Ryan sends along this scan of a 7-Up can with Aragorn on the side. Seems the Men of Middle-earth enjoy their pop but are conscience of the calories...it is after all a 'Diet' 7-Up.

Think you can do better? Send me your '7-Upped Middle-earth' photo and I'll post it! No kidding! Use any one of our 7862 images from our Scrapbook!

eekfrenzy writes: The Galleria-area Best Buy in Houston, Texas will have a TTT Release Party, starting at 10:30 on 8/25/03. The first 150 folks will receive a Lord of the Rings gift bag, and prizes will be given away. One of the prizes includes a life-sized Gollum figure. Other Best Buys may have a release party -- check your local papers!

Kristoffer writes: This article in VG says that Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) and Peter Jackson might show up for an enormous screening of the Return of the King in Oslo Spektrum on the 15th of December where 5000 people will be.

Thanks to everyone who sent in these scans from the German magazine 'Cinema'. There are some great pictures from ROTK and TTT inside, as well as a photo of Orlando Bloom. The articles however are in German! So you may want to skip this one if you don't know the language. [More]

Ringer Spy Metallica Snake sends in this ad from the September 1, 03 People Magazine, the one with a Hollywood Plastic Surgery cover story. Take a look! [More]

TheKnight writes: Anyone in NZ? Anyone in Auckland? Then don't miss Bruce Hopkins (Gamling in TTT & ROTK) in the title role of Macbeth at the Silo Theatre in Lower Greys Avenue. I have seen many Macbeths in my time but this one take the prize for sheer intensity. [More]

This free (non-official) 3D screen saver is inspired by the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The blurbs says that it "displays a load of shiny rings flowing through your screen and displaying pictures from the final part of the LOTR trilogy in hobbit splatteringly nifty 3D graphics!" There's also configuration options so you can customize it to your liking, including a countdown to the release date. Thanks to Ringer Fan Rachel Evenstar for the link. [More]

Ringer Spy FrodoLover sends in this scan from Starweek Magazine. Reviewer Norman Wilner examines the Two Towers as the August 26 theatrical DVD release approaches, postulating it may suffer from a bad case of middle-child syndrome. [More]

Ringer Spy Bellerophon spotted this interesting story over at stuff.co.nz. Tax concessions allowed Hollywood studio New Line Cinema to take $3.5 billion worldwide for the first two films - but New Zealand government papers cast serious doubt over any long-term benefits to the country. [More]

With the Two Towers DVD release fast approaching [or already arrived for lucky people in the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore] we're reposting the selection of images we've scrapbooked across the last week. There are lots of TTT EE and RoTK spoilers here, so you have been warned! [EE Pre-order]

[Group 926] [Group 927] [Group 928]
[Group 929] [Group 930] [Group 931]
[Group 932] [Group 934]

Ringer Spy Metallica Snake send in this scan of an advertisement promoting the release of the theatrical edition of the Two Towers DVD on August 26. [Apparently, someone forgot to tell them it's already out in a lot of places]. Much Aragorny goodness for the Viggophiles out there. [More]

If you happen to own cable and live in Australia, you'll be able to catch Fellowship of the Ring on the TV for the first time tonight at 8.30pm - as long as you subscribe to MovieOne.

Ringer Spy Sherlock spotted this story over on Stuff.co.nz. Apparently a heritage group is unhappy with how some of the refurbishments - particularly the "unnecessary earthquake strengthening", most notably the construction of a concrete floor. But considering the earthquake that occurred in NZ the other day, will anyone listen? [More]

Ahriell writes: I have just come home from the Perrier Comedy Awards in Edinburgh. Flight of the Conchords, Bret McKenzie's (aka Figwit) band have just lost out to Demitri Martin for the main Comedy award at this year's Festival. Bret and Jemaine Clement seemed to take the result extremely well, and after a quick trip today down south to the Leeds Festival in England, they were certainly glad that the pressure is off now. And we have 2 more nights of Festival partying to get through!

