Some people think beret, bongo drums and cigarettes when they think poetry. Fair?

People think poetry is a guy in a basement smoking French cigarettes, and that it doesn't have a place in our modern, high-paced world of computers and TV. I don't agree. I don't have a beret.

When you were filming the Rings trilogy, ever climb a mountain to write poems?

We were often in mountains, so I would write there. But you can write anywhere. I've written poems in airplanes, in subways, taxis, even in the bathtub.

Okay, we must ask: Ever use poetry to land chicks?

I've tried, but I don't think it actually works.

One of your works is posted on a Poets Against the War web site. Are you against it?

I do feel it was ill-advised to ignore so many countries and so many millions of people around the world and in our own country who had very strong feelings about diplomacy. I don't think our government really tried that at all. The agenda seemed to be set, and I think that's dangerous.

Is the war you're waging in the Rings trilogy justified?

That's about how a person - even a small person like a Hobbit - can make a difference, and how it's essential to work together and look past differences.

You write, paint and photograph. You're a jazz musician and an equestrian. Do you bowl?

I'm a decent bowler.

Anything you can't do?

I don't know. I'm just trying to get the most out of the ride.