Kelvarhin: How do you run a news site for 5+ years when there is no news?

Xoanon: Ah, the salad days. That was quite fun for me, I had the run of the place! There was very little…or actually NO news, so there was absolutely no studio politics involved. I think I mainly ran stories about the cast, DVD releases, game news etc..

It was quite amazing to see how fast the old gang came back together once news on The Hobbit began to hit and was real. Now there are so many amazing new volunteers and hardworking staff from the old days I cannot keep count!

Kelvarhin: What event, experience or situation has given you the most long-term satisfaction from TheOneRing?

Xoanon: I think the Oscar parties were the most fun for me, even though I did very little to help organize it…I did think they were tent-pole experiences in my life. There was something quite magical about each of those events, it was really fun.

I must also include my trip to New Zealand and having lunch with Peter Jackson, that was a great time for my wife and I…trip of a lifetime.

The fact that the site is still around and is still very important to many people, that gives me the greatest satisfaction.

Kelvarhin: What other fandoms are you interested in?

Xoanon: Wow, that is a long list! I am, and always have been a life-long devotee of Doctor Who since the early days in the mid to late 90s and of course the re-launch.

I am a huge film fan, and love everything from westers to sci-fi and crime dramas. But as far as established fandom? Let’s see… Star Wars, Star Trek, Supernatural, Arrow, The Hunger Games Series, anything comic related, Hellboy, Watchmen, Sherlock (Elementary too). I am currently finishing up the entire Sherlock Holmes original stories…that book is a bible! 1100+ pages, super small font!

Kelvarhin: Do you have a phobia about anything?

Xoanon: Good one, I have a very common phobia of failure…I think many people do. I am not good with rejection either. Oh and vomit…omg.

But more seriously, I suffer from mild agora phobia and social anxiety disorder. I can sometimes find it quite hard to do the simple things like get a haircut or go out to dinner. I have panic attacks on occasion. A mix of medication and relaxation techniques help me through rough patches. I actually insist on working quite far from work…forces me to get ‘out there’

Kelvarhin: What does it take to get you on the dancefloor?

Xoanon:  A great pair of legs and some alcohol…next question

Kelvarhin:  When did you become a Dr Who fan? And what’s your opinion of the Sylvester McCoy years?

Xoanon: I’ve been a fan since I was about 9 or 10..so 1987 or 1988. I love Syl’s Doctor for several reasons, first, I met him and got his autograph (!!!), but also I do love the mystery they put into the last few seasons. If they had gone through the Cartmel storyline, which was latter adapted into books, it would have been awesome.

I think Doctor Who at that time suffered from a general lack of fresh blood, ideas, and infrastructure on the part of BBC Drama. It took them almost 20 years to get things on par with some of the better American channels.

Kelvarhin: Who in your opinion would win in a Leela vs Ace smackdown?

Xoanon: Ace would use Nitro-9…but Leela would have Janus thorns…so I’d call it a tie.

Kelvarhin: Demosthenes said you should tell the story of XoanonFlash!

Xoanon: Ah XoanonFlash! There should be a link to that somewhere, I’ll try to find it for you. Essentially XoanonFlash is one of my first attempts at flash animation. I used a photo of myself and made an animation of me dancing to ‘kung fu fighting’…there are hip thrusts and music involved…a good time was had by all.

Kelvarhin:  No need, we found it  Enjoy people Xoanon Flash! :D *warning if reading this at work, turn off your sound! *

Kelvarhin: Did you get the name Xoanon from the Dr. Who episode, The Face of Evil?

Xoanon: I did indeed! But not because I have an evil face…at least I hope not. WAY back when I wanted a ‘handle’ for myself, so I grabbed my trusty Doctor Who Encyclopaedia and chose a page at random. The first word I chose was ‘Ragnarok’, but I thought that might be too confusing..so I chose Xoanon….little did I know..

Kelvarhin: As you are a DW fan from way back, what, if anything, do you think of the new series?

Xoanon: Oh I love the new series, although every season has its highs and lows. My Doctor will always be Tom Baker, but of the new Doctors it is a tie between David and Matt (we’re on a first name basis here).

