Ringer Celebriel sends this pre-con report:
Just over a week to go!
Fans start gathering next Thursday night for the 21st annual Dragon*Con convention in Atlanta, which runs through Labor Day. Tolkien Track programming this year covers art, costuming, music, literary discussion, live action role play, film screenings, fan fiction, collectibles, and New Zealand travel, not to mention Saturday morning’s Parade, Friday night’s Evening in Bree with Emerald Rose
and the Brobdingnagian Bards, authors Peter S. Beagle and Sherrilyn Kenyon, Tolkien scholar Anne Petty, and “Making the Hobbit Happen,” led by TORn founders William Thomas, Chris Pirrotta and staffer Larry Curtis. (Corvar, Calisuri and MrCere respectively).
Many of the panels will be given twice during the weekend, to accommodate your wish to see the Weasley twins over on the Young Adult track or check out the Miss Klingon Beauty Contest on TrekTrac.
The main Tolkien Track room (except for parties and such) is the Clayton Room on the second floor of the Atlanta Hilton. Also, we are trying to get a few copies of Kristin Thompson’s “The Frodo Franchise” to give away as prizes!
Highlights include:
Meet & Greet: Find old friends and make some new ones before An Evening in Bree! (5:30PM Friday)
TORn panel: Join William Thomas, Chris Pirrotta and Larry Curtis for “Making the Hobbit Happen” (Saturday at 2:30PM and Sunday at 1:00PM)
Music: Emerald Rose, with their new “Con Suite” CD, plays Friday night at “An Evening in Bree” (8:30PM) and Sunday night at the Yule Ball (8:30PM)
The Brobdingnagian Bards play at An Evening in Bree and at Sunday’s late night Pirate party (11:30PM)
Film: Saturday night’s film program (10:00PM) includes “Ringers: Lord of the Fans” and MARS Productions’ “Middle Earth Idol,” along with some surprises!
Peter Beagle and Felix Silla talk about Ralph Bakshi’s animated Lord of the Rings (1972) at 4:00PM on Saturday. Catch Peter showing The Last Unicorn on the Young Adult track at 8:30PM on Saturday.
Dragon Smackdown: Come prepared to support your favorite dragon in Anne Petty’s discussion of Glaurung vs. Smaug. (Friday at 2:30PM and Sunday at 11:00AM)
Costuming: Join professional armor and sword maker Michael Cook of Celebrate Studios and award-winning master costumers Marcia Banach and Jules Kelly for their Saturday afternoon double session on “Bringing Your Costume to Life.”
(Oh yeah, and watch for Marcia’s new LOTR costume this year – A Return of the King character you’ve never seen before!)
Art: Discuss artists who have brought Middle Earth to life in a panel discussion featuring LOTR and Star Wars artist Sarah Wilkinson. Saturday at 5:30PM
and Monday at 10:00AM.
FanFic: Join Zhie and friends at the FanFiction Luau, Sunday night at 10PM. Age 18+ or with parent/guardian – IDs will be checked!
Travel: Thinking about New Zealand or been there and want share your story? New Zealand IS Middle Earth – Sunday at 1:00PM
Parade: The Dragon*Con parade is Saturday morning at 10:00AM. If you haven’t registered yet, please do so at the Parade Table when you arrive in Atlanta. You’ll see it when you pick up your convention badge.
Some Essential Links: Print your Tolkien Track Dragon*Con schedule at: tolkientrack.queencheetah.com/cale2007.htm
Anne Petty: www.annepetty.com
Arms of Middle Earth: www.armsofmiddleearth.com (Atlanta area Tolkien group)
The Brobdingnagian Bards: thebards.net
Celebrate Studios: www.celebratestudios.com
Dragon*Con Main: www.dragoncon.org
Emerald Rose: www.emeraldrose.com/mainpage.htm
Peter Beagle: www.peterbeagle.com
Sarah Wilkinson: www.sarahwilkinson.net
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Long time TORn friends Emerald Rose have announced the upcoming release of their newest cd ‘Con Suite’ just in time for DragonCon! Stepping back from their Celtic roots, the group has prepared a genre-busting set of light-hearted tunes that cover subjects from Harry Potter to Star Trek to Dungeons and Dragons. ‘Chocolate Frog’, a happy ditty about a Potter wannabee, is available for free listens and downloads here.
Fans can find a trio of videos, including the ‘Never Split the Party’ brickfilm (Lego’s characters) by Larry Morris, which is causing a stir on YouTube.com, here. Tolkien fans will find a few characters and situations in the video that they recognize! Emerald Rose will be performing songs from the new cd at their concerts at DragonCon.
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GilraenBham sends along word about the annual Tolkien Weekend in November, it is registration time! Visit Birmingham for a weekend break exploring the places J.R.R. Tolkien lived and played, studied and worshiped during the formative years of his life. Accommodation, food, transport, talks, entertainment and well-informed guides are included in this unique and informative weekend for fans of Tolkien everywhere. Friday evening 9th November, all Day Saturday 10th November, to mid-afternoon Sunday 11th November 2007. The weekend is based around the Plough and Harrow Hotel in Edgbaston, Birmingham, where Professor Tolkien and his wife Edith stayed prior to Tolkien leaving for France during the First World War. The hotel is offering very attractive rates for this special weekend. For further information download this WORD document.
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Udi writes:
“For the third year in a row, Mythopia is one of the most prominent literary conventions in the Israeli landscape. Starting off with academic lectures on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and J. K. Rowling, it began to house other literary endeavours such as those of Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials”, G. R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” and C. S. Lewis’s “Narnia”.
The convention attracts a wide range of audiences, from early teens to mature adults, all interested in fannish delving or academic exploration, with no correlation to the age of the audience, who enjoys the stage of Israel’s top academic lecturers concerning literary works in the fantastic genre, producing a fantastic convention.
One of the lectures about Tolkien’s work is
Túrin and Frodo: A Fate Too Similarly Different / Ran Bar-Zik
Túrin, the hero of “The Children of Húrin”, seems vastly different than Frodo, the hero of “Lord of the Rings”. A closer inspection
reveals that the similarities outnumber the differences, and sometime Frodo mirrors Túrin to extremes.
The lecture shall examine the similarities and difference and will attempt to reach a conclusion on Tolkien’s storybuilding and the eternal element of the dance between myth and modern.”
I can’t read a word of it but Udi tells us the official site can be found right here
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August 31 marks the begining of one of the best geek events in the world! DragonCon 2007 kicks off for a weekend that features something from nearly every nook and cranny of pop-culture and genre entertainment. DragonCon features a robust Tolkien Track of programming, details of which can be found right here. TORn will be well represented this year with a message board moot and half of TORn’s four founders attending as well as this reporter. Stay tuned for more details before during and after the event. Hope to see you there!
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Winners of this year’s Mythopoeic Awards—which celebrate books of fantasy that best exemplify the spirit of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams—were announced this weekend at Mythcon 38 in Berkeley, Calif. [More]
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