Curunir sends us this update:

“How time flies! Less than five months until we Barlimaniacs will be staring awkwardly at one another in the lobby of a Chicago hotel – BUT, that means you’ve still got almost three months to BECOME an awkwardly staring Barlimaniac! How’s that for lucky, eh?

You *do* want to put faces to the Barliman’s nicks, right? I mean REAL faces, not those years-old graduation photos that so many of us have scans of! Nope, I mean real, smiling, happy (possibly somewhat inebriated) faces, warm and filled with the relief of surviving the airport’s rigorous cavity search, and the joy of being in a position to carry out all of those /actions IRL!

So, if you’d like to join the teeming throng of Barlimaniacs making the perilous and fair journey to Chicago in August, check out our information page here, or email curunir@theonering.net with any questions you have! I’ll do my best to answer any put to me, with the exception of a few, that can only be answered in Chicago.

A few examples of the questions which will be answered in August:

Are Gandalf and Gamgee really the same person, as has been so frequently speculated?

Are those real snakes in jincey’s photos, or just very very good tattoos?

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? (Okay, I really don’t think this one will be answered, but what the heck…)

And, finally…what *does* a biker look like, when toting a feather duster?”