The BehindYou.org team write: October is US National Spinal Health Month and to mark this BehindYou.org is running a charity raffle – Raffle for Research.
Tickets go on sale today, October 4th, at just £1 ($1.50) each, or 15 for £12 ($18). For this small donation participants will be in with the chance of winning any of the following prizes:
Argonath Book-ends, Samwise Gamgee bust, rare Orlando Bloom magazines, Official Orlando Bloom Calendar, hand signed Alexander Siddiq postcard, signed Travis postcard, selection of Orlando Bloom photos, LOTR quiz book. The draw will be made on November 4th.
All the money from the tickets goes directly to Spinal Research (registered charity #281325). For more information on either the charity or the prizes available, please visit our site at BehindYou.org.
We at BehindYou.org hope that you will help us spread the word by giving us a link on your website. A button and banner has been attached to this email, please feel free to use either when linking to us.
This is the story of how two TORn discussion board members got a chance to party with the stars this weekend. Jordan the discursive and myself (Cheshire Cat), discussion board members, arrived in Milton Keynes on Friday afternoon. Jordan had flown in from the U.S. especially for the Collectormania 6 event and we were looking forward to a weekend of fun. Little did we know just what a blast it would be.
Friday afternoon we ambled around some of the Collectormania stalls and sneaked a peak at a few of the celebrities who were there signing autographs. This year it was very much a sci-fi event with many Star Wars and Star Trek people in attendance.
Saturday morning we took a leisurely stroll down to the event at about 8.30ish, to join to queue to meet Billy Boyd, C6’s biggest LOTR attraction this year. We found ourselves behind 215 other people who had already got there before us! Still, we were easily guaranteed a chance to see him later that day with our virtual queue tickets. So we headed off to meet some of the other LOTR contingent. First of all, Bob Anderson sword master – he looked a little dazed by the whole proceedings but was really quite charming and when I asked if we could take his picture, he gave the warmest of smiles. He signed my Production Notes and we moved along. Sala Baker was a surprise guest this year. After Miranda Otto had pulled out of the event at the last minute we weren’t expecting a replacement, but it was lovely to see Sala again. After numerous meetings, he has become quite an old chum. The advantage of going to a convention like this with someone who has flown thousands of miles to attend, is that people remember our faces and we soon became recognized. We are also firm believers in talking to these people as human beings, making intelligent conversation and chatting in a relaxed manner. This way they are happy to talk to us for a good long time.
We met Nathaniel Lees, Ugluk the Uruk-hai, who turned out to be an attractive gentleman with the most lovely deep, rich voice. He was charming and great to talk to. Thomas Robbins who played Deagol was an absolute hoot. When he heard the Alabaman accent of jordan’s he started imitating her with an incredibly accurate and funny southern accent. The rest of the weekend would bring a hail of “Hi Sugah!” every time we came across him. “How yer doin’ Honey?” He was a charming person with a fantastic sense of humour.
Soon after, we are having a little chat with Sala and as we turn around a familiar face is coming towards us. “RICK!” There was Rick Porras ambling around in the crowd. We recognized him instantly having had a brief chat to him at the TORn Oscar party in Hollywood and we told him how nice it was to see him again. He was relaxed and enjoying the atmosphere.
A while later we join the queue to meet Royd Tolkien, great grandson of J.R.R. We had seen him on the stage at the Oscar party and now we were honoured to meet him in person. He is so polite and pleasant to talk to. We asked about his experience at the Hollywood party and he said it was mad, but great fun. We let him know that we were looking forward to seeing him again at the Q&A session the following evening and he admitted that these things scare him to death! He hates appearing on stage and having to talk.
By this time Rick Porras had taken a seat between Royd and Billy Boyd and although many people probably didn’t even realize who he was, he was happy to sit and watch the proceedings.
