11thIndian writes: Hey guys, I figured I’ve been reading for years, I should give back in some small way. To really get an idea of Shelob’s size, I took the new hi-res still and overlayed it with the first frame from the same shot from the trailer. Using the skulls and bones on the floor I was able to match up the size and rotation to of the two pictures. Here’s the result. !!!Spoilers!!! [More]
Day: October 8, 2003
Rev. Rachel Wangen-Hoch writes: I am attending the Generations United Conference at which Sean Astin will be the keynote speaker on Saturday, Oct. 18 during the closing session from 3:30 – 5:00 pm. I have received permission from the organizers to bring youth under the age of 18 for free, as well as a limited number of chaperones. [More]
Rev. Rachel Wangen-Hoch writes:
I am attending the Generations United Conference at which Sean Astin will be the keynote speaker on Saturday, Oct. 18 during the closing session from 3:30 – 5:00 pm.
I have received permission from the organizers to bring youth under the age of 18 for free, as well as a limited number of chaperones (the chaperone spaces are already filled). Folks who want to come must contact me at wangen-hoch@msn.com no later that Friday morning of this week. I need their full name and age so they can be put on a guest list. We will be meeting at the Old Town Alexandria Metro Station at 2:30 pm to gather and get good seats. We will meet back there again at 6:30 pm for the youth go be picked up. This will allow us some time to get a bite to eat following the plenary session and share reflections on the Sean’s talk.
Any youth who arrive late for the meeting time will not be able to attend. All youth who attend need to understand and agree that this event is a professional conference, not a fan event. Therefore, anyone who comes with me needs to dress in a casual professional manner and conduct themselves appropriately. This is not the opportunity to get autographs or wear costumes, as fun as those events are. I want the conference organizers to feel happy that they allowed me this privilege and to be glad they allowed fans to attend.
Every youth who attends needs to arrange his or her own transportation and to bring a permission note with contact information from their parents or guardians. Sean is a very inspirational speaker and a dynamic human being. You won’t regret coming.
For adults who wish to attend, the conference organizers ask that you sign up for their Saturday day rate and attend the conference that day (this is their way of ensuring that this is a professional conference rather than a fan event). They like the idea of fans coming if it inspires them to work with youth and do good in the community.
The day rate is $150.
You must register immediately by going to www.gu.org and downloading the registration form and sending it in.
Again, if you are a youth under 18 in the Washington DC area and wish to attend this event, contact me immediately. I will be happy to speak with or meet with parents to discuss the event. I have extensive experience chaperoning youth trips and am looking forward to helping youth in the DC area to have the opportunity to meet Sean.
Blessings,
Rev. Rachel Wangen-Hoch
St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church
Ahriell writes: …We made our way to the place where Sala Baker (Sauron) and Lawrence Makaore (Lurtz) were signing autographs. We noticed that there were very few people queueing for Sala, so we started there. I introduced myself and the Scottish Fellowship to him, and explained about the dvd parties and auctions for the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. He was delighted when I gave him his honorary membership card… [More]
Click here for all the images
Ahriell writes:
This report will be a very positive report. I will not go over the negative aspects of the event, as enough has been said and written about that already. If you don’t know anything about Collectormania and the storm of complaints that followed its mismanagement, please go to the C4 forums and read the recent threads…
On Saturday the 4th October, I got up at 4am to catch a plane from Edinburgh to Luton. I arrived at the Centre in Milton Keynes at about 9.45am, and had a wee look around Middleton Hall while waiting for Sky (Roxane from London). The set-up seemed good, lots of stalls to spend money at, and a clear layout of the guests’ “booths”.
After Sky arrived, we made our way to the place where Sala Baker (Sauron) and Lawrence Makaore (Lurtz) were signing autographs. We noticed that there were very few people queueing for Sala, so we started there. I introduced myself and the Scottish Fellowship to him, and explained about the dvd parties and auctions for the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. He was delighted when I gave him his honorary membership card and immediately asked Lawrence (who was sitting only a few feet away) if he had got one too! Sala signed my Argonath glossy photo with a personal mention, and also signed a superb photo of him as Sauron for our auctions. We took a photo, and finally as no one was waiting behind us, I asked him if he would record a short message for the new Scottish Fellowship website on my digital voice recorder. He duly accepted! By this time I was shaking like a leaf, but delighted at how friendly and approachable he was. Sky got her LOTR book signed and we were done.
A great start!
