.co.uk. Guerrilla Distribution is a mockumentary about two guerrilla filmmakers who have decided that they are going to rip off Peter Jackson by making King Kong and selling it pretending it to be his version.

Set in the summer of 2005, the documentary crew follow the pair as they desperately try to meet their deadline using every trick they know. Guerrilla Distribution features appearances from Brian Sibley, Ramon Rivero and Sir Ian Mckellen. It is aimed at fans of Peter Jackson, King Kong, and Lord of the Rings and so should be welcomed by those who visit your website. [More]

Billy's Loons Charities is happy to announce our latest auction, of a large Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers Poster. The poster is signed by Billy Boyd, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, and a rare signature of Miranda Otto! All of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Scottish Youth Theatre, www.scottishyouththeatre.org, of which Billy Boyd is a Patron and supporter, and Billys Loons Charities is a sponsor. [More]

Michelle writes: I've been a long time reader of TORn, and I'm currently working with the filmmakers of Sean Astin's latest film, "Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing and Charm School". The website for the movie is www.marilynhotchkissmovie.com. This provides all sorts of information about the film, including the theaters where it will be released in the U.S. on March 31 -- and new theaters keep being added! Also, if you could let people know the correct date of the movie's opening -- it's March 31. Secondly, an L.A. radio station - K-mozart- is running a contest to win tickets to an exclusive screening with the film's composer, Mark Adler. [More]

Ramen, Community Relations Specialist for The Lord of the Rings Online writes: We're in the midst of another action-packed week on the LOTRO community site! Tuesday saw the arrival of our new High-res Screenshot Gallery, full of beautiful desktop-worthy versions of our LOTRO screenshots. [More]

Our traditional Thursday update this week is a nice, meaty Developer Diary from Systems Designer Heather Sinclair talking about the playable classes for LOTRO and the process behind their creation. Hot off the press! [More]

The Starland Sci fi/Fantasy convention has just added Karl Urban to the list of stars lated to attend. [More]

Fresh from his stint on "24" Sean Astin will be a guest on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' tonight on NBC. He will no doubt talk about the events on "24" (highlight to reveal spoilers!) in which his character died a horrible death thanks to a nerve gas attack on CTU headquarters, but not before he managed to save the rest of the team. They may also talk about his latest film 'Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School' which opens on March 24th in limited release. The Tonight Show airs on NBC at 11:35PM EST. Watch this space for a video clip!

Vacaville, CA - Hear ye! Hear ye! On April 21-23, 2006, the second annual Middle Earth Festival will come to life in historic Downtown Vacaville to celebrate author J. R. R. Tolkien and “The Lord of the Rings”. This fun-filled family event includes a fun run and forums on the themes of Tolkien. Saturday and Sunday activities include craft and merchandise vendors, entertainment, and games for the kids, demonstrations of old time skills, music, dance, fantasy and abundant food. [More]

The award winning Lord of the Rings Symphony sounds in Germany. On this years May 28th. the Lord of the Rings Symphony is going to sound in the Kölnarena in Cologne, Germany. This is the opportunity for everyone who would like to experience the musical masterpiece of Howard Shore live. This extraordinary concert event provides a wonderful arrangement of the soundtracks from the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's a symphonical journey through the fantastic world of Tolkien's phantasy-novels. [More]

Garfeimao writes: The Los Angeles Chapter of the JRR Tolkien Society and California State University at Long Beach Proudly Present: Tolkien Reading Day! Featuring: Tolkien Stories, arts and crafts, and free giveaways. Free Parking is available in lots 4 & 7. *Children must be accompanied by an adult*

When: Saturday, March 25, 2006 at 3pm
Where: At CSULB’s Library – 5th floor
1250 Bellflower Blvd. in Long Beach
FREE For Ages 6 and Up
Map: daf.csulb.edu

Dr. Dimitra Fimi writes: Tolkien Online Course at Cardiff University (open to adult learners) running again in May. Due to popular demand, the online Course on Tolkien hosted by Cardiff University during the Autumn and Spring Semesters (October 2005 and February 2006) will be run again later on this semester starting on 1 May. Both students and adult learners can enrol, and explore the rich background of myth, languages and contemporary ideas of Tolkien's creative writing. For more information visit the Course's website. [More]

Michaela Fülöp writes: I would like to offer you an interview I did a few days ago with Bruce Hopkins for FantasyPlanet.cz. As we have it on our website in Czech, of course, I thought it might be nice if people could read it worldwide in English on TORN. I think the interview is very nice, funny and brand new so hopefully you will like it and put it online. [More]

March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Now that the Hobbits have saved Middle Earth in the Academy Award-winning ``The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Canadians are looking to the Little Folk with pointed ears to help revive Toronto's C$4 billion ($3.5 billion) tourism industry. [More]

From AICN: Peter Jackson sent in a video acceptance to receive his Best Film gong at the 2006 Empire Awards and, after the usual pleasantries, Jackson included some never-before-seen footage from the film. There's a blooper reel, Andy Serkis 'original' vision for Kong, lightsaber action (seriously) and a brand new scene constructed especially for Empire that answers the biggest question of the film - how did they get Kong back to the States? [More] [Mirror 1] [Mirror 2] [Mirror 3 (torrent)]

Be wary of this download however, it will take a while, try some of the mirrors. Also, watch the language!

Dominic Monaghan's Golden Globe winning show 'Lost' is on tonight at 9PM EST on ABC. TORN's chatroom now has a special 'Lost' screening room, login to #lost at 9PM and watch with fans from around the country!

Tonight's episode is a repeat from the first season called "House of the Rising Sun": Walt and the others are shocked when Michael is brutally beaten, but only Jin and Sun know the truth about the attack; Kate, Jack, Sawyer and Sayid argue about where the survivors should set up their camp. [ABC.com ] [TORN Chat]