Podcasts about middle earth

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Sept. 19. It dropped for free subscribers on Sept. 26. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoChris Sorensen, Vice President and General Manager of Keystone, ColoradoRecorded onSeptember 11, 2023About KeystoneClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail ResortsLocated in: Keystone, ColoradoYear founded: 1970Pass affiliations:* Epic Pass: unlimited access* Epic Local Pass: unlimited access* Summit Value Pass: unlimited access* Keystone Plus Pass: unlimited access with holiday blackouts* Tahoe Local: five days combined with Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Park City* Epic Day Pass: access with All Resorts and 32-resorts tiersClosest neighboring ski areas: Arapahoe Basin (:08), Frisco (:19), Loveland (22 minutes), Breckenridge (:25), Copper (:25), Vail (:44), Beaver Creek (:53), Ski Cooper (:56) – travel times vary considerably given traffic, weather, and time of year.Base elevation: 9,280 feetSummit elevation: 12,408 feet at the top of Keystone Peak; highest lift-served point is 12,282 feet at the top of Bergman Bowl ExpressVertical drop: 3,002 feet lift-served; 3,128 feet hike-toSkiable Acres: 3,149 acresAverage annual snowfall: 235 inchesTrail count: 130 (49% most difficult, 39% more difficult, 12% easiest)Lift count: 20 (1 eight-passenger gondola, 1 six-passenger gondola, 4 high-speed six-packs, 3 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 1 triple, 2 doubles, 7 carpets)Why I interviewed himKeystone arrived in 1970, a star member of the last great wave of western ski resort development, just before Snowbird (1971), Northstar (1972), Telluride (1972), and Big Sky (1973). It landed in a crowded Summit County, just down the road from Arapahoe Basin (1946) and five miles overland from Breckenridge (1961). Copper Mountain came online two years later. Loveland (1937) stood at the gateway to Summit County, looming above what would become the Eisenhower Tunnel in 1973. Just west sat Ski Cooper (1942), the mighty and rapidly expanding Vail Mountain (1962), and the patch of wilderness that would morph into Beaver Creek within a decade. Today, the density of ski areas along Colorado's I-70 corridor is astonishing:Despite this geographic proximity, you could not find more distinct ski experiences were you to search across continents. This is true everywhere ski areas bunch, from northern Vermont to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to the Wasatch. Ski areas, like people, hack their identities out of the raw material available to them, and just as siblings growing up in the same household can emerge as wildly different entities, so too can mountains that sit side-by-side-by-side.Keystone, lacking the gnar, was never going to be Jackson or Palisades, fierce and frothing. Sprung from wilderness, it could never replicate Breck's mining-town patina. Its high alpine could not summon the drama of A-Basin's East Wall or the expanse of Vail's Back Bowls.But Keystone made its way. It would be Summit County's family mountain, its night-ski mountain, and, eventually, one of its first-to-open-each-ski-season mountains. This is the headline, and this is how everyone thinks of the place. But over the decades, Keystone has quietly built out one of Colorado's most comprehensive ski experiences, an almost perfect front-to-back progression from gentle to damn. Like Heavenly or Park City, Keystone wears its steeps modestly, like your quiet neighbor with a Corvette hidden beneath tarps in the polebarn. All you notice is the Camry parked in the driveway. But there are layers here. Keep looking, and you will find them.What we talked aboutHopeful for that traditional October opening; why Keystone is Vail's early-season operator in Colorado; why the mountain closes in early April; breaking down the Bergman Bowl expansion and the six-pack that will service it; the eternal tension of opening hike-to terrain to lift service; building more room to roam, rather than more people to roam it; the art of environmentally conscious glading; new lift-served  terrain in Erickson Bowl; turning data into infrastructure; why the Bergman sixer won't have bubbles; why Bergman won't access The Windows terrain; the clever scheme behind renaming the Bergman Bowl expansion trails; building a new trailmap with Rad Smith; where skiers will be able to get a copy of the new paper trailmap; comparing the Peru upgrade to the Bergman lift project; the construction mistake that delayed the Bergman expansion by a full year; the possibility of lifts in Independence, North, and South Bowls; falling in love with skiing Colorado, then moving to Michigan; why Vail bought a bunch of Midwest bumps; when you get to lead the resort where you started bumping lifts; what makes Keystone stand out even though it sits within one of the densest concentrations of large ski areas in North America; thoughts on long-term lift upgrades, and where we could see six-packs; whether the Argentine lift could ever return in some form; the potential for a Ski Tip lift; where Keystone could expand next; whether a Windows lift is in play; North American Bowl; when we could see an updated Keystone masterplan; why Keystone gets less snow than its neighbors; assessing Epic Pass access; and night skiing.   Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewKeystone is opening one of three large lift-served ski expansions in Colorado this winter: the 500-plus-acre Bergman Bowl, served by a high-speed six-pack (the other two are Hero's on Aspen Mountain and Mahogany Ridge at Steamboat). While this pod has occupied the trailmap as hike-to terrain for years, more people will likely ski it before noon on a typical Monday than once slogged up the ridgeline in an entire winter. Keystone has renamed and somewhat re-sculpted the trails in honor of the occasion, inviting the masses onto a blue-square oasis at the top of Summit County.Which is always a good excuse for a podcast. But… this terrain was supposed to open in 2022, until the project ran into a high-altitude brick wall last July, when construction crews oopsied a road through sensitive terrain. Vail Daily:Construction of a new chairlift at Keystone Resort was ordered to cease this week after the U.S. Forest Service learned that an unauthorized road had been bulldozed through sensitive areas where minimal impacts were authorized.Keystone Resort, which operates by permit on U.S. Forest Service land, was granted permission by the White River National Forest to construct a new chairlift this summer in the area known as Bergman Bowl, creating a 555-acre expansion of Keystone's lift-served terrain. But that approval came with plenty of comments from the Environmental Protection Agency, which recommended minimal road construction associated with the project due to Bergman Bowl's environmentally sensitive location. …White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams said while the Forest Service does approve many projects like Bergman Bowl, officials typically don't allow construction of new access roads in Alpine tundra.“When you drop a bulldozer blade in the Alpine, that is very fragile, and very difficult to restore,” Fitzwilliams said.In Bergman Bowl, the Forest Service has found “damage to the Alpine environment … impacts to wetlands and stuff that we normally don't want to do,” Fitzwilliams said.As a result, Fitzwilliams issued a cease and desist letter to Vail Resorts. He said the company immediately complied and shut down the impacted parts of the project.The Forest Service has not yet determined if a full restoration can occur.“When you impact the Alpine environment, it's not easy to restore,” Fitzwilliams said. “Sometimes, although achievable in some areas, it's difficult.”Vail Resorts, which has staked much of its identity on its friend-of-the-environment credentials, owned the mistake and immediately hired a firm to design a mitigation plan. What Keystone came back with was so thorough that it stunned Forest Service officials. Blevins, writing a week later in the Colorado Sun:White River National Forest supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams on Thursday said he accepted Vail Resorts' cure for improperly grading 2.5 acres outside of approved construction boundaries, including 1.5 acres above treeline in the fragile alpine zone. The company's construction crews also filled a wetland creek with logs and graded over it to create a road crossing and did not save topsoil and vegetation for replanting after construction, all of which the agency found “were not consistent with Forest Service expectations.”Fitzwilliams rescinded his order of noncompliance and canceled the cease-and-desist order he issued last month after Forest Service officials discovered the construction that had not been permitted. …“Quite honestly, it's the best restoration plan I've ever seen in my life. Even our staff are like ‘Oh my god,'” Fitzwilliams said. “The restoration plan submitted by Keystone is extremely detailed, thorough and includes all the necessary actions to insure the damage is restored as best as possible.”The damage to fragile alpine terrain does require additional analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, but Fitzwilliams said that can be done while the construction continues.On Thursday afternoon, resort officials said the further environmental review will keep Bergman Bowl from opening for the 2022-23 season, a development Keystone general manager Chris Sorensen said is disappointing but necessary.Indeed. The only way out is through. But how did that plan go? And what is Vail doing to make sure such mistakes don't recur? And how do you manage such a high-profile mistake from a personal and leadership point of view? It was a conversation worth having, and one that Sorensen managed well.What I got wrong…About the exact timeline of Vail's Midwest acquisitionsI kind of lumped Vail Resorts' first three Midwest acquisitions together, but there was quite a bit of space between the company's purchase of Afton Alps and Mt. Brighton, in 2012, and its pickup of Wilmot in 2016. The rest came with the Peak Resorts' acquisition in 2019.About Copper Mountain's season pass priceI said that it was “about $750” for a Copper pass or an Ikon Base Pass. Both were undercounts. Copper's 2023-24 season pass debuted at $799 and is now $849. The 2023-24 Ikon Base Pass, which includes unlimited access to Copper Mountain, debuted at $829 and now sells for $929.About the most-affordable big-mountain ski passes in the United StatesI said that Keystone offered “the most affordable big-mountain season pass” in the country. With peak-day walk-up lift tickets scheduled to hit $269 this season at Keystone, that may seem like an odd declaration. But it's almost true: Keystone sells the second-most-affordable unlimited season pass among America's 20 largest ski areas. Sister resort Park City comes in cheaper on a cost-per-acre basis, and Vail Mountain is tied with Keystone. In fact, four of the top five most affordable big-mountain passes are at Vail-owned properties (Park City, Keystone, Vail, and Heavenly):About night skiingI said that Keystone had “the largest night-skiing operation in America.” This is incorrect. I tried to determine