Welly-mooter Sanit releases his first art book!

Sanit Klamchanuan, our talented and very own Welly-mooter has had his first book of art published, and it's a gorgeous "colouring-for-adults" print book!

Sanit with the new book

Weta Workshop's Sanit Klamchanuan (who you may remember as the creator (and wearer) of that amazing Dwarven costume at the opening of the Rivendell Archway, as well as at the Ultra-Marathon at the Roxy earlier this year) got the inspiration for the book after his work was exhibited at Wellington's Thistle Hall a a few years ago.

The colouring-for-adults art book, titled Ni Tan, is a collection of black and white sketches of fantasy creatures from around the world, that have inspired Sanit over the years. You'll find more than a few creatures that obviously also inspired Tolkien.

I've seen an advance copy of the book, it looks great. It's not a cumbersome tome - and the nz$20 (us$15) price tag reflects that. You can get the book via mail-order at the publisher's website (Olorin Publishing) at this address:

https://olorisbookshop.com/collections/non-fiction/products/ni-tan

If you're looking for other Middle-earth related books by independent authors, they have a great selection there. Alternatively, they also have links to their Amazon shop, where it's also available.

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From the blurb on the publisher's site:

Sanit Klamchanuan is a Thai New Zealander, living in Wellington, New Zealand. He has always enjoyed drawing. This book is his first book and is his take on fairy tale creatures from around the world with a little Thai twist.

Olorin Publishing also published Welly-mooter Peter Kenny's book (from the Brisbane Tolkien Society) of Middle-earth poetry, Dreams Of Another Land, available for us$18 here:

https://olorisbookshop.com/products/dreams-of-a-another-land

Sad news - the picnic is cancelled. :(

Really didn't want it to come to this, but we're cancelling the picnic this Sunday.

After the week we've all had, with earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, floods, tornadoes, and an uncertain weather forecast for Sunday, and a still-soaking-wet picnic ground around Rivendell, we've decided to call it off. It's not something we do lightly.

So, to repeat - the picnic is cancelled. We will announce a new date later, but expect it to be no earlier than January.

My apologies if you had a bunch of stuff planned - I know we were all really looking forward to it all.

There will be another day!

  - Jack

Picnic in a week - get ready!

Heya everyone!

The Welly-moot picnic at Rivendell is on in a week's time! At this stage everything is going ahead. I would love to hear from you if you're thinking of turning up - just to give me an idea of the numbers.

 So, if you're thinking of coming, can you drop me a line on jack@welly-moot.com please?


The plan is to meet at 11:00am, at the Kaitoke Regional Park, at the grassy field beside the Rivendell filming area.

However, if the weather is a bit wet, we're moving it to the camping area - I will try get some signs up, pointing the way once you get the the park. The ranger will also be made aware of our plans.


If you need directions, there's a Google Map at the end of this blog post.


Bring the following:
- Lunch
- A barbecue (we're not sure if anyone is bringing one yet, so PLEASE email me!)
- A costume if you have one,
- Soft swords (ie, not metal) if you have some, (no projectile weapons please!),
- As many people as you can find :)

Also, I will have the "Middle-earth" road signs with me - if you haven't preordered one, there will be spares there but please get in quick, as they will most likely sell out.  $15 for members, $20 for non-members.


If the weather is REALLY bad, we may cancel, so please do keep an eye out on the blog or the facebook page before you come out. We will confirm in the morning, before 9:00am.

Hope to see you all there!

  - Jack


Oh, and PS - here's the map!




Bring

Wooden Middle-earth roadsign - any interest?

As mentioned in the previous post, I have sourced a supplier who can get me a number of wooden Middle-earth roadsigns, in the yellow AA sign style, like this:

The signs measure 45cm x 10cm, so they are perfect for hanging on the wall, or pointing the way to your house from the road.


At this stage I have not received enough emails from people to make it worthwhile, so please - if you want one, let me know as soon as possible. I want to put an order in at the end of this weekend, otherwise I won't be able to get them to you by the day of the Rivendell Picnic (November 20th).

This only works if I get enough pre-orders. If I don't have enough interest, I won't order them, as I don't want to be stuck with a box full.

So, email me at jack@welly-moot.com if you want one. If you can't make it to the picnic, that's ok, as long as I know to order one for you.

