I didn't realize I had not posted anything here since May 24. Many things have happened since then, including the release of three more episodes of Middle-earth Talk Radio. Hawke also gave the show its own Website (middle-earthtalkradio.com).

You can download Episode 24 of Middle-earth Talk Radio, which was recorded on May 23.

Topics Discussed

• Tyra Banks - ModelLand
• Previously unexibited print by Tolkien called "Lamb's Farm, Gedling" to be shown
• Filming for The Hobbit Movie beginning in Novement 2010?
• Smaug Stein
• Mads Hobbit Hole Blog - Doll House model on Bag End
• Brief reading from The Hobbit about Hobbit Hole
• The Eowyn Challenge
• Expanding the show range of discussion, please comment!
• How much do Dwarves weigh?
• Can Dwarves swim?
• Dragonlance Dwarves vs. Tolkien Dwarves
• Battle of alternate passages
• Reading and discussion of Letter #31, 24 July 1938, letter to Mr Furth, explaining delay in sequel to The Hobbit, and his work on Farmer Giles
• Word "mythologies" - Michael feels vindicated. ;-)
• Michael reads from Book of Lost Tales - Chapter VIII - The Tale of the Sun and Moon - Christopher Tolkien's introduction.
• Michael reads the "Shibboleth of Feanor" - The Peoples of Middle-earth - The History of Middle-earth XII - and the word shibboleth defined (ad nauseum)
• "Feanor was a momma's boy" - Michael Martinez
• Tolkien's representation of insight into psychological theory as expressed through his characters such as Feanor, Aragorn, and others, in the face of critics claiming the characters were too 2 dimensional
• Thanks to Christopher Tolkien for making all this extra material available over the decades
• Reminder Rehtaeh performing at this years upcoming TolkienMoot
• Our Middle-earth Talk Show now has dedicated domain(s): http://www.middle-earthtalk.com or http://www.middle-earthtalkradio.com
• PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON THIS SHOW!

Episode 25 of Middle-earth Talk Radio was recorded on May 31.

Topics Discussed

• Thank you to all the military veterans who make it possible for us to have the freedom we have.
• Big news - Del Toro resigns as director for The Hobbit movies, now what?
• theonering.net "slashdotted" and the "slashdot effect"
• Peter Jackson's old Zombie gory spoof movie "Dead Alive"
• Are there zombies in Middle-earth in his books?
• What makes a zombie a zombie?
• The Hobbit play in Norwich Theater - Roy Marsden
• Another Hobbit play in Liverpool at the Empire
• Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" Series, "Legend of the Seeker", David Eddings Belgariad Books vs. eBooks vs. PDFs
• Civilization III vs. Civ IV (Michael thinks Civ IV "sucks")
• Harvard courses on Tolkien available online, Mark Zender Ph.D., how Tolkien uses language in storytelling
• British Petroleum Gulf Oil Spill
• Adventuring in the Second Age of Middle-earth
• Yahoo Fan Modules Group
• The Numenor Project
• The Numenor Project First Contact Series
• Classical civilization vs. medieval civilization for Middle-earth settings
• No Inns?
• Area later known as Andrast, peninsula in what would be far western Gondor many centuries later.
• Primitive early Men prior to the Numenoreans helping raise them from the darkness.
• Orcs and their daylight and night vision
• Story of Tal-Elmar .... Part IV of Peoples of Middle-earth
• A real palace that could be considered "Elvish" in design according to Michael (make this image for news announcements)
• How role playing games encourages research
• Second Age 1200 to 1600
• When would precursor/proto-hobbits first appear and where
• Adunaic glossary

Episode 26 of Middle-earth Talk Radio was recorded on June 8.

Topics Discussed

• Additional message from Guillermo Del Torro regarding leaving "The Hobbit" movie project
• Congratulations to Sir Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop
• Discussion of other directors (poll) for The Hobbit
• Further discussion on the impact of MGM's financial struggles, near $4 billion USD debt
• Miyazaki Tales from Earthsea (and others)
• Scifi channel blocking it's distribution in North America
• Comingsoon.net movies
• Centurion movie
• Wall Street and MGM sad tale not over yet
• As of 2010, the Turner Entertainment Co. unit of Time Warner owns the rights to the pre-1986 MGM film library, with Warner Bros. handling distribution. Turner acquired the MGM library during its brief ownership of the company in 1986.
• University of Wales Online Tolkien October 2010 course actually available to everyone!
• LotRo MMORPG (Lord of the Rings Online Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) going Free-to-play
• World of Warcraft on Southpark episode (old news to Southpark viewers) (not appropriate for all audiences)
• Mazes and Monsters movie
• More on LotRo
• Looking for additional Game Masters for upcoming Tolkien Moot 2010 August 13-15 in Spokane, Washington, USA
• One responder mentioned game system DragonRaid, turns out to be a fundamentalist Christian RPG (Role Playing Game) system
• Michael on butchering nouns used as verbs, especially discipled
• Swashbuckling press website claiming C.S. Lewis converted Tolkien to christianity (obviously their data is a little confused)
• Who would like to wear garb or props at Tolkien Moot 2010?
• What kind of garb would be "true to Tolkien" to be discussed in next show.
• Rehtaeh now in New Zealand travelling "Middle-earth" and meeting the LotR / Hobbit folks hoping to have her voice in the upcoming movies
• More on language butchering, and misuse of pronouns in English language
• Ghost Hunters tangent
• Voice on Information Society's What's on your Mind (Pure Energy) sample of Leonard Nimoy from Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy"

And we did record Episode 27 this week but it is not yet available.