The folks from Billy's Loons Charities write: Billy's Loons Charities is excited to announce our latest auction to benefit The Scottish Youth Theatre, www.scottishyouththeatre.org, where Billy Boyd is a Patron, and Billy's Loons Charities is a sponsor. This auction is an unique set consisting of a large Lord of the Rings poster of Pippin and Merry, signed by Billy Boyd, and an extremely hard to find package of Fangorn Forest Incense, signed by Billy Boyd and Treebeard himself, John Rhys-Davies! Note the message Billy wrote on the incense: "This smells better than Dom". [More]

Many thanks to Billy Boyd and John Rhys-Davies for their autographs, to Alesia and Elisa for the poster and incense and to Auntie Nu for the photographs.

Andrew writes to let us know about "One Morning Long Ago" Art Exhibition at The Redesdale Hall, in Moreton in Marsh Gloucestershire from Saturday 20th May until Tuesday 23rd May.

This features the briliant work of Ted Nasmith and contrasting Styles of Ruth Lacon and both the artists are attending throughout.

This is the largest display of Ted's work and there are visitors booked worldwide with 3-4000 expected over the 4 days. A full programme of events has been arranged including live Tolkien inspired song cycles, readings, educational talks, Tolkien Tour Guide (covering Barrow Downs, Three Farthing Stone, Amon Hen, Bag End, Malvern Hills, St Mary's Immaculate at Warwick, Eagle & Child and other Oxford sites). [More]

The LOTR summer concert series starts off with a weekend event in Denver, Colorado. Markus Huber and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra will be at Boettcher Hall tonight (Friday may 19th), Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are still available! Take a look [TICKETS]

Click here for more info on the LOTR Summer Concert Series 2006. [More]

As you might expect of anything connected to The Lord of the Rings, the numbers behind Howard Shore's score for the Peter Jackson film trilogy are mighty impressive:

• Four months of solid research.
• Nearly four years to compose.
• A total of 11 hours of music.
• More than 50 leitmotifs (individual themes).

"It was pretty daunting at first," Shore admitted of the task. "Writing film scores is always difficult to do - but the funny thing was, I didn't want to stop when it was over."

Shore has since moved on to other projects: He's preparing a staged version of The Fly for L.A. Opera with film director David Cronenberg and author David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly). [More]

Two New Zealand films have been ranked among the top 10 wordwide in terms of 2005 box office revenue. In its annual report on world film market trends released this week Cannes European Cinema ranked The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe seventh and King Kong eighth. Narnia made US$428 ($695) million and King Kong US$388 ($630) million, despite being released only in December. [More]

Ian McKellen and a scary looking Elijah Wood are currently in France promoting movies at the Cannes Film Festival. McKellen, in case you missed it, is there for 'The Da Vinci Code' while Wood is there for 'Paris Je T'aime'. Take a look at a select few photos here. [More]

I know it's a little late for 'DVD Tuesday' but wakerobin let me know what Dominic Monaghan's drama 'Shooting Livien' is now available on DVD. [More]

Dominic Monaghan is slated to be a guest on 'The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson' tonight on CBS. He is there to promote his hit TV show 'Lost', which airs a 2-hour season finale next Wednesday. Watch this space for a clip from the show!

James writes: In video blog 8 of the new movie Hot Fuzz, written and directed and starring the same kick arse team from Shaun Of The Dead, director Edgar Wright feels tired and runs down, so who does he call for help?! Peter Jackson! Ala the Kong and Superman production diaries! Though the phone prove useless as Pete walks into frame! Behold! [More]

From Jane Magazine: Take a behind-the-scene look at the JANE cover shoot with Liv Tyler, and check out her iTunes playlist at iTunes.com. She mentions her favorite Aerosmith and Spacehog songs...so sweet. [More]

Meghan S. Rodberg, Online Community Manager for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar writes: Greetings! We just wanted to send out a reminder that signups for our Beta Program are now open and the contest ends on May 24! Sign up for The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ Beta Program by midnight EST on May 24 to have a chance to win prizes, including $600.00 worth of Logitech® peripherals, LOTRO concept art signed by the artists, and more. Eligible players who sign up for the LOTRO Beta Program are automatically entered into the drawing, so sign up now! To sign up for the Beta Program, click here.

When signing up, players should be sure to include their guild information. The more players from a guild who sign up the better their chances of getting selected for the Beta Program! As always, thanks for your support and a big shout out to everyone who stopped by our booth at E3!

