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July 01, 2003 - July 07, 2003

7-07-03 Latest News

Tickling the Ivory TTT Style
Tookish @ 6:21 pm EST

Sent in straight from the source!

Warner Bros. Publications Releases

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Special Keepsake Songbook

Book features movie art and Elvish lyrics

MIAMI-Pianists everywhere can now explore the spirit and grandeur of the blockbuster hit The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, thanks to a matching songbook to the hit movie, recently released by Warner Bros. Publications.

The beautifully illustrated book captures the enchanting musical spirit behind this second film in the The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Like its predecessor, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, this second installment in the film trilogy features the soaring and powerful music of Howard Shore. A Canadian-born composer, Shore won an Academy Award for The Fellowship of the Ring, and his genius is equally evident in the music for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Arranged for piano/vocal/chords, the Warner Bros. Publications book makes Shore's music in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers readily accessible to students and performers of various experience levels. The book treats us to a delightful array of memorable songs from the film, including the hauntingly beautiful "Evenstar," "Isengard Unleashed," featuring Elizabeth Fraser and Ben Del Maestro, and "Gollum's Song," performed by Emiliana Torrini, as well as "Breath of Life," "Rohan," and "Forth Eorlingas."

Printed on exquisite velvet crème paper stock, giving the book an antique tone throughout, the book includes 10 pages of dramatic color photos from the movie. The richly illustrated front and back covers also depict images that will be familiar to all fans of the film. Die-hard Lord of the Rings fans will love that the book features the Elvish lyrics to several songs.

"We expect this book to become a collector's item," said Jeannette Delisa, pop product line manager for Warner Bros. Publications. "The Lord of the Rings trilogy has left an indelible impression on many people from all walks of life. Fans will value this book as a keepsake."

The Two Towers is the second Lord of the Rings songbook offered by Warner Bros. Publications (WBP). Fans of the film will want to build their Lord of the Rings print music collection by adding The Fellowship of the Ring collector's songbook, produced by WBP. The company is also planning a keepsake collection from the forthcoming film, Return of the King.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers companion songbook has a suggested retail price of $14.95, and makes a great collector's item in time for the DVD and VHS release of the movie from New Line Home Video on August 26, 2003.

TheOneRing.net at ComicCon 2003
maegwen @ 5:12 pm EST

ComicCon 2003, July 17-20, is swiftly approaching! The day 1 schedule is now online, with days 2-4 to be posted shortly. Your friends at TheOneRing.net will not only have a booth, but will also present a panel discussion on all-things Tolkien.

4:30-5:30 TheOneRing.net: Lord of the Rings- TheOneRing®.net-Earth's largest Tolkien website-presents a panel of "Tolkien experts" to answer all your burning questions. Topics will range from The Professor himself, The Lord of the Rings and other works both in and out of Middle-earth to Tolkien fandom over the decades and how LotR/JRRT is affecting life today on the Internet, in cultures across the globe, and of course, in the movies. Presenters will include four TORn staff, including Quickbeam and Ostadan, two contributing authors of The People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien. If you miss the panel but want to get some TORn this weekend, visit their booth in the Exhibit Hall. Room 6A.

Tolkien Events in Italy
Xoanon @ 10:35 am EST

Robert writes: This is a great week for Tolkien fans in Italy. Indeed, two very interesting events are occurring these days.

The first is called Verso la Contea (Towards the Shire) and is happening at Trani between 10 and 13 of july, in the charming set of the Colonna Monastery. "It will become the Hobbiton of the south of Italy", said Oronzo Cilly, promoter of the happening and Italian Tolkien Society Foreign Events Organiser, referring to the most important event happening every year in Udine and promoted by the Italian Tolkien Society. Verso la Contea is going to host a great exhibition with a hundred works (between original paintings and copies) and a hundred objects connected with Tolkien's world and with the movies. There will be many meetings, with the presence of the Italian Tolkien Society president Paolo Paron, representatives of the english and french Tolkien Societies, two people (Francesco Vairano and Pino Insegno) involved in the dubbing of the movie and a manager from Medusa (the company which gets the rights for the movie here), who will announce officially that ROTK will be released in december in our country. Moreover, it will be introduced the great event of Bruxelles 2004 (which could be the most important one occurring in Europe next year), created by the Italian Tolkien Society with the support of the english one. Last but not least, many diplomatics and politicians will join the celebration. Among them, the New Zealand ambassador in Italy Peter Bennett, the mayor of Trani Giuseppe Tarantini, the President of the Levante Fiera Luigi Lobuono, the President of the Puglia region Raffaele Fitto and the member of the european Parliament Roberto Bigliardo. You can read the full program (in italian) by clicking here: [More]

The second event, Festa Tolkieniana (Tolkienian Fest) will occur in Florence in Villa Favard Park between the 10th and the 12th of july. The first day will see an exhibition of european folklore realised by La Compagnia della Forca. The second day the audience might listen to some readings of Tolkien works, made by actors of the Terra di Prato group. On saturday, the event is ending with a show of traditional dances. The program is available here: [More]

Rocky Horror Ringer Show Report and Pics
Xoanon @ 10:12 am EST

Orangeblossom Brambleburr writes: The Rocky Horror Ringer Show in Portland went great! We have a full recap with pictures on Bit of Earth now.

