US Gandalf kicks off his tour across America at TORn’s annual Bagginses’ Birthday Bash in Los Angeles on Saturday,
September 24. Come on down and meet our honored VIP guest before he embarks on a grand journey to the homes of fans across the country. You can RSVP to the party by emailing Garfeimao@TheOneRing.net or on our Facebook event page and letting us know what you might like to bring (this is a potluck party).
Please be prepared to eat like a Hobbit, to get to know many of your fellow fans, to play games and listen to music and enjoy our Tolkien Fellowship. The Facebook page has links to directions on how to find our location at Griffith Park and a list of items people have already signed up to bring, and a list of what still needs to be brought. This event is always a highlight on the local Tolkien fan calendar in LA and will make an annual guest out of you, I’m quite sure.
For more information about the Gandalf tour, please see http://gandalfworldtour.com/ where the tour is described and his future exploits will be published. Fans across the country have been signing up to host Gandalf, so many that hosting Gandalf moots has become necessary in larger cities. We are still looking to decide who among So Cal fandom will be taking Gandalf home with them. Preferably we would love to find someone who will be traveling up to the Bay Area or Sacramento area in the next few weeks. If you find that you are able to attend our little shindig this Saturday and that you are planning a North bound trip in the next few weeks, please contact us and let us know. [Facebook Event Page] [Gandalf World Tour]
Thanks to Ringer Kookie for pointing us to a great interview with Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel in The Hobbit) from SFX. In the interview, Lilly talks about her time commitments, learning elvish, archery, swordplay, and just how long she’s been a Tolkien fan.
When you played Kate you were always doing physical scenes and stunts. How are you prepping for The Hobbit?
“With every film, you have to educate yourself on the material and it’s often things you don’t know a lot about. Right now I’m studying Elvish and having conversations with people about learning how to be an archer, a swordsperson and how to fight like an elf instead of a gritty convict.” [Laughs]
Did you have any reservations about joining The Hobbit cast?
“With The Hobbit, it was a no-brainer because I have been a fan of those books since I was 13-years-old.”
Check out the rest of the interview at the SFX Website. [Read More]
Simone Boyce is an entertainment reporter and host in Los Angeles. In a sea of hollow Hollywood headlines, celebrity baby news and too much reality TV, Simone is proud to be distinguished as a bonafide geek. A completely obsessive fantasy and sci-fi fanatic, Simone delights in a first and second breakfast on Saturdays with a heavy helping of mead. She’s currently losing sleep over where to stamp a “Firefly” tattoo and is fascinated with sword fighting, knighthood and all things medieval.
But she’ll never forget her first love: Tolkien. As a child, “The Hobbit” was the only summer reading book she ever fell in love with. Since then, she’s been known to break into Gollum and/or Ringwraith impersonations on first dates. And Peter Jackson’s epic, cinematic depictions of “The Lord of the Rings” are Simone’s favorite movies of all time (‘Fellowship’ has a permanent home in her DVD player).
Her LOTR fetish extends into her music choices as Led Zeppelin is her favorite band. Having read The Lord of the Rings series in its entirety, Simone believes it to be the greatest story ever told for its heroes, their sacrifices and its overall message of redemption. Continue reading “‘Hobbit in 5’ Host Found! Everyone Meet Simone Boyce”
Jim Beverly and his wife Holly Holt give a quick interview for the live broadcast of TheOneRing.net's coverage of DragonCon. A veteran of Iraq, Beverly credits J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings for helping him recover after war injuries in 2003.
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.
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”
TheOneRing.net, with major sponsor The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, is returning the Road! While DragonCon may be coming to a end today, the journey continues for our fellowship of drivers as they take the long road back from Atlanta, GA to Los Angeles, CA. The road warriors will begin their trip at approximately Noon ET and will drive straight through over the next few days, stopping along the way to meet up with fans and see some famous places. So while we had occasional non-live elements to DragonCon, we will be back to our LIVE as much as humanly possible for the remainder of the trip. If you have not been following the news, we are on a multi-day road trip to (and from!) DragonCon and, for the first time ever, broadcasting the entire trip 24/7 LIVE via Stickam.com. You can interact with the travelers in our Barliman’s chat, as well through twitter and Facebook. And of course, you can email them atroadtrip@theonering.net. And even better, we’ve set up a special phone number so you can call and text our travelers: 970-210-6130. We have a special sub site set up to follow their progress – just follow the link. [LIVE] And don’t’ forget to support our sponsors: The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Badali JewelryandAnglotopia! [Roadtrip to DragonCon Sub Site] [Support the Trip – T-Shirts]
Thanks to Ringer Kookie for pointing us to a great interview with 