  - Jack

Welly-moot Picnic coming up November 20! Loads of stuff happening!

On Sunday, November the 20th (in less than a month!), the Welly-moot will gather in Rivendell, in the grass fields beside the filming location. Essentially I'm planning for it to be a noisy, messy, chaotic gathering of as many of us as can make it there. Come in costume if you can (and if the weather is up to it).

We plan to start setting up around 11:00am on the grass, to ensure we have the spot. The rangers have made it clear that it's a first-come-first-served spot, so let's all get there early!

We have a few activities planned, but only loosely. If anyone has (soft!) cosplay weapons, I gather we have a few people with skills to show us how to protect Imladris from the darkness. No projectile weapons please (except perhaps Frisbees!)

If anyone has a barbecue, that would be most welcome as well. Can everyone keep me informed as to what we're all bringing - I'm happy to act as a go-between if you want to bring extra meat etc but don't have a BBQ yourself, or vise versa. KEEP ME INFORMED though please!

It'll be a usual kiwi/Welly-moot picnic - bring a plate; which means bring enough food/drink for yourself, and share it around if you wish to. As long as everyone does this, I'm sure there will be plenty to go around.

So, can everyone let me know if you're intending to come to the party, either leave me a message on the facebook page, or via email at jack@welly-moot.com. I don't check the google+ page very often (is anyone actually using that, btw?).

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Something different - I've managed to source a couple of cool souvenirs if anyone is interested, but before I pay for a box of stuff nobody wants, I need to know what sort of interest there would be. In a few souvenir shops around New Zealand I've spotted a lovely yellow AA-styled roadsign pointing the way to Middle-earth. I can get some for a good price, and pass them on to our members. Please send an email to me at jack@welly-moot.com if you'd be keen on having one. They measure around 45cm long, 10cm high.

Middle-earth sign, 45cm x 10cm (made from MDF) - $15 for Welly-moot members

The cost would be $15 each, but I need a certain amount of orders before it's worth it for us. They will pay for the various Welly-moot expenses that I've racked up over the last 6 years, so drop me a line if you want a cool sign. If I get enough orders in the next week or so, I can order them before the picnic.

Also, I think I've sourced a supplier who can turn our Welly-moot logo (the runes in the red diamond) into an iron-on transfer patch, if anyone is interested? They'd be around $5 or so. Again, email me at jack@welly-moot.com if you want one. If there's enough interest, I'll order them before the picnic also. Wear your geek with pride!

If you're not yet a Welly-moot member, simply turn up to the picnic, and you will be one (make sure you come and talk to me about it though - I won't do a head-count on the day!). Membership is free, and for life.


Anyway, expect a few more posts in the next few weeks, with more picnic details. See you all there!

  - Jack

Moot Report - Welly-moot #5.5 (September 25, 2016)

We had a fun meeting on Sunday the 25th of September. It was the start of Daylight Savings Time, but it seemed everyone remembered it in time, and no one was too late at the meeting because of it.

We started off with the usual greetings, and caught up with news and updates from everyone, with a quick chat as usual. Mooter Sarah had recently visited England's Oxford and visited Tolkien's favourite pub The Eagle and Child for a meal, and brought back a few souvenir postcards by Andrew Manson. Andrew, who was the Artist in Residence at the pub, had a writeup in the Oxfordshire magazine recently, which is available as a pdf file here.

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The theme for this meeting was "the diverse landscapes of Middle-earth". Everyone brought their books, tablets or their knowledge of Middle Earth. We talked about landscapes, forests, and mountains. We enjoyed sharing our ideas and thoughts.

Alex was particularly interested in the “stone-giants” from The Hobbit; there is not much explanation in Tolkien’s books and the ambiguousness of their existence; are they from Bilbo's dreams, or are they real? Kris found some good photos with rock falls, where it is believed that Tolkien got the idea of the “rock-giants” and found an article why they play games by throwing rocks, and risking their lives.

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Next Welly-moot meeting will be the last meeting this year already. It will also be the last meeting hosted by Jack and Alex. As it was announced on the last post, we will be stepping down from being the main hosts of the meetings. We have a few Welly-mooters who have have got their hands up, to take over from us. But don’t worry, we won’t disappear. We will still be attending Welly-moots.