I do lament the worldwide phenomenon that it has become though…I sort of liked feeling like I was the only fan in the cosmos.

Kelvarhin: And of all the DW references, why choose Xoanon, the computer suffering a major identity crisis?

Xoanon: I know, right? I think it works out in the end, I am constantly of 2 (or 3) minds of everything. So perhaps it does reflect me..maybe I didn’t choose that name…maybe it chose me… Woah!

Kelvarhin: How did you come to know the other Founders?

Xoanon: I met Erica through ICQ, I think we began talking about books and our mutual interests. We both liked Kim Stanley Robinson’s ‘Mars’ series. We just starting chatting and got onto the discussion of LOTR and off we went.

Chris and Bill (Corvar) used to play MUDs together and were friends from that, one day Chris emailed us and offered to make a website for us, one better that the free-hosting site we had.

And voilà

Kelvarhin: How long did it take you to get TORn up and running having come up with the idea?

Xoanon: It was a working progression, like I mentioned above we had a green-themed site off of a free website company way back when (xoom.com or something?). When Chris approached us to make a new site we had to choose a domain and park it there. We emulated the guys at TheForce.net and chose TheOneRing.net. I can still recall Chris showing us some design mockups and getting everything working with a CMS (Content Management System) called…newsmaker? I think? This was pre WordPress days.

I think they are on TORN version 4 or 5.0 now..we’ve come so far

Kelvarhin: What does it feel like to be one of the founders of the worlds most popular Tolkien sites?

Xoanon: It is a great feeling to have that in your life, a good feeling to know that it brings joy to so many others.

Kelvarhin: How often do you browse the boards? Do you have a favourite board?

Xoanon: To be honest I haven’t spent time on the boards, or the site, for way too long now. With a demanding job and 5 year old son, things have certainly changed in my life. I don’t know how people like Chris (2 kids) and Erica (1 kid) can do it, plus all the other amazing volunteers who have a MUCH fuller plate than me, manage to keep the site running. I wish I could spend more time on it, or just visit the boards more often than I do.

Kelvarhin: What are your favourite spots in the world?

Xoanon: Certainly New Zealand, my wife and I both felt very much at ‘home’ there, we would move there if it wasn’t too far away from our families. I love my city of Montreal, it means the world to me. I often think of places I would love to visit, Vietnam, Egypt, Prague, Moscow.

Kelvarhin: How were you first introduced to Tolkien, and how did this influence your life, in the days before TORn?

Xoanon: I was given the books as a Christmas gift when I was…16? 17? Maybe? I didn’t pick them up until I had a class in college about Tolkien and his books, so naturally I raced through them and fell in love. I think one of the best experiences I had was to begin LOTR in the fall and read it though the changes of season..I felt almost part of journey with Frodo and Sam.

The key takeaways that I bring into my life from Tolkien are the themes of responsibility and duty. I truly love Sam Gamgee, and think that without his devotion to Frodo the quest would have failed from day 1. Sam felt a duty and obligation to follow Frodo into the very heart of Mount Doom, and I think we can all take a little lead from Sam when it comes to our own responsibilities and duties, especially difficult ones.

Kelvarhin: What was your favourite cartoon when you were a fledgling, and is it still your favourite?

Xoanon: Wow, change of tune from the previous answer! I was a child of the 70’s and 80’s so growing up we watched The Flintstones, GI Joe, Transformers and He-Man, those are still my favourite to this day. I actually got my son to watch some He-Man..he was all into it!

Kelvarhin: What kind of music do you listen to?

Xoanon: Good question! I am an AVID lover of music, mind you I think Bill (Corvar) has one up on me, he is always visiting bars and small clubs listening to these really obscure bands.

I am a lover of almost all types of music, and my ipod has 1200 of the most diverse music you could imagine. Hip Cop, Celtic, Movie Scores, Rock, Classic Rock, Instrumental, you name it!

Thank you Xo, for taking the time to talk to us this month.

As always a big thank you to all our message board regulars, DanielLB, Ataahua, Brethil, elaen32,  Ziggy Stardust, dernwyn, grammaboodawg and zarabia, and Staffers, Demosthenes, MrCere and Justin for our questions this month.

