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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 29 2020, 4:49pm
Post #2 of 13
(2981 views)
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Here are some Oscar Party reports from various TORNadoes who attended the "Return of the One Ring" party. The most glorious collection of reports is by entmaiden! The full report is posted here with a bit of editing. We're SO lucky she gathered these up before the very sad crash of pre-2007 posts. *bows deeply*
Some SandWitch King pics
gramma's Oscars report with lots of pics that I hope still work!
entmaiden's original post before editing.
Nick: Cheshire Cat (Forum Member)
Date/Time: Tue, 3/2/2004 at 12:56 AM CST (Tue, 3/2/2004 at 6:56 AM GMT)
Subject: A brief report from L.A.
Message: Just had the most incredible weekend of my life! What a blast! Over the past few days, I've had the honour and pleasure of spending time with an amazing group of TORNsibs. We've had a few get-togethers including a Pub Moot on Friday night at a Santa Monica Irish style pub. L Ron gave us a hilarious impression of Denethor when he squished tomatoes into his mouth and dribbled juice down his chin as greendragon gave us a rendition of Pippins song. A ringers quiz was hosted by three of our lovely Forum Admin (Altaira, Nimrodel and Ataahua) and the highlight of the evening had to be grammaboodawg dancing on the table as we all joined her in a rousing verse of the Hobbit Drinking Song to the stunned amazement of the other customers!!!
The TORN Oscar party was incredible. Just too amazing for words really. Hopefully there will be some fuller reports filtering through soon, but for now, I would like to say it was a blast! The fact the film won 11 Oscars was just incredible, beyond our wildest dreams. But to be in a building with 1100 crazy Rings fans was unbelievable.
Billy Crystals Rings parodies were impossible to hear over the howls of laughter from the crowd, every LOTR cast/crew appearance was greeted with screams. Emerald Rose performed some beautiful Celtic music. But the best part of it all was to be able to share it with the sibs. As Annie Lennox performed her song so amazingly, a blubbering group of sibs were reduced to floods of tears.
We cheered and jumped and hugged every time an Oscar win was announced and to top off the evening we were lucky and honoured to be paid a visit by a huge group of cast and crew. As PJ stood on the stage surrounded by the likes of Barry Osbourne, Philippa Boyens, Alan Lee, John Howe, Fran Walsh, Elijah and Dom, Dan Hannah, and many many more we listened with joy as he complimented the fan base and thanked us for our support of the films. I felt very very proud to share that moment with these amazing people.
Each Oscar winner came to the microphone in turn and gave a short speech. Philippa apologized because she couldn't get Aragorn to remove his shirt in the script (the crowd howled). Ngila said she had had the pleasure of seeing all the cast with no clothes on! (the crowd howled again!). So funny. Billy arrived late but made up for it by playing guitar and singing an incredible song while the audience went wild (He rocked!!!)
In the early hours of the morning, we were paid a visit by Bruce Hopkins, Sala Baker, Lawrence Makoare and Jed Brophy who as a grand finale to the evening gave a sterling rendition of the Kiwi Haka dance.
Then came the hard part... saying goodbye to the sibs. I can't remember a time when my emotions have been quite so torn between ecstatic joy and incredible sadness at the parting. It was an incredible few days. Many thanks to Roheryn (burp), L Ron (AKA Denethor), gerontius (Mr Entertainment), greendragon (cute wig), Entmaiden (better late than never ;-), Altaira (ace Admin), Ataahua (ace Admin), Nim (ace Admin), Scout (quoted in the LA Times no less!!), Ltlberr (AKA Arwen), Celandine (our resident Hobbit), Aranel (Emerald Rose roadie), Lumpkin (Best Dressed), Mr Lumpkin (Best Photographer), erather (lovely lady), Count Zero ("He's available, ladies!"), Shuya (great laugh), White Aslan (we lost you!), Frodo fP (good to meet you at the pub moot), Fak (figure to die for) and jordan (missing you like mad, Sugah). Special thanks to gramma for her wild enthusiasm (she's a star) and to CAhobbit for her very kind hospitality - we had a lot of fun.
I'm not looking forward to the prospect of going home on Wednesday. :o( Great times. We have been truly honoured.
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Nick: Celandine Brandybuck (Forum Member)
Date/Time: Tue, 3/2/2004 at 11:32 AM CST
Subject: Oscar weekend report
Message: First off, I have to say that I'm not usually a big movie fan, believe it or not. I don't go to see all that many films, I don't pay a lot of attention to actors or directors or whatever, and I've never made a thing of having to watch the Oscars. In fact, most years I find out what films won the next day or even several days later. But I made an exception this time!
I went off to Los Angeles on the Friday before the big event, and stayed three nights with Roheryn (with whom I'd stayed last summer on vacation). She held a party for about as many people as could possibly fit in her living room that evening, which was both generous and thoughtful as it gave a chance to meet a dozen or so folks for the first time and be able to converse without either high background noise levels or the tremendous excitement of Oscar night.
Saturday about 20 or 25 folks went to see a showing of RotK at the Arclight Cinema, a very snazzy cinema in Hollywood. They have a very cool screen called the Dome; unfortunately Gibson's Passion kicked RotK out of that screen, but the theater in which we saw it was extremely comfortable, great sound and film quality. And wonderful to see it surrounded by other big geeky fans! I have to confess to whispering a few comments to my neighbor Scout B, though I tried to keep it in check. Altaira can say if I was quiet enough, she was on the other side. A good many tissues were used, that's for sure.
That evening was a Pub Moot, organized mostly by CAHobbit and Roheryn, at an Irish pub in Santa Monica. All kinds of fun conversation, a trivia game run by three of the TORn board admins (Altaira, Ataahua, and Nimrodel) with prizes donated by CAHobbit (the top prize went to L. Ron Halfelven), good food and drink, and repeated renditions of the Hobbit drinking songs from FotR and RotK, which Ltlberr had typed up. And goody bags – I'm not sure who all helped with those, but I'm nibbling chocolate almonds from them! Several of us wore Hobbit costume – CAHobbit dressed as Rosie and greendragon as Frodo; I dressed as myself, Celandine. Meeting still more TORnsibs was excellent; we all toasted those who'd traveled across an ocean to be there (Ataahua from NZ, and Cheshire Cat and Gerontius from the UK – I hope I'm not missing out anyone!).
And then the Oscar night itself. Wow. There were a few glitches in the organization (not enough seats in the main auditorium and the fire marshal wouldn't permit standing along the walls; at the very end they ran out of the promised goody bags and some of the TORnsibs didn't get one) but overall it went very smoothly, from the perspective of an attendee. From the time the broadcast started the excitement was almost palpable. As RotK won each category for which it was nominated, the tension got higher and higher – It won the first! 5 of 5, will it get the next? 8 of 8, will it get the next? All of the technical awards, will PJ get director? Will the film win for best film? When it did, the place exploded. A bunch of TORnsibs were down in the Green Dragon (the bar area of the venue) seeing this on a smaller screen, and we could hear the shouts from upstairs continuing even after we'd calmed down a little bit.
Emerald Rose's gig was enjoyable even if it's not entirely my kind of music – but the real highlight of the post-awards hours was, of course, the appearance of the crew and actors. Luckily most of the TORnsibs who had been hanging around in a large bunch most of the evening were able to find seats upstairs in the big auditorium by then. It was amazing to be in the same room with all these folk who'd put their hearts into making LotR and were now being rewarded. I can't even remember who all spoke, and what they said, and I'm sure other reports will be able to say more about that. (Must mention that I was sitting by Jordan, who was absolutely transfixed while Mr. Wood was onstage. I'm not sure if she heard PJ speak or not! *wink*)
Other bits and pieces – several TORnsibs volunteered to staff the One Ring Toss game which was down near the buffet line, and I had the delight of winning a RotK baseball cap from grammaboodawg. The food was delicious, too, and one of the beers available was the appropriately-named Hobgoblin Ale. I was asked at one point to be interviewed about my Hobbit costume (yes, I wore two different Hobbit costumes this weekend!) but that ended up falling through, as the camera crew got pulled off into something else.
It will be a week or two before I have pictures to share, unfortunately, but everyone looked just fantastic – lots of gorgeous evening dresses, I recall particularly lumpkin's, and Lottelita's suit! It was a great pleasure to meet so many wonderful TORnsibs all at once – I hope that some of us will be able to meet again in the future, in fact I know that a few are already making plans for it. It's been a wonderful several years – thanks to the TORn Powers That Be for making it all possible!
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Nick: CAhobbit (Forum Member)
Date/Time: Tue, 3/2/2004 at 1:37 PM CST (Tue, 3/2/2004 at 11:37 AM PST)
Subject: My TORn party report
Message: I'll try not to repeat what others have said already. Well it's Tuesday (2 days after the party almost) and I must say it has finally hit me. This past weekend was by far the most thrilling weekend of my life. I had the pleasure spending time with many wonderful TORnsibs. We cried, laughed, cheered and clapped practically through the whole weekend. A few highlights of the weekend: Spending a wonderful time with Cheshire Cat throughout the week. Dinner at Woo Lae Oak. Attending Roheryn's dinner party in a packed house full of TORnsibs. Gerontious played some wonderful tunes for us on the piano. Ltlberr gave us a nice rendition of "I will Survive".
Having a wonderful pubmoot in Santa Monica with many, many TORnsibs. Singing the two hobbit drinking songs very loudly (I do believe we scared a few customers with that). ;-). Having two strangers come over to our group for a bit and say an elvish poem to us (LOTR does bring all together, anywhere, anytime...just amazing).
Highlights of the TORn party: -Being in a crowd of almost 1000 people cheering and crying (for joy) for every award ROTK won. -Emerald Rose -The one ring circus performing parodies. I especially enjoyed their parody of Les Miserable's "One day More"...just fantastic. -JRD's nice pop out on stage in which he gave many thanks and kind words to all the fans. -Dom coming out on stage and singing (still don't know what the heck the words were...but it was exciting to see him up there). -Many cast and crew walking out on stage waving their Oscars in the air in victory. -Various cast and crew's speeches to us. -Billy singing on the newly named guitar (second breakfast). ;-) -Bruce Hopkins jumping off the stage to kiss the women in the front row. He also gave some kisses to the ladies as he walked through the crowd at the end of the night. -Rick Pouress(sp?) walking around the crowd talking to a few people here and there. -Sala, Lawrence, Bruce and Jed's Haka dance. -Emerald Rose's kindness of handing out CD's to those of us who missed out on goodie bags.
The only awful part of the weekend really was having to say good-bye to so many TORnsibs. Many of us will never see each other in person ever again and yet all will be remembered in my mind and heart for the rest of my life. The kindness and laughter of all I have met this weekend will stay with me and I thank all of you for that. *Hugs*
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Nick: nefisa (Registered User)
Date/Time: Tue, 3/2/2004 at 2:53 PM CST (Tue, 3/2/2004 at 2:53 PM MDT)
Subject: well, I'm back...and a big shout-out to...
