Whether they were born on Tatooine or Krypton, play Grand Theft Auto V or Cloudberry Kingdom, or watch Walking Dead or True Blood, factions from these diverse but often opposing universes, posing with their fake laser blasters and purple-tinted wigs at conventions, manage to get along, at least for one weekend. Why can’t the rest of us?
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Yes, Tolkien’s works keep coming — from beyond the grave. A hitherto unknown poem that Tolkien worked on and never finished was released by Tolkien’s publisher yesterday. Called The Fall of Arthur, the poem is a “new Arthurian epic” retold by Tolkien.
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In my nerdy Internet, the forces of Facebook, Google+, Twitter and George Takei act like a powerful tractor beam to suck up geeky stuff and spit it my way. A lot of junk ends up in the trash compactor on my detention level. But some cool stuff floats to the surface. Here are five examples of recent flotsam and jetsam I’ve collected. Stand back! And be amazed.
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There aren’t too many things that are simultaneously geeky, brilliant, and absolutely adorable. This is one of them.
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Recently, I discovered the art of Charles Thurston. He makes some wonderful little parodies of classic children’s tales.
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Welcome to the sixth irregular installment of Random Geek Roundup! This is where I collect a variety of links and sites and products that have come across my virtual desk in recent days. Just because you’ve discovered a specific interesting tidbit doesn’t mean that everyone has. So in the spirit of sharing awesome, here is the next collection of links.
Continue ReadingA fantastically-visualized timeline of the “life” of The One Ring (to rule them all) from J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories. The graphic covers both time, geography, and possession in a gorgeous layout. Well done!
Continue ReadingFrom my point of view, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a far better film than any of The Lord of the Rings films. I know this is a contrarian opinion, so let me explain.
Continue ReadingI liked the movie. I did. But I liked it in the same guilt-inducing way that I might really like good fan fiction. It had old friends, it was familiar, it played to my most beloved hopes and dreams concerning hobbits and dwarves and adventures.
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Unlike some games that ease you into the play, this game starts with a boss fight – reliving the battle of Sauron from the movie introduction. Talk about epic!
Continue ReadingFor my nephew, I made this Mine of Moria-themed cake, which I managed to put together in about two hours. Making this monstrosity, about 12″ x 18″ in the end, was actually not that hard, and as you can see, …
Continue ReadingDominion’s Light by Brandon Easton is a fantasy story by the author of Shadowlaw, a comic I loved earlier this year. DL is set in a world where their version of the Bible can unlock the secrets of time, …
Continue ReadingEnter to win a copy of the new Lego: The Lord of the Rings video game for the console of your choice!
Continue ReadingAir New Zealand has what are probably the best airline safety videos ever. Heck, who knew I’d even want to watch a safety video when not strapped into a seat with no choice. This one features some great cameos. I’ve always wanted to visit New Zealand one day, and now I know what airline I’d choose. Well played.
Continue ReadingNoble Smith’s book The Wisdom of the Shire: A Short Guide to a Long and Happy Life (Thomas Dunne Books, 224 pp., $22.99), released today (October 30), is a definitive guide to Tolkien’s worldview. Luckily, this book is no dry …
Continue ReadingCross Yoda with a fairy and what do you get? Brian and Wendy Froud. The fantasy artists and innovators are appearing this weekend at New York Comic Con, opening an art show in SoHo and lauching a new book of …
Continue ReadingThe newest addition to the Lego line of tabletop games has been announced, and it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that it ties in with the most anticipated movie of the rest of this year.
Continue ReadingThe Lego Lord of the Rings videogame is set to hit stores on Oct. 30, and I’m as anxious to play it that day as my kids are about the following day’s Halloween festivities. Which is to say: very.
Continue ReadingWhen September 22 came around on Elendor, it was A Very Big Deal. Frodo and Bilbo’s Birthday was one of the highlights of every game year.
Continue Reading“It is easy to see the beginnings of things, and harder to see the ends” is what the writer Joan Didion once said about her experiences traveling to a new land (in her case, New York City). It’s also true …
Continue ReadingThe much-anticipated new trailer for Peter Jackson’s first film in the new Hobbit trilogy has hit the web today. Unlike the previous trailer that focused pretty tightly on the Dwarves and setting them up as individual characters, this one is …
Continue ReadingMy four children all have different levels of geekiness but, so far, my youngest son (13) is the only one even mildly interested in The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I devoured those books in …
Continue ReadingA fellowship of four geeky gamers embarks on an epic journey to overcome impossible; odds, win the game, kiss the girl and put the villains in their place. If this sounds a little like The Lord of the Rings and …
Continue ReadingThese Lego games have never disappointed, and this one looks to take it to a whole new level. This new trailer debuted at Gamescon 2012, the European games convention in Cologne.
Continue ReadingOur favorite fictional worlds are often fantastically full of fantasy flavors–some better than others. It’s hard to resist trying to create Earthly versions of them, so why try? Here are fourteen foods from fiction and ways to make them yourself, along with three you can find without much invention.
Continue ReadingThe Silmarillion offers more epic filmmaking than The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings combined. One fan thinks Peter Jackson should take up the challenge.
Continue ReadingFor those of you keeping track at home, here’s the eighth in Peter Jackson’s series of production videos from The Hobbit, giving us crazy sneak peeks of his time at Comic-Con, sets and shooting, as well as other goodies. …
Continue ReadingThis scrollable banner advertisement from The Hobbit has been bouncing around the Internet over the past 24 hours. Its very size (above is just a portion of it), and the fact on the original image you can move a magnifier …
Continue ReadingSome ideas are destined to be. Just as the coming together of Lego, Star Wars and a video-game was written in the stars, LEGO Lord of the Rings has been looming on the horizon as inevitably as night following day. …
Continue ReadingYou must see this trailer for the newly-announced LEGO: Lord of the Rings video game, to be released this fall for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, 3DS, PS Vita and PC.
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