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Jazmine
Tol Eressea
Apr 24 2009, 9:03pm
Post #1 of 67
(4966 views)
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**TORn 10th Anniversary Feedback Post: So, how did YOU find ToRN?!
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Evening, afternoon, morning all, depending on where in the world you are! I hope you are all enjoying the wonderful party that has been put together!!
Today, I am asking you to share your memories of finding ToRN.
How and when did you happen upon this little website?
Did you sign up straight away, or do you need to admit to some lurking?
What has made you stick around, even through quiet periods when there is no movie gossip to keep you entertained?
And finally, what makes ToRN stand out for you? What are your fondest memories of your time here?
Thanks everyone!!
(This post was edited by Altaira on Apr 24 2009, 9:39pm)
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Garfeimao
Rohan
Apr 24 2009, 9:30pm
Post #2 of 67
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I couldn't tell you exactly when I found TORn, but I know it was well before FOTR was finished and released. I'd heard the films were being made and didn't have much other information, so I googled and found TORn. I'm not even sure New Line had their site up and running yet, so TORn was the only game in town for information. I combed through the character listings and the actor listings, since I believe I discovered TORn before all the characters had been cast. I read everything I could and then I jumped onto the message boards to see what people were saying. I found the Reading Room and decided that I couldn't participate in any of the conversations until I read the books again, so I did that and then jumped into the conversations when I caught up to the chapter they were on.
I don't have the time to hang in the forums much, and haven't for years, so it's more a casual thing when I stop by the boards. As for the website, I still visit it almost daily, it's just always got news I want to know about.
As for what I've gotten out of TORn and why I keep coming back. Well, I sort of became staff in early 2002 in order to help plan the Oscar Parties, and then later the Conventions. I've been to New Zealand twice now to visit filming locations and plan several more trips down there in the coming years as the Hobbit is being worked on. I have loads of good friends I've made from all these events, most of which came directly from the website. The fact that we all call each other TORnSibs should tell you a little something about the community that has been built up here.
Peace, Love and Rock & Roll,
Garfeimao
The orange stripey One
Cruise to Middle earth
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Dreamdeer
Valinor
Apr 24 2009, 10:30pm
Post #3 of 67
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...long before I visited. I first read about it in the newspaper, during the "Return of the King's" sweep of the Oscars. Peter Jackson had said that TORn's Oscar Party was THE party to attend, much to the shock of Hollywood traditionals, and suddenly I was reading all of this stuff about "Geek Chic".
It scared the living daylights out of me. I assumed that such an elite cadre of fans must surely be snobs who would peer down their noses at me if I dared to set foot anywhere near their mansion. Yet I did feel a wistful longing at the thought of treading amidst such company.
As time passed, the official New Line fan site, which had become quite an addiction, was falling apart due to shameless neglect from the corporation in charge (not run by fans.) I went into withdrawal. Had...to...talk...Tolkien! I crawled from site to site, but none of them satisfied my cravings. With trepidation I approached the Holy Grail of Tolkien fandom, found myself astonishingly welcomed, and never looked back.
Life is beautiful and dangerous! Beware! Enjoy!
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Apr 24 2009, 10:37pm
Post #4 of 67
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Feels like I've always been here.
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I can't honestly remember how I first found TORn. Somehow in late 2000 or early 2001 I stumbled on the fact that a live-action LotR was being made, and my reaction was "will I live long enough to see it all?" I'd been waiting for thirty years, after all.
For about a year all I knew of TORn was the front page. I read the spy reports eagerly, and occasionally even sent some in (I sent in a scan of the Burger King crown with the ringspell on it, for example.)
In November of 2001, unable to wait until I actually saw the movie, I bought the soundtrack for FotR, and was struck by how the hobbit theme sounded like "This is my Father's World". I sent in another spy report, and apparently generated a big discussion on the boards, whose existence I had hitherto been unaware of. The PTB commented on the big discussion I had stirred up, and I followed the link to the board, and found myself in the middle of an argument. My first post was a reply to someone else's comment about my spy report. I was such a noob I had no idea I should actually introduce myself.