If you would like to ask any questions yourself, just head over to our Message Boards, the sign up process is pretty painless. A lead post for questions is made at the beginning of each month on the Main board, if you don’t want to sign up to the boards just email me your questions at kelvarhin@theonering.net.

Till next time from TORn’s resident Tiger.

Kelvarhin

There are some fabulous, exclusive pieces up for grabs – including some things which, usually, money can’t buy! Time is running out on some of our auctions too, so best check them out now. Here are just three that might tickle your fancy:

Two Towers poster of Sam and Frodo in Osgiliath Excellent Condition

This is a moment in The Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers that captures the heart and will of Sam Gamgee as he comes to realize his purpose in the Quest of the Fellowship. After Frodo and Sam are weary from struggling, Sam’s famous words turn the tide for them. Printed on the poster:

“Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something.’
‘What are we holding on to Sam?’
‘There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.’”

NEW — Quality of picture is because of camera flash and lighting — Size is 27″ x40″

Two Towers Poster Auction

The Hill: Hobbiton-across-the-Water – Bag End-Hobbit poster

NEW in tube! Take out just to get picture. Measures 17x 24 inches.

In 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien came to his publisher with five watercolours to accompany his story, The Hobbit. This poster is a reproduction of one of those five sketches, “The Hill: Hobbiton-across-the-Water”. It was part of the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Tolkien exhibition ‘Tolkien Life and Legend’ in 1987 for The Hobbit’s 50thAnniversary.

Hobbiton-across-the-Water Poster Auction

NIB Exclusive LOTR PEZ gift set by Walmart featuring the Eye of Sauron

This limited-edition Lord of the Rings Pez Gift Set comes with eight themed dispensers and 12 rolls of candy.The dispensers are Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Gollum.

LOTR PEZ Gift Set Auction

Or click here to check out all our auctions!

We recently added a couple of amazing items from our friend artist Jerry Vanderstelt covering his The Lord of the Rings Trilogy prints as well as his newest print of Dwalin the Dwarf from The Hobbit Trilogy. We’ve also added a couple of autograph items from Graham McTavish and William Kircher who play Dwalin and Bifur in The Hobbit Trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 3-Piece Print Set

This auction offers a beautiful three-piece set of The Lord of the Rings Collector Edition Lithographs by prominent artist, Jerry VanderStelt. Best known not only for his works inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien, he also captures the worlds of Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and much more in the Fantasy/SciFi genre. Each Lithograph of the three-piece set has a unique Remarque or sketch drawn on the bottom left corner, signed separately from the normal signature and a certification of authenticity.

TORn Collector’s Edition of The Hobbit Magazine signed by Dwalin and Bifur

This is a new copy of TheOneRing.net’s premier magazine tribute to The Hobbit! A collaborative effort between Topix Media Lab and your friends here at TheOneRing.net, it covers everything you need to know about The Hobbit movies from a fan perspective. Side-bars and feature articles, contributed by our own volunteer staff, include interviews, a feature on book versus the movie, articles on games and collectibles, a Middle-earth timeline, and much more! The high-quality, glossy paper used for this magazine is also packed with colorful pictures of cast and crew members, locations, collectibles, gorgeous fan art and a few exclusives! One thing that makes this truly a collector’s edition is that there are only two ads in the entire 82-page magazine.

Dwalin the Dwarf Print by Jerry Vanderstelt

Jerry Vanderstelt is also offering the winner of this Auction the choice of the frame-ready canvas or to have the canvas Gallery Wrapped.  The two images displayed with this Auction show the raw, canvas form and also how the Gallery Wrap option gives it a mounted, more dimensional look.  The canvas measures 18 x 24 inches, NOT counting the border that is designed to be Gallery Wrapped. Once it is Gallery Wrapped, the canvas will measure 18 x 24 inches.  Please allow 2-3 weeks for completion. The work uses the finest materials available of archival inks as well as Breathing Color’s exclusive “Lyve” canvas and “Timeless” protective finish.

he Hobbit Paperback signed by Graham McTavish and William Kircher

This is a NEW paperback copy of The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien with a movie tie-in picture from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey film released in December, 2012.  This copy has travelled to DragonCon 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia and has found itself autographed by two Dwarves (William Kircher and Graham McTavish) for TORn’s Fundraiser Auction.

