Here is a quick update on all the Hobbit parties I'm aware of - this is no doubt a non-exhaustive list but will give you some idea of how tired we will be on December the 2nd (so, more of an exhausting list)...
First up is the Hobbit Artisan Market, which will go from Saturday November 24th to Wednesday 28th, so, Premiere Day. I managed to get to it briefly on Saturday late afternoon after a tour finished earlier than usual (cruiseship tour), and it was a lot of fun. If you haven't been to it yet, go as soon as you can - apart from anything else, they're selling the special Hobbit 3D glasses (in the Dwarven style), which will not be produced again.
Also a sight to behold is the phenomenally cool dragon by Kim Beaton, in the very last stand at the end of the market. The dragon weighs 3 tons, apparently! It looks amazingly lifelike, especially considering it's made from moldable "flexible" concrete.
The next party is of course the Hobbit Premiere Tour Costume Party, organised by Red Carpet Tours and TheOneRing.net. Tickets are still available (although not cheap), and discounts are now being given to students with valid ID. The costume party will start at 7:30pm on Monday the 26th. We will be attending - our costumes are all ready!
On Tuesday the 27th, the Wellington Youth Hostel will host its own Red Carpet Party. Tickets are a lot more reasonably priced there, and a prize will be given to the best costume. I'm in! This costume has a one week rental! I'm expecting the Middle-Earth News Network Tour attendees to be there, but please, everyone else also turn up to the Welsh Dragon Bar that night!
On Wednesday of course, the Official Red Carpet Walk itself will be held, and that will take the better part of the late afternoon and early evening. Pre-carpet entertainment will begin at 3:00pm, and the stars will begin to arrive at 4:30pm or so.
Before that though, early morning at 7:45am, I will be giving an interview to TV3, which should be aired on Breakfast TV at around 8:15am. Very exciting for nobody except myself, I'm sure!
At 10:00am, of course, the New Zealand Tolkien Smial will have its official Second Breakfast, beside the red carpet, underneath the Tripod in Courtenay Place (opposite the Embassy Theatre). TVNZ will be there to join us for a bit as well, so that might be quite fun. Come one, come all, and you're still wearing a costume from an earlier party, please don't be shy! It's "bring-a-plate", so don't show up empty handed please!
In the evening there's a secret party for Hobbit extras, but I can't confirm where that's being held, so good luck finding it!
Next, on Thursday the 29th, the Weta Collectors Forum "Shadow & Glame" is having an Afternoon Tea at 4:00pm at the Roxy Cinema in Miramar. That will be a nice time to catch up with some other old friends as well. I don't have a proper link to this party, except for a picture invite - does anyone have more info?
Finally, on Friday and Saturday night (Nov 30, and Dec 1), we will be going to a another very special event - a Middle-earth themed Burlesque Cabaret called "Bare and Back Again". Should be a ton of R18 fun!
So, which events will you be attending? Leave me a note! I'm intending to go to all of them - sleep is for the weak!
Showing posts with label Welly-moot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Welly-moot. Show all posts
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Monday, 5 November 2012
YES! Embassy Theatre Box Office has agreed to open at Midnight!
(reposted from www.welly-moot.com)
Breaking news! The wait is over!!
We've just heard that the Embassy Theatre has agreed to open up their Box Office for ticket sales, tomorrow midnight - at 12:01am, EARLY Wednesday morning.
So let's make it worth their while; if you are able, turn up to the Embassy around 11:30pm on the evening of Tuesday the 6th of November, ready to purchase your HOBBIT Tickets for December 12th!
This information was posted on their Facebook page:
Some Ticket pricing information was given as well:
Alex and I will be there with our brand new Welly-moot banner, and hopefully we'll have the finished Welly-moot T-shirts as well, so we should be easy to spot!
It's all coming together nicely! Spread the word, and see you at the Embassy tomorrow night! Come in costume if you can/want!
And I would like to extend a BIG "thank you" to Elly from the Embassy for making it happen!
Breaking news! The wait is over!!
We've just heard that the Embassy Theatre has agreed to open up their Box Office for ticket sales, tomorrow midnight - at 12:01am, EARLY Wednesday morning.
So let's make it worth their while; if you are able, turn up to the Embassy around 11:30pm on the evening of Tuesday the 6th of November, ready to purchase your HOBBIT Tickets for December 12th!
This information was posted on their Facebook page:
**Due to a lot of expressed interest we will be opening our onsite Box Office sales at midnight on the 7th Nov (Tues night/Wed morn). The Box Office will be open for a limited time on this night and we will re-open at 9am on Wed morning**
Online tickets will be available from midnight on Wednesday (Tues night/Wed morn).
Phone sales will be available from 9am on Wednesday morning.
Information about screening times will be avaliable on Wednesday at midnight.
384 7657 or deluxe.co.nz or 10 Kent Terrace
Some Ticket pricing information was given as well:
Main auditorium 3D is $18.50 (adult) $14.50 (child/senior) $17 (student) - doesn't include glasses, which are $1 each pair (brand new-you get to keep them or you can bring your own Real D pair)
Alex and I will be there with our brand new Welly-moot banner, and hopefully we'll have the finished Welly-moot T-shirts as well, so we should be easy to spot!
 |
| Perhaps we should draw a few Dwarves on it, or a Dragon maybe? |
It's all coming together nicely! Spread the word, and see you at the Embassy tomorrow night! Come in costume if you can/want!
And I would like to extend a BIG "thank you" to Elly from the Embassy for making it happen!
Monday, 16 January 2012
Been busy!
As you can see, I've updated the look of the NZ Noldor Blog - or as it's now known, "The Noldor, New Zealand". Nice and pretentious, hehe. The link stays the same, don't worry.
I discovered that Google's Blogger service has a few new features, mostly in the background but also some that may prove useful for you, the readers. For instance, it's now possible to reply to comments, and have the replies linked with the original comment. This will make conversations here a lot easier.
The changed blog is still a work in progress, so if there's anything amiss, can you drop me a line please...? (and please note the new address there!)
