He can act, he can write, and now Hollywood heart-throb Viggo Mortensen is to unleash his painting prowess on Wellington. Mortensen, who played Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is to exhibit more than 100 of his paintings and photographs at Massey University’s Wellington campus, the former National Museum, on November 28. The exhibition will be held two days before the world premiere of The Return of the King at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre. It will be preceded by an invitation-only gala, to be attended by Mortensen and several other Rings stars. [More]
Month: July 2003
Don’t know if it’s too late to be useful, but Ringer JD wanted to share the word: You may be interest to tell people in the UK that there is a programme on the Sky Digital Artsworld channel this evening (Friday 4 July) at 9:55 p.m. BST about Tolkien including readings from Tolkien’s works by Dame Judy Dench.
Orangeblossom from BitofEarth.net sends along this announcement of a Rocky Horror-style showing of Two Towers in the Portland area on July 5. If you’re a fan of MST3k-ing and Rocky Horror – and LoTR – this could be a great night out for you!
BitofEarth.net, the website that brought you the Long Expected Party and Project Elanor, is putting on a fundraising event like no other. The Rocky Horror Ringer show is a fun, quirky, irreverent showing of The Two Towers with a twist, perfect for all those Northwest Rings fans who are tired of being told to sit down, shut up, and keep their hairy feet to themselves during their favourite movie.
What: An MST3K/Rocky Horror-style showing of the movie where everyone is free to snark, plus a variety of other cool events including an Emcee, a lowest-bidder Minion Auction, a Costume Contest (for best AND worst costumes), a Virgin Call, and a Live-Cast performance of selected scenes.
Where: The Avalon Theatre, 3451 SE Belmont St., Portland, Oregon
When: 8:30-Midnight, July 5
Who: Up to 65* Hobbits, Dwarves, Men, Elves, Ents, Dark Forces, and yes, even dates.
Why: A fundraiser for the December LotR convention TentMoot 2003
How Much: $10, includes movie ticket
How To Buy Tickets: Payment may be mailed or brought in person (checks or money order made out to Bit of Earth, cash also acceptable) to 9629 SE 43rd Ave Milwaukie, OR 97222 prior to Wednesday, July 2. After that, tickets may be purchased at the door on the night of the event. First come first serve, no reserve tickets, NO EXCEPTIONS. Please call 503-353-3095 with any questions.
BitofEarth is also putting out a casting call for anyone interested in participating in the live-cast performance. Actors must have no shame, supply their own costumes and transportation, and be willing to come to a rehearsal on the evening of the 3rd, exact time to be decided dependant on the schedules of whoever winds up offering to come make fools of themselves. Actors may be male or female, age 13 to Immortal. Resemblance is a plus, but takes a distant second place to willingness to have fun!
WE NEED:
Gimli
Legolas
Aragorn
Sam
IT WOULD BE COOL IF WE COULD GET:
Gandalf
Pippin
DON’T BOTHER, WE ALREADY HAVE A:
Eowyn
Frodo
Gollum
Treebeard
Merry
DON’T BOTHER, WE’RE NOT INTERESTED IN:
Anyone else!
See you there!
The Staff of BitofEarth.net
Enquiries to orangeblossom@bitofearth.net
* Admission will be sold on a first come, first served basis. STRICTLY LIMITED to 65, so get your tickets early!
Summermoot in Scotland, August 2nd & 3rd
Summermoot is an opportunity for TS members (& others) to join together and visit an area: whether for walking or browsing bookshops, in the Speyside region of Scotland, close to Inverness and Elgin. [More]
Speyside
Speyside is famous for its malt whisky. It also has dolphins, castles and walks, as well as the Cairngorm Mountains, amongst many other attractions. Cawdor Castle of Macbeth fame is just down the road, along with Culloden Moor, the site of the end of the failed 1745 Jacobite rising.
We are trying to arrange a visit to Darnaway Castle, which is owned and lived in by the Earl of Moray. In the castle is Randalf’s Hall, an impressive room with pictures of many of the Stuarts. The castle is not normally open to the public and this would be a private visit.
