The Lord of the Rings film trilogy with live music

This was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had in recent years: watching Peter Jackson’s film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, accompanied with live music -- in the case of The Return of the King, the FILMharmonique Orchestra, along with the Amadeus Choir, the Bach Children’s Chorus, and soloist Kaitlyn Lusk -- at Meridian Hall in Toronto. One film was shown each January over the past two years (The Fellowship of the King in 2023, The Two Towers in 2024, and most recently The Return of the King in 2025).  

Although I have my criticisms of specific aspects of the films (the portrayal of Denethor especially rankles), overall, they do a great job of capturing the look and feel of Middle-earth, and the spirit of the novels. Visually and musically, they are amazing -- the Howard Shore score is singular. It’s hard to describe just how much live music added to the experience.

Some people were dressed up as characters from the films. A few people complimented me on my "I survived Helm's Deep" hoodie.

I Survived Helm's Deep

I'll be seeing The Two Towers in concert this evening. 

"Witness Peter Jackson's legendary movie adaptation on a big screen, with a full orchestra performing Howard Shore's award-winning soundtrack in real time to picture. With the battle for Middle-Earth reaching an absolute fever pitch in this second instalment, hearing the pounding Uruk drums, monumental battlefield music and enchanting soundscapes of the Elven realms performed completely live will transport the audience to Arda like never before."

My "I survived Helm's Deep" hoodie is ready for action! 

I saw The Fellowship of the Ring in concert last January and it was awesome. I've been looking forward to this for a year now.
 

The 'Piano Man' of Erich Zann

The title of this article says it all: 'Someone Realized An HP Lovecraft Poem Maps Perfectly to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man”'.

The poem in question is 'Nemesis'. And it's classic Lovecraft.

I think that the first version of the song is especially good.

Thanks internet!

Music-Movie-Fantasy Crossover Images

Over the years I’ve acquired a few cool ‘nerd’ shirts and hoodies (or at least I think they’re cool; my wife seems to disagree). For the most part, the image on one of these shirts is drawn from a single source. Examples in my collection include the two-headed snake image of ‘Thulsa Doom’ from the original Conan film, and the ‘White Tree of Gondor’ symbol from The Lord of the Rings. Some mock the ubiquitous ‘university’ promotion shirts. For instance, I have a few ‘Miskatonic University’ ones (e.g., ‘Go Pods!’, ‘Miskatonic Metaphysics Faculty Member’, ‘Miskatonic University 1930 Antarctic Expedition’, etc.) and one ‘Mordor University’ shirt (I like to tell my students that the graduate program there has a terrible attrition rate).

But probably the most unusual shirt that I own is this mash-up of the movies Reservoir Dogs and The Lord of the Rings:

(From left-to right: Sauron [notice the ring!], the Balrog of Moria, the Witch-king of Angmar, the Mouth of Sauron, a Nazgûl [Khamûl?], and Saruman.) 

I also have a shirt with an image that tweaks the cover of Joy Division’s classic Unknown Pleasures album to include Barad-dûr:

But probably the most unusual mash-up I’ve ever encountered is this one:

Wow. So there is a market for Leonard Cohen - Game of Thrones crossover fan merchandise. (“First we take King’s Landing, then we take Berlin…”) That … is unexpected. 

Pity the shirt is so damn ugly (I couldn’t bring myself to get one).

"Frodo, Don't Wear the Ring!"

This song from the excellent Flight of the Conchords is quite entertaining...