Adam writes: I was at the Toronto Comic/Sci-fi expo today and one of the vendors was selling 5 of the 6 ROTK teaser posters (Gollum wasn't there). They were $20 Canadian each or $75 for all 5 of them. I was pretty surprised since New Line's store isn't even shipping them until the 27th. Tomorrow (Sunday the 24th) is the last day.

Mar'a writes: According to the newspaper Clar'n, Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) is coming to Argentina in November: "In the second week of November Viggo Mortensen, one of the leading roles of the saga The Lord of the Rings, will return to Argentina to promote the film release. The actor lived in the country for 11 years, and still maintains our uses and habits. Fan of San Lorenzo and of the asado, Viggo also speaks a perfect Spanish with Argentine accent. Mortensen will arrive a month and a half before the film release because at the end of November he exposes his photographs in New York and during December will be devoted to promote the film in the USA and Europe, with a stop in New Zealand, where the trilogy was shot."

The folks from Perceval Press write: No exhibition is planned for New York--I think they meant New Zealand.

In 1933 the sight of a helpless Fay Wray being carted off by giant chest-beater King Kong just about summed up the plight of women in Hollywood. Seventy years later Lord Of The Rings team Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson have been offered $20mto script and produce a new version. This payout brackets the three with the likes of Spielberg and Cruise, a huge achievement for Boyens and Walsh in the boys' club that is Hollywood. [More]

Elfsheen writes: "The Top Samples List" has ranked the most popular movies, TV-series, etc based on how frequently spoken lines from these sources have been sampled or used in some sort of musical context. Lord of the Ring is at No. 518. [More]

John writes in that Sala Baker (Sauron) will be attending the Chiller Theatre Convention in New Jersey. The Con runs from October 31st through November 2nd. [More]

Leesa writes: Dr Graeme Anthony, sculptor of the hand crafter Tolkein characters, will be at Royal Selangor, Chadstone on Saturday 30th August at 1:30pm. He will demonstrate how each piece has been designed, provide a forum about his work and sign any piece purchased on the day. [More]

Time Warrior writes: Our Sean Astin (Sam) gets more mention in this week's People Magazine about him helping out during last week's NY blackout. [More]

Holly writes: I was recieving on the back loading dock for my store. One of the soda venders arrived and the 7-up 12 packs were emblazoned with the following: "Lord of the Rings -The Two Towers, Own it on DVD&VHS. Look inside for LiquidLoot.com presented by ebay. Collect the points, get Lord of the Rings collectibles. The two liter bottles had the same with the addition of "Log on to www.liquidloot.com for Loyalty Auction details and complete Official Rules. Look behind label for details. On the label is also a sillouette of Gollum, Frodo and Sam.

Ringer Spy Ingrid sends along this scan of the latest issue of Empire Magazine which has this feature on 'The Two Towers' DVD. [More]

So I paid a visit to the local grocery store this morning, and what was in the check-out aisle? The Two Towers on DVD! Reports are coming in from all over the world that the TTT DVD is being released early. Some have even said the release date was pushed up from the 26th to the 22nd. Whether this is something that is officially happening, or just some over over-zealous retailers, Tolkien fans worldwide are the benefactors!

UPDATE: The East Anglian Daily Times has a report on *why* local stores broke the Aug. 26th embargo. Perhaps an explanation for the world-wide phenomena. [More]

Ringer Fan Code_Zer0 spotted this story in the Sydney Morning Herald. As Gollum might say: We wants it, our precious, we wants it so much we pays for it twice! [More]

There's been a bit of a break since the last posted transcript, but here's a new bunch of three to bring everyone up to date. And you can access the entire set via the Barliman archives.
[Lesson 6] [Lesson 7] [Lesson 8]

Greetings, Quickbeam here. This mind-bending contest is sure to challenge all you Ringer fans: the GB4A Cryptic Crossword! Solve the puzzle for a chance at delicious prizes (and bragging rights that you conquered Bill Welden's diabolical grid). Today marks the GREEN BOOKS' 4th Anniversary of exploring the WORDS and WORLDS of J.R.R. Tolkien. Thanks for a wonderful 4 years!