So in a way I lurked for a long time, since I read the home page for so long. But on the other hand, I posted on the boards after reading that one post I replied to, so I guess in that sense I jumped in right away. I posted under my own name, Karen, for quite a while (people got me mixed up with karen_the_maginificent, even though we were clearly very different), but eventually decided I really should have a more Tolkien-related nickname. Altaira suggested "Luthien", which was extremely flattering, but it didn't seem to fit me, somehow.
What keeps me here during quiet periods? The people, of course. I spend most of my time on the OT board anyway. The people I've met here are the excellent and admirable people anywhere on the Internet. I've often felt that TORn is a bit like Heaven might be: we don't see each other's physical bodies, and so we get to know each other without prejudgment. We meet spirit-to-spirit, and only later find out, maybe, that Inferno is not actually a sixty-year-old man.
I think what makes TORn exceptional is the level of courtesy and kindness here. I know our admins have a lot to do with that, but those who hang around here a while and know the culture regulate themselves. It's such a pleasant culture compared to the usual wild and woolly place that is the Internet in general, though TORn was pretty wild and woolly in the First Age, too.
Some of my fondest memories are of the clever silliness here, in which I can only stand in admiration: Inferno's parodies and other parodies, Ufthak's diaries of Gandalf, the whole Figwit thing, the femine thread. There were also sad moment that weren't "fond" memories, but were very powerful, especially the online memorials.
And I remember all the kindness I've received here, as I've gone through the ups and downs of midlife and my sibbies were there for me. When I had my hysterectomy, you gave me so much support. I printed up the thread and took it to the hospital with me, as a paper reminder of all the people who were lending me strength. When the excitement of the map presentation was almost too much and I had a bit of a breakdown, several of you held my hands in some very long behind the scenes conversations and brought me back to sanity. When I've decided I needed a break and have gone away for a few weeks, people always made me feel welcome when I came back. When I finished the draft of a novel I'd been writing for two years, some of you read it, all thousand pages. That's really going above and beyond!
Thank you all so much for being such a great community. It's so wonderful to be able to say "thag you very buch" and have everyone instantly understand the reference. That doesn't happen anywhere else, except with my own family. Tolkien brought us together and forms the scaffolding on which we stand, but the edifice that is TORn is so much more than that. All the little things that made it onto the Map, like Estrogen Island and the fox, went into the mortar, and the love that's evident on a weekend like this one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"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."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories
leleni at hotmail dot com
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a.s.
Valinor
Apr 24 2009, 10:56pm
Post #6 of 67
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Peter Jackson wore this little blue lapel pin...
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It all started with a picture in People Magazine, a few days after the Return of the King Oscar celebrations. I was in a doctor's waiting room waiting (what else!!??) and leafing through the pictures of PJ and company, when I noticed this lapel pin on PJ's suit:
Well, of course I was intrigued, so as soon as I got home, I typed in the URL on the pin, noticed the little left hand link that said Message Boards, clicked, and then...
...I never left.
I actually believe I had been on this site before, reading related materials and Greenbooks, etc. But I had never noticed the message boards. My loss. "What might have been" and etc.
I lurked for one or two days (maybe more, I just can't honestly remember) then posted some inane post in the RR (NEB, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, don't go find it, 'k? My friend? Some things should remain buried!!) and was gently hand-slapped for it, but persevered and then one day, I was a regular.
Or as regular as they come, over there in the RR.
LOL
FRIENDS. FRIENDS make me stick around. I've been online a long time. In fact, if you were born after 1996, I was online before you were born. I am an old hand at bulletin boards (pre WWW), USENET, and old fashioned ASCII text listserves hosted at university server sites, etc.
Take my word for it: this is the friendliest, best moderated, most intelligent, funniest place on the internet.
I won't leave until they shut the final door and turn out the last light, and even then I'll keep peeking through the keyhole of the door, hoping against hope it's not really closed.
My fondest memories. Hmmm. There are too many, I think. I have loved meeting Tornsibs in person, the times I've had the opportunity to moot. The Map! The last day in the RR on the old boards was fun and nostalgic at the same time. The femine thread and silneldor's classic response (who will forget the pink bathing suit, that image is burned on my retina!!).
Torn! Love may it run.
a.s.
"an seileachan"
God is eternal, without beginning or end. Don't worry too much about tomorrow. God is already there.