who, indeed, hosts America's largest night-skiing operation, but after slamming my head into a wall for a few hours, I abandoned the exercise. There is absolutely no common standard of measurement, probably because 14-year-olds slamming Bang energy drinks and Faceposting from the chairlift aren't keen on fact-checking. Here's the best I could come up with:Even that simple chart took an embarrassing amount of time to assemble. At some point I will return to this exercise, and will include the entire country. The Midwest will factor significantly here, as nearly every ski area in the region is 100 percent lit for night-skiing. New York and the Mid-Atlantic also host many large night-skiing operations, as do Bolton Valley, Vermont and Pleasant Mountain, Maine. But unless I wanted to publish this podcast in June of 2024, I needed to flee this particular briar patch before I got ensnared.Why you should ski KeystoneThe Keystone you're thinking of is frontside Keystone, Dercum Mountain, River Run and Mountain House, Montezuma and Peru. That Keystone has a certain appeal. It is an approachable outsiders' version of Colorado, endless and wide, fast but manageable, groomed spirals ambling beneath the sunshine. Step out of the Suburban after a 16-hour drive from Houston, and find the Middle Earth you were seeking, soaring and jagged and wild, with a pedestrian village at the base.Keep going. Down Mine Shaft or Diamond Back to North Peak: 1,600 vertical feet of moguls bigger than your car. A half-dozen to choose from. Behind that, yet another peak, like a third ski area. Outback is where things start to get savage. Not drop-off-The-Cirque-at-Snowbird savage, but challenging enough. Slide back to Timberwolf or Bushwacker or Badger – or, more boldly, the trees in between – for that wild Colorado that Texas Ted and New York Ned find off Dercum.Or walk past the snow fort and click out, bootpack a mile and drop into Upper Windows, the only terrain marked double black on Keystone's sprawling trailmap. A rambling world, crisp and silent beneath the Outpost Gondola. Until it spits you out onto Mozart, Keystone's I-70, frantic and cluttered all the way to Santiago, and another lap.Podcast NotesOn Keystone's 2009  masterplan Keystone's masterplan dates to 2009, the second-oldest on file with the White River National Forest (Buttermilk's dates to 2008). The sprawling plan includes several yet-to-be-constructed lifts, including fixed-grips up Independence Bowl and Windows, a surface lift bisecting North and South Bowls; and a two-way ride out of Ski Tip. The plan also proposes upgrades to Outback, Wayback, and A-51; and a whole new line for the now-decommissioned Argentine:Since that image isn't very crisp, here's a closer look at Dercum:North Peak:And Outback:Sorensen and I discuss the potential for each of these projects, some of which are effectively dead. Strangely, Keystone's only two new chairlifts (besides Bergman), since 2009 - upgrading Montezuma and Peru from high-speed quads to sixers – were not suggested on the MDP at all. Argentine, which once connected the Mountain House Base directly to the Montezuma lift, was a casualty of the 2021 Peru upgrade. Here's a before-and-after:Argentine, it turns out, is just the latest casualty in Keystone's front-side clean-sweep. Check out this 1996 trailmap, when Dercum (called “Keystone” here), hosted nine frontside chairlifts (plus the gondola), to today's five:On the new Bergman Bowl trail namesBergman Bowl has appeared on Keystone's trailmap since at least 2005. The resort added trail names around 2007. As part of the lift installation, we get all new trail names and a few new trails (as well as downgrades, for most of the old lines, to blues). Keystone also updated trailnames in adjacent Erickson Bowl, which the new lift will partially serve. Sorensen and I discuss the naming scheme in the pod:On Rad Smith's new hand-painted Keystone trailmapSince 2002 or so, Keystone's trailmap has viewed the resort at a slight angle, with Dercum prioritized, the clear “front side.”The new map, Sorensen tells us, whips the vantage around to the side, giving us a better view of Bergman and, consequently, of North Peak and Outback. Here's the old map (2022 on the left), alongside the new:And here's the two-part video series on making the map with Rad Smith:On Vail's new appI've driven round trip between New York City and Michigan hundreds of times. Most of the drive is rural and gorgeous, cruise-control country, the flat Midwest and the rolling mountains of Pennsylvania. Even the stretch of north Jersey is attractive, hilly and green, dramatic at the Delaware Water Gap. All that quaintness slams shut on the eastbound approach to the George Washington Bridge, where a half dozen highways collapse into the world's busiest bridge. Backups can be comically long. Hitting this blockade after a 12-hour drive can be excruciating.Fortunately, NJDOT, or the Port Authority, or whomever controls the stretch of Interstate 80 that approaches the bridge after its 2,900-mile journey from San Francisco, has erected signs a few dozen miles out that ominously communicate wait times for the GW's upper and lower decks. I used to doubt these signs as mad guesses typed in by some low-level state employee sitting in a control room with a box of donuts. But after a couple dozen unsuccessful attempts to outsmart the system, I arrived at a bitter realization: the signs were always right.This is the experience that users of Vail's new My Epic app can (hopefully) expect when it comes online this winter. This app will be your digital Swiss Army Knife, your Epic Pass/stats tracker/snow cam/in-resort credit card/GPS tracker with interactive trailmap. No word on if they'll include that strange metal spire that's either a miniature icepick or an impromptu brass knuckle. But the app will include real-time grooming updates and chairlift wait times. And if a roadsign in New Jersey can correctly communicate wait times to cross the George Washington Bridge, then Vail Resorts ought to be able to sync this chairlift wait-times thing pretty precisely.On Mt. Brighton being built from landfillDepending upon your point of view, Mt. Brighton, Michigan – which Sorensen ran from 2016 to 2018 – is either the most amazing or the most appalling ski area in Vail's sprawling portfolio. Two-hundred thirty vertical feet, 130 acres, five chairlifts, seven surface lifts, and about four trees, rising like some alt-world mini-Alps from the flatlands of Southeast Michigan.Why is it there? What does it do? Who would do such a thing to themselves? The answer to the first question lies in the expressways that crisscross three miles to the east: crews building Interstate 96 and US 23 deposited the excess dirt here, making a hill. The answer to the second question is: the place sells a s**t-ton of Epic Passes, which was the point of Vail buying the joint. And the answer to the third question is obvious as well: for the local kids, its ski here or ski nowhere, and little Midwest hills are more fun than you think. Especially when you're 12 and the alternative is sitting inside for Michigan's 11-month winter.On Keystone's potential West Ridge expansionSorensen refers to a potential “West Ridge” expansion, which does not appear on the 2009 trailmap. The ski area's 1989 masterplan, however, shows up to five lifts scaling West Ridge between North Peak and Outback (which was then called “South Peak”):On Keystone being among Colorado's least-snowy major resortsIt's a strange fact of geography that Keystone scores significantly less snow, on average, than its Colorado peers:This makes even less sense when you realize how close Keystone sits to A-Basin (115 more inches per season), Breck (118), and Copper (70):When I hosted OpenSnow founder and CEO Joel Gratz on the podcast last year, he explained Keystone's odd circumstances (as well as how the mountain sometimes does better than its neighbors), at the 1:41:43 mark.On pass prices across Summit County creeping up over the past several yearsSummit County was Ground Zero for the pass wars, during which a preponderance of mountains the size of Rhode Island fought to the death over who could give skiing away the cheapest. There are many reasons this battle started here, and many reasons why it's ending. Not the least of which is that each of these ski areas hosts the population of a small city every day all winter long. Colorado accounts for approximately one in four U.S. skier visits. The state's infrastructure is one rolled-over semi away from post-apocalyptic collapse. There's no reason that skiing has to cost less than a load of laundry when everyone wants to do it all the time.As a result, prices are slowly but steadily rising. Here's what's happened to pass prices at the four Summit County ski areas over the past six seasons:They've mostly gone up. Keystone is the only one that is less expensive to ski at now than it was in 2018 (on a season-pass basis). This chart is somewhat skewed by a couple of factors:* For the 2018-19 ski season, A-Basin was an unlimited member of the Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, and Summit Value Pass, a fact that nearly broke the place. The drastic price drop from 2018 to '19 reflects A-Basin's first year outside Vail's coalition.* Vail cut Epic Pass prices 20 percent from the 2020-21 ski season to the 2021-22 campaign. That's why Breck and Keystone are approximately the same price now as they were before the asteroid attack, Covid.* Little-known fact: Copper Mountain sells its own season pass, separate from the Ikon Pass, even though the mountain offers unlimited access on both the Ikon Base and full Ikon passes.On Mr. OklahomaI don't want to spoil the ending here, but we do talk about this.The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 75/100 in 2023, and number 461 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Well I'm back. And I'm getting drunk with Don Marshall as we talk about the beginning of time, start a Middle Earth Spelling bee, and cancel ourselves.   Unofficial Disclaimer: Don and MC are both of legal drinking age and are drinking responsibly. Do as we say and not as we do.    The Show: Threads (new) - https://www.threads.net/@tolkienaboutpod  Patreon (new tiers!) - https://www.patreon.com/tolkienaboutpod/  Instagram - www.instagram.com/tolkienaboutpod  Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/3043311089030739/  Merch - https://bit.ly/3yELYc3  Cover art by Vashaun Brandon - https://www.instagram.com/vashaundesigns/    Don: TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@donmarshall72 Everything Else - linktr.ee/DonMarshall72   Mary Clay: TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mcwattsup Twitch (new!) - https://www.twitch.tv/mcwattsup/  Instagram - www.instagram.com/mcturndownforwatt   Skywalk Before You Run: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/skywalkrunpod/ Resources, Articles, Etc. - Potterless: Anti-Semitism in Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Fantasy w/ Eric Silver - https://www.potterlesspodcast.com/episode-161  Fan Organizer Coalition - https://fandomforward.org/coalition  Race in LOTR and Tolkien's Works: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11ExziJbBteK8eJn9xgrjm17P23Vg_Ucm8rAyYAkm9yc/edit

