Andrew Grams was relaxing over a beer. He was taking a break from an eight-concert tour of Germany, where he was conducting a symphonic version of "Lord of the Rings" music. His phone rang. Suddenly he had a new engagement a mere week away: two concerts with the Charlotte Symphony. When you're an ambitious 29-year-old conductor, you're flexible. Tonight and Saturday, Grams fills in for the Charlotte Symphony's Christof Perick, who bowed out because of an illness in his family. There's more at stake than concerts. Perick steps down as the orchestra's music director in 2009, and Grams' visit adds him to the mix of potential successors. Four candidates will lead concerts next season, and others will follow. [More]

For a fictional world boasting ten kingdoms, endless mountain ranges and an enchanted forest or two, Middle Earth is hot, dark and surprisingly cramped. There's an ashen-faced Gandalf, a grumpy-looking Saruman and a balding Aragorn busy exchanging flirty glances with a gorgeous Arwen. Four fat hobbits adjust their false bottoms and make puerile jokes. [More]

Dave from gamerzines.com writes: When we did a preview of LOTRO in issue 2 of PCGZine, you were good enough to link to it. Issue 5 of the free PC game mag is out for download now and has our review of the final game. [More]

Game makers Turbine and Midway have brought the Lord of the Rings series of novels to the world of massively-multiplayer online gaming. "Lord of the Rings Online" allows players to create their own characters and take part in adventurous quests throughout Middle-earth. The game also includes social networking and wiki elements. Lord of the Rings (LoTR) fans now have the opportunity to cast themselves as their favorite Hobbit, Elf, Dwarf or Man. Game software makers Turbine and Midway announced Tuesday the release of "The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (LoTRO)." The game is the first massively-multiplayer online (MMO) game based on J.R.R. Tolkien's popular trilogy set in the mythical realm Middle-earth. "The release of "The Lord of the Rings Online" marks a momentous occasion for MMO gamers and Tolkien fans around the world," said Jeff Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine. "Countless adventures await gamers eager to experience Middle-earth in an entirely new way and we're confident that once they've visited this epic world, they'll never want to leave." [More]

Guard of the Citadel writes: Here is a message from Blanco (Shadowfax's owner): Our next appearance will be at the Can-Am Emporium East in Nova Scotia, Canada from May 25-27. Please tell the Ringers to come out and see us. We will have our new training video and lots of souvenir merchandise will be available for purchase, as well as the opportunity to have a professional picture taken next to him! [More]

Jackson's Short Film 'CROSSING THE LINE' Stills

DANE sends along 3 more images from Peter Jackson's short 'Crossing the Line', which started life out as test footage for a new camera Peter was offered to play with. Take a look at the rest of the images here. [More]

Meanwhile, Ringer Spy Taniwha writes: There is a 30s clip (and the full credits) for 'Crossing The Line' at reduser.net, it is a 93MB download for thirty seconds of action, though!

BOSTON, MA - Plenty has been said on TheOneRing about the new online Middle-earth game, "The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadow of Angmar". It is a business story, a pop-culture story, a gaming story and an adaptation story. Finally at the dawn of the game's hard release date, it is about time for a real review of the game. So here you go. [Read Full Review]

Brought to life on film, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy ruled in theaters and on DVD. Now the classic tale of hobbits, dwarves, elves, men and magic moves into the world of online role-playing. Fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons owe a debt to Tolkien's intricate world. With today's arrival of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, gamers can finally play their own role in a game based on Tolkien's work. [More]

WESTWOOD, MA and CHICAGO, IL – April 24, 2007 -- Turbine, Inc. and Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY) announced today that The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ is now available for purchase across North America. The game is the first and only massively-multiplayer online game based on the Books of J.R.R. Tolkien. In development for over four years, the game opens up the mystical world of Middle-earth and creates the opportunity for endless adventure. [More]

Peter Jackson was offered to shoot 4K footage for RED to use at NAB 2007. What started out as a test session quickly turned into a movie. Peter and his team shot RED Alpha prototypes, "Boris" and "Natasha", for 2 days in New Zealand just two weeks before the opening of NAB. All footage was shot using RED's proprietary REDCODE RAW 4K codec and recorded to RED DRIVES. Click on the image above for 2 more cool pics! And cmon RED...lets put up the whole film for the fans!

From the website: Explore Tolkien's Middle-earth in a 10-week on-line course hosted by the Centre for Lifelong Learning at Cardiff University. The course will examine Tolkien's awareness of northern European mythologies and languages as well as other aspects of his scholarly background, by concentrating on The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. [More]

Take an early look on our 'DVD Tuesday' feature...every Monday! Check out some TV on DVD goodies like 'Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series', 'WKRP in Cincinnati - S1' & 'The Odd Couple - S1'. There are a few compilations out tomorrow including; 'Biography: Mafia Legends' & 'David Bowie: Spiders from Mars Interviews'. The big releases of the week are 'Deja Vu', 'Night at the Museum' & 'The Queen'. Personally I'm interested in 'Ultimate Avengers Collection' & 'John Cleese Comedy Collection'! Check out the whole list here! [More]

Congratulations to discussion board member paleostone who won the drawing for the "Premium Format" Frodo from Sideshow Collectibles just for posting on the discussion boards!! Member Lurking Girl won the second prize of a Battle of Helm's Deep set by Play Along. If you haven't joined us yet, there's plenty of discussion of the new Children of Hurin book to be found (as well as an upcoming chapter-by-chapter discussion), and many other fun topics and great people! So go to the Login page and sign up. See you there!

