Lee Pace Joins Cast of “The Hobbit”

from Collider.com:

Director Peter Jackson announced two new additions to the cast of The Hobbit. Lee Pace (Pushing Daises) is set to star as the Elven King Thranduil. In The Lord of the Rings mythology, Thranduil is the father of Legolas and plays a supporting role in The Hobbit. Additionally, Kiwi actor Dean O’Gorman will be playing Fili, a dwarf and one of the twelve companions of Bilbo. Posting the news on his Facebook page, here’s what Jackson had to say about the casting of Pace:

“Casting these Tolkien stories is very difficult, especially the Elven characters, and Lee has always been our first choice for Thranduil. He’s going to be great. We loved his performance in a movie called The Fall a few years ago, and have been hoping to work with him since. When we were first discussing who would be right for Thranduil, Lee came into mind almost immediately.”

Read the full article here and check out the IMDB page to see the rest of the cast!

J!NX: “EVE Online” Shirts by the Fans

from J!NX:

Back in January, we opened the gates to allow you, the fans, to design and decide the next wave of EVE Online shirts. It is with great pleasure that we present to you the winning designs, as crafted by DIGI, a newbie, and Fury.

Mother’s Day is right around the corner. Now, you wouldn’t want to disappoint your mom by not getting her a WINSAUCE tee that shows her love for gaming and geekdom. You’re not that kind of child. You’re the loving kind, that expresses gratitude through gifts.

$10 off your order of $30+
Use Promotion Code: BOOMSTICK
This offer expires Monday, May 02, 2011 at 11:59PM PST, so don’t wait!
*can’t be combined with any other offers, sale prices, or discounts

VIZ Media Brings the Edgy Psychological Suspense of “Death Note” to Netflix

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media has announced the premiere of the entire uncut and subtitled Death Note anime series on Netflix, Inc., the world’s leading Internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV shows. The supernatural suspense thriller will be available to watch instantly for subscribers in the U.S. beginning today.

A unique storyline and complex characters, combined with visually stunning animation by Madhouse, made Death Note one of the most popular anime series to ever be released in Japan and North America. The complete 37 episode series joins several other VIZ Media anime titles such as Bleach, Naruto, and InuYasha, which can now be instantly streamed from Netflix.

Death Note (rated TV-14, subtitled) was inspired by a 12-volume manga counterpart (published in North America by VIZ Media) written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The anime series follows the adventures of Light Yagami, an ace student with great prospects but who is bored out of his mind. All of that changes when he finds the Death Note, a strange notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god named Ryuk. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals mysteriously begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal — or his life?

More information on Death Note is available at: DeathNote.viz.com.

VIZ Media’s Haikasoru Imprint Releases New Novel “Mirror Sword and Shadow Prince”

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the release of author Noriko Ogiwara’s fantasy adventure novel, Mirror Sword and Shadow Prince, on May 17th. The hardcover book will be published by the company’s Haikasoru literary imprint and will carry an MSRP of $21.99 U.S. / $25.99 CAN.

Haikasoru publishes some of the most compelling contemporary Japanese science fiction and fantasy stories for English-speaking audiences and is the first imprint based in the U.S. dedicated to Japanese science fiction and fantasy in translation.

When the heir to the empire comes to Mino, the lives of young Oguna and Toko are changed forever. Oguna is drafted to become a shadow prince, a double trained to take the place of the hunted royal. But soon Oguna is given the Mirror Sword, and his power to wield it threatens the entire nation. Only Toko can stop him, but to do so she needs to gather four Magatama, beads with magical powers that can be strung together to form the Misumaru of Death. Toko’s journey is one of both adventure and self-discovery, and also brings her face to face with the tragic truth behind Oguna’s transformation.

“Author Noriko Ogiwara garnered well-deserved praise from North American readers for Dragon Sword and Wind Child, the first book in her award-winning Magatama Trilogy,” says Nick Mamatas, Haikasoru’s Editor. “Mirror Sword and Shadow Prince continues the saga — centuries after the events of Dragon Sword and Wind Child the magical magatama have to be found once again by a young girl named Toko. Only she can stop her best friend, the orphan prince Oguna, from destroying their nation, and himself. It’s a wonderful retelling of one of Japan’s foundational myths, and I’m excited to present a new flavor of epic fantasy to English-speaking audiences.”

