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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Apr 10 2007, 9:13am
Post #1 of 19
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Guess what happened on this date in 1999 *twitch*
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The very first newsday of the very best website to hit the internet and changed the fate of many--mine not the least ;)
TORn Staff shifts into overdrive!
April 10, 1999 - April 12, 1999
News for Apr. 14, 1999
Voices of Many
4/12/99, 12:00 am EST - Xoanon This is a great scoop picked up by none other than Tehanu herself. She tells me that she went to dinner with some friends and other people she didn't know, the topic turned to Lord Of The Rings and after weeding out the useless people at the table,(Hey! Those are buddies of mine! :) -Tehanu) Tehanu found a lady with tons of great news:
I hurled myself into that conversation, and got talking to a woman ,she knows tons of actors and film people, some in Wellington. We raved on and ignored everyone else for hours. SO:
1.The rumour about Sean Connery being involved is still going strong among actor circles here, she at least believes there is a strong possibility that it's true. Gandalf?
2.VOICES: She's heard that the Hobbits will have something like a Yorkshire country dialect; the Dwarves will be more cockney, the Men will be American (OUCH!) and the elves slightly Irish (NOT comic-leprechaun Irish, just a faint lilt.)The wizards will be very BBC English. I reckon this is worth putting in as a speculation on the website.
3.Now I'm pretty sure Fiordland is a location, will send pics soon. My friend said "White Island." It's as active as hell, steaming fumaroles everywhere, and it's far enough offshore that it would be difficult for sightseers to get to. Great Mordor location.
4.We decided that we both wanted to drive down to Matamata and Hinuera to look for Hobbiton. We will do this later this month. Aerial views. That seems like a completely wild suggestion, I don't know here well enough to know if she really means it. But we will at least drive down!!!
5.She knows somebody who was auditioning for Gimli.
News for Apr. 13, 1999
Lucas on Rings?
4/11/99, 12:00 am EST - Xoanon According to E! News Australia, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas has supposedly been hired onto the fantasy epic to act as a 'consultant' on the project. When Director Peter Jackson begins filming the 'Rings' trilogy in New Zealand later this year, Lucas will be in Sydney Australia shooting "Star Wars, Episode II" - conveniently placing him about a 2.5 hour flight time away from NZ. Thanks to 'Jared'.
News for Apr. 12, 1999
Hobbiton Is Being Built
4/10/99, 12:00 am EST - Xoanon MATAMATA - A secret start has been made on the mega-budget film Lord of the Rings in the central Waikato.
The New Zealand Herald has discovered that soldiers, earth-movers and builders have been working for two weeks amid the rolling hills and trees of a private farm between Matamata and Karapiro.
All involved have been sworn to secrecy about the $260 million trilogy, and movie staff yesterday pleaded that the site be kept secret.
A spokeswoman for the film firm Three Foot Six, Sian Clement, said she was worried that movie zealots would flock to the farm if they found out about the work. "You just have to look on the Internet to see the fanatic interest."
The start of a movie set can now be seen from nearby hills. Tracks, graders, heavy machinery, Army vehicles and tents stretch up to 1km into farm paddocks.
The farm's owner, Ian Alexander, said he had been involved since October. "They just arrived out of the blue," he said. "There's been a bit of activity, a bit of action, but they've only just started doing things for real." Mr Alexander said the set was being built on a few hectares in the corner of one of his three blocks, but he refused to give more detail. "It's all being kept very quiet," he said. "I'm just a common old cocky with a few bloody sheep running around."
The movie trilogy is based on a series of fantasy books by JRR Tolkien. They will be shot by Wellington film-maker Peter Jackson with 15,000 actors, and a bigger budget than any other movie project in the Southern Hemisphere.
It is understood that the set will include a mock-up of the village Hobbiton, central to the story. Sets will also be built at other sites. A worker for Okoroire Excavators said he visited the farm more than a week ago, but had been asked to say nothing about it. "I'm not even sure who we're working for," he said. Army and Defence Ministry staff were more secretive than a bevy of bashful hobbits. They passed all calls to a press officer, Wing Commander John Seward, who did not return the calls. The Minister of Defence, Max Bradford, earlier said that soldiers would work for two or three days as extras, and would be paid normal movie rates by producers. Fourteen soldiers staying at the Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel have been visiting the movie set for more than a week, and are expected to stay up to three weeks longer. A staff member at the hotel said: "It's very hush-hush. I don't know what the hell they're doing, and as long as they pay their bills I don't care."
 
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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Eledhwen
Forum Admin
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Apr 10 2007, 10:12am
Post #2 of 19
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Eight years of daily news for TORNadoes worldwide. Amazing. Well done Xo & Co! And thanks for reminding us, Gramma. 
