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LIVE CHAT with Gary Russell at Barlimans Chatroom

The Art of the Fellowship of the Ring
The Art of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
(Purchase)
Gary Russell: Author of "The Art of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" 31/05/02

<Strider> Hello folks and welcome to our Live chat with Gary Russell, author of the new book "The Art of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"

<Strider> Just a little information on Mr Russell before we start:

<Strider> Gary spent time on the sets of FOTR during the lengthy filming phase of the movie. He interviewed director Peter Jackson, special effects wizard Richard Taylor, art directors Paul Lasainne, Dan Hennah, and Chris Hennah, costumer Ngila Dickson, and artists Alan Lee and John Howe.

<Strider> His new book, published in the US by Houghton Mifflin Co. and elsewhere by HarperCollins UK, is filled with wonderful images ranging from sketches to the finished objects. He describes in detail just why FOTR is so groundbreaking in the world of movie-making.

<Strider> We will be logging this chat to post on the site afterwards, so if you have to leave suddenly, we'll be posting a transcript of the questions and answers :)

<Xoanon; To send your questions type /msg maegwen YOUR Q, or /msg Xoanon YOUR Q

<Strider> Okay Gary, first question...

<Strider> Strider728 asks: How much time did you spend with each of the actors, and how close was your relationship with them?

<leaf> Ahh... there's a bit of misinformation going around on this. I didn't go to New Zealand until *after* filming, so I didn't meet the actors

<leaf> This was quite deliberate, as I wanted to focus on the behind-the-scenes team, give them a stab at thelimelight

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> NicoleC asks: what is one of Mr. Russell's favourite memories from interviewing everyone, or from watching the filming?

<Strider> Well I guess the filming part was made redundant in your last answer :)

<leaf> Well, Nicole (please call me Gary - Mr Russell was my father!), I think it was sitting down with Alan Lee and just seeing his work close up

<Strider> lol

<leaf> And also exploring Jeremy Bennett and Paul Lassaine's paintings

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Carbon_Kid asks: what is the art of LOTR?

<leaf> Good question. To me, it starts with the conceptual art., the earliest sketches and drawings done back in 1996/7

<leaf> Then it goes on through the Weta stuff, with paintings, maquettes and everything right up to the commencement of filming - and beyond

<leaf> I deliberately wanted to avoid focussing on the actual finished film itself as Brian Sibley's book covered that so well

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider>

<Strider> jimmyaustin asks: what Tolkien works provided the most useful

<leaf> Actually, I should explain something

<Strider> Go on :)

<leaf> They're still doing conceptual artwork for Films 2 & right now. It's an ongoing process

<leaf> Next question?

<leaf> Oops - sorry Jimmy! Missed the end of your question but...

<leaf> I think you're probably wondering

<leaf> which Tolkien book helped me?

<leaf> Ahhh.. embarassing bit. I've never read any... please don't hurt me!

<Strider> We'll forgive you :)

<leaf> You see, I thought it was quite important that I didn't go to NZ with a head

<leaf> full of ideas about what *I* thought things should look like

<leaf> That way, I was able to concentrate on *their* concepts rather than any preconceptions I may have had

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> EienAi asks: When talking with Ngila Dickson did she talk about any costumes Peter Jackson did not approve of?

<leaf> I got the impression, EienAi, that there wasn't time for Ngila to produce things Peter didn't like! Ngila joined, I gather, quite late on and had her work cut out for her

<leaf> Thus Ngila and Peter worked very rapidly and expertly on getting things done

<leaf> That's why there isn't a huge amount of her work in the book - of all the artists, I think she did the least art in preparation because there wasn't time

<leaf> and Peter trusted her

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Samgamgee7 asks: tell us abit about why you decided to do this book?...what made you decide it would be such a collection of groundbreaking film images?

<leaf> Gosh! Well, I was asked because of an earlier book I'd done for Harpers about Dr Who. I jumped at the chance because firstly, unlike Dr Who which I know backwards

<leaf> this was an opportunity to broaden my knowledge

<leaf> and because I love Art Of books

<leaf> But have always had definite ideas about how they should be done

<leaf> I'm not saying The Fellowship book is 100 percent perfect, but I think it was a good first one and Book Two will be... even better

<leaf> I wanted to create a book the artists themselves could be prou of

<leaf> My job was to ensure that stuff no one was likely to ever see gained a wider audience and

<leaf> they receive some recognition for what has been, for some, five year' work Ônmd still going on!

