Anthony writes: I was at Gencon on Saturday and attended the Q&A’s with John Rhys-Davies and Sean Astin. My wife was elsewhere with our camera so I did not take any pictures. However as I understand it video of the Q&A’s is supposed to be up on the website for Virtual GenCon http://virtual.gencon.com.
Both of them were very fun. No real surpirses or spoilers of any kind.
JRD seemed to like to tell stories and side track from questions a lot. He also hyped up Sean for an Oscar, Governorship of California and Presidency of the US several times.
Sean showed his tattoo and talked at length about his “sacred” experience on the volcano, among his other film experiences.
Anyway, just a bit of info. Hopefully the Virtual GenCon footage is decent quality. I really enjoyed the Q&A’s and hope everyone else can too!
GenCon. The Big-Kahuna. The Grandpappy of all gaming conventions. So what do three gaming geeks do on a Saturday with zero sleep and nothing but time and money to burn? They hop in their car and go to see the big show in all of its’ glory. And what a show it was! Right from the start, I was immediately impressed with the sheer magnitude of this mecca of gaming. The arena was more than adequate to hold the convention unlike Milwaukee, which was crowded and claustrophobic. Indianapolis was certainly a trade up for accessibility in my opinion.
So what’s a geek to do first, you say? Well, the first thing we had to do was check in. Probably the most tiresome aspect of the whole affair. However, in fairness to the convention folks, this was their first year in a new city and they seemed terribly understaffed. Not to mention the sheer mass of humanity that was being herded through the entryway was astounding. After this leg breaking experience though, you are propelled into a world of gaming glitz and glamour.
To start off, major companies like Upper Deck had truly stadium sized chambers which blew us away from the start. The big companies were definitely making their mid-year push before the year starts winding down into the Christmas season. The amount of money they pumped into this convention just boggles the mind. Wizkids and our good friends at Games-Workshop were certainly making their push as well, but I’ll talk about that in a little bit.
So you say you want media guests, eh? Ha! Have fun standing in line for the next 10 years. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Babylon 5, you name it, they were there. Another testament to the power this convention draws. The list of artists and guests was incredible. It’s almost surreal for this geek to know that Gimli (John Rhys Davies) is in the same room. Then again, I was born to be a dwarf warrior.
One of the things that impressed me as well as depressed me was the sheer space given to the vendors. I say impressed because there were certainly more vendors here than at last years GenCon. Primarily because Milwaukee simply had no room, even with the size of the convention center they had. I say depressed because you simply could not take in the vendors all in one day. When people tell you that you need at least three days to take it all in, they’re not lying. You just can’t do it in a day. Unfortunately, one day is all we had.
One of my most memorable moments was visiting the Games Workshop hall. They had a preview of the Beastmen codex, which was drawing a hoard of little Ungors. The Beastmen will be a truly impressive army. Of course my favorite part was eying the new Shadow and Flame figures that were on display. Sorry to the folks at Games Workshop for having to watch me drool on them! This product line will most certainly push Lord of the Rings into most wanted status this summer. The Dwarves, the Uruk-Hai Shaman, the Khazad Guard, they are all enough to keep the summer sizzling for every Tolkien fanatic.
To wrap it all up in a nutshell, GenCon is so big and so impressive that I highly recommend you schedule at least 3 days if you plan on attending next year. I just couldn’t take it all in with only one day. Nor could I possibly do it justice by giving a full critique. Suffice to say that the parking was reasonable, the entrance fee moderate but not overpriced, the space was more than adequate, and the glamour overwhelming. They had their problems, but they certainly weren’t to be blamed for any lack of enthusiasm or effort. Give this convention another year under its’ belt and you’ll see a well oiled machine ready to rouse the imagination and keep the gamers returning for many years to come.
The LOTR Annual Potluck Picnic was a big success, despite the lack of sunshine in Stern Grove Park, San Francisco. Hoards of hobbits, a few men and even some Ringwraiths showed up for the fun in a Rivendell like glen. In typical hobbit fashion, there was plenty of food for all. We ate not until we were full, but until we were tired!
There were fabulous decorations in the form of giant movie banners brought by one fan, and fun was provided by a combination of games, boffer swords, and great conversation.
A highlight of the event was the Apple Cooking Contest, with over a dozen entries. The three cook-off winners received prizes donated by Sideshow Weta, Houghton Mifflin, and Arms of Valor. It was a tough decision, with everyone present voting for the winners. Of course, that meant everyone had to eat even more, in order to choose only the very best!
Following the cooking event, there was a drawing for door prizes, donated by the sponsors mentioned above and additional ones from several TORn fans. The hot item was a T-shirt signed by Quickbeam and Sean Astin. The winner said he did not feel worthy of such a marvelous prize.
This morning, I was leafing through the new screenshots and artwork for Middle Earth Online, and a couple of images struck me in particular. I must confess – I’ve never been able to visualise Huorns. Trees that walk? They must look a little like Ents, but much much more treeish and wild.
Which is where my thoughts started ticking when I spotted these two images:
As Flinch tells me, they could just be Warg Totem poles, but equally I think they could be Huorns. And wouldn’t it be fantastic to have a Tolkien MMPORG with Black Huorns that you could meet in Fangorn, the Old Forest or elsewhere? Now, that would be realism in a Tolkien universe …
I dare claim that no work of litterature has inspired such a large and devoted following of readers as The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien societies abound around the world, people learn the invented languages of Middle Earth, and it has inspired some of the greatest movies ever made.
The Lord of the Rings has even become one of the key books which teachers and librarians recommend to young adults to lead them towards adult literature.
What is it about this book that inspires all of this? This weekend in the Hall of Fire you get a chance to explain just what it is about this book and Middle Earth in general that fascinates you the most. Hobbits or elves? Maybe the epic battle between good and evil? Perhaps you are something of a philologist?
Or maybe John Ronald Reuel Tolkien knew something about the nature of stories and storytelling that few others truly have grasped?
Join us this weekend in #thehallofire and tell us what it is that fascinates you so in Middle Earth.
Upcoming Topics: July 26-27: What fascinates you most about LoTR and Middle-earth? August 2-3: RoTK, Book 6, Chapter 1: The Tower of Cirith Ungol. August 9-10: Tolkien and Canon August 16-17: Colours in Tolkien’s World August 23-24: RoTK, Book 6, Chapter 2: The Land of Shadow.
Times:
Saturday Chat: 5:30pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe AET = Australian East Coast
Having trouble working out a time zone near you? Try this.
Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at halloffire@theonering.net. And don’t forget that you can check out previous chats here.
Carlene Cordova writes: Cliff “Quickbeam” Broadway and “Ringers: Lord of the Fans” Director Carlene Cordova will be interviewed live on the radio from Auckland, New Zealand this weekend!
The word is getting out about “Ringers” and we were contacted by Wallace Chapman from 95bFM in New Zealand to be featured on their Sunday morning Arts radio show to talk about the film. The great thing about this is that they have a live streaming feed so you may listen to broadcast wherever you are in the world.
Here are the details: The interview will be broadcast on Auckland’s 95bFM at 11:30am on Sunday, July 27. Here’s where it get’s tricky. For North Americans that’s 4:30PM Pacific Standard Time (7:30PM Eastern Standard Ttime) on SATURDAY, July 26th. In London that’s 12:30AM on Sunday, July 27th.
Hear it streaming live: http://www.95bfm.com. Click the little radio tower icon to get the live feed. Hope you can tune in!