Before we go though, we decided to have a picnic lunch on Sunday 20 November at Rivendell in Kaitoke Park in Upper Hutt. We will try to have some attractions on the day as well - maybe a swords demonstration, a guided forest walk, best costume competition, or whatever. Come and join us! We will post the details when it is closer.

  - Alex & Jack

PS - please note the new date for next meeting - it was originally set for November 27th, but it's now November 20th

Welly-moot #5.5 will be on Sunday 25th September

As promised, here's the announcement for the next moot - we will be meeting at the usual time of 2:00pm, in the usual place of the Embassy Cinema, upstairs in the Cafe, on Sunday the 25th of September.

For the afternoon's theme we will be discussing the diverse landscapes of Middle-earth. I'm keeping this deliberately vague, so everyone can come at it from their own angles. Does the map of Middle-earth make sense in a geographical sense (I've always been slightly worries about the "squareness" of the Mordor mountains, for instance). We're lucky here in New Zealand - Tolkien's landscapes are all around us.

Some creatures seem to have become part of the landscape. Think of the Ents and the Huorns, who basically make up a large part of the forest. Or those Stone Giants - did Tolkien intend for the mountains to be self-aware (think Caradhras), or was Peter Jackson taking artistic liberties?

How did Tolkien make the landscapes of Middle-earth into their own character?


So, come and join us for an in depth discussion. As always, meetings are free to attend, and attendance gives you membership for life. Bring money for coffee & cake from the cafe!


See you all Sunday!

Welly-moot 5.4 report (brief), plus an announcement

On July 31st, we held the fourth Welly-moot of 2016, which ended up being a very pleasant afternoon. The theme of the day was the nature of life and death in Middle-earth, which ended up being a very lively discussion, and the coffee flowed freely.

I also announced my intentions to step down as the defacto president of the group by the end of the year. I've been running the show for the last six years (counting the Noldor days, aka the First Age). In that time we've organised a good number of events, had a lot of fun, and we have got a good little group going on. I'm taking a new direction in my life and want to step away from quite so much of the "All Tolkien, All The Time" that I've been doing for the last 13 or so years.

Don't get me wrong; I'll still be running LOTR tours at Rover Tours and Flat Earth Tours, and I'll still be attending Welly-moots - I just won't be involving myself so much in the running of it; the blogging, the event organising, and the networking. I'm also not extending the collection of LOTR Cool Stuff quite so much.


I'm feeling very positive about the changes ahead, and I know the Welly-moot will fare well without me at the helm.

There are various tasks that could be handed over. At the moot, Daniel offered to take some of them, and I suspect he could do with a helping hand in a few places. If you're keen to get involved, let me know, I'm sure many hands will make light work, and two heads are better than one, etc.

Anyway, more details on all this when it actually happens (end of the year!), in the meantime, it's time I announced the next meeting (next week Sunday!).

  - Jack

(Finally, an announcement...!) - Welly-moot #5.4 is coming soon!

Although our original plan was to have a mid-winter christmas get-together like last year, life seems to have gotten in the way, and we can't commit time. We do have a doozy of a topic for everyone though!

The discussion will be a light breezy one - nothing less than the nature of life (and death) in Middle-earth. The elves are immortal, while men are not. How does that all work? And if you thought the elves had it good, the Maiar and the Valar are even more immortal, if there is such a thing. Or are they? Melkor/Morgoth gets kicked out of the Valar - does he die? Is that even a meaningful question? And what of Saruman?

Now, I'm counting on people to do a little bit of homework on this one - check your Silmarillions and your Unfinished Tales once more. If you don't have access to those, then the Encyclopedia of Arda is a great place to start looking instead (http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/).

Of course, if this is all just too heavy for you, feel free to bring your own topics!


New members are welcome as usual, and membership is free, and for life. Bring money for coffee and cake at the Embassy cafe, though.

See you in a few weeks!

  - Jack

Welly-moot #5.3 Report

The Welly-moot group met yesterday at the Embassy Cinema. We have new members whom we met at the Middle-Earth movie marathon in March this year. Welcome Kay, Molly and Helena!

Unusually, we didn’t have a specific Tolkien topic for this meeting. We started as usual with a round table discussion, with updates, and we shared our experiences of the movie marathon. After that, it became a very enjoyable non-topic discussion.