I've also been working hard on the new website for Welly-moot, the Wellington (NZ) Chapter of the Tolkien Society in the UK. Kris and I have been setting it up here in Wellington, and we'll be arranging regular meetings from now on, every last Sunday of the even-numbered months. The schedule for the meetings are posted on the Welly-moot blog, but for now, the next/first meeting will be on February 26th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema, upstairs in the lounge. Come join us if you have a chance!
I've also managed to take a quick break from LOTR touring last week - Alex and I celebrated our 3rd/7th anniversary (met/got married) by driving up to Matamata and visiting the gorgeous Hobbiton set. On the way there we made a quick stop at Mount Doom (Mount Ruapehu) as well.
I'll try to get more pictures up later (non-disclosure-agreement allowing!), but in the meantime, here's my Gollum face on Mount Doom:
More soon!
I discovered that Google's Blogger service has a few new features, mostly in the background but also some that may prove useful for you, the readers. For instance, it's now possible to reply to comments, and have the replies linked with the original comment. This will make conversations here a lot easier.
The changed blog is still a work in progress, so if there's anything amiss, can you drop me a line please...? (and please note the new address there!)
I've also been working hard on the new website for Welly-moot, the Wellington (NZ) Chapter of the Tolkien Society in the UK. Kris and I have been setting it up here in Wellington, and we'll be arranging regular meetings from now on, every last Sunday of the even-numbered months. The schedule for the meetings are posted on the Welly-moot blog, but for now, the next/first meeting will be on February 26th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema, upstairs in the lounge. Come join us if you have a chance!
I've also managed to take a quick break from LOTR touring last week - Alex and I celebrated our 3rd/7th anniversary (met/got married) by driving up to Matamata and visiting the gorgeous Hobbiton set. On the way there we made a quick stop at Mount Doom (Mount Ruapehu) as well.
I'll try to get more pictures up later (non-disclosure-agreement allowing!), but in the meantime, here's my Gollum face on Mount Doom:
More soon!
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Welly-moot number six was a total success!
It's almost 11:00pm, and I just got back from the Embassy Cinema in Wellington, where the 6th Welly-moot just took place. It was the second meeting in the last month - the previous meeting wasn't quite as well attended as I'd hoped, but this one made up for it. All in all I think there were 14 people there, and a lot of business was discussed.
Apart from myself and my beautiful wife, we met up with Mervi from Finland, and Kris who is living here in the Wellington region. Mervi represented the two Finnish Tolkien Societies, while Kris and I are halfway through setting up the Wellington one (but more on that later). New Zealander Erica from TheOneRing.net joined soon afterwards, and then Peter Kenny (Australian's Brisbane Tolkien Appreciate Society) and Astrid (Austria's Tyrol Tolkien Smial) came in as well. Peter and Astrid joined me on a LOTR tour yesterday, in fact they are both interviewed on the TVNZ News segment about our reaction to the new Hobbit Trailer.
Also in attendance were Paul from the UK, Brendon and his partner from Australia, and three lost backpackers I found on the side of the hill during yesterday's tour, Viviane, Sven and Kim.
If that lineup wasn't special enough yet, we had a ANOTHER special guest for the evening - Todd Rippon also joined us, and he spoke about his time as an Oliphaunt rider, and his ultimate demise at the hands of that cruel elf, Legolas (but "that still only counts as one!").
Todd had some exclusive photos from his time on the set, which unfortunately I can't reproduce here but were enjoyed by all present (so attend next time!).
During the evening, Peter Kenny also recited some of his Hobbit poetry, which went down a treat, as did the cake and the ice coffees.
Other business of course included a discussion about the new Hobbit Trailer released yesterday. I "happened" to have it with me - it's downloadable from Apple.com after all, and my iPad 2 does the job very nicely, thank you! In fact I think we played the trailer 3 or 4 times, in all. Also on hand was our newsclip from yesterday, of course (that's definitely bragging rights), and a small clip from The Hunt For Gollum as well, once the discussion mentioned it. It's a solid piece of Middle-earth film, and if you haven't seen it yet you definitely should!
One final point that was discussed was that Kris and I are definitely setting up the official Tolkien Sciety in some form here in Wellington, and that will be announced properly as things happen in the near future. I'm hoping that by the next meeting we will have the official approval from the UK as well. Exciting times!
- Jack
 | |
| Clockwise from me in the green shirt - Peter Kenny, Todd Rippon, Astrid, Erica, Kris, Viviane, Sven, Kim, Mervi, and Paul. The others joined later. |
Apart from myself and my beautiful wife, we met up with Mervi from Finland, and Kris who is living here in the Wellington region. Mervi represented the two Finnish Tolkien Societies, while Kris and I are halfway through setting up the Wellington one (but more on that later). New Zealander Erica from TheOneRing.net joined soon afterwards, and then Peter Kenny (Australian's Brisbane Tolkien Appreciate Society) and Astrid (Austria's Tyrol Tolkien Smial) came in as well. Peter and Astrid joined me on a LOTR tour yesterday, in fact they are both interviewed on the TVNZ News segment about our reaction to the new Hobbit Trailer.
Also in attendance were Paul from the UK, Brendon and his partner from Australia, and three lost backpackers I found on the side of the hill during yesterday's tour, Viviane, Sven and Kim.
If that lineup wasn't special enough yet, we had a ANOTHER special guest for the evening - Todd Rippon also joined us, and he spoke about his time as an Oliphaunt rider, and his ultimate demise at the hands of that cruel elf, Legolas (but "that still only counts as one!").
Todd had some exclusive photos from his time on the set, which unfortunately I can't reproduce here but were enjoyed by all present (so attend next time!).
During the evening, Peter Kenny also recited some of his Hobbit poetry, which went down a treat, as did the cake and the ice coffees.
Other business of course included a discussion about the new Hobbit Trailer released yesterday. I "happened" to have it with me - it's downloadable from Apple.com after all, and my iPad 2 does the job very nicely, thank you! In fact I think we played the trailer 3 or 4 times, in all. Also on hand was our newsclip from yesterday, of course (that's definitely bragging rights), and a small clip from The Hunt For Gollum as well, once the discussion mentioned it. It's a solid piece of Middle-earth film, and if you haven't seen it yet you definitely should!