<leaf> Next question?

<leaf> Gosh, my typing's bad. Sorry

<Strider> You're doing great...plus everyone knows what you intend to say, so its no big deal.

<Strider> On the topic of Dr Who, Xoanon asks: how did you like working on 'who'?

<leaf> good :-)

<jincey; many whovians around )

<Xoanon; Gary, Jincey and I are HUGE Doctor Who fans

<leaf> Ahh Xoanon - good name. Dr Who is great obviously Ü it's my main source of income these days (how gauche - talking about money _ I'm naughty) but LotR is such a vast difference that I'm

<leaf> really enjoying exploring a new "universe"

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Heather_in_Ithilien asks: Hi Gary! Could you please tell me what it is about LOTR that you love so much?

<leaf> Hi Heather. Bear in mind that unlike all of you, I'm basing this on the movie, well all

<leaf> but I have to say its the sheer grandeur of the thing

<leaf> The characters seem to be the most iportant thing

<leaf> more so than the monsters and the settings, important as they are

<leaf> and I love "characters" - without them, you have no emotional investment in

<leaf> a story. I think Tolkein clearly created a masterpiece

<leaf> And I'd be lying if I didn't say that

<leaf> having had the oppportunity to go to NZ and meet the people there... well, it's added some magic for me whereas normally

<leaf> you find film sets and the guys involved

<leaf> often take away some of that "magic"

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Strider728 asks: What is your favorite piece of LOTR artwork?

<leaf> By the way, I'm typing in

<leaf> short sentences like this so that

<leaf> you don't think I've died! I'm not the fastest typist!

<leaf> Next question?

<leaf> My fav bit?

<leaf> Gosh - in Book One (and I'll get shot for saying this) but it's

<leaf> either the two Paul Lassaine paintings were used as the endpieces

<leaf> or it's the big painting of

<leaf> Sauron overlooking Mordor or... oh if I must, I guess it's the

<leaf> black and white art by Christian Rivers of the Balrog hovering before Gandalf. That piece

<leaf> turned up at the last minute (long with his Watcher one) and I loved them so much, myself and my fab designer Paul Vyse (not credited in the US edition, sadly)

<leaf> moved heaven & earth to get them in

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Don't worry about typing speed, you look like a pro in comparison to some of our previous guests ;)

<Strider> Jennie asks: There must have been thousands of sketches by Lee and How. How did you choose which ones to include?

<leaf> You're right Jennie. Alan in particular

<leaf> produced more pictures than we could dream of. It was a joint process Üwith Book One, Alan selected his own and John's stuff (cos

<leaf> John was back in Switzerland by then) and then Paul and I selected from their selection and then ran it all by them, to get the

<leaf> words that I used in the explanatory captions. On a sideline, it's

<leaf> taught me how English is a brief language Ü I looked at the German and Scandinavian versions of the book last

<leaf> night and the text size requires a magnifying glass to read! I pity te translators...

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> lol

<Strider> So John and Alan contributed to the captions to each of their images?

<leaf> Well, what we did was to lay out the pages and then Ü and this only happened with these two for Book One, but in Book Two I did it with everyone, I sat down with them

<leaf> showed them the pages layed out and we talked through each picture.

<leaf>It was important to me that the book was in the artists' words, not mine. It was their art, their blood, sweat

<leaf> and tears and I thought any voices other than the actual painter/drawer/sculptor etc, would be cheating the reader

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> NicoleC asks: Did he get to see Alan Lee & John Howe at work? (in the sense of drawing etc)

<leaf> Not first time round. But I've recenty returned from NZ having sifted through Book Two and yes, while I was there, I was able to see Alan, Jeremy, Bennett, Warren at Wetam Chritian, all at work. They are, frankly, master craftsmen. I was genuinely awed. And I dom't "awe" easily.

<Strider> High praise :)

<Xoanon; To send your questions type /msg maegwen YOUR Q, or /msg Xoanon YOUR Q

<leaf> For Book Two, I've been very keen to go through that process I had with John

<leaf> and Alan first time round, but with everyone.

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Murazor writes Will we see a lot of previously unseen photos and/or concepts in the book?

<leaf> I *think* that you'll only have seen one or two pictures previously, out of nearly 500 pieces of art. We steered away from photos, except in the cistume section.

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Wow

<Strider> Impressive :)

<Strider> Jennie asks: How does one go from a sketch to a digital painting/image? Were you involved in that process?