Message: all the wonderful Tornsibs I met this weekend in LA... Altaira and Grandma. thanks for letting this nitpicker and naysayer sit next to y'all for those exciting last few awards...you guys are great...(and I told you ROTK wasn't gonna win!) It was wonderful meeting so many...CAHobbit, Roheryn, Lumpkin and "I'm with Lumpkin", Joelle and "I'm Joelle's dad", Gerontius, Greendragon and her wonderful curly hobbit hair!, Cheshire Cat, Jordan the Discursive (funny, your great Alabama accent doesn't show up online), L. Ron, Nimrodel, Aranel and so many many others that I can't remember now...(I drove back to Colorado from LA just a few hours ago, with a post-Oscars hangover no less).. anyways, I had a great time, thank you all, and maybe we'll all meet again one day....
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Nick: WhiteAslan (Registered User)
Date/Time: Tue, 3/2/2004 at 3:43 PM CST (Tue, 3/2/2004 at 4:43 PM EST)
Subject: TORn Oscar Party Report (Warning: extremely long)
Message: It was quite a whirlwind weekend for me in just about every way possible. My journey began at 3am East coast time (midnight West coast time). I made my way to the Philly airport for a 6am flight. I arrived in LA at about 10am (half an hour early). I contacted TORnsib newbie shuya who had kindly offered to pick me up at LAX. As I waited for her, I made my way outside the terminal where I thought I saw Dom picking someone up. I was sitting on a bench eating an apple (how ironic!) watching people drive by. I wasn’t able to get a second, clear look and I didn’t have the courage to call out his name, so I guess I’ll never know for sure.
When shuya arrived, we went directly to the Arclight cinema to meet up with a bunch of TORnsibs and to watch ROTK (viewing #10 for me). I was so happy to meet to so many of you: gramma, Altaira, CAhobbit, Joelle, Gerontius, Meliana, Frodo 4 president, Choice of Luthien, and all the others. It was great to see it with such an enthusiastic bunch and definitely the nicest movie theater I’ve ever been in. Unfortunately, it seems that I caught my second wind for the movie and it was gone by the end.
By the time I arrived at the PubMoot in Santa Monica (after shuya and I nearly got in a car accident on our way there), I was dead on my feet. I’d like to give thanks and hugs to Ro, CAhobbit, and greendragon for organizing this and I apologize for being a party pooper. For those of you I didn’t get to meet, I was the TORnsib in the back with her face in her hands. I did manage to get up enough energy to join in on singing the hobbit drinking songs and to sort of participate in the trivia quiz. Even though we didn’t win, our group was the next best so I guess I didn’t drag us down too much. And somehow I left with a box of TTT Valentine cards (one of the prizes), don’t remember how that happened but thanks!
The next day shuya and I had elevensies at a diner on Sunset and then went to Hollywood Boulevard. We did the tourist-y thing, checked out the Walk of Fame and got some (far away) pictures of the red carpet. We got in line for the TORn party and were later joined by Frodo 4 president. When we got inside we bought our Return of the One Oscar Party t-shirts and headed into the Great Hall to watch the Oscar broadcast. We were entertained by the One Ring Circus while we waited for the award show to start. We had great seats (fifth row) and I have some fantastic pics of Quickbeam in his various guises (*snert!*) as well as pics of Peter Beagle (sp?), the author of the Last Unicorn, and of the TORn founders receiving a special gift.
After the broadcast, we headed downstairs to freshen up, have our portraits taken, and check out Lord of the Rhymes (also have a great pic of them.) We returned to the Great Hall and listened to Emerald Rose while eagerly awaiting the arrival of PJ & co. We first had the pleasure of seeing JRD. Then EW came out and introduced a band (didn’t catch their name). I could see he was really enjoying the music while he was smoking his cig and sipping on his Heineken (I’m afraid none of my pics of him came out). Dom ran out on stage and sang with the band. He was great and I have numerous pics of him, my fav being the one in my footer. Then PJ & co. piled on stage and spoke for nearly an hour. Everyone who won was given a chance to speak. I also have numerous pics of them speaking. Dom & EW said they’d take questions from the audience and the one they chose to answer was: boxers or briefs? I think EW said boxers and Dom’s response was: “Neither.” LOL! That had everybody roaring.
Billy showed up after everyone had left the stage and sang “Oh, Jean”. He was fantastic and the song was amusing. And I also have numerous pics of him. Afterwards Emerald Rose came back on and Sala Baker, Lawrence Makoare, Jed Brophy, and Bruce Hopkins also came on-stage. They performed a haka to close the night and, again, I have several pics. We had decided to stay till they threw us out and then to hang out around the venue for as long as possible and we did just that. We loitered along the way and missed out on the official “Goody Baggins” but our decision to hang out around the venue paid off. We got the special enhanced CD from Emerald Rose and we bumped into party staffer and girlfriend of TORn staffer Arathorn. She hooked us up with a variation of the “Goody Baggins” which came with the mini-posters and a ROTK logo baseball cap. We chatted with her and Arathorn (who was running the webcast) and learned that the new message boards had been completed a month before ROTK was released but that the load on the server wouldn’t allow the change (also he was nervous about the negative reactions that there might be when the change comes).
By the time I got back to my hotel room it was after 3am. I was up at 8:30am to pack and to rush over to the fashion museum to check the costume exhibit (no pics as cameras are not allowed). And then it was off to LAX for the journey home. I left with a sore throat from screaming and hollering all night, nearly 300 pics, and fond memories.
Many thanks to shuya for being my partner in crime this past weekend. And hugs to all the TORnsibs who were there and I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to spend more time with you. It was an amazing weekend and one of the best ever.
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Nick: shuya (Registered User)
Date/Time: Tue, 3/2/2004 at 6:36 PM CST (Tue, 3/2/2004 at 8:36 PM EDT)
Subject: Another One Party Report (long)
Message: On Friday afternoon, I hopped onto a plane from Atlanta, but I would say my trip really started when I stepped onto the Enterprise shuttle. Who should be there, as I made a huge fool out of myself trying to get my bags up the steps, but Hillary Swank and Chad Lowe! They were both really nice, especially Chad, who asked why I was in town and promised to see the movies soon, as he hadn’t seen any of them! There’s no excuse for ignorance, but I guess celebrities are busy or something… ;) That night I drove around with eyes peeled to try to avoid the INSANE drivers of LA and also look for celebrities. Alas, I didn’t see any.
Saturday I picked up WhiteAslan from the airport. She turned out to be one cool chick and a great cohort for the weekend. We headed to the ArcLight, which is the nicest theater I have ever been to. I am somewhat embarrassed to say that if I were in LA I would probably always pay the $11 to see movies there, as they are ad-free and there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. This was probably my second best viewing of the movie (after opening night), and the crowd of tornsibs was fabulous. It was awesome being in a theater with people who love the movie as much as I do and cheered in all the right places. It was great also to meet people like gramma, Meliana, Frodo for President, Gerontius, Roheryn, basically everybody I have been virtually stalking for months and to put faces with the names. You beautiful people are fantastic and I am only sorry that I didn’t start posting months ago so that you would also have known who I was.
Saturday night was the pubmoot, which was also a joy. Trivia was fun and meeting everybody else was great too. I now find myself with the urge to sing hobbit drinking songs wherever I am and I want to say things like “wicked, tricksy, false!” to people who wouldn’t understand what I mean with much greater urgency than ever before. I am going to have trouble restraining myself! Much thanks to Roheryn, Nimrodel, CAHobbit, et al for organizing the pubmoot and making it so much fun, and also to the girl whose name I didn’t catch but who gave me the TT valentines she won in the trivia contest.
Sunday night, of course, was the party. I put on my first publicly worn sewing project and headed over with WhiteAslan. I can’t put it into words any better than the rest of you have, so I won’t really try to recap except for a couple of points. First, I think I am in love with Quickbeam. I know it will be forever unrequited, but from the moment he stepped out onstage in his costume that answered the age old question “what if Elrond wore sequins?”, he was wonderful. A great host and extremely funny, he kept the night moving and us guessing about which spiffy outfit would be next. I’d like to second WhiteAslan with the notion that the Lord of the Rhymes were excellent (and a very nice surprise)! The OneRing Circus was also really entertaining and I loved watching their show. Bravo!
Then Peter and Co showed up to make the night complete and remind us (not that we needed it) of another reason why we love these movies – the incredible people behind them and the love that went into them. I don’t think there has ever been a group of people (especially not holding Oscars) that have been more gracious or less “celebrity” than these people. Again, Bravo! The images that flash in my mind are of Elijah and Dom with the band or listening to Peter, Fran being pulled to the front of the stage from the very back, and Billy rocking out. That guy can sing to me anytime! The only dark spot on the whole night was the security goons who shoved us out the door and that there weren’t enough goody baggins for the last few of us who straggled out the door. I wish I’d been a little faster, but I was also a recipient of Arathorn’s girlfriend’s kindness and went home with some posters and a hat. Thanks to Emerald Rose for the free cd, too. Monday I woke up, still not really believing that the night before happened.
WhiteAslan and I headed over to the costume exhibit, which was great. I was disappointed there was no guide book and no photos allowed, but I was more impressed by the sheer beauty and craftsmanship of these costumes. I never realized Galadriel’s dress was beaded before or that Eowyn’s coronation gown was so intricately stitched.
Finally we headed for the airport, and the weekend was over. I think I’m out of synonyms for wonderful and great, so I’ll stop rambling, but I’d like to say it one last time before I go – tornsibs are awesome. Awesome!!! I can’t wait to meet more of you at the symphony and beyond (anybody need a place to crash for DragonCon this year?). Thank you for a great time, TORn! Talk to you all soon!
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Nick: Gerontius (Registered User)
Date/Time: Tue, 3/2/2004 at 6:43 PM CST (Wed, 3/3/2004 at 12:43 AM GMT)
Subject: The One Party - a masculine, testosterone fuelled perspective
Message: What a truly terrible evening. I knew things were going to go badly when Elijah and Peter Jackson were projected up onto the wonderfully clear, 20ft high screen in the main auditorium. Every woman in the audience went nutso, and some had to be escorted from the premises before their tears of happiness flooded the building and blew all the lights. Basically, things went downhill from there.
The ceremony itself was survivable since it was mostly about the success of the film, not the quality of the male members of the cast, but then (horror among horrors) Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd turned up and entertained us all brilliantly. There were so many women on heat, I was afraid the sprinkler system was going to be set off.
Things improved slightly when Emerald Rose came and did a second set of songs, even though all of the women were so shell-shocked that finding someone to dance with was nigh on impossible, and finding someone who didn't gush about Billy, or have a far-away look in their eyes, would have been possible only about 5 minutes after hell froze over. So there I was, setting myself up for a quiet, relatively dull end to the evening, when who should turn up but Sala, Lawrence, Bruce Hopkins and Jed Brophy. I was trying to focus on their exhilarating haka, but all I could hear were cries of "ooh, isn't he gorgeous" and "oh, what a body" (ScoutB, you know who you are). Fortunately, I was saved by the hall owners, who practically had to drag the performers from the stage before we would all leave holding a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, and nursing our bruise male egos.
However, to make up for the disappointment of the party, I at least got my name misspelled in the LA Times article. You know you've made it when that happens. Any other men out there feel the same sense of rejection by the entire female population of Torn? Jeg
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Nick: Entmaiden (Forum Member)
Date/Time: Tue, 3/2/2004 at 10:20 PM CST
Subject: A Night of Magic - my Party Report
Message: I know this is long, but I wanted you to have as much detail as I could remember. Pictures are being developed and I'll figure out where to post them and let you know.
