Life imitates art in Oregon.

Multnomah County is looking for a Klingon interpreter -- just in case. The county doesn't expect to be invaded by the alien warriors from "Star Trek" movies and TV series. But the office that treats county mental health patients wants to be prepared in case a client arrives in an emergency room gabbing in the galactic language.

"We have to provide information in all the languages our clients speak," says Jerry Jelusich, a procurement specialist for the county Department of Human Services, which serves some 60,000 mental health clients. So if a patient speaks only Klingon, the county must respond with a Klingon interpreter. Officials have decided to include it with about 55 languages, some of which, such as Russian and Vietnamese, are widely spoken, and some, such as Dari and Tongan, are seldom spoken.

The county would pay a Klingon interpreter only in the unlikely case he or she was actually called into service. "We said, 'What the heck, let's throw it in,' " Jelusich says. "It doesn't cost us any money."

Next up: another mythical language popularized by The "Lord of the Rings" films.

"The kids," Jelusich says, "are learning to speak Elvish."

There's a crackdown going on in St. Paul, MN.

Warning: If you live within the corporate boundaries of St. Paul and haven't been a good reader, the law might throw the book at you. Specifically, "The Watsons Go to Birmingham — 1963," by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Beginning today, about two dozen St. Paul police officers will randomly ask students and other residents about their reading habits. Those who've read "The Watsons" will be rewarded with a T-shirt saying, "I Got Caught Reading by the Saint Paul Police."

Those who haven't read the book will be let off easy -- this time. They likely will be handed -- not thrown -- a copy.

"Indiana Jones IV" is currently rumored to be released July 1, 2005, which (incidently) happenes to be Indy's birthday. Go to The Indy Experience for the latest news.

Some of the people at Coming Soon! .net had a chance to post an interview done by The Indy Experience with David Yip, Paul Freeman, Julian Glover and John Rhys-Davies. Davies, who played Sallah in the original "Indiana Jones" movie and Gimli in "The Lord of the Rings" doubts there will be an Indiana Jones 4. The Indy Experience owner and webmaster, Aaron Gantt, had this to say:

"... Someone asked John if he would be in Indy 4. He said that he doubted that the film would be made, as Spielberg has 'grown' as a director. He also said it might happen but "don't hold your breath". Canyon says she thinks that he's covering up and he's been told to say that it might not be made. He also said that "Lucas and Spielberg have been talking about making it for about 10 years". While it may not be the best news, chances are it is being done to divert attention, we'll just have to wait and see..."

Read the full letter sent in by Aaron here.

Another post on Tolkien Online has an excellent article on the linguistics of Middle-Earth.

Tolkien fans speak a language all their own
By Ernesto Burden

BBC News World Edition via Tolkien Online has posted an excellent article about some newly discovered recordings of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien's Rings reading unearthed
The British Library has unearthed readings by literary giants including JRR Tolkien, Virginia Woolf and Robert Browning for release on a CD.

Read the full text here.

I know I should be finishing dinner, but I'm watching Enterprise and I just couldn't sit still with this revelation. The Borg CAN be on Earth. Remember First Contact? The Borg came back in time to assimulate Earth!!! The Borg were stopped by Captain Jean-Luc Picard and debris fell back down to Earth!!! Gotta go back to the show now!

An intersting tidbit was posted recently on Tolkien Online.

Eldárwen (our reliable TORC spy) sends along this juicy morsel:

I talked to someone who saw some ROTK clips, including the ROTK preview for the TTT DVD and he said everything looks AWESOME so far (especially the battle at Minas Tirith), we have a lot to look forward to! I am not sure if this is going to be on the preview but one thing that he saw that stood out was his note on scenes that show Pippin becoming a "warrior." :)

He also made a brief comment on the TTT extended DVD portion and says that a majority of it will be relationship focused and there will be much more on the Ents.

Funny on last night's Jay Leno:

All the politicians in Washington think Bennett is wrong. I mean, gambling with his own money. Who does that?

The Borg will appear on Enterprise Wednesday night. Could be good.

This change for Enterprise sounds promising, as reported on TrekToday. Wish I hadn't read all the spoilers.

The May 10 TV Guide previews the season finale, "The Expanse", in which a mysterious Xindi probe arrives to "blast a swath of destruction" that wipes out everything on Earth from Florida to Venezuela. "The hour ends on a chilling threat of more devastation to come", wrote Michael Logan, "but this is no mere summer cliffhanger." To meet the threat, Enterprise is made combat-ready, and Captain Archer must "become tougher and more focused", according to Braga. "He will be forced to be a more decisive captain."

Scott Bakula said he welcomed these changes and hoped they would lead to good storytelling. "For two seasons, we've been this naive, open-eyed, awestruck crew", he observed. "Now there is urgency and purpose and desperation."

Those would be beignets Sarah had, at the famous Cafe du Monde.

Some intersting backgroud for the famous Cantina Scene in Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope at Star Wars.com! It's just some tidbits about the aliens who were inside.

