Mordor... the Land of Shadow

Be Afraid... Be Very Afraid... the Mist is Coming!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Stephen Kings short story The Mist finally comes to the big screen. This looks to be a great production. The folks at Ain't It Cool.com have some excellent on-set interviews and the first in a series of "Webisodes"

The good folks putting together THE MIST have another treat for you. They're about to kick off a series of "webisodes," their own production diaries. I'm not sure how regular the webisodes will be, but we know there's definitely one and you can view it below!

On set reports ~HERE~

The first webisode takes place during the earthquake scene I talked about in my set reports. You'll also get a cameo appearance by a talented comic book artist and writer and glimpses of some of the characters. I've also just locked down a return visit for next week, so keep an eye out for further reports... I won't show you my cards yet, but I will say I'm lookin' at seeing a great creature scene. Can't wait! In the meantime, here's Frank Darabont welcoming you to the set!

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Pathfinder, Legend of the Ghost Warriors
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Interesting new film based on a Graphic Novel about the Vikings decent on the new World...

In an untamed, primordial America, 500 years before Columbus will reach its shores, unfolds an epic battle between love and hate that will change one man’s destiny and the future of a nation: PATHFINDER. This action-adventure saga recreates one of the most riveting, yet never-before-seen, eras in human history – when Viking “dragon” ships from the mysterious Norse lands arrived out of nowhere to invade a pristine North America. Inspired by historical findings, yet forged with the magic and style of a modern graphic novel, PATHFINDER comes to life in a cinematic experience filled with intense and primal action.

Lay your staff ~HERE~

______________________________________________________________________________

Replica of the Dark Tower
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

This Replica of Barad-dur was created by Custom Hobby.

This was a custom ordered piece. The customer wanted it to be a representation of Barad-dur that he could use as a scenic base for his army. This is easily the largest base I have ever seen/made It is three feet tall and was made modular for shipping and storage. There are three parts to it. Take a look and let me know what you think.

I wanted to make a replica of the movie version but the cutomer wanted it so that he could display his army. I usually listen to the people paying me.

I will be making a collectors version for myself that will be six feet tall for display at conventions. That will be a little down the road though.

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Inside the Hobbit House!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Take a tour of this real life Hobbit home!

Asked to design a fitting repository for a client’s valuable collection of J.R.R. Tolkien manuscripts and artifacts, architect Peter Archer went to the source—the fantasy novels that describe the abodes of the diminutive Hobbits.

“I came back my client and said, ‘I’m not going to make this look like Hollywood,’” Archer recalled, choosing to focus instead on a finely-crafted structure embodying a sense of history and tradition.

Lay your staff ~HERE~

John Howe Updates His Online Journal
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

NOT AS DUMB AS I LOOK...
Or The Dangers of Talking Too Much.

A few months ago, a friend asked if he could come by with a friend of his whose son needed a little advice about his art education.

Normally, I don't accept visits and meetings of any kind, but of course make exceptions for friends of friends of friends of...

So, they came by, and I thoughtfully gave my thoughts, at some length, about what I thought I thought.

Naturally, none of this is deontological, nor am I particularly qualified to talk about career planning and education. I detest gurus and smooth talkers of any kind (salespeople and proselytizers do not ring our doorbell a second time). It's nothing but common sense and pencils talking. MORE...

Lay your staff ~HERE~

______________________________________________________________________________

Dark Domain Update... Minas Morgul
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Here is our latest update to our Dark Domain section of The Land of Shadow.com... Minas Morgul... the evil city of the Nazgul!

A long-tilted valley, a deep gulf of shadow, ran back far into the mountains. Upon the further side, some way within the valley's arms, high on a rocky seat upon the black knees of the Ephel Dúath, stood the walls of and tower of Minas Morgul. All was dark about it, earth and sky, but it was lit with light. Paler indeed than the moon ailing in some slow eclipse was the light of it now, wavering and blowing like a noisome exhalation of decay, a corpse-light, a light that illuminated nothing. In the walls and tower windows showed, like countless black holes looking inward into emptiness; but the topmost course of the tower revolved slowly, first one way and then another, a huge ghostly head leering into the night!

Coming next... an update to Cirith Ungol.

Lay your staff ~HERE~

LOTRO Update -Thorin Oakenshield
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

New update to the Lord of the Rings Online, Shadows of Angmar.

Lorien "Ramen" Carney, Community Relations Specialist for The Lord of the Rings Online writes: We’ve just added a new Character to our LOTRO Characters section – Thorin Oakenshield. Adventurers in LOTRO will have the chance to meet one of Middle-earth’s most famous Dwarves!

Lay your staff ~HERE~

______________________________________________________________________________

300 Opens Today!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

The film 300 opens in theaters today!

This film looks to be an incredible epic film that should not be missed. Below are a few links to some early reviews and to the Movie site and trailers.

Check it out! The film should be in
I-max theaters starting march 9th!

Official movie site... ~HERE~

Lay your staff for reviews... ~HERE~

Dark Domain Update... The Black Gate of Mordor
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Here is our latest update to our Dark Domain section of The Land of Shadow.com... The Morannan... The Black Gate at the entrance to the Land of Shadow.