[Click here for the images]

The event began slowly, and in proper BitofEarth tradition, with ticket sale issues. Once again, we've had difficulty with false sell-out notices; this is, sadly, one of those things that will happen when you sub-book an event with a theater. We have done as much as we can to counter it, and will continue to do so. This event, being such a short-notice fundraiser, was particularly vulnerable. Our apologies to the many people who were erroneously turned away.

The good news is that our event was more than two-thirds filled, and the crowd was more than rowdy enough to suffice! We had a high population of fun and energetic fans, all of whom were amazingly quick with the jokes (in fact, I think many of the fans in attendance had been waiting for a chance to yell out what they usually whisper to their neighbor).

The festivities started out with Orangeblossom as emcee, leading a virgin call. There were eight people who had either never seen the movie, or hadn't seen it for more than three months (at least, there were three who would admit to such a thing!). The first contest was for three folks to do their best Boromir death scene. First went the youngest attendee, aged eight (who quickly acquired the nickname of "Little Boromir"), who eschewed Boromir's big-shield-like-dinner-plate and turned forth the most realistic of the three scenes. Contestant number two was also Orangeblossom's mother, who performed a very dramatic (and properly guilt inspiring) death. "You tried to kill me with your grades!" (arrow to chest). "You tried to kill me with your friends!" (arrow to chest) "You tried to kill me with your cooking!" (arrow to chest) "But the wait to get into the theater! That did it!" (collapses). Contestant number three (after thanking the academy) put on a very nearly endless, staggering, protesting scene, wherein her friend threw the arrows at her. The performance continued until Orangeblossom asked Legolas to shoot her again. Audience cheers indicated Little Boromir was the winner, and he was duly presented with the arrows and shield as his prize.

The second event was a contest for the best Nazgul scream. Two brave (if somewhat daunted) young women hashed it out with their most piercing shrieks, the first contestant walking away with an Eye of Sauron keychain.

The third and final virgin call involved three very surprised young women being presented with hobby horses and informed that they were now the Riders of Rohan, and would be expected to perform in two scenes as cast memebers. They were very brave, and were tremendously good sports, and the staff and cast were very grateful.

The calls done with, we announced the costume contest, judged by Bit of Earth Staffer and professional costume designer Vanadriel. We had an excellent turnout, although our runway dancing was cut off when the cd player attempted to consume the disc--evidently, it disapproved of RuPaul.

Still, the contestants put on a great show. First prize (a Two Towers
Aragorn action figure) went to a lovely Galadriel costume; second prize (Fellowship of the Ring CD cards) to cast member Legolas (who declared it to be Lembas and attempted to take a bite), and third prize (a Sam and Frodo bookmark) went to a young elf maiden.

Rules were announced (keep it PG-13, don't throw anything sticky, wet,
sharp, or alive, and have fun) and the reels began. Trailers for Dumb and Dumberer and Final Destination were shown, to great jeering and booing.

Once the movie proper started, the wisecracks were fast and furious, as were great cheers as people saw actors they liked (particular shrieks for Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, Sean Bean, and Billy Boyd. Surprisingly few squeals for Orlando). There were many references to the fanfic The Very Secret Diaries, Monty Python and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, among countless other Pop Culture remarks, as well as a sustantial
Arwen-bashing. Other memorable quotes included (in no particular order):

(as the camera slowly pans over Caradharas) Ok, we've established there are mountains!

(as Gandalf catches Glamdring) By the Power of Greyskull! I have the Power!

(upon seeing Faramir) It's Diet Boromir! Tastes Great, Less Annoying!

(at the death of the first orc at Helms Deep) Oh my god! They killed Kenny!

(Sam: What's that horrid stench?) It's Frodo's feet!

(entrance of Wormtongue) Sorry Jack, Chucky's back!

(as Frodo coaxes Gollum) Here boy! *whistles*

(Theoden: Where is my son?, cut to shot of a flower) He turned into a
flower?!

In addition to the great showcasing of geekly wit, cast members acted out selected scenes from the movie (as the movie played in the background). All performances were lit by a spotlight, acquired and manned by our Technical Specialist, Moerwen. Though it does it little justice, here is a description of the skits that were performed:

The Taming of Smeagol: Acted out by Mr. Frodo (as guess who), Shireling (as Sam) and Little Sam (as Gollum). Little Sam's performance as Gollum (though she was dressed in a white bodysuit with a pair of underwear on her head, to mock up Andy Serkis's motion capture suit) was particularly amazing, as she mimiced Gollum's writhings to an almost creepy degree.

