Ian ya habia interpretado a Gandalf en "El Señor de los Anillos" la trilogia completa...

After months of speculation, the cinematic legend that is Sir Ian McKellen has confirmed that he is indeed preparing to dust off his grey wizard robes and cultivate himself a long, flowing beard to play Gandalf in Guillermo Del Toro’s adaptation of The Hobbit. Speaking at a special screening of The Dark Knight at London’s Imax cinema on Monday night, he said: "Well, I haven’t had the contract yet but it’s everyone’s intention that I play Gandalf so yes, I will be returning to the role. Although it’s not until 2010, I’m very much excited about returning.”

“Well, if you’re not going to have Peter Jackson, who else can handle the job? To get an international film-maker of his standing who adores the original trilogy, well I don’t think you could possibly find a better replacement,” he said. “I think the look will be very much as it was, Weta is still involved, it’s still the same workshops, the same designers, I’ll be there, Andy Serkis (now confirmed to return as Gollum) will be there and Peter Jackson will still be around - not that he’ll interfere too much - so it’ll seem like the old family is getting back together again.”

Keep an eye out for more Hobbit news as I get it.

Bon, encore le show de Paul McCartney qui revient dans les médias ! Il n'était pas fini ce foutu concert ? Là, évidemment, dans un jeu stérile médiatique et de grands démagogues qui n'ont pas de sujets d'actualité pour leurs lignes ouvertes, on veut comparer le spectacle de McCartney avec le spectacle à venir de Céliiiiiine à Québec. Pour une fois, je suis plus que d'accord avec René Angélil: il n'y a pas de comparaisons qu'on peut faire entre les deux. C'est comme comparer des pommes et des oranges.

Est-ce que Céliiiiiine écrit ses chansons ? Non. Paul le fait.

Est-ce que Céliiiiiine joue d'un instrument ? Non. Paul le fait.

Est-ce que Céliiiiiine chante ? Ah, ça oui ! Mais Paul le fait aussi.

On ne peut pas comparer un auteur/compositeur/interprète avec une interprète ! Ça n'a aucun sens. Là, attention, je ne veux pas jouer le jeu de ceux qui se pensent bien au-dessus de tout le monde en affirmant que je n'écoute pas Céliiiiiine. Ça m'arrive de temps en temps, elle a de bonnes chansons (surtout en français), mais disons qu'on ne peut pas comparer "Tout l'or des hommes" avec "Hey, Jude"... Vraiment pas !

Oh, aussi, je voulais partager une petite anecdote. Mon beau-père - conjoint de ma mère - m'arrive hier et me dit:

- Dans ton article d'aujourd'hui, tu as fait une faute !

- Où ça ?

- Pas une faute d'orthographe. Tu n'as pas écrit Sir Paul McCartney. Il a été fait chevalier, tu le savais ?

- Ah... !

Évidemment, c'était pour me taquiner. Disons que, comment dire, je n'ai jamais compris qu'on continue d'adouber des gens. Bon, je sais que c'est pour la forme. Qu'en fait, c'est un peu comme la Légion d'honneur en France, version Grande-Bretagne. Sauf que comment dire, ce "titre" honorifique n'a plus le même sens qu'autrefois. Je vois mal Paul McCartney se mettre dans une armure et aller sauver un village d'une menace quelconque à dos de cheval... Quoique Ian McKellen, qui est aussi adoubé, pourrait lancer des sorts de protection sur les villes et villages du monde... Hein, quoi ? Gandalf, c'était juste un rôle ? Ah... :(

E così appena arrivato a casa mi son messo a cercare qualcosina su di loro, il loro sito ufficiale e qualche loro video su youtube. Tra gli altri ho trovato quello del loro "cavallo di battaglia che vi ripropongo", assieme a un video spassosissimo che loro stessi ci hanno proposto durante il concerto:

At first I thought I ought to write something heightened and romantic to celebrate our six-month anniversary. It would be a vulnerable comeuppance, full of all the six-month sentiments I have developed for you in our time together. I thought I should go to a place fitting for this sort of letter, taking my quill and pen to the ocean, for instance, to write to you from the very edge of the continent. Or I could bring my pencil and notebook to the gardens at the Getty and tell you about art and flowers. Yet the more that I thought about the atmosphere for this letter, the more I realized that the most appropriate setting is right here, in the bedroom of my little, messy apartment, full of the every-day noises that are slowly becoming home.