One final point that was discussed was that Kris and I are definitely setting up the official Tolkien Sciety in some form here in Wellington, and that will be announced properly as things happen in the near future. I'm hoping that by the next meeting we will have the official approval from the UK as well. Exciting times!
- Jack
Monday, 12 December 2011
TORn's MrCere on tour with Rover Tours
I had the pleasure of showing Larry Curtis (TheOneRing's MrCere) around Wellington's LOTR locations last week. We had planned to meet in the evening but unfortunately he was unavoidably detained elsewhere and couldn't make it.
He did manage to write up the tour on TheOneRing.net's blog, and it looks like he had a good time!
So, instead of meeting with MrCere and Tehanu (also from TORn), I met up with Kristi, who has attended earlier Welly-moots, and we discussed setting up as an official Tolkien Society spinoff - a "Smial". The official plans are now underway, so watch this space!
Meanwhile though - in a week and a half there will be another chance for Wellington's Hobbit friends to get together, again at the Embassy Theatre.
Peter Kenny, from the Australian Tolkien Society will be in Wellington, and he's keen to get together with like-minded people here. Also with him will be Astrid from the Austrian Tolkien Society, so a good get together is promised!
The details of the meeting again - it will take place at the Embassy Theatre on Thursday the 22nd of December at 7:30pm.
Hopefully we'll see you there!
- Jack
He did manage to write up the tour on TheOneRing.net's blog, and it looks like he had a good time!
So, instead of meeting with MrCere and Tehanu (also from TORn), I met up with Kristi, who has attended earlier Welly-moots, and we discussed setting up as an official Tolkien Society spinoff - a "Smial". The official plans are now underway, so watch this space!
Meanwhile though - in a week and a half there will be another chance for Wellington's Hobbit friends to get together, again at the Embassy Theatre.
Peter Kenny, from the Australian Tolkien Society will be in Wellington, and he's keen to get together with like-minded people here. Also with him will be Astrid from the Austrian Tolkien Society, so a good get together is promised!
The details of the meeting again - it will take place at the Embassy Theatre on Thursday the 22nd of December at 7:30pm.
Hopefully we'll see you there!
- Jack
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Two Wgtn gatherings in the next two weeks!
Heads up for all Wellington Hobbit friends - your presence is requested! I'm meeting up with some international guests this month, and would like you to come as well!
The first gathering will be in honour of Larry "Mr Cere"Curtis, from www.TheOneRing.net, who is gracing NZ with his presence right now. He's Hobbit-chasing his way across the country, and will be in Wellington this week. On Thursday he will be going to the Weta Cave, but I probably won't be making it to that one. Knowing the Weta Cave, it'll be a seriously geeky affair, and probably very noisy and crowded - no doubt fun, but I've got a better idea!
Instead, I've arranged to meet him and Wellington's own TORn representative (read: TORn founder) Erica "Tehanu" Challis. The meeting will take place at 7:30pm, upstairs at the Embassy Theatre. The big differences between Weta Cave and the Embassy is that the Embassy has (a) seats, (b) coffee, and (c) cake. It'll be a better place to catch up, and have a good old-fashioned chat with everyone.
Meeting two will be a few weeks later - on the 22st of December, just before Christmas, the Australian Tolkien Appreciation Society's Peter "Proudfoot" Kenny will be visiting Wellington, together with Astrid from the Tyrol Tolkien Society (Austria). I'll be taking them on a LOTR tour the day before, and just before they leave Wellington, we're going to meet up once more time.
And of course, we'd like to show the Aussies (and the other Aussies - the Austrians) that we do things properly here in NZ, so we need a good turnout for an evening of Hobbit-loving madness. It will be at the same venue, the Embassy, and will start at the same time, 7:30pm.
So, those details again:
They'll both be fun evenings, and you're all more than welcome to come to both, of course! Bring friends!
Can you please drop me a line if you plan to attend, so I can put a few extra tables together on the night?
The first gathering will be in honour of Larry "Mr Cere"Curtis, from www.TheOneRing.net, who is gracing NZ with his presence right now. He's Hobbit-chasing his way across the country, and will be in Wellington this week. On Thursday he will be going to the Weta Cave, but I probably won't be making it to that one. Knowing the Weta Cave, it'll be a seriously geeky affair, and probably very noisy and crowded - no doubt fun, but I've got a better idea!
Instead, I've arranged to meet him and Wellington's own TORn representative (read: TORn founder) Erica "Tehanu" Challis. The meeting will take place at 7:30pm, upstairs at the Embassy Theatre. The big differences between Weta Cave and the Embassy is that the Embassy has (a) seats, (b) coffee, and (c) cake. It'll be a better place to catch up, and have a good old-fashioned chat with everyone.
Meeting two will be a few weeks later - on the 22st of December, just before Christmas, the Australian Tolkien Appreciation Society's Peter "Proudfoot" Kenny will be visiting Wellington, together with Astrid from the Tyrol Tolkien Society (Austria). I'll be taking them on a LOTR tour the day before, and just before they leave Wellington, we're going to meet up once more time.
And of course, we'd like to show the Aussies (and the other Aussies - the Austrians) that we do things properly here in NZ, so we need a good turnout for an evening of Hobbit-loving madness. It will be at the same venue, the Embassy, and will start at the same time, 7:30pm.
So, those details again:
- To meet TORn's Mr Cere, come meet us this coming Friday the 9th of December at the Embassy at 7:30pm.
- To meet Peter Kenny, be at the Embassy Theatre on Thursday the 22nd of December at 7:30pm.
They'll both be fun evenings, and you're all more than welcome to come to both, of course! Bring friends!
Can you please drop me a line if you plan to attend, so I can put a few extra tables together on the night?
Friday, 9 September 2011
Welly-moot #4 report - great meetup!
No excuses - I'm late with my report! It's already been five days since the fourth Welly-moot took place at Wellington's Embassy Theatre, and it was a great success!
The only bit of confusion happened at the start of the meeting - our meeting's start time coincided with the Embassy's start time of the Grease movie nostalgia session, and they'd arranged for a live Rock'n'Roll band to be entertaining that audience before their movie began. Unfortunately they were still playing in "our" spot when we got to the cafe.