This weekend, Hall of Fire will turn to how Tolkien uses colour as a language to describe the visual and the non-visual in his works, The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings, and if relevant, any other of his works. Many people are drawn to and captivated by Tolkien's attention to detail and wonderfully visual descriptions of dramatic landscapes, but this is by no means the sole attraction of his writing. [More]

Sideshow/Weta has just posted a gorgeous, limited edition, polystone statue of Elrond, Herald of Gilgalad. Depicting Elrond in his role of the Second Age, the statue stands over a foot high and is amazingly detailed. Check it out! [More] [Pre-order]

Before any king can return, New Line Cinema will re-release of the first two "Lord of the Rings" pics worldwide, this time with additional scenes and footage added. [More]

Attention Italian LOTR fans! There will be a screening of 'The Two Towers' in San Nicol� a Tordino (if my rusty Italian serves me correctly). Take a look! [More]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand � The place: Lord Elrond's rarified chambers in the elf oasis known as Rivendell. The mood: Toe-tappingly impatient. The problem: Liv Tyler, she of pointy ears and plump lips, is not to be found. Meanwhile, cast and crew wait in a cavernous soundstage at Stone Street Studio and prepare to shoot more takes for The Return of the King, the hotly anticipated finale of the three-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy, The Lord of the Rings. [More]

Still wavering on the Theatrical DVD? Get your teeth into these reviews - one from IGN and one from DVD Town [IGN] [DVD Town]

Ringer Spy Farhan writes: there is a LoTR roadshow going on from 22-24 August at Suntec City in Singapore. They're going to be releasing LoTR jewellery at this event, and there'll even be a Ringwraith mascot you can take your photo with. [More]

UK, Hong Kong, Singapore ... it's out on store shelves right now! Go hunt around and pick up your copy today! Thanks to the many many people who wrote in.

New Line is rolling out the marketing big guns as the Two Towers theatrical DVD (and VHS) release date rolls up. Specially marked copies will contain an LoTR Adventure Card which entitles you to a whole bunch of neat stuff, including: 'cxhances to download never-seen-before pictures, audio and video, hundreds of dollars of in discounts and savings and a chance to win a trip to NZ'. I'm guessing this offer is only open to US residents [grumble]. [More]

We are receiving reports of a colossal 7.1 magnitude earthquake that has rocked the South Island of New Zealand. The epicenter was 70km off the coast, yet there have been no reports of serious injuries or coastal damage. If PJ is rocking the house with huge Mt. Doom pyrotechnics, he better be careful of starting a chain of quakes! Click here to read more from the NZ Herald.

Just the other day, we revealed that United Cutlery would be releasing a new range of replica weapons and helms in the northern hemisphere Autumn of 2003. A lot of people have written to tell us that Blades by Brown have some cool images of the Legolas and Aragorn knives as well as the Gimli and Elendil helms. No Anduril or Herugrim just yet. Anyway, check them out either there or in our scrapbook! [More]

[Replica Knives] [Replica Helms]

JWB writes: Today (Thursday, August 21st) is Concept artist John Howe's birthday, John was born August 21, 1957. Yesterday (Wednesday, August 22nd) was Concept artist Alan Lee's birthday, Alan was born August 20, 1947. Yesterday was also John Noble's (Denethor) birthday, John was born August 20, 1948.