“The only way he knows how to resolve conflict is with those damn Eagles,” is one of the most persistent complaints about Tolkien. “They’re such a deus ex machina,” the complainer will add if he wants to make it absolutely clear that he went to college.

As a storyteller, Tolkien was no flailing amateur, hurling his characters into conflicts that he could not extract them from. Whether or not you like his style of resolution, it was quite intentional. He even coined a word – “eucatastrophe” – to refer to this type of sudden deliverance, which he detailed in his essay “On Fairy Stories”:

The consolation of fairy stories…the sudden joyous “turn” (for there is no true end to any fairy tale): this joy, which is one of the things which fairy stories can produce supremely well, is not essentially “escapist,” nor “fugitive.” In its fairy-tale or otherworld setting, it is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur. It does not deny the existence of dyscatastrophe, of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.

[Read More]

The day-to-day operation of the website, and the events we host, require a lot more resources than when we first started nearly 15 years ago. We sometimes find it hard to ask our readers for the help we need to keep running, so we began discussing what it is that makes TheOneRing.net worth helping out. It started out as a search for the Top Ten Moments of TORn, but the list got so long because each staff member had their own idea of important moments in TORn history. Here, instead, is something more encompassing: Ten Ways TORn helps serve Tolkien and Lord of the Rings fandom (listed in no specific order).

And, if you enjoy what we do, consider a donation (no amount too small, because every bit does help!) to keep us running!

If you can’t, that’s fine as well — keep reading, commenting and contributing. Because TORn is as much you as it is us!

If you’ve ever sent in an article, submitted a photo or report, posted on our messageboards, visited our chat, or commented on our twitter, facebook or g+, you’re the reason TheOneRing.net is among the largest and most-respected pillars of the Tolkien community on the web.

• Spy Reports

• Spy reports were a big part of our content when the website first started. From casting announcements to secret location pictures to leaked images of important plot points, spy reports were our bread and butter stories. Some of the reports were from random, anonymous sources, while others were official leaks from cast and crew. In fact, there were many production members who said they used TheOneRing.net to keep track of what some of the other filming units were doing. Other spy reports were just someone stumbling upon a film location and sending in a story or images and then we’d all try and guess what location it actually was. Some of our biggest spy reports were of Arwen at Helm’s Deep (which subsequently didn’t happen), Saruman’s prone body on a spiky wheel (which did happen), and TheOneRing.net was given the honor of introducing Thorin to the world. And very soon, we will be seeing stories from MrCere’s visit to the set from his Production Embed last year.

• Hall of Fire Chats and the Message Boards

• Literary discussions on the message boards and Hall of Fire chats – From the very beginning of TheOneRing.net, discussions of the books, chapter by chapter, has been a hallmark. After all, while we waited for news on who would be cast, where filming would take place, and rumors of what might be cut out, we had the books to talk about. Discussions worked by talking about one chapter at a time, and luckily, there are enough books with enough chapters, to keep those discussions going on for a long while. Since the beginning, we’ve looped through the books several times, but luckily, there are always new readers joining the discussion, and new interpretations to be had. And for something a little more dynamic, there are the Hall of Fire chats in Barlimans. Sometimes the talk is about a specific chapter, or a certain character, and sometimes it is about current events, such as new character images or reviews of a recently released trailer. No matter which forum you use, there is always someone to talk to about some aspect of Tolkien, the books or our fandom.

• TORns Live Videos

• We began with TORn Live, which consisted of Red Carpet interviews at premieres, awards ceremonies and special events like Cannes 2001 and SDCC. These would be recorded, edited and released online a few days or weeks later. But technology now allows for live streaming interviews and vlogs and the like. Quickbeam hosts a weekly TORn Tuesday event with interviews and discussions, while he interacts with a live chatroom. The Happy Hobbit ladies record and post their vlogs and post them within a day or two of their recordings, for a much quicker turnaround on video content. And right now we have the Road to DragonCon in full swing with live streaming from across the country.