Hi! I'm back from New Orleans, and did I have a blast! The Taylor Band left after school on Friday, about 3:15. It took 45 min.-1hr. to get out of Houston, but we made good time to Beaumont (~5 pm, I think). We stayed for 1 & 1/2 hrs. so we could eat and do a little shopping. The mall had both a Books-A-Million and a Waldensbooks!!! I got a Mercedes Lackey (Spirits White as Lighting) and the newest Elizabeth Peter's book: Children of the Storm. I finished it in two days and the last two paragraphs made the whole thing worth paying $45 total (that includes all my books and renewing the Waldenbooks card). We made it to the hotel in New Orleans ~2 & 1/2 hrs. behind scheldual. As in 1:30 am (I got about 12 hrs. of sleep total in the 3 nights we were there).

The next day was Saturday and the day the DC Contest. Breakfast was at 6:45 and since 2 of the 4 girls needed to get a shower, we woke up at 5:30. Breakfast itself was very good. French (Freedom, I mean!) toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon. The only down side was that the orange juice was fresh squeezed, as in, very pulpy. We got over to the Pontrachin Center to play (it was a convention center. Terrible accoustincs *shudders*. The recording was fairly good, thought.) The order the bands played was this: Jazz band, Varsity, Concert, Symphonic (me!), and Wind Ensamble (there was another school's jazz band that played between Symphonic and WE). We were the only 5A school there out of the 4 or 5 schools present. There were maybe 7 bands total so the contest wasn't the best. All the bands got trophies, though, so I guess I can't complain. The best band (there were choirs in the compatition as well) wasn't us, but I can't say if we were gyped or not since I didn't get to here the band that did get it. We had a boxed lunch and went on a tour (actually, the tour guide came onto our bus and talked as we drove about). I really liked the tour. I got a picture of a Holiday Inn that had the picture of an upside down clarinet painted on the side, so that was cool. We then went to eat dinner at Michael's. The food was ok. We then went to the awards ceremony and got the trophies. While we were waiting for the final bands to arrive, the people running the contest had several beach balls that were being tossed all over the place, so that was a LOT of fun. After the ceremony, we went back to the hotel. We could have gone swimming, but it would have been for ~45 min. so my friends and I stayed in the room while Erika, a girl who got put in there with us did go swimming.

On Sunday, we got to eat breakfast at 7:45, so we got to sleep in a little! We got the same food as the day before, but with pancakes instead of french (Freedom, I mean!) toast. It was also very good. Some of the band walking groups went to church (Catholic, just fyi) but those who weren't got to stay in the hotel for another hour before we all left for Jackson Square and the French quarter. My group went to the flea market first. I got (in this order) 2 dragon statues and 2 shirts. All very cheap and very good quality. We then went to Bourboun Street. We just walked down it and the only building we went into was the resturant. Debbie and I split a 12 piece serving of fried shrimp which was very good. We also got RC Cola instead of what you get in Texas, so that was interesting. The staff wasn't the most alert one I've ever seen, but the food was good. By this time, we had ~45 min. until the buses came back so we started walking to Cafe du Monde and got the beignets that is so famous. They were good! After that, we piled into our 5 buses and drover over the Mississippi to Marde Graus World, a company that makes the floats for the parades. The tour was fairly interesting, but short. We then left, drove back over the Mississippi and went to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. It was AWESOME!!!! We saw sharks, penguins, otters and fish. I got to pet a star fish and a nurse shark!!! We then went back to the hotel and began to prepare for the band banquet. The food was ok, my table was one of the last to be served, and my friends and I all conked out at ~11 pm. Monday dinner was at 8:15, but we had to load the buses before breakfast so we all got about the same amount of sleep as the day before. Breakfast was waffles, very good. We pulled out just after 9 and began the trip home. The funniest thing (for some) happened. Bus 5 (the drumline bus!) was going 74 mph in a 70 mph zone, so it got pulled over and got a ticket *sigh*. We got to Taylor at 5:30, only 45 behind scheldual!

The trip was a lot of fun (even if I did forget to bring my camera half the time) and I'm glad I got to go. Next year, Dallas!!

This would be more fun than the Rice Festival. Too bad it's so far away...

The site where the young Tolkien played is hosting a special two day festival devoted to the author's work. Birmingham City Council, The Tolkien Society and local community groups present the fourth Tolkien Weekend in and around Sarehole Mill. Highlights will include costume drama excepts from the Hobbit and the Lord of The Rings, guided walks in Moseley Bog, Viking re-enactment's and poetry readings by Birmingham's Poet Laureate. There's also archery, a gypsy caravan complete with horse and a marquees brimming with craft displays plus many more activities for children ... it's free for all the family. Author JRR Tolkien spent his formative years in Birmingham, and Sarehole Mill and the nearby Moseley Bog were a major influence on him, with descriptions featuring in both The Hobbit - the book which introduced the world of Middle Earth - and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Tolkien Weekend
Saturday 17 - Sunday 18 May 2003
Sarehole Mill, Hall Green

Then again, there is something to consider for 2005, only two short years away.

In order to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings the Tolkien Society is planning a five day conference/convention. Preparations are at an early stage, but we hope to put on an event that will be fun and provide plenty of opportunities to discover more about The Lord of the Rings and other aspects of Tolkien's life and works. We plan to hold the conference at Aston University, Birmingham, England from 11 to 15 August 2005. This date is chosen so that people who have travelled from far parts of the world to attend Worldcon in 2005 (in Glasgow from 4 - 8 August) can go on to attend Tolkien 2005. This is a once only event and takes place over five days.