During all scenes of Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas running through Rohan, our cast ran back and forth, up and down the aisle. Shopping Cart Bob (as Gimli) trailed behind our Aragorn (who goes by the handle of Snoodle Girl at The Prancing Pony) and Legolas (Christened Steve of Mirkwood, who joined the cast by showing up, in full costume, at our dress rehersal). They were joined by our last-minute Riders of Rohan, who bravely trotted their hobby horses down the aisle as Eomer appeared on screen. If this particular skit had any more Ham in it, we'd have had to open a deli.

At the pile of Dead Smoking Orcs, Orangeblossom crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue to simulate the staked head.

In the dead marshes, our Frodo stood on a theater seat to do a dramatic face plant, then staggered about in blue spotlight as hands reached up to pull him underwater (well, at least to pull him offstage).

As the first Ringwraith appeared, a teddy bear dressed as a dragon and
tied on a string to a stick was "flown" across the screen.

The arrival of Gandalf the White: Our Gimli, Aragorn and Legolas cowered before a white robed figure, who finally cast off the hood to reveal Orangeblossom, sporting a forehead scar and a pair of rounded black glasses. Harry Potter the White was very nearly booed offstage. Blasphemy! But with much laughter.

As Gandalf summoned Shadowfax, a sparkly hobbyhorse was trotted across the screen.

Treebeard carrying Merry and Pippin after presenting them to the White
Wizard: Treebeard (really Shopping Cart Bob in a sheet, with a paper bag covered in leaves on his head) carried Merry (Little Sam again,
recostumed) on his shoulders and Pippin (Diamond) at his side down the
aisle.

As Gandalf casts off his grey cloak before Theoden, Orangeblossom stood up in a gray cloak, then with a flourish showed it to be reversible. The cloak was courtesy of costumer Vanadriel and costume-wearer Gandalf, who we are very grateful to.

Eowyn showing off her sword skills: Our Eowyn (Diamond, recostumed)
matched lightsabres with Aragorn. Diamond's swordwork was very nearly
perfectly accurate--go her!

On the Road to Helm's Deep: Gimli and Aragorn rode hobbyhorses down the aisle, Eowyn walking beside Gimli. Gimli took a spectacular tumble off his hobbyhorse, landing offstage at th feet of a very surprised Orangeblossom, who'd never assumed that "a little shoulder roll" would be so spectacular. Don't worry--in this case it was deliberate

Aragorn dreams of Arwen: Amidst the howls and catcalls, Gollum crept up to the screen and made a highly inappropriate grabbing motion. We won't tell you exactly what scene, or what he did, but if you know what we're talking about, you know enough.

Gollum goes Schizophrenic / Herbs and Stewed Rabbit: Little Sam, perched on the back of a theater seat, turned out another amazing performance as Gollum, then presented Frodo with a pair of oversized and cartoonish toy bunnies. Erm, coneys. Which Sam snatched away in great indignance. Also, as Sam discussed Po-Tay-Toes with Gollum, a potato and a box of Instant Mashed Potatoes were held up in front of the screen.

Oliphants: A pair of Beanie Baby mammoths on sticks strutted across the screen.

The Forbidden Pool: Gollum beat a small, stuffed dolphin to death on a theater seat before being lured up the aisle by Frodo.

Return of Aragron at Helm's Deep: With much fanfare, our Aragorn was greeted by Gimli and Legolas, mugged a tremendous amount, then burst open the theater doors. Again, great quantities of hamminess, and much cheese to boot. The three of them together is a dangerous mix.

As the torch-bearing-orc runs toward the Deeping Wall, a valiant audience member (grabbed as our Orc, Milton, was unable to attend at the last moment) carried a flashlight down the aisle, running in slow motion as the entire audience hummed Chariots of Fire.

The explosion at Helm's Deep: The audience in the first several rows was quite surprised to be showered with large chunks of styrofoam.

As Legolas pulled Gimli and Aragorn up the rope, Our Gimli and Aragorn staggered up the aisle, pulled by Legolas at the top row of seats.

Treebeard summoning the Ents to Isenguard: TreeBob carried Merry and Pippin down the aisle, then threw his head back and howled in anguish. Except that Our Ent was heard to yell "FRITOOOOOoooooooooooooooos!" Bob's weird.

First Nazgul at Osgiliath: The dragon-costumed-bear did a second flight across the screen.

The Horn of Helm Hammerhand: Gimli (Bobli?) blew, with great style and enthusiasm, on a pair of PVC pipes wrapped in duct tape.

As Gandalf Saves the Day: Orangeblossom donned her cloak and Blasphemous Harry Potter glasses again and rode her faithful hobbyhorse down the aisle, accompanied by the three brave Riders of Rohan. We call this scene Gandalf ex Machina

Frodo offers the Ring to the Nazgul: Our Frodo stood on a theater seat and solemnly offered the ring to the flying TeddyBear/Dragon, until our Sam yanked him offstage.