Luckily though, they were fun to watch, and the singing (and dancing!) stopped just as I started getting worried, so that all worked ok.
All in all, the Welly-moot attracted a good size "crowd" of hobbit lovers, including some familiar faces, as well as some new ones.
It was really nice to catch up with Emily again (second from the left in the photo), she attended the first Welly-moot as well. Rachel (far left) was here at the Embassy for the previous meeting, while Ryan, Jenifer and little Hawk (front and centre) have been to all four Welly-moots so far - well done and well met!
A few days before the meeting, I got an email from Ayako, a lovely Japanese woman from Palmerston North, and she came to the meeting with her husband Randall and daughter Rio, as well as a friend Maki with her daughter. The day before the meeting I had Kumiko on my tour - another Japanese woman currently living in Wellington with and her son, and they also both came today. Add to that my wife Aiko, and it quickly became the Japanese contingent of the Welly-moot. (Aiko managed to avoid the camera's eye by volunteering to take the photo - everyone else is at the back on the right). Tolkien is still very popular in Japan as well, it seems!
Some very special guests also joined us - two of Weta Workshop's best designers/inventors/wizards, Warren and Kim Beaton. I met Kim a few years ago, and have had the pleasure of taking them both on a tour around the Wellington region last year. Since then, they've (a) invented some animal-leg stilts, (b) designed a complete cinema for Peter Jackson, (c) are working on a certain Middle-earth movie that starts with "H", and (d) got married, so you could so their year has been reasonably active.
All in all, a rowdy and fun afternoon. The discussions I was part of included the inevitable Rugby World Cup, and the recent snowfalls in Wellington. Also, for some reason, Legolas's presence in Wellington seemed to be a hot topic. Everybody seemed to want to know where to find him (don't worry, Orlando and Miranda, your secret is safe - I certainly don't know it)!
The other rumours currently floating about are the sheer number of "absolutely confirmed" (read: totally not confirmed) filming locations for The Hobbit around the end of the year. Queenstown, Dunedin, Nelson, Te Anau, and Wellington are all contenders, apparently. The studio isn't giving out actual confirmations, so we'll just have to wait and see. Personally, I'm obviously waiting for Wellington locations to add to our tours in the future.
In order for me to entice Ayako to drive all the way from Palmerston North with her family for our meeting, I had promised to take them to the Mount Victoria LOTR location, which we did at the end of the day. The Embassy Theatre is actually on Mt Vic anyway, so that wasn't far to drive. Ryan and Jenifer joined us as well, and we ended up re-enacting the hobbits' famous "Get Off The Road" scene, before parting ways until the next meeting.
I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did - and if you didn't/couldn't come this time, we'd love to see you next time!
- Jack M.
The only bit of confusion happened at the start of the meeting - our meeting's start time coincided with the Embassy's start time of the Grease movie nostalgia session, and they'd arranged for a live Rock'n'Roll band to be entertaining that audience before their movie began. Unfortunately they were still playing in "our" spot when we got to the cafe.
Luckily though, they were fun to watch, and the singing (and dancing!) stopped just as I started getting worried, so that all worked ok.
All in all, the Welly-moot attracted a good size "crowd" of hobbit lovers, including some familiar faces, as well as some new ones.
 |
| Welly-moot #4 - the biggest one yet! |
It was really nice to catch up with Emily again (second from the left in the photo), she attended the first Welly-moot as well. Rachel (far left) was here at the Embassy for the previous meeting, while Ryan, Jenifer and little Hawk (front and centre) have been to all four Welly-moots so far - well done and well met!
A few days before the meeting, I got an email from Ayako, a lovely Japanese woman from Palmerston North, and she came to the meeting with her husband Randall and daughter Rio, as well as a friend Maki with her daughter. The day before the meeting I had Kumiko on my tour - another Japanese woman currently living in Wellington with and her son, and they also both came today. Add to that my wife Aiko, and it quickly became the Japanese contingent of the Welly-moot. (Aiko managed to avoid the camera's eye by volunteering to take the photo - everyone else is at the back on the right). Tolkien is still very popular in Japan as well, it seems!
Some very special guests also joined us - two of Weta Workshop's best designers/inventors/wizards, Warren and Kim Beaton. I met Kim a few years ago, and have had the pleasure of taking them both on a tour around the Wellington region last year. Since then, they've (a) invented some animal-leg stilts, (b) designed a complete cinema for Peter Jackson, (c) are working on a certain Middle-earth movie that starts with "H", and (d) got married, so you could so their year has been reasonably active.
All in all, a rowdy and fun afternoon. The discussions I was part of included the inevitable Rugby World Cup, and the recent snowfalls in Wellington. Also, for some reason, Legolas's presence in Wellington seemed to be a hot topic. Everybody seemed to want to know where to find him (don't worry, Orlando and Miranda, your secret is safe - I certainly don't know it)!
The other rumours currently floating about are the sheer number of "absolutely confirmed" (read: totally not confirmed) filming locations for The Hobbit around the end of the year. Queenstown, Dunedin, Nelson, Te Anau, and Wellington are all contenders, apparently. The studio isn't giving out actual confirmations, so we'll just have to wait and see. Personally, I'm obviously waiting for Wellington locations to add to our tours in the future.
In order for me to entice Ayako to drive all the way from Palmerston North with her family for our meeting, I had promised to take them to the Mount Victoria LOTR location, which we did at the end of the day. The Embassy Theatre is actually on Mt Vic anyway, so that wasn't far to drive. Ryan and Jenifer joined us as well, and we ended up re-enacting the hobbits' famous "Get Off The Road" scene, before parting ways until the next meeting.
I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did - and if you didn't/couldn't come this time, we'd love to see you next time!
- Jack M.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Welly-moot #4 - Hobbit meeting on 4th of Sept
I flipped a coin in the air and decided it was time to have ourselves another Hobbit meeting. They're always fun, and enjoyed by everyone there. So, here are the details:
What : Welly-moot #4
When : September the 4th, at 2:00pm
Where : Embassy Theatre, upstairs in the cafe
Who : All Hobbit friends in Wellington on the day (that's you!)