We discussed the upcoming Armageddon Expo in Wellington next weekend; the excellent Hobbit Location Tour "Hairy Feet Hobbit Locations" in Piopio Waitomo; the latest Superhero movies (X-man, Avengers, Captain America, Superman vs Batman, etc), TV shows, costumes, etc. The Welly-mooters are a wealth of geeky knowledge, and we had no problem filling the afternoon with a wide range of movies, TV series or characters.

Some updates for everyone.

• There is a Middle-earth-themed LARP event (Live Action Role Playing) in Queenstown later this winter. We will update as soon as we have more details, on this site. In the meantime, if you're interested, follow them on facebook.
• The new Rivendell Rebuild project for Welly-moot is the Bilbo bench/statue in Kaitoke Park. We have two wonderful Sculptors to give us a hand. We will be pushing this project forward this year!
• We're also organising a Welly-moot craft meeting, hopefully for later this year. The idea is to have Kim Beaton (who you may have met at the Marathon) show us how to sculpt a beautiful miniature Hobbit door, to decorate your garden with. There will be somecosts associated with that, so will keep everyone updated as we go.

The next Welly-moot meeting is to be a mid-winter party like we did last year. The date will be Sunday the 31st of  July. It will be fun so don’t miss it.

Also, some Welly-mooters are going to the Armageddon with their own costumes this weekend. We (Alex & Jack) will be going on Monday the 6th, if all goes well. See you there!


   - Alex & Jack

May 29th is coming up fast - Welly-moot #5.3!

It seems we haven't had a "proper" meeting for aaaages, what with the Ultra-marathon coming in between them. High time to remedy the situation!

In about a week and a half, the Welly-moot will meet at the Embassy Cinema, upstairs in the cafe, at the usual time of 2:00pm. The topics covered will no doubt include "how we all experienced the Ultra-marathon", and what have we all been up to since then.

I would like to invite people to bring their own topics as well, and there's one or two things I'd like to put to the group, for the future of the Welly-moot.


So if you want to have a say in how things will go from here, please, DO attend!


As usual, attendance is free, and ensures lifetime membership to the only official NZ Tolkien Society. Bring money for coffee and cakes from the cafe.


See you there!

  - Jack

That was one successful marathon!

It's finished. It's done. We came, we watched, we survived (most of us). All six extended Middle-earth movies in a row, in a single sitting. Truly, the end of all things.


I hope everyone enjoyed the event as much as we did! Everything went right, from the chosen date of Good Friday, March 25th (which won't happen again until the year 2157!), to the fantastic venue The Roxy Cinema. Thank you again for hosting this for us, you were marvelous!

In fact, a few thank you's are in order.

Thank you first and most importantly of all, to the Roxy Cinema for all their support, and in particular to Alice, who helped so much the whole way through; to Phil and Valentina for supporting it throughout the planning and preparation stages; and to Richard for keeping things flowing at the event itself! And of course to the other, invisible, behind-the-scenes staff who set up, cooked, and cleaned up afterwards for us. You all did a great job!

Thank you to the Roxy also for the amazing prizepacks both before as well as during the event. And of course congratulations to the prizewinners!

Anna receives her prize.

Thank you to the Miramar Events Trust, for you support, and assistance talking to the media.

Thank you to the Weta Workshop, and in particular to Tania Rodger, for setting up the venue in true Weta style.

Thanks to Daniel Tararo and Kris McMeans who blogged, tweeted, facebook, and most importantly, periscoped their way through the event, with live interviews for the world to watch.

Thanks to Erica, Wilson and Luke for recording the event for your documentary. Let me know when it's available to watch somewhere!

Thank you to Chewy from Wellington Rover Tours for supplying the courtesy shuttle, for getting people There And Back Again, and also for printing the much appreciated Survivor's Certificates. They will make great reminders of this mega event.

We lived!

Also thank you to Mojo Coffee for making sure there was enough caffeine to go around for the fans!


A HUGE thank you to all the special guests who came and honoured us with their presence - Jamie Selkirk (with Oscar!), Daniel Reeve, Daniel Falconer, Peter Hambleton, Sanit Klamchanuan, Kim and Warren Beaton, and Sadwyn Brophy. You made yourself so very available to the fans, with conversation, photos, autographs, and (to Daniel Reeve in particular) with your amazing skills.