howdy partners how goes it? on this episode the squad talk about how boring JCB thinks Dune is, how little painting has been done by them all, how much they cant understand GW changing 40k 10th, curried eggs, savoury trifles and Paulo's hatred of aubergines. As a little special, the team have a chat about their journeys into Weathering. dont fear the chipping and sponging just go to town!

 Author and professor Austin Freeman joins episode 95 to discuss his book Tolkien Dogmatics, a theological reading of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. Dr. Freeman is a professor at Houston Christian University where he teaches on theology, literature, and apologetics and has also contributed to other books on theological approaches to science fiction and fantasy. He will be a speaker at Urbana Theological Seminary's 2023 Tolkien Conference where Chris Marchand (the guy who runs PostConsumer Reports) will also be a speaker. You can register for it here. With the main speaker being Craig A. Boyd on Friday September 22, Dr. Freeman and Chris will be delivering their talks in the online sessions on Friday, September 23.

The God of Middle Earth: How Tolkien's Faith Fueled The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien's world of Middle Earth and its inhabitants have continued to explode in popularity since the last century. Many know Tolkien was a follower of Jesus, but fewer understand just how central God was in the way he crafted his world. In this podcast, Lenny speaks with Dr. Austin Freeman, an expert in Tolkien and his theology, on the ways the Gospel is reflected in Tolkien's works.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 14, 2023 is: harbinger • HAHR-bun-jer • noun A harbinger is something that foreshadows, or gives an early indication of, something that will happen in the future. // When the star running back went down with an injury in the team's first game, it turned out to be the harbinger of a disappointing season. See the entry > Examples: “Whether a subtle whiff of campfire on a cool autumn breeze or the less-than-subtle lure of a pumpkin spice latte, the spicy, savory harbingers of fall spark a shift in the food and wine we crave.” — Anna Lee Iijima, The Chicago Tribune, 14 Sept. 2022 Did you know? In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, four hobbits—pursued by riders in black—seek safe harbor in the village of Bree. Unbeknownst to the hobbits, the innkeeper of The Prancing Pony, Butterbur, was made aware of their potential arrival by the wizard Gandalf some months prior (“... I was asked to look out for hobbits of the Shire ...”). When you consider the oldest, now-obsolete definitions of harbinger, there are multiple harbingers in this section of the tale. The first is Butterbur himself: coming from the Anglo-French herberge, meaning “lodgings,” harbinger was used as long ago as the 12th century to mean “one who provides lodgings.” Later on, harbinger was also used for a person sent ahead of a main party to seek lodgings. Those sent ahead would announce the approach of those following behind (the hobbits did not send Gandalf to Bree, but he did still herald their eventual arrival—making him a harbinger of sorts), which is how our modern sense of harbinger came to be used for someone or something which foretells a future event—such as how the hobbits' arrival is a harbinger of the evil pursuing them and threatening all of Middle Earth.

