Just an advance warning for anyone interested in joining the NZ Tolkien group tomorrow. Our meeting will take place this Sunday 26th of October, at the Roxy Cinema, at 2:00pm.
The theme for the meeting is the next (and last!) Hobbit movie. What do we think will be in it, and what will the difference be between the last movie and the last part of the book.
Also - the second Hobbit movie has just been released in its Extended format - has anyone had a chance to see it yet? Come talk to us about it!
Come and speculate with us! Everyone is welcome, entry is free, and you will be a member for life after attending just one meeting!
- Jack
Welcome to Welly-moot - the official blog of the Wellington Tolkien Smial.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Friday, October 17, 2014
Stansborough competition!
Last week I was speaking to the good folk of Stansborough Textiles, who made all the beautiful material for the Middle-earth movies (amongst other many things!). Welly-moot visited them last year, and we got to see the ancient looms making "actual" Elven fabric.
Cheryl from Stansborough showed me the new products which will be released for the final Hobbit movie (The Battle Of The Five Armies), notably a new set of fingerless Gandalf gloves - very nice!
So, we talked for a while, and we thought it might be nice to get these in (on?) people's hands before Christmas 2014.
For an extra incentive, with every purchase you will go into the draw for one fullsized Hat of Gandalf the Grey (a value of nz$320). The Gandalf hat is fully licensed, and authentic down to the last detail, including the patches on top.
How do you get into the draw? You get one entry into the draw if you buy any of the following products:
To qualify, purchase them straight off their website before the end of November 30, 2014. In the order form "comments" field, make sure you type "Welly-moot".
All prices on the site are in New Zealand Dollars, and world-wide shipping is free, so that's all good!
NB - this draw is open to everyone, you do NOT have to belong to our group (yet). It won't hurt though, and we have a meeting on October 26th, if anyone's interested in joining. :)
Cheryl from Stansborough showed me the new products which will be released for the final Hobbit movie (The Battle Of The Five Armies), notably a new set of fingerless Gandalf gloves - very nice!
 |
| Gandalf's gloves - same design, same wool, same sheep. Now also for mortals. |
So, we talked for a while, and we thought it might be nice to get these in (on?) people's hands before Christmas 2014.
For an extra incentive, with every purchase you will go into the draw for one fullsized Hat of Gandalf the Grey (a value of nz$320). The Gandalf hat is fully licensed, and authentic down to the last detail, including the patches on top.
 |
| Alex the Grey |
How do you get into the draw? You get one entry into the draw if you buy any of the following products:
- a set of Gandalf's new fingerless gloves (1x entry)
- the super-cute Gandalf Mini-Hat (1x entry)
- the magical Gandalf Scarf (2x entries!)
 |
| Buy any of these, and go into the draw to win the world's coolest hat! |
To qualify, purchase them straight off their website before the end of November 30, 2014. In the order form "comments" field, make sure you type "Welly-moot".
All prices on the site are in New Zealand Dollars, and world-wide shipping is free, so that's all good!
NB - this draw is open to everyone, you do NOT have to belong to our group (yet). It won't hurt though, and we have a meeting on October 26th, if anyone's interested in joining. :)
Friday, October 10, 2014
Two weeks till Welly-moot #3.5 (October 26th)
The next Welly-moot will be held in two weeks, at the Roxy Cinema as usual. Originally we had hoped to be present at the opening of the new Archway in Rivendell, but it looks like that's still going to be some time away. More on that as I get more information.
The discussion for the meeting will be focussed on the third and last installment of The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies. Specifically will predict the things that WILL be in the movie, things that MIGHT be in the movie, things that SHOULD be in the movie, and things that may hopefully MAKE it into the extended version.
This will be the very last Welly-moot meeting before a related Peter Jackson movie comes out, so I can't think of a better discussion! I'm guessing the followup of this could be the next meeting - what DIDN'T make it into the movie (December moot?) :)
So, everyone, please watch the two previous Hobbit movies one more time, read the last parts of The Hobbit book once more, and come to the meeting with a shopping list of how your version of the script would go.
The discussion for the meeting will be focussed on the third and last installment of The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies. Specifically will predict the things that WILL be in the movie, things that MIGHT be in the movie, things that SHOULD be in the movie, and things that may hopefully MAKE it into the extended version.
This will be the very last Welly-moot meeting before a related Peter Jackson movie comes out, so I can't think of a better discussion! I'm guessing the followup of this could be the next meeting - what DIDN'T make it into the movie (December moot?) :)
So, everyone, please watch the two previous Hobbit movies one more time, read the last parts of The Hobbit book once more, and come to the meeting with a shopping list of how your version of the script would go.
Venue: The Roxy Cinema, upstairs by the windows
Time: 2:00pm
Date: October 26th, 2014
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Report: Welly-moot #3.4 - All about Dain Ironfoot
Our meeting on August 31st was a very active one, and full of passion. In all, eight people turned up, and we all took active roles in the discussion; the history of Dain Ironfoot. In attendance were Alex and Jack, Cinnamon and Ash, Sinead and Luke, Miranda, and Wayne.
As usual we started with Jack opening the meeting, and some general updates. First, some news about the Rivendell Archway in Kaitoke Park showing the recent photos. It looks quite beautiful and is nearing completion. The official opening is planned to be on October 11th, which is also the 15th anniversary of Day 1 of filming of LOTR. Hopefully Welly-moot will be invited.
The current hot topic is Peter Jackson's new Biggest Hobbit Fan Contest, and some of the Welly-mooters have applied already. Of course, of any of us win, we won't need to be flown to Wellington!
