· Our friend Rodrigo Costa of Ringzone.Net has coined the word "LoTRmania" to refer to all the attention that fans on the Internet have devoted to Tolkien and the Peter Jackson movies. We're just giving credit where credit is due. Please, Hollywood.com, don't get the impression there is any rivalry or jealousy here....

· All the other Tolkien sites told you about Liv's bare belly in a bar, but did they mention that she attended Peter Jackson's historic Olympic Flame Moment? Oo rah!

· New Zealand film industry watchers are concerned about the quality of their productions in the international market, but hope is held out that Peter Jackson will turn things around. In related news from a couple of weeks ago Jackson's project was given credit for proving that the film industry can be a major economic factor in a small country. Tolkien will have left an indelible mark on New Zealand 30 years after his death.

· Some of the Tolkien sites please fans by relating events which happened in Middle-earth on or about the current day. It doesn't seem anyone is reporting what happened in Tolkien's life. Did you know that in April 1950 Tolkien maneuvered Allen & Unwin into rejecting his proposal to publish both The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion (they wanted only LOTR), so that Tolkien could then turn to Collins, which he hoped would publish both books? But in May Milton Waldman gave Tolkien the crushing news that they would have to cut The Lord of the Rings. In fact, had it not been for his authorly pride, we might have celebrated 50 years of The Lord of the Rings in 2000, rather than waiting until 2003. Meanwhile, in May and June, Allen & Unwin were busy preparing a second edition of The Hobbit about which Tolkien knew nothing....

June 8 news

· Xoanon at TheOneRing.Net posted some scans of an article in Inquest Gamer, and they have an accompanying article on their Web site by John Schmit and Paul Sudlow. Unfortunately, much of the background information they provide is erroneous, and their bibliography lists David Day among the authors whose books they consulted. They also have a Lord of the Rings movie watch section which recaps a lot of well-known facts but provides a couple of small gems.

· Ain't It Cool News is reporting that the famous Gandalf scene filmed at Helm's Deep is being cut from the film because Peter Jackson noticed some "damn fool" put a saddle on Shadowfax. Wonder what he thinks of the guy who came up with plate armor for the Orcs? (It's the journey of the Ringbearers that matters. It's the journey of the Ringbearers that matters.)

· Disclaimer: No salads or sewing machines were harmed in the production of today's roundup report. But we did tweak Peter's beard once again in good old-fashioned Purist fun....

· Looks like Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News has made a few enemies on the Web. Pass the popcorn, please....

June 7 news

· There are two interesting articles you should read. The first is Tehanu's Cond'Or 2000 report (a science fiction convention in New Zealand). Then zip on over to read Tolkien Online's citation of an article about the recent Gollum gaffe at TORN from The Evening Post. Why are these articles important to online fandom? Check out Michael's Suite101 column this Friday, June 9 to find out. That's all we're going to say at this time.

· Actual news about the movies is a little short. There are some pictures on TORN which don't reveal much of anything, there are some citations of articles on Tolkien Online which (except for the above) don't reveal much, there are the usual glimpses of goings on at all the sites which, if you read all the sites regularly, have been covered somewhere on the Web, Sir Ian McKellen is being quoted as saying virtually nothing revealing about the production (which is as it should be -- he is a true professional and hasn't put himself forward as anything other than an actor pursuing his art). Most all the movie sites are now urging people to tip the scales in LOTR's favor in the Cinescape poll. Oh yes, Peter Jackson carried the Olympic Torch (and the buildup to this event was second only to the buildup for the Internet trailer Tol Galen has an MPEG if you're really curious how it went). In short, the LOTR movie news sites are achieving a sort of temporary equilibrium in terms of reporting current news.

June 6 news

· Our friends at TheOneRing.Net have posted some new spy pictures of Frodo, Gandalf, and Aragorn (yeah, it's in the box in our navigational table, but we think it's a mention anyway).

· Cirdan over at http://www.herr-der-ringe-film.de was kind enough to notify us of a new picture he's gotten from the German distributor. We don't usually repost pictures from the other sites, but we thought people would be interested in seeing the Ent hiding in the trees behind the hobbits. Check out our analysis of the picture.

· Got your headphones on? (Or, are your speakers hooked up to your PC?) Do you like Rock and Roll? Well, check out Xenite.Org NetRock while you surf the Web! We'll be coming out with Xenite.Org NetCountry and Xenite.Org NetJazz later this week. Our Rock artists include Yes, The Guess Who, The Who, Three Dog Night, The Hollies, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Led Zeppelin, Phoebe Snow, Don McClean, Supertramp, Charlie Daniels Band, a few groups we never heard of, Argent, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Mountain, Steppenwolf, and many, many more.