Finally, as Gollum spoke eerily of "Her," a small stuffed spider was waved across the screen.

After the event, most of the cast and a few others went to the International House of Pancakes for a post-show feast. No lembas was served, so Legolas made do with vanilla ice cream. The hobbits put away vast amounts of pancakes, and a good time was had by all.

[Click here for the images]

7-06-03 Latest News

Red Carpet NZ Report and Photos
Xoanon @ 9:20 pm EST

[Click here for the images]

Cindy from Tennessee writes:

To anyone who has a chance to go on Red Carpet TOur's Return of the King Tour in December, go! We just returned from a fantastic trip! You can see many sites used in TTT as well as FOTR, such as the Rohan village lake, war rock, where Pippin dropped his elven brooch, the orc mound, and where Gandalf whistled for Shadowfax. We took a helicopter flight with Alfie Speight, who flew Peter Jackson and Andrew Lesnie, flying over peaks used for the opening sequence of TTT and the peak on which Gandalf battled the balrog and threw him down. We went 4-wheeling with an Uruk Hai extra (you won't believe which one he was!). Ate at the Redcliffe Cafe - I sat in Frodo's seat! You'll love the beauty of New Zealand, so sign up soon as spaces are going fast!

We are HUGE fans of TORN! THanks for all you do for ringers all over the world!

[Click here for the images]

Translation of Aftonbladet Article
Calisuri @ 2:54 am EST

Thanks to Ringer Di0nne we have a translation of the Aftonbladet article from Swedish to English.

---------

Viggo celebrated his award with Swedish flag

The “Lord of the Rings” star accepts Filmstar in New Zeeland

Aftonbladet’s readers voted him best foreign actor of 2002. Aragorn, aka Viggo Mortensen, was so happy that he drew a Swedish flag.

“Many thanks! I’ll have to go and show this to my son Henry”

Viggo Mortensen has received Aftonbladet’s award Filmstar. Dressed as Aragorn, he is there to film a new scene for “the Return of the King”.

Then he comes running and finds me again.

“Look at what I’ve done. That’s a bit better, don’t you think?” says Viggo Mortensen.

In his hand he has a Swedish flag. Stuck to a pen.

Fluent Danish

Viggo Mortensen has a Danish father and an American mother and speaks several languages fluently. With me he’s speaking Danish.

He is in New Zealand’s capital city Wellington to complete further scenes for “The Return of the King”. His son Henry is with him. It was him that convinced his dad that he must say yes to the role of Aragorn.

Viggo Mortensen shakes my hand several times whilst thanking me for the award. He has a half gauntlet on his right hand and a couple of his fingers are bleeding.

Jackson is mad

“Yes we are filming a battle scene with the army of the dead” he says “Peter Jackson is totally mad”

But the director himself looks calm and happy when we meet him a little later to give him his Filmstar for the years best foreign film 2002 “The Two Towers”.

“Tolkein would have appreciated this award for the film. He was very influenced by the Scandanavian sagas when he created his mythology” says Peter Jackson “Aftonbladet’s readers have good taste”

How is the third film going?

“Everything is under control. Its relaxed and cheerful. It’s the most enjoyable post-production out of all three films despite it being more complicated” says Peter Jackson.

Jens Peterson
05/07/2003
Aftonbladet
--------
See the original article here


7-05-03 Latest News

Hall Of Fire Chats This Weekend
Demosthenes @ 7:08 am EST

Intent on drawing forth Sauron's hidden strength, the Army of the West marches on Mordor. Seemingly bent on self destruction, they provocatively cross the Anduin, set the fields of Morgul Vale aflame and proclaim the return of the Lords of Gondor.

The Black Gates Open

At the Morannon, Aragorn arrays his host on two great hills before the Towers of the Teeth, and the Captains of the West ride to parley with the mysterious Mouth of Sauron, an ambassador of the Dark Tower. Bt instead they are shocked with the display of Sam and Frodo's gear - as Denethor put it, it does indeed semm as though the fool's hope has failed. Soon Sauron's forces pour out of the Black gate, surrounding the Army of the West.

What do you think about the strategies of Gandalf and Aragorn? Are they heedless to even enter Morgul Vale, and why does Gandalf insist on Aragorn's return be heralded? Who is the Mouth of Sauron? What is his background? And does Gandalf merely hope at the very end, or does he realise something that his companions do not?

We'll also take a closer look at Pippin. What are his motivations, and how does this cheerful hobbit face up to the challenge of being a soldier of the White Tower?

Join us this weekend in #thehallofire as we explore the final chapter of Book 5 of Lord of the Rings.