• Conventions

• Convention appearances – Calisuri and Quickbeam hosted a panel at San Diego Comic Con in 2001, before the release of FOTR, and since then barely a year has gone by that TORn hasn’t had a presence at at least one convention. At many of the conventions we appear at we also have a presence on the exhibit hall floor where we have sold some of our classic TORn shirts. We love it when we get up on stage for a panel and half the people in the audience are wearing some of our older shirts.

•  

  

  Baggins Birthday Party sign

  Line Parties and Fan Events

• Line Parties and other fan hosted events – TheOneRing.net has always been a grass roots type of fan-site and that is no more apparent then looking at the Line Parties of years past. Whether it is just a few friends, or some hundreds of people signing up on the website to attend, fans like you all over the world hosted Line Parties. A few even took place over several days, and included costume contests and trivia games for prizes. Other fan hosted events over the years have been the Hobbit Day/Baggins Birthday Bash events on Sept. 22, the Tolkien Toast on Jan. 3 and the Tolkien Reading Day on March 25. TORn staff in Los Angeles have been hosting a Baggins Birthday Bash party for 11 years now, but there are fan groups around the world that have hosted similar events. Smaller moots happen around the world all the time, there is a very active group in Wellington and one in Croatia. If you are hosting a fan event in the next year or two, please feel free to tell us about it.

• The Oscar Parties

• Originally conceived as a fan event to help raise funds to buy TORn a new server, who could have imagined the Cast and Crew actually showing up to the FOTR oscar party? Even more surprising, who could have imagined the ROTK sweep and all those Oscars on stage at a fan hosted party?

• O.R.C and E.L.F.

• TheOneRing.net hosted conventions – The One Ring Celebration on the West Coast (O.R.C.) and the Eastern Lord of the Rings Festival on the East Coast (E.L.F.) were co-productions with a professional convention company, but they definitely had a TORn stamp on them. The conventions allowed us to combine our love of the films by interacting with cast and crew with our love of the books through academic discussions, the art shows and costume displays. We really did break the mold on how a commercial scifi convention is run and hope everyone who attended had a blast.

• Academic essays and editorials

• TORn has long standing relationships with many in the academic community who have posted guest essays and editorials. Over the year several staffers have posted in depth analysis to fan questions on the site as well. In fact, we have a whole section on the ‘old TORn’ (pre-crash) called Green Books for academic posts. This section had so much good stuff in it, we published a book called “The People’s Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien” and a sequel book as well.

• Driving fan initiatives

• After Return of the King was done and Peter Jackson moved on to do King Kong, the fans waited to see what would happen with The Hobbit afterwards. Months turned to years and still no word while studios went bankrupt, copyrights issues got tangled up and various lawsuits were filed for missing payments. Finally, a few fans decided they had had enough and started a petition to ‘Make the Hobbit Happen’. They brought it to TORn and we got thousands of you to sign so that a big pile of names was delivered to TPTB. A similar thing happened when there was talk that the production would be moved out of New Zealand. The fans could see no where else as Middle-earth, so the ‘Keep the Hobbit in NZ’ campaign was born, but this time on Social Media. And most recently, there was an explosion of Tolkien fan love over the #Votebilbo twitter event prompted by an MTV Audience Award.

• TORn Community

• This list compiles many of the things that TheOneRing.net does to keep you informed, entertained and engaged, but there is really just one thing that makes TheOneRing.net so important to keep around. And that is the community of fans that convene on our message boards, in Barliman’s chat, on Facebook and Twitter.

This site was built by fans getting together to discuss what they hoped for from Peter Jackson long before FOTR ever saw the light of day. The fact that a long existing fan-base gathered here meant engaged and informed discussion began from day one, including analyzing all the spy reports about casting and location details. We didn’t have to wait for the release of the films, or for several episodes of a new show to take off before we could discuss the minutia of every detail because our fan base was already well established.

