Osse from tolkien.cyberdusk.pl, writes: There is update on Adam Klein opera "Leithian" website. [adamcjklein.us]

There is cast photo, where we can see almost all artists taking part in performance - here.

Next novelty is the opera programme in html version, where is a lot informartion about opera and each artist with small photo. There is also a small interview with Adam Klein, the opera's composer. [More]

Hollywood star Sir Ian McKellen has confessed he wasn't too happy with the script of Ricky Gervais' Extras. The Lord Of The Rings legend will make an appearance in a forthcoming episode of the acclaimed series. He plays himself in the funnyman's show, which is well-known for parodying the diva-like behaviour of celebrities. In the past, Extras has featured Samuel L Jackson, Kate Winslet and Ben Stiller. [More]

Summer swashbuckling movie Pirates Of The Caribbean and its stars lead the winners at Sunday night's Teen Choice Awards in Hollywood. Sequel Dead Man's Chest scooped the Action Adventure and Summer Movie awards, Johnny Depp won best Comedy Actor, Orlando Bloom won Male Hottie of the year and Bloom's onscreen battle with Jack Davenport won best Rumble. [More]

Udi writes: On 24th of August, the second annual Mythopia Convention will take place in Tel-Aviv, Israel. This convention is jointly organized by, the Israeli Tolkien Society, The Israeli His Dark Materials community and the Harry Potter for grownups community. [More]

Our pal Bruce Hopkins writes: Michael, I am sending this link to a blog I have started writing. I am going to keep a posting going on my version of whats happening here in NZ with the film industry etc. If you were able to let people know they can check it out that would be great! [More]

Penny writes: I am an admin at the Billy Boyd Board and I wanted to let you know that we are putting a pair of pink knickers like the pair Billy Boyd wore in On a Clear Day up for bid on Ebay. I had him sign the knickers at ELF a few weeks ago and gave him a gift for his son, a grove of trees in the Scottish Highlands in his son's name. [More]

A ton of interesting new films are out on DVD this week. Take an early look on our 'DVD Tuesday' feature...every Monday! Check out some TV goodies like 'House: Season 2', 'Invasion' and 'Threshold' Series on DVD. New movies out are 'Poseidon', 'Just My Luck' & the classic 'The Wicker Man' [More]

Tim writes: This was it. All the sweat, toil, and (minimal) bloodshed over the last several years came to fruition as Richardson Productions held its world premiere and multiple screenings of the epic parody "The Dork of the Rings" at GenCon '06, the country's largest gaming convention with fantasy and sci-fi geeks from around the world in attendance. [More]

Today is Alan Lee's Birthday! Alan was born on August 20th, 1947 in London, England. That makes him 59 years old today, happy birthday Alan!

Today is John Noble's Birthday! John was born on August 20th, 1948 in Port Pirie, South Australia. That makes him 58 years old today! Happy Birthday John!

Parallel writes: I am a journalist working in the Toronto area. I had arranged to have an interview with Billy Boyd before his upcoming apperance here on the September 1st Labour Day weekend, but was told two days ago that he's had to drop out of the show. Not sure if it's a personal or professional committment. Too bad, I was looking forward to speaking with him.

Xoanon here, the news has been confirmed on the Con's website. [More]

Melissa writes: This editorial is really only tangentially related to "Lord of the Rings," but I simply had to share it. It's a quite touching account of a teenage boy who's recently announced he's homosexual. Naturally, Sir Ian McKellen is mentioned because of his positive impact on the perception of homosexuality in the modern day. It's just... the nature of the mention that had me in stitches. To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of Sir Ian's death have been greatly exaggerated. [More]

The city of Aachen will swell with the music from Lord of the Rings tonight (August 18th). Sinfonieorchester Aachen will be performing the LOTR score in Germany. Follow this link for more dates and cities! [More]

Matt from Topps writes: We have several cool components to the LOTR Masterpieces set, an all artwork LOTR set, that we think people should hear about. [More]