Upcoming Topics:
July 12-13: Trees & Tolkien:
July 19-20: Tooks and Brandybucks
July 26-27: What fascinates you most about LoTR and Middle-earth?
August 2-3: RoTK, Book 6, Chapter 1: The Tower of Cirith Ungol.
August 9-10: Tolkien and Canon
August 16-17: Colours in Tolkien's World
August 23-24: RoTK, Book 6, Chapter 2: The Land of Shadow:

Times:

Saturday Chat:
5:30pm ET (17:30)
[also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]

Sunday Chat:
7:00 pm (19:00) CET
[also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]

ET = Eastern Time, USA's East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AET = Australian East Coast

Having trouble working out a time zone near you? Try this.

Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at halloffire@theonering.net. And don't forget that you can check out previous chats here.

7-04-03 Latest News

Rocky Horror Ringer Show In Portland
Demosthenes @ 1:56 pm EST

Orangeblossom from BitofEarth.net sends along this announcement of a Rocky Horror-style showing of Two Towers in the Portland area on July 5. If you're a fan of MST3k-ing and Rocky Horror - and LoTR - this could be a great night out for you!

BitofEarth.net, the website that brought you the Long Expected Party and Project Elanor, is putting on a fundraising event like no other. The Rocky Horror Ringer show is a fun, quirky, irreverent showing of The Two Towers with a twist, perfect for all those Northwest Rings fans who are tired of being told to sit down, shut up, and keep their hairy feet to themselves during their favourite movie.

What: An MST3K/Rocky Horror-style showing of the movie where everyone is free to snark, plus a variety of other cool events including an Emcee, a lowest-bidder Minion Auction, a Costume Contest (for best AND worst costumes), a Virgin Call, and a Live-Cast performance of selected scenes.

Where: The Avalon Theatre, 3451 SE Belmont St., Portland, Oregon

When: 8:30-Midnight, July 5

Who: Up to 65* Hobbits, Dwarves, Men, Elves, Ents, Dark Forces, and yes, even dates.

Why: A fundraiser for the December LotR convention TentMoot 2003

How Much: $10, includes movie ticket

How To Buy Tickets: Payment may be mailed or brought in person (checks or money order made out to Bit of Earth, cash also acceptable) to 9629 SE 43rd Ave Milwaukie, OR 97222 prior to Wednesday, July 2. After that, tickets may be purchased at the door on the night of the event. First come first serve, no reserve tickets, NO EXCEPTIONS. Please call 503-353-3095 with any questions.

BitofEarth is also putting out a casting call for anyone interested in participating in the live-cast performance. Actors must have no shame, supply their own costumes and transportation, and be willing to come to a rehearsal on the evening of the 3rd, exact time to be decided dependant on the schedules of whoever winds up offering to come make fools of themselves. Actors may be male or female, age 13 to Immortal. Resemblance is a plus, but takes a distant second place to willingness to have fun!

WE NEED:
Gimli
Legolas
Aragorn
Sam

IT WOULD BE COOL IF WE COULD GET:
Gandalf
Pippin

DON'T BOTHER, WE ALREADY HAVE A:
Eowyn
Frodo
Gollum
Treebeard
Merry

DON'T BOTHER, WE'RE NOT INTERESTED IN:
Anyone else!

See you there!
The Staff of BitofEarth.net
Enquiries to orangeblossom@bitofearth.net

* Admission will be sold on a first come, first served basis. STRICTLY LIMITED to 65, so get your tickets early!

Summermoot in Speyside, Scotland
Tehanu @ 1:55 pm EST

Summermoot in Scotland, August 2nd & 3rd

Summermoot is an opportunity for TS members (& others) to join together and visit an area: whether for walking or browsing bookshops, in the Speyside region of Scotland, close to Inverness and Elgin. [More]

Speyside

Speyside is famous for its malt whisky. It also has dolphins, castles and walks, as well as the Cairngorm Mountains, amongst many other attractions. Cawdor Castle of Macbeth fame is just down the road, along with Culloden Moor, the site of the end of the failed 1745 Jacobite rising.

We are trying to arrange a visit to Darnaway Castle, which is owned and lived in by the Earl of Moray. In the castle is Randalf’s Hall, an impressive room with pictures of many of the Stuarts. The castle is not normally open to the public and this would be a private visit.

A few miles south, and only about ten minutes or so by car, is Lochindorb; completely different scenery to Darnaway: open moorland, heather. The roads through the moorland are marked by snow poles and they can be closed by snow gates. The transition from forest to moorland is quite sudden. Get in the right spot and you can see for miles, and miles, and miles. Consequently the roads can be quite fast, though they are sufficiently narrow (at least in places) to require a certain amount of caution when passing another vehicle. They are also twisty, with many gradients. Lochindorb itself is the shell of a 14th-century castle on an island in the loch where Alexander Stewart, the Wolf of Badenoch, had his stronghold and was also imprisoned; he razed Elgin Cathedral, the ruins of which can still be seen. The Loch itself is an excellent venue for windsurfing; there are many places to pull off the road that runs along the side of it from where to either go windsurfing or to watch those who are. However, the only way to reach the castle on the island is by boat; though I suspect that it would also be possible to windsurf to it.