And what is ‘fandom’ if not a community of like minded people passionate about the same thing. Sure, everyone has their own opinions, so every time a new image was released, or a new trailer appeared, the message boards and chatroom erupted into heated discussions. But as the years wore on friendships were made, some turning into marriage, and we all began meeting up at various moots, conventions, concerts, premiere events, trips to New Zealand or just coffee and a movie. How many of you newer fans were galvanized by the #Votebilbo campaign and now have a wider array of Twitter friends because of it? The fact that TORn was able to continue to exist during all those lean years between film productions is due mostly to you, the readers, sticking around to discuss anything and everything to do with Tolkien, and sometimes other bits of pop culture. We know that after the release of The Hobbit: There and Back Again we will see another decline of readership, but we also know that the community is strong, the friendships have been forged and all of you take that fandom with you where ever you go next.

So again, if you are so inclined to help support us and keep the website going, please do make a pledge or bid on one of the many cool auction items we’ve been posting about the past few days. On behalf of the All Volunteer Staff at TheOneRing.net, you have our deepest gratitude for all the support over the years.

Azog the Defiler

In particular, he examines whether persistent criticism of this key villain might be a result of flaws inadvertently introduced by the relatively late switch from two films to three.

Did Azog defile An Unexpected Journey?

By Rud the Spud

Azog is an aspect of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that has perturbed me for some time now.

Did he or didn’t he work in An Unexpected Journey? And, if not, was he the victim of the late change from two to three films?

I don’t know if it was the massive hype (which I’m glad there is less of for Desolation of Smaug), the huge expectations off the back of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy or whether it was simply the basic love for the book itself, but I found An Unexpected Journey mildly disappointing.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it and I loved so many aspects of it but there remains an uneasy feeling that I’ve only recently been able to define.

And that is Azog.

AZOG IN THE TOLKIEN’S LEGENDARIUM

The Battle of Azanulbizar.

In Tolkien’s Legendarium, the Battle of Azanulbizar was fought in retaliation for this dishonour.

In An Unexpected Journey, the battle is condensed into Thrór’s large-scale attempt to retake Moria. It is during this battle that Azog decapitates him in the film. Events are altered: in the book it was Náin, father of Dáin Ironfoot, who Azog slew. And it was Dáin (who will be played by Billy Connolly in There and Back Again) who leapt after Azog and hewed off his head before Moria’s East Gate.

At Azanulbizar, Thorin did fight off several orcs with an oak branch, but Tolkien does not report that he went near Azog. But the upshot is that Azog was truly slain in the battle. He does not return; it is his son, Bolg, who nurses the grudge against Dáin and the dwarves. And it is Bolg who leads the wargs and goblins into the Battle of the Five Armies. Bolg’s role in the movies is yet to unfold.

The alteration of events for the sake of making a concise screenplay is understandable and acceptable. The filmmakers instead use the Azanulbizar to emphasise the heroism of our central character Thorin and establish back stories for Balin and Dwalin. Even the survival of Azog wasn’t a major issue for me initially. It was a little contrived how Thorin believed him to be dead (doesn’t he know how movies work?) but even that was acceptable.

It was the depiction of Azog that irks me the most.

Costumes are encouraged, and we may have a prize or two for the most beautifully or most creatively attired lads and ladies. There will also be fun and games, as usual, and …maybe even the traditional impersonation contest (I WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE ATTENDEES TO LEARN SOME HOBBIT QUOTES!). And because it was such a success last year, we will have the Reading Corner again, so bring your books and bring your reading voice. We do have some Hobbit Activity books to share with children, families of all sizes and ages are more than welcome.

The picnic is potluck so bring something to share. RSVP by leaving a note on the Facebook Event Page, or send an email to Garfeimao@theonering.net. Please let me know how many are coming with you and what you plan to bring so I can make sure we’ve got all bases covered for a good, Hobbity meal. I will have a list of items brought and items needed on the Facebook Event page, so it will be easy for everyone to keep track.

