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An Eagle’s View of Middle-earth

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S-von-P has put together this awesome piece of Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel. The character, who comes not from the pages of Tolkien, but was created by the filmmakers, is the head of the Elven guard of Mirkwood. Expect to see more of her alongside Orlando Bloom’s Legolas in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. S-von-P creates amazing artwork that spans many areas of geekdom; hopefully I won’t have to Jedi-mindtrick you into checking out his page on deviantART. (Arwen Kester)

The pipe-smoking creatures from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey have earned a thumbs-down rating from Breathe California, a group that monitors tobacco use in movies. “Director Peter Jackson decided pipe-smoking in the J.R.R. Tolkien books deserved preservation in his movie adaptation,” the youth reviewers said in a release. “Of course he did! I (and lots of other fans) would have been upset if he didn’t!” I said…to myself. (Arwen Kester)

Talking to the Daily Mail about his favorite car, actor Elijah Wood recalled a favourite Mini-related adventure: a 2004 road trip from Los Angeles to Rosarito in Mexico for a Lord of the Rings reunion holiday with British co-stars Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan. “It was hilarious,” he said. ‘I drove down with the stuntie Sala Baker, a giant Samoan dude. When I picked him up, he was like, ‘Really? I’m going to get in that?'” In the full article, he joked about still looking 18, the age when he first played Frodo, and the time he spent working on The Lord of the Rings. “It had a massive influence on me; I grew so much and made some of the best friends of my life.” (Arwen Kester)

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Dwarves have to keep their pants up just like the rest of us. Based on Thorin’s eye-catching belt buckle from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journeythis belt from ThinkGeek will keep your pants in place whether fighting dragons or simply hiking across Middle Earth. (Evie Bowman)

Film studios are starting to target mobile applications that use copyrighted images and film clips without permission. Most recently, action was taken against an Android app called “Hobbit 3D Wallpaper HD” that let people use stills from the film as a background screen on their handset. Google removed the app soon after being notified about its unlicensed use of images. A survey suggests that about 90% of Oscar-related apps use material that may not have been properly authorised. (Evie Bowman)

The worst drought in five years threatens to parch the Hobbiton set in Matamata, New Zealand. Manager Russell Alexander said that losing the green environment could damage Hobbiton’s international image and could cost thousands of dollars to fix. The Waikato Regional Council, who have had to limit Hobbiton’s water usage from 200,000 litres per day to 67,000 litres per day, said they have been reminding people that “their water takes may be restricted due to the low river flows. Those restrictions are now in place . . . where river flows have hit trigger levels.” (Arwen Kester)

HobbitGear

If you’re looking for a way to proclaim your love for The Hobbit to the world, check out this list of goodies compiled by blogger and bibliophile Amicia Rai. (Evie Bowman)

Every week, our Middle-earth News reporters seek out Tolkien/Hobbit/LOTR goodness and tag their finds with their names. If you have something to contribute, feel free to submit it using the Got News Precious link in the sidebar.

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