Rumors about Peter Jackson directing Jakie Chan and Jet Li in a new movie are absolutely untrue. Sources close to the Jackson camp confirmed this earlier today. According to various websites Jackson has been signed to direct an untitled new film, which would star Li as the villain, and Chan as the hero.Chan recently spoke about the ambitious, high-action film, stating it "will be more American-style. It will be more suited to foreign audiences than Chinese audiences". Again, all of this is not true

Due to popular demand, we have a few more props from Cassie Claire's delightfully naughty “Very Secret Diaries” segment as seen in the award-winning film RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS. Using Fisher-Price toys and Toy Biz Action Figures, we created a mini set to indulge our favorite Fellowship spoof! Check out these authentic toys and props now offered on eBay! Own a fun little piece of indie film history and win a FREE BONUS AUTOGRAPHED POSTER! Check out the sequence from the film (Quicktime required) and throw down your bids! [More]

Andrew writes: This summer, I attended "The Gathering of the Fellowship" in Toronto, Canada. I have to say it was amazing. The following recolections were written from my Hotel room. I started writing them as soon as I got back to the room over the next 2 nights in order to get everything I wanted in, before I forgot. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! [More]

Ashlee & Rachel Scott write: GenCon has come to a close once again, but what a wonderful weekend it was! I don't think anyone attending had time to sleep! The biggest problem with GenCon is there just aren't enough hours in the day to do all they have in store for you there! Gaming, RPG, LARP, TCG, tournaments, art shows, celebrity guests, comics, Star Wars, LOTR, musical guests, 24 hours of films from "Aliens" to "Princess Bride" plus an amazing Film Festival where fans showcase their own work in several categories from short films to full length features! Not to mention vendors galore and tons of free goodies!! [More]

Liana writes: It was another wonderful weekend with LOTR fans at ELF II. We arrived the night before from London and enjoyed a night on the town in New York City. What a marvelous city! This was my first convention and my two friends and I were anxious for the next day to begin. [More]

Pauline writes: This is from an interview with James Cameron in the September issue of Empire (UK): Added good news for film fans is that a process called dimensionalisation enables classics to be re-released in 3-D, starting with The Nightmare Before Christmas in December. "Peter Jackson is a 3-D freak like me and he's been experimenting with footage from King Kong. He and I also talked about the feasibility of doing the three LOTR films" revealed Cameron.

It also mentions that this will NOT only be in Imax Cinemas.

Gordon writes: Just a reminder Te Papa's "Lord of The Rings exhibition" closes this week! Sunday 20th August!. It is well worth a visit! I went to have a look last week and it was excellent! Now including Return of The King, the exhibition is larger then the last time! with several new unseen items. This is your last chance to go and see this excellent exhibition! [More]

Xoanon here, I was lucky enough to attend the grand opening of the exhibit in April in Wellington, New Zealand. Take a look at my review here! [More]

Ringer Spy Wyvern sends this along: The 64th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) will be held 23-27 August 2006 (Wednesday through Sunday) at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. For a complete listing of events check out. [More]

Lord of the Rings-related programming includes:

The Prancing Pony Players are scheduled to perform on Friday, 8/25 at 3:00 pm and Sunday, 8/27 at 11:00 am in the "SpacePort Lounge". Who are P3? Visit bucklandblues.com to find out!

Also on display at the con in Hall A of the Anaheim Convention Center will be the puppets from the short fanfilm, Fellowship of the Bags. [More]

LittleRinger writes: I would like to share my memories of ELF with other fans my age and older. I went to my first convention recently. I'm an 11 year-old LOTR fan and went to ELF with my parents (huge LOTR fans). I have grown up with LOTR around me in many ways. On Friday, I enjoyed watching music videos from fans and presentations by John Noble and Daniel Reeve. There were lots of fans in costumes, which I really enjoyed. That night we were treated to a concert by Emerald Rose. I really liked their music! [More]

Torn Staffer Tookish writes: The smartest movie theater in the Southwest, The Loft Cinema, will host a screening of the LOTR trilogy on Saturday, August 26th! Tickets are just $10 and the films begin at high noon. Contact Tookish@theonering.net if you're a local Ringer and want to meet some other Tucson TORnados before the movies get rolling. [More]