Middle Earth Interactive on Google Chrome

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Book-Based Holiday Movies: Catching Fire, Saving Mr. Banks, and Desolation of Smaug

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This looks like so much fun for Fans of the Hobbit - a journey through Middle Earth.



From Mashable

Fans have read about Middle Earth in J.R.R. Tolkien's novels and they've seen it in in the subsequent films directed by Peter Jackson, but now they can fly above the elf city of Rivendell or sneak through the dark Trollshaws, all with the tap of the keyboard's direction keys or the swipe of a finger across a smartphone.
Users have a choice of a few areas of exploration, all of which appear in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which came out last year, and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which will hit theaters on Dec. 13. You can use your laptop, tablet, phone and anything else that supports chrome to fly over the whole fictional land, but you can currently only walk around the Trollshaws, Rivendell and the haunted fortress of Dol Guldur. Players must watch their step, as the eerie music that accompanies the video-game like experience foreshadows demons that can attack from nowhere to drag you away.

From The Hobbit Blog

The online experience takes fans through an adventure that unfolds across an interactive map of Middle-earth. Users can zoom in to explore Trollshaw Forest, Rivendell and Dol Guldur, with new locations set to be added in the weeks ahead. Each destination on the map gives the visitor access to its history and the characters who inhabit it, or presents unique survival challenges in which fans can test their wits.
“Journey Through Middle-earth” is the first Chrome Experiment designed to bring a full 3D experience to mobile, with technology support for WebGL in Chrome for Android on devices with high-end graphics cards. Although WebGL isn’t supported on iOS, Chrome users can still experience most of “Journey Through Middle-earth” on their iPhones and iPads.

Book-Based Holiday Movies ~ Catching Fire, Saving Mr. Banks, and The Desolation of Smaug

Wow, for book-lovers this Christmas has a wealth of great movies! Publishers are capitalizing on the publicity with new editions, so read the books first and then go to the movies!



From Publishers Weekly

Fans – and box-office bean-counters – are gearing up for the November 22 release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The Lionsgate film, based on the second book in Suzanne Collins’s blockbuster young adult series, marks the return of the love triangle comprising Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), and Gale (Liam Hemsworth). Following their unprecedented triumph in the games, Katniss and Peeta are targeted by the Capitol and forced to compete once more, this time in the 25-year anniversary games known as the Quarter Quell. Additions to the cast include Philip Seymour Hoffman as head gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee, and Sam Claflin, who plays tribute Finnick Odair, an ally to Katniss and Peeta.
. . . Off screen and on the page, the reach of the Hunger Games series remains formidable. Scholastic is greeting the forthcoming cinematic release with a tie-in edition of the novel featuring cover art from the film, an illustrated movie companion, as well as a boxed set containing paperback editions of the entire series. According to Scholastic, there are more than 65 million copies of the original three books in the Hunger Games trilogy in print and digital formats in the U.S.: more than 28 million copies of The Hunger Games, more than 19 million copies of Catching Fire, and more than 18 million copies of Mockingjay. Scholastic’s Hunger Games Facebook page has upwards of 4.8 million fans.

From Variety

There wasn’t anything as sweet as a spoonful of sugar behind the scenes of “Mary Poppins,” and it’s this little-known backstory that provides the spine for “Saving Mr. Banks,” which bows in limited release Dec. 13.
In the movie, (author P.L.) Travers battles Walt Disney after learning he wants to seize the rights to the book, her most prized creation. Even when she reluctantly agrees to leave London to spend two weeks in creative meetings at the Disney lot in Burbank, she lectures the crew and threatens not to sign the contract every time she doesn’t get her way.
Director John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side”) says (Emma) Thompson told him early on that Travers was the most difficult character she had ever played. “At every turn, she’s different than you think she’s going to be,” Hancock says. “At one point, she seems old and brittle, and at another point, she seems sensual.”
. . . “Saving Mr. Banks” is garnering Thompson Oscar buzz for the first time in almost 20 years. “I’m praying that she gets nominated, for selfish reasons, because I’d love to play with her in the audience,” says her friend (and Oscar host) Ellen DeGeneres, who in 1997 featured Thompson in an episode of her former sitcom. “She deserves to be nominated, because she’s so brilliant. How often does a role come up to play a 54-year-old woman like that?”
Thompson recalls being around 7 when she first saw “Mary Poppins,” but has no memory of the actual theatrical experience. She just remembers how she felt. “I was profoundly moved by the songs,” the actress says. “ ‘Feed the Birds’ made me infinitely sad and melancholy as a child. ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite’ made me cry