I attended the One Party last weekend, and here I’ll make a feeble attempt to tell you how amazing it was. Due to a family commitment, I was only able to be in Los Angeles for Sunday, so I didn’t meet up with other TORNsibs except for the One Party. You've seen many reports about the entire weekend, because they had a wonderful time. A million thanks to the hostesses; Roheryn, CAhobbit and greendragon.
I got in line for the party about 2:30 pm with a bunch of TORNsibs. The gates were scheduled to open at 3, and we were close to the beginning of the line. After many days of rain, the weather smiled on us, and it was a beautiful sunny day. The building is beautiful - just like the pictures you’ve seen. The roof had a replica beacon of Gondor, which when “lit” looked very realistic. The flames were actually silk fabric, but it looked so real the fire marshal inquired about it! The gates didn’t open until about 3:20, mostly due to press interviews going on inside - we heard that the BBC had been there all day!
Once we arrived inside, we did a quick tour and settled down in the Green Dragon pub. The whole party was spread out over two floors. The main floor had a coat check, a display for T-shirts, raffle tickets and CD’s, a silent auction room and main viewing room with a giant screen set up and chairs covering the floor. The lower floor had the bathrooms, a pub called the Green Dragon, and a second viewing room called Mordor. The food was served buffet-style in Mordor, but people scattered everywhere to eat.
Altaira, grammaboodawg and I had volunteered to run the Ring Toss game, so we went into Mordor to receive instructions and begin the game. I had the first shift, then gramma, then Altaira, who closed the game at 5:30 when the Oscars started. My shift at the game was over at 4:30, so I filled up a plate of food and sat down with lumpkin, ScoutB, Nimrodel and Ataahua. They were speaking to a woman from the LA Times about the party and the web site. Our conversation was in the Monday paper and was mentioned on the Home Page. The reporter told us that the TORN party was regarded as the “cool” party around LA (go us!) and she wanted to know more about where we were from, what brought us together, the history of the site, etc. I think we overloaded her with information, but she took it all in with good humor. We may have persuaded her to look in on the discussion boards - she seemed to like the movies a lot. While we were sitting there, many of the TORNsibs stopped by and joined in the conversation.
Once the Oscars started, we quickly realized that there was too much talking going on around us and we couldn't hear very well, so we decided to go upstairs to the main viewing room. It was full to overflowing, but we squeezed some space up against the back wall of the room. We snagged a couple seats, and took turns sitting down for a brief rest. Unfortunately, the fire marshals shooed us out of our spot, so it was back to the Green Dragon, which had quieted down as the show progressed.
What can I say about the show that hasn’t already been said? I was hoping for 8-9 awards, and I really wanted Best Picture, Best Director and Adapted Screenplay. I knew there were several “safe” awards, like Best Visual Effects, but I knew some were going to be tough, especially Adapted Screenplay. Never in my wildest dreams did a sweep enter the picture. But when some of the more competitive awards started going to ROTK, I had a tiny sliver of a thought that it would win all 11. But I didn’t say anything - I didn’t want it to be my fault if it didn’t work out. :) We screamed and cheered for every award. We cheered every time the camera panned the audience and found someone from the movie. We had a funny moment at the Sound Editing award, because we didn’t know the names and we weren’t sure it was ROTK until they announced the movie. Then we screamed and cheered. We held hands before the final award, and screamed and SCREAMED and cheered and hugged when the sweep was announced by Steven Spielberg. We tried to be quiet during the acceptance speeches, but I didn’t hear everything. I’m hoping to track down a tape of the entire ceremony so I can watch it again.
There were so many times when we wanted all of you to be there with us. We were amazed and gratified at the large number that did come, especially Meliana, Cheshire Cat, Gerontius and Ataahua, who crossed oceans to be at the party. And we all looked fabulous. There were many, many pictures taken (between all of us, we may rival MrCere’s 400!), and you may soon be feeling like you’re the neighbors forced to watch vacation pictures.
We finally got smart and went up to the main viewing room when the award ceremony ended and grabbed several seats together as people left so we could watch when the cast and crew arrived. Emerald Rose was playing, and we danced and mingled. We didn’t expect anyone for a while, since LOTR was the big winner and they would be in demand for the post-Oscar interviews.
John Rhys-Davies was the first to arrive. He just walked on stage when Emerald Rose was on a break. He only stayed for a few minutes, but he talked about how all movies have a fan base, but these movies were blessed to have a fan base that is so wonderful and supportive. He congratulated us and told us to have a great time. Elijah was next. Emerald Rose had finished, and the next band was setting up. Elijah came on stage to thank us and he told us that LOTR had set an Academy Award record for the biggest sweep in Oscar history. He introduced the next band and hung around in the wings while they played two songs. Before the third song, Dominic Monaghan came on stage and he and Elijah joked around. Dominic stayed to sing the next song with Elijah standing in the wings. Jordan will give a better account, I’m sure!
Then it was time. All of a sudden, the entire Oscar-winning crew, about 30 people, came on stage, holding their awards high. I literally lost my breath to see all those Oscars glinting in the lights. I think it was at that moment that I grasped the monumental achievement of this night. I’m not going to give you word-for-word of what they said, because you can find most of it here http://www.iansmith.co.uk/lotr/weblogs/Feb29th2004.htm. But it was so wonderful. Gramma was in heaven, standing on a chair, clapping and cheering with tears streaming down her face, jordan completely ignoring everyone else on stage and laser-beaming her eyes on Elijah (what, PJ was on stage, too?), we were all a little crazy. A favorite moment is PJ introducing Philippa Boyens as the “Queen of the Geeks” to tumultuous applause. And indeed she is - she was wonderful. One of the neat things about all the speeches is I truly felt they were from the heart. The acceptance speeches are carefully scripted, but on our stage there was profanity, emotion, and honesty. As gramma said, they were talking to us. And we were the first party they went to, even before the official New Line party. There were a few people missing. Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox didn’t make it, although I think Ian and Andy tried to but the party was ending. Billy Boyd somehow managed to get lost in the three blocks between the Kodak Theater and the party, so he didn’t come until just after the whole crew had left. But he finally made it, and sang a funny song, followed by Elijah and Dominic bowing before him. Emerald Rose came back on stage and played a few songs.
Then, just as the party was winding down, Sala Baker, Lawrence Makaore, Jed Brophy and Bruce Hopkins came on stage. They were being shooed out by security, but took a few minutes to do an extraordinary haka for us all. Ataahua was one proud Kiwi, and we were all in raptures.
It was so difficult to leave, and it took about an hour for all of us to say good-bye, standing in the chilly LA night. I didn’t get a goodie bag because they had run out, but like Viggo Mortensen said the memories I take with me are enough - I don’t need a tangible reminder. *whisper* except for the TORN shirt I bought.
So, 3:30 am, 25 hours after I got up to catch my flight, I finally got some sleep. This was my first TORNsib encounter (Roheryn said she’s taken my TORNsib virginity) and it was amazing. I don’t have any words but WOW.
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Nick: Lottelita (Registered User)
Date/Time: Wed, 3/3/2004 at 10:48 AM CST (Wed, 3/3/2004 at 8:48 AM PST)
Subject: Return of the One Weekend -- my report!
Message: Well, here’s my really, really, really long One Party, etc., report. I won’t be sad if you don’t read it all.
I drove into L.A. on Saturday night, and met up with the TORn gang at an Irish pub in Santa Monica. We had completely taken over one room of the pub, and announced our presence with standees of Aragorn, Gandalf, Frodo, and Leggy-loo-loo, and a table full of goody bags. Meeting everyone under these circumstances was wonderful! I was less overwhelmed than some, having already met quite a few TORnsibs at various events, but there were plenty of joyful hugs and head-scratching surprises. I had misjudged a few people’s ages and temperaments (and genders!). Pity the poor “normal” pub-goers who had to endure our repeated (and garbled) renditions of the hobbit drinking songs!
The place started filling up with hip LA types who were definitely more than a little confused by us. There was at least one random person who was pleased with us, though — a rather portly gentleman approached our table, asked if we were Tolkien fans, and then began reciting “A Elbereth Githloniel” for us! We had a trivia contest, in which our team (me, Scout, jordan, Ltlberr, and Meliana, IIRC) valiantly struggled but was vanquished by the spectre of Peter’s earlier career (our bedeviling question was “What was Peter Jackson’s first movie?” Stupid “Bad Taste”!) The party went on until quite late, I hear, although I left, with a sleepy Celandine Brandybuck in tow, around midnight.
On Sunday, Cel, Roheryn, and Ltlberr and I fought traffic over to a hotel near the party venue, where we got ready in Cheshire Cat’s, jordan’s, and CAhobbit's room. Everyone’s dresses were so beautiful! I myself had opted for slacks, a button-down shirt, and a white satin tie, because those girls needed a distinguished date!
Then down to the Legion Hall itself for the party! I’ll begin with a description of the scene, since several people have asked for as much. After entering through an iron gate and metal detectors (!), we were in the little yard outside the Hall itself, where there was a Black Rider sculpture in front of which people were snapping photos.
Inside, the foyer had the merchandise tables and the big banner that everyone was signing for Peter and Co. To one side was the auction/raffle room. Further on was the first of the many bars in the place, and then the main auditorium, where hundreds of seats faced the stage and the GIANT screen. There are some pics of this room floating around, so I won’t belabor my description. Down the stairs and a cobweb-strewn hallway was “Mordor,” with another bar, a smaller screen and stage and some chairs, and the monster buffet; the Green Dragon pub, a cute little bar with a couple of TVs; and some smallish rooms with their own TVs. I was tottering around on the now-infamous five-inch heels (bringing me to a height of 6’3”), and was famished, so I was happy to sit down with food in the Green Dragon pub downstairs. My expectations for the buffet were high, and I was not disappointed. I couldn’t take advantage of the free beer and wine, not being a fan of either, but everyone else sure was (Mr. lumpkin being a notable example — good gracious, and he wasn’t even drunk!). We pulled up to sit with the TORn gang, who had just been interviewed by an LA Times reporter, then headed into the main auditorium to watch the awards, which were just beginning.
Well, the auditorium was so packed, we ended up along the back wall, standing in a row and sitting on the ground, some of us taking turns rotating into some seats MrCere had further up. But we didn’t stay there long—the fire marshal’s folks were in full effect, and booted us out of the place. We grumbled, but ended up back in our comfy Green Dragon seats with nice views of the smallish TVs down there. This is when I realized that there is a definite Admin personality, and Nimrodel has it in full force: Whenever oblivious fans would wander in front of us, blocking our view, Nim would positively bellow, “DOWN IN FRONT!” I tell you, that was a holler that could have extinguished a balrog, and those fangirls SCATTERED, duly chastised.
The actual ceremony was a total blast to watch! We were whooping it up between the LOTR awards, but as soon as our nominations were announced, we shushed everyone in the bar and hung off every word. Then, of course, much screaming after every win. Two for two … five for five … nine for nine … and then it came time for Best Picture. We held our breath. Then, “It’s a clean sweep.” Total pandemonium. Scout B ran around giving everyone high-fives.