· Jorum Manka has had to withdraw from Dragoncon. We were hoping to have him on our panel of Webmasters and maybe get him involved in some other way, but Fandom.Com, which hosts Jorum's Ringbearer site, has decided to concentrate on a couple of different large conventions closer to home this year. We'll be updating our Tolkien and Middle-earth track at Dragoncon page soon.

· Speaking of Jorum and Ringbearer, he's posted a fan-made MPEG of Frodo and Sam in Mordor (we haven't had time to review it). Hey, Jorum. You should have sent out 7 days' worth of advance graphics to dozens of Web sites, bud! (Insert smiley here.)

· Imladris is trying to rally the LOTR fans to outvote other movies in a Cinescape poll. Looks like The Realm of the Ring is also on the bandwagon. Sorry for the lack of enthusiasm on our part, but....

June 5 news

· The Press has followed up on the latest casting call by interviewing Steve Old, the horse co-ordinator for "The Lord of the Rings". We do hope, however, that Theoden will still get to ride a white horse, as he did have his own Meara in the story (Snowmane, who died at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields). Thanks to Tol Galen for bringing this to our attention.

· Major Backing For Rings Coming From Mysterious Source is an in-depth investigative article from TheLeek which unveils the real power behind Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings". Thanks to Tolkien-Movies.Com for bringing this Pullitzer-quality journalism to our attention.

June 3 news

SCOOP scoops up a photo of Bag End. Nothing new, really, except you sort of expect a munchkin to jump out and squeak, "Follow the yellow-brick road!" as you look at it (well, we get that feeling...anyone notice the Ent in the background? Look closely -- he's standing in the trees at the far left). This picture, btw, is a GROUND-LEVEL shot.

June 2 news

· We have decided to join the LotR Movies Webring. You can navigate the Webring from our Webrings page though as of this writing we are not yet active.

· At some point we're going to have to start dumping old news items. The "Old News" page was getting huge so we've broken it up, but some of that stuff is just plain ancient.

· Sierra Games is negotiating for the rights to produce any electronic games based on the Peter Jackson movies. They already have (through their Havas division) the literary rights for such a game (although these rights come from Tolkien Enterprises, which supposedly only control the film rights for the books...confused? Join the club). Sierra is supposed to be wanting to avoid competition with any other online games when the movies start appearing in theaters and creating a huge demand for them.

· There is an (at this time) unsubstantiated rumor that Verant (makers of "Everquest"), recently acquired by Sony Entertainment, is bidding on the license to produce the Middle-earth Online game. We can find no confirmation of the rumor that Tolkien Enterprises has pulled the license from Havas (Sierra), although some people do expect this to happen since there has been little or no movement on producing the game. A new development team has supposedly been in place for several months, but Sierra is not talking about what is happening.

· So, are these "Samurai" warriors in the Internet trailer Orcs or Elves? The debate is raging across the Internet. Someday we'll all find out. They don't appear to be armed with Katanas, however, but rather the Halberd we were told was used in the New Zealand Womens Weekly photo layout.

The SciFi Cartoon Contest

· Ever wonder why Xenite.Org doesn't carry all the pictures other sites do? Habit. We used to have very little server space and, to be honest, it's a hassle to keep up with whom we're stealing information from...having to keep track of where we steal pictures would just be too much trouble for our 15 minutes of fame. Still, every now and then we get a little gem in the (e)mail, and we thought you folks might like to see what the lucky extras in New Zealand have gotten to read recently. Yup, we have a scan of Model Pool's standard extra's introduction notice (or whatever they call this piece of paper). Thanks to Bowrowrow for the tip.

· Mithrigil Galtirglin has provided us with chapter three of The Lord of the Ringers, the hilarious parody of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. "Three's A Crowd" takes Fred Baggins out of the Shire (almost)....

· Hey, E! Online updated their Force of Hobbit page a day early (again)....

· Bruce Spence will play the Mouth of Sauron (called the Black Lieutenant in A Force of Hobbit).

· How to dress a hobbit -- and other wardrobe secrets opens with a vivid description of two Haradrim (Mr. Forde still hasn't picked up Tolkien's nomenclature, though): "Two Harad warriors--their heads wrapped in black turbans, their faces circled by collars of six-inch spikes, their torsos covered by heavy mud-brick breastplates--have been frog-marched in front of Ngila Dickson for inspection." And, BANG! he's off and running on another great article....

Such as: "Dickson started with the Hobbits, 'who are so central to the story and the look of the production.' She put them in green- and brown-paletted tweed coats and waistcoats with brass buttons." Yup, right on the money, Ngila! But...