There is also Randalf’s Leap, a local walk along the edge of the River Findhorn, where the river runs through a deep, spectacular sandstone chasm. There are fishermen’s steps down to the river. Another castle is Brodie Castle, which dates from 1567.

For shopping there is Brodie Country fair. Alternatively, there are a variety of woodland walks, where it may be possible to see the local wildlife: hares, ospreys, red squirrels, herons and roe deer. For the more adventurous and a little further a-field, there are the Cairngorms to explore: though for those less inclined to walk or climb to the top there are Chair Lifts—however, warm clothing is recommended regardless of the method used to get to the top.

Attending
Attending Summermoot is free; however, you will need to arrange your own accommodation and food.

For accommodation there are local B&Bs. These can be found on the Highlands of Scotland tourism board website or by phone: 0845 22 55 121 (+44 1506 832 121 outside the UK). Alternatively, there is free camping available. If there is sufficient interest the local village hall could be made available.

Please register your interest in Summermoot by emailing: summermoot AT tolkiensociety DOT org.
Accommodation
Some accommodation information for establishments close to Darnaway. Please be aware that the Tolkien Society is not responsible for these establishments, nor is the Society connected with them in any way. The Society has not vetted them and so are unable to verify their suitability.
B&Bs in Nairn
Hilary McLeod: 01667 453 330

Sarah Marwick: 01667 455 309

Hannah McLeod: 01667 452 457
B&Bs just north of Darnaway
The Old Kirk, Dyke By Forres, Morayshire. IV36 2TL
oldkirk AT gms DOT net
Tel: 01309 641 414
Fax: 01309 641 057 [More]

There are many other B&Bs in the area. Contact the Aberdeen & Grampian Tourist Board The Forres Tourist Information Centre: 116 High Street, Forres. Tel: +44(0)1309 672 938

Jedicon Report and Images
Xoanon @ 1:48 pm EST

[Click here for the images]

Shelob writes:

BRAZILIAN TOLKIEN SOCIETIES UNITED IN THE 4TH JEDICON

Four major Brazilian Tolkien Communities joined forces to honor our Friends of the Jedi Council, participating of a huge event in São Paulo, Brazil, last weekend. The 4th Jedicon was lauched by Star Wars fans, but invited all fans of Sci Fi and Fantasy. The result was the collision of many Universes – fortunately, nothing dangerous happened, and one could find Elves walking with Stormtroopers, Harry Potter talking to Princess Leia, and the Enterprise crew contacting Hobbits. The Brazilian Tolkiendili communities involved were: the White Council (Conselho Branco), Na Toca do Hobbit, Valinor and Heren Hyarmeno. All stayed together to help trekkies, excers, pottermaniacs, jedi masters and everyone else, from each alternate universe, to get a glimpse of Middle Earth. There was a Super Tolkien Quiz, disputed by Elves, Humans, Ents and Nazgul. Surprisingly, the winner was the Morgul Team... More information and pictures may be found in www.conselhosp.com.br.

Namárië! And may the Force be with you.

Rosana "Shelob" Rios

[Click here for the images]

7-03-03 Latest News

UK LOTR Exhibit Info
Xoanon @ 10:15 am EST

Lisse writes: I e-mailed the Science Museum in London about the LOTR exhibit, and was told that tickets go on sale on Tuesday (July 8th, 2003) at 9am (London time). I am told that the exhibit will have over 700 props (costumes, weapons, jewellery, etc.), and 15 stations showing roughly 40 documentaries on making the films. It's a timed ticket event, and will include props, special effects and advanced cinema techniques. The show runs from September 16 to January 11. Ticket prices (in pounds sterling) are as follows:

The booking line number is 0870 870 4868 (country code: 44)

Monday - Friday: Adults 9.95, Children/Concessions: 6.95
Saturday - Sunday: Adults 11.95, Children/Concessions: 8.95

Website: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

Italy's 'Ciak' Magazine Translation!
Xoanon @ 10:04 am EST

THE LAST RING

[Click here to view the article]

At 11am on June 21 in Wellington as in the rest of the world, the Fifth book of Harry Potter is out: in the very same day Frodo, protected by Sam, was fighting for his life in the enormous spider Shelob’s lair, in an ambush setup by Gollum, during the traditional Pick-ups. Harry Potter was, at least in the cinema, the best rival for The Lord Of The Rings, at least until the second installment gained less then the first one. The opposite was true for The Two Towers, which overcame FotR by many millions of dollars. If it will run all as anticipated, The Return Of The King, the last installment, should gain more than a billion dollars overseas.