A special thank you to Jed Brophy for being there right throughout the event, and getting just as tired as the rest of us! Your dedication is amazing!

A HUGE thank you from me (Jack) to the rest of the Welly-moot committee - Cinnamon, Alex, and Kris. Cinnamon, I forgot to mention you in the speech before the first movie - but I couldn't have done it without you. Alex, you were always by my side. And Kris, my costume looks amazing, thanks to you!

And last, but not least, thank you so much to the amazing fans we managed to convince to part with a not-insignificant amount of money, some who came dressed up, some who flew from halfway across the world, and at least one who walked about 40kms to get to the cinema on time. Your dedication to these films is always amazing, and knowing that support existed made the efforts to organise this so much easier.


Thank you all - I for one, enjoyed this event immensely! I trust everyone else did also!

   - Jack Machiela
 

Tomorrow's the big day! One last FANTASTIC announcement!

The event starts at 12:30pm, Thursday. That's less than 15 hours away!

Apart from the best series of movies ever, the Roxy cinema has been completely redecorated by Weta Workshop's very own Tania Rodger. Unfortunately she won't be present during the event but there will be some other very cool people there.

I can now confirm that the MC of the event will be none other than JED BROPHY himself!

But there's more! Jed will not only be there to greet us at the start, but will be there throughout the event! This man is not only more characters in the two trilogies than anyone else, but he's also obviously the actor most dedicated to the fans!


I probably won't make any other announcements, but there are more surprises happening throughout the event, so be ready!

See you all there. My costume is ready - is yours?

  - Jack

Marathon Event Timings

Here is a complete timeline of the events planned for this mega-marathon.

Thursday March 24th:

• 12:00 – Rover Courtesy Bus leaves from iSite (20 seats)
• 12:30 – Daniel Reeve at Roxy, Calligraphy Demonstration
• 13:00 – Welly-moot competition prize handover
• 14:00 – HOBBIT 1: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
• 17:03 – Break
• 17:15 – HOBBIT 2: DESOLATION OF SMAUG
• 20:22 – Dinner Break with Daniel Falconer
• 21:15 – HOBBIT 3: BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES

Friday March 25th:

• 00:00 – Midnight Break
• 00:15 – LOTR 1: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
• 04:03 – Break
• 04:15 – LOTR 2: THE TWO TOWERS
• 08:11 – Breakfast with Kim and Warren Beaton
• 09:00 – LOTR 3: RETURN OF THE KING
• 13:24 – Survivor's Lunch - Handout of Souvenir Certificates
• 14:30 – Rover Courtesy Bus returns to iSite

Note that the movie start-times will be exact; some of the other times may be approximate.

As you can see we have some amazing VIPs coming, and there is one other special guest expected, who will be MC-ing throughout the event; I will announce him VERY soon!


  - Jack

Additional excitement for the event...

Will and Erica, two of our longtime Welly-mooters are currently making a documentary on the power of myths, and will be on hand to ask the Marathonners' a few questions.

Wilson Sze and Erica Brooks, producers of "An Underground Odyssey" - an educational documentary that explores the power and applicability of myth and fantasy in people's lives - will be present during the Middle-Earth Marathon to document the event. As Tolkien fans themselves, they will be interviewing attendees with questions such as, “What do you love about the LOTR/The Hobbit stories?”, “Where did you travel from to attend this event?”, “What is it about Tolkien’s Middle-Earth that you love so much?”, “Who is your favourite character in Middle-Earth?”, “Which character can you most relate to and why?”, “How has Middle-Earth impacted your life?” The interviews will be featured in the documentary, along with footage of fans in their costumes, capturing the warmth and passion of Middle-Earth fandom. If you would like to be interviewed and share your story, they would love to hear from you during the breaks and mealtimes!

 They'll be there during some of the breaks; if you feel like being record for all eternity, pop up to them and volunteer your services! The more the better!



Also: There are still a few places left on the FREE shuttle, so please don't be shy - drop me an email if you want to be picked up from (and dropped back to) town for the event. Contact me at jack@welly-moot.com.

  - Jack