After lunch, we finally got to see Billy. By this time the Collectormania staff have handed out over 880 tickets for the virtual queue. There were going to be a lot of disappointed people that day, this was 2.15pm and he was up to the 200s. Anyhow, we get our turn but by this time they are enforcing a ‘No posed photographs’ rule to try to hurry the queue along a little quicker. As jordan has travelled so far for the express purpose of meeting Billeh, he is good enough to chat to her for a good long while and she gets a hug and a kiss. Mission accomplished!
Now on the Saturday we just had the Collectormania Party to look forward to. This is jordan the discursive’s report from that party which we posted on the TORn Discussion Board the following day in a haze of giggly excitement:
*****
We had VIP tickets, which entitled us to go into a small, smoky, crowded rooms and pay too much for drinks. After an hour or so of this, we decided to step outside for some air, and to see the specialty cars that were on display for the party. They had the Starsky and Hutch car (CC had a ride, or rather a screech around in it!!), the Batmobile, the Kit car, and a James Bond car. It was great fun to sit outside and watch people tearing off for rides in those cars!
So we’re sitting, just watching the people, and up walks Nathaniel Lees (Ugluk) and Thomas Robbins (Deagol)! I called out “Hi Nathaniel! Hi Thomas!” They both turned towards us and yelled out “Alabama!” Thomas started swearing (just joking around) in a Southern accent – it was sooooo funny! They went on through to a private room, so CC and I returned to watching the cars and the people.
A few minutes later, we saw Nathaniel standing on his own a few feet away from us. We walked up to him to say hello, and he gave us a nice smile, and then asked me for a light! I handed him my lighter, and the three of us struck up a very nice conversation. He told us about his family, about his various homes, and about his background in the theatre (he was trained at the Globe!). He told us some funny stories about getting on his makeup each morning before filming would start – he said they would be awoken at 2 am for a 7 am start!! Once they turned into Uruk-Hai, he said no one would even really speak to them, because they looked so menacing! In his words, “We were a gang! Even Viggo wouldn’t mess with us!”
After a good 10-15 minute chat with him, he excused himself to go get a drink. CC and I had big grins on our faces, and again, went back to sit down and watch people.
A few minutes later, Sala walked out of the VIP room. We were seated maybe 15 feet from the door, and we didn’t want to speak to him or annoy him, but he saw and walked right over to talk to us! He asked me for a cigarette, and when I pulled out my pack, he looked at the brand, and said “You’ve got to be £$%”£$^* joking! You’re a %^*^£$%&^ legend!” Seems we like the same brand. 😉 He stood and talked to us for a long time, maybe 15 minutes or so. Various younger girls would come up to speak to him, and he was kind to them, but he never moved away from us. He seemed genuinely glad to stand and talk with me and CC. Needless to say, we were thrilled.
When Sala started getting cold (it was really a cold night), he went back inside, and CC and I went back to watching people.
Then, a few minutes later, Royd showed up! *swoon* He was talking to a group of people, so we didn’t bother him. But after a while, CC and I decided to leave, because it was getting late and it was really cold. We walked past Royd, and I just touched his arm, intending to say hello and goodnight. He turned from the people he was talking to, and talked to CC and I for again, 10-15 minutes! We had such a lovely conversation with him, talking about where he lives, whether he had fun at Collectormania, etc. Turns out he lives sort of close to where CC lives, in the northern part of the country.
After talking to him for quite a while (*swoon*) CC and I really needed to get going. We said goodnight, and he suddenly just grabbed me in a big hug, and then gave CC a big hug! *SWOON* We walked back to the hotel on rather wobbly legs!!!
*****
Sunday morning, following a leisurely breakfast we wandered back to the main C6 hall, said a cheery good morning to all the guys and wandered off to do some shopping. The Question and Answer session was to take place at 5pm and it would be our last event of the weekend. We were pleased to see the Q&A was to be attended by all 6 LOTR guests – Billy, Sala, Thomas, Royd, Nathaniel and Bob Anderson. It was a lot of fun. The guys kept us entertained for well over an hour answering questions politely and humorously. At one point a rather sheepish looking Billy Boyd turns to the audience and says “Do yer mind if I go fer a pee?” When he walks back on stage a few minutes later, he is carrying a glass of yellowy coloured liquid and grinning he takes a big gulp to a hail of ‘Eeeewwwwws’ from the audience. He’s wicked! They were questioned about the night of the Oscars and I asked what they thought about the TORn party. Billy said he thought it was amazing but was sorry that he’d missed most of it. He really had quite a disastrous evening.