What to bring : Money for coffee & cakes, yourselves.(*)
(*) and cool stuff to show off, if you want to! A good old fashioned Show'n'Tell!
The agenda for the meeting : we all turn up, and have a fun afternoon, meeting old friends and making new ones.
I have set up a facebook event for it as well - if you're on Facebook, add yourself to the attendee list here.
Looking forward to seeing as many of you there as possible!
- Jack M.
What : Welly-moot #4
When : September the 4th, at 2:00pm
Where : Embassy Theatre, upstairs in the cafe
Who : All Hobbit friends in Wellington on the day (that's you!)
What to bring : Money for coffee & cakes, yourselves.(*)
(*) and cool stuff to show off, if you want to! A good old fashioned Show'n'Tell!
The agenda for the meeting : we all turn up, and have a fun afternoon, meeting old friends and making new ones.
I have set up a facebook event for it as well - if you're on Facebook, add yourself to the attendee list here.
Looking forward to seeing as many of you there as possible!
- Jack M.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Welly-moot #3 was lots of fun - another success!
We got together today for the third Welly-moot, at the Embassy Theatre. It was a lot of fun, and some good discussions were held.
The group wasn't as big as I'd hoped, but there were some good reasons for it - the cold southerly probably deterred a few people from coming out (at least, it felt pretty cold to me but then I've just had a week in Darwin, Australia, so I'm possibly not the best judge at the moment). Also, it seems that the Wellington City Council had chosen today to make about 30 events (almost) free today - the zoo was free, the Wildlife Sanctuary was free, the council-sponsored city tourbus was free, etc. Hard to compete with that!
Various subjects came up, mostly Hobbit related, but also other movies - Avatar vs Fern Gully; Matrix vs Inception; Harry Potter vs Star Wars to name a few of the more heated discussions.
Kristi had details of a local Victoria University (hosted) course on Tolkien's elven language Quenya, and I may have more details about that in a few days. Also, of course, the Blu-Ray releases of the Extended Editions came up, and the sessions at both the Embassy as well as the Roxy theatres in town. Unfortunately due to my ill-timed vacation and the four day notice we got from the NZ suppliers I've missed both FOTR as well as TTT, but I should be able to make it to the ROTK, I hope.
One plan that was discussed was to have a local Marathon Session at one of our homes, with a projector and microwave popcorn. Maybe it's time to put a weekend aside soon, and invite as many as will fit into our lounge?
All in all, I think the Welly-moot was fun, and I look forward to our next one! The Embassy looks like a permanent venue for them. It's bigger, reasonably convenient to park close to, and of course very relevant - the LOTR parade photos still grace its walls!
Looking forward to seeing more people there next time though!
- Jack
 |
| Around the table (clockwise from the left): Paul, Ryan, me, Moritz, Kristi, and Rachel. Aiko took the photo. |
The group wasn't as big as I'd hoped, but there were some good reasons for it - the cold southerly probably deterred a few people from coming out (at least, it felt pretty cold to me but then I've just had a week in Darwin, Australia, so I'm possibly not the best judge at the moment). Also, it seems that the Wellington City Council had chosen today to make about 30 events (almost) free today - the zoo was free, the Wildlife Sanctuary was free, the council-sponsored city tourbus was free, etc. Hard to compete with that!
Various subjects came up, mostly Hobbit related, but also other movies - Avatar vs Fern Gully; Matrix vs Inception; Harry Potter vs Star Wars to name a few of the more heated discussions.
Kristi had details of a local Victoria University (hosted) course on Tolkien's elven language Quenya, and I may have more details about that in a few days. Also, of course, the Blu-Ray releases of the Extended Editions came up, and the sessions at both the Embassy as well as the Roxy theatres in town. Unfortunately due to my ill-timed vacation and the four day notice we got from the NZ suppliers I've missed both FOTR as well as TTT, but I should be able to make it to the ROTK, I hope.
One plan that was discussed was to have a local Marathon Session at one of our homes, with a projector and microwave popcorn. Maybe it's time to put a weekend aside soon, and invite as many as will fit into our lounge?
All in all, I think the Welly-moot was fun, and I look forward to our next one! The Embassy looks like a permanent venue for them. It's bigger, reasonably convenient to park close to, and of course very relevant - the LOTR parade photos still grace its walls!
Looking forward to seeing more people there next time though!
- Jack
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Date finally set for Welly-moot #3 - June 26th.
After much deliberation (and some procrastination), I've finally decided on a date for the third Hobbit meeting - and a new venue as well.
For those who didn't attend the last few times, the Welly-moots are just a casual meeting of Hobbit fans from around the Wellington region (and the occasional Aucklander!). We meet up with the intent to discuss Hobbit related subjects but end up just getting together for a coffee and cake at a local cafe instead. The meetings are 95% social, and about 5% announcements. They are 100% fun, 110% chaos and occasionally the noise level goes up to eleven.
The details for this month's meeting are as follows:
Date : June the 26th, 2011
Time : 2:00pm
Location : Upstairs in the Embassy Cinema (10 Kent Terrace)
Bring : Hobbitty Rumours, and Money for Coffee
NB - the venueis yet to be has now been confirmed - it can still change.
There is no agenda for these meetings - so far there have been minimal speeches, and only a few "formal" announcements of any type. I've had some giveaways in the past, but I haven't decided this time yet. The meetings are more a way for getting Hobbit fans together. We're all excited by Sir Peter Jackson's new movies!
There's no cover charge, although the venue will know we're coming this time (and will expect us to buy their coffees etc).
I would appreciate if you could RSVP via my Facebook page - that way I'll know if the venue has become too small again.
See you there!
 |
| The Embassy Cinema in 2003. The Fellbeast has since been decapitated by Eowyn. (photo (c) Jack Machiela) |
For those who didn't attend the last few times, the Welly-moots are just a casual meeting of Hobbit fans from around the Wellington region (and the occasional Aucklander!). We meet up with the intent to discuss Hobbit related subjects but end up just getting together for a coffee and cake at a local cafe instead. The meetings are 95% social, and about 5% announcements. They are 100% fun, 110% chaos and occasionally the noise level goes up to eleven.
