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

We have a winner! Congratulations to Anna from Masterton!

Our competition for the best fan story attracted a good number of entries, and the Welly-moot committee spent most of the end of last week reading through them.

One story came out on top though; the prize was eventually won by Anna from Masterton, for her story about how she first met Jed Brophy and William Kircher a few years ago, at the Wellington Armageddon (now renamed to Comic-con NZ).


Anna, you can pick up your prize on the day; we'll be in touch via email with further details!

Also, another HUGE thank you to the Roxy Cinema, who donated this prizepack!

Anna, your prize includes a ticket to the event, as well as ALL of the following:

• LOTR postcard set (10)
• Hobbit postcard set (10)
• Middle-earth teatowel (Thorin’s Map)
• Middle-earth key-ring
• Red eye of Sauron pin/badge
• Hobbit Hole collectible
• Middle-earth Location Guidebook (hardcover – Ian Brodie)
• 2 x 1 litre bottles of Hobbiton Gingerbeer
• 1 x Box of Scorched Almonds
• 1 x Bar Whittakers Chocolate
• 1 x Pkt Popcorn
• 1 x Roxy Cap
• 1 x Roxy Notebook
• 1 x Roxy Pin

I hope you have enough space to display your new Middle-earth collection!


Also a big thank you to all the others who sent in stories - the standards were very high, and we enjoyed reading them all!

  - Jack

Wellington Rover Tours is providing a courtesy bus with driver, to and from the event!

Scott from Wellington Rover Tours (Wellington's biggest LOTR touring company, and oft sponsor of the Welly-moot) has kindly donated the use of a 20-seater bus (with driver Chewie), to take a limited number of people from Wellington central to the Roxy, and afterwards bring them back again.

If you don't have any way to get to the event and don't want to use public transport while you're in LOTR costume, then let me know at jack@welly-moot.com, so I can put you on the list.

Although this transport option is 100% FREE, there is a STRICTLY limited number of seats available, so please let me know AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! First in, first served. You snooze, you lose. Early bird gets the worm. Etc.


The bus will leave from the iSite at 12:01pm, lunchtime on Thursday the 24th, and will make its way to the Roxy. Since there's plenty of time before the movies begin, you may be able to convince Chewie to take you all to the very first LOTR filming location on top of Mount Victoria first... :)  I'll leave that open!

A full event itinerary will be posted in the next few days. It'll have a number of other surprises on it! VIP's you say? Muahahaha!

  - Jack

Competition is now closed!

The deadline has passed, and we've got a good amount of entries into our competition for a free Marathon ticket plus Hobbit Prize pack, so we're currently judging the best stories. The Welly-moot comittee is reading and voting today and tomorrow, and on Friday night we will announce a winner!

I have my favourite, but I won't tell anyone yet until all the results are in. :)

Some great stories from everyone!

  - Jack

Ultra Marathon - one free ticket to give away!

Heya everyone, I'm not sure if you saw this on TheOneRing.Net, but the Roxy Cinema has donated an amazing prizepack including a ticket to the full event, to give away to one lucky winner!

All you have to do to win it is to send an email to ‘competition@welly-moot.com’ with your best fan-story. It could be anything – the day you met one of the actors; your worst hard-luck story; what got you into Tolkien; – anything. Make it good, in less than 300 words! You’ve got until Wednesday the 16th, midnight (Wellington time). The Welly-moot committee will judge the best story, and they’ll be in touch with the winning entry!

The prizepack includes the following:

• LOTR postcard set (10)
• Hobbit postcard set (10)
• Middle-earth teatowel (Thorin’s Map)
• Middle-earth key-ring
• Red eye of Sauron pin/badge
• Hobbit Hole collectible
• Middle-earth Location Guidebook (hardcover – Ian Brodie)
• 2 x 1 litre bottles of Hobbiton Gingerbeer
• 1 x Box of Scorched Almonds
• 1 x Bar Whittakers Chocolate
• 1 x Pkt Popcorn
• 1 x Roxy Cap
• 1 x Roxy Notebook
• 1 x Roxy Pin
• 1 x Middle-earth Marathon ticket

So tell us your best story, as soon as you can, the deadline is in the next four days!

Also, please share this one far and wide on your favourite social media.

Finally, keep watching this space - there's still a few more announcements and surprises to come for this event!
 

Ultra-marathon update - LOTR-only tickets available as well now.

Quick event update - there are now also LOTR-only tickets available, for those who can't get Thursday 24th off, or aren't up to a 24 hour marathon (weaklings!).

The tickets get you all three LOTR (Extended Editions) at the Roxy Cinema, with breakfast and lunch as well. This starts from midnight (straight after The Hobbit Trrilogy) and is $150 for all three LOTR films plus breakfast and lunch.