It’s been seven years that Peter Jackson has worked on what he always considered a whole, one movie, divided in three parts, exactly like Tolkien’s novels, divided in three books by the editor. And it’s been seven years that he say he lives his personal ‘marmot’s day’, that is to live the same day every day, as in the 1993 Bill Murray movie ‘Groundhog Day’. I.e., today, June 22, he woke up at 5am, put on his very famous shorts, began the shooting at 8am, and, in spite of the rain, moved from a set to another, as usual on his red bicycle Challenge model, recognizable by the skull on the handle. The skull is a souvenir from Shelob’s lair, where there are also some dangling, mummified corpses, which are imprisoned in synthetic webs made by an elasticized fiber of boiled-vegetal-oil (220°C!!!).

Frodo and Sam continue to fight her in front of a Blue Screen, because Shelob, female spider, it’s under ‘gestation’ in Weta Digital! During the years she is continuously changed (the movies were shot at the same time in 274 days between 1999 and 2000). At the beginning, she was a little 30-cm model who didn’t frighten anybody. In the end, she will be a 5-meters high monster, destined to frighten first of all Peter Jackson, who loves splatter movies but is arachnophobic (like Tolkien too!). The last model is a NZ spider called Tunnel Web, that is little and innocuous, but was super-sized by the computer! Shelob, who is different from the other spiders of the cinema, will be really fast, but stops in a second to fix her eyes on her prey.

Jackson’s pickups are not re-shootings, but little additions, sometime only a sentence, a glance, looking for a psychological deepening. Jackson says: ‘RotK is the movie that has to justify the other two installments’. He shoots every scene ten times, from multiple angles. He decided this in the very beginning of the production, inserting this ‘vice’ in the production budget of $310 millions. In the end he will exceed 500 hours of film, reducing them to only 10 hours.

Every Friday the troupe organize a raffle with prizes taken from
merchandising, but every month of pick-ups (they will end on July 10) was a long feast. Every time an actor came back home, they had a party and gifts. It’s happened with Arwen (Liv Tyler), Eowyn (Miranda Otto), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Gandalf (Ian McKellen). The 4 hobbits have to do another week, while Saruman (Christopher Lee) has not arrived yet. It’s a soft atmosphere, like in the end of the movie when most of the characters leave Middle Earth in the Grey Heavens. Elijah Wood, who promised an annual assembly with all the members of the cast and crew, says: ‘Do you know when I could shoot another time the most important movie of my life?’

The RotK is PJ most-liked part of the trilogy. Producer Barrie Osborne
says ‘go to the cinema with tissues!’. Hobbit Merry (Dominic Monaghan), who saw a pre-edited copy of the movie, cried during the whole last 8 minutes. The plot is full of weddings, coronations, ambushes, suicides, betrayal, but also the biggest battle of the history of cinema: 200,000 orcs in Pelennor field! We’ll see a new, sophisticated city (Minas Tirith) and a new race: The Pirates (oriental in origin). Faramir will have his 15 minutes of fame, while a new entry, Denethor (Australian actor John Noble), steward of Gondor, is a Shakespearian-tragic character. We will see him in the longer version of TTT (47 minutes longer!!) which contains three key- scenes: Eowyn’s declaration of love to Aragorn, Aragorn’s declaration of age (87 years old!) and the growth of 10 cm. of Marry and Pippin after drinking an Ent-drink. If we had a ‘The Middle Earth Times’, here we would have the last news:

-World premiere of RotK on December 1

-European premiere on December 10 in Berlin

-Italian premiere in Rome on December 13

After LotR, Peter Jackson is going to direct a remake: King Kong, the most famous gorilla of the planet. It will be a digital creature, but humanized like Gollum: voices speak about the same actor to give life to Kong: Andy Serkis.

7-02-03 Latest News

Media Watch: Fyns Stiftstidende Talks Mortensen
Xoanon @ 7:07 pm EST

When Viggo read out loud

ART: The actor Viggo Mortensen was nearly appreciated
for his poems

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By: Karsten ,. Nielsen
Photo: Kim Rune

Translation by: Maria Hagbjärn Ringer Spy: Saga

ODENSE: They’re at the door. Dressed in yellow. “Control” is says on their shirts, like it was a logo from an expensive clothing line. Five harsh looking men are to keep the women away. Nothing is left unnoticed when a star comes to town. Not even when it’s the third day he’s there- nor when the occasion is something as harmless as poetry.

Autographs

Slowly the big crowd of press people and women of all ages are let in to Magasinet – in to Viggo, who everybody calls the world-famous star from the Lord of the Rings films, Viggo Mortensen. But one is kept standing and waiting. It’s Connie Albrechtsen. Next to two tables by the stairs she’s standing handing out notes.

- It’s in case people want autographs. Then they get a piece of paper to write their names on. It’s easier for Viggo if the name is already written, so he can spell it correctly, she says. And only two autographs each. There’s no time for any more.