The details for this month's meeting are as follows:
Date : June the 26th, 2011
Time : 2:00pm
Location : Upstairs in the Embassy Cinema (10 Kent Terrace)
Bring : Hobbitty Rumours, and Money for Coffee
NB - the venue
There is no agenda for these meetings - so far there have been minimal speeches, and only a few "formal" announcements of any type. I've had some giveaways in the past, but I haven't decided this time yet. The meetings are more a way for getting Hobbit fans together. We're all excited by Sir Peter Jackson's new movies!
There's no cover charge, although the venue will know we're coming this time (and will expect us to buy their coffees etc).
I would appreciate if you could RSVP via my Facebook page - that way I'll know if the venue has become too small again.
See you there!
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Welly-moot #2, a chaotic but fun time
I've just come back from the second Welly-moot meeting, a coming-together of Hobbit fans here in Wellington, although at least one of the attendees had come from Auckland just to attend (well done, Haldirriel)! The first meeting was attended by 12 people - this time it had gone up to about 17. I think next time we'll have to find a "proper" venue! If anyone has suggestions for the next meeting, mail me!
A variety of subjects were discussed at the coffee meeting - Barbara had recently been to Hobbiton, and had printed her photos, so we all got a look at the almost finished sets there (I understand they are now completed but the photos were taken just before that). I didn't get copies - and I'd be prevented from showing them here in any case...
I'm currently trying to source a group-photo from Brian, who took a few snaps at the meeting (I'll post it here as soon as I have it). Brian is a huge Hobbit fan, and likes to collect news clippings. Brian had brought with him a large folder labelled "The Hobbit - Book 4"; yes, he has already filled three books just on The Hobbit! At home he has 22(!) large volumes filled with LOTR newsclippings!! Brian's partner Suzie was also there, as was their son Harrison.
Nicolás has recently moved from the Milford Sound in the South Island, and is currently looking for a house here in Wellington - he's hoping to get a job on the set in some way.
Also attending today were four US students from Wellington's Victoria university, three of whom I'd "rescued" off Mount Victoria a few days ago while they were taking photos of the wrong tree. The three are currently studying Film Studies here in NZ, while the fourth is a Psychology student. A bunch of Hobbit geeks together is probably a good homework assignment for a Psych student! (Unfortunately I didn't get names, so if you're reading this - drop me a line?)
Heike was there as well - I met her some time ago through the blog, she's left quite a few comments on the blog over the years. Today Heike brought me some home-made jam made from local wild blackberries - I've been eating the berries all over the region (Rivendell, the River Anduin, the Hobbiton Woods, and Brego's River all have blackberry bushes!) so the jam will go down nicely - thanks Heike! It will be enjoyed...
Jenifer and Ryan, and little Hawk, were there as well, although they were at the far side of the table (from me), so I'm afraid I didn't spend as much time talking to them as I wanted to this time - the same unfortunately went for Brendon and his partner Keryn. Brendon did bring his amazing copy of The Hobbit book, with at least twenty autographs in it!
I turned up with my lovely wife Aiko, who unfortunately had some other business to attend to for the rest of the afternoon, so she left me to it. I brought along my brand new map, recently created by Daniel Reeve (LOTR's Cartographer) for Wellington Rover Tours. I wanted to use the meeting to "officially" introduce the map to the world, so now that that has been done, I can start talking about them properly. If you look at the top of this page, you'll see a link to the "Wellywood Map" - if you want one as well, they are now available for purchase.
I'll write up another blog entry about that a bit later, but at the Welly-moot I had arranged with my boss that Wgtn Rover would donate a map to all attendees (they are usually $24.95 each). So thanks to Wellington Rover Tours there were a few lucky people there today! The other way to get yourself a map is to come on a LOTR tour, and we'll give you one!
I also tested interest for a possible Wellington Tolkien Society that I've been thinking about starting due to a total lack of a NZ chapter. There seems to be enough interest in it for me to pursue that further, so I'll be talking to the UK Tolkien Society in the next few months to see what I'd need to do.
All in all, it was a fun afternoon - it was very noisy and chaotic, there wasn't really an agenda other than "let's meet, drink coffee, and talk", and everyone had a great time! On to the next one!
A variety of subjects were discussed at the coffee meeting - Barbara had recently been to Hobbiton, and had printed her photos, so we all got a look at the almost finished sets there (I understand they are now completed but the photos were taken just before that). I didn't get copies - and I'd be prevented from showing them here in any case...
I'm currently trying to source a group-photo from Brian, who took a few snaps at the meeting (I'll post it here as soon as I have it). Brian is a huge Hobbit fan, and likes to collect news clippings. Brian had brought with him a large folder labelled "The Hobbit - Book 4"; yes, he has already filled three books just on The Hobbit! At home he has 22(!) large volumes filled with LOTR newsclippings!! Brian's partner Suzie was also there, as was their son Harrison.
Nicolás has recently moved from the Milford Sound in the South Island, and is currently looking for a house here in Wellington - he's hoping to get a job on the set in some way.
Also attending today were four US students from Wellington's Victoria university, three of whom I'd "rescued" off Mount Victoria a few days ago while they were taking photos of the wrong tree. The three are currently studying Film Studies here in NZ, while the fourth is a Psychology student. A bunch of Hobbit geeks together is probably a good homework assignment for a Psych student! (Unfortunately I didn't get names, so if you're reading this - drop me a line?)
Heike was there as well - I met her some time ago through the blog, she's left quite a few comments on the blog over the years. Today Heike brought me some home-made jam made from local wild blackberries - I've been eating the berries all over the region (Rivendell, the River Anduin, the Hobbiton Woods, and Brego's River all have blackberry bushes!) so the jam will go down nicely - thanks Heike! It will be enjoyed...
Jenifer and Ryan, and little Hawk, were there as well, although they were at the far side of the table (from me), so I'm afraid I didn't spend as much time talking to them as I wanted to this time - the same unfortunately went for Brendon and his partner Keryn. Brendon did bring his amazing copy of The Hobbit book, with at least twenty autographs in it!