You may purchase here: http://www.roxycinema.co.nz/movies/10770.php

Or call the Roxy, or visit them. As always, no refunds or unpaid bookings.

Shoutout to our Japanese followers!

As lots of you have already discovered, the tickets to the Ultra-Marathon are now on sale!  Check the Roxy's ticket office website,

A quick message from Alex to any Japanese LOTR fans who are interested in joining the movie marathon on the Welly-moot website: http://www.roxycinema.co.nz/page-event-3.php

Dear Japanese friends ー 日本のみなさんへ

今回のこのイベントー Movie Marathon にご興味がある方で、日本語で質問や問い合わせをされたいは方は、是非私Alex Ishikawaに直接メールして下さい。メールアドレスはalex@welly-moot.comです。できるだけお手伝いさせて頂きます。いつでも気楽にメールして下さいね！

(English translation)

Dear Japanese friends - to Japanese people - If you are interested in joining us for this event - Movie Marathon - and wish to talk or send any enquiries in Japanese, please contact me, Alex Ishikawa, directly. My email address is alex@welly-moot.com. I will try to help you as much as I can. Please feel free to contact me anytime!

Can I ask our Japanese friends to share this on your social media please, as much as you can?




And obviously this message applies to any other nationalities as well, but the communications will have to be in English I'm afraid. :)

Welly-moot #5.1 Report - ("Faramir & Eowyn")

The Welly-moot group met today at the Embassy Cinema, to discuss another aspect of Tolkien's world - the relationship between Faramir and Eowyn.

It was a lively discussion, with all sorts of wonderful points being raised. Did Faramir think he would be the reigning Steward (until Aragorn showed up), and how far was Eowyn from taking up the mantel thrust upon her by King Theoden, before they both met?

The group, which consisted of thirteen committed members, had a great cultural variety amongst us - New Zealand, England, Scandinavia, USA, Japan, Germany, Polynesia, to name a few backgrounds. We talked about child-naming traditions for Middle-earth, and how they relate to the real world, as well as the stranglehold that misogyny has over Eowyn, and how it affected her life choices. From there we somehow covered the subject of hair-cutting traditions on Rarotonga, and how that was also reflected in some ways in the reverence Gimli held over the locks of Galadriel's hair. From the real world to Middle-earth, and straight back again indeed.

In the group today were a number of members who return to us after long absences, including Ryan, Jennifer, and Hawk - welcome back guys! One particularly long absence was from Jens Goetz from the German Tolkien group. Jens has been to the moot once before, way back in 2012, dressed as our German Gandalf! As before, he brought a song for us!

"What really happened in the Green Dragon" -by Jens Goetz

Today he was in "normal" clothes, but tomorrow I have the honour of driving him around the Middle-earth locations of Wellington in my other job as a LOTR tourguide. Looking forward to it, Jens!


Apart from the theme of the day, we also of course had a big excited discussion about our huge event, The End Of All Things; the Ultimate Middle-earth Marathon. Since we have the green light, we know that tickets are selling rapidly, so if you're thinking of attending, please buy tickets as soon as possible. If you leave things too late, you may end up missing out. Please get in touch with either Cinnamon or myself if you need any assistance in any way. We're on facebook, email, blog messages, texts, phones, etc, so no excuses! :)

It very much looks like this event will be an awesome one. Every announcement today was exciting. We're getting sponsored by Mojo Coffee, who will be providing bottomless brewed coffee throughout the event. There will be VIP guests - one has been confirmed, and possible more as well. I will be announcing things as soon as they firm up 100%. It looks very much like Weta is dressing up the Roxy Cinema, possibly with original props. We're doing it in style!


More information to come soon. In the meantime, to book a ticket, please go to...:

         http://www.roxycinema.co.nz/page-event-3.php

Roxy Cinema Events booking

  - Jack

The End Of All Things - The ultimate Middle-earth Marathon is ON!

So, it looks like we're all go, the event is live, and tickets have gone on sale!

We got ours - how about you?

Over the last few days, we've had confirmation that the Roxy Cinema is helping us celebrate the completion of Sir Peter Jackson's in style.

Together with Welly-moot they have arranged for all six of the EXTENDED versions of the movies to be shown in a single extremely long session, starting at 2:00pm on March 24th (Thursday before Easter), and ending around the same time the next day (Good Friday March 25th).

A few weeks ago, we asked people to "like" the facebook event page - now we're asking you to put your money where your mouths are, and go and buy the tickets.

Tickets are on sale online through the Roxy's own website at the follwiong address:

http://www.roxycinema.co.nz/page-event-3.php

...so go and get yourself a ticket to a history event. Tickets are $250, and costumes are compulsory encouraged! Welly-moot will be providing some cool spot-prizes for the best or funnest costumes!

