Russell Crowe makes cancer donation

Australian actor Russell Crowe, working on his “Robin Hood” film in the UK, stopped to have lunch at a cafe beside a cancer research center. He spontaneously donated about $1600 to the research center, according to The Daily Tell.

This sort of reminds me of Kevin Sorbo’s plea for donations to A World Fit For Kids, which I’ve been linking to from the Xenite.Org network (that is, I’ve been linking to A World Fit For Kids. Kevin is asking people to make $6-a-month donations.

Of course, many actors and other entertainers use their fame to help less fortunate people. Actor David Arquette is seeking to help raise $250,000 for Snickers’ Feeding America program. Frankly, I’m kind of disgusted by the latest Snickers ads but at least they’re trying to do something good.

Kudos to Arquette for taking on a challenging task.

Listen to “Raw Hobbit” from MERPCon V

I had fun doing the “Raw Hobbit” session with Tolkien fans at the MERPCon V gaming event on Saturday. Hawke Robinson has now uploaded the audio (and I think video) to the MERPCon Web site.

You can listen to me interview members of the audience in “Raw Hobbit”, which was inspired by William Shatner’s “Raw Nerve” talk show, where he sits in a chair that faces past his guest’s chair and they discuss tough subjects.

I still don’t see the video as I write this, but you should be able to watch “Raw Hobbit” here when the video becomes available. Hawke had some technical problems with the camera and he said he thought the video would be a bit rough.

“Raw Hobbit” lasted about 47 minutes. I do hear static in the audio feed, especially when my guests were talking. I wore the microphone and they had none. You should be able to hear most of what is said.

“Raw Hobbit” was broadcast live from the event and there were no scripts or cue cards.

“Raw Hobbit” from MerpCon V

I did my solo panel yesterday at MerpCon V and decided at the last moment to shake things up a bit. Instead of just doing another talk (I’ve done so many through the years) I decided to borrow a page from William Shatner’s book and reinvent myself as a talk show host.

So on a whim I set up two chairs in the presentation room ala Shatner’s “Raw Nerve” set and invited members of the audience to sit and talk with me. I asked them hard, pointed questions (well, as hard and pointed as I could think of on the spot with no preparation).

The people seemed to like it. Hawke Robinson, the organizer for MERPCon, recorded the session and should make it available somewhere down the road.

I enjoyed speaking with other fans and sharing the limelight. Later this morning (10:00 PM Pacific Time) I’ll be hosting a panel with young Tolkien fans. That session will be broadcast live as all MERPCon events are.

Some representatives from SpoCon 2009 dropped by to check out MERPCon. They’re interested in building a Tolkien track next year and are talking with Hawke. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.

Hawke and I will also be doing a live broadcast of Middle-earth Talk Radio tonight at 5:00 PM (Pacific Time Zone) from MERPCon. I hope you can check it out.