Nick is joined by RTE and Racing TV broadcaster Jane Mangan to have a canter through the racing headlines today. Among topics discussed are the Irish TV advertising crisis, the removal of Fakenham's New Year Fixture and the Keeneland Sale prices. With an eye to the St Leger, Nick talks to David Redvers about contender Middle Earth, while he gets the lowdown on returning Guineas heroines Cachet and Mawj from trainers George Boughey and Saeed Bin Suroor respectively. JA McGrath brings the first instalment from Hong Kong this season, while headteacher Nicky Jones of Clifton Green Primary, York, talks to us about Goldream's visit during National racehorse Week. Noel George, co-trainer of star French chaser Il Est Francais reflects on his seasonal debut at Auteuil and outlines plans for an Anglo-French campaign.

Nick is joined by RTE and Racing TV broadcaster Jane Mangan to have a canter through the racing headlines today. Among topics discussed are the Irish TV advertising crisis, the removal of Fakenham's New Year Fixture and the Keeneland Sale prices. With an eye to the St Leger, Nick talks to David Redvers about contender Middle Earth, while he gets the lowdown on returning Guineas heroines Cachet and Mawj from trainers George Boughey and Saeed Bin Suroor respectively. JA McGrath brings the first instalment from Hong Kong this season, while headteacher Nicky Jones of Clifton Green Primary, York, talks to us about Goldream's visit during National racehorse Week. Noel George, co-trainer of star French chaser Il Est Francais reflects on his seasonal debut at Auteuil and outlines plans for an Anglo-French campaign.

Episode 91 of The Memory Jar, a Magic: The Gathering podcast about the cards, decks, people, and stories that make Magic the game we love.This week, it's the dawn of a new age as we do a FACTS show for a supplemental set! That's right, it's our deep-ish dive into The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth. We talk about the flavor, the minutiae, and even a little bit of nonsense from the world of Arda (that's the planet that Middle Earth is on, please do try to keep up).This week's Random Card: Stronghold Machinist! Spellshaper cube incoming?!Intro Music: This Train Doesn't Stop At Rugby by TRG BanksOutro Music: Sunday Morning Sun by Ryan AndersenLogo: Chris YatesCMYKompany.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/memoryjar/message

Welcome to today's episode of "World According to Noah"! Calling all fans of Middle-earth and epic adventures, as we embark on an exciting journey filled with dwarves, dragons, and a very peculiar hobbit. This is a spoiler-filled episode where we dive deep into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic, "The Hobbit." Join us as we discuss every twist, turn, and riddle encountered by Bilbo Baggins on his unexpected journey. From the Misty Mountains to the Lonely Mountain, from the charming Gollum to the fearsome Smaug, we'll explore the characters, locations, and themes that make this story an enduring masterpiece of fantasy literature. So, whether you're a seasoned Tolkien scholar or a newcomer to the Shire, grab your copy of "The Hobbit" and settle in for a conversation filled with spoilers, insights, and the magic of Middle-earth. Let's dive into this literary adventure together!

CitationsThe Tolkien Society- Oxonmoot 2023: https://www.tolkiensociety.org/events/oxonmoot-2023/ (Accessed June 24, 2023)Tolkien Gateway entry for “Balrogs”https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Balrogs(Accessed July 7, 2023)Tolkien Gateway entry for “Gondolin”https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Gondolin(Accessed July 30, 2023)Tolkien Gateway entry for “Gothmog (balrog)”https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Gothmog_(balrog)(Accessed July 30, 2023)Tolkien Gateway entry for “Udûn (disambiguation)”https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Ud%C3%BBn_(disambiguation)(Accessed July 19, 2023)Allan, Jim. “A Flying Balrog”. Mallorn, issue 54, Spring 2013. pp. 43-44Harrison, Juliette “The 1950s Lord of the Rings Movie That J.R.R. Tolkien Absolutely Hated”Published June 5, 2023, Den of Geek websitehttps://www.denofgeek.com/movies/lord-of-the-rings-1950-movie-you-never-saw/ (Accessed July 23, 2023)Tierney, Alan. “Balrogs: Being and Becoming”. Mallorn, issue 49, Spring 2010. pp. 31-37Tolkien, J. R. R. The Book of Lost Tales, Part I. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. The History of Middle-earth: Vol. 1. George Allen and Unwin, London, 1983. Apple Books edition. (Accessed June 24, 2023)Tolkien, J. R. R. The Book of Lost Tales, Part II. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. The History of Middle-earth: Vol. 2. George Allen and Unwin, London, 1984. Apple Books edition. (Accessed June 24, 2023)Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fall of Gondolin. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. HarperCollins, London, 2018. Apple Books edition. (Accessed June 25, 2023)Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lays of Beleriand. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. The History of Middle-earth: Vol. 3. HarperCollins, London, 1985. Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings. HarperCollins e-books. Apple Books edition. (Accessed June 24, 2023)Tolkien, J. R. R. The Silmarillion. Edited by Christopher Tolkien. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Apple Books edition. (Accessed June 24, 2023)Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Ed. Humphrey Carpenter with Christopher Tolkien. HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd, London. Apple Books Edition. Ebook Edition © 2012 ISBN: 9780007381234. Version 2019-03-07.  (Accessed June 24, 2023)SAG-AFTRA Strike FAQS for Podcastshttps://www.sagaftrastrike.org/podcaster-faqs (Accessed July 22, 2023)

This week the boys travel down a road half finished, get sad thinking about the 80's, create a crisis in a flash, video game production, hobbits and much more. Well a little more. It's fun. #TapesAndScowls, #TAS, #CapesAndScowls, #MoviePodcast, #VideoGames, #Movies, #Movie, #superheromovie, #DCcomics, #TheLordOfTheRings, #LordOfTheRings, #RalphBakshi, #MichaelJFox, #Still, #AppleTV, #TheFlash, #Flash, #Tetris, #Biopic, #Biography --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/capesandscowls/support

IN THIS REPEAT: There are a lot of biographies on Tolkien. Back in 2014 I shared about a SHORT one that is written by Dr. Devin Brown, author of several popular books on Narnia and Middle Earth. Dr. Devin Brown is back with another book about C.S. Lewis's (more famous) friend, J.R.R. Tolkien. This one is a brief biography simply called Tolkien. At the time I'm releasing this podcast, the final part of the movie version of The Hobbit will be out in a few weeks. Learn, or be reminded of, the interesting story of how Tolkien went from being "an obscure Oxford Professor" to "become the most beloved author of the century."  Purchase Tolkien Purchase The Christian World of The Hobbit Purchase Hobbit Lessons  Listen to The Christian World of The Hobbit (Interview or Series) Listen to All About Jack on iTunes Purchase C.S. Lewis Goes to Hell Visit ScrewtapeCompanion.com Knowing and Understanding C.S. Lewis YouTube CHANNEL  Visit EssentialCSLewis.com Purchase The Misquotable C.S. Lewis  