Right now there are six of us living in our three-bedroom apartment, which is quite a change for the girl who used to live alone with her cat, slowly degrading into a life of crochet and watching library movies on her laptop computer. Four of us are legally bound to our place, and the other two are here for the summer, completing internships before they return to their respective institutions of higher learning, both in the South, where it rains. I would not have mentioned the South, except that it rains. I miss rain. You would not understand, Los Angeles. It has been so long since I have smelled the earth.

Right now the closest thing to rain is the sound of E's shower in the next room. There is also the faint movie mumblings from the living room where M and J are flattened against the couch, watching the TV, and there is the periodic clank of dish and spoon as G washes the dishes. I will never get used to the noise of our little house, nor your noise, Los Angeles. Over my bedroom balcony waft in the noises of the second largest city in the U.S. (I mean you, you fat, fat city) -- the distant freeway, the chatting pedestrians on their evening walk, the passing sirens, and the nightly helicopter hover, which I like to pretend is the news instead of the LAPD spotlighting its latest criminal's rise and fall.

For a while I would miss home at these moments, and I still do sometimes. I miss the kids playing in the lot next to my dad's auto repair shop, above which my family lives. I miss the dank, musty basement smell of the shop, and having my dad make his living right underneath our home, just a staircase of 12 steps and three rooms away. I miss the quiet evenings and the settling of summer -- the stars in the corn fields and the country drivers, my church and my cousins, and the people who have known me longer than I've known me, the people who know me because they knew my grandparents. I miss the hospitality, the neighborliness of it all, in the place where all the Thrift Store Owners know me by name.

Do you remember, Los Angeles, a few months back when I left you for the first time in three months? And do you remember how hard it was for me to come back to you, how I cried all five hours back on the plane, and I wondered why I was coming back -- why I had to leave my parents and my niece and my nephew and all the comfort of being known? D was busy that week, and I felt so very alone, surrounded by thirteen-million people, coming home each night to this little apartment with a few roommates that I only just met. I think this is what they call culture shock, a thing I only mildly experienced when I moved from Minnesota to Arkansas for college. But after that initial breakdown, things got better. They really did. I think I came to the decision that I was here, with you, and here I would stay. Perhaps I needed that last goodbye, that last purge of what it was like to be a child.

At D's encouragement, I have recently begun reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It has been so very long since I have read a book. I think I've been afraid of falling back into my girlhood, where I would hide in my room, reading stacks of books, instead of making friends. It is a lot harder to be an obsessive reader when you have a job. I'm only about 100 pages into the first book, and oh, how I've cried. I know, I know, it's a little early to start crying, but Tolkien has just introduced one of the major themes of the book: Home. Frodo is speaking with Gandalf, and he is first realizing that there is a large and courageous journey he must take, and that no one else is going to do it for him.

He has never left his home, the Shire. He tells Gandalf, "I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my feet cannot stand there again."

I read this after I got off the phone with my mother, after I told her I will not be able to make it home for the Clipperton Family Reunion in August. High gas prices have made it nearly impossible. This is the first Clipperton Family Reunion I have missed in my life, ever since I was 6. And I will be 26 next month. Mark my words, Los Angeles: If you do something to prevent me from going home for Christmas Eve with my family, going to Grandma's church for the same Christmas Eve service I've attended since I was born, I will up and quit my job and move home.

You cannot ruin 26 years of Christmas, Los Angeles. I do not care how big you are.

All my love,

Ann

Aragorn - Lord of the Rings - one of the many heroes of the trilogy, Aragorn was brave, courageous and intelligent. One of the few characters who didn't develop a flaw in character as I was reading them.

Gandalf - The most powerful character in the three books. Its not the power that is contained within him that makes him a favourite of mine. Its just that he understands his place in the scheme of things and understands what needs to be done at each and every point in the story.

Bartimaeus - There is no way anyone who has read the Bartimaeus trilogy will not vouch for Bartimaeus as one the wittiest characters in modern literature. Its just the way the character pans out throughout the series, his idiosyncrasies, the little asides, sarcastic barbs and the sheer intelligence that he displays is fabulous.

