Thanks to your support we are now virtually sold out of WIZARD CIRCLE Weekend Package Tickets for The ONE RING CELEBRATION, *January 14-16,2005 in Pasadena, California.
We will be cutting off sales of this package within a few days so we wanted to give everyone a final notice. Grab the remaining WIZARD’S CIRCLE PACKAGES by visiting us online.
Of course, all other ticket options will remain available and there is PLENTY of room at the Pasadena Center for everyone to come and enjoy the weekend!
And, by the way, we still have lots more speakers and events to announce: keep reading our e-mails and visiting oneringcelebration.com for ongoing details. There have been some recent new additions to the guest list and program.
SPECIAL RINGERS EVENT AT ORC!
We’re happy to have a big scoop on RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS, the new full-length documentary, at THE ONE RING CELEBRATION that is coming to Pasadena on *January 14-16, 2005.*
Here’s the details: “RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS is a feature-length documentary that explores how “The Lord of the Rings” has influenced Western popular culture for the past 50 years. Come and meet the filmmaking team behind RINGERS for an exciting panel where they will share their own remarkable, personal stories of how they made the most dynamic Tolkien documentary ever attempted. Be the first to see EXCLUSIVE preview clips and behind-the-scenes mischief not shown anywhere before.
We hope you are making plans to be with Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, John Rhys-Davies, Royd Tolkien and so many more grand guests as we make convention history together and start 2005 off right!
And, if you know us, you know we still have some surprises to come!
Visit oneringcelebration.com today to grab your tickets and hotel reservations and join the non-stop party that you’ll never forget!
Hey guys and girls, your friendly neighberhood Ringbearer SuperScott here. I heard about Sean Astin’s book signing in Philadelphia and figured it was too good of a chance to pass up. I drove over from New Jersey and made good time, despite the pre-Thanksgiving rush. The location was listed as a school, although you never would have known it- the school is built like a tower. Quite a sight.
Anyway, sat down in the end of the aisle about halfway down the theater. My thinking was this- I can run down to the stage and take pictures without jumping over people AND there was a second mic set up. My bet was that they were going to have a Q and A after his speech.
We waited for a while. Then finally out of nowhere, during his intro, he walks down the aisle on the other side of the room and the place goes crazy. I didn’t expect him to be traveling with his family- his wife Chris and his two daughters were also along for the ride! We were given a long introduction by a lady from the Philadelphia Film Commission and she told a story about how Sean has a history with Philly- he shot part of Kimberly there. One infamous scene even included Sean having to run, in the winter cold, down a dock…naked. Poor guy. He said the only that it was “Cold……..veeeeerrrrrrry coooolllld. The only thing that was steady was the steady cam.”
One of the first things I realized about him was the fact that he is EXACTLY like he is in all of the interviews I’ve seen- he’s very funny, very laid back and in general, just an engaging personality. His speech primarily revolved around his writing of the book and why it was a sort of spiritual need. All of the emotions he had pent up during the course of the past decade and a half were relieved after this. As a writer, I can understand this sort of fulfillment.
He did tell a very funny story about the patriot behind the phrase “I have but one regret and that is that I have but one life to give for my country.” He was reading this book to his daughter, who was enthralled with it apparently, and they found out he had been a school teacher who was asked by Washington to be a spy. He confided in his brother and his brother said, “No. Absolutely not. You’d be a terrible spy.” Sure enough, he was caught and hung. Sean said he was quiet and he looked at his daughter and asked, “What did you think of that?” She replied, “He should have listened to his brother, he was a really bad spy!” (The place cracked up).
The funny thing is that during the speech, both of his daughters made their way to the stage and started drawing in coloring books while their dad talked. Even a tough guy like me will admit that it was pretty cute.
Sean took questions after about a half an hour and I bolted to the front. I was like 8th in line, beaten only by the front row people. He gave a thesis statement on Tolkien and the enviornment to one girl and said his favorite people to act with were (aside from himself) Ian and Elijah.
