TORN Staffer Altaira writes: The Misty Mountains Smial of the Tolkien Society will hold their 5th annual Tolkien Toast at the Celtic Tavern in downtown Denver on Wednesday January 3 rd, J.R.R. Tolkien’s birthday. Enjoy birthday cake, share your favorite Tolkien reading and have a chance to win “The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide,” donated by Houghton Mifflin, as well as other prizes! [More]
Category: Meet Ups
Irascian writes: Joe Letteri, visual effects supervisor on King Kong, will be speaking in The Starr Auditorium at The Tate Modern in London (UK) as part of a series of lectures on digital art. Joe’s lecture will be at 6.30pm on Monday, 25th September. He will be discussing the creation of the Visual FX for Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Joe will show how Weta built 1933 New York City, grew the lush jungles of Skull Island, and brought King Kong to life. Joe has received two academy awards for the visual effects on The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003. Tickets are £10 (£8 for children and senior citizens) and can be ordered from the Tate ticket office on 020 7887 8888 or online here.
A chance to meet Lord of the Rings star Billy Boyd is being auctioned off for charity. Producers of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Rosslyn Chapel are auctioning 35 pairs of tickets for Tuesday’s performance, which it is hoped Boyd will introduce, with the highest bidder meeting the Scots star. Nonsense Room Productions are staging an online auction of the tickets on their website www.nonsenseroom.co.uk, with proceeds going to the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland. [More]
Andrew writes to let us know about “One Morning Long Ago” Art Exhibition at The Redesdale Hall, in Moreton in Marsh Gloucestershire from Saturday 20th May until Tuesday 23rd May.
This features the briliant work of Ted Nasmith and contrasting Styles of Ruth Lacon and both the artists are attending throughout.
This is the largest display of Ted’s work and there are visitors booked worldwide with 3-4000 expected over the 4 days. A full programme of events has been arranged including live Tolkien inspired song cycles, readings, educational talks, Tolkien Tour Guide (covering Barrow Downs, Three Farthing Stone, Amon Hen, Bag End, Malvern Hills, St Mary’s Immaculate at Warwick, Eagle & Child and other Oxford sites). [More]
Ian Collier at The Tolkien Society:
More Fun in The Shire Park: 13th-14th May 2006
This is the seventh Tolkien Weekend event, and the theme for this year’s event is “The Shire” is now an annual item in the Birmingham calendar. Sarehole Mill itself was the “original” for the Mill at Bywater in the Shire in The Lord of the Rings and is a central point in the Shire Country Park that covers the River Cole, Chinn Brook, as well as Moseley Bog, the Dell and the Dingles where JRR Tolkien played as a child.
Entertainments and Activities for visitors include:
- Displays from The Tolkien Society and Birmingham Libraries about Tolkien’s life and works within the mill itself which will have a miller demonstrating his craft with the mill’s greater wheel running
- Shire Productions will perform excerpts from The Hobbit in the new Performance Arena, which is also the location for watching the Re-enactment Societies and the Morris Dancers
- The Tolkien Tent will feature Birmingham Central Library’s new exhibition “Tolkien’s Boyhood in Birmingham”, Elvish lessons (speaking Sindarin and writing Tengwar), displays from Isengard (the Birmingham Tolkien Society group), Games Workshop games and Philip Coker reading The Scouring of the Shire.
- The Unexpected Party Café is opens to serve teas, refreshments and entertainment from: the Green Man Storyteller; folk musicians; Stuart Estell and Allan Recardo (former Birmingham Poets Laureate); Chris Adderley reading from Beowulf and “Open Mic” sessions with Paul Woodward. Write Fantastic, a group of SF writers including Stan Nicholls, Chaz Brenchley, and Mark Chadbourn will be interviewed about how J.R.R. Tolkien has influenced their work.
- The Ent on the green behind the Mill is the starting point for the many popular themed walks, each with their own expert guide, around The Shire Country Park, taking in Moseley Bog, the River Cole, Moseley School, around themes of wildlife, Tolkien’s childhood haunts, nature or archaeology.
- Discover the Birmingham’s Two Towers, Perrott’s Folly and the Water Board Chimney by vinatge bus plus there are two new locations to visit on the Tolkien Trail. On Saturday the destination is The Oratory where the Tolkiens attended Mass (as well as the magnificent church, there’s a tour of Cardinal Newman’s Library). On Sunday there is a rare opportunity to visit King Edward’s School and see their Tolkien archive display, his name on the Honours Board and the chapel built from the stones of the old school that he attended in central Birmingham.
- You can shop in the Craft Marquees or at the award winning Moseley Farmers’ Market. There is a Children’s’ Activity Tent with a wand workshop, henna/temporary tattoos and a willow workshop and out on the field there are amusements for younger children, train rides, treasure trails, archery, a coconut shy, woodland crafts, Wythall Radio Society and the Ranger Encampment.
This unique event now attracts 10,000 visitors and offers a weekend of fun for all the family. 11 am – 5 pm Admission free both days.
Celebriel reports: Vacaville’s second Middle Earth Festival, April 21-23, 2006, offered a weekend full of varied activities to appeal to both die-hard Ringers and novices alike, including music and song, crafts, Tolkien discussion forums, and fun stuff including a costume contest, trivia contest, Hairy Foot contest, Gollum impersonation contest (one entry form to be shared by both personalities), evening party, and slide show of the New Zealand film locations. Also on scene were lots of Ren-Faire type vendors, food vendors, and, of course, Downtown Vacaville’s own many shops and restaurants. [More]