As Royd had expressed such a dislike of answering questions on stage, we did of course make it our mission to ask him one! Jordan gets the microphone, and in her obvious Alabama accent asks him a question. He peered through the glare of the stage lights to where she was standing and wailed “You promised you wouldn’t!!!” It was very funny! Thomas, seated next to Royd, then shouts out a “It’s Alabama! Hi there Honey!” We seem to make something of a name for ourselves at these things.
The Q&A was great fun. At one point an oldish lady stands up to ask a question at the back of the auditorium. She says she wants to ask Bob a question at which point Sala says “Hey, it’s your wife – she wants to know what time you’re getting home!” It is indeed Mrs Anderson and asks him the most lovely question “Is it true that you have been presented with a hat that says ‘Grumpy Bob’ on it?” Bob has to admit that it’s true and tells us the story of his nickname. He’s a hoot.
A little boy in the audience asks a couple of questions and a little later on the organizer brings him onto the stage to meet the guys. After receiving a big hug from them all, he is invited to sit on the spare chair next by Thomas and he stays there for the rest of the evening. The guys are so kind to him and he was over the moon! What a great night for him.
A charity auction, hosted by Billy Boyd rounds off the evening with a great deal of money being raised for an Epilepsy charity he supports. He sells off signed photos, Weta t-shirts and a sake dish signed and shared by Elijah, Dom and himself at the ROTK premier in Japan. He even auctions a kiss with Thomas, which raises £110! As the lady makes her way to the stage, Thomas is seen limbering up his lips and acting as if he’s warming up for a marathon. What a giggle. When she arrives on the stage he grabs her, dips her and gives her a big smacker on the lips to howls from the audience.
Finally our exciting Collectormania weekend was coming to an end and it was time to head home but carrying so many happy memories. Jordan and the Cat weave their Collectormania magic once more. A great time was had by all.
By Web Behrens Special to the Tribune Published October 3, 2004
The members of the World Festival Symphony Orchestra are accustomed to performing on strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion. It’s just the specific forms of these instruments that might feel a little foreign to the musicians as they rehearse this week: Ney flute. Hardanger fiddle. Bodhran drum.
Members of the Chicago Children’s Choir, meanwhile, have sung in many languages over the years: German, Italian, French, Russian, Japanese. They’ve even sung in one “dead” language — Latin — but not until now have they tackled a mythical one.
How do you say “impressive” in Elvish?
These occurrences become the norm for the musicians performing “The Lord of the Rings Symphony,” which will unfold at the Auditorium Theatre on Friday and Saturday as part of a tour spanning four continents. The event will likely prove a first for many audience members, as the phenomenal reach of the blockbuster films extends into the concert hall, luring many to their first experience before a serious orchestra.
“Anywhere in the world it’s been performed — Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago, London, Sydney, Taipei — it’s all been done locally,” says composer Howard Shore. “To me, that’s the real joy of it, awakening interest in symphony orchestras.”
Local performers
“The Lord of the Rings Symphony” requires about 225 people to perform its six movements. Ninety-eight are members of the World Festival Symphony Orchestra, an organization of local musicians who regularly perform with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera, Ravinia Festival and Chicagoland Pops. (They come together as needed for events such as the Andrea Bocelli or Three Tenors concerts.) A similar number of performers come from the Chicago Children’s Choir and Concert Choir, a multicultural group of 9- to 18-year-olds.
From city to city along the tour, the music is generally played, sung and conducted by local artists. The exception is Sissel, the mononymic Scandinavian blessed with an incandescent soprano. Shore tapped her to sing most of the solos, including “Gollum’s Song” and “Into the West.”