I turned up with my lovely wife Aiko, who unfortunately had some other business to attend to for the rest of the afternoon, so she left me to it. I brought along my brand new map, recently created by Daniel Reeve (LOTR's Cartographer) for Wellington Rover Tours. I wanted to use the meeting to "officially" introduce the map to the world, so now that that has been done, I can start talking about them properly. If you look at the top of this page, you'll see a link to the "Wellywood Map" - if you want one as well, they are now available for purchase.
I'll write up another blog entry about that a bit later, but at the Welly-moot I had arranged with my boss that Wgtn Rover would donate a map to all attendees (they are usually $24.95 each). So thanks to Wellington Rover Tours there were a few lucky people there today! The other way to get yourself a map is to come on a LOTR tour, and we'll give you one!
I also tested interest for a possible Wellington Tolkien Society that I've been thinking about starting due to a total lack of a NZ chapter. There seems to be enough interest in it for me to pursue that further, so I'll be talking to the UK Tolkien Society in the next few months to see what I'd need to do.
All in all, it was a fun afternoon - it was very noisy and chaotic, there wasn't really an agenda other than "let's meet, drink coffee, and talk", and everyone had a great time! On to the next one!
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Welly-moot #2 - Second Coffee Meetup in Wellington
After the resounding success of the first meeting last month, I've decided we're going to have another one early in March. I'm hoping everyone can make it to Floriditas Cafe again, at 2:00pm on Sunday the 13th of March.
The other decision I made about it is that we needed a name for the meetings, and I got a lovely idea from Haldirriel. She's a big Tolkien fan from Auckland (original from Pittsburgh) who I had the pleasure of showing around Wellington some time ago. She suggested "Coffee-moot" but I wanted something more specific, so from now on, as you can see in the title of this entry, the meetings will be referred to as "Welly-moots".
Alas, I have no big announcements to make, but so close to day#1 of filming I'm sure we'll have heard other cool stuff by then. If anyone wants to use it as a sort of grown up version of "show and tell", please do! I might have a few cool things with me as well (as long as my current project is finished by then)!
Drop me a line for more detail if you need to, or better yet, ask questions here!
If you can't make it, don't worry, I'll post a report about it afterwards. We're not looking at using Skype just yet, as it was all a bit tumultuous last time, but perhaps in the future that may change. There are places with free Wi-Fi around town, so maybe that's a viable option at some point!
- Jack
A "Fluffy" for little Hawk, meticulously made during a previous visit to Floriditas
The other decision I made about it is that we needed a name for the meetings, and I got a lovely idea from Haldirriel. She's a big Tolkien fan from Auckland (original from Pittsburgh) who I had the pleasure of showing around Wellington some time ago. She suggested "Coffee-moot" but I wanted something more specific, so from now on, as you can see in the title of this entry, the meetings will be referred to as "Welly-moots".
Alas, I have no big announcements to make, but so close to day#1 of filming I'm sure we'll have heard other cool stuff by then. If anyone wants to use it as a sort of grown up version of "show and tell", please do! I might have a few cool things with me as well (as long as my current project is finished by then)!
Drop me a line for more detail if you need to, or better yet, ask questions here!
If you can't make it, don't worry, I'll post a report about it afterwards. We're not looking at using Skype just yet, as it was all a bit tumultuous last time, but perhaps in the future that may change. There are places with free Wi-Fi around town, so maybe that's a viable option at some point!
- Jack
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Noldor Coffee Meetup brings eyewitness reports
I just came back from the first "official" Noldor event - an informal get-together of Hobbit fans, at local cafe Floriditas, where the slices of cake were even better than I remembered them, although they'd run out of chocolate cake by the time I got to them. I had to settle for the Apple Crumble, which was great as well.
There were twelve of us, and I reckon I may have to make this a semi-regular event.
Clockwise around the table, starting at the far left: Laura; Ryan & Jenifer with Hawk; Emily; Erica; Annaëlle & Corrado; Brendan, me, Grant & Monica.
Laura is a huge fan of LOTR who has come to Wellington to try and get some work on The Hobbit, and might just get the chance soon. Ryan is a scriptwriter who came with Jenifer on my tour some years ago, and have since moved from the USA to Wellington. Emily is a LOTR fan and a fan-fiction author who is quite an authority on all things Middle-earth, while Erica is famous for being a founding member of www.theonering.net. About a month ago, I met Annaëlle and Corrado wandering around Mount Victoria looking for LOTR scenes one day while I was touring with a group there - Annaëlle is Belgium while Corrado is from Italy, and they both came to NZ on a working holiday, and will be in Wellington for another month or so before they move on again, probably to the South Island for a bit. Brendan worked in the film industry in Australia and moved to New Zealand about a year ago, he's also hoping to get a Hobbit related job at some stage. I met Grant through this blog a few years ago - he's a big LOTR fan - but I hadn't met his partner Monica yet.
We talked about assorted Hobbit related subjects. Ryan and Jennifer mentioned they ran into John Howe on their way into the cafe today, so Mr Howe is back from his holiday, and apparently production is now in full swing at the studios. Obviously he couldn't divulge any details but by all accounts he and Alan Lee will be working in the South Island with the location scouts first of all, finding and designing new sets and locations for The Hobbit. Very exciting, but also totally vague - New Zealand's South Island is so big that it's generally referred to as The Mainland by its occupant!
Another interesting item though - apparently Martin Freeman (the new Bilbo) and Stephen Hunter (the dwarf Bombur) were spotted in Wellington on Friday night! No photos yet - if anyone spots them again, or any of the others, drop me a line!
While I'm treading the rumour mill, let me dispell a few as well. I've heard from sources at the studio that there aren't quite 6000 people working at on The Hobbit, so I'll file that rumour where it belongs - under "H" for "Hyperbole". However, I suspect there are at least 6000 people who WANT to work on The Hobbit. Count me in on that number.
Another bit of wrong information I posted - the film set at Waikanae I previously reported turns out not to be Hobbit related. I'm still not sure what it is though, but it's definitely not Middle-earth. And I heard another rumour that there was a supposed location by Queenstown where previously the fields outside Isengard's were filmed (when Gandalf rides up to the gate in FOTR) - it doesn't sound like that one was Tolkien related either. So, a rumour killed before I even posted it. Saves time, I suppose.