<leaf> We tried to make it so

<leaf> I saw no pint in producing what is a moderately expensive book if fifty percent

<leaf> of the content had been seen before. I worked closely with HarperCollins, and the editors on Brian and Jude's books to ensure we all had variety. I was lucky in that my "I don't want photos from the film" policy was graciously accepoted :-)

<Strider> lol

<leaf> Jennie Ü no I wasn't but I *saw* it in motion!

<leaf> Basically Alan Lee draws something, say, Lothlorien. Trees. Woods. Ferns etc. That then goes to Paul Lassaine's department, who work it up to a colour visual. Copies aso go to the guys bbuilding the bits of set hat aren't digital so

<leaf> that everything looks the same!!

<leaf> Alan's stuff is then adpted by, say, Gus, who - I think! - adapts it in photoshop using a mix of Alan's drawing, Paul or Jeremy's pinting and the bits that were filmed. This final thing then goes to the digitsal matte artists who put it all together. That's a thumbnail of what goes on. It's a lot more varied, detailed

<leaf> and lever than all that! I barely understand it al myself. But I'm

<leaf> desperately impressed!

<leaf> Next question??

<Strider> Tehanu (a native New Zealander) asks: Did you find New Zealand a stimulating place, art and image-wise?

<leaf> I'd been to NZ before and was happy to go back. Last year I did Auckland as well as Wellington, this time round, it was just Wellington. I think

<leaf> it's a beautiful country, full of gorgeous people and

<leaf> an amazing atmosphere that saps away any stress. Its pretty and its inspiring and I think more movies should be made there. I was honoured

<leaf> to be there, frankly, and can't wait to go back to do Return of the King.

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> irascian asks: Were there any pictures New Line would not let you publish or were you allowed to publish everything you wanted?

<leaf> Oh, and I fell in love with Shortland Street. See, I've no taste, really!

<Strider> lol

<leaf> Hmmm...

<leaf> Not really.

<leaf> I had a chpter at the end of Book One which New Line suggested was held over to Book THree

<leaf> But no actual pictures from the movie itself.

<leaf> Oh yes there was - a painting by John Howe of a Nazgul (have I got that right? Big flying thing, looks like a dragon?) Anyway, as they'd be taken out of Film One and featured more in Film THree, we're saving it till then.

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> You got it right :)

<leaf> Whay-hey! I'm getting the lingo!

<Strider> lol

<Strider> Two questions from po:

<Strider> po asks: The last few comments make me believe that the TTT book is already completed -- is it?

<leaf> No, TTT pictures have been seleced and Paul and I are roughly sketching out the book design. The pics should start arriving from NZ shortly and it's due at the printers mid-SEptember. But I know 90% of what's going into it now.

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Secondly, po asks: Gary, my favorite special effect in the movie is the Argonauth, what made you decide to put that scene on the cover?

<leaf> Glad you liked that. It *wasn't* my choice, but Harpers. But I think it's a great image - very striking. Then it was used as the movie poster, which made us feel that we were ahead of the game and allowed us to smile smugly to ourselves :-)

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> As one does :)

<leaf> indeed

<Strider> Aduia asks: If possible, I'm interested in knowing if all the hard work and sweat poured into the creation of the book caused any "I want to pull my hair out!!" moments. Thanks ;)

<leaf> Oh yes! Loads.

<leaf> Most of them revolved around

<leaf> myself and Paul goin "How many bloody Orcs do we want to see?"

<Strider> lol

<leaf> There were a lot of Orc designs. The book scratches the surface but although they are al works of art, we had to be cruel!

<leaf> Losing the nazgul was a brief moment of terror but we got over it.

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> jincey asks: I was amazed to read Howe and Lee saying how quickly they would complete their sketches/paintings/etc. Do you have an artistic background? How did it feel to be in the same room with these two guys, Bennett, Mahy and Falconer and all the others?

<leaf> I can't draw to save my life. Wish I could Ü I'm amazed at how easily those guys create their stuff. Jeremy particularly can paint a, frankly, work of art, in an amazing;ly fast time if need be. Like

<leaf> all artists, he's never happy, whilst everyone else stares open-mouthed and wants to nick it, frame it and

<leaf> hang it over heir beds!

<jincey; follow-up question:


<jincey; what are they going to DO with all this art??

<leaf> Frankly, the best part of doing TTT has been spending time with Warren, Jeremy, Ben, Dan, oh all of them. Their

<leaf> enthusiasm for the project has been astounding and the quality of both Books One and Two is entirely due to them and Alan, John, Paul L... everyone. God, I sound like Gwynneth Paltrow at the Oscars!