Noriko Ogiwara was inspired to write by the classic Western children’s books she read while growing up. Dragon Sword and Wind Child (also published in North America by Haikasoru) was her first book and launched the award-winning Magatama Trilogy. Her other books include The Good Witch of the West and Fuujin Hisho.

For more information on Mirror Sword and Shadow Prince and the Haikasoru imprint, please visit the dedicated website at haikasoru.com.

ThinkGeek <3s Geek Moms!

from ThinkGeek:

We <3 geek moms!

Whether they’re researching in the lab, crunching numbers, creating infographics, penning a sci-fi novel, or wrangling geek kids, geek moms are awesome. And since you’re so geeky, we’re gonna assume your maternal DNA has some geek markers in it.

We’re stocked full of gizmos, gadgets, and doo-dads that the moms, grandmas, wives, and baby mommas in your life will love. The question is, are you a Good Kid or a Bad Kid this Mother’s Day?

Are you a Good Kid or a Bad Kid?
A bad kid bursts out of its host’s chest and causes instant death, chews out of mother’s womb and causes instant death, or marries its mother and kills father (which also causes instant death). Using the code BADKID gets you $5 off a $30 order. Compare this to the GOODKID, which gets $10 off a $60 order of goodies for Mom and does not cause any death, instantaneous or otherwise. Both coupon codes are good through 4/29/11 at 11:59 pm EDT.

Mother’s Day is May 8th — Celebrate your spawn point!
We have gifts for geek moms of all flavors and gifts you can give to non-geek moms. Our musical friends Paul & Storm remind us that Mom gave us life, love, a home, food, and clothing and in return, we gave her stretch marks and extra weight. It’s time to rectify this imbalance. (And while the WiFi scale is listed as an idea, we recommend something a little less confrontational.)

Find more What’s New items at ThinkGeek!

New “Weird Al” Album Announced! Single on iTunes!

from “Weird Al” Yankovic:

In case you haven’t heard, Weird Al and Lady Gaga recently made a big splash in the news — it seems there was some kind of misunderstanding over Al’s parody of “Born This Way” (which he retitled “Perform This Way.”)

We’ll spare you all the gory details and just give you the happy ending: Gaga loves the parody, and the single is on iTunes right NOW!

This means that Al’s 13th studio album — his first in nearly 5 years — is finally complete.

“ALPOCALYPSE” drops on June 21.

J!NX: Surviving the Undead since ’99 & $10 off orders $30+

from J!NX:

-Select Designs now $5 off for 1 week

–Recently Restocked Designs

-Vote on Design Arcade Submissions for J!NX EXP

$10 off your order of $30+
Use Promotion Code: BOOMSTICK
This offer expires Monday, May 02, 2011 at 11:59PM PST, so don’t wait!
*can’t be combined with any other offers, sale prices, or discounts

Crazy AJ’s Boomsticks T-Shirt
The beloved Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Speak softly, but carry a big stick.” Sticks are nice, but if a malevolent force escapes the bowels of hell and eats your friend for second breakfast, then you might want to upgrade to the ‘boom’ variety. Or maybe a chainsaw. And also start talking in cheesy one-liners. Come to Crazy AJ’s Boomsticks Emporium to find the walnut stock, hair trigger, and cobalt blue steel that are right for you.

“Spellfury” Update

from Spellfury:

Hello Everyone!
Time for a Spellfury update:

-The director is currently busy working on Spellfury Season 2, and episode 1 of Season 2 will be out soon!!

-We also wanted to let you know that Spellfury Season 1 is now available to buy on DVD. Now you can watch all of Season 1 with no interruptions and it also includes some cool behind the scenes stuff! (Audio Commentary and Behind the Scenes Footage)
Just follow the link below to the Spellfury website and click on the Spellfury Season One “buy now button” (On the Left) to get your copy today!!

spellfury.com

Thanks for your support of the show!!

The Spellfury Team