Next, Hobbiton being turned into a permanent location is still speculation, and no announcements are expected before filming finished (which hasn't even started yet, so don't hold your breath on that one). I've not been able to get any information on the "complete rooms within some of the hobbit holes" Bed&Breakfast idea, so that one's on hold as well. Expect no answer either way until after filming is complete.
Finally, I was correct about Ian McKellen not holding out for more money. It sounds like it was more of a timing issue. So my last rumours post was at most 25% accurate. And that, boys and girls, is why I'm not a journalist. (With a side note to any actual journalists reading this - if you want more info on anything I post here - please contact me first before you run with a story. Chances are I've heard more information than I've had a chance to post, and they are usually corrections or withdrawals. My contact details are in my Google profile).
On a final note - I mentioned that I have some Hobbiton photos that I might post. I've been persuaded not to post them by various people, for very good reasons, not the least being that if we see too much of Middle-earth before the movie begins, it will take some of the shine of the movie itself - something I certainly don't want to be a part of. However, I did want to post one photo taken at Hobbiton - I feel confident that it won't spoil the movie for anyone, and I don't think the lawyers will call me about it. So, here goes:
Yes, even the toilet roll holders are in the shape of Hobbit Holes. Awesome! :)
- Jack
There were twelve of us, and I reckon I may have to make this a semi-regular event.
Laura is a huge fan of LOTR who has come to Wellington to try and get some work on The Hobbit, and might just get the chance soon. Ryan is a scriptwriter who came with Jenifer on my tour some years ago, and have since moved from the USA to Wellington. Emily is a LOTR fan and a fan-fiction author who is quite an authority on all things Middle-earth, while Erica is famous for being a founding member of www.theonering.net. About a month ago, I met Annaëlle and Corrado wandering around Mount Victoria looking for LOTR scenes one day while I was touring with a group there - Annaëlle is Belgium while Corrado is from Italy, and they both came to NZ on a working holiday, and will be in Wellington for another month or so before they move on again, probably to the South Island for a bit. Brendan worked in the film industry in Australia and moved to New Zealand about a year ago, he's also hoping to get a Hobbit related job at some stage. I met Grant through this blog a few years ago - he's a big LOTR fan - but I hadn't met his partner Monica yet.
We talked about assorted Hobbit related subjects. Ryan and Jennifer mentioned they ran into John Howe on their way into the cafe today, so Mr Howe is back from his holiday, and apparently production is now in full swing at the studios. Obviously he couldn't divulge any details but by all accounts he and Alan Lee will be working in the South Island with the location scouts first of all, finding and designing new sets and locations for The Hobbit. Very exciting, but also totally vague - New Zealand's South Island is so big that it's generally referred to as The Mainland by its occupant!
Another interesting item though - apparently Martin Freeman (the new Bilbo) and Stephen Hunter (the dwarf Bombur) were spotted in Wellington on Friday night! No photos yet - if anyone spots them again, or any of the others, drop me a line!
While I'm treading the rumour mill, let me dispell a few as well. I've heard from sources at the studio that there aren't quite 6000 people working at on The Hobbit, so I'll file that rumour where it belongs - under "H" for "Hyperbole". However, I suspect there are at least 6000 people who WANT to work on The Hobbit. Count me in on that number.
Another bit of wrong information I posted - the film set at Waikanae I previously reported turns out not to be Hobbit related. I'm still not sure what it is though, but it's definitely not Middle-earth. And I heard another rumour that there was a supposed location by Queenstown where previously the fields outside Isengard's were filmed (when Gandalf rides up to the gate in FOTR) - it doesn't sound like that one was Tolkien related either. So, a rumour killed before I even posted it. Saves time, I suppose.
Next, Hobbiton being turned into a permanent location is still speculation, and no announcements are expected before filming finished (which hasn't even started yet, so don't hold your breath on that one). I've not been able to get any information on the "complete rooms within some of the hobbit holes" Bed&Breakfast idea, so that one's on hold as well. Expect no answer either way until after filming is complete.
Finally, I was correct about Ian McKellen not holding out for more money. It sounds like it was more of a timing issue. So my last rumours post was at most 25% accurate. And that, boys and girls, is why I'm not a journalist. (With a side note to any actual journalists reading this - if you want more info on anything I post here - please contact me first before you run with a story. Chances are I've heard more information than I've had a chance to post, and they are usually corrections or withdrawals. My contact details are in my Google profile).
On a final note - I mentioned that I have some Hobbiton photos that I might post. I've been persuaded not to post them by various people, for very good reasons, not the least being that if we see too much of Middle-earth before the movie begins, it will take some of the shine of the movie itself - something I certainly don't want to be a part of. However, I did want to post one photo taken at Hobbiton - I feel confident that it won't spoil the movie for anyone, and I don't think the lawyers will call me about it. So, here goes:
Yes, even the toilet roll holders are in the shape of Hobbit Holes. Awesome! :)
- Jack
Monday, 10 January 2011
Coffee meetup in Wellington
The new year is underway, the Hobbit movie is about to get exciting, and I think it's time to have a coffee!
I'm going to be at Floriditas Cafe in Cuba Street (Wellington) on Sunday the 16th of January at 2:00pm, for a coffee - if anyone is keen to meet up, please join me there! I don't have any amazing announcements to make - but maybe by then I will - who knows?
I do have a couple of cool projects on the burner at the moment, some of them Hobbit related, some of them not so much. Come and join me for some sunday afternoon conversation; if nothing else, Floriditas do great coffee!
- Jack
I'm going to be at Floriditas Cafe in Cuba Street (Wellington) on Sunday the 16th of January at 2:00pm, for a coffee - if anyone is keen to meet up, please join me there! I don't have any amazing announcements to make - but maybe by then I will - who knows?
I do have a couple of cool projects on the burner at the moment, some of them Hobbit related, some of them not so much. Come and join me for some sunday afternoon conversation; if nothing else, Floriditas do great coffee!
Cappuccino at Floriditas
- Jack
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