Badali Jewelry has just received licensing from Tolkien Enterprises to release the 7 Dwarven Rings of Power TM from Tolkien's book series The Lord of The Rings. These are massive rings weighing about 24 grams in sterling silver, and set with 7 different 10mm round faceted gemstones. The rings are engraved with red runes of the ancient Futhark inside and out promising riches and treasure to those who wear them. [More]

Keith from McKellen.com writes: I don't think you've covered these yet. I may try to get shots of some of the other outdoor advertising that's been popping up all over town for the past week. [More]

When Jan Koszler first sees each of the Lord of the Rings films, he cannot keep his eyes on the actors or the scenery. "All I see is the arrows. I've got the whole film to enjoy, as the arrows feature pretty well through the entire film. Even if it's just somebody walking down the street with them on their back. I have to go a second time � usually with my wife � to actually appreciate the movie." [More]

Greetings, Quickbeam here. Enjoy these sweet slices of cake for our GREEN BOOKS 4th Anniversary!

-- Anwyn asks if Tolkien were alive, would he have enjoyed TheOneRing.net or are we just The Deplorable Cultus?
-- Check out 10 fascinating new Questions & Answers including:
* Was Gandalf hired by the Dwarves?
* Was it the Ring's will to be found?
* Did Sauron know they were in Moria?

Tomorrow we launch the CRYPTIC CROSSWORD created by esteemed scholar and Elvish linguist Bill Welden (who worked on the films). Stay tuned for this exclusive GB4A Contest and great prizes!

The official New Line Cinema Shop (LOTRShop.com) is now taking orders for all of The Return of the King teaser posters, featuring Aragorn, Arwen, Gandalf, Gollum, and Frodo. In order to receive the Frodo & Sam poster, you'll need to purchase the complete set. We've compiled a page showcasing each poster and a chance for you to tell us what you think about them. [More]

Kate writes: As well as an outdoors screening of TTT in Mechelen, Belgium, there'll be one in Brussels too, on August 22 (hey, that's my birthday! -leo), at the spectacular Cinquantenaire monument. Tickets are 15 euro per car. [More]

Hollywood, August 20, 2003 � New Line Home Entertainment's special edition of Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring took four of the 15 DVD Awards handed out by host Leonard Maltin at the 6th Annual DVD Awards gala at the Universal City Hilton. [More]

The smoko room is a stage and all the workmen merely players. That's the line Fletcher construction workers Paul Corliss, Piki Emery and Graham Millar recite as they take a break from the Embassy Theatre refurbishment project. [More]

Brandon sends along this picture of Dernhelm in full battle armor and brandishing a sword! Take a look! !!! MAJOR SPOILERS !!! [More]

Roheryn writes: This is a brief run down of the report about the LOTR:TTT DVD release that appeared on E! Live News on Wednesday evening. First, they did a kinda cute tease for the DVD release story by showing a few clips from the film with a voiceover.. [More]

Ringer Spy FAK writes: Thought the TORn readers might be interested in knowing that Flight of the Conchords (featuring Brett McKenzie - aka Figwit) have been nominated for the prestigious Perrier Comedy award at this year's Edinburgh Festival. [More]

Book of World Records that is, not the Dublin drop. Ringer Spy Aniale spotted this very cool story in the September 2003 issue of Nationa Geographic Kids magazine. [More]

Ringer Spy Cadiliniel of Gondor writes that the Radio Times is going LotR crazy this week, mainly because of the FotR premiere on Sky Movies! Additionally, on Channel 4 (UK) Tuesday 26th August at 12.50pm 'Young Winston' is on, featuring Ian Holm as George Buckle. [More]

TheOneRing.net is proud to announce the 2003 Caption Contest! Thanks to Action Figure Xpress, ShopAFX.com we have a slew of the increasingly popular PlayAlongToys' 'Armies of Middle-earth' figures to award to our lucky winners. The contest is simple, just make a caption for the image and send it to us in an email. Don't delay, enter today! [More]

Greetings, Quickbeam here. Welcome to our week-long party for GREEN BOOKS 4th Anniversary! Check out our new features:

-- Go way "Out on a Limb" with me as I explain the connection between ancient Atlantis and Tolkien's mighty N�menor!
-- Any Ringer fans out there dreaming up the perfect Quenya tattoo for your body? Ostadan has "Some Thoughts on Ink" over in the Lore & Letters section.