Gloria writes: Join Into The West, Lord of the Rings Fellowship of Utah for Tolkien Festival 2007 at the University of Utah Union Building this Saturday, April 28th from 10 to midnight. Pre-registration for this event begins at 8 am the day of event. Noted internationally known professor Dr. Paul Nolan Hyde, keynote speaker, will speak on "The Tapestry of Middle-earth." Dr. Michael Collings will discuss "Names and Naming, the origins of Tolkien's Works," and Dr. Stephen Fullmer will present "Women in Middle-earth." Other classes include Elven language, Dance of Middle-earth, Astronomy of Middle-earth, Tengwar, Live Action Roll Play, Costuming, and Prosthetics as well as a Vendor room, Silent Auction table with items such as a Lord of the Rings Symphony signed copy sheet by Howard Shore, Sideshow Weta Statues, Live Theatre Tickets, Dinner certificates, Spa Treatments, Ballet West signature items and much more. There is also an Art Room where patrons may view fantasy art by noted artists. The evening will end with a dance, live band and costume contest with prizes. [More]

Barry writes: Here is a scan from Entertainment Weekly reviewing The Children of Hurin, the review is very negative. Read the scan and save your money to help buy a copy of the book instead. Talk about a reporter missing the boat - Jeff Giles misses by a mile. [More]

Be sure to check out our weekly Sideshow Collectibles update! Each week we provide an update on your favorite Sideshow goodies, from busts to premium figures and more! Take a look! [More]

NEW YORK – Dimitri Bannikov traveled from Russia to be first in line at the New York City Barnes & Noble where copies of “The Children of Hurin” autographed by Christopher Tolkien and Alan Lee went on sale. Read more here.

To celebrate the launch of The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ Turbine has partnered with GameStop to host “Midnight Madness” launch events across the United States.

Fans will be lining up to be among the first to pick-up a copy of the game, meet members of the development team, and have a chance to win signed posters, pre-paid game cards and exclusive event t-shirts. In addition, special prizes will be awarded at each location to the three players who wear the best “The Lord of the Rings” themed costumes. [More]

"Maps: Finding Our Place in the World" will feature more than 130 famous or prized maps. Organizers, who will officially announce the show Friday, are billing it as the most ambitious cartography exhibit ever in North America. Pieces confirmed for display include a 3,500-year-old clay tablet detailing walls, gates and palaces in the town of Nippur in what is now Iraq; three drawings by Leonardo da Vinci rarely lent from the English royal collection; the map Charles Lindbergh carried with him on his history-making flight from New York to Paris; and drawings by author J.R.R. Tolkien of his fictional Middle-earth. [More]

An English photographer is holding the first ever exhibition of digital imaging at a childhood haunt of author J.R.R. Tolkien in Hall Green, Birmingham, England. Sarehole Mill, the last functioning watermill in Birmingham, is now a museum and place of international pilgrimage for fans of 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings', and hosts the annual Tolkien Weekend (next on 19-20 May, 2007) Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien lived nearby as a child, and often visited the Mill, which features in his all-time bestselling fantasy books as 'The Old Mill' at Hobbiton, the home town of hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. He also explored nearby Moseley Bog nature reserve and later lived near 'The Two Towers' in Edgbaston. [More]

Draug the Unspeakably Violent points out on our message boards found here, that "The Children of Hurin" has humbled a certain boy wizard by knocking him from the top spot on a bestseller's list. Seems J.R.R. Tolkien is still a wee bit popular. The story can be found here. And of you can join the fray and buy the new Tolkien book here.

David writes: If you are quick, you can hear a fascinating interview with Adam Tolkien on his father and the Children of Hurin on the website of "Today" the BBC's most influential radio programme. You have to be quick because they tend to put the material on their site only until the following day. [More]

Philip writes: I haven't seen this posted yet on theonering.net, but the Tolkien Estate website, which for a long time has just been a single "under construction" page with some basic information about The Children of Hurin, has been updated. It's definitely still a work in progress, but there's an interesting FAQ section and some other stuff that's been added. [More]

Today is Andy Serkis' Birthday! Andy was born on April 20, 1964, in Ruislip Manor, West London. That makes him 43 today! Happy Birthday Andy!

TheOneRing.net would like to thank Houghton Mifflin for their extremely generous donation of prizes for our Children of Húrin Giveaway. The day has arrived for the winners to be announced! To find out who the lucky seven winners are, please follow the link to our giveaway webpage. Winneres have until Monday, April 23rd to claim their prize. And don't forget to support our sponsors! [Giveaway Winners]