I’m not one to get nervous around celebrities, but when I got to the microphone, I have to admit, (since he had moved to the steps to sit) being five feet away, I had to keep myself calm. As a radio person who has been interviewing famous people since freshman year of high school. This was Rudy before me, Samwise the Brave- the man who brought to life two of the characters that have motivated me to make more of myself.
So first thing I said was, “Sean, I’ve been a big fan of yours since Rudy…”- and the place went nuts, chanting (he hadn’t mentioned it). I told him how happy I was for him when I saw he was going to be playing Sam for Lord of the Rings. I also told him that there was a quote in his book that also gave me a kick in the butt when needed (a quote about how he was told by a famous cinematographer that aspiring filmmakers only use 16 mm while real directors use 35). He thanked me for sharing that, because it meant it had hit home the right way. He also encouraged me and other filmmakers to use digital rather than film because it was cheaper and more conducive.
The rest of the questions went smoothly. One lady asked his older daughter which scene she didn’t like with her dad in it. I thought it an odd question. But the response made sense. “There was one scene…with Rosie…and Daddy kissed her…I didn’t like that…”
The best moment though of the interviews (aside from the one I asked) was one of those fans who makes well-adjusted geeks nervous. He said he had been to Middle Earth. It took a while for him to explain that he had visited New Zealand. He propped his boot up on stage and said it had walked over Mordor and he suggested to everyone to to go there.
In classic William-Shatner-at-the-convention form, Astin pauses, kind of looks around, and replies, “Well…are you back from Middle Earth yet?”
I about died.
The line for him for signing was huge. There were probably around 600 people in this very spacious school, and I was closer to the end. People were patient, despite the warm temperature. When I approached, he looked up, smiled, shook my hand and said “We meet again!”. He signed my books with the quote “Dear Scott-There’s good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for!”
I then got my picture taken, shook his hand, told him that I get to work with him one day and he smiled and said, “I’ll see you on the road.”
You know…I think I may just. He added as an afterthought to my autograph- “Good luck in your film career”.
I wouldn’t have traded my experience for all the Samwise speeches in the world. For once, I met an actor who not only lived up to expectations- he surpassed them. He seemed like a generally good guy and a family man. I waved to his wife on the way out and said to her “Thank you. You have the patience of a saint.” She smiled.
A good night was had by all.
I have a few pictures that I’ll hopefully have developed next week. You can use this report if you’d like. Hopefully I’ll have a report from the Shore concert at NJPAC in a few weeks. Happy Thanksgiving!
———-
Ryan P
I attended Sean Astin’s book signing today in Bloomington, MN. Before the signing Sean gave a pretty interesting talk about his work on LOTR. He even talked about one of his other films – Rudy.
Sean mentioned that he bought his first LOTR book at a Barnes and Noble bookstore. He also said that among his favorite scenes filming from the LOTR trilogy were the scenes in the Mines of Moria, and on Mount Doom from the end of the third film.
Sean also elaborated more on the tale of when he cut his foot during the scene where he runs after Frodo at the end of FOTR. He said it healed up pretty quickly, just a day.
During the filming of Rudy, Sean said he took some pretty good hits making the films strenuous football game scenes.
At the end of the talk, I was lucky enough to catch him as he went off into the crowd. I told him I thought he was “awesome”, and he said “Thanks,” and we shook hands. Defiantly a memorable moment for me.
Lord of the Rings Symphony – A Long-Expected Party A report from the concert in Moscow, 17th November 2004
By Alina Tsyganova Photos: Alina Tsyganova, Yulia Zakharova With quotes from forum members of Henneth-Annun.ru English translation by Peter “TheHutt” Klassen
“When the concert finished yesterday, I could hardly talk for half an hour” (Aliks)
“My overall impression of this event as a whole was great. Yet another piece of wonder, which I haven’t witnessed for quite a while” (Amor)
The journey has come to an end. The “Symphony” reached Moscow and turned the State Kremlin Palace into a place full of music magic for two days. Maestro Howard Shore brought us back into the world of Middle-Earth, which has become so homely during the last three years.