We are only two days away from our CRYPTIC CROSSWORD CONTEST which will challenge your Tolkien-knowledge like never before. Be here on Friday, Aug. 22 to enter!

Winners of the 6th Annual DVD Awards with Leonard Maltin will be announced sometime today from the Hilton Universal City in Universal City, California. Stay tuned to see if the FOTR DVD wins the Viewers Choice Award! [More]

Well it seems that E! News bumped 1 or 2 LOTR related items that I told you about a few weeks ago. But that doesn't mean I'll ignore them, lets hope they don't bump this piece. E! News Live will have a segment on the TTT DVD Tonight, check your local listings for time and channel.

The noble warrior Strider�s quest to rescue the hobbit Pippin has left film fans on the edge of their seats. The last instalment of the Lord of the Rings saga saw the tall, dark Strider, played by Danish heart-throb Viggo Mortensen, nowhere near finding his stricken friend, played by Scots star Billy Boyd. But now the pair have been reunited in the unlikeliest of places - North Queensferry. [More]

Pre-release sales of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers have broken all records at Amazon. The internet retailer says over 50,000 pre-orders have been taken ahead of the video and DVD's UK release on Tuesday, August 26. Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets was the previous record-holder, with 40,000 pre-orders in April. [More]

WESTWOOD -- The hero plunges into a stream that flows and glows like liquid crystal. His muscular legs drive him through the gleaming water toward the lavish grass on the opposite shore. It's a lovely scene, idyllic and utterly unreal. The wading man creates no wake, no splashes, not even a ripple. Aatish Salvi notes the absence of water turbulence and apologizes for it. His team of software engineers hasn't yet added that feature to the scene. [More]

(Hollywood Reporter) - When it comes to Oscar consideration, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences isn't entertaining any two-for-one offers. The issue arises because this year there will be two "Matrix" movies and, possibly, two "Kill Bill" movies that could all qualify for Academy consideration. [More]

In related news, the Planetary Society will hold a special benefit stage performance next month that will be directed by Picardo, and will star John Rhys-Davies. In Star Trek: Voyager, Rhys-Davies played Leonardo da Vinci, but in this reading he'll be another Renaissance man: Galileo. Titled "An Evening with Galileo and His Daughter," the performance will take place one time only on Monday, September 22, 7:30, at the historic Pasadena Playhouse. [more]

The official Lord of the Rings website (http://www.lordoftherings.net) has posted 5 new Return of the King Teaser posters today. The posters feature Arwen, Gandalf, Gollum, Frodo and Sam. Check them out! We'll have ordering information asap! Minor Spoilers [More]

Update: we've also mirrored these in our own Scrapbook - and don't forget you can already buy the Aragorn one from the New Line Shop! [More]

Early this morning while my head was still deep in my pillows I was quietly listening to the best morning show in the world when 2 names were mentioned that caught my attention. It seems that Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) and Ian McKellen (Gandalf) have been confirmed as guests for the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. [TIFF]

The folks at WETA Digital wrote us regarding this report on Roman Reyes in Dublin: '[Roman is] hardly a "leading designer" for LOTR. He just worked on set doing makeup, possibly came up with a design for one of the orc masks but definitely nothing to do with Gollum.'

Thanks for the correction!

Jesse writes: On August 9th I had the pleasure of seeing FOTR and TTT back to back in our local theater. It went from midnight to 6am with a 15 min. intermission at 3am. Here's a clip from our local paper about it. I had a blast, but I think I'll skip next years triple feature. [More]

Jessie from Chilliwack writes: I saw this in the paper late this evening. Freaked out that I hadn't seen it yet. For a huge "Ringer" this is cool to see that my local paper is getting involved so early. !!Spoiler Images!! [More]

David let me know about this really neat Elvish name generator thingy on chriswetherell.com. Take a look! [More]

