Last night, I along with about 1200 others, attended the Sean Astin Lecture at Bucknell University. After a very informative introduction by Amanda Forsburg, chair of the Student Lectureship Committee Sean, entered the stage of the beautiful Weis Center Theater. It was packed! [More]
Category: Original TORn
Last night, I along with about 1200 others, attended the Sean Astin Lecture at Bucknell University. After a very informative introduction by Amanda Forsburg, chair of the Student Lectureship Committee Sean, entered the stage of the beautiful Weis Center Theater. It was packed! The applause turned into chants of Rudy at one point during his opening remarks. He also got some of his quotes in from the movies Goonies and The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers in at the beginning. The part from Goonies was at the bottom of the well when Mikey was encouraging the “Goonies” to go on, that they had gotten farther than anyone else in finding the treasure. And from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers when Sam is speaking to Frodo about the stories they heard growing up and that there was still some good in the world.
At this point he also made the whole of the audience honorary “Goonies”. If you don’t know what I’m talking about see his website. SeanAstin.com 7th bullet down.
He continued on speaking of how he was given the opportunity to speak to the students at Bucknell and what he was doing at that moment. Riding with his brother Mackenzie to Fatburger. His brother asked him how much they pay for him to talk and what he would talk about for that much money!? He said pretty much anything he wanted too. (chuckling) He spoke for an hour and a half about family, his passions, how hard it is to get into paying jobs as a director, his meeting President G. W. Bush as Sean is part of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. He spoke of some of the lessons he has learned through his 25 odd years as an actor. He is very honest and revealing as a person. I was surprised at how frank he was at times during his presentation.
He told us of former President Jimmy Carter’s getting in touch with him, that he and Rosalin are fans of the Lord of the Rings and he sent an autographed, leather bound, gold leafed edition of his memoirs to him. That they were in touch with each other regularly when they were both on tour promoting their books. He spoke about his interest in politics and saying if Arnold can be Governor of California maybe he, (Sean) could be a Congressman.
At the end there was a brief question and answer session all of about 4 people, and then before being whisked away by the committee and his handler, (he had a 6 am flight back to LA and at least a two hour drive back to NYC where his hotel was.) he met with some fans at the front of the stage and took this photo with us. I’m the one with the blue LOTR shirt on. 🙂
NEW YORK – Having written a symphony, Howard Shore — the prolific composer whose music spans from Middle-earth to Howard Hughes’ Hollywood days — is now looking to opera. He’s working on an opera version of David Cronenberg’s horror film “The Fly” for a 2007 premiere by Los Angeles Opera, a collaboration with Cronenberg and librettist David Henry Wong of “M. Butterfly” fame. [More]
LEWISBURG — A long standing debate has been whether art imitates life or life imitates art. For Sean Astin, some of the roles he’s played have defined who he is in real life. [More]
Even though many of his papers and Middle-earth tales were published posthumously, JRR Tolkien wrote prolifically throughout his life. Nevertheless, there remain huge gaps in many of his stories.
So this weekend we’re going to ask ourselves: ‘If you could commission Tolkien to write more on one thing, what would it have been and why?’ [More]
Even though many of his papers and Middle-earth tales were published posthumously, JRR Tolkien wrote prolifically throughout his life. Nevertheless, there remain huge gaps in many of his stories.
So this weekend we’re going to ask ourselves: ‘If you could commission Tolkien to write more on one thing, what would it have been and why?’
Stories such as the origins of the cats of Queen Beruthiel (which is reduced to little more than a few lines in LoTR), the travels and fate of the Blue Wizards or the early adventures of Thorongil/Aragorn.
Perhaps you might have liked some tales of the Fourth Age — the dwarves at Aglarond, the elves in Ithilien or the glory days of Gondor under Aragorn.
Hobbit fans might want to know the details of the founding of the Shire, or the life of the Bullroarer and the Long Winter. Or maybe you’d like to understand better what drove the Dunedain of the north to self destruct and what they did in their long years in the Wild.
Which periods do you think it was a tragedy that Tolkien left unplugged? What enigmatic vistas intrigue you the most?
Join us this weekend for: ‘Stories never told: If it had been possible what further books or tales would you have liked JRR Tolkien to write?’
Time and date:
Sunday March 6
America:
2.00pm EST
1.00pm CST
12.00pm MST
11.00am PST
Europe:
8:00pm UK
9.00pm Central Europe
Asia-Pacific
5.00am (Monday) Brisbane
6.00am (Monday) Sydney
8.00am (Monday) Wellington
Chats usually last 45 mins to an hour, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation!
Where and how?
Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net – the TORn IRC server. You can connect via our java chat client that works inside your web browser. It’s simple — find it here and away you go!
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Upcoming topics:
Saturday Mar 12
“Silmarillion Chapter. 7 – Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor”
Sunday, Mar. 20
“Silmarillion Chapter. 7 – Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor”
Got a topic you want to do? Let us know!
If you have a burning desire to discuss something in Hall of Fire, drop us a line with your topic at halloffire@theonering.net.