Hermione Granger - I've always been one who'll fall for the intelligent girl. Hermione of the 'Harry Potter' fame is that and more. Intelligent, sharp, witty and brave. Defining qualities I say. Wouldn't be a mistake to call her the brains of the operation.

Dumbledore - For some reason, I've always thought of Dumbledore as the modern version of Gandalf. The man simply knows everything. And the power and responsibility thing. I mean so much power and so little arrogance. Nice character.

Maya - from the Gameworld trilogy (The Simoquin Prophecies, The Manticore's Secret and The Unwaba Revelations). This girl has spunk, is sharp, witty, and as intelligent as they can get. I think I fell in love with her too :D Too bad she is fictional.

Kirin - from the Gameworld trilogy - the hero of the trilogy - sort of (Its complicated :D ). But the guy is immensely likeable even when the shade of his character turns greyish.

The Silver Dagger - from the Gameworld trilogy - Suave, sophisticated and a killing machine. Sorta like James Bond. Only that he is funnier and less puke inducing(and by that I mean I don't like James Bond. He is competition :P )

Priyanka from One Night at a Call Center - She comes in second to Maya. Her character is more real than Maya's is thou. And she is a very likeable girl.

The story is more important than the character for me. So the list of characters presented here have left sort of an impression on me. Why? I dunno. I guess that is part of the magic of reading. And that is why I like it.

That concludes this tag. There are others characters that I like, but I like these the most. And I like Maya best. :D

Artist: Gandalf
Album: Symphonic Landscapes

Tracklist :

• The Eternal Song of the Ocean Waves [part I]
• The Eternal Song of the Ocean Waves [part II]
• Green Valley Beyond the Horizon [part I]
• Green Valley Beyond the Horizon [part II]
• Green Valley Beyond the Horizon [part III]
• Where the Mountains Meet the Sky [part I]
• Where the Mountains Meet the Sky [part II]
• Where the Mountains Meet the Sky [part III]
• Where the Mountains Meet the Sky [part IV]
• Where the Mountains Meet the Sky [part V]
• Mirages Upon a Desert of Sand [part I]
• Mirages Upon a Desert of Sand [part II]
• Mirages Upon a Desert of Sand [part III]
• Mirages Upon a Desert of Sand [part IV]

Sometimes people also learn the difference between writing a post and writing a page. all in a day's work.

-Sven Shtevensen 

Tolkien's cover design was flawed as he spelled the series title incorrectly as seen in the image below. He incorrectly titled the series as The Lard of the Rings.

Tolkien's spelling error caused his critics to squeal with delight.

After several hundred of the flawed books were published, they were finally pulled - in time for the flaw to be corrected and for the series to become a smashing success over the years to follow.

Posto veloce questa illustrazione del vecchio Elmore che non avevo mai visto. Li riconoscete?
Partendo da sinistra:Gandalf, Conan, Drizzt, Guenhwyvar, Elric, King Arthur, Robin Hood . Una compagnia niente male!!!
Clikkate l'immagine per ingrandirla.

Artist: Gandalf
Album: Lotus Land

Tracklist :

• A Seed Dreaming Inside
• Life is Love
• Where the Heart Finds a Home
• Love Opens the Gates
• Just a glimpse of Paradise
• Mystic Voyage
• A Heavenly Gift
• The Lotus Unfolds
• Waves of Delight

Artist: Gandalf
Album: Invisible Power

Tracklist :

• Seed of Seeds
• The River of Permanent Changes [part I]
• The River of Permanent Changes [part II]
• The River of Permanent Changes [part III]
• The River of Permanent Changes [part IV]
• The River of Permanent Changes [part V]
• Light of the Ethernal Spirit
• The Final Day
• Invisible Power [part I]
• Invisible Power [part II]

Parmi tous les futurs films à venir dans les prochaines années, mise à part les derniers films de la saga Harry Potter, il y en a un ou plutôt deux autres qui sont TRÈS attendus par les "geeks" dans mon genre, en tout cas: The Hobbit (Le Hobbit) de Tolkien qui est l'oeuvre avant le Seigneur des Anneaux. Je dis deux car il semble que le film sera scindé en deux (ça doit être pour faire de l'argent car le livre n'est pas si énorme que ça). Néanmoins, beaucoup avaient peur de cette nouvelle. Premièrement, Peter Jackson qui ne réalisera pas l'oeuvre (contrairement au Seigneux des Anneaux), mais la produira. D'ailleurs, celle-ci sera tournée sur la terre du réalisateur: la mythique Nouvelle-Zélande. Deuxièmement, certains sont inquiets du choix du réalisateur Guillermo Del Toro (la série Hellboy, Le Labyrinthe de Pan). Pourtant, le bonhomme s'y connaît en fantastique. Bon, en fantastique glauque, mais en fantastique pareil. De plus, il est fan de l'oeuvre littéraire comme Jackson. Ouf !

