Pennsylvania’s junior Senator, Rick Santorum, spoke recently about Iraq and terrorism: Santorum said that the United States has avoided terrorist attacks at home over the past five years because the “Eye of Mordor” has been focused on Iraq instead. “As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhereContinue reading “On Rick Santorum's Faulty Analogy”
Category Archives: Tolkien
On The Hobbit film
Some interesting news today. Posted at ComingSoon.net, quoting a Variety article: Over the next few years, MGM is planning to release half a dozen films, some in the $150 million to $200 million-plus range. Studio is ready to unveil such high-profile projects as “Terminator 4”; one or two installments of “The Hobbit,” which Sloan hopesContinue reading “On The Hobbit film”
On New Lord of the Rings DVDs
In August New Line will be releasing new editions of the three Lord of the Rings films on DVD. From a report at DVD Active: Each set will carry both the theatrical and extended versions of the film (via seamless branching), while disc two features an intimate, never-before-seen documentary created by Costa Botes. The feature-lengthContinue reading “On New Lord of the Rings DVDs”
On a Book Meme
I received this on an e-mail list this morning– Here are the rules: Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 123. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog (or to this mailing list) along with these instructions. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” orContinue reading “On a Book Meme”
On Shire Reckoning… Again
The strange little box in the sidebar is now fixed. I’ve written my first WordPress plug-in. As you can tell, it generates a date in Shire Reckoning.
Well, I'm back.
I finished Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, the XBox (and PS2, and Game Cube) role-playing game from EA, this evening. I’m depressed, and not because the game is over. I’m depressed, because the game didn’t redeem itself in the end. Role-playing games need a story. Role-playing games need characters. The Third Age hadContinue reading “Well, I'm back.”
A Thought for the Day
Gandalf’s judgment on Denethor as given in Lord of the Rings: The Third Age: Thus is the havoc when a steward breaks his solemn bond with his people. Gondor shunned counsel, chose to dominate its subjects. While its sons were sent to die in hopeless causes, alliances faltered. Hope withered. Armies were squandered, leaders lost.Continue reading “A Thought for the Day”
Helm’s Deep
Last night I saved Helm’s Deep from Saruman’s armies. It wasn’t the first time. A long, slogging battle. Wave after wave of Uruk-hai berserkers and trolls. The Third Age‘s story takes a new turn. Now things begin to “fit.” Not well, not comfortably. But just a little. Next stop–Osgiliath. No, I’m not sure why.
For Geekoid Fanboys Only
In the summer of 1999 I reread The Lord of the Rings for perhaps the dozenth time. With that particular reading I studied, really studied, Appendix D on the calendrical systems in use in Middle-Earth in the Third Age. I was drawn, in particular, to the Hobbit calendar and decided to write a quick-and-dirty computerContinue reading “For Geekoid Fanboys Only”
The Third Age
Today EA Games announced their new Lord of the Rings video game, The Third Age. Speculation had been rampant since the release of the Return of the King game, which ended with a “James Bond Will Return”-style notice that Lord of the Rings: Trilogy would be coming in 2004. The Third Age is, from allContinue reading “The Third Age”