Did you watch TORn travel across the country to DragonCon? Did you wish they were coming to New York City? Well, now they are! TheOneRing.net will be giving a presentation this year at New York Comic Con, and to celebrate, we’re throwing a party in the Big Apple – ‘Ringers Take Manhattan’! This event, held in a private room in Manhattan, will be an exclusive chance for Tolkien fans to hang out with like minded people and to celebrate all things Middle-earth! Ticket price will include appetizers, one free drink of your choice, an exclusive TORn shirt (available during NY Comic-Con only), other goodies, a chance to win some very high end prizes (think Jewelry, Statues, etc), and guaranteed good times! Any profits made will go to support TORn, so you also get to feel good about supporting the website! Our party will be held at The Speakeasy at the Gin Mill, Amsterdam Avenue on Friday October 14th from 7-10pm. This beautiful location provides the perfect atmosphere, and includes plenty of choices for drink and bar food, so party goers can eat, drink and be Merry (or Pippin if you prefer…) to their hearts’ content. Tickets are $40 each and go on sale at 2pm ET on Monday, September 26th. We hope to see you in Manhattan! Follow the link to learn more about New York Comic-Con and all the great events taking place that weekend. [New York Comic-Con Tickets] [TORn Panel] (Have a Tolkien related business and want to sponsor our NYCC appearance? Contact us)
Category: Conventions
Enraged, his knee and hands wrecked by shrapnel from the grenade that infamously disintegrated the hand of a Time writer, the 19-year-old private Jim Beverly lay in his hospital bed.
“It was almost like it was a personal insult that a guy would throw that grenade,” Beverly said.
Teeth were missing, bandages covered wounds from minor to devastating. His Kevlar vest and helmet undoubtedly saved his life, absorbing most of the pieces of metal that would have pierced a lung and skull. He still seethed as a 2003 casualty of the war in Iraq, recovering in Kaiserslautern, Germany away from what was left of his unit being profiled as part of Time Magazine naming the American Soldier the person of the year in 2003.
Michael Weisskopf, an embedded writer, became part of the story and the editorial team that chronicled the December attack: Continue reading “How a soldier found Tolkien to help heal his war wounds”
Attention Tolkien fans in the New York City area! We are excited to announce that TheOneRing.net will be hosting an exclusive, private party in NYC on Friday October 14th, during the New York Comic-Con. Tickets for the event will go on sale in a couple of weeks; meanwhile, save the date and we hope you can join us in New York! For more information about the New York Comic-Con (NYCC) check out their official website. [NYCC]
Geek Kon is a relatively young gathering, started in 2007 by students and alumni of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The fifth con was held this weekend, September 9 to 11, with 1400 fans attending. There were three Tolkien-related events, allinvolving David Salo, an expert on the professor’s invented languages.
David’s main contribution to the scholarly study of those languages has been his book A Gateway to Sindarin. He also, however, acted as the “Tolkien linguist” for Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. In that capacity, he translated phrases and passages from the script into various Middle-earth languages, primarily Elvish. David also devised passages in Khuzdul (the secret language of the dwarves), including choral portions in the musical score for the scenes in Moria. David also translated the phrases seen engraved on the swords and other armaments, and he recorded readings of his translations for the language coaches to use in training the actors.
(I have known David for years, and in September of 2004 I interviewed him for my book, The Frodo Franchise. I used material from that interview in Chapter 3, “Handcrafting a Blockbuster,” pp. 95-6.)
I don’t think it has been publicly announced yet, but fans will be delighted to know that David is currently performing the same tasks for The Hobbit. Although his contract obviously restricts him in what he can say about the actual filming, his first talk shared with us what he could reveal. Continue reading “David Salo, Linguistic Consultant for The Hobbit, speaks at Geek Kon”
When Weta announced the Orthanc Pre-Ruin environment during Comic-Con 2011 they together with TORn it had a very special contest attached tothis announcement. Weta would be allowing the fans to submit suggestions with one of them becoming the official name to this truly amazing environment. Well, after many submissions Weta and TORn are pleased to announce the name and the Winners of the Orthanc Contest. The grand prize winner is Christopher Turner whose entry was Orthanc – Black Tower of Isengard. Mr. Turner’s prize is the awesome Bag End Collectors Edition while the two runners up Tom Barber and Chris Endicott both will receive a really cool Sauron T-Shirt. You can check out the full release of information from Weta here.
ATLANTA — DragonCon 2011 marks the 11th year of involvement with the Atlanta based convention, where it has grown dramatically and yet remains true to its fan-based roots. (We dug up the earliest reports we could find, well worth a look here and featuring Karl Urban, Corvar and Calisuri.)
But this DragonCon had significant differences as well. With an over 2,500 mile journey from Los Angeles to Atlanta sponsored by War In The North, this convention featured the Fellowship of Drivers on The Road to DragonCon. They not only went there but back again with the help of Badali Jewelry and Anglotopia.net.
And on content partner Stickam.com, TORn was the most watched event for the week and the month. A special thanks to those who supported the trip with personal meetings, donations, texts, phone calls and other help.
The journey helped promote the forthcoming video game but it also served as a chance to get one of the Gandalf World Tour statues to Europe. (A story coming soon!) Continue reading “DragonCon 2011 wrap up!”