Fifty years ago on September 2, one of the most important authors of the twentieth century passed away. While most today know his amazing works of fantasy and fiction, J.R.R. Tolkien was long recognized in academic circles as a brilliant philologist and scholar of medieval literature. For example, his essay on Beowulf, written in 1936, reshaped scholarship around the poem and remains highly influential today.  It was in the following year that the world was first introduced to Middle Earth. The Hobbit was quickly recognized as a wonderful children's book. But The Lord of the Rings series that followed initially earned a mixed reception. C.S. Lewis and W.H. Auden, among others, quickly saw its genius, but many critics dismissed it as an overblown fairy tale, a contribution to a literary genre out of favor among modernist critics who favored “realistic” literature that dealt with the angst of the mid-twentieth century. Tolkien, however, believed that the world, and Britain in particular, needed something else.  Over the last few decades, Tolkien studies have blossomed into an important field. His popularity soared with Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, and more significantly, people have been exploring the philosophical ideas behind Tolkien's legendarium. The full scope of Tolkien's vision has been made available thanks to the indefatigable work of his son Christopher, who analyzed and edited the many manuscripts Tolkien left behind. We now have a fuller picture of his writing process and the creative vision behind Middle Earth, as well as the intellectual influences that informed Tolkien.  Some of these influences are well known, including Beowulf and Norse and Germanic mythology. A linguist, Tolkien invented entire languages based on Finnish and Welsh, as well as several writing systems to go along with them. A philologist, he studied language as a window into culture, which led him to develop both history and culture to go with his newly invented languages. From this effort came the amazing world of Middle Earth.   Tolkien also drew on his own life story in crafting his stories. His description of the Dead Marshes and Mordor were inspired by his experience in the trenches in World War I. Also, Sam and Frodo's relationship was based on Tolkien's experience as an officer with his batman, an enlisted man who served as a personal assistant.   As a boy, Tolkien spent several years in the Birmingham area where he grew to love the English countryside and to hate industrialization. This obviously shaped his descriptions of the Shire and the ecological concerns in the legendarium. On a literary level, this connected him with British romanticism, a movement that emphasized beauty, imagination, and God. In fact, as Austin Freeman pointed out in a recent interview on the Upstream podcast, Tolkien explained that to understand his writing, one had to remember he was a British romantic and a Christian.  The significance of Christianity to Middle Earth is a matter of some controversy. Tolkien himself wrote, “‘The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work.” Critics have scoffed at this, pointing out that there is little hint of religious practice in The Lord of the Rings nor any of the distinctive doctrines of Christianity. In some Tolkien fandoms, discussion of Tolkien's faith is forbidden, as if his work can be understood apart from the author.  However, there are clear Christian influences on the story, even if not intentional. When someone pointed out that the three offices of Christ—prophet, priest, and king—were embodied by Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn, Tolkien responded that though it was not intentional, his Christian beliefs would inevitably come out in his writing.   More recent scholarship, such as Bradley Birzer's J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth, has revealed the profound Christian ideas at the root of Tolkien's work. Jonathan McIntosh's The Flame Imperishable argues that Tolkien's creation myth was shaped by the metaphysical ideas of Thomas Aquinas. Austin Freeman's Tolkien Dogmatics looks at Middle Earth through the lens of systematic theology and identifies important elements of Christian belief embodied there.  Tolkien, of course, was never preachy, which is why his Christianity is so easily and often missed. However, as he explained in a letter, “[The] religious element is absorbed into the story and symbolism.” Still, Tolkien's stories speak to profound truths about the world, and thus, can, in C.S. Lewis's words, “steal past those watchful dragons” of modernity.  This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org. 

A trap is set. Aglaran - Duck Sognir - Pete Folotor - Jason GM - Dave Music: A Celtic Journey - Peter Crowley

It's not every day that a magazine publishes its 100th issue—but Middle Earth's distributor, The World of Chinese, has reached this important milestone after 17 years of publication. We want to look at how an English-language magazine based in Beijing sustains itself and evolves into a multimedia platform (including podcasts) for human-centered stories from China.Featuring - Hatty Liu: TWOC - Former managing editor 2019-2023- Liu Jue: TWOC - co-managing editor- Doug Hughes: International education expertBuy your ticket for The World of Chinese's 100th issue event in Beijing on the 31th of August : https://yoopay.cn/event/89241330 Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support.

"The world is not in your books and maps, it's out there."In Episode 37, Shandra is joined with guest host and friend Liam to discuss An Unexpected Journey: Extended Edition! How does it compare to the theatrical? Or how about LOTR? Join in on listening to this fun discussion that might surprise you.Stay tuned for Liam's return for episodes on The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies in the future!Support the showAlso, don't forget to check out the podcast's new fantastical intro song from our friends in Next Stop: Cosmos. Please be sure to check out all of their socials, give them a follow, and lots of support! It means a lot that they are now apart of our fantasy family.

If the title wasn't a giveaway, we have learned that Charles Martinet will not longer be the voice of Mario in future Mario games, tis a sad day in gaming. Yet at the same time Gamescom is currently going on in Germany, and we got a wealth of gaming news to talk about. Activision pulled the lid off of the Modern Warfare III, Atari is trying to make another comeback, and oh yeah, Microsoft is selling Activision streaming rights to Ubisoft. Meanwhile in Hollywoodland, the WGA continue their strike and call out the big three, Disney announces a slew of physical releases for digital only shows, and Ahsoka is the best live action Star Wars show, full stop. Plus I give my honest opinion about my top 10 favorite 80s movies.

Welcome to the thirty-second episode of The Daily Rings of Power Podcast! The podcast is back again... for a second return from the dead!  This episode is slightly different than our usual format as I dive into a comparison between Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer and Tolkien's legendarium, taking aim at the theme of creators and their creations. We explore what parallels exist between Nolan's depiction of Oppenheimer and Tolkien's own mythical creators, seeing where they fit the Promethean model, and how all creators lose control over their creations. I hope you enjoy this diversion from our usual format, but we'll back in the future with our usual analysis of The Rings of Power as we look ahead to Season 2! Follow us on Twitter for more Rings of Power content: @DailyRoP Intro & Outro Music : She Moved Through the Fair by Sláinte | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Slinte  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Meanwhile... A man in Italy is giving our host a run for his money as he acts out his Middle Earth fantasies in a cross-country quest to destroy a ring (Original Air Date: September 16th, 2021). Next, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, and special guest Peter Jackson tried to find a "Lord of the Rings" trivia question that would stump our host. And to up the stakes, they have a special LOTR prize for Stephen if he can get it right (Original Air Date: June 29th, 2021). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Youtube link: https://youtube.com/live/ENMiUZuT7AgSupport the show

