Its been a long time since we’ve had a chance to swamp any polls…but the wait is over! Ringer fan Hula-Lady sends us word that the August issue of Biography Magazine has a poll for readers to vote for their favorite movie from the top 100 films. Guess what movie is on the list? Go forth and vote! [More]
Month: August 2002
Ringer Spy Greenwood Hobbit attended some sort of Lord of the Rings inspired performance during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and here’s her report! [More]
Ringer Spy Greenwood Hobbit attended some sort of Lord of the Rings inspired performance during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and here’s her report!
Lords of the Ring The Fellowship of the Fringe trooped along to see this ‘epic tale of passions seething below the surface of the Edgbaston Tolkien Society’ on 10th August in Edinburgh. Packed into a hot, dark room wider than it was long, we were treated to a gravelly-voiced introduction, as in the movie. Galadriel this guy wasn’t…! Then ‘Gandalf’ and ‘Saruman’ appeared from behind screens, and a re-enactment of the famous duel commenced. That was hilarious; flowing robes, ‘Santa in a wind-tunnel’ wigs, nifty moves, staffs of a kind available at all good garden centres, and sound effects of the ‘Zap/Pfffzzztt/Zinnng/Fttang school of wizardry. Then – it stopped. Wigs were pulled off, and a petulant cry of ‘Jean – the pyro didn’t go off! You’ve ruined the re-enactment!’ broke the mood. Shrugging off robes and taking up clipboards, the two men – who I will call Bossy and Nerd – began to introduce a lecture on Tolkien (during which the pyro did go off, by the way). The lecture theme underpinned the whole performance. Video footage was played on a central screen, prefaced by capering captions familiar to anyone who’s been subjected to over-enthusiastic Powerpoint presentations. A map of Middle Earth lay on the floor, created by the local young offender’s institution (with lurid graffiti on the reverse!) The murky politics of small specialist organisations were probed, and intrigues of an adulterous nature were hinted at. Some ghastly but very funny footage of a Tom Bombadil lookalike frolicking in the meadows was played, and a Tom-style song sung. This isn’t a blow-by-blow account of the show; there was a lot of material in there, it’s impossible to recall it all after one viewing. I do remember Nerd slapping on a wig, kneeling on his shoes and ‘doing a Frodo’; there was also a very funny LOTR spoof song which sadly I can’t remember (it was a very busy weekend!) Bossy had been sleeping with Nerd’s wife, it turned out; Nerd was suitably crushed by this. However, the tale took an unexpected turn when Bossy announced he’d only done it ‘to be closer to’ Nerd. Hand in hand, they sang the final number ‘We are the Champions – of Middle Earth’ and the audience joined in with much arm-waving. It was a funny show; perhaps funnier to those with a more general awareness of Tolkien, rather than an absorbing interest, as TORnsibs tend to have. I felt the nerdiness thing was a bit overdone, but that’s just a personal opinion. However, it was very creative and witty, the two performers Chris Chilton and Stuart Robb were full of energy, and performed with the minimum of props and scenery, throwing in a couple of energetic musical numbers too. The audience seemed well pleased by the show.
Finally YES YES YES!!! The answer to so many questions about Tolkien’s languages! This is an online dictionary primarily concerned with listing Tolkien’s words and tracing their origins – their etymology. Excellent links to other Tolkien language sites are given, for those wanting to do further research. [More] Thanks to Corsair9 for the link.
Well, apparently the folks over at the Boston Globe online didn’t take the entire story behind the extended November dvd release too well, judging by their article today:
According to J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, whoever possesses the One True Ring will be drawn to the dark side and, among other things, be consumed by greed. Obviously New Line — still drooling over the success of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” the first of its three “Rings” movies — has fallen under the spell of Dark Lord Sauron and the Ruling Ring… [More]
I see Tehanu has posted about a Sept 22nd picnic in San Francisco…Well, Los Angeles Ringer fans are also holding a Picnic on Bilbo’s Birthday. Details for LA Ringers will be coming shortly, but we encourage all Tolkien fans worldwide to celebrate Sept 22nd locally. Organize and plan events using our ‘line party’ database and get to know your neighbors (and fellow TORn addicts) today! [More]