(This post was edited by a.s. on Apr 24 2009, 11:01pm)
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a.s.
Valinor
Apr 24 2009, 11:03pm
Post #8 of 67
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HAH!!! great Freudian slip, actually.
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You mean, "Torn: Love may it run"????
LOL
I think I'll leave it. Thanks for noticing!!!
Of course, it SHOULD say: "Torn: long may it run".
But I kind of like what I posted by accident.
a.s.
"an seileachan"
God is eternal, without beginning or end. Don't worry too much about tomorrow. God is already there.
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Donry
Tol Eressea
Apr 24 2009, 11:17pm
Post #10 of 67
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I found it by chance. Just googling and it came up. I lurked before signing up, and then lurked before posting anything. As far as what made me stick around during quiet times? I haven't ever found it quiet. I am continually impressed by the depth of knowledge on this site. It quickly became my first choice for all things Tolkien and even some things that have nothing to do with Tolkien. This site still impresses me all the time, the posts are just amazing. I am a member of another Tolkien fan site and there is very little Tolkien spoken on there! I have a hard time going through it. But with this site, I'm checking in several times a day. As for my fondest memories......I don't think I have one specific memory. But what I walk away with all the time is knowledge and that is perhaps what I am most fond of. My immediate circle of friends don't have the same interest in Middle Earth that I do, so my continued learning of Middle Earth and Tolkien had become somewhat stagnant over the years. I had re-read the books several times and that's all I was doing. Now though, through this site, I am able to continue the learning experience I had started on way back in Grade 4. The views and opinions expressed on everything Tolkien are endless here. And are of such varying levels of depth, it is just amazing. I'm a bigger Tolkien geek now than I ever have been. And I have this site to thank for that. So thanks folks, I'm sure your really the only crowd out there that really understands what this world means to me. As it seems to mean the same to all of you that it does to me. Thanks again.
What's the matter, James? No glib remark? No pithy comeback?"
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a.s.
Valinor
Apr 24 2009, 11:22pm
Post #11 of 67
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yeah...what did I used to do, before I had Torn??? :-) //
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"an seileachan"
God is eternal, without beginning or end. Don't worry too much about tomorrow. God is already there.
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Laerasëa
Tol Eressea
Apr 24 2009, 11:27pm
Post #12 of 67
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NEB, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, don't go find it, 'k? My friend?
Ok, I was cracking up at this, because while looking at this thread, I was thinking about that, "WNEBCFTPFY" abbreviation (although it's one heck of an abbreviation), and then I immediately see this. *giggle* So, we have that one that I'm not going to bother rewriting, and then we also have your new abbreviation: NEBPFTLOGDOGTP! ("NEB, please for the love of God, don't go find that post!") 
********************************
Traveling Journal Official Site
The journal is finally in America!!
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silneldor
Half-elven
Apr 25 2009, 12:17am
Post #14 of 67
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user as possible. I was like J Fred Muggs driving a bus for the 1st time crashing into everything. Actually i do not remember how i got here exactly but i starting on Barliman's and everyone was changing their name and i could not keep up with any conversation because of my sslloowww typing.
But i do remember what i said when i fell through the door in one of the boards. 'Hey, i'm one of you guys!'
Later i compared the experience to meeting 'the others' referring to Jean Auel's book 'Clan of the Cave Bear'. This is where an orphaned human girl was raised by the Neanderthal and then later found her way back to her own kind. Here i feel i am among my own kind..although i may have retained remnants of that earlier time.
I know that this is now a very comfortable place to me. It is like my family life at home. I am just a home-body.
''What connects Nature to the spiritual, or requires the presence of the latter? In positive terms, as Alkis Kontos points out, when nature was still largely experienced as integral, alive and active, 'It was the spiritual dimension of the world, its enchanted, magical quality that rendered it infinite, not amenable to complete calculability; spirit could not be quanified; it permitted and invited mythologization.' And I would add, it still is and does.''
Patrick Curry-Defending Middle-Earth-Tolkien: Myth and Modernity - chapter: 'The Sea: Spirituality and Ethics.'
May the grace of Manwë let us soar with eagle's wings!