There WILL be further announcements, so keep watching this space!

If anyone has any questions, send them to me or to the Roxy (through their link above).

And see you all there!

Welly-moot #5.1 Theme - Faramir & Eowyn (January 31st)

If it's not too late to mention it, happy new year, everyone! Get ready for another geeky nerdfest of Tolkien Trivia!


This month we will explore the relationship between Faramir and Eowyn. It's a curious one; they meet, get engaged, and marry despite (or perhaps due to) all the troubles around them.

Both had high hopes for the future, which was dashed on the rocks for both of them by Aragorn (although for different reasons).



So, dig out the books one more time, and make sure to watch the Extended Edition of the Return Of The King (their meeting in the Houses of Healing is fleshed out a lot there), and come and discuss your findings with us at the Embassy Cinema, at 2:00pm, on Sunday January 31st, the first Welly-moot meeting of 2016.


Also at the moot, there will be further announcements relating to our BIG event, The End Of All Things. It looks very much like we've got the green light on it - I heard on the grapevine today that tickets will be on sale via the Roxy Cinema in the next few days. Get ready with your credit cards!

Tickets will be strictly limited, and those who followed the instructions given earlier will be given first preferences to the tickets, so please DO send that email to events@welly-moot.com as soon as you can - I fully expect the tickets to go VERY quickly.

For more information, check out the facebook event page as well.


Meanwhile, see you on Sunday January 31st, for the bi-monthly moot!

  - Jack

Event: The End Of All Things

"For the Quest is achieved, and now all is over. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things"

- Frodo Baggins, March 25, T.A. 3019, Orodruin

Now that the last Hobbit movie has had its Extended Edition released, we've come to it - the final release of the final movie.

This is it.

The End Of All Things.

It all ends on March 25, 2016.

--

For the last few months, here at the Welly-moot we have been planning the longest celebration yet; a Once-in-a-Lifetime, Ultra-Mega-Super-Marathon. All six extended movies in all their glory, in the best place in the known world to see it; the Roxy in Miramar.

Only, we're not doing it over the course of six weeks; we'll be there for over 24 hours, in a single sitting.


We've been in talks with Roxy to organise this gargantuan event. Tentatively, the plan is this: We get together on Thursday March 24th, 2016 (the day before Good Friday). An Unexpected Journey will begin at 2:00pm, with the Return of The King finishing around the same time on Good Friday.

Tickets will be around the $250 mark. Not a bad deal, for 6 movie tickets, 3 Roxy-quality meals, snacks, and staff to look after us for that length of time. Also, the theatre will be themed out for us, Roxy-style. We all know they're up to the job!

There WILL a few more surprise announcements coming, as soon as we confirm them.

--

Here's the crunch - we need your commitment to turn up! At this stage we will be taking names and email addresses of people who can commit to this event. This is a first-come-first-served event, with STRICTLY LIMITED SEATING. The Roxy isn't huge, and food needs to be ordered WELL in advance.


If you can make it to this event, please do the following:

1. Send an email to "events@welly-moot.com", with a Subject of "The End Of All Things".
2. Tell us how many tickets you want.
3. Tell us a full name, and a working email address for EVERY TICKET REQUESTED
4. Expect further announcements soon.

Failure to follow the steps may result in confusion and extra work for us, and no tickets for you. Please make this easy for us.

Once we have the required numbers confirmed, we will be asking people to pay the tickets in full, most probably before Christmas.


We will try to keep things fair - if you've been around for the last few Hobbit years, you know we had lots of people interested in past events, so please book early!

Also, please SHARE this page around on your social media, or print it out and pin it to the notice board at the office. There's also a Facebook page set up, so please share that one around also.

  - The crew at Welly-moot

Welly-moot #4.6, Report - Galadriel's Gifts

The last Welly-moot of 2015, moot #4.6, was held on Sunday the 29th of November at the Embassy Theatre.

We started with an ‘OMG’ announcement for Welly-mooters. We will post it on this website shortly so keep eye on it. It's pretty awesome, but we have to get the details right before we can announce it properly. Expect something pretty exciting in the next week!



Today though, three new Welly-mooters joined us - Tara & Chad, and Jade. Apart from her many creative skills, Jade also works as a guide at Weta Cave, and turns out to be very knowledgable on all matters Tolkien. Tara and Chad are travelling fans, and are currently visiting (more than a) few Middle-earth locations around New Zealand. Once they were introduced, we continued with the roundtable introductions and some general updates as usual. Great news are Sinead’s new job at Weta Degital, and new documentary project related with Tolkien from Will & Erica - looking forward to offering our assistance when the time comes closer!



The moot's theme was "The gifts from Galadriel". We are sure you know all the gifts, but here is a friendly reminder for you just in case.