We then started queueing for Lawrence Makaore, but the queue was quite long already. We were given tickets to come back an hour and a quarter later. Sky and I decided then to go for second breakfast 😉
After food and a well needed dose of caffeine for me, we had a look at where Brent McIntyre (The WitchKing) was, among many other stars (The Matrix Twins, Honor Blackman and many more), and realised that there was no queue at all for him! We actually couldn’t see him either, and after asking a member of staff we waited and were first to see him when he reappeared a few minutes later. As he only charged £10 for his signed photos, I bought 2 for the auctions. He was very nice and friendly too, and is a rather striking looking person: very, very tall (well over 6ft I’m sure), with no hair but ginger sideburns, striking eyes, and a pale complexion, I could see why he had been cast as the WitchKing!!! LOL!!! He was “honoured” to be asked to join the Scottish Fellowship, he said, and was very happy to sign everything I put in front of him. I gave him his card, a leaflet and a member of staff took a photo of him and me, and finally he also accepted to record a message, yay!!!
Later we came back and queued again for Lawrence. He was very nice too, and very patient as I explained once again about who I was and what the SF is, and just like Sala, he was very pleased to sign a great photo of him as Lurtz, and sign my Argonath photo, as well as accept the membership card, and he recorded a rather long “short message” for the website! He also signed Sky’s LOTR book. He is one very cool guy! Once again, we took some great photos J All the photos I have of the day will be posted on the new website…
As we had managed to see all LOTR actors present that day, it was then time for some serious LOTR shopping! I bought some great FotR Toy-Biz action figures to add to my collection, as well as a great Saruman Figure by Applause for the auction (got a bargain price on it!) and best of all I found, after a lot of shopping around for the best price, a set of Helm’s Deep action figures including the very sought-after Haldir figure, at 2 thirds of the price Forbidden Planet charge for it 😉 It ended up being a lot of stuff to carry around but I’m glad I waited til the end of the afternoon to spend my money…
After dropping the shopping at the hotel, it was then time to go to the Xscape complex for the screening of “The Two Towers” and the Q&A session beforehand. Nobody had any idea about which actors would attend which Q&A session, so we were all very excited. We got into the cinema at 5.40pm and at 6.30pm they appeared: Brent McIntyre, Lawrence Makaore, Sala Baker and….. DOMINIC MONAGHAN!!! You can imagine the kind of reception he got!!!
The Q&A session was very good, despite some silly questions from some “fans”… Dom was very entertaining, Lawrence and Sala were a great comedy double-act!!!
Click here for details of what was asked/answered.
At the end the guys left and the screening of The Two Towers started. As it had been a loooooooooong day for me, after 15 minutes I gave up and Sky and I went back to the hotel for a well earned rest!
Sunday 5th October: After a relatively light sleep, Sky and I got ready to return to C4. We were very excited, and wanted to be there early enough. We met up with The Flying Gribble (Dave from Horsham) and together we walked back to Middleton Hall. As we got close we could see the crowds… by the time we reached C4, the place was absolutely mobbed. We tried to get tickets but realised that all tickets had already been issued for Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan and Sean Astin. I only managed to get a ticket for Andy Serkis. I was absolutely devastated. I would have cried if I hadn’t been angry, very, very angry. The rest of the day was spent waiting around for at least a glimpse of the Hobbits, and I just about managed to take a photo of each of them. At about 4pm it was my turn to queue for Andy Serkis. He was absolutely charming! We had a quick chat, he signed my Argonath photo, and the 2 photos I bought for the auctions, I gave him his membership card and explained to him that I had some cards for the other 3 actors but didn’t get tickets to see them. To this Andy replied that he “could do something to help”. He took the other cards, passed one to Sean Astin’s minder who was sitting right next to him, and he promised he would pass on the other cards to Elijah Wood and Dominic Monaghan!!! What a great guy J We took a photo, and it was all over!
An hour later I was in a bus, on the way back to Luton airport, and a couple of hours after that I was back in Scotland, exhausted, and half ecstatic, half disappointed…
However, to finish up on a positive note, thanks to The Flying Gribble and Pippin’s Cat, who were at C4 on Monday, and saw the Hobbits, we will have great reports to read about meeting them, getting autographs, for me as well as for the SF auctions J!!!!!
Soso writes: On Tuesday (Oct 7th) at 1.00pm local time the first “liner” placed herself in front of the theatre in Oslo to make sure she will get the best tickets for RotK in Norway. Tonight at about 23.00 pm local time there were already 8 people in line… It is kind of cold (about 4C) but that won’t keep the liners away. Unfortunately last years successful “Hobbitcamp” in a park nearby the theatre will not take place this year, but nevertheless, events are planned and it seems as if this line will not be a boring one either.