Lord of the Rings Stuff

This post will be a short one. I only have a couple Lord of the Rings items to mention.

First, while wandering through the internet September 30th, I discovered that Sir Ian McKellen has his own website (www.mckellen.com). For those of you who don't immediately recognize the name, McKellen played Gandalf in the three Lord of the Rings movies. I think he did an absolutely phenomenal job of bringing this great character to life. I fervently hope he gets to play Gandalf again when the movie studios and Peter Jackson can hopefully hash out a deal and they can remake "The Hobbit."

The reason I'm mentioning McKellen's website isn't because he played Gandalf but because, he did two noteworthy things on his website that I'd like to let people know about. First, Sir Ian kept a journal as he acted in the movies called "Grey Book" and a follow on journal called "The White Book." I've read some of the entries and they are really fascinating. If you want to know some neat stories or impressions from someone who actually starred in the movies or see some very pretty pictures of New Zealand you'll want to check them out. They're under www.mckellen.com/cinema/lotr/index.htm. The other thing he did of note was answered fans questions concerning the movies. I think it is really awesome of him to do this. Even more surprising is he continues to answers questions about the movies. The last FAQ he posted about the movies was dated September 14th. I suspect he'll be answering questions for years about the movies because I really don't see interest in the movies dying for some time. The FAQs on the Lord of the Rings movies can be found at www.mckellen.com/epost/lr.htm. One final note, you'll also be able to send your own question to Sir Ian. I don't know if he'll answer it or not but if you enjoyed his work in the movie or you have a question you'd like to ask him, it can't hurt to send an epost. Maybe you'll get to see your post on the next ones he answers.

One other Lord of the Rings item I'd like to mention is the Lord of the Rings Symphony. Howard Shore who wrote all the music for the movies decided to create a Lord of the Rings Symphony. It has six parts and shows music from the different cultures i.e. men, elves, dwarves, and hobbits. I actually got to see the symphony performed on May 14th, 2005 at the Landmark Theater in Richmond, Virginia by the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and Choir. I very much enjoyed the symphony and would recommend it to any Lord of the Rings fan. Currently, the symphony will be performed in Grand Rapids, Michigan on October 14th; Nashville, Tennessee on November 5th; and Spokane, Washington on November 12th.