Cinnamon showed off a new keyring with the key of Erebor. It looked pretty cool. We talked about collections and different kinds of "collectors". Some display everything on shelves (like Jack), while others don’t open their items but keep them in the original boxes and just keep them for their own happiness (like Ash). Some do both.
The main activity was Dain Ironfoot aka Dain II. Most of us did some homework and we had active discussion about this mysterious Dwarf Warrior. Cinnamon brought her reference book The Complete Guide To Middle-earth (by Robert Foster), and read the section on Dain II. This set up some general information about him, and we started bringing any additional background.
Jack brought a couple of Tolkien books as well - The Return of the King, The Hobbit, and The Unfinished Tales - and also added a family tree taken from the excellent LOTR Project site by Emil Johansson. If you haven't checked out this site, you're missing out. Our gratitude to Emil for creating this amazing reference site!
An unexpected controversy, and a highlight discussion of the afternoon was "What are the Five Armies?". Obviously, the first four are Human, Elves, Dwarves, and Goblins, but what of the fifth???? Wargs? Sinead and Miranda suggested that it might be Eagles. It is possible. Cinnamon checked her book and it says the fifth one is Eagles. However some of us were not totally convinced. Maybe Orcs? Jack checked The Hobbit, and found that Goblins and Orcs are same kind of creature.
Alex suggested that maybe it was Beorn. Did he came with some other bears? Wayne checked his beautiful two-part Hobbit book and found the Beorn’s entrance at the battle, “In that last hour Beorn himself had appeared – no one knew how or from where. He came alone.”
The Hobbit book is quite clear about the fifth army - it's the Wargs. However, given the lack of importance given to the Wargs in the movie (other than beasts of burden), we must wait to find out Peter Jackson’s decision about the fifth army in the next movie.
The discussion moved on to the actor who will play Dain, Billy Connery. Ash used his iPad, and read out an interview with Connoly. Apparently Billy has never read the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings and he thinks people who read them are weird. :)
Here is a Yoube link to a similar interview from him. Be warned - it goes slightly NSFW after a while, but given that it's Billy Connoly, that's not too surprising.
After wrapping up the discussion, we moved on to some other business. Jack has been working in the background about a new feature for the Welly-moot, an email-list. We agreed that a mailing list will be useful and easy to receive timely notification of updates on the Welly-moot website. When the work is completed, Jack will send a single email to all past and present Welly-mooters - please REPLY to that if you want to be on the Welly-moot mailing list. New Zealand has very strict anti-spam laws (gladly!), so we have to have an opt-in list rather than an opt-out one.
The Hobbit 3 is coming in three months, so we are expecting more information about any events in Wellington, and we are trying to organise a Hobbit movie marathon at Roxy in December. We will keep everyone informed on this website if there is any update.
Next Welly-moot 3.5 meeting is October. We are thinking of having it at the Rivendell site in the Kaitoke forest. The area has been updated with some new poles, paved paths, new signs, and of course the new Archway. Let’s explore Rivendell!
Also Jack will take a Hobbit location tour of Trollshaw's Forest in Piopio (near Waitomo), as well as the new night tour at Matamata's Hobbiton including dinner at Green Dragon. He will report them with photos at next meeting in October!
Till then!
 |
| From left, clock-wise around the table: Cinnamon, Ash, Luke, Sinead, Jack, Wayne, Miranda. Missing (photographer): Alex. |
As usual we started with Jack opening the meeting, and some general updates. First, some news about the Rivendell Archway in Kaitoke Park showing the recent photos. It looks quite beautiful and is nearing completion. The official opening is planned to be on October 11th, which is also the 15th anniversary of Day 1 of filming of LOTR. Hopefully Welly-moot will be invited.
The current hot topic is Peter Jackson's new Biggest Hobbit Fan Contest, and some of the Welly-mooters have applied already. Of course, of any of us win, we won't need to be flown to Wellington!
Cinnamon showed off a new keyring with the key of Erebor. It looked pretty cool. We talked about collections and different kinds of "collectors". Some display everything on shelves (like Jack), while others don’t open their items but keep them in the original boxes and just keep them for their own happiness (like Ash). Some do both.
The main activity was Dain Ironfoot aka Dain II. Most of us did some homework and we had active discussion about this mysterious Dwarf Warrior. Cinnamon brought her reference book The Complete Guide To Middle-earth (by Robert Foster), and read the section on Dain II. This set up some general information about him, and we started bringing any additional background.
Jack brought a couple of Tolkien books as well - The Return of the King, The Hobbit, and The Unfinished Tales - and also added a family tree taken from the excellent LOTR Project site by Emil Johansson. If you haven't checked out this site, you're missing out. Our gratitude to Emil for creating this amazing reference site!
 |
| Dwarves, dwarves everywhere (click for larger version). Source: www.lotrproject.com |
An unexpected controversy, and a highlight discussion of the afternoon was "What are the Five Armies?". Obviously, the first four are Human, Elves, Dwarves, and Goblins, but what of the fifth???? Wargs? Sinead and Miranda suggested that it might be Eagles. It is possible. Cinnamon checked her book and it says the fifth one is Eagles. However some of us were not totally convinced. Maybe Orcs? Jack checked The Hobbit, and found that Goblins and Orcs are same kind of creature.
"[...] Orc is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places but is usually translated goblin (or hobgoblin for the larger kind) [...]" - The Hobbit (prologue), JRR Tolkien
Alex suggested that maybe it was Beorn. Did he came with some other bears? Wayne checked his beautiful two-part Hobbit book and found the Beorn’s entrance at the battle, “In that last hour Beorn himself had appeared – no one knew how or from where. He came alone.”
 |
| Jack & Alex. Alex is winning the argument. |
The Hobbit book is quite clear about the fifth army - it's the Wargs. However, given the lack of