I think many will agree when I say that the music from the LotR movies plays one of the main roles in creating the books’ atmosphere. The chanting of flute gets us to the peaceful and careless Shire; the music theme of Rohan is enchanting; and elvish singing creates images of magical Lothlórien in the viewer’s imagination. The whole symphony lasts for two hours; and all this time the audience is under the spell of Howard Shore. He commands over the emotions, and just by the means of music he lets the audience squeeze tightly in their chairs, relax, or wipe the tears away. The drums sound heavily, the violins cry out in distress, the audience is frozen with tension, waiting for the moment when the maestro has mercy with them – and just with a wave of the conductor’s stick Shore will bring piece and happiness back to the music.
“Speaking frankly, I even had a feeling that it happened to me not in real world, but in a dream, or in another life – a piece of which I had a chance to live” (Alexus)
The Symphony is divided into 6 movements – as many, as there are books in Tolkien’s novel. The first and the second books, “The Fellowship of the Ring”, have a good hour of the complete time – underlining the slow flowing of the story within. The easy theme “Concerning Hobbits” is replaced by the grim and foreboding “Shadow of the Past”. Themes follow one after another, and lead the spectator along the story.
After the entr’acte, there are the two other parts – “The Two Towers” and “Return of the King”. If the first movements contain the story introduction, then the others contain the building-up and the resolution. They last another hour and show the dynamic character of the storyline. Rohan, Fangorn, Helm’s Deep, the Paths of the Dead, Mordor, Pelennor, the Crack of Doom, and finally, the Grey Havens – which are the final chord of the Symphony. The concert ends with the Oscar-awarded song “Into the West”, sung by Sissel.
“The music is beautiful. The visuals are magic. And the impressions are indescribable. All these melodies – and each one is touching a certain string of the human soul. Shore did a great job writing it just like this.” (Oduvanchik)
The music was accompanied by some kind of a slide show, composed from paintings of famous Tolkien illustrators – Alan Lee and John Howe. Sketches and drafts correspond wonderfully with the Symphony compositions, leaving the audience enough room to use own imagination.
“I think it was just the choir of Khazad-Dûm that was rather not all too good. But our [Russian] singers just cannot match with the exotic Maori choir. Also, the acoustics were horrible. But there is nothing you can do – the Kremlin Palace is just like that.” (Rika)
“The Symphony was amazing, no matter, if the singers had Russian accents, or not” (Devlin)
On the press conference the Monday before, Howard Shore pointed out that in each country vocalists and musicians bring in their own character. It was also true for the Moscow Symphony concerts. The interpretation sounded somewhat different from what we are used to hear on the soundtrack CDs. Of course, there is a great difference between a live performance and a studio recording. There is no way to re-record, fix or add anything artificial during an onstage performance. Also, the acoustics of the rather uncomfortable Kremlin Palace does not allow the audience to hear everything just like at home with headphones. Also, Russian musicians added somewhat of academic profoundness to the Symphony. Whether it is good or bad – is for the audience to decide. In my opinion, the main advantage of such a concert is achieved by the honesty of the performance, and not by fancy solos.
In any case, the Russian musicians and vocalists succeeded to deliver the complicated program very well. Of course you can nitpick on flaws which of cause took place. But better leave it to the music critics. The impression, which remained, was very positive.
“Arranged in a half-circle there were different percussions – kettle drums, tam-tams, cymbals, a gong… when the dull beats sounded from different directions, you got the shivers.” (Oduvanchik)
“One word of advice – forget about the sound of the original discs for a while – because the performance of Sissel is completely different. Not bad – just DIFFERENT.” (Oness2)
Sissel is amazing. Such a clean, bright, flying, silver voice fits perfectly into the world of Middle-Earth. From the first syllables it goes through the bone, and the final song “Into the West” made many cry. Great was Howard Shore himself, who conducted the orchestra. He surrendered himself to the music completely, and it seemed to whirl around his hands. Everything he did on stage was with passion. And, obedient to his conducting stick, the music was flowing freely, supported by the choir – and getting us inside the screen, where paintings of Howe and Lee slowly passed by.