Karekare Beach, NZ
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JRandomRohirrim
Rohan
Apr 10 2007, 11:01am
Post #3 of 19
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I don't remember even hearing anything about the making of the movies until along about August of 1999, when that press release listing the cast went out (less Viggo of course). But I remember looking at that cast list, remembering what a terrific movie Heavenly Creatures was, and knowing that Jackson's The Lord of the Rings was going to work. Of course, I didn't have any idea just how great it was going to be, until I saw FOTR.
Boycott New Line!
http://www.boycottnewline.com
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Altaira
Superuser
Apr 10 2007, 3:08pm
Post #5 of 19
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Little did TPTB, or any of us, know what an adventure we were in for!
Thanks for the post, and Happy TORniversary, Home News Page!!  
Koru: Maori symbol representing a fern frond as it opens. The koru reaches towards the light, striving for perfection, encouraging new, positive beginnings.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the boards that are given to us"
"I take a moment to fervently hope that the camaradarie and just plain old fun I found at TORn will never end" -- LOTR_nutcase
TORn Calendar
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SandWitch King
Rohan
Apr 10 2007, 4:50pm
Post #6 of 19
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Regarding that staff photo . . .
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA for infinity. 
No wonder all writers want to direct: one still has to put up with a load of nonsense, but even if wearing two hats (writer and director), there is one under which one is not called a thief and then raped.
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Ginger
Rohan
Apr 10 2007, 5:01pm
Post #7 of 19
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I didn't know anything about the films until Nov 2001
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I honestly don't remember even going to the movies, so I didn't see any trailers. I wasn't really big on getting online for anything. I was just busy between work and family and real life. I remember seeing one commercial in the middle of November, and about a 1 minute peek at lordoftherings.net, and thinking they had Gandalf and Hobbiton right. We didn't look anymore after that.
Sometimes I think it would have been such fun to be here for all the speculation. Other times I'm glad I walked into FOTR with no preconceived notions.
I did change my mind about getting online after FOTR. I tried to find out anything that I could about TTT and ROTK. That's how I found TORn.
*note to self*
Learn new boards. "Sticky" is not an admonishment to a tornsib named Sticky.
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deej
Tol Eressea
Apr 10 2007, 5:33pm
Post #8 of 19
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I had no clue that they were going to be making a film version on one of my favorite books. I wouldn't discover the news until December, 1999 when I read an article in a UK film magazine (I think). And I wouldn't discover TORn for another 4 years!
Great post gramma - it's so much fun going back and reading these speculation posts.
Sincerely, deej - The Artist Formerly Known as djdeathskiss
Atlanta Woot! Moot 2007 - Join us Labor Day weekend; go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/atlanta_woot_moot/
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Apr 10 2007, 7:17pm
Post #9 of 19
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[reply]
[b]April 10, 1999 - April 12, 1999[/b]
[/reply]
It was probably about six months after that, in the fall of 1999 or early spring 2000 that I first saw a blub online that the movies were in the works. I'd been waiting for 30 years for someone to do it. I did some googling and found TORn's front page, and read it religiously, but didn't discover the discussion boards until November 2001. I remember calling my sister when I first found out the movies were being made. She said the same thing I'd been thinking: "Well, I guess I'll have to start eating right and exercising, so I'll live long enough to see them all."
I remember sending in spy reports to the front page back before I found the boards, including a scan of the Burger King crown with the ringspell on it, and my observation on the music that led to my first post on the board. (I thought the main theme sounded like a familiar hymn.)
Yep, those were fun days! I especially remember all the hair-pulling about Xen-Arwen and the spiky wizard wheel. And then someone posted that the script ended with "I'm back" and people were saying "Sam says 'I'm back'! It's going to be all right!"
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"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
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Chance Meeting at Rivendell: a Tolkien Fanfic
and some other stuff I wrote...
leleni at hotmail dot com
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(This post was edited by Aunt Dora Baggins on Apr 10 2007, 7:20pm)
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GaladrielTX
Tol Eressea
Apr 11 2007, 12:30am
Post #10 of 19
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Funny that so many of the rumors in the first “news” items turned out to be wrong. I wonder if the TORN staff ever went back to those “sources” later to ask if they were smoking crack or what.
Like JRandomRohirrim, in 1999, I was too busy to find out about the films then. My company moved me to a new city, with all the attendant exploring and setting up a new life, and I didn’t get a computer of my own till 2000. Of course, then David Bowie’s area led me to TORN, but I don’t think anyone wants to hear about that again, at least not for a long while. Anyway, it looks like I sure missed a lot of fun in those early days!
Did the TORN message boards go live on this same date, does anyone know? I always wondered when they started.