Finalement, autre crainte, il faut savoir que dans le Hobbit, on y rencontre des personnages que l'on reverra intensément dans les événements du Seigneur des Anneaux: des personnages comme Gandalf, Gollum et Aragorn par exemple. Pour Gandalf, dieu merci, le comédien Ian McKellen a confirmé qu'il reprendrait son rôle de magicien. Ce qu'il souhaitait depuis un temps, il faut dire. Quant aux autres... Andy Serkis qui a joué Gollum a avoué qu'il aimerait reprendre le rôle. Pour le rôle de Bilbo (Bilbon), il y a une rumeur qui court depuis jeudi dernier que le comédien James McAvoy jouerait le jeune Bilbo. Pourquoi pas ? Quant à Viggo Mortensen qui a joué Aragorn, pas de nouvelles ni positives mais ni négatives. Au moins, notre Gandalf sera là ! :D Le tournage devrait se faire en 2010 pour la sortie du premier diptyque en 2011 et le second en 2012. En tout cas, les "geeks" comme moi ont hâte. ;)

When the Lord of the Rings movies began their assault on reasonable movie running times, I saw them all in theaters.  I'm not really that into epic fantasy, but i was dating someone who was, and figured that if i showed enthusiasm for this mysterious land of midgets and elves then I might get laid.

I even read the books first, and enjoyed them to a certain extent.  I was awed by Jackson's ability to hold true to the books even as he pared out the apocryphal stuff like Samwise Gamgee siring a dozen midget children or hobbits romping naked in what turned out to be an ancient cursed burial ground and getting rescued by a mysterious sorcerous man called Tom Bombadil.  Fine.  Good.  Less necrotized butt tissue is always a good thing.

And he's doing a movie of The Hobbit, aka Why Everything Is Uncle Bilbo's Fault (The Bastard).  This, too, is fine.  the hobbit's okay.  it has a were-bear in it, and the were-bear damn well better be in that movie, as he is my favorite character in the book.  Yes, I plan on seeing the movie even though i am no longer dating the person i sat through Lord of the Rings for.  maybe not until it's out on iTunes Movie Rental, but i do intend to see it.

what irks me is that he is going beyond the mere adaptation of extant novels to outright making shit up and throwing Tolkien's characters into the middle of it.  he is doing not just The Hobbit but another, as yet unnamed prequel to Lord of the Rings, featuring Gandalf.

Now, I understand the urge to make as many movies as possible when you have a successful franchise going.  Saw, f'rinstance - they're making Saw 5 even as I type this, have plans on the table for Saw 6, and the main villain has been dead since Saw 3!  It's okay, though - he has apprentices, some more successful than others, so the series can continue as long as the Cult of Jigsaw exists to carry on his great work, and I can continue to watch people get maimed by mechanical contrivances as punishment for being assholes.

But Saw is based on no fantasy novel from days of yore.  it is a wholly original thing, and if the writers wanna keep writing more Saw movies, then they are free to do so and expand upon the world they have created.

But Lord of the Rings is based on a pre-existing book, as is the impending Hobbit movie.  Both books are written by the same guy, and he's been dead a good long while.  When you take characters he created and write a whole new thing with them, even if you have permission from his heirs/estate-holders to do so, it's fan-fiction.  sheer speculation.  a nerdy brainwank.

it has no business being adapted into a movie.  I don't mind if Peter Jackson wants to write Lord of the Rings fan-fiction.  he can write it until his fingers bleed.  maybe Frodo can get laid.  maybe young Gandalf can have like a half-dozen illegitimate half-wizard kids with assorted prostitutes in Gondor.  Fine.  Sure.  Whatever,  It's still fanfic, and therefore it has no business whatsoever getting adapted into a movie.