In the air, among the clouds in the sky
Here is where the birds of Manwe fly
Looking at the land, and the water that flows
The true beauty of earth shows
With the stars of Varda lighting my way
In all the realms this is where I stay
In the realm of Manwë Súlimo
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Silverlode
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Apr 25 2009, 12:21am
Post #15 of 67
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spelled that way. It should be NEBPFTLOGDGFTP.  
*waits to see if it catches on*
Silverlode
"Of all faces those of our familiares are the ones both most difficult to play fantastic tricks with, and most difficult really to see with fresh attention. They have become like the things which once attracted us by their glitter, or their colour, or their shape, and we laid hands on them, and then locked them in our hoard, acquired them, and acquiring ceased to look at them.
Creative fantasy, because it is mainly trying to do something else [make something new], may open your hoard and let all the locked things fly away like cage-birds. The gems all turn into flowers or flames, and you will be warned that all you had (or knew) was dangerous and potent, not really effectively chained, free and wild; no more yours than they were you." -On Fairy Stories
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Alcarcalime
Tol Eressea
Apr 25 2009, 12:22am
Post #16 of 67
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When I found TORn -- OhioHobbit was in his office doing searches for Tolkien and happened upon TORn. He called over to my office and told me that they were going to make a movie of LOTR. I said, "Oh, no, they'll ruin it." But I went over and took a look at the spy reports and we decided it looked pretty good. We were just on the Home Page for the longest time before OhioHobbit started reading the message boards to me. Then of course I had to start reading them also.
We lurked until after the movies came and went. We went to see the movie exhibition in Indianapolis, Indiana, and met lots of TORnsibs and I started posting when I got home.
I couldn't get OhioHobbit to post until the new boards were opened for business. I finally talked him into registering and taking the plunge.
We both feel that TORn is a wonderful place to hang out. We run in and check to see what is going on all during the day. We can't seem to do without our fix!
Movie Technical Discussion -- Index
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Apr 25 2009, 12:29am
Post #17 of 67
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That last day in the old RR was so sweet.
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Bittersweet, really. Thanks for posting that link.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"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."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories
leleni at hotmail dot com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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entmaiden
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Apr 25 2009, 1:27am
Post #18 of 67
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I saw FOTR during Christmas of 2001, a few weeks after it had been released. My four siblings and I (3 sisters, 1 brother) had promised each other that we would see the movies together, so we had to wait until we were together for Christmas. After the movie, we were bursting with excitement, and talked for hours about how much it was like/unlike the books, how much we loved the movie, what mistakes we saw, what we didn't like, EVERYTHING. Our parents watched, bemused. They had never read the books, and they weren't big movie people, so they couldn't understand how all five of their children could be so captured by a movie about elves.
After I returned home from the Christmas holidays, I yearned to talk with someone about Tolkien. I had gone back to see the movie a few times, but there was no one to talk about it, and I was burning to know more about the Two Towers movie. So I googled, and found the LOTR official site. Clicking around the home page didn't satisfy my need, and fortunately I found the message boards. Note that, until this point in my life, my forays to the internet were confined to buying books on amazon and other internet shopping. The concept of a message board was completely foreign to me.
I lurked for about a week, signed up for the 3-year membership in the fan club (and got my name on all three DVDs), but only posted once or twice. The official site message boards didn't feel right. Although they satisfied my curiousity about the movies, the conversations were almost all about the hotness of the various male actors. I yearned for conversation about the movies as they related to the books, but there was none of that on the official site boards.
I noticed one member called grammaboodawg. She seemed to like the books as much as I did, and instead of drooling over the actors, she genuinely wanted to keep Tolkien at the center of the conversation. So I always clicked on her posts. One day the conversation turned to other Tolkien sites, and the pros and cons of each. Gramma mentioned TORN and provided a link. I clicked on the link, which led me directly to the message boards, and instantly knew I had found my home. TORN was a place that, while suffering its share of squeeing, still managed to remember that the books were the foundation of the movies. They also seemed to have the best inside information - the official site was confined to the party line propaganda.
I probably lurked for about a month before posting, and it was a thread talking about the Lord of the Peeps. I said I just liked saying the word "peep". I eagerly checked my post for the next few days, holding my breath as I opened the Main Page, but no one responded to me. I can't remember what post I made that elicited my first response, but I nearly expired from nerves when it happened.