"...Rivendell Elves are luxuriously fitted in rich golds, scarlets and greens." BZZZT! Ah well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. "The original concept of glittery elves looked too Disney, so Jackson suggested a more medieval look. That gave Dickson inspiration to make the Elven fabrics look antique."..."Sleeves are made in leaf shapes, which coil around the actors' arms. Rivendell Elves are more luxuriously fitted in rich golds, scarlets and greens, while wood Elves wear brown woolen cloths designed to look like tree barks." Um, Peter, Elf clothing is one of the few details of clothing Tolkien gave us in the books....(It's the journey of the Ringbearers that matters...it's the journey of the Ringbearers that matters....)

And, a final excerpt: "She also salutes Viggo Mortensen, "who has such integrity for his role, and has just made his costume live, wear and smell." Mortensen reputedly wears his costume horseback riding off the set, and he offered to wash and repair it himself so he could literally grow into it." Viggo, we salute you, too! What a Trouper!

· Seeing stars in Rivendell... immediately satisfies a starving fan's appetite for inside information: "Bookshelves are filled with leather- and velvet-lined books with Elvish gold script. Half-finished Elvish parchments lie on tall drafting tables near hand-blown glass ink pots and quill pens. Candelabras and side tables with velvet, star-shaped covers share wall space with fearsome swords and armor." You know those books (which probably have nothing in them) will vanish soon after the set is retired....

In another sad indication of Mr. Forde's outsider approach to being the LOTR Insider, he writes "In another casting shocker, New Zealander Karl Urban has signed on as Eomer, nephew of King Theoden and brother of Eowyn. Urban, best known for playing a gay ambulance attendant on the local TV series Shortland Street, joins the growing number of young Australasian unknowns chosen by Jackson over more established Hollywood playthings." Any Hercules or Xena fan could tell you that Karl is known in more than 60 countries as the actor who played Cupied and Julius "Divide A Woman From Her Sensibilities And You Have Her" Caesar on both shows.

· When asked about the Ents, John Forde replied that they are definitely in. No more tears for Ents, please!

· Slip of the tongue, or another Outside/Insider gaffe? Mr. Forde promises that "some heroes from the end of the epic, like King Brand, King Dain and King Thorin, also have yet to be cast."

· TheOneRing.Net has this to say about the ad we posted: "Recently we reported an ad for extras that sounded like it could be an ad for LOTR extras, given the location (Canterbury) and the physical types required. Or, one of our more suspicious natures decided, it was an attempt to get people to sign on who didn't have a hope of working for LOTR. The agency, Modelpool Talent Promotions, are understandably annoyed with that inference and rang to say they supply 80% of the extras in LOTR and are also casting for 8 major international feature films being shot in NZ. So the ad was genuine! Go for it!! " Hey, told ya so! (Okay, so we left room for doubt, too....)

· Speaking of TORN, looks like everyone but Xenite.Org has copied their copy of the John Howe interview (okay, so we carry their XML channel in the right-hand column and let you link to TORN articles as soon as they are posted -- we thought ahead, so sue us). And one site has boldly gone where the rest of us dare not go. Tolkien-Movies.Com was still carrying the Gollum CGI images when we last checked. Tsk, tsk.

· So, what kind of weapon does one use against an Orc in the midst of a heavy photo opportunity? A halberd, according to Kevin Munro. Let the debating of minutiae begin (thank you, Kevin, and before anyone asks, no, Tolkien didn't say anyone used halberds in Middle-earth -- but let's wait and see if machine guns show up, because he didn't say they were used either).

· Do Balrogs really have wings? John Howe strongly implies that Peter Jackson's Balrog will, so regardless of whether you think Tolkien's Balrog did, be prepared. Leather, hm?...

· Who wrote the music? Who wrote the music? Lots of Web sites are saying that Cirdan over at Der Herr der Ringe has found out the REAL names behind the trailer. Well, we've asked our contact at Newline once again for confirmation. It seems rather surprising there should be three separate songs in the Internet trailer...we don't remember three songs. On the other hand, the recent trailer shown in Europe was a different trailer (longer than what we got to download). On the other hand, John Forde at E! Online (see above) writes "The music came from a batch of generic movie music, which studios use regularly as backing soundtrack for early trailers. It is not, as many have speculated, Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana,' which has been used in many movies." Time will tell....

May 30 news

· The Realm of the Ring has a photo of the back side of the now defunct Gates of Moria. They are reporting the set has been torn down (well, they only needed one or two scenes there....)

· TheOneRing.Net has published photos of early CGI stages for Gollum and of Gimli in full battle gear (see our index in the right-hand column for a direct link).