News and Fun Stuff

The Matrix Reloaded makes $150 Million in six days, setting a huge new box office record by topping Spiderman. It crossed the $150 million mark faster than any other film, and looks like it's poised to make $250-300 million by the end of the summer. By the way, I've seen it twice and liked it a lot - a tad confusing in parts, but overall very good. If it had been me, though, I would've left out most of the Zion stuff, ESPECIALLY that cheesy rave. Ick!

Stop the FCC: On June 2, the Federal Communications Commission intends to lift restrictions on media ownership that could allow your local newspaper, cable provider, radio stations, and TV channels all to be owned by one company. The result could be the disappearance of the checks and balances provided by a competitive media marketplace -- and huge cutbacks in local news and reporting. Good, balanced information is the basis for our democracy. Click here to sign the online petition.

Tolkien Fans: Take a few minutes out of your busy day to skip over to the Official Lord of the Rings shop - they have lots of great books, videos, posters, jewelry, figures, and other items. Also, preorder The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers on VHS or DVD. It will be released August 26, 2003. You can't preorder the Extended Edition yet, but I'll let you know when that becomes available.



This is a pre-order item that will ship August 26th. Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship continue their quest to destroy the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. This double-DVD set includes the PG-13 theatrical version of the film, and a second disc with over two hours of special features and extra content including a 10-minute preview of The Return of the King, the final installment of Peter Jackson's epic film trilogy!

DVD Features include:

Theatrical trailer(s)

Documentary "On the Set: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (Starz/Encore special)

Documentary "Return to Middle-earth" (WB special)

Eight featurettes originally created for lordoftherings.net: "Forces of Darkness," "Sounds of Middle-earth," "Edoras & Rohan Culture," "Creatures," "Gandalf the White," "Arms & Armor," "Helm's Deep," and "Gollum: Andy Serkis, Bay Raitt"

Emiliana Torrini "Gollum Song" music video

Short film by Sean Astin "The Long and Short of It"

Exclusive 10-minute behind-the-scenes preview of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

Preview of video game, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

An inside look at the Special Extended DVD Edition of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"

DVD ROM Features: Exclusive online content

Full-screen format

Number of discs: 2


First Picture from Mars: This is cool. The camera aboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft currently orbiting the red planet photographed Earth, the moon and Jupiter, as seen in the evening sky of Mars, at 9 a.m. EDT, May 8, 2003. "This first-ever image of its kind not only shows Mother Earth as a tiny alien world in the vast darkness of space, but also includes a view of the giant planet Jupiter and some of its larger moons," Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS), of San Diego, which operates the camera aboard MGS, said in a statement accompanying the release of the image.

Mars Rovers: And check out the new crop of Mars Rovers launching soon! Two of them are going up over the next few months from NASA, two identical landers/rovers that are 16 times the size of Sojourner back in 1997. And then the ESA (European Space Agency) is launching a lander near the end of the year.

Earth from Space: And staying with the space theme, here's a big, gorgeous picture of the Earth from Space. That sight also has some other, great pix. Check them out unless you're easily offended!

Moon Landing: Does this video clip prove that the moon landings in the late 1960's were faked? Take a look, and make up your own mind. Conspiracy theorists will love this one - or will they? Some people just have WAY too much time on their hands.

Games: Here is a flash gallery of playable 80's games. Dig Dug, Missile Command, Tron, Pac Man, Pengo, and a really nifty Rubik's cube! There are also 70's and 90's games on the same page, including my personal favorite, TAILGUNNER!