From LA Times Hero Complex

“The Desolation of Smaug” is Part 2 in Jackson’s new Tolkien trilogy, and the film picks up where last year’s box-office hit “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” left off, with hobbit Bilbo (Martin Freeman), wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Thorin’s company continuing on their quest to help the dwarfs reclaim the treasure buried under the Lonely Mountain.
Like its predecessor, “The Desolation of Smaug” was shot in 3-D at 48 frames per second and will be released in 2-D, High Frame Rate 3-D, other 3-D formats and IMAX.

Harry Potter Stamps Come to America!

The U.S. Postal Service has issued five sheets of Harry Potter stamps, and to me these are long overdue. Many other countries have had HP stamps for years! And our Post Office has been complaining about low income for years, so maybe HP collectors will save the day.

See all the stamps on Snitchseeker

Order the HP stamps HERE

Which is my favorite? Snape of course! And he's on the same page with Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid - teachers, not villains. I'm sure that will make some fans unhappy, LOL.
Description of the Teachers Page from USPS

At Hogwarts, the friends receive support and guidance from many of their professors, among them the four depicted on the third set of stamps-Rubeus Hagrid, Professor Minerva McGonagall, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, and Professor Severus Snape.

The Snape stamp may not say "Always," but does say "Forever." (In the U.S. a "forever" stamp can be used even if rates are raised.)

The only child character missing from the set is Neville, unfortunately. I think they wanted to get in all the most popular Weasleys, so they had to leave out someone. It's too bad. Maybe they will issue a second set in a few years with Sirius, Lupin, the other teachers, etc.

May I just say, though, that I LOVE the hippogriff stamp! And Dobby!!!

It's November ~ NaNoWriMo Time Again

It's National Novel Writing Month or "NaNoWriMo" - that time after Halloween when would-be writers everywhere close themselves off from distractions and type as fast as they can to reach 50,000 words by the end of November.

It's only November 3rd - not too late to get started!

This is my fifth year participating and yet it feels the same as the first time - the blank page is scary, the words either flow or they just stop coming, and I have to make myself stop editing work from the day before. Coffee is a must, as well as chocolate. I've told my family the only meal I guarantee this month is Thanksgiving Dinner. I'm going to write my heart out during the week when most of the family is at work or school because weekends are just too hectic, and there's always Christmas shopping - arghhh!

I wrote poetry in college, but never much long fiction. So the first year I did this I had NO characters in mind and no clue about how to start, but with the encouragement of friends I got a notebook and just started writing down plots that came into my head. And to my surprise, characters started appearing. I knew what they were thinking and what they did every day. I knew them better than I know my neighbors of 20 years. They were part of me, but some of them were as different as night and day.

I actually drew a map of the setting so I could keep it all straight. I started looking on the internet for pictures that reminded me of my characters and where they lived, and saved them in a folder for inspiration. I played around with anagrams, and I researched old county records for historical facts. Yes these are tricks, but it's also a world of fun! And all writers have to just sit and think, often for hours, about plot points and tricky plot twists. No one ever said it was easy!

Yes, I was up to the challenge in years past. I wrote and wrote until I reached 50,000 words - hooray! But actually none of my novels have ever been completely finished - they have ragged edges. Reality intruded during the editing process, and one of my novels had a plot hole. I also realized that there was so much baggage and backstory attached to my characters that it was taking up space, so this year I'm starting over with a prequel that will be short and sweet and this time complete. (Hmm, if this fiction gig doesn't work out, maybe I should go back to poetry!)