After some more wandering and finagling, we finally ended up with seats in the main auditorium, off to the side, from which we had a great view of the stage. We enjoyed Emerald Rose, and hit the dance floor for a while. After ER finished up, the hilarious One Ring Circus performed some Broadway parodies, and I caught Gerontius singing along with a LOVELY voice. As the next band was setting up, jordan said her Elijah-sense was tingling, and we should expect him soon. Sure enough, he appeared to great acclaim, and introduced World Without Sundays, an excellent rock band with whom he’s friends, apparently. While they played, he hung out in the wings, chain-smoking and drinking a Heineken. Dom popped out to sing an Oasis cover with the band, and he had some real rock star charisma going on. I contemplated climbing up on someone’s shoulders and pulling a drunken-groupie-at-a-metal-concert (i.e., giving Dom a flash), but decided that while that would be a REALLY entertaining way to get kicked out of the party, I wanted to stick around a bit longer.
We had a short break in the drooling and swooning, but it was oh-so-brief: the entire Oscar-winning crew arrived shortly! I wish I could offer quotations or a clear description of all of this, but it was dizzying. The great AP photo says it all. There are some great quotes on this report, so check it out. We were all yelling and laughing uncontrollably, giddy that the STARS were here at OUR party instead of the “official” New Line gig. Billy showed up a bit later, and sang his marvelous “Oh Jean” Scottish pub song. Gosh, these guys are multi-talented. I had my only celebrity encounter this time around — spotting producer Rick Porras and accosting him. I think he was surprised to be recognized, and a little uncomfortable when I told him how much of a kick I got out of his “performance” in the Bag End set test on the FOTR EE (“That was so embarrassing,” he said). Pretty soon the other girls were swarming him, as well; jordan later told me with characteristic understatement, “That man is not entirely unattractive.”
More Emerald Rose, then Bruce Hopkins, Sala Baker, Lawrence Maokare, and the chap who played Sharku and Snaga (whose name escapes me) came out at the very end of the night. I think they might’ve been a bit drunk, because they were going on and on about how it was our effing night and eff those mothereffers who were trying to shut down the party. Turns out it *was* time to shut down the party, Quickbeam explained, but the guys on stage took time to perform a really cool haka for us. Then Bruce jumped down into the crowd and led the shrieking women from the stage out to the door. That is truly a man who loves giving sugar to the fangirls.
Outside, I got one of the last goody bags (about which I truly feel guilty, those of you who didn’t get ‘em!). We were all trying not to be pissed at the organizers for not making enough, but I for one was failing. How could they not have known how many they’d need?! Anyway. There was probably a good half-hour of tearful goodbyes out on the sidewalk, and once we dragged Ltlberr away kicking and screaming, we headed back to Roheryn’s place to try to sleep.
I left LA the next morning (after calling in sick to work, thank you very much). *Whew!* Now let’s see if I can remember all the TORnsibs I met/saw, however briefly: Roheryn, Celandine Brandybuck, Ltlberr, grammaboodawg, Scout B, jordan the discursive, Gerontius, Meliana, Joelle, greendragon, erather, Ataahua, Altaira, Nimrodel, jflower, MrCere, L. Ron Halfelven, Cheshire Cat, CAhobbit, Entmaiden, lumpkin, nefisa, Frodo for President, Count Zero, rasputin the evil balrog, Earwen Swan Maiden of Alqualonde … I know there are more! *blushes* I guess I had met about half of these already, either at last year’s Oscar party or at the Gathering. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Thank you SO MUCH to TORn for organizing this amazing event!
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Nick: Meliana (Registered User)
Date/Time: Wed, 3/3/2004 at 11:57 AM CST (Wed, 3/3/2004 at 6:57 PM GB)
Subject: Report from LA and Into The West Party
Message: I flew into Hollywood from the UK, and like some other people here felt apprehensive and unsure whether I'd like Hollywood. But as I flew over and saw the lights stretched out below me, I fell in love with the place, and that stayed with me for the entire trip. The next morning I met up with grammaboodawg and Scout_B, and they were so good as to look after me. We went straight out and walked around Hollywood together ending up at the Arclight cinema to see the film. Many thanks to WhiteAslan for procuring my ticket for me.
Then in the evening we went to the pub moot at Santa Monica, which has been mentioned by a few people earlier, but I really enjoyed it, and it was wonderful to meet up with Jordan_the_discursive and Cheshire Cat again. I had a really good evening despite feeling a little unwell, and so didn't circulate as much as I would have liked to have done. I have to say their Shepherd's Pie was very good! My best moment was when I answered one of the quiz questions correctly; unfortunately we got the next question wrong, but never mind. Thanks to all the organisers, and to CAhobbit for the wonderful badges, I'll certainly treasure mine!
The next day it was the Into The West Party for me, and despite a little difficulty getting to the party round the crowds, this worked out very well. It was wonderful to meet Lady Shieldmaiden, and I'd like to thank jflower for being there for me, and putting up with a British lady screaming and jumping up and down like a mad thing!
The evening was wonderful. We had a great goodie bag and had a few advantages over the other party, such as fewer people, lots of seats, and no queuing except for dinner. I enjoyed the Oscars so much, despite a film crew getting between me and the TV at times. The music was awesome, and the costumes were fantastic.
Thanks go to all the organisers of this alternative to the TORn party, even though I didn't win anything in the raffle, (however jflower's sister did). I missed out on a TORn ticket, but despite this I had a wonderful time, and it was well worth the trip. Thanks to all I spoke to for to being such wonderful people, especially to lumpkin and Mr lumpkin, Entmaiden for coping with me crying uncontrollably even though you'd only just met me; and most especially to gramma, for your generosity, your friendship, and for looking after me; you're a star!
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Nick: grammaboodawg (Registered User)
Date/Time: Wed, 3/3/2004 at 4:47 PM CST (Wed, 3/3/2004 at 6:47 PM EDT)
Subject: Ok.. my Oscar Party report (long!)
Message: First off... forgive any names I may have forgotten! I started out the trip by going through the "I can't do this. What the heck was I thinking" phase. Then I settled down. I arrived quite late on Friday night because of a 1-hour (plus) delay of my flight. The plane we were supposed to take was late, circling the Detroit Metro airport for 40 minutes because the pilots couldn't tell if the front landing gear was down and locked. They did a fly-by of the tower, and they confirmed it was down, but their instruments were reading if the wheels were locked so they wouldn't collapse on landing. Thank goodness everything was alright. A young lady who had been on that flight from NY was suddenly sitting next to me at the terminal and told me about it and was still very shaken. She said they had to brace for a possible crash as they landed (so pay attention when they go over the boring safety routines). We also had to wait for a replacement aircraft (uh... hhhyeah!). Come to find out she was on her way to the Oscars, too; but she was going to work behind-the-scenes for CBS television.
My room was very nice, top floor, and out the window to the left was the HUGE white cross on the side of the hill I'd often seen on TV, and beside it... just out of my sight behind the buildings... was the huge landmark HOLLYWOOD sign also on the side of the hill. I slept that night about 4 hours.
Saturday morning I met Scout B for breakfast and we hunted for sibbies that may also be there. We found Meliana and the fun began :) At 9:30, we decided to walk about town until we were to meet a bunch of sibbies at 11:30 to watch Return of the King at the Arclight Theater. The Kodak Theatre where the Oscars were held was about 2 very long blocks away from our hotel, so we walked down to where they were setting up the red carpet and studied the stars' names in the sidewalk. What was fun is that we were standing in front the El Capitan Theatre with HUGE banners for Viggo's Hildago premier there and we were looking right across the street to the main entrance of the Oscars. Then Meliana looked down at one of the stars on the sidewalk and pointed to it. I wish I could remember exactly what she said, but ultimately it was "I know that name." It was mine! My RL name! There was a movie star who was in many gangster flicks in the 40's that has my name, and there we were... in front of Hildago, looking across the street to the Oscars, and there's my name! So I laid down on the sidewalk next to the star while they "Took" pictures for me :) So surreal! We continued walking up and down several blocks as we looked at all the star's names imbedded in the sidewalks. We also found a star for Bill Boyd! Sooooo close!
We finally met up with ooodles of sibbies at the Arclight Theater, of which I'm not even going to attempt to list them all for fear of forgetting some! Let's just say that we OWNED that theatre! Whooping, hollering, (sniffling) and applauding at all the right moments. I'm afraid we probably scared the poor unawares who just happened to be there. Nothing is better than watching ANY of the Lord of the Rings movies with "family". It's the best!
Later that night, we all gathered at an Irish pub to moot and had an absolute BLAST! Roheryn, CAHobbit, and greendragon organized the most sensational gathering! Ltlberr put together sheets of the two hobbit-drinking songs. There were goodie bags with wonderful chocolate-covered almonds, the music, a glow-in-the-dark eyeball *shudder* and we each got a very classy, hand-made name badge cut from wood in the shape of (resembling) an oak leaf, painted green, with our nicknames written in white followed by a delicate vine/leaf decoration. I wore mine on Sunday night... they were lovely! I passed around my Signlanguage book by Viggo for everyone to sign, had Shepherd's pie for dinner, endured self-humiliation during our delightful trivial pursuit game (don't shout out answers for others, folks *shakes head* I'm such a doof! ;), and we all sang several rounds of our hobbits' two drinking songs! And yesss... Ltlberr got me up on a table... but I wasn't drunk... so there's no real excuse for doing it (except it sounded like fun ;) There were standees of Gandalf, Strider, Arwen, our four hobbits (standing together), Frodo, and Legolas strewn about... joining us in the festivities. greendragon let me take Frodo home with me! *geeky happy dance* Thanks GD! I had several people at the airport ask me about it. Wonder why? We had a gent and his son who heard us singing and couldn't resist stopping by. The father began to speak elvish to us and his son recited the Ringspell poem. Geek's, fersher :) Then the wife came and gathered them up for a quick retreat. *mumbles under breath* party pooper. I slept that night for about 3 hours.
I woke early Sunday morning and decided to walk down to the Oscar's red carpet setup again with my video camera. I met a couple of young chaps from England who began questioning me about LotR and talked about how exciting all of this was. After returning to the hotel at about 9, I *gulp* started to get ready for the party that night. omg... torture. I don't do hair and dresses, so this was quite the challenge for me. Ah well. That which doesn't destroy me, makes me stronger... or some such nonsense.
Meliana gave me a call, and we decided to venture over to the hotel (right next to the Kodak Theatre) to invade CAHobbit, Cheshire Cat, and Jordan the Discursive's room to see how they were coming along. Shortly, Entmaiden also arrived and we ate some of Jordan's Southern desert treats... moon pies! yummmmmy :) Bless Jordan, she lent me a necklace to top off my party gear.
I left to go stand in line with Scout B, Mr. & Mrs. Lumpkin, Altaira, Attahua, Nimrodel, Entmaiden, and so many more... and it was COLD OUT but what a beautiful day—sunny and clear! We stood in line from about 1:30 until the door finally opened at the American Legion Hall where the party was being held at close to 3:30. We were all half expecting someone to come out onto the roof and light the beacon perched way above the entrance. There was a HUGE greeting card for Peter, et.al. along the wall for everyone to sign. I won't go into all the decorations (splendid), food (deeeeelicious), drink (diet coke please), and merriment... I'm still trying to sort out all the images, sensations, and glee. It was wonderful :) ... but MY FEET HURT! Those freakin girl shoes killed me! I needed my boots!