Unlike many people attached to the project, Sissel has very little familiarity with the films or J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels. Before her first performance in March, she recalls, “all my friends told me, `Oh Sissel, you have to read the books. You have to read the books!’ I said, `Ah, well, it’s a little bit late now.’ I feel like, through the music, I already know everything.”
One other presence sometimes appears onstage: Shore himself. Although he’s collaborating again with “Rings” director Peter Jackson on “King Kong,” Shore appears for a talk before the concerts (free) and at a champagne reception afterward (an additional $75). Shore will not, however, hold the baton at the Auditorium; German conductor Markus Huber will.
Shore’s resume includes several film scores each for directors Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, David Cronenberg and David Fincher. Over the decades, he built a reputation for diversity, from his early TV work as music director for “Saturday Night Live” in the ’70s to a harmolodic collaboration with jazz artist Ornette Coleman on the 1992 soundtrack to “Naked Lunch.” Still, it wasn’t until the unparalleled success of “The Lord of the Rings” that Shore won mainstream recognition (in the form of the Grammy and three Academy Awards) and began to attain name recognition.
He also inherited an international base of devoted Tolkien fans, who have heartily embraced him along with the films. They line up for his autograph and treat him like a rock star — no small adjustment for a 57-year-old composer.
“People do want to meet you,” he allows with understatement. “It’s very gratifying.”
“I’ve been writing music for a long time,” says Shore, a Toronto native and New York resident, during a phone conversation from England, where the two-hour symphony was recently performed by the London Philharmonic. Everything he’s learned in his life led him to “The Lord of the Rings,” he says. “I’ve been writing music since [I was 10], and I’m in my late 50s. So this piece took 40 years to write. It actually took four, but you know, it’s a culmination of 40 years of work in music.
Learning the way
“When you started, you were just the hobbit with the ring, saying, `I will do this. I will take the ring to Mordor, although I do not know the way,'” he quips. But before long, he learned how to navigate his way through Middle-earth, seizing upon Tolkien’s invented languages, as well as actual ancient instruments, to help evoke the sound of this mythical world of the past.
“The beauty of the languages [Tolkien] created is they had a certain sound,” says Shore. “So all right, so it’s about sound — once it is about sound, that takes you into the musical realm.” The choruses performing the Symphony across the world all learn Elvish phonetically. Shore used the languages and instruments as he composed leitmotifs for the many different characters, races and locations in the film — more than 50 in all.
“Part of the reason it works in this symphonic setting is because the structure holds up on its own,” says Doug Adams, a Frankfort, Ill., musician and author of the upcoming book, “The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films.” “A lot of times, film music is a bunch of stingers for when something scary happens, or now it’s happy because everybody’s in love. This one brings its own structure to the picture.”
“There’s a different style of music for each culture of characters: hobbit, elf, dwarf,” adds Adams, who will appear with Shore during the Q&A before the concerts. “If you go to the symphony performance, it’s very much like an abstract version of Tolkien’s story.”
As an extra treat for film fans, the Symphony will include projected images that correspond to the music: original sketches and storyboard art by artists Alan Lee and John Howe.
Although in many ways he completed “Rings” in March, after composing and conducting the final notes for the “Return of the King” extended edition DVD, side projects connected to his masterpiece are keeping Shore busy.
“My main focus right now is the box set,” he says, referring to an intended nine-CD collection he hopes to release next year that will include every note from the movies. “My dream is to put everything out, all of the music in the films, plus [Doug Adams’] book, plus some treats for the fans — you know, some rarities.”
Meanwhile he can present the symphony. It might only be a fraction of the total 12-hour composition, but it’s not just preserved on celluloid or pressed on a disc. “Here now is a living, breathing concert piece, and there’s a certain music joy to that,” Shore says. “I mean, that’s really what making music is all about.
“The Lord of the Rings Symphony” will be performed at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Parkway, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. A pre-show Q&A with composer Howard Shore and local author Doug Adams is at 6:30 each night, free to those with tickets to the performance, which cost $35-$80; 312-902-1500.