Day came and the fallow sun blinked over the lifeless ridges of the Ered Lithui. Then suddenly the cry of brazen-throated trumpets was heard; from the watchtowers they blared, and far away from hidden holds and outposts in the hills came answering calls; and further still, remote but deep and ominous, there echoed in the hollow land beyond, the mighty horns and drums of Barad-dûr. Another dreadful day of fear and toil had come to Mordor; and the night-guards were summoned to their dungeons and deep halls, and the day-guards, evil-eyed and fell, were marching to their posts. Steel gleamed dimly on the battlement.

Coming next... an update to Minas Morgul.

Lay your staff ~HERE~

John Howe Updates His Online Journal
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Lost and Found...
Or All About Lost Worlds (and How They Get That Way)

I've always loved history.
Naturally, I suffered through history in high school, like most kids. Actually, we didn't even really have "history" class, which was deemed too stuffed-shirt and not "progressive" enough in those days; we had "social studies", a gallimaufry of politics, economics, current events, geography and history (dispensed by a reactionary teacher whose belated attempts at chumminess fell on deaf teenage ears). Did we care about learning dates and events? Did we give a hoot about politics? No way. Hey, we were already blessed by being made to learn only Canadian history, which is mercifully brief, we knew full well that those poor European kids, for example, had to slog through THOUSANDS of years of the stuff, for EACH country. Did we have it good or what? We were bored stiff.
MORE...

Lay your staff ~HERE~

______________________________________________________________________________

LOTRO Beta Stress Test a Success!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

The Beta Stress Test which was open to everyone ended on Monday.

Don't know if you were able, but at last when Turbine opened the doors to Middle Earth Online to the general public, I signed up, downloaded the game and jumped right in... I believe this online gaming adventure has a lot of potential to give Tolkien Fans the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the Fellowship.. eventually to the very Gates of Mordor! We shall see... It was not as good as I had hoped, but I was still impressed. The link below has a review of the test..

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Rings RPG Expands Tolkien's World
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Deff Anderson, president and chief executive officer of Turbine Inc., told SCI FI Wire that Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that takes its cues directly from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, but that also expands on them. "[We] took a lead from the master [and] focused [the game] on the first book [in the trilogy] and covered the storyline as Frodo and Sam leave the Shire and start moving towards ... Rivendell," Anderson said in an interview at the New York Comic Con over the weekend. "Post-launch we are going to tell more of the story as the fellowship leaves that area and goes forth ... all the way to Mount Doom."

Lay your staff ~HERE~

______________________________________________________________________________

Dark Domain Update... Orodruin, Mount Doom!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Here is our latest update to our Dark Domain section of The Land of Shadow.com... Orodruin... Mount Doom... Saurons Forge!

Here was the heart of the realm of Sauron and the forges of his ancient might, greatest in Middle-earth; all other powers were here subdued.

Coming soon... an update to the Morannon, the Black Gate of Mordor!

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Five New Dark Desktops Featuring Mount Doom!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

We have just added 5 new dark Desktops in our new Dark Wallpaper Design...

We have created 3 dark desktops for Mount doom to herald in our new Orodruin Dark Domain and we have also added a new Dark Tower and a new Eye of Sauron wallpaper.

Lay your staff ~HERE~

______________________________________________________________________________

Don't Forget the LOTRO Beta Stress Test!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

It begins today!

Ready to get involved in the most exciting Beta of 2007? The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ (LOTRO) Stress Test Event starts on Friday, February 23rd, 2007, and ends Monday February 26th. This is your chance to try the most recent Beta version of the game for a weekend, and possibly win great prizes!

If you don't already have a Stress Test Product Key, visit GameSpot.com and sign up today to get started! If you're already in the Closed Beta you're all set - just show up and play during the Stress Test!

Lay your staff ~HERE~

______________________________________________________________________________

The First Dark Domain Update... Barad-dûr!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Take a look at the first in our series of Dark Domain updates beginning with the Barad-dûr... the Dark Tower!

Gorgoroth, the valley of terror in the land of Mordor. Darkness lay there under the sun. Fire glowed amid the smoke. Mount Doom was burning, and a great reek rising.

Then at last his gaze was held: wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black, immeasurably strong, mountain of iron, gate of steel, tower of adamant, he saw it: Barad-dûr, Fortress of Sauron.

All hope left him...

Soon we will be updating the other existing Dark Domians and then adding new ones...

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Delight your Friends with a Dark Tower Desktop!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Get your hands on your very own Dark Tower of Mordor Desktop Wallpaper...

Created exclusively for the Minions of Mordor, we have four variation on Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower found only in The Land of Shadow.com

Lay your staff ~HERE~

John Howe Updates His Online Journal
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

THERE AND BACK AGAIN (AGAIN)

You know those split seconds when a whole realm of possibilities flashes before your eyes, such as getting eaten alive, having to go to the hotel without our suitcases (or the hospital with no ID because it was swallowed whole by the hound of the Baskervilles), being arrested for unlawful entry... all in all, a remarkably brisk, if thankfully brief, acceleration of potentiality. Luckily for me, I have no imagination. (I grew up on a farm, had a paper route and thus many interesting encounters with the local canine population.) By the time I got back to the gate with our things, he was asleep again.. MORE...

Lay your staff ~HERE~