The night was hosted by our incomparable Quickbeam!... I mean Elrond... I mean... oh, our man of many faces! He just lights up the room and gets EVERYONE in the mood and spirit for fun :) He's good at handling aggravated Legion Reps, too ;) I'm so glad he was there to guide us through this awesome night! Altaira, Entmaiden and I volunteered to help at the Mt. Doom Ring Toss game downstairs beside the buffet lines. There was a fantastic partial figure of an orc mounted on the wall, and on the floor there was a small wading pool with a bit of water in it, lava rocks in the bottom and on the floor, and an eerie light and small fountain inside the water next to a small metal stand sticking up out of the water. There were two large gold rings (styrofoam-wreath circles painted gold). For $2 the contestants would toss the 2 rings hoping to drop them over the stand to win prizes of a video game, RotK hat, or a TT eedvd (depending on their skill). We "Took" turns running the game before and after the Oscars until we ran out of prizes. I must say, we were quite a hit ;) but MY FEET HURT! I spent most of the evening running around in my stockings cuz I couldn't stand the shoes anymore! The balls of my feet felt like I'd walked on hot coals!
I went up to find the sibbies who were going ahead and saving seats for us in the main auditorium. I couldn't find them anywhere! I got lost a lot... dawdled and kept misplacing myself. My poor keepers were forever waiting for me or sending out scouts to find me. "Sorry guys!" Then the Oscars started! I was WAY up front walking between the isles looking for a familiar face, so I crouched down and just watched Billy Crystal weave his magic. That guy was BORN for this stuff! He was sensational! I lmao!!! I finally found our crowd standing along the back wall with a perfect view of the room AND the screen! It was great! After a while, though, we were exiled by command of tptb via the Fire Marshall. Something about "code?" Rules, rules, rules. I wasn't impressed. BUT we did find our way back down to the Green Dragon Inn (bar) with 2 tvs volumed WAY down, some tables/chairs and a large oversized/scaled straight-backed chair.
So the screaming began as we won one award after another. Nefisa sat next to me through much of it. Her "system" for playing the luck of each award was to insist they were NOT gonna wins it. Then I fulfilled my part of the jinx-breaking by protesting vehemently! IT WORKED! One after another our boys and girls were trotting up to the microphone beaming and glowing with their wonderfulness! DOWN IN FRONT! We were, unfortunately, in the middle of Grand Central Station and the thruway from here to there, so we had a constant stream of people walking or standing in front of us! But we persevered and enjoyed one victory after another :) I did thoroughly blow my voice by the time we got to Best Director. I have laryngitis now ;) People from work have been calling just to listen to me squeak.
After the ceremony was over, we made our way back to the main hall. Altaira volunteered for first shift back on the Ring Toss. They removed the chairs from the floor leaving only the theatre seats so we could dance and wander. Emerald Rose began to play brilliantly! They're fantastic! I was sitting with Entmaiden when I couldn’t stand it anymore and joined ScoutB, Ltlberr, Gerontius, L Ron Halfelven and Lottelita and others on the floor. Great music! L Ron... you were awesome!
Then John Rhys-Davies came out to say "Hi". *waves madly* Hi John! It was so funny when he walked up to the first of 3 microphones on the stage... and it didn't work. He walked over to the next one... didn't work. He walked over to the third one... didn't work. Then he acted like he was going to walk to the next one, but there were no more and the stage ended right there. We all laughed and he chuckled, too. He spoke a bit and got us all worked up... something about the Oscars and enjoying ourselves, and he walked off. We had more music... Then.... then Elijah came to say hi. *stupefied pause* I'm sure others have spoken about this... so I'll just say that he was as warm and generous as we've always heard. I wish I could tell you what he said...but it's frankly a blur. I remember he talked about the sweep and that it was the first time in history [for a fantasy film]. He was pretty jazzed :) He introduced the band World Without Sundays (thanks Lottelita) as very dear friends of his... and they were FANTASTIC! I'm always delighted when a good rock band surfaces... and it got even better when Dom came out and joined them. He owned that song! And Dom! Dom... you also ROCK! I've heard him sing on Pandemoniumfromamerica, but that night I heard how good he really is. But the best part was watching Elijah sitting behind the speakers, kicking back, enjoying the music with a beer and a smoke. Yeah... that was perfect. I was... [fill in the blank]. During the night, nefisa introduced me to a New Zealand radio correspondent looking for people to interview, and we set up a time to meet the next morning. omg!
Sometime during the night, Royd Tolkien was encouraged out onto the stage by Quickbeam. He was so shy and overwhelmed about being there... but we gave him a hearty TORn welcome! It had to be mind-boggling for him... but that's just TOOO BAD! We were on fire by then! I couldn't believe he "Took" the time to stop and see us. I was so touched by that :)
A while after the Oscars were done, we had some visitors that filled the stage! Others have posted on this... but I'll add that I have never been so overwhelmed with joy and awe as I was that night. Everyone I've ever admired and cherished was there, on the stage, together as a family... sharing their moment with us. I'd never seen so much gold and shining, bright smiles in one place in my whole life! God love them all :) Philippa is our Princess, and Fran our Queen. Peter was so happy and excited and appreciative of US! All of them were. *tearing* These people are amazing. We're so lucky. Peter spoke of how scared they were before Fellowship came out that we wouldn't like it and about a blooper segment he's putting together (I could be wrong, but I got the impression he's putting it in this eedvd as he was talking about it after mentioning he'd finished the editing) and that one of the things in it would be a cast interview for the German Premier. Elijah wasn't there cuz he'd just done Saturday Night Live, but he got up at 4am to join in the interview via satellite link. He had a camera set up in front of him and an earpiece to listen to the commentator. Part way through the interview, Dom pretended he was the interviewer using a German accent and asking Elijah one outrageous question after another. They video taped Dom and also were taping Elijah who was desperately trying to answer this maniac's questions knowing his reactions were to be broadcasted. Peter's chuckling as he's telling us about this, and Dom and Elijah are off to one side grinning and shifting from one foot to the other. It sounds like a blast!
Very shortly after they had to leave, Billy came out to say "Hi"! He apologized for being late... that he'd lost his way (I know how you feel, Billy) and gave us a song! He played the guitar and sang with so much joy... throwing his head back and just letting loose! That man is a wonder! I loved it when he finished and Dom and Elijah came out, dropped to their knees and were bowing (arms stretched out over their heads) over and over to King William :)
To close out the evening, Sala Baker, Lawrence Makoare, Bruce Hopkins and Jed Brophy came to play and dance!!! Could this night get any better?! Again, I won't repeat all that's been posted... but I was saddened that Sir Ian wasn't given the time to join us after making his way there. People could see out the side door to the hall that he had arrived, but tptb made us stop. That was wrong. Nasty. Time was up! We were herded and pushed (quite literally) out the door. But we had a real treat waiting for us on the top stairs outside... Bruce Hopkins was there. He was chatting and hugging anyone who wanted to stop for a moment! But one attractive young lady was trying VERY HARD to sway our loverly Gamling and wouldn't let it go. He was trying so hard to be tactful and respectful... but she was on a mission... literally hanging on him. This went on for longer than was proper considering there were LOTS of others waiting to say hi. Finally, she said something like... "What can I do?" and I said, "You could try sharing!" He looked at me (I was standing right next to him) and he turned away from her, looked me in the eye (relieved it seemed) and gave me a hug. While Ltlberr and I were over waiting to say HI, they ran out of the gift bags filled with goodies promised to ticket holders. "Oh. Okay." (psst, sibbie... Thank you BIG TIME for the book! *geeky twitter*) But what a delight Mr. Hopkins is :) Very friendly, generous, and fun. How could I possibly be bummed about a bag after everything I've been given and experienced!?!? But it was time to call it a night (about 2:30am). I bid g'night to as many sibs as I could find, and I walked stocking-footed back to the hotel just a bit down the road. Did I mention that MY FEET HURT!?
I met two of the Emerald Rose band members at the elevator that evening when I returned to the hotel. The first gent was loaded down with luggage as we rode up in the elevator together... so I only spoke with him for a moment and thanked him for making it such a special evening. He started to set down his bags like he was willing to stand and chat a while (we were on the same floor), but I told him I knew he was probably exhausted and to feel free to just go get settled in. He smiled wearily and said "Okay. Thanks." and dragged his gear down the hall. I finally got to my door, and my card-swipe key wouldn't work! *whimper* noooooo... So I waited for the elevator again... waited... okay... waited... ahhhh! After my card was reprogrammed at the desk and I was waiting for the elevator : | another band member came up and was waiting to go to his room. One of the things in the gift bag was apparently a special cd from Emerald Rose. He asked if I'd gotten one of the gift bags. When I said I hadn't, he pulled out a cd from a box he was carrying, autographed it, and handed it to me :) This was all just SO COOL! If I hadn't had trouble with my key, I'd have missed this! Very cool :) I was wired by then, so I didn't fall asleep until nearly 4am.
I awoke about 6:30 and decided to go get as many newspapers as I could for Oscar news. I walked to the nearest market and picked up about 6 different papers. When I got back to my room, I started throwing all my stuff into my bags since checkout was by noon and I was supposed to be at the interview by 9:20am. The reporter called and asked if I'd mind sharing the interview with another party-goer also staying in my hotel... of course not! So I met up with my fellow Ringer and we made our way across town via cabbie. The interview was a live radio broadcast that lasted about 10 minutes. Afterward, we both worried that we sounded like sleep-deprived, babbling lunatics. Of course we did :) So this angel and I decided to sit in the downstairs lobby for a bit and share stories while digesting what just happened! She's fascinating and an absolute delight!
While we were talking, Richard Taylor, Tonya Richards, Jamie Selkirk and a few others walked through the lobby and were obviously on their way to the same room we just came from, and they were carrying their Oscars!!! "Did you see who just walked by!?!?" omg! The twitching was quite out of control by then. A few minutes later, they were coming through again with a camera crew. M'lady jumped up and followed them out the door. I saw her through the window (there's a HUGE imprint of my nose still there, I'm sure) talking with Richard Taylor.. and he looked up at me, smiled and waved. *kerplunk* Then, m'lady "Took" his Oscars, cradled one in each arm, and walked back into the hotel towards me with everyone in tow behind. [Little did I know, she's Susi Knight of Red Carpet Tours, NZ] She introduced me to Misters Taylor and Selkirk *massive twitching* and handed me one of the Oscars. They're heavy! Then she told me to show them the baggie holding my bundles of ticket stubs that I grabbed at the last moment as I left my room.
We were all chatting for a moment when he asked us to come with them where we could continue to talk, and we followed all of them to a decorative porch out the front doors of the hotel [He still had my baggie & book and left me with his Oscar!]. Then I found myself standing between Richard Taylor and Jamie Selkirk, still holding the Oscar, as they did a New Zealand television interview. Oh Cripes! I had on my LotR wrap-party sweater I'd won on ebay, but had not fixed my hair since I was supposed to be only doing a quick radio thing. Such a frump... normal, in other words ;) Afterwards, we all spoke for a few more minutes while Misters Taylor and Selkirk autographed the title page of my beat-up Two Towers that I'd also grabbed. I still can't tell you what I said that whole time. I'm staggered... and so deeply grateful for this (to me) miracle. Every time I felt I could absorb no more this weekend... more was heaped on! Incredible!