“The slow change of the sketchy images dug into my brain. At one moment I looked into the yellow frame like in a window to another world. Like a Palantir. Read it again and watch it again!” (Fidel)
To point out the negative aspects – the audience of the Kremlin Palace was not nearly able to fill it completely. It might result from rather expensive ticket prices. Or maybe it had to do with the specific type of audience this Symphony is targeted at – the movie fans. Or maybe both. Surely, some more popular concert might have sold out completely. I think, however, the main thing is not the quantity, but the quality. And those who came to hear the Symphony were not disappointed. Undoubtedly, the concert was a success.
In conclusion – I would like to thank Howard Shore for this magic tale he gave all of us. And to sympathize with the people who didn’t hear it.
Celebrate 50 years of The Lord of the Rings with Alan Lee! World-renowned artist Alan Lee, acclaimed LOTR illustrator and Academy Award-winning conceptual designer for the film trilogy, will discuss his long involvement in creating the visual world that accompanies the books and films based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Lee’s visual presentation will include a slide show and a display of a dozen original illustrations. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A with fans and a booksigning.
Tour Schedule:
12/4/2004 12:00 (noon) Books of Wonder (18 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011) 12/5/2004 2:00PM Philadelphia Free Library (1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103) 12/6/2004 7:00PM Olsson’s Arlington-Courthouse (2111 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201) 12/7/2004 7:00PM Borders (830 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611) 12/8/2004 6:00PM Borders (50 S. Main Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84144) 12/9/2004 7:00PM University Bookstore (4326 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105) 12/10/2004 7:00PM Booksmith (1644 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117) 12/11/2004 2:00PM Book Soup (8818 Sunset Blvd., W. Hollywood, CA 90069)
Merry in Oz writes: I attended the Saturday, 20th November, session of the LOTR Best of Both Worlds convention in Canberra, Australia.
It was great to meet and greet the guests–Brett Beatie (Gimli’s size double), Andrew Stehlin (stuntman), Stephen Ure (orcs), Paul Norell (King of the Dead), Thomas Robins (Deagal), Daniel Falconer and Mike Grealish from WETA. All of them were pleasant and friendly and gave amazing talks.
There were workshops as well but alas I am too poor to miss work and attend them!! Mike did give everyone a little leather keychain with LOTR stamped on it–a lovely souvenier.
I was disappointed by the ‘no photos’ rule. I can understand sparing the guests having photos taken all weekend, but I thought it a bit excessive not allowing a few snaps at the start of their talks. They are on stage, after all, and the ‘official’ photos are just so expensive.
Whose life would you most want to live in Tolkien’s Middle Earth? Now, we don’t mean who is your favorite character, but whose life, both the good and bad, do you long to experience for yourself?
Is it the character you most admire and look up to? Is it a character you feel you relate to the most? Or is it someone you just think seems to have a lot of fun?
Do you crave a life of weapons and warfare, or are wooded valleys or tilled fields more your speed? Are you a skin-changing loner, a nameless wanderer, a horse lord or an elvish queen? Are some characters too good to have interesting lives? Would you give up some nobility or goodness for a life with a little bit more spice? Or would you rather just pass the time as the fox that notices three hobbits camping out in the wild?
Whichever your preference, this is bound to be serve up an interesting discussion. Join us in #thehalloffire as we consider “If I lived in Middle-earth; Which of Tolkien s characters would I like to be?”
=== Upcoming topics:
11/27 and 11/28: The Hobbit: Chapter 18: The Return Journey and Chapter 19: The Last Stage
12/4 and 12/5: Concerning Hobbits: Everything you ever wanted to know about those little guys.
=== Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net IRC server. Need instructions? Go here: http://www.theonering.net/barlimans/instructions.html
=== Chat Times:
Saturday Chat:
5:30pm EST (17:30) [also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday morning AEST]
Sunday Chat: 8:00 pm (20:00) CET [also 2:00pm (14:00) EST and 4:00am Monday morning AEST]
EST = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe AEST = Australian East Coast