Before the parting, the Fellowship members were given Lembas, Elven cloaks, Elven brooches, Elven ropes, and boats.


At the parting, Galadriel presented specific gifts to each member of the Fellowship.

• Aragorn – Elfstone and a sheath for Anduril
• Boromir – his golden belt
• Merry & Pippin – Silver belts
• Legolas – Galadhrim bow with elven hair string, and plenty of arrows
• Sam – a box marked with a silver rune "G for Galadriel". Inside the box was some earth from Galadriel's orchard and a silver nut from a Mallorn tree.
• Gimli – Three strands of Galadriel’s hair
• Frodo - Phial of Galadriel

There followed some interesting discussions;

• Based on the history of the relationship between Elves and Dwarves, Galadriel’s offer to Gimli is unique and remarkable.
• Galadriel had the foresight and so she prepared very special gifts which would be useful on their journey later on.
• The gift from Galadriel who is high-elf, to Legolas who is low(er)-elf.
• How Boromir’s gold belt and Merry & Pippin’s silver belts were used on the story.

It was suggested that in the movie, perhaps Galadriel doesn't give Boromir any personal gifts because with her foresight, she knew that he was portrayed by Sean Bean (who always dies). A good theory!




One sad item of news - one of our longest Welly-moot members, Annabelle, is moving to Hamilton with her two Hobbits. We would like to thank Annabelle for all your contribution to our little group, we will miss you. We wish you the best in your new life and hope we will meet again soon. Remember, you're a member for life!

Our next meeting will be on Sunday 31st January 2016. Keep checking our website for an exciting announcement! Talk to you soon.

  - Alex

Welly-moot #4.6 this month (nov 29th) - Galadriel's Gifts.

This month's meeting (almost) coincides with the date that Samwise remembers about Galadriel's gift to him - the little box of seeds. He uses it to regrow the trees around the Shire, cut down by Saruman during the Raising of the Shire (if you don't remember this bit from the film, you really need to read the book!).

For the theme of the meeting we will share stories about this gift, or any of the others that the Fellowship receive after their stay in Lothlorien. The cloaks, the Lembas bread, Sam's rope, Boromir's golden belt, or Gimli's three golden hairs - they are all incredibly special, and often it's not until you read the other books (Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, etc) that it becomes clear just HOW special they are. Which gift was your favourite? And why?


Come share your stories, or come listen to other people's tales, at the end of the month, on Sunday November 29th, at 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema. It'll be the last Welly-moot this year, so come and meet the crew one more time!


  - Jack

Welly-moot #4.5, Elrond - report

Our Welly-moot #4.5 meeting was held last Sunday, 27 September at Embassy Theatre.

We started with a roundtable introduction for the new Welly-mooters; Elanor, Ayumi, and Noriko, and longtime absent but now returned Welly-mooter, Ryan. After some general updates from Jack and shared updates, we started talking about today’s theme "Elrond".


Gladly most of members had done some homework of researching about Elrond and we shared what we found. Jack started by presenting a short biography about Elrond; when he was born, his early life, his adult life, and his children. Especially interesting was that Elrond is not exactly half-Elf and half-Human but 9/16 Elf, 3/8 Human, and 1/16 Maiar.


The discussion continued about his parents and his children, especially Arwen about, and how she met Aragorn, and how Elrond felt about it.

The ultimate question posed was “Do you choose mortal life or immortal life? “ Elrond was given a choice and remained as an Elf but his brother Elros became a man.

Everyone had different views and opinions, and so the discussion was going on and on. We had good robust moot, indeed!


Sad news is one of our active members Seiko is leaving Wellington and going back to Japan. We originally met her at the Archway Opening Ceremony at Rivendell this year. We enjoyed having her with us, sharing her passion for Middle Earth. We will miss you, Seiko.


Good news is Ryan has come back to Wellington. He had left almost 3 years ago. Ryan, welcome back to New Zealand and we are happy to have you back. Let's hope it is permanent this time!


Next meeting is on Sunday 29th November. We are hoping to have a special guest for the last Welly-moot meeting this year. We will announce as soon as we can.

 Keep checking our website. Talk to you soon.

  - Alex

Headsup - Welly-moot #4.5 ("Elrond") is tomorrow at 2:00pm!

Don't forget, the next Welly-moot will be held tomorrow September 27th, at the Embassy Cinema, at 2:00pm.

The subject will be Elrond, so let's see what interesting facts people can find out about him. Here's one: although Hugo Weaving ended up playing him in Peter Jackson's movies, apparently David Bowie expressed considerable interest in playing him also.


We'll see you there! Usual rules:

New members welcome!
Membership is free, and for life.
Bring money for coffee and/or cake from the Embassy Cafe.


  - Jack