I've never looked back since. My family laughs at me, as do my friends, but I've met some of the most interesting, funny, intelligent people here, and I can't imagine finding another place like TORN.
NARF since 1974.
Balin Bows
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Kelvarhin
Half-elven
Apr 25 2009, 2:24am
Post #19 of 67
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An old friend of mine told me about it
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Shortly after the site started. He knew I was a huge Tolkien fan and told me to check out this new website.
Before long I was checking it nearly every day. Eventually he and I discovered the message boards, but I never joined up back then. We used to sit chatting to each other on ICQ and discussing what everyone was talking about in here. I only finally took the plunge and de-lurked a year ago. So I guess I may have the distinction of being the longest lurker of the boards, unless of course, old I.C.E.M.A.N is still lurking and decides to come and join us
I did join Barli's for a while, back then, but I can't remember the nick I used there. I also did a little bit of Spying for TORn for a while, but that also, was long long ago LOL.
Cheers all
Kel x
Kelvarhin's Universe~~~~~~~Laerasea's Travelling TORn Journal
One book to rule them all
One book to find them
One book to bring them all
And in TORn bind them
In the land of TORnadoes...where the brilliant play
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Aerin
Grey Havens
Apr 25 2009, 3:39am
Post #20 of 67
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Googling for reviews of the FOTR movie.
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I first found the Ringer Reviews, and posted one, then noticed that there were message boards, and lurked on Movie for a couple weeks, until I just had to register and join in the discussion. The rest is history — a surprisingly large part of my personal history for the past seven years.
Hobbit Family Histories
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Laerasëa
Tol Eressea
Apr 25 2009, 3:47am
Post #21 of 67
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Right. Well, I'll work on my spelling (or, acronym-making).
********************************
Traveling Journal Official Site
The journal is finally in America!!
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Silverlode
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Apr 25 2009, 4:41am
Post #22 of 67
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better be careful with these, or NEB might get a head as big as his acronyms. 
Silverlode
"Of all faces those of our familiares are the ones both most difficult to play fantastic tricks with, and most difficult really to see with fresh attention. They have become like the things which once attracted us by their glitter, or their colour, or their shape, and we laid hands on them, and then locked them in our hoard, acquired them, and acquiring ceased to look at them.
Creative fantasy, because it is mainly trying to do something else [make something new], may open your hoard and let all the locked things fly away like cage-birds. The gems all turn into flowers or flames, and you will be warned that all you had (or knew) was dangerous and potent, not really effectively chained, free and wild; no more yours than they were you." -On Fairy Stories
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N.E. Brigand
Half-elven
Apr 25 2009, 4:57am
Post #23 of 67
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You're all too kind -- but I think that one acronym invoking me is already more than enough.
(Oh, and those looking for a.s.'s first post can scroll through hatster's archive to March 16, 2004.)
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
We're discussing The Hobbit in the Reading Room, Mar. 23 - Aug. 9. Everyone is welcome!
Join us Apr. 20-26 for "Riddles in the Dark".
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
How to find old Reading Room discussions.
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Apr 25 2009, 4:59am
Post #24 of 67
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the movies being made, and TORN was one of the top listings that came up. There was something about the tone of the news posted here and the layout of the front page that kept bringing me back - and then I discovered the discussion boards. This was several months before FOTR was released and the discussion boards were still moving at a sedate pace; when 'good morning' threads didn't clog up the boards and trolls could only be driven off by vociferous senior board members (as there were no admins dedicated to the boards).
But I had no idea about the internet back then - just reading posts on a discussion board was a new thing for me, and the idea of actually registering as a member of the website seemed quite scary ... especially as my only internet access at that time was through work, and I was sneaking onto TORN as it was.
Then my mother passed away suddenly, and when I was back at work I had a reckless impulse and registered on TORN - and I haven't looked back since. (Although I've long since got at internet connection at home, to the relief of my workplace's IS team!)
Seeing FOTR on screen was a bittersweet experience, as ever since the movies had been announced I had looked forward to bringing my mother to the cinema so that she could finally experience this great story that I had fallen in love with. But I have been able to enjoy the movies - and more - with Tolkien fans of all ages from around the world, and that has been a precious gift.
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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