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> lol

<leaf> The art belongs to New Line and goes, I imagine, into a vault

<jincey; for auction at a later date i imagine ; )

<leaf> when the entire project (ie post RotK DVD release) is over.

<leaf> I don't honestly know if they'll get rid of it. I think they may hang onto most of it - there's a pride in this series of movies I've

<leaf> never encountered before, and I think a lot may get kept for posterity and history. Museums one would

<leaf> hope rather han auction houses. Of course, *if* they do go under the hammer, I want first pick!

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Demosthenes asks: I have a question ... Can you tell us anything about designs that we haven't already seen. Shelob, perhaps?

<Strider> And you may answer that at your discretion ;)

<leaf> Nope cos I've not seen Shelob. Actually, I have seen one pencil rough by Christian. Or was it Dan Falconer? Hmm... anyway, it's all in a big folder awaiting

<leaf> my return next year to do book three. I've seen Mummakil art. And the big battering ram at Minas Tirath. But little else. I don't want to spoil it for myself! My God - I've become a fan!!

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> lol

<Strider> Not a bad thing ;)

<leaf> Indeed.

<Strider> M

<leaf> Oh tell you what

<leaf> I did see a little bit of filming this time round Ü just one of the spectral corpses floating under the marsh. The poor actor... but it looked fab!

<leaf> Sorry - where were we?

<leaf> Sorry, Strider, lost that last question

<Strider> Sorry my fault :)

<leaf> Oh nonononono bound to be mine

<Strider> Merilee sent this via e-mail: At the FOTR props exhibit in Canada at Casa Loma there was a large blue-print-type drawing (actually black print on white) of the movie set for Weathertop. I found this drawing quite interesting and very helpful toward picturing the whole scene, and would very much like to see other set blueprints if they were to be published in the upcoming "Art" books for TTT and ROTK. Please let Mr. Russell know of this fans published if there were enough interest in such drawings.

<Strider> And I apologise for the phrase 'Mr. Russell' :)

<leaf> I think I know tjhe picture - I think it's in the book.

<leaf> Or at least, a digitised adaptation of it is.

<leaf> Could be worse. uld be "that old git Russell"

<Strider> lol

<Xoanon; To send your questions type /msg maegwen YOUR Q, or /msg Xoanon YOUR Q

<leaf> By the way, Strider, re your question in private (not private now!!) I'm fine for a while longer!

<Strider> lol

<Strider> We're all happy to hear that :)

<Strider> po asks: You dedicate your book to chocolate frogs, would you care to explain?

<leaf> That's assuming everyone's not fallen asleep or run out of questions!

<Strider> Trust me, plenty of them on my end ;)

<leaf> When I went out for Book One, I was helped by lovely

<leaf> Alyson McRae who was in charge of people like me! She took

<leaf> me to a fab cafe near Mirimar called The Chocolate... something!

<leaf> It wasn't frog but when I put that in the book

<leaf> I was coinvinced it was Frog. I can't

<leaf> think what it really is! Anyway, Aly and I shared lots of chocolate and mallows.

<leaf> Sadly, I've sincce had to give up chocolate entirely (after a nearly 40 year love affair with it) so I avoided it this time around :-( I miss chocolate...

<leaf> Chocolate Fish! I rwemember! Darn, why couldn't I have remembered that 6 months ago!!

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> lol

<Strider> someone just said the same to me :) they must be farmiliar with it

<Strider> Pippin_Skywalker asks: What were the primary inspirations for the art, design and visuals of the film as a whole? How did it feel trying to bring to life another person's

<Strider> imagination?

<leaf> I mentioned chocolate and loads of people left!

<Strider> probaly for a snack ;)

<leaf> Pippin - well, I can't speak for the artists entirely but

<leaf> I got the impression that 99% of them were huge fans

<leaf> of the novels and were more than a litle ecstaticto be working

<leaf> on such a project. I think it was, and I know

<leaf> it's a cliche but I believe it's true, it was a project dear to all

<leaf> of them and they pulled out all the stops to give 101%

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Padme_Skywalker asks: Gary, has there ever been a point in your life where you just wanted to quit painting/drawing because of pressure?

<leaf> As I said, Padme, I'm not an artist. *If* I were, I'd never want to stop.

<leaf> Certainly as a writer, I can't imagine giving up.