Svenja Meyhack writes: Here is an interview with Caspar Reiff about the 4CD set "Lord Of The Rings - The Complete Songs and Poems". I hope it will be useful to you. [More]

Order "Lord Of The Rings - The Complete Songs and Poems" on Amazon.com today!

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! [ABC.com ] [TORN Chat]

Kate Robinson, Director/Co Producer of 'Born of Hope' writes: I wanted to talk to you about my project Born of Hope. Born of Hope is a Lord of the Rings fan film that I think is like no other. Unlike most fan films it is not a spoof or parody, but a serious drama. A prequel to the Trilogy, it tells the story of Aragorn’s parents and the Dúnedain. Currently the project is already in development and we spent 5 days at the beginning of April shooting test footage and promotional material. I am hoping that a trailer will be up on our website within the next week or so. [More]

KellyofLuthien writes: I just wanted to let you know that Emerald Rose has been listed as a guest band for Dragon*Con 2006, September 1-4 in Atlanta, GA. For more info, check out dragoncon.org

Lady Tinania writes: Last Saturday, myself and my partner attended the 7th annual Tolkien weekend. It is an annual, two day event that takes place in the Shire Country Park, Moseley, Birmingham, run by the Tolkien Society and Birmingham City Council. This year’s theme was “The Shire”, which incorporated the public launch of The Shire Country Park and it’s plans for the future. [More]

Today is Cate Blanchett's birthday! Cate was born Catherine Elise Blanchett on May 14th, 1969 in Melbourne, Australia. That makes her 37 years old today! Happy Birthday Cate!

Prog-rock icons and Middle-earth travelers Glass Hammer have just released their 2nd DVD, “Live At Belmont” – a double-disc 5.1 concert featuring the 150 member Belmont University Choir. The Nashville, Tennessee event was filmed at last year’s “Past Watchful Dragons”, a C. S. Lewis conference which featured Inklings scholars from around the world. At the concert’s emotional crescendo, Glass Hammer has the massive choir singing in Elven, Latin and English – all at once. [More]

Dominic Monaghan was a guest on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' last night (May 12th), he was there to promote 'Lost'. Guest director for the show was 'Lost' creator J.J. Abrams, Dominic goofed on J.J's first film 'Mission Impossible III', saying he was spending a little too much time with Tom Cruise. Dominic showed a few hilarious photos of himself doing very un-hollywood type things. All in all it was a great segment. Take a look! (26MB MOV)[More]

Ian McKellen was a guest on 'Last Call With Carson Daly' earlier this week. Daly, demonstrating his absolute lack of talk show host prowess, fumbles through most of the interview, calling himself a moron (rightly so) at one point. However Sir Ian was as charming as ever. He was there to promote his latest films which are certain to be huge summer blockbusters, 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'X-Men: The Last Stand'. Unfotunately my TV connection did falter at a few points in the video, so it is NOT a computer error. Take a look! (29MB MOV)[More]

LOS ANGELES -- Forget busy summers. Ian McKellen has more big-screen action packed into the month of May than most British stage actors could hope for in a career. In the adaptation of Dan Brown's best seller "The Da Vinci Code," McKellen plays Sir Leigh Teabing, the sinfully wealthy, polio-afflicted aristocrat who joins Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou's characters on their quest for the Holy Grail. A week later, McKellen reprises his role as Magneto, a villainous mutant who uses his ability to control metals to take on his heroic fellow freaks of nature in "X-Men: The Last Stand," the third film in the franchise. [More]

The Gathering of the Fellowship, taking place at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto July 1-4 and celebrating all things Tolkien and C.S.Lewis, has announced that Craig Parker and Kiran Shah will be attending the event. Craig and Kiran join Bruce Hopkins, John Howe, Cliff Broadway and Carlene Cordova (RINGERS), the legendary Ted Nasmith, and many, many more! [More]

Ian Collier from The Tolkien Society writes: This is the seventh Tolkien Weekend event, and the theme for this year's event is “The Shire” is now an annual item in the Birmingham calendar. Sarehole Mill itself was the “original” for the Mill at Bywater in the Shire in The Lord of the Rings and is a central point in the Shire Country Park that covers the River Cole, Chinn Brook, as well as Moseley Bog, the Dell and the Dingles where JRR Tolkien played as a child. [More]

After a long break (I’ve been moving house), Hall of Fire resumes chats this weekend. What’s the topic you ask? Whatever you feel like talking about — bring the topic with you!

That’s right, we’ll be doing a bit of a round-robin Q&A discussion (of a very informal nature), chatting about the Middle-earth questions burning a hole in your brain —— wizards, dwarves, hobbits, elves, rings of power and much more. [More]