This whole trip was beyond incredible, and I'll spend a lifetime trying to create new words to express how wonderful it's been. Mercifully, that's pretty much it. The rest of the day I spent looking for gifts for my grandkiddies until my 5pm pickup for the airport. I'm home... and I feel blessed. What an adventure, and what a joy to be able to spend so much time with so many friends from TORn. I wish we could all have spent more time together! We do have two charges placed on us, though. Peter had asked that we write the lawyers of New Line and MGM and push with our support for getting The Hobbit moving forward... and Richard Taylor told me to ask TORn to get a site up for King Kong! It sounds like he'd like to see one as part of our site! That was very cool :) M'lady who was with me then suggested the name of the site as "Ring Kong" or "Kong TORn-O" which is taken from the Italian word contorno which means "side dish"... the Kong site is a side dish of TORn ;) BUT, she stressed that we make sure to trademark whatever we decide. I'll be passing this onto tptb. I love it that both Richard and Peter turn to us to get the thing done :)
That's it! Sorry for being so long... but I want to offer my deepest thanks for this "time of my life" experience. I know now what those words really mean :)
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Nick: Ataahua (Forum Admin)
Date/Time: Wed, 3/3/2004 at 8:12 PM CST (Thu, 3/4/2004 at 3:12 PM NZDT)
Subject: Are you sick of One Party reports yet?
Message: Hopefully not! Although I'll try to keep mine as short as possible. I had been in the States for a week before the One Party, in Modesto (outside San Francisco) visiting family. By the time I left LA for New Zealand on Tuesday March 2, I was running on adrenaline from eleven days of whirlwind activity - first with five exuberant nieces and nephews, then with 40-odd (very odd... ;) ) TORNsibs. Getting back to New Zealand, while tiring, is also a bit of a relief from the holiday juggernaught.
Seeing ROTK at the Arclight was a definite highlight. I've never before been in a theatre where the crowd cheered at key points in the movie. Another highlight was the very odd usher. He stood in front of us to give us key messages (turn cell phones off, no annoying others), and I could have sworn he said, "I will be your breeder." Turns out he said "greeter" - thanks to ScoutB for that translation. ;)
The Pubmoot at Finn McCools was noisy and insane and a lot of fun. L. Ron Halfelven won the quiz (and I was seriously tempted to 'accidentally' walk away with the Eomer figurine, which was a prize won by another TORNsib), and I think we sang the two hobbit drinking songs about six times during the night - loudly, and without the rest of the pub thinking we were very strange. I saw that as an insight into the LA state of mind. ;) It was after one of those songs that a local man and his son wandered over, with the man saying that he knew how to speak 'Elven' (I'm not sure which TORNsib was sitting beside me - I couldn't see the name badge - but she started to react to that but admirably held herself to just muttering "Elvish!" in a barely audible manner, which was what we were all thinking) and the man then launched into the 'A Elbereth! Gilthoniel!' poem. We applauded, and he then tried to recite the ring verse but completely stuffed it up. Scout later commented that he should have quit while he was ahead and I agreed, saying "He had me at 'Gilthoniel'."
But the quote of the night goes to Gerontius, who had been under the mistaken impression that ScoutB was male until he met her at Finn McCool's that night. "Now that I know you're a girl, some of your posts make sense." And yes, Earwen Swanmaiden of Alaquonde is still around - she turned up at the Pubmoot, and later in the evening was hit on by two (not one, but two) very cute men who wanted to know what the moot was all about. Go Earwen! A big 'thank you' to CA Hobbit for the wonderful name badges and to Roheryn for the gift bags - especially for the pub's food menu that you translated into Middle-earth equivalents. I was almost on the floor laughing when I saw the chicken dish renamed 'Amon Hen'. :)
On the morning of the One Party, Altaira, Nimrodel and I wandered down to the Kodak theatre and bumped into ScoutB. Seeing the preparations for the Academy Awards and the crowds and the media *really* got me excited about the coming night's events. While there Nim, Scout, me and an Anonymous Backup Tolkien Geek were interviewed by Pauline Gillespie, a morning announcer on a Wellington (NZ) radio station, live on air. She also talked with some Japanese fans and asked them various questions, but they were stumped when she asked who they thought would win Best Director. "Just say Peter Jackson," she said, laughing. The four of us (Nim, Scout, me and ABTG) were also photographed by a reporter for a German entertainment publication (www.moviestar.de, I think - Nim or Scout might remember better) who said she loved LA and had told her husband that she was going to live there, and did she want to join him or get a divorce? I don't think she was entirely jesting. Anyway lumpkin outdid us all in the media stakes.
While in line for the One Party (we were about six from the front - very, very cool) a lady came up to her and asked a question, and lumpkin turned around to answer and found a video camera pointed at her - it was Good Morning America. They talked for about five minutes, and I'd love to know if anyone saw her on TV! (Dark short hair, glasses, very glamorous black dress with red and black beading.)
The highlights of the One Party:
* The clear effort that had gone into dressing the place up by the TORN staffers. It was superb, and you all deserve a round of back-pats for that.
* The extremely high standard of all the costumes at the party. There are some very talented dressmakers among the Tolkien fandom.
* The sheer volume of noise that erupted whenever ROTK won an Oscar. (My ears were ringing the next morning.)
* The food - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, the food. Even if the meat-server was a bit stingy with second slices.
* Seeing the huge lineup of ROTK people on stage, all carrying their Oscars (Elijah: "That's a lot of gold"), and their immense generosity for staying on stage for at least 20 minutes with each of them speaking to us. Ngila Dickson made two great comments: one that she had seen all of the cast naked at one point or another, and something like Peter being such a great vision of style. Fran was the last person to speak and had to be encouraged by PJ to get onto the stage and say something, and the crowd reacted with a chant of "Fran! Fran! Fran!" It was very cool - as was the huge round of applause (the loudest, I thought) for Philippa when she came forward to speak. That should tell her that not everyone disapproved of her scriptwriting efforts. :)
* Dom being lead singer for one of the rock band's songs. Who knew?
* Billy Boyd arriving on stage late ("I got lost on my way here"), picking up a guitar and belting out a song for us all by his lonesome, ("Ah Jean, ah Jean, you let me get lucky with you!") followed by Elijah and Dom running on stage and bowing obeisance to him. Billy was brilliant - and his performance is my personal highlight of the entire evening.
* The stunned look on jordan the magnificent's face when Elijah had first come on stage to introduce the (very loud) rock band, then when he returned to the wings and stood there with a ciggie in one hand and a beer in the other, bopping his head to the music for the entire set. We had the perfect view of him - and dear poor jordan was beside herself. After the band and Elijah had left the stage, jordan said, "Was there a band? I heard noise but I wasn't sure what it was."
* The equally stunned look on gramma's face after the large line-up of Oscar winners finally left the stage. I had to tell her to breathe. ;)
* Sala Baker, Lawrence Makaore, Jed Brophy and Bruce Hopkins closing off the evening with a haka. Lowlights:
* The Nazi security guards. I know they had an important job to do, but they were seriously lacking in any humour or tact.
It was an awesome, awesome night: definitely one of the best nights I have ever had. It was so great to meet so many TORNsibs - probably the only chance I'll have to meet so many of you in one go - and boy do I have the pictures to prove it. Once I've scanned them I'll find some freebie sight to load them into, then give you a link so you can see them all. Yay PJ! :)
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Nick: Lady of the Mist (Registered User)
Date/Time: Wed, 3/3/2004 at 10:26 PM CST (Wed, 3/3/2004 at 9:26 PM PDT)
Subject: Thank you TORn staff and volunteers for the Oscar Party (mini-report)
Message: The Oscar Party rocked! Just a few things to add to the great reports already posted. The White Tree of Gondor banners greeted you as you entered the lobby. Above, Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn cardboard stand-ups gazed at the fans below. Walking through Shelob's lair in the lower level, I got tangled in some of her web (had a very scary Frodo moment).
Inside the main hall, a gigantic image of the one ring, twirling around, was projected on the wall opposite the stage. So cool! Great raffle prizes: jewelry, books, sweatshirts to name a few. I only bought one raffle ticket and hit the jackpot, winning a Hidalgo poster. Yay! Now I wish I had purchased more.
Food served: prime rib (that melted in your mouth), chicken, two types of pasta and green salad, roasted po-ta-toes, and for dessert tasty bites of brownie, pecan pie, and other delights. One could make several trips to the buffet throughout the broadcast. And what an enthusiastic crowd! Before the show even began, folks cheered any image, no matter how brief, of LOTR folk that appeared on the screen as they arrived at the Oscars.
Emcee Billy Crystal's opening tore the place apart! We absolutely died of laughter seeing Crystal's face transposed onto Aragorn's and Legolas' face. Too, too funny. Speaking of funny....That Quickbeam! When he tore off his helmet, blonde hair cascading down his shoulders, and exclaimed he was no man we were reduced to hysterics. And thanks for leading the toast to Tolkien after the show--very classy! Great job, Quickbeam!
The crowd roared every time ROTK raked in the Oscars. By the time Peter and fellow Oscar winners and actors walked onto the stage, I thought the roof would blow off! Twice the crowd chanted "Peter, Pe-ter, Pe-ter!" We also chanted "Hob-bit, Hob-bit" when PJ discussed future projects. It was indeed very hot inside the large hall...the bars ran out of water in the early morning. Mean guards would not listen to our pleas to open the doors for a spell. I shook Lurtz's hand, telling him he was my favorite villain which made him grin. Ngila Dickson complimented the costumes worn by fans (and she should know).
Thank you TORn staff and volunteers for all your hard work. And thanks to PJ and his crew for coming to OUR party FIRST before any other. We were so honored. It was a magical evening, one that you didn't want to end.
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Nick: Choice of Lúthien (Registered User)
Date/Time: Thu, 3/4/2004 at 12:39 AM CST
Subject: yet another (long) party report...
Message: I hope you guys enjoy it. I flew out of Minnesota early Friday morning and was met at the LA airport by several of my relatives whom I had not seen in around 10 years. I spent a low-key Friday with them.
Saturday morning I woke up to beautiful warm sunshine (which I so miss already). I was dropped off at the Arclight where I met up with one of my friends from the NZ LOTR tour I was on last year. It was fabulous to meet a bunch of TORNsibs in person, however briefly it was. And seeing ROTK yet again was such a treat because of the great crowd. I loved the energy and atmosphere and being with other people who were clapping and cheering at various points. Unfortunately my friend and I had to leave right after the movie to try and make the costume exhibit for a few minutes (which we didn’t).
That night we went to the Hall of Fire party at the athletic club. I was anxious to have another opportunity to wear my Arwen costume I had made. The party was OK. It was fun to see all the great costumes people had made and meet other fans. But really nothing special and certainly nothing like the party to come. I did meet up with another friend of mine from the tour and we had a good time catching up. Otherwise we probably would have left the party early and gone to see if everyone was still at the pub. By the end of the party, we were quite tired so headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep, anticipating the late night to come.