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> arador asks: are the character designed first or the scenery in terms of visual?

<leaf> There's no straight answer to that, Arador.

<leaf> Different things were done at different yimes. I know the first thing Paul Lassaine did was a painting

<leaf> of Helms Deep, whereas the first thing Warren Mahey did was an Orc, so different people worked on different things concurrently.

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Strider728 asks: Was there any early concept art done on Tom Bombadil or any other omitted characters from the book?

<Strider> Don't know if you need some assistance on this, or how farmiliar you are with Tom Bombadil

<leaf> Nope. Tom Bombadil wasn't, as far as I've been informed (and I did ask!)

<leaf> part of the first film's scripts. As I said earlier

<leaf> Nazgul stuff was done for Film One but held over to Film THree, but I don't believe anything major has been done but subsequently droipped

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> EienAi asks: How did you get into your line of work? Did you just storm a set and start writing about how it was conceptualized?

<leaf> my tyoing's getting worse! Droipped indeed!

<Strider> as someone mentioned earlier, you still type better than some of the more regular patrons here ;)

<leaf> No, I started off as a journalist, concentrating on Dr Who stuff. From that I progressed to writing and editing

<leaf> I did this big Dr Who book which Harpers liked and they thought I had a good grasp of behind-the-scenes nohow and offered me this book, or books, to do. I said yes one and a half seconds layter!

<leaf> Oh right, well after editing magazines, I wrote novels,

<leaf> did boks on Frasier and The Simpsons (under a false name Ü Warren Martyn if you want to look it p on amazon)

<leaf> and that led to the aforementioned Dr Who book, Regeneration.

<leaf> If you reorder the above paragraqphs, you get the gist!

<Strider> lol

<leaf> Listen chaps, my imac is really playing up so would you mind if I said I'll stay around until 1.20am (my time) or it crashes again, whichever comes first?

<Strider> sure Gary :)

<Xoanon; gary, you and I have got to talk Doctor who later :)

<leaf> And if there are any mac experts in the UK with ADSL who can explain why the software is destroying my life, please get in touch!!

<leaf> Xoanon -I assume you're the same Xoanon from OG?

<Strider> I'll ask Gary about more questions folks, after which I will open the floor (with Gary's permission) to anyone who wants to say hello or thank you etc :)

<Xoanon; og? I'm not too sure I know what that is

<leaf> Or send money to the Gary Russell Sad Author foundation!

<Strider> lol

<leaf> OG - OUtpost Gallifrey?

<Xoanon; oh..no, I don't do anything on that site

<Strider> Elbereth24 asks: I heard that in the book, artwork for things not in the movie would be present, such as costuming for Glorfindel, why did you decide to include this?

<leaf> Ahh... there's another Xoanon out there. Other than that 'real' one with a glove on his head!

<Xoanon; hehehe

<leaf> Nope, Elbereth, nothing for Glorfindel. I'm fairly certain everything in the book is in the movie

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> Padme_Skywalker asks: Gary, what was your interview with Peter Jackson like?

<leaf> Padme - he was amazing!!! I adored him. He's such an intelligent, genteel, enthusiastic

<leaf> man... we just talked movies for ages. He was going to give me 0 minutes - I had three hours.

<leaf> We are passionate about similar films and directors and we had a laugh. I thought

<leaf> he might be a) a bit wary and b) a bit busy to talk to me - but although he was (b) he made he time and made me feel welcome and provided an

<leaf> invaluable insight into the whole process. Why he chose to work with the artists

<leaf> he did. He was a huge fan of John and Alan , for starters, I

<leaf> think they inspired him a lot. And all the others, too. He was full of humour and enthusiasm and bearing in mind how tired he must've been (five years down three to go by then) he

<leaf> was a sweetheart. Now if only he could be convinced to do Dr Who on the big screen...

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> lol

<Xoanon; ooh

<Xoanon; coolness..

<Strider> (third last question gary)

<Strider> Flinch asks: How was the costuming element decided on? I know there were hundreds of designs... what became of the final cut?

<leaf> Flinch - no Ngila the costume designer was, through no fault of hers, unable

<leaf> to do too many preproduction designs, so costumes were designed and made during filming. Thus there's no many drawings and Ngila is sadly uinderepresented in the book. Shes a wonderful lady, very dry and

<leaf> witty. She's very experienced (she did Xena and Hercules) and I enjoyed talking with her.

<leaf> Next question?

<Strider> penultimate question - EienAi asks: You called yourself old git....how old are you if you don't mind telling us?