From ComputerWorld.co.nz: Weta Digital and Massey University face massive bills from SCO�s attempted imposition of a Linux licensing charge, but neither intends paying � at this stage. [More]

Greetings, Quickbeam here. Our GREEN BOOKS 4th Anniversary continues with amazing new stuff:

-- Special Guest #1: "The Science of Middle-earth." Our ongoing series has the brilliant Olog-hai arguing how FAR the far-seeing eyes of Elves can really see.
-- Special Guest #2: "Power in the Name." Maureen McKittrick Stewart uncovers a beautiful philosophy of life within LOTR. A must read.
-- Tookish's Ticklers has a bevy of raucous humor, riddles, Filk songs, and other naughty bits!

Tolkien fan 'M', from Philadelphia, is happily sitting at home watching The Two Towers on DVD for the second time. No, she didn't purchase a pirated copy or any such nonsense. According to 'M,' "I ordered my Two Towers DVD through Science Fiction Book Club just last month. I had a huge surprise on Aug. 18th. My DVD was waiting for me at home." Some people are just too lucky!

Nick writes: Greetings from the UK and congratulations on a great web site. I thought you might be interested in some auction prices achieved recently by Tolkien's books and letters. Last summer Sotheby's took a bid of �36 000 on a copy of the 1937 first edition of The Hobbit inscribed in October to Tolkien's Aunt Jane... [More]

Ruairif writes: Thought you might like to know - Roman Reyes, one of the Weta Digital guys, is giving a talk in Dublin on Wednesday about Gollum and CGI Effects. [More]

Amir sends along word that the TTT DVD will hit store shelves in Israel on August 26th, much like the rest of the globe.

Cilghal writes: I've been keeping my eye on a few shopping sites that carry the United Cutlery LOTR swords, knives, etc., waiting for Anduril to come out. One of the sites, Clinch Mountain Outfitters, is now offering the following:

Daggers of Legolas (Available 11/1/03)
Strider Sword Scabbard (Available 9/1/03)
Herugrim (Available 11/1/03)
elvin Knife of Strider (Available 9/1/03)
Anduril (Available 10/1/03)
King Elendi Helmet (Their spelling, not mine!) (Available 9/1/03)
Gimli's Helmet (Available 9/1/03)

Unfortunately, they don't as yet have any picture or description of the items, just the price. My guess is, though, that the pictures won't be long in coming - at least for those available the beginning of next month. [More]

John Howe has updated his site with a very cool story about dicovering Tutti Frutti Lord of the Rings Bubble Gum. With Super Toys! He writes that he bought a whole bag (sudden, inexplicable craving for bubble gum, no doubt) and even tried to buy the display box, but alas it wasn't for sale. Read the entire report, and check out the fabulous packaging! [More]

TheArgonath.cc has posted up this amusing Verizon Two Towers DVD Ad. Rather than melting their server, we've mirrored the file ourselves. It's in Windows Media Player format, but is only 900KB in size. [More] [Our Mirror]

Dutch and perhaps even Belgian Lord of the Rings fans should scoot over to Dutch-language communitysite TheFellowship.nl to stay up to date on a very cool marathon-event they are organising over there. The event will take place in December to coincide with the release of The Return of the King. Read all about it here!

If you want to catch an early peek at the Towers theatrical DVD, it seems that HMV might be a good place to go to. A friend of mine [waves to Gir] saw it being played at a HMV store in Brisbane, Australia today. And Ringer Fan Pipuk writes: I was in a HMV store in the UK and noticed that they were playing a copy of The Two Towers over the in-store TV screens. I watched it for about 20 minutes, so I'm sure it wasn't just a batch of preview clips. I spoke to a member of staff who said they had had a delivery over the weekend.

Ringer Fan A~ writes: If you live in the Minneapolis area, the Richfield BestBuy store is having a midnight opening (midnight August 25, I presume) to sell the Two Towers DVD. They are going to have the Nazgul riding around the parking lot during the event. [I hope they do a good job on the costuming. Sounds kinda cool - Dem.]

