More ELF 2006 Images
Xoanon @ 7:22 pm EST

Liana writes: It was another wonderful weekend with LOTR fans at ELF II. We arrived the night before from London and enjoyed a night on the town in New York City. What a marvelous city! This was my first convention and my two friends and I were anxious for the next day to begin.

Friday began with a music video, which was very entertaining. Followed by one of my favorite people, Daniel Reeve, who gave an informational and interesting presentation sharing his work with us all. I tried my luck at the LOTR Trivia Contest and soon learned I was out of my element, but having a great time! Everyone was very friendly. Some skits based on the "Princess bride" movie were done and that was very clever. Time to meet my first LOTR celebrity at the photo op - John Noble. What a charming person he was! He was next on the schedule with his wonderful stories. And, later that evening we were treated to an evening of chat and laughter with John Noble, Daniel Reeve and the other LOTR fans present.
By the time the first day was finished, I had forgotten all about my fear of flying, because I was having so much fun! Loved the autograph sessions.

Saturday began with what has to be my favorite memory of the weekend, simply because of the crowd reaction and the brilliance of the clip itself - Middle Earth Idols. I feared we might be crabby after the previous late night, but once the first chords of this music video began we were all cheering and on our feet! The American girls, teen film makers Ashley and Rachael, that did this were one of the winners of the music video contest over the weekend, well deserved too. What a delight! Soon, I was whisked off to my photo op with Sean Astin. He was also as nice as could be! Daniel Reeve gave another wonderful presentation and unfortunately, the Elijah Wood telecast wasn't working properly, but Sean Astin delighted us all with his humor and wit. More skits followed, hilarious like the day before. There was an auction, which I tried very hard to win something, but was outbid each time. Drat! Lynnette Porter gave a talk on Tolkien and his Hobbits, which was very interesting.

Saturday evening was full of fun once again with Emerald Rose playing throughout the night, as well as a costume and talent contest. What fun!

Sunday morning was the charity brunch with Billy Boyd. What a wonderful opportunity to be up close and personal with one of my favorite Hobbits, and for a good cause. He joined us at each table and chatted for a while. The Sunday programming began with another music video and Micheel Drout for a lecture on Tolkien's world. The young filmmakers from the day before introduced a film clip called Dork of the Ring and then came out on stage for a Question and Answer session, which was very interesting. They did fantastic for being so young and facing an audience like that drilling them with questions! We were then shown three of their own fan films, a Dork of the Rings fan film, Return of the King spoof and treated to an encore performance of Middle Earth Idols as the crowd cheered! So much fun!! Coleen Doran followed this with her amazing work! I later bought one of her prints to take back to England with me. More trivia contest and skits followed! Time for our photo ops with Billy Boyd. What a treat! Following that, we were shown another music video and then Billy came on stage to entertain us and even auctioned off some more items for us. Billy was wonderful!! We had another chance at an auction, and another chance for me not to win! But, it was worth a try!

I didn't know what to expect when I arrived for ELF, but I am so glad I came. It gave me a lifetime of memories and I can't wait to travel on to California for ORC in 2007. Thanks to all the wonderful fans and guests from all over that shared their time and talent with us! Here are some pictures I took over the weekend.