Now, the actual TORN party. First of all, I am still giddy from the whole experience. Secondly, the night is one rather large blur. Fabulous. I am SO glad I was there. The night got off to an amazing start just after the taxi dropped us (me, my friend and her brother) off. There was a bunch of press waiting outside the gate talking to fans. The three of us were asked if we were willing to be interviewed-for the EE DVD! A crew was there interviewing some fans for a feature to be included on the ROTK EE! Ahhhh! We were asked a bunch of different questions and then were each given the opportunity to address the camera and say what we wanted to Peter & Co. I’m not sure I remember what I said. I was rather overwhelmed. I just thanked them for everything, said that the love and effort really showed through, they had given us such an incredible gift and I’m not sure what else! What a way to start the evening… I’m even more anxious for the EE to come out now! On to the ceremony.
What can I say but it was perfect to celebrate such a historic night with so many other fans. It really was the place to be. Of course lots of applause after each win and some standing ovations for some (director, picture and possibly adapted screenplay). The crowd just kept getting louder and louder with each win. I knew it was going to be a great night when Howard won. And then the screenplay win (which I so wanted but was worried about) assured us that director and picture were on the way. After PJ won best director, a bunch of streamers exploded around the front of the room. Whee! And the celebration that followed the announcement of a “clean sweep”.
Most of the night after the ceremony was spent standing by the stage. Needless to say my feet were killing me well before the end of the night. Many others have given accounts of what the various VIPs said so I’ll just give some of the things that I remember. JRD was the first VIP to appear. He thanked all of us and told us that he didn't have Orlando's cell phone number, but if he did, he would give it to us. Got many screams for that of course. Elijah showed up next to introduce the band (good friends of his) who were going to play for awhile. A bit of change of pace after Emerald Rose but I really enjoyed the band and others seemed to as well. It was wonderful to see Elijah standing by the backstage door, cigarette and beer in hand, just enjoying listening to the music. Elijah and Dom both talked to the fans for a while also. Both were extremely gracious as always. The boxers or briefs question, as others have mentioned, was very amusing. And Dom sang a song with the band! Many of us couldn’t understand what he was singing but what a treat!
Awhile later, the crew arrived. PJ, Fran, Philippa, Barrie, Alan Lee & John Howe, Richard, Ngila, etc. They all came out on stage holding their Oscars. And what a sight that was!!! WOW! Lots of camera flashes as all the Oscars were held up. PJ spent a while talking about the movies and profusely thanking all of us. He then introduced each of the Oscar winners present and had them come up to the mike. Wonderful speeches by all—everyone was so proud and so humble. There were serious moments and amusing moments. It was a time for celebration and all the “speeches” reflected that. It was clear that PJ was so immensely proud of everyone there and wanted to make sure they all got their chance in the limelight (wonderful to see). It occurred to me, as it has at several times in the past, that LOTR is probably one of the only movies where the crew members (besides the director) are big stars to the fans. Seriously, that is one of the things that I love about LOTR and all the fans. People like Richard, Philippa, Howard, Ngila, etc… are celebrities. Fans want to meet them, talk to them, get autographs, etc… Their contribution to the movies is well-respected (if that’s even the right word) by the fans. And that was very obvious at the party.
Back to the party. We all had to chant "Fran" and a couple of people had to go get her from backstage (where she had gone). She shyly said a few words but was clearly not in her element. PJ said he wants to start working on a special edition set after he's done with Kong. And he wants to include bloopers and all sorts of good stuff. He promised that there would be enough new stuff on there that it would be worth buying again (he's clearly very sensitive to that fact). Elijah and Dom were pretty cute during all that. At one point Elijah briefly posed next to the Gollum statue (which I didn’t get a photo of). Philippa apologized to the crowd that she kept writing Aragorn's shirt off but somehow it always got back on! I
t was all a blur really. Incredible to see everyone and all those gold statues! They were all so happy and just glowing. And all of them were so humble and gracious and PJ was so proud of all of them. PJ talked about a prank that Dom played on Elijah when he pretended to be a German reporter and asked all sorts of crazy questions. That will be on the EE! After they headed off, Billy arrived (he apparently got lost on the way) and thanked the fans,etc...As he started to leave we began chanting "sing! Sing!" and so he came out and sang!! Billy was clearly having a blast performing and the crowd loved it of course. Seeing both him and Dom perform in one night was incredible. More than I had even hoped for. And seeing Elijah and Dom bowing down before him-too cute! It was a bit after 1am at that point and many people decided to call it a night. I decided to tough it out and moved up to the front row.
A little before 2am Sala came out while Emerald Rose was playing. He danced a bit and made sure we gave them lots of applause. Then Lawrence came out, followed by Bruce and Jed Brophy. The four of them talked a bit and thanked us and then they proceeded to perform the haka. Again, so cool. What else can I say? It was another one of those “I can’t believe I’m here” moments. Sala was completely drunk (lost count of how many times he said the f word) but was so, so proud and happy. The guys seemed ready to party with us but it was now 2am so we were kicked out (NOOOOOO!). And the security guards really did have to herd us out, no one wanted to go anywhere. I did manage to get a photo with Bruce as well as a couple of kisses. What a great guy.
It was almost 3am by the time we arrived back at the hotel. I was tired but not. It had been such an incredible night. Royd Tolkien was also there but kept a low profile. Quickbeam brought him out a one point to say something and he was very humble and really didn't know what to say. It was an amazing evening. The only bad thing was the security guards who were major pains the entire evening despite the crowd being well-behaved (as others have commented). I did manage to snag a goody bag and getting back to the hotel to see the contents was yet another good thing (I’ve been wanting “the art of ROTK” but haven’t had the money).
This isn’t the best-written report but it includes some of the highlights of the evening, or more accurately, the few things I actually remember. And as I say, the evening was all one big blur but was truly a night to remember. I want to thank everyone both for organizing it and for coming. It was the perfect place to be Sunday evening. I took several rolls of film and will hopefully get some of the pictures online this weekend and will post when I do. "...for mine is the choice of Lúthien, and as she so have I chosen, both the sweet and the bitter."
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Nick: Nimrodel (Forum Admin)
Date/Time: Sat, 3/6/2004 at 9:57 PM CST (Sat, 3/6/2004 at 10:57 PM EST)
Subject: Some late and random OneParty thoughts.
Message: Sorry, I would have posted this much earlier, but I've been exhausted all week (going to work the day after coming home was NOT a good idea) and my server decided to take the day off Friday (hence my absense from Fiesta; sorry about that).
It looks like the tale of the party was pretty well covered, so I'll just add some thoughts and comments. First of all, thanks muchly to Roheryn for her hospitality. It was quite cool to see The Couch Where Figwit Slept. I would have buried my face in it, but I'm afraid if I *had* I never would have gotten up again. A three-hour time difference, on top of a 7 a.m. cross-country flight, can really mess up your head.
Seeing ROTK with a bunch of TORNsibs who cheered in all the right places was sheer ecstasy. I didn't even mind gramma weeping next to me for much of the movie. ;-) And cheering the credits was great fun. :-) I couldn't shake the feeling that I was in Disney World's Disney/MGM Studios Sunday morning, when Altaira, Ataahua and I meandered down to take a look at the Kodak Theater and the crowds gathering across the street. We met Scout B there and ran into a woman from New Zealand radio who was looking for someone to interview, so we pushed Ataahua forward. :-) We also met a German woman who was working for a magazine and asked to take our picture. She said she'd love to move to Los Angeles (she's welcome to it! Nice place to visit, but I would not want to live there). Also on the corner, we saw a guy from E! interview some giddy young women, then walked back up to the hotel. I turned on the TV and saw that interview being broadcast. Talk about a surreal moment.
I have to say that EVERYONE looked smashing in their evening wear at the party. Major applause to Mr. lumpkin for his tux and to lumpkin for her stunning dress. A bunch of us were interviewed by a woman from the Los Angeles Times. Interesting to be on the other side of the notebook. ;-)
Such fun to watch the Oscars with crazy, cheering TORNsibs! And that was me who stood up and screamed "Badly edited, my FOOT!" when Jamie Selkirk won the Oscar for Best Editing. Only I didn't say foot. ;-) I still think there should have been a winnowing-out process for ticket buyers, with TORNsibs getting first priority. Too many of what Mr. Nimrodel calls "posers" at the party. Heck, if you're not interested in the Oscar broadcast, then WHYAREYOUHERE!??!
Sala Baker is just as cute in person as he is on the screen. Lawrence Makoare tried to give us a glimpse of Sala's legs but couldn't locate them under the extensive folds of Sala's Maori wrap (I'm sure there's an official name for what he was wearing, but I don't know what it is). Billy Boyd can really belt out a song. So can Dom Monaghan, for that matter. Cheshire Cat and I saw Rick Porras walking alone across the auditorium and both scrambled to say hello to him and shake his hand. He was very gracious and apologized for being drunk (though it didn't show, other than the fact that his eyes were at half-mast).
We cheered ourselves hoarse for PJ and company, but I think the biggest cheer was reserved for Philippa. I know *I* was screaming for her. You rock, girl!! The highlight of the evening for me was when Sala, Lawrence (looking very spiffy indeed in his tux), Jed and Bruce did their haka on the stage. Brought tears to my eyes.
The security guys were very serious and borderline rude. And one of them was so big he made Sala and Lawrence look puny. Honest. On the way out, I spotted Bruce Hopkins and congratulated him. I went to shake his hand and got a hug and a kiss instead. Very nice. :-) Lumpkin came out last, white and shaking. "I shook Royd Tolkien's hand!" she said. "He was standing by the bar! I shook his hand!" I was SO envious. :-)
All in all, an amazing night. So glad I got to see so many TORNsibs, and share in the joy of ROTK's sweep! WooHoo!!
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Nick: Altaira (Forum Admin)
Date/Time: Sat, 3/6/2004 at 10:29 PM CST (Sat, 3/6/2004 at 10:29 PM MDT)
In Reply To: Some late and random OneParty thoughts. <Nimrodel > [9:57 PM] (13/36)
Subject: *runs in late, too* May I add a few?
Message: Great thoughts, Nim! I, too, have come down with the 'One Party cold' (jordan, you have some 'splainin' to do ;)), and have had RL keeping me away from TORN until today.
I second all of your observations and raise them as follows:
- the grace, intelligence, good humor and camaraderie of my fellow TORNsibs never ceases to amaze me. Every single one of you who were there are truly awesome individuals!
- after years of living and breathing these movies, all the winners and actors up on stage didn't feel like celebrities to me, they felt like family.
- Seeing PJ on stage with two-fisted Oscars was a dream come true. I felt so happy for him!
- Kudos to the TORN staff who worked so hard to transform the American Legion into Middle-earth for the night. The Gondorian beacon that burned all night outside on the top of the building was an especially nice touch.
- Speaking of decorations, a slightly self-serving pat on the back to Nim, Ataahua and I who built Shelob's lair from scratch Saturday morning (except for mounting Shelob on her perch). Well done if I do say so myself!
- adrenaline really *does* make up for a lack of sleep (until a day or two later that is).
- it was all over much, much too soon! No sooner were we all saying 'hello' to each other than we were hugging each other and saying 'Namarie.'
Another TORN gathering won't come soon enough for me! And, if Roheryn, greendragon and CA Hobbit help plan it - be there! Trust me. ;)
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Nick: jflower (Forum Member)
Date/Time: Sun, 3/7/2004 at 2:03 AM CST (Sun, 3/7/2004 at 4:03 AM EDT)
Subject: jflower's Most Excellent Ringer Adventure in LA
Message: *removes sunglasses* Hey All! Well, I’m back from my week in LA and wow . . .what a week! Although I’ve been home about a week now, RL has kept me from getting my tornsib adventures down on cyber paper : ) So, here’s my trip and I admit now that this post is long.
