Andy Serkis At Comic Con

The folks in Barliman’s have been avidly watching TORn’s ComicCon webcam these last few days. Things reached a fever pitch when Andy Serkis and Sala Baker made quick appearances. Check the pictures out here. Thanks to TayaFoxburr for sending them in!

From ComingSoon.net: “A host of hobbits, goblins and warriors dropped in on the San Diego Comic Convention today to premiere three minutes of a 12-minute preview of the third and final Lord of the Rings movie “The Return of the King”. The full 12-minute sneak peek will be featured on the August 26 release of “The Two Towers” DVD.” [More]

Check back as reports from our own Comic Con crew and friends begin to filter in!

Today is the day to chat with Alessio Cavatore about Games Workshop’s upcoming Shadow and Flame! Come into #Havens in Barliman’s chatroom at 1:00 pm EST (6:00 pm GMT, 10:00 am PST, and 3:00 am AEST). For more information, click [Here]

And for those of you at ComicCon, the chat will be broadcast on webcam from TORn’s booth. Stop by to say hello to Flinch and join in the conversation for awhile. Hope to see all of you soon!

Ringer Irascian has again put in a huge overnight effort to complete yet another daily report on all the happenings over at Comic Con 2003. Check it out! [More]

Also, if you have a few hours to waste, join the TORn Staffers that aren’t in San Diego in their favorite past-time: checking out the live web-cam from the Convention floor. [Comic Con Coverage]

The Tooks and the Brandybucks were the two most influential families in the Shire. Both families contained a strong Fallohide strain, a fact that might account for why they were more adventurous than most hobbits. Some would even claim great reknown in the far away realms of Rohan and Gondor. Join us this weekend in #thehallofire as we explore the Took and Brandybuck families. [More]

The Tooks and the Brandybucks were the two most influential families in the Shire. Both families contained a strong Fallohide strain, a fact that might account for why they were more adventurous than most hobbits. Some would even claim great reknown in the far away realms of Rohan and Gondor.

The Brandybucks traced their descent from Gorhendad Oldbuck who moved to Buckland from the Marish and changed the family name. There the Brandybucks dwelt in Brandy Hall, an enormous Smial beneath Buck Hill. The head of the family was the undisputed Master of Buckland, ruling what was essentially a small country of its own on the border of the Shire.

The Tooks lived in the Tookland of the Westfarthing. The thainship was hereditary in the family and the Thain of Tookland was probably the most powerful hobbit in the Shire. We shall discuss the families, their roles in the Shire and the doings of some of the family members among which we find the most colorful personalities the little hobbit realm produced. Some became leaders, adventurours and even sailors. The most famous are of course Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took who most appropriately excelled in the War of the Ring.

Join us this weekend in #thehallofire as we explore the Took and Brandybuck families.

Upcoming Topics:
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.