A few miles south, and only about ten minutes or so by car, is Lochindorb; completely different scenery to Darnaway: open moorland, heather. The roads through the moorland are marked by snow poles and they can be closed by snow gates. The transition from forest to moorland is quite sudden. Get in the right spot and you can see for miles, and miles, and miles. Consequently the roads can be quite fast, though they are sufficiently narrow (at least in places) to require a certain amount of caution when passing another vehicle. They are also twisty, with many gradients. Lochindorb itself is the shell of a 14th-century castle on an island in the loch where Alexander Stewart, the Wolf of Badenoch, had his stronghold and was also imprisoned; he razed Elgin Cathedral, the ruins of which can still be seen. The Loch itself is an excellent venue for windsurfing; there are many places to pull off the road that runs along the side of it from where to either go windsurfing or to watch those who are. However, the only way to reach the castle on the island is by boat; though I suspect that it would also be possible to windsurf to it.
There is also Randalf’s Leap, a local walk along the edge of the River Findhorn, where the river runs through a deep, spectacular sandstone chasm. There are fishermen’s steps down to the river. Another castle is Brodie Castle, which dates from 1567.
For shopping there is Brodie Country fair. Alternatively, there are a variety of woodland walks, where it may be possible to see the local wildlife: hares, ospreys, red squirrels, herons and roe deer. For the more adventurous and a little further a-field, there are the Cairngorms to explore: though for those less inclined to walk or climb to the top there are Chair Lifts—however, warm clothing is recommended regardless of the method used to get to the top.
Attending
Attending Summermoot is free; however, you will need to arrange your own accommodation and food.
For accommodation there are local B&Bs. These can be found on the Highlands of Scotland tourism board website or by phone: 0845 22 55 121 (+44 1506 832 121 outside the UK). Alternatively, there is free camping available. If there is sufficient interest the local village hall could be made available.
Please register your interest in Summermoot by emailing: summermoot AT tolkiensociety DOT org.
Accommodation
Some accommodation information for establishments close to Darnaway. Please be aware that the Tolkien Society is not responsible for these establishments, nor is the Society connected with them in any way. The Society has not vetted them and so are unable to verify their suitability.
B&Bs in Nairn
Hilary McLeod: 01667 453 330
Sarah Marwick: 01667 455 309
Hannah McLeod: 01667 452 457
B&Bs just north of Darnaway
The Old Kirk, Dyke By Forres, Morayshire. IV36 2TL
oldkirk AT gms DOT net
Tel: 01309 641 414
Fax: 01309 641 057 [More]
There are many other B&Bs in the area. Contact the Aberdeen & Grampian Tourist Board The Forres Tourist Information Centre: 116 High Street, Forres. Tel: +44(0)1309 672 938
Shelob writes: Four major Brazilian Tolkien Communities joined forces to honor our Friends of the Jedi Council, participating of a huge event in São Paulo, Brazil, last weekend. [More]
Shelob writes:
BRAZILIAN TOLKIEN SOCIETIES UNITED IN THE 4TH JEDICON
Four major Brazilian Tolkien Communities joined forces to honor our Friends of the Jedi Council, participating of a huge event in São Paulo, Brazil, last weekend. The 4th Jedicon was lauched by Star Wars fans, but invited all fans of Sci Fi and Fantasy. The result was the collision of many Universes – fortunately, nothing dangerous happened, and one could find Elves walking with Stormtroopers, Harry Potter talking to Princess Leia, and the Enterprise crew contacting Hobbits. The Brazilian Tolkiendili communities involved were: the White Council (Conselho Branco), Na Toca do Hobbit, Valinor and Heren Hyarmeno. All stayed together to help trekkies, excers, pottermaniacs, jedi masters and everyone else, from each alternate universe, to get a glimpse of Middle Earth. There was a Super Tolkien Quiz, disputed by Elves, Humans, Ents and Nazgul. Surprisingly, the winner was the Morgul Team… More information and pictures may be found in www.conselhosp.com.br.
Namárië! And may the Force be with you.
Rosana “Shelob” Rios