<leaf> Crawling towards 9 but feeling 49

<Strider> lol

<leaf> Like an alarming number of people I met at the studios, I'm a Virgo.

<Strider> lol

<Strider> And the final question.....will you come back to us as some point for another chat, maybe during the release of the second book, or even beforehand?

<leaf> I'm happy, nay delighted, to do this again, anytime. I've had a ball. I just need to stop this software clashing with... well...

<leaf> whatever its clashing with so we can speak uninterupted!

<leaf> Thank you all for welcoming me here, despite my lack of Tolkein knowledge Ü I feel veryt

<leaf> hopnoured to be a part, albeit a small part, of a world I never knew existed before. THank you and I hope

<leaf> you enjoy the book(s)! Goodnight all

<Strider> Glad to have you :)

<Strider> I'd like to take this point to thank Gary for this chat tonight, at very rough hours on his side of the world to accomodate fans..he talked to us about PJ giving him lots of time, and I feel its the same here tonight :) Thank you Gary!

<Strider> And the floor is now open :)

<jimmyaustin> Hooray!!

<maegwen> thank you very much, gary :D

<Jennie> Thank you, Gary

<Xoanon> well that was fun

<EienAi> YAY that was cool

<Guest1> Thank you!

<samgamgee7> thanks for sharing with us gary...come back and visit soon! : ))

<Jennie> The book is absolutely fabulous.

<Melisendra> Thanks Gary, very enjoyable

<little_prince> swoon

<Heather_in_Ithilien> YAY!

<po> Thank you Gary, a final comment: if you come back, more will have bought the book by then and add funds to the Gary Russell Sad Author Foundation

<Eomer_of_the_Rohirrim> thanks gary!

<jincey> thanks so much gary for braving the world of IRC chat : )

<Light_of_E> Thanks Gary!

<NicoleC> I have an 11 yo sister here who's also crazy about LotR - and we _thoroughly_ enjoyed "listening" to youl.

<little_prince> thank you so much :-)

<NicoleC> Thanks for being sooooo generous with your time.

<Heather_in_Ithilien> thanks for coming Gary! give our regards to Howe and LEE!

<leaf> cheers, chaps!

<Jennie> I adore the "before" and "after" shots with the digital things added to photos.

<jincey> gary, do you plan to read the books after your projects are complete

<NicoleC> (I didn't think it was possible, but now I'm twice as desperate for your book to comein from the library!)

<po> me, too, Gary, stunning artwork

<leaf> Jincey - no... is that bad of me?

<jincey; oh dear ; )

<Guest1> I hope I can be as good an artist as you!

<Jennie> lol No worse than my never having seen Dr.Who. lol

<Heather_in_Ithilien> gary you must read the books

<leaf> Well, they're very big and have lots of words and... and... feeble isn;t it...

<little_prince> lol

<jincey; i'll just say this.. you're missing some fine reading ; )

<jimmyaustin> gary, you don't have to typw the books, just read them/

<Heather_in_Ithilien> lol but they are incredibly captivating

<Jennie> Writers don't read, huh?

<Jennie> :D

<little_prince> lots of worda??!

<EienAi> Gary: Do you have a favorite song on the FOTR soundtrack?

<Jennie> He only does captions. ;)

<leaf> See. Told you I couldn't type!

<Jennie> You have DD

<Jennie> :D

<NicoleC> (if it makes you feel better, jincey, my mother immediately cried - "Dr Who?! He did stuff with Dr. Who?!")

<jincey> woohoo!

<jincey> dr who rocks : ))

<Falcon> woohoo

<leaf> I love Enya, so anything by her is tops with me but I prefer the one that isn't behind the Aragorn/Arwen smoochy stuff.

<po> her mother, jincey, eek, dating

<Jennie> I'm far more impressed by the Simpsons. ;-)

<NicoleC> lol, po. That's not how I meant it.

<little_prince> right you are

<samgamgee7> thanks to gary for a great chat...must be off all, be well!...and come visit soon, gary :)

<Heather_in_Ithilien> bye samgamgee7

<po> lol, nic

<NicoleC> Mom says - "I am _not_ that old!"

<Jennie> lol

<jimmyaustin> Jennie, Sauron was the prototype for Burns

<Jennie> Poor Mom

<leaf> Hope to see you all again. If you get what I mean! I'm goin home to bed now! Goodnight. And thanks Jincey and Strider for saving my bacon!

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