This is not strictly Tolkien, but it is Tolkienesque. People might enjoy a music album called Once in a red moon by the group Secret Garden. It's just Celtic enough to be Middle-Earth-ish: the title track might do well as background music for one of the underground nations, though it's a toss-up as to Elvish or Dwarvish. The track "Invitation" sounds very Hobbity. That isn't really Pippin singing "You raise me up" with Merry helping, but they do sound like it, don't they? As for me, I would not mind if the opening music for The Hobbit film is "Greenwaves," a watercolor-mood wandering through the lands the Hobbits passed through on their way West. (You definitely can tell when they ran into the Misty Mountains. Alas, my suggestion will never reach the cast & crew.)

I wonder if some years hence -- if it ever gets filmed -- the NarniaWebbers will be going to symphonic concerts of The Hobbit. Haven't heard anything from the Two Towers crowd, but I trust we all had a good time?

Mmm, "Once in a Red Moon" sounds lovely, T.O.M.: I'll have to look it up. Thanks for the suggestion!

And I've been meaning to mention The Two Towers Symphony, but recentThe Hobbit saga has rather distracted me.

A few of us NarniaWebbers (13, to be exact—though we weren't dwarves, and a few were NWeb relations or friends) met in Grand Rapids, MI the weekend of October 16th to take in the glorious symphonic performance of The Two Towers. Not only was it wonderful seeing this film on the big screen again, but it was extra-special hearing that glorious score performed live. Having met for Fellowship last year, 'twas great seeing everyone again, and meeting some new folk. Hoping to do it all again for The Return of the King next year!

The orchestra and choir (both adult and youth) were exceptional, and many times I felt as if I were floating towards the ceiling from the utter pure beauty of it all.

I was pleased to see that the hitches seemed to have been smoothed out and that the Hobbit movie will finally be made!

Yes, so it will be different from the book - I expect I will love it anyway ...

Yes, so it will be different from the book - I expect I will love it anyway ...

What makes you say it will be different from the book? Has any plot details been released yet?

~Riella

Hello, everybody! Haven't been around in ages! The Hobbit New Zealand rallies are looking good. Why on earth won't they just listen to those poor Kiwis, and keep it there? BTW, I got to go to the LOTR:TTT concert at Radio City in New York City with 2 of my friends! It was awesome (there was this one Legolas moment where I was the only one who screamed! We all screamed for all the Leggy moments & other parts besides & clapped our hands off. I remember a lady screaming "Gandalf! WOO! Go Gandalf!" behind us! It was Saturday. ) except for the part when an usher took my recorder away! My friends were the only ones who got to take decent pics. I have to ask them to duplicate them from their disposables. I loved the choir & everything and my dad got to see Doug Adams & Howard Shore at the book signing! He got Adams new book and got their autographs, and got a dedication. I can't believe nobody else got one! They weren't allowed to! My dad told me he went up to Howard Shore and goes: "This is for my daughter, who listens to your music every day. "! And Howard put a dedication! OK, enough bragging... Did any of you guys hear that Bill Nighy (was supposed to voice Reep for VDT) might be voicing Smaug the dragon! That's awesome!

Okay, here's the deal:

You Kiwi's can have The Hobbit, as long as we Aussies can have The Horse and His Boy.

Great. I'm glad we could sort that out with minimal bloodshed.

After The Hobbit is out of theaters, will they release Part One on DVD, and then Part Two later in a seperate DVD when it comes out the next year? Or will they wait and release Parts One and Two together in one DVD set?

~Riella

I think they would most likely release part one when it comes out, and then release the 2 part collectors edition after the second comes out.
I don't see why they would wait so long, they would only be losing money.

Great news! The Hobbit is to stay in New Zealand!! "Yes, it's true, my precious!"

Yay! That's so great! I'm so glad this movie is finally coming together after years of production turmoil. And I'm so glad they got New Zealand back.

There's just so many reasons to celebrate!!!

~Riella

This is SUCH WONDERFUL NEWS!!! And what a cool-io photo, coracle! I'm so glad for you country, dear cuz! (And for us fans in the rest of the world, as well!)

{Hobbit HUGS} to all!

I just saw your posts & I also checked theonering.net! I AM Sooo So Happy & excited for the Hobbit & I must congratulate all Kiwis, PJ & all for working so hard to make the films a reality & the fact that they're filming it in NZ! Awesome!
CONGRATS CORACLE!
Everybody's prayers are answered! I wish I was in NZ to celebrate! Now they'll able to start on some real production for the films! This is a cause for a little NW celebration!
(Elf blessings & Hobbit hugs to all NWebbers!)

Lovely, celebratory pic, ElfMaidenArcheroRivendell!

Well, for those of us who have been questioning PJ's decision in casting Richard Armitage as Thorin, here's the scoop. I really like this quote:

It’s fun to develop these different cultures for the movie, and we are doing much more with dwarves this time around than we did with Gimli in Lord of the Rings. Our company of thirteen dwarves in The Hobbit lets us explore many different personalities — and costume and make-up designs will support the type of character each actor plays.

What fun seeing this whole production begin to unfold!

Thanks, Jo! It's going to be exciting to see all the new dwarves! For other characters that I really also want to see cast is Thranduil. Even if he is mean to the poor dwarves, I think he is a very mysterious & interesting character. I would be really cool if Orlando Bloom made a cameo, too.

Jo, you asked me the other day on Facebook who I thought would make a good Beorn. I thought I'd reply on here to see if anyone else has any ideas.

I tried to think of some actors who resemble a bear, which isn't exactly easy. But I've come up with two I think could do a decent job, provided they have some hair added to them and are made a bit larger digitally.

The first is Gerald Butler. I think everybody knows who he is on here. Really what sold me more on him isn't so much his appearance as his voice (which you can hear on How to Train Your Dragon which just came out recently on DVD). Course he's not exactly a string-bean of an actor either and I think he could pull it off appearance-wise as well.

The second I've not seen before, but his name is Ray Stevenson. I ran across him because I've been eying another remake of The Three Musketeers that comes out next year in which Ray plays Porthos. He seems to be most famous for a role in Punisher: War Zone, and if you look through those pictures, he's pretty well beefed up and doesn't look too terribly happy, which is sort of how I picture Beorn.

So there you go.