Cameras, no thank you Inside the room they are waiting. On 400 chairs are women chatting like only women do. Excited, with their fingers on their cameras. In just a moment he’ll be there, the prince on the white horse. Aragorn, as he’s called in the films. Or Viggo, as everyone here calls him. The doors are closing and the excitement rises. Viggo is coming. But first a message.

- I’m asking you not to take ant photos whilst Viggo reading his poems, says Lis from Magasinet and gets startled by all the flashing cameras, when the curtains are pulled. Viggo, the prince, knows exactly what to do. He picks a flower from the flowerpot with pink roses and timidly hands in to Lis.

In three languages – and singing And so there he is. Viggo. Reading his poems. He’s barefoot, cause as a nature child he could never dream of trapping his feet inside evil shoes. His hair is messy and he hardly ever looks up. Just like the misunderstood artist he is. In Danish he tries to read the poems, that he once wrote. But then they were in English. And now they’re translated into Danish and much more difficult. He often stops, and tries again. But the message gets through. Clear as sunshine.

- I wrote this poem the first time USA attacked Iraq, he says about the poem Letters from Nebraska, before he nervously stutters the words. Later on the language changes. First to English. Then Spanish. All alone he sings something about the silence, the flowers and the evenings. In Spanish. But the women understand him. They applaud him afterwards. In audience And suddenly it’s over. There won’t be any more poems that evening. But there will be many autographs.

- If you all will get in line and get up here one by one, I’ll write on a paper, a book or wherever now you want it, Viggo lures. And the women are lured. Waving their papers they line up in the heat and watch Viggo, the prince from the Lord of the Rings. And everybody gets what they came for. Two autographs for everyone. At least.

- We won’t stop until everyone has got an autograph, says a security guard. No, nothing is spared when a world-famous star comes to town.

Translation by: Maria Hagbjärn Ringer Spy: Saga

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They Cropped Anduril!
Xoanon @ 3:52 pm EST

They Cropped Anduril!

I know this has been debated before, but John son of Joe sent this along and I had to post it:

I have always liked the detail that they put into all the swords in the movies, but when I saw the new teaser poster of Aragorn holding Narsil, I said "Hey, wait a minute. Narsil and Anduril are full two handed swords. And Aragorn isn't holding a two handed sword."

So I went out and got a teaser poster image and a shot of Narsil and over laid one on the other and low and behold, after I rezised them to match, I find that they cropped Anduril! That just ain't right. I thought that those elves were good smiths. Guess they should have sent it back to the dwarves and had Telchar do it.

7-01-03 Latest News

Teaser Trailer on T3? Seems Not!
Demosthenes @ 6:38 am EST

Well, denials have been flowing in from theatre people pretty quickly since we posted this rumour.

From Shaun: About the trailer of ROTK in front of terminator, it is not true. I work at a theater, and we had an advanced staff screening of T3 and there was no trailer for it. I actually made up the print of T3 and there was no indication that there would be a trailer for ROTK for a while.

From Jeff: I work at a theater in Gresham, Oregon and just got done watching the movie [T3]. Neither of our prints of the movie have a ROTK teaser. I was told we got a buttload of trailer with the print when they came in, and I am pretty sure if we had a teaser for ROTK then it would have been put on at least one of the prints of T3, but my projectionist could be stupid and not have put it on for some insane reason. I'll check tomorrow though and see if any of the trailers we got with the print were ROTK teasers.

From Strider Eliteralus: I'm out here in Davis, CA and I just screened two prints of T3 and the ROTK trailer is not on it...I REPEAT, not on either print! I will know if it is on Pirates by next Monday the 8th of July.

From Scott: I work at a movie theatre in Yakima, WA, and there was no, repeat that, NO Return of the King trailer in front of Terminator 3. The attached trailer was Matchstick Men, and all of the other enclosed trailers were not very exciting. We received two prints of T3 and both were the same, unfortunately. I don't know if this goes for everywhere, though.

Sorry everyone. The news from the coalface seems to be that there will *not* be any RoTK Teaser Trailer with T3.

Tolkien and Cosmic Order
Tehanu @ 5:23 am EST

João writes, "I started reading "The elegant Universe" by Brian R. Green and reached the part where the author starts talking about the super-strings theory. Basically, what the theory says is that the universe is composed of strings, (like in a violin) and that all particles emerge because thoose strings vibrate. Like the notes emerging when a string of a violin vibrates. The author even talks about a "cosmic symphony" and "all is music".

Being a Tolkien fan I imediatly noticed the incredible resemblence. Tolkien wrote that Iluvatar made everything out of music. This theory being correct (everything leads to that), Tolkien couldn't be more right... The building blocks that God (or Iluvatar) used, is indeed, music..."

If you don't have a copy of the Silmarillion handy, here is the opening of its creation myth, the Ainulindalë:

"There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made. And he spoke to them, propounding to them themes of music; and they sang before him, and he was glad."

And it is from that music that the world is created, according to Tolkien!


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