~~~~~~~~
I used to be GaladrielTX, but it's springtime and I'm shedding.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Apr 11 2007, 1:35am
Post #11 of 19
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and Sam was holding little Elanor and he turned and looked off to one side... did you hold your breath... did you wait for the words... did your tummy flip when he said it?
I sure did!!! :D Then I burst into tears
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Apr 11 2007, 2:02am
Post #12 of 19
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down to footer)
"And then (s)he wept."
- with tears that were the very wine of blessedness!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And when Sam heard that he laughed aloud for shear delight, and he stood up and cried: 'O great glory and splendour! And all my wishes have come true!'"
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Kimi
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Apr 11 2007, 6:08am
Post #13 of 19
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Gosh, what wonderful memories!
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Thanks for posting that, Gramma!
One of the very first things I gained from TORn was meeting Tehanu, and becoming friends.
I specially remember the White Island rumour, as I grew up within sight of that spectacular place. It would have been a very tricky place for filming!
  
Promises to Keep: a novel set in 19th Century New Zealand.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
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Patty
Immortal
Apr 11 2007, 6:40am
Post #14 of 19
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those were frantic, happy days.
At home, amongst the Mallorn trees.
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Apr 11 2007, 2:22pm
Post #15 of 19
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It's odd, I expected to cry and cry during the Grey Havens scene,
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but I never have, for some reason. But when Sam says "I'm back", that's when the floodgates open. That and seeing "The End" on the screen, after that long, long wait.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chance Meeting at Rivendell: a Tolkien Fanfic
and some other stuff I wrote...
leleni at hotmail dot com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Apr 11 2007, 2:42pm
Post #16 of 19
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I'm an absolute mess. The credits finish the job.
I made a booboo in my original post... it's RotK, not FotR ....
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
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Apr 11 2007, 9:57pm
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they wouldn't have needed as much CGI to depict 'smoking Orodruin'...
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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Ainu Laire
Tol Eressea
Apr 12 2007, 1:29am
Post #18 of 19
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I was suffering through elementary school
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I didn't even know the internet existed at this point of time. Wow. 1999... seems so long ago.
I loved these news items, though. All these rumors about the Hobbit almost seem like we're going back in time... only there are a lot more of us *g*
My LJ
My art site
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_V_
Lorien
Apr 12 2007, 5:51am
Post #19 of 19
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Wow---I was in Junior High School/ 8th grade
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wow...I was in 8th grade. Lord of the Rings is WHY I first started going on "the Internet" itself.
I wandered from fansite to fansite and used TORN as a great news site but so much conversation was happening so fast that I didn't know how to keep up, so I did post just infrequently.
WOW.
*************I don't want it to ever end!"
It' s been....who long? Extended Ediction of ROTK came out in Fall 2004.....so we pretty much exhausted everything there was....about this time of year, 2005? Wow. Two years of just.....here.
Well....LOTR was popular for 50 years as a book with no hope it would be a movie or be more than this cult thing most people didn't know of. Now, you can talk about it on the street and people know what it is; it's part of the cultural mythos now.
What are we going to do? Will Peter Jackson ever get to make the Hobbit? will they force someone else to?
***When do the rights run out for New Line? (that's apparently why they wanted to rush him into doing it before handling the legal troubles)
And I still hope for an Appendix on top of it.
It's just....I still cannot believe it's over.
I mean I just loved the story: I don't know how to make fanart or fanfic that's any good.
But we did what we set out to do, and no one can take that away from us
ROTK was a fantasy film and it swept the Oscars; it paved the way for so many others: Remember when Fellowship came out the first time and it was this TOTAL UNDERDOG and no one knew what it was?
We did it. We really did it.
But what now?
But what now?
There is Children of Hurin to look foward to, plus any time a TV show references the Trilogy it will be noted here....
but this isn't Star Wars where they kept the story going through Expanded Universe books.....there will NEVER be new LOTR material.
Well, I guess if I wanted "more LOTR" I could be getting hyped up about the new MMORPG Shadows of Angmar; but I just don't have the time to devote to it.
Still, I wish it all the best and hope it's as big as Everquest or World of Warcraft are.
I miss debating every little point about the movies. And I miss just gushing about things; not fighting, just gushing about what we liked the most.
***Sorry to get so sentimental but I'm graduating college now and I'm just going "wow....LOTR....I read it when I was in 6th grade....I mean RIGHT before news about the series came out. And then I heard they were making a movie....this is THE pop culture obsession that has consumed me since I started high school, and now I'm leaving college....where does it all go from here?
I guess I just need to hook up with my local Tolkien fan club.
The best part of the whole thing wasn't reading the book and watching the movies silently by myself; that would have been meaningless. It was the fun I had with other people doing it.
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