A very unique art installation is about to open in LA, brought to you by Whybin/TBWA, Tourism New Zealand and 3 Foot 7 Ltd. The concept is that of a Pop-up book that shows four different New Zealand filming locations, along with the four corresponding actual film sets from the upcoming film ‘The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug”. This event is mostly by invitation only, with a big Press Opening on Saturday, November 30 and running for 5 days. Luckily, on Wednesday, December 4 there will be a Public Day for fans to see. The point of the whole art installation is to show off the beauty of New Zealand, the fun to be found in New Zealand, and on occasion, the Middle-earthness of New Zealand. To see more details regarding this event, you can read more about it at: Yahoo NZ
So far, the only way to get into that public day appears to be by heading over to the TCL Chinese theater box office and uttering the ‘secret password’. This will get you an entry to win a pass to the event. Make sure to head over this weekend because they will do the drawing on Monday and contact winners then. See the image below for details.
Some minor changes to the original plan.
To say that we have been getting a lot of questions asking if TORn will be doing anything special for the fans for the World Premiere of The Desolation of Smaug would be an understatement.
Well, we finally have plans in place, and here are the details!
On Sunday, December 1st, join TORn staffers and fans at The Grove in Los Angeles for a Quest to Erebor and dinner! Click here for The Grove website and directions. The Grove in LA.
At 5pm, we will all gather in the central square of The Grove for photo ops among their Hobbit Erebor display. They have a full throne that fans can get their pictures taken in! Coming in costume is highly encouraged!
WB has alerted us that The Grove is being de-Ereborized, so the fun Erebor decor will no longer be there next week. We are still going to advise you to get to the Grove by 5pm so you have time to find parking and take in all the Christmas Decor. More options below.
At 7pm, we will gather at the Marmalade Cafe (across the street from the gigantic American Girl Store) for dinner. This is a moot-style dinner, which means lots of mingling and fan fun!
The dinner is a set menu, and we ask that fans who wish to attend pay in advance through our convenient Paypal link below! Here is what will be served:
Your choice of one of four entrees: Chicken Picatta, Turkey Meatloaf, Fish and Chips or a Grilled Vegetable Salad (you do not need to choose your entree until you get there).
Optional starter salad of either a mixed green or caesar salad.
Optional dessert of either tira misu or bread pudding.
You can see the prices in our Paypal link below.
The room is limited to 50 people, so grab your dinner ticket while you can!
If you already paid for the Moot and have decided that you no longer wish to attend because Erebor is going, please email Sarumann@theonering.net for a full refund no later than Wednesday.
As an alternative, especially for those of you from out of town, let some of us LA locals show you around town for a few hours on Sunday. Head on over to our Facebook Event page to discuss a few options.
Seeing LA before the Moot
Bear in mind that this is Black Friday Weekend, and traffic and parking will be cumbersome to say the least, so be sure to figure in travel and parking time. Also, the Hollywood Christmas Parade is going on up in Hollywood that evening, a few miles away. If you are staying at a hotel in that area, really give yourself plenty of time to get out of Hollywood and down into Beverly Hills to arrive on time. Just look for the Tolkien fans taking over the Erebor Plaza.
We hope to see you there!
(Note: If you click the “Buy Now” button, and it takes you to a blank page, simply click “back” on your browser and try again. It should work the second time.)
As well as The Grove in LA turning into Erebor, countries all over the world are starting to show off their own Hobbit excitement in the lead up to it’s worldwide release on December 13th.
Continue reading “World prepares for Desolation of Smaug with art installations”
Recently I reported on the first Tolkien-based tour in the Swiss Alps, “In the Footsteps of Tolkien,” run by the Alpenwild company. I mentioned that our group ended the tour by visiting the brand-new Greisinger Museum, home to the world’s largest private collection of Tolkien art, books, and collectibles.
The image to the right shows the entrance to the museum, looking remarkably like the façade of Bag End transferred into a neighborhood in the prosperous eastern Swiss village of Jenins.
We had stayed the previous night in Chur, a charming small city with an old center with some buildings dating back to the medieval period, including a beautifully preserved cathedral. After a brief tour there, we took a short train ride to Landquart, the nearest station, and then took a taxi out to Jenins. As during the rest of our tour, the weather was sunny and mild. Continue reading “A Tolkien Collection worth the Pilgrimage”
For a time in 1918, a cottage at Gypsy Green on the Teddesley Park Estate was home to J.R.R. Tolkien and his family, when the young officer was posted in Staffordshire. Now, nearly 100 years later, a local library is celebrating the area’s ties to the renowned author.
Hobbit Festival Family Fun Day will be held this Saturday, November 16, 2013 in Penkridge, Staffordshire, UK from 10 A.M. until 4 P.M at Penkridge Library. Admission for the event is free, along with many fun activities. Only face painting will cost a small charge. Continue reading “Celebrate ‘Hobbit Festival Family Fun Day’ in the (Stafford) Shire!”
TORn’s good friend and artist extraordinaire Donato Giancola, who was part of TORn’s art show in Los Angeles last February, has recently completed a new masterpiece: a commissioned painting showing a scene from The Silmarillion, when Huor and his brother Hurin are rescued by eagles. The work is huge – roughly 9 foot by 6 foot! – and perfectly showcases Giancola’s skill in capturing landscape and living beings alike. (The image of Donato himself sitting in front of the painting gives you an idea of the scale of the piece!) The majestic scenery is breathtaking, with beautiful play of light and shadow over the mountains and the valley floor. The patches of glimmering snow on the peaks in the foreground of the picture are mirrored in the white towers of Gondolin,which gleam ‘like … spike[s] of pearl and silver’.
You can read about Giancola’s inspiration for his work – from artists in the Hudson River School of landscape painters, for example – at his website, here. You can also see more of his incredible Tolkien paintings in his book, Middle-earth: Visions of a Modern Myth. Tolkien isn’t the only writer who inspires Giancola; readers who are fans of George R R Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire can look forward to a calendar in 2014, for which Giancola will create 12 new paintings inspired by that world.
Meanwhile, enjoy Huor and Hurin Approaching Gondolin.
