Fantastically Fun Fridays: March 16, 2012

Happy Friday, everyone!  We hope that this week, which includes both Pi Day and St. Patrick's Day, has been a fun and exciting one for you all.

So, this falls under the category of "taking-a-stand-without-knowing-the-full-story," but several news outlets  have reported this week on various well-loved pubs and eating establishments with "hobbit" in their names that are being threatened with legal action by Hollywood--something that I find ridiculous.  The Saul Zantz Company (SZC) owns the merchandising rights to The Hobbit film, and so they are taking this as the opportunity to require places like The Hobbit in Southampton, England, and The Hungry Hobbit in Birmingham, England to change their names and remove all references to The Lord of the Rings.  As the folks at TorrentFreak kindly point out, however, the term "hobbit" predates Tolkien, making this whole thing even more absurd.  The good news that that support for these places has been strong--including actor Stephen Fry calling the whole thing "pointless, self-defeating bullying."  And that's from a man who is in the movie.  Fortunately, SZC seems willing to resolve this amicably (and cheaply), hoping to avoid a total PR disaster.  Good plan.  It's a bad idea to get in between hobbits and their second breakfasts.  And elevenses.

Here are some other interesting tidbits we found for you this week:

• Little kids who know how to use Unforgiveable Curses are, apparently, quite terrifying.  Which is probably to be expected. (Ludicrous Wing)

• Darth Vader.  Playing bagpipes.  While on a unicycle. (YouTube)

• New Game of Thrones pictures--both portraits and behind-the-scenes photos.  Season 2 is only a few weeks away! (EW)

• A very moving, beautifully personal comic about The Hunger Games by Faith Erin Hicks. (Tor)

• The CDC's lessons learned from disaster movies.  And, in case you missed it, their zombie apocalypse preparedness information. (CDC)

• There's going to be an Avatar theme park!  What rides would you like to see? (EW)

• Have you ever wondered which series comes out on top--Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings?  Well, here's your answer.  Um, maybe. (Cracked)

And with that, have a great weekend, everyone!