Cate Blanchett has branched into fashion. Australian news site News.com.au is reporting that the Rings star has landed a six-figure deal to model for New York designer label Donna Karan. [More]

The folks from Serious USA write: Here is an exclusive Gollum CD Card that will be available in the US alone as a giveaway when The Two Towers DVD is purchased from certain San Goody's, Sun Coast + Media Play stores. The card contains; imagery from the film + behind the scenes, a video interview with Andy Serkis who played Gollum, e-mail postcardz, the movie trailer, a screensaver + wallpapers and of course Gollum's biography as well as excerpts from the Howard Shore score. [More]

Irascian writes: Collectormania 4 announced at 7pm their special events. They are having two screenings on the Saturday and Sunday (FOTR & TTT) with cast members having a one hour panel before each screening. Tickets are �20 each and include "exclusive souvenir giveaway". No details on which guests are attending which screening, which is a bit naughty but with numbers limited (last time only 120 tickets were available) and heavy demand because of the presence of Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis, Lawrence Makoare, Sala Baker and Bruce McIntyre. The phones were permanently engaged just after 7pm but they are accepting bookings by email too (although they may have sold out by now). [More]

Tina writes: The theatrical version of TTT will be on sale in Serbia & Montenegro from Aug. 26! Last year both DVDs came out around three weeks later than in most countries and the movie premiered nearly a month later. This bit of news gives hope that the EE DVD and ROTK will also appear earlier.

Albertine writes: Bern, the (small) capital of Switzerland, is currently hosting a medieval week with the Saint- Georges company. Illustrators John Howe (whom I could not speek to as he had gone to town) and Gerry Embleton are there as well. [More]

The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy - The Exhibition has sold more advance tickets than the hugely successful Bond and Star Trek exhibitions put together. The unprecedented demand means that while some tickets will be available at the door when the Science Museum exhibition opens on 16 September, advanced booking is now strongly advised to avoid disappointment. [More]

Looks as though the DVD buffs have started getting review copies of the theatrical Towers DVD. Ian Cox over at electronicreality.co.uk has written up this impressive technical review that gives the Towers theatrical edition a 'thumbs-up' all round. [More] [Pre-Order]

Ringer Fan Meliara writes about a new Duracell commmercial in the USA that plugs the Two Towers theatrical DVD and video release on August 26. [More]

Ringer Fan Robin found this press release describing the ad and the campaign over on Yahoo Finance. [More]

This story from the Sunday Herald mainly discusses how scottish tourism chiefs are trying to use Harry Potter to boost visitor numbers in the Highlands. Right at the end, it makes some comparisons to NZ Tourism's experience with Lord of the Rings. Thanks to Ringer Helen for the link. [More]

Ringer Coal drops us a line with a couple of tidbits about Two Towers promos. He writes: In my local Walmart I saw one giant standup of Aragorn, Gandalf, Frodo, Sam, Merry (I believe) and Boromir. Boromir and Merry had a hole in there heads so you can put your face in and take a picture. Also, I only caught the tailend of it, but there was a commercial promoting the DVD on ESPN. I did not catch the content.

According to IGN Filmforce, Sean Astin may star in the forthcoming film Fantastic Four, based on the comic. IGN requests for confirmation or denial from Marvel Studios went unanswered, and Astin's PR management decined to comment at all. FF is slated for release in December 2004. [More]

Greetings, Quickbeam here. This is a very special time for us at GREEN BOOKS. Four years ago we started an "online magazine" format that quickly became the most talked about, most avidly read Tolkien study group on the Net! The celebration continues every day this week with new features, humor, Q&A, and more.... building up to our big anniversary on Friday.

Be here on August 22nd for our huge CRYPTIC CROSSWORD CONTEST! This devilishly difficult crossword was secretly designed by one of the great Tolkien scholars; and we have wonderful prizes for the winners. More details to come! Join us as we explore the WORDS and WORLDS of Tolkien.