Book Media Storm LIVE at the London Podcast Festival, Saturday 16th Sep at 7pm: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/Aid budgets have been hit hard by Covid and economic upheaval. But the hardest hit of all are women and girls. Just last week, UK headlines revealed the government's slashes to humanitarian aid mean hundreds of thousands more women will face unsafe abortions and deaths from pregnancy - by their own assessment.Why are women worse affected?Because crisis is sexist. When disaster strikes, women are 17 times more likely to die than men. But they are underrepresented in decision-making about how aid is distributed, and so the solutions rarely reflect this.For World Humanitarian Day, Media Storm has partnered with the International Rescue Committee to platform the lived experience of women in disaster zones— not just as victims, but as leaders of solutions. The IRC makes a conscious effort to place women at the centre of emergency responses, and has connected us with pioneers in Yemen, Pakistan and the world's biggest refugee camp: Kakuma, in Kenya. We also hear voices from Afghanistan, Nigeria and North American indigenous communities, who reveal how conflict and climate change disproportionately impact women and girls.We are joined in the studio by Amnesty ambassador Nazanin Boniadi (who also fights for justice in Middle Earth - see The Rings of Power), to look at how a male-dominated mainstream media and Eurocentric headlines can hide the realities facing women of the world. We look at the unique case of Iran, where women have revolted following the state murder of Jina Mahsa Amini, and the press' crucial role in fighting for human rights for everybody.Buy the team a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).FeaturedShabnam Baloch, IRC country director in Pakistan (@Shabnambalouch1)Rachel Heaton, Mazaska Talks (@MazaskaTalks)IRC (@RESCUEorg)Amnesty (@AmnestyUK, @amnesty)Nazanin Boniadi (@NazaninBoniadi)SourcesIntro: https://www.undp.org/blog/women-are-hit-hardest-disasters-so-why-are-responses-too-often-gender-blind Kakuma: https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/796 UK aid cuts: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9663/ ; https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/uk-g7-country-cut-aid-covid-pandemic/ Contact usTwitter, Insta, TikTok, Facebook: @mediastormpodEmail mediastormpodcast@gmail.com Media Storm first launched from the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not all Middle-Earth movies are big-budget Hollywood productions. Thomas Salerno, Kaitlyn Facista, and Jeff Haecker review the fan-made LOTR film "Born of Hope" and discuss the bittersweet tale of Aragorn's parents Arathorn and Gilraen. The post Born of Hope appeared first on StarQuest Media.

The ring has been destroyed and the journey has come to a close, so Ethan and Ben are here to send off LTR: Tales of Middle Earth with 50 Takes in 50 Minutes. We're summarizing our favorite summer set with discussions on ring tempting, color imbalance, card advantage, The Golden Egg Award, sweet combos, and more! Sponsored by BetterHelp Use Code "LOL" at CoolStuffInc for 5% off!

The world is changed.I feel it in the water.I feel it in the earth.I smell it in the air.The opening words to the Lord of the Rings movies are a lot better than the opening words to the books. They prepare us for the changes brought on by a new age, to the rise of men and the fall of elves, and the shifting and forgetting of history, of great battles and small acts of bravery. It's all very Lord of the Rings. The book's opening lines are about Hobbiton getting excited for Bilbo's birthday party. Although they do introduce the "eleventy-first" to the english language, which makes it all a lot better. So this is Pat and I am sort of a Lord of the RIngs fan (see the shirt I wore during my bachelor party on our Discord, and the shape of my wedding ring). So I am incredibly excited to review the War of the Ring: The Card Game, a chrome-riddled card game by Ian Brody about the Free Peoples and Shadow Forces battling for the fate of Middle Earth. There's tableau building, deck destruction, hard trade-offs in the multi-use cards, and fitful moments of bluffing and bluster. It's quite a thing. We're looking at IP-based games, too, and the tension that they create against the design of the game. Fall too far into theme and you hit idiosyncracy and imbalance. Wade too shallowly and you risk plastering theme on for sales. Anyways, listen in, and let us know your thoughts about it all below. Join us in the conversation on discord: https://tinyurl.com/2wood4wheatAsk us a question at TwoWoodForAWheat@gmail.comLeave us a review on Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-wood-for-a-wheat/id1447901771Read Tony's blog: https://boardgamegeek.com/user/maxlongstreet/blogsThanks to God Street Wine for our intro and outro music: https://www.facebook.com/GodStreetWine/00:03:53 FEATURE REVIEW War of the Ring: The Card Game00:11:19 Battleline, Schotten Totten00:14:23 Twilight Struggle00:50:30 FEATURE DISCUSSION IP-Based Games00:51:00 Red Rising, Fantasy Realms00:51:48 Dune00:27:33 Wonderland's War00:54:32 Rex00:54:54 Dune: Imperium00:56:43 Game of Thrones: The Board Game00:58:21 Marvel: United01:00:11 Dogs of War, Barrage, Scythe01:02:32 Ryan Laukat Games01:03:45 Tainted Grail

On this week's episode of The Open Table, Fares and Adelia welcome Kiwi Jess to their weekly dinner party. On the menu: - Traveling - New Zealand - And more! Let's Get Ready Network is the place for coverage of all the things you love. On LGRN - Entertainment, we discuss, review, and react to movies, TV, video games, pop culture, and more. YOUR HOSTS FOR THIS EPISODE ►Fares Muthana http://www.twitter.com/FaresMuthana ►Adelia Chamberlain http://www.twitter.com/AdeliaChambo

From Hobbits to Wizards, we dive into the cultural phenomenon that is The Lord of the Rings Trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Grab a bow, sword, or axe and take a journey with us through Middle-Earth!

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the most beloved fantasy stories of all time.  The magic of Middle-Earth, the longevity of the elves, the power of Gandalf, and the insidious Sauron are all staples in in pop culture.  But the term “magic” bothers some people, in particular Henry Gee, who believes that […]

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the most beloved fantasy stories of all time.  The magic of Middle-Earth, the longevity of the elves, the power of Gandalf, and the insidious Sauron are all staples in in pop culture.  But the term “magic” bothers some people, in particular Henry Gee, who believes that […]

This week on Black Hoodie Alchemy, comedic actor Steve Berg (of Drunk History, Bob's Burgers, New Girl, Adventure Time, and movies like Tag and Don't Worry, Darling) joins us once more! Well... sort of. He actually "put me in touch" with an estranged "friend" of his named Jason Tortilla. As Jason explains throughout the podcast, he was a "professorial-type" that was unable to make tenure while at the Bristol Academy in the UK. (If you'd like to see a small video clip of me speaking with Jason, you can watch it right here!) And don't forget to check out Steve's new podcast Hi, Strangeness anywhere you stream your podcast action! Somehow, through ways that may or may not involve hash, a schizophrenic break, or perhaps a truly chaos-magickal multiverse adventure of epic proportions -- Jason found himself stumbling through a hole in the wall that served to be a gateway to what can only be described as JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth. Yes, the setting of the Lord of the Rings books among many others. To make matters worse, it would appear that the hole from whence Jason emerged is now gone, and he has spent several months trapped in the strange and tumultuous forests of Middle Earth! How exactly did he end up there? What was his life like before all this, and how has life been since this tragic desolation? How might we be able to get Jason the hell out of there? And also, why hasn't Steve Berg tried to raise awareness for his so-called-friend's tragic predicament? Way to drop the ball, Steve... Anyways, after the conversation with Jason, we do feature a very small bit with Steve himself at the end, talking about his time working on the beloved show, 'Drunk History'. And after that we reminisce on some of the greatest bits of Black Hoodie Alchemy 30, when Joe Rupe of Lighting the Void interviewed the legend himself -- Redneck Mystic Tippy Patson! Tippy talks about his upbringing, his current divination practices, his version of the Book of Revelation, and then we hear some more from our beloved League-of-Extordinary-Gentlemen show sponsors! Lastly, if you'd like to see Tippy P read Revelations in video-form, check this link here! Or click this link if you'd like to see Tippy describe how Ufologist David Wilcock taught him how to bathe in his own urine to gain telepathic powers! I hope you dig it. ⁠As Within So Without: From UFOs to DMT full documentary free stream right here!⁠ (this is the philosophical UFO doc I was featured in recently -- winner of the Roswell UFOXPO People's Choice Award 2023!) This week's featured music! Don't forget to support that black hoodie rap and all your favorite independent artists. Boredom - Glowing Brain Bleed Into - Glowing Brain Spit the Claw - Doc Hammer Way it Used to Be - Tribesmen x Arkeologists New Old School - Cowboy Matt Hopwell --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackhoodiealchemy/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackhoodiealchemy/support

