This just in – Samwise Gamgee, Sean Astin, has just been announced as a guest at this years DragonCon, and everyone on the D*Con Tolkien Track staff couldn’t be happier! Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US. It is held August 29th through September 1st in Atlanta, Georgia. TheOneRing.net will be in attendance at DragonCon 2008 and hopes to be presenting a panel on ‘The Hobbit.’ Schedule your hotel and flight plans now! [DragonCon.org] [Tolkien Track]
Category: Fans
Shire Productions alerts us to their upcoming ‘Middle Earth Weekend’ event taking place May 17th-18th 2008 at Sarehole Recreation Ground, Cole Bank Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England.:
This popular event, formerly known as the Tolkien Weekend, takes place at Sarehole, the hamlet where J.R.R. Tolkien spent a very happy childhood. It will include all the usual attractions for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien (including Elvish speaking lessons and writing) plus new events and interests for all people of any age from the world of mortals, who appreciate a festival with an ‘old-fashioned’ air about it. The theme this year is ‘Myths and Monsters’ and there will be dragons patrolling the field and no doubt as targets with the Bowmen of Swanshurst. Visitors in costume will be very welcome and using giant puppets and live performances Shire Productions will be performing extracts from Beowulf in the atmospheric Moseley Bog. Tolkien made his own translation of Beowulf from the Anglo-Saxon, but this has, regrettably, not been published.
Sounds like a great event! For more information visit their website. [Read More]
Given the number of artistic people who love The Lord of the Rings it’s no surprise that a sketching tour of New Zealand should prove popular. Organized by regular LOTR tour providers Red Carpet and LOTR artist Daniel Reeve, the tours will take people around the film locations. A master watercolourist, mapmaker and calligrapher for LOTR, Narnia, King Kong and many other films, Daniel will share his skills with the October tour, leading workshops and demonstrations on the amazing landscapes used in the film. Places still remain for the sketching tour, which runs from 13-25 October. Find out More.
Have you ever wished for a place where you could be Aragorn or Galadriel (or *gasp* Sauron) for a day? Well, if you live in or near Layayette, NJ, your wish could come true! “For over a decade, a growing number of people have gathered at a Girl Scout camp in the New Jersey woods to play at being elves, dwarves and goblins for the weekend. The group, called LAIRE, or Live Action Interactive Role-playing Explorers, is one of hundreds devoted to “live-action role-playing,” or LARPing.” Thanks to Robin for alerting us to this story originally reported by Wired.com. Read More
Garfeimao writes: Space will soon be disappearing from the Cruise to Middle-earth. This cruise has been on sale since August of last year, and Celebrity is very happy with how successful it has been. But the cruise line now needs some of the space back in order to follow through with some of their own promotions. This is a standard move in the cruise industry, and I am working with Celebrity Cruises to see how much space I can still hold, and for how long.
If you have been on the fence about whether or not you would like to go on the Cruise to Middle-earth in November of this year, your time is running out!. I’ve been able to set aside a few cabins in each category, but only a very few. So strike while the iron is hot, or while I still have cabins to sell to Ringers of intelligence to go on this journey, quest, thing.
You may email me at cathy.u@travelstoreusa.com or call me at 800-955-7447 ext. 19812 8am-4:30pm PDT weekdays.
Celtic Folk Rockers (and TORn Friends) Emerald Rose received good news this week from producers at the American Movie Classics television channel. Their original instrumental ‘Unfinished Business’ has been chosen for a national commercial for a show called DVD_TV: The Graduate. The 30 second commercial begins airing on AMC this week on March 9 during the broadcast of DVD_TV: Forrest Gump and will air for the next four weeks. The commercial will be broadcast on satellite and cable channels across the US and marks a new level of success for the band. (If anyone can TiVO it, and upload to YouTube, we’d love to likn to it!)
The band is busy as ever, gearing up for St. Patrick’s Day area events starting with this week’s Dahlonega Celtic Music Festival, where they will share the billing with Irish supergroup Altan. Emerald Rose are featured performers in Atlanta’s St. Pat’s celebrations with shows at Underground Atlanta and several Irish pubs in the Atlanta area. For details and show times, check the group’s website at www.emeraldrose.com. [AMC Listing]