DIRECTIONS:

From the South: Take the 5 north to the Griffith Park exit. At the first stop sign you reach, turn right onto Crystal Springs Drive and follow it into the park. When you reach the big stop sign where the road splits into Crystal Springs Drive and Griffith Park Drive, follow the road to the left (towards the Old Zoo and the Harding Golf Course). Stay on Griffith Park Drive past the Old Zoo and the Harding Golf Course. The road will fork again after the golf course at Mineral Wells. Keep on the road to the left, and you will find parking for the picnic area along the road.

From the North: Take the 5 south to Los Feliz Blvd West. At the intersection with Riverside Drive, turn right. Riverside Drive will turn into Crystal Springs Drive. Follow Crystal Springs into the park. When you reach the big stop sign where the road splits into Crystal Springs Drive and Griffith Park Drive, follow the road to the left (towards the Old Zoo and the Harding Golf Course). Stay on Griffith Park Drive past the Old Zoo and the Harding Golf Course. The road will fork again after the golf course at Mineral Wells. Keep on the road to the left, and you will find parking for the picnic area along the road.

From Hollywood/LA: Take Western Ave north. It will turn into Los Feliz Blvd. When you reach the intersection with Riverside Drive, turn left. Riverside Drive will turn into Crystal Springs Drive. Follow Crystal Springs into the park. When you reach the big stop sign where the road splits into Crystal Springs Drive and Griffith Park Drive, follow the road to the left (towards the Old Zoo and the Harding Golf Course). Stay on Griffith Park Drive past the Old Zoo and the Harding Golf Course. The road will fork again after the golf course at Mineral Wells. Keep on the road to the left, and you will find parking for the picnic area along the road.

Here is a Map of Griffith Park

As always, the actual location won’t be fully confirmed until the day of the party when our location scout reports from the park, but we will update the Facebook Event page on the morning of the event in case of last minute changes in location.

•  Bilbo fights off spiders (1341)
• They come to Isengard; they take leave of the King of the West at Sunset (1419)

August 22, 2941 (S.R. 1341)

1. Bilbo fights off spiders.

 (from Karen

Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)

 ”[Bilbo] sat himself down with his back to a tree, and not for the last time fell to thinking of his far-distant hobbit-hole with its beautiful pantries.  He was deep in thoughts of bacon and eggs and toast and butter when……he felt something touch him.

 (Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 153-160 The Hobbit)

August 22, 3019 (S.R. 1419)

1. They come to Isengard; they take leave of the King of the West at Sunset.

(from the appendices)

 ”From Deeping Coomb they rode to Isengard, and saw how the Ents had busied themselves.”

(Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 317 – 321 RotK)

On the Main board this week, Ethel Duath invited us all to create an anthem for the fictional country of Tolkenia.

Whilst in the Reading Room, noWizardme wants to know which Tolkien book character would you have lunch with, and why? 

The Hobbit board is buzzing over why we haven’t seen any major images of Bolg, Dain or Beorn (apart from the blurry Sonic Hedgehog image of Beorn and a toy of Bolg).

In Off Topic we’ve been checking up on our friends in the Wellington area after the big earthquake last week.

And in the Pollantir, Maciliel wants to know how many books we have in our personal libraries.

We’ll share more topics next week. We hope you’ll come and join in the conversations!  Don’t forget, TheOneRing.net’s message boards have over 9,950 registered Tolkien fans, just like you.  Let your voice be heard!

This art print, inspired by The Fellowship of the Ring, captures the moment when Gandalf is trying to recall the right direction through Moria. The artist, Madison Gregory, offers a range of art prints from different movie franchises. Fans can get this print in sizes ranging from 4.5″ x 10″ to 21″ x 42″ with prices between $100 and $400.

They also still have the original A Journey in the Dark available if you’re a collector of original works. This print is signed and limited so don’t delay in adding one of these to your collections.

Also, this weekend (Saturday August 17 at 6pm EDT (New York time)) we’ll be focusing on a movie topic — Beorn. That’s right, the shapeshifter of the Vales of the Anduin and hero of the Battle of the Five Armies. What do you think of Mikael Persbrandt, what are your thoughts on Beorn’s demense and hall so far, and what do you think of the spy image that we revealed last Friday? Those are just a few of the questions we’ll touch on, so don’t miss it!