oh helloooooo you know how every superhero has their origin story? Well welcome along to the MEC story! Pauli, Connor and JCB weave the story web of how they got into this while also letting you know what they had for tea, the value of the M&S yellow sticker coleslaw/potato salad double dipper and what they have bene doing hobby wise. JCB makes a promise to paint some more Vostroyan Firstborn (he wont) so he has a playable army, Connor waxes lyrical about how he has organised his hobby to maximise his output while Paulo once again tries to justify the absolute insanity that is dry pot noddle eating. Music recommendation this week from the ModFather himself....Viagra boys. https://open.spotify.com/artist/2nAKP6etu8wXNnezKXgqgg

In this special debut episode re-release, Grant, Zach, and Jay discuss Hobbits and the history of the Shire in Tolkien's mythology. Also, Grant tries to dole out as many fun facts as possible. Enjoy our discussions, banter, and deep lore about Tolkien's world, and join us as we explore Middle-Earth.  Follow us on Instagram! @exploringmiddle_earth Contact us at exploringmiddleearthpod@gmail.com Intro and outro music as well as the logo created by Zach Noorman --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/exploringmiddleearthpod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/exploringmiddleearthpod/support

Hello everyone!!n this episode we dive into a more conceptual discussion, as we use the games Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor & War to talk about something we've tangentially tackled for a while now, adaptation!As such we talk about the larger relationship between source material and adaptation, issues in fantasy and Tolkien's Middle Earth! It's a different, but very good and fun time!Have fun!Please support our Patreon if you're interested and want access to early content and the bonus Reading Corners! https://www.patreon.com/leftpage Intro Music: The Planets, op. 32: Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity, Gustav Holt, 1916Outro Music: Downtime, Vistas, Miracle of Sound, 2014 -> Check out his Bandcamp! https://miracleofsound.bandcamp.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Maria and Meghan have a fantastic time exploring the world of Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth, as Meghan tries to tell you the entire story of The Hobbit and LotR in 5 minutes or less. Can she do it?! Find out! PLUS: many questions about Gandalf's "God Vacation" and whether or not Hobbits really do have life all figured out. Your hosts also dive into the world of Historic Brawl with some super fun new decks and Commanders courtesy of Lord of the Rings. ...did Hobbits have the printing press? Become a GLH5 Patron Today! Listen to Weekly Magic News with The Upkeep Buy Some Sweet GLHF Merch Check out our Board Games YouTube Channel Look! It's our Magic YouTube Channel Follow us on Twitter Peep Our Insta Be our Facebook Friend Watch us play on Twitch Everything GLHF is on our Website Visit our sponsor Card Kingdom

This week Sam Black dives into Red Blue decks in Tales of Middle Earth draft. Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/draftingarchetypesSwag Store:https://my-store-d775a7.creator-spring.com/ Follow Sam:Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamuelHBlackTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/samuelhblack Join

BGI 282 “”The One About Middle Earth and The One Ring” BGI: BGG| FB STRONGHOLD GAMES: website | FB PORTAL GAMES: international website | US website | FB TWITTER:  @StrongholdGames | @Trzewik Intro Music: Happy Rock – Bensound.com

In this episode, we delve into the fascinating world of J.R.R. Tolkien and his profound impact on literature, Christianity, and the human imagination with our guestMichael Jahosky, author of "The Good News of the Return of the King."Here's a sneak peek of the questions answered and topics discussed in this thought-provoking episode: What makes J.R.R. Tolkien an important author? What is Tolkien trying to accomplish in his writings? What is the connection of his stories to his worldview? What is Michael Jahosky's favorite Tolkien work, and why? What work of Tolkien's should a reader start with? Music plays a huge role in Tolkien's Middle Earth. Is our world affected by heavenly music in a similar way? Would Tolkien have understood the elements of the Old Testament such as talking snakes and talking donkeys as literally and historically true, given his understanding of Scripture's message as "True Myth?" Should the topic of "beauty" be dealt with more in Christian circles? Have we neglected aesthetics? What are good sources on that topic? We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did, filled with intriguing insights, scholarly analysis, and profound reflections on the intersection of faith, literature, and the enduring legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien. Thank you for your continued support of The Think Institute. Keep Thinking,Joel Settecase----P.S. Here's some more stuff to help you take your learning further:Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://youtube.com/thethinkinstitutePlease support this work by joining the Every Question Answered Campaign: https://thethink.institute/eqa----Recommended Resources for you: • The Good News of the Return of the King, by Michael Jahosky: https://wipfandstock.com/9781725263161/the-good-news-of-the-return-of-the-king/ • An article from evolutionnews.org that explains why truth, goodness and beauty are unlikely to have arisen by evolution: https://evolutionnews.org/2019/01/the-transcendental-treasury-of-truth-beauty-and-goodness/    • Bible verses about beauty and God: https://www.openbible.info/topics/beauty_and_god • Great episode on beauty: The Theology Pugcast  episode from June 10, 2023: “The Glory God Is and the Beauty We Make” https://thetheologypugcast.com/index.php/2023/07/10/episode-242-the-glory-god-is-and-the-beauty-we-make/ • “Beauty and the Best,” an article by R. C. Sproul: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/beauty-and-best  Music Credits: Synthwave Intro 10 by TaigaSoundProd Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/8736-synthwave-intro-10 License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldviewlegacy/message

We watched the Hobbit and were transported to Middle Earth to find gold, truth, and destiny. @dgoebel00 on Instagram provided this amazing artwork. Follow him and check out his website. https://youtu.be/WqGzCOL3XU4 Synopsis A Little person named Bilbo is whisked away from his home by other little people and their enablist wizard friend named Gandalf the dick.  Bilbo is forced to do the bidding of the Dwarves for the entire trip and every single time he asks, “are we there yet?” they threaten to turn the car around, but they never do. Eventually Bilbo is forced to steal some stuff from drug addicts and then stuff gets real weird.  Everyone gets more gold than they bargained for. Review If you want to see one of the quintessential movies from my childhood, this is it. The art direction is strange and alluring, the story is neatly trimmed down to fit the 90 minute format, and it's one of the best stories ever told. The songs are fun, and have that folky 70's feel. The voice actors fit their roles perfectly, and the adventure feels great. Much of the creature design is very intense and scary for a cartoon that was probably aimed at kids, but I feel like this is one of the bonuses of growing up in the 70's and 80's. Producers didn't pander, they made cool stuff that adults and kids would want to see because they couldn't look away. Watch The Hobbit (1977)Buy or Rent on AmazonClick Here to Watch This was a made to be a television special and was animated by Topcraft, who was the precursor to  Studio Ghibli. Much of the original critical reception of the movie had to do with the strange, Japanese style animation that audiences were not familiar with at the time. More of the reception for the film was glowing, and it even won a Peabody Award. It was nominated for a Hugo but lost to Star Wars. I love this movie with all my heart, it got me started in fantasy and horror and I wouldn't be the person I am today had it not been for renting ten thousand times on VHS. Score 10/10