Hobbitfan writes: I have just returned from Annie Collins’ lecture on editing ROTK. She began with a great clip of Jamie Selkirk talking about the editing process of the movies.
She described how she got the job (first she helped storyboard animation, then digital work, then editing) and what it was like to work with Peter Jackson. We saw several clips of her, Jamie, and Peter editing portions of ROTK (every single time PJ was reclining on a couch), including a very interesting and unfamiliar scene between Faramir and Denethor, with Denethor upbraiding Faramir for letting the Ring be taken to Mordor by a “half-wit halfling”. Faramir shoots back that if Boromir had taken the Ring, Denethor would not have known his own son.
Then five different takes of John Noble getting tears in his eyes and growling “Leave me!” ROTK:EE, perhaps? Peter made some very funny jokes, especially when they were editing the lighting of the beacons and he said something along the lines of, “Wow, imagine if you’d been up there sixty years and you’re about to retire, and now you finally get to light the beacons and your matches are wet!” Annie described how Peter would always get home at half past five to be with his family, and that they couldn’t work on Saturday mornings because that was when Billy Jackson had soccer.
After this we saw three different versions of the great scene of Rohan vs. Mumakil outside Minas Tirith,;the first being very basic and choppy with blocky computer graphics, the second having some matte painting and better animation, and third was the finished copy. By far the most amazing part was when she told us a story about trying to get the scene where Sam rescues Frodo from the Black Tower emotionally right. All the actors were gone, so Fran Walsh had to work with what they had. The first version was okay, but, as Annie put it, Frodo seemed “mad as a hatter” and Sam was still goody-goody; basically, one-dimensional characters with not a lot of drive. Then we saw the scene that ended up in ROTK, using the same shots and only a few different takes, but edited so differently, the mood was entirely different. Then came question time and people with tickets got into the exhibit for only five dollars (if you weren’t a member). All in all a wonderful experience.
Altaira sends along word of Tolkien lecture in Longmont, CO
Joseph Pearce, author of, “Tolkien: Man and Myth” and, “Tolkien: ACelebration” will be making several presentations as part of a two dayseminar entitled: Unlocking The Lord of the Rings. The presentationswill take place on Saturday evening, October 2, and Sunday morning,October 3rd in Longmont, Colorado.
Two presentations Saturday evening explore Tolkien, the man, and whyhe believed in the relationship between myth and truth. The Sundaymorning presentation will explore why Tolkien referred to The Lord ofthe Rings as a “fundamentally religious work.”
Follow the link for exact times and locations. The cost is $25.00which includes refreshments at the Saturday evening event.Registrations will be accepted at the door. [More]
The folks from Ringcon write: SEATTLE, WA, September 30, 2004 – The fifth Northwest RingCon will be held October 29th through 31st at the SeaTac Doubletree Hotel in Seattle. Lord of the Rings enthusiasts and fantasy lovers of all ages can experience a weekend of music, dance, costume-making, and fun, all in the context of the Middle Earth universe.
Guests include Bruce Hopkins, (“Gamling”), authors Peter Beagle (The Last Unicorn) and Greg Wright (Peter Jackson in Perspective), Peter Tait (Shagrat). Royd Tolkien, great-grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien will make a special guest appearance.
Premier Lord of the Rings costume designers, Cat and Judy from Alley Cat Scratch will hold special costume-making workshops throughout the weekend. A Masquerade Ball and Costume Contest, accompanied by the music of Heather Alexander, will top off the convention on Saturday night. Attendees can have their pictures taken with one of the guests of honor before and during the ball in the backdrop of the mysterious Fangorn Forest.
Tickets for RingCon can be purchased either as an entire weekend package deal or according to individual events. For pricing and registration information, go to www.ringcon.com. Contact RingCon staff at 1-800-359-5948, or by snail mail at RingCon, 12016 134th Avenue, Kpn, Gig Harbor, WA 98329.