My sister and I landed in LA on Tuesday, February 24 at around 4:30pm PST. After getting our luggage (and being informed by the airport PA system that we were not *required* to give our money to solicitors), picking up our rental car and checking into our hotel (The Ramada West Hollywood – great location, neighbourhood and hotel and I would definitely stay there again), I called Roheryn to hook up for a late dinner. Poor Ro because she had a terrible time getting to our hotel due to a road closure and kept calling to keep us informed. Eventually, we ended up meeting her at a gas station a few blocks down from the hotel. After a big excited hug and hello, we drove around and decided on a pizza place to have dinner. Good food and excellent conversation were the results of our meeting.
On Thursday night, we meet a group of tornsibs (Ro, green dragon, L. Ron Halfelven, Aranel, Ltl. Berr, CAHobbit, and Cheshire Cat) for supper at a Korean BBQ restaurant called Woo-Lae-Oak (a favourite place of the Hobbits). Our waiter apparently even served the Hobbits. Dinner was delicious and fun (although the next time I eat at a Korean BBQ restaurant I’ll have to remember to bring a copy of Chopsticks for Dummies). The company was the best and I had a great time. Cheshire Cat was even lucky enough to have had her dessert renamed in honour of Elijah : )
Friday morning a group of us (green dragon, Aranel, L. Ron Halfelven, Gerontius, Ltl. Berr, CAHobbit, Cheshire Cat and my sister) went to look at the movie costume display at the Fashion Institute. Of course there were ROTK costumes there. All I can say is that the silver screen does not do them justice. The costumes were more gorgeous and elaborate than I every thought possible. After viewing the costumes, some shopping was done (I got a nice necklace, metal belt and pretty white shirt for just $12.99 US). I loved being able to share thoughts on the costumes with tornsibs. Friday evening Ro (who was just a wonderful host to all of us) had a group of tornsibs (Altaira, Nimrodel, lumpkin, Mr. lumpkin, L. Ron Halfelven, CAHobbit, Cheshire Cat, Ataahua, Gerontius, Celandine Brandybuck, grammaboodawg, Scout B) over for dinner and a lot of fun into the night! A yummy dinner of chili (veggie or meat), balrog wings (of course), chocolate cake and other nibbles was provided and enjoyed. Aside from eating, the evening consisted of many great conversations, some piano and singing (thanks Gerontius) and a drink or two.
Saturday morning it was up and at’em as we were meeting a whole horde of tornsibs to view ROTK at the Arclight theater on Sunset Blvd. I have never been in such a nice theater before and with so many tornsibs. Many cheers, tears and claps occurred all through the viewing. I sat my Ltl Berr (I wish I had had more than just a napkin to offer : )) and my sister. This viewing of ROTK was the best ever.
On Saturday night, we went to the pubmoot at a place called Finn McCool’s that had been organized by Ro, green dragon and CAHobbit (who made just the most gorgeous nametags). The pub area designated to our party was packed with tornsibs and assorted replicas of ME inhabitants. Green dragon and Aranel had been kind enough to transform the menu into a ME theme (I had the Bombay – dil spring rolls for dinner) and Ltl. Berr provided a sheet with the drinking songs (which came in handy). I was lucky to have shared my dinner table with gramma who is just one of the best and a great table dancer to boot. Jordan the discursive was able to show me the appropriate height of heels to wear around Elijah if ever the opportunity arises. Scout B’s new sunglasses were stylin'! Green dragon made a wonderful Frodo and CAHobbit and Celandine were just two darling Hobbit lasses. Altaira, Nimrodel and Ataahua did a great job with the running of the trivia game. The brilliant minds of my fab team of Aranel, greendragon, L. Ron Halfelven and my sister lead us to victory in the trivia game. I managed a second place after a tough showdown with L. Ron Halfelven and got a lovely FOTR Arwen collector doll! It was truly a magical evening. Oh, I would also like to say a big thanks to L. Ron (an absolute gentleman) for the two evenings of rides back to my hotel : )
Sunday brought a morning and afternoon of party preparation and beautification (the breakfast at IHOP surely helped). As I was unable to attain tickets to the torn party, I was preparing for the Into The West Party. We headed out all fancied up around 3:00pm PST to go meet fellow tornsib Meliana (who was gorgeous in a light pink dress) at her hotel and we then progressed to the Hollywood Athletic Club (a lovely looking place) where the party was being held. Due to my lack of practical shoes, I ended up grabbing a cab there and met up again shortly with Meliana. At the door we checked in (no line up which was nice) and got our gift bags. The bags contained 3 prints (2 by Tim Kirk and 1 by Colleen Doran), a raffle ticket, lip gloss, a Into the West pen, a warofthering.net bookmark/raffle ticket, a leather book containing a nomination scorecard, a magnet, Into the West sticker, NZ guidebook, stickpin with assorted charms (mine was a ring, Meliana had Sting), 2 packs of trade cards and assorted recipe bookmarks (mine had a recipe for Honey cakes on it). Once in we grabbed a table and set our chairs by the big screen TV. LadyShieldmaiden (who had tickets to both parties the lucky gal) and her husband meet up with us for a while and it was fun to meet them.
Once the Oscar show got started, dinner was served. It was a lovely spread that included mushrooms and strawberries (sadly no cream). During the commercials, the many prizes were raffled off. My sister won an Annie Lennox CD single. The Oscars were very exciting. I was blown away by the sweep and cheered mightily and often with Meliana and my sister! I was so proud of them all!
After the Oscars were over, the music began right away with Kevin Henry. He had brought his family along to play and his teenage daughter played a wonderful flute. Although his music was great, I think it was to mellow after so much excitement with the Oscar wins and the crowd seemed somewhat disinterested. The next set had the very hilarious duo of the Brobdingnagan Bards who really got the place going. Avalon Rising was last and very good. I enjoyed the many LOTR poems that they put to music. People were dancing at this point and I eventually had to run away from a very drunk woman who sat just a little to close for comfort. I found it quite humorous when she leaned over to tell me that they perhaps shouldn’t have offered alcohol for sale : ) Although, considering that a mixed drink was $8.00 US and a beer $6.00 US (I almost passed out each time I ordered a drink knowing I was paying at least $10 Canadian a drink : o)), getting that drunk was quite avoidable: ) A little before 1:00am PST my sister and I headed back to our hotel with both of us happy after a great night.
Monday it was early to rise to catch our plane and we even managed to bump into a tornsib (Scout B *wohoo*) at the airport. I was so curious to know how the torn party went and was able to see some pics on her digital camera before I had to fly away! You all looked gorgeous at the torn party. Well, there you have it (the long and short of it) and I hope to have more torn adventures in the future. It was wonderful to meet so many tornsibs and you were all so much fun! I love that I have so many faces to go with the names on the boards now. Thanks to all! Cheers.
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Nick: Entmaiden (Forum Member)
Date/Time: Wed, 3/3/2004 at 1:40 PM CST
Subject: Here's jordan's report of the party
Message: Since jordan is home sick, I thought I would help her out and draft her TORN report for the Oscar party. The time is LA local time (PST)
11:30 am - I hate my hair!
11:35 - 5:30 - no sign of Elijah yet. Other stuff is happening.
5:30 - 6:15 - Oscars have started. LOTR has won a couple awards. The stupid camera doesn’t show ANY shots of Elijah.
6:15 - camera pans the audience at the Oscars. I see him! He looks great!
6:15 - 8:00 - more awards are won. not much else is happening.
8:55 - Elijah is on stage! He doesn’t say anything - stupid other people are talking about some award they won.
9:00 - 10:30 - not much happening. Waiting for Elijah. He’ll be here at 10:37
10:37 - it’s him! He walks on stage, talks to us, then stands in the wings, dancing and having a great time.
10:38:20 - Elijah takes a drink
10:38:35 - Elijah looks down
10:38:36 - Elijah looks up . . . .
10:42:15 - Dom joins Elijah on stage. Dom talks too much
10:42:19 - Elijah watches Dom sing a song (there was a band, I guess)
10:46:30 - Elijah leaves the stage . . . .
11:01:15 - Elijah comes back! There’s some other people around, too. They still don’t let him talk. (someone told me PJ was there)
11:01:17 - Elijah shifts his weight to his left foot
11:01:25 - Elijah shifts his weight to his right foot
11:01:40 - Elijah puts his right hand into his pocket. . . .
12:02:15 - Elijah says that Billy is due any minute
12:05:04 - Elijah leaves the stage
12:10:16 - Elijah’s back! But he only stays a minute. Billy Boyd grabs all the attention and sings a song. Elijah and Dom do a salaam to Billy.
12:13:24 - Elijah, Dom and Billy leave the stage. He’s gone. The End
Each cloak was fastened about the neck with a brooch like a green leaf veined with silver.
`Are these magic cloaks?' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder.
`I do not know what you mean by that,' answered the leader of the Elves.
NARF since 1974.
Balin Bows
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
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Feb 29 2020, 8:15pm
Post #3 of 13
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Wow, that brought back a lot of memories.
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Not just the reports but seeing the names of TORNsibs-past. Thanks for keeping these reports safe, gramma! I'm so glad they haven't been lost to the fog of server disruptions. 
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 beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
Feb 29 2020, 9:32pm
Post #5 of 13
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Truly that was a most magical time. Welcome back, Earendil - you timed that well!
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Eärendil The Mariner
The Shire
Feb 29 2020, 9:37pm
Post #6 of 13
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Also, I looked for this online just now, and... there it was:
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 29 2020, 10:09pm
Post #7 of 13
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Golly it's so great to see you safe and sound! And I'm stoked you're going to get to the RotK in concert. I was afraid they weren't doing those anymore! *one more hug* :D
We have been there and back again.
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Eärendil The Mariner
The Shire
Feb 29 2020, 10:18pm
Post #8 of 13
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Good to see you going strong!
Yeah, they're doing the concerts and will keep doing them because they keep selling out. :)
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
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Mar 2 2020, 2:34am
Post #11 of 13
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Thank you for all the memories and links, gramma, I've been going through them, enjoying the nostalgia. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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entmaiden
Forum Admin
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Mar 2 2020, 3:10pm
Post #12 of 13
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It was my first time encountering TORn folk in real life, and I was so nervous. I had visions of never finding anyone, and I almost talked myself out of going a few times.
But I went, and I had an unforgettable weekend. Thanks for saving, and sharing those memories, gramma!
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Mar 3 2020, 11:40am
Post #13 of 13
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I would never have made it there if it wasn't for hatster. I already had my flight and room. I was at my computer when the tickets went on sale. I was on dial-up. By the time I got through, all the tickets had been sold! I hadn't wailed like that in years. When hatster saw what happened, she contacted me and offered to sell me her ticket... insisting... incredible! She'll always be my hero.
And I was so happy to finally meet you! I was just like you... so nervous and afraid... but I felt out of place. You suddenly grounded me feeling like we were in the same boat. You... someone so "together" and brilliant nervous like me? Wow. Another one who gave me so many magical moments as I dithered and stumbled through so many adventures. Thank you!
We have been there and back again.
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