Magic Monthly: July   Infinity Bros Jarret & Robbie discuss Tales of Middle Earth, the rising cost of Magic, Commander Masters, and other TCG's. They also took a few questions from the audience about deck building and their thoughts on Magic. To join the conversation make sure to find the Bros and our growing community on Discord and TikTok!      Check out the Infinity Bros Patreon for EXCLUSIVE content, including unedited episodes, exclusive podcasts, and more!   Want to connect with the Infinity Bros Universe? Click this link --> https://linktr.ee/infinitybros   Pod Cover Artist: Jack Baumert (@Jack_baumertart on Instagram)  

Middle Earth is full of brand new Commanders, and many of them come with a built-in plan. But for others, the brewin' takes some doin'. So we're breaking down the most interesting legends in Magic's new Lord of the Rings set – the ones that might lead to strategies we've never seen before. Come see if these cool and crazy characters inspire you to make something new! -------- Support the show and become a Patron! Be a part of our community, receive awesome rewards, and more! https://www.patreon.com/commandzone -------- INDEED: Need to hire? You need Indeed! Check out the platform where you can attract, interview, and hire all in one place at https://www.indeed.com/commandzone  RAYCON: RayCon wireless earbuds look, feel, and sound better than ever! Visit https://www.buyraycon.com/command to save 15 % on your entire order for a limited time!  -------- ARCHIDEKT: Discover, build, catalog, and playtest on Archidekt, the deck-building website that makes it easy to brew brand new lists or manage your old favorites. Go to http://www.archidekt.com/commandzone to get started today!  CARD KINGDOM: The Command Zone is sponsored by Card Kingdom! If you want to receive your cards in one safe package and experience the best customer service, make sure to order your Magic cards, sealed product, accessories, and more at Card Kingdom: http://www.cardkingdom.com/command  ULTRAPRO: Huge thanks to UltraPro for sponsoring this episode! Be sure to check out their PRO GLOSS eclipse sleeves and super classy MYTHIC COLLECTION deck boxes. If you want to keep your cards protected and support the show, visit: https://ultrapro.com/command -------- Relevant Links: Joshua Murphy Twitter: @alsonamedjosh IG: @alsonamedjosh The Best 4 Color Commander in 2016 | Game Knights 1: https://youtu.be/caC8y8G8kj4  Dominaria United | Game Knights 56: https://youtu.be/X__qapQRP50  “Riders of Rohan” LOTR Precon Upgrade Guide | The Command Zone 544: https://youtu.be/GHK0whGDyEM  Spider-Man (2002) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145487/  -------- Follow us on Instagram: @CommandCast Follow us on Twitter: @CommandCast @JoshLeeKwai @jfwong @wachelreeks Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commandcast/ Email us: commandzonecast@gmail.com -------- Commander Rules and Ban List: https://mtgcommander.net/ -------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A group of unlikely friends set forth on adventures throughout the Lone-Lands. Their journeys will change the course of their lives and, perhaps, the fate of Middle Earth itself! GM: Kimi (goldenlassogirl.carrd.co) Cai (estelofimladris.carrd.co) Dave (cadave.carrd.co) Michelle ( ) Samantha (redpandroid.carrd.co) ◇ The One Ring 2nd Edition is a Middle Earth roleplaying game by Free League Publishing. ◇ Visit http://www.happyjacks.org/unsungtales for a full list of this campaign's sessions as videos or podcasts. ◇ Follow Happy Jacks RPG on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or hang out with other tabletop roleplaying fans in our Discord community! ◇ Subscribe to our other podcast feeds! We have a weekly tabletop RPG talk show based on topics sent in from fans around the world, and a great collection of One-Shots if you prefer bite sized adventures. ◇ You can watch us on Youtube or Twitch! ◇ Keep us independent by becoming a Patreon! Our fantastic supporters let us play and say what we want instead of catering to companies for ad or sponsorship money. They are HEROES! https://patreon.com/happyjacksrpg Ⓒ2023 Happy Jacks RPG Network https://www.happyjacks.org

In this podcast, I talk to Glenn Jones, set design lead for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™, about the making of the set.

One does not simply play “Hosts of Mordor” out of the box. So here's our budget upgrade guide for the blue, black, and red precon from Magic's latest set, The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth. We've got 10 cards to add and 10 to remove in order to maximize this deck's villainous powers. That way it'll be able to compete at more Uruk-HAI-powered tables. Don't miss it! -------- Support the show and become a Patron! Be a part of our community, receive awesome rewards, and more! https://www.patreon.com/commandzone -------- Work Opportunities: FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGNER: If you're a game-lover with solid graphic design experience, we could be looking to hire you on a freelance basis: https://commandzone.com/freelance-graphic-designers-needed/  ART DEPARTMENT / OFFICE PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Join The Command Zone team full time! From sets and costumes to locations and props, you'll be involved in every step of our production process. Note: Applicants must reside in the Greater Los Angeles area. If you've got what it takes, click here to apply: https://commandzone.com/jobs/art-department-office-production-assistant/  -------- FACTOR: Eat clean 24/7 with fresh prepared meals from Factor! Head to https://www.factormeals.com/command50 and use code command50 to get 50% off your first box. EBAY: In a world full of fakes, it's time to get real with the ebay Authenticity Guarantee. Visit https://www.ebay.com/ for terms. INDEED: Need to hire? You need Indeed! Check out the platform where you can attract, interview, and hire all in one place at https://www.indeed.com/commandzone  -------- ARCHIDEKT: Discover, build, catalog, and playtest on Archidekt, the deck-building website that makes it easy to brew brand new lists or manage your old favorites. Go to http://www.archidekt.com/commandzone to get started today!  CARD KINGDOM: The Command Zone is sponsored by Card Kingdom! If you want to receive your cards in one safe package and experience the best customer service, make sure to order your Magic cards, sealed product, accessories, and more at Card Kingdom: http://www.cardkingdom.com/command  ULTRAPRO: Huge thanks to UltraPro for sponsoring this episode! Be sure to check out their PRO GLOSS eclipse sleeves and super classy MYTHIC COLLECTION deck boxes. If you want to keep your cards protected and support the show, visit: https://ultrapro.com/command -------- Relevant Links: Ladee Danger Twitter: @Brttnymchlle IG: @theladeedanger -------- Follow us on Instagram: @CommandCast Follow us on Twitter: @CommandCast @JoshLeeKwai @jfwong @wachelreeks Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commandcast/ Email us: commandzonecast@gmail.com -------- Commander Rules and Ban List: https://mtgcommander.net/ -------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dragons. Treasure. Adventures. Daring. This story has everything! (Except women.) Join Bilbo Baggins, and Kellen and Dave, as we travel Middle Earth with this classic fantasy book. Plus, Kellen has pointers on writing good riddles in the dar, Dave makes a big announcement, and Gandalf's original name sounded like medicine.*TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

In this podcast, I talk all about the design of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™.

This week on Limited Resources Marshall and Luis cover every single rare and mythic rare in the set! This set has a kind of core set vibe, and that can put extra pressure on the rares to carry your deck to the finish. Do the rares in this set have what it takes? Find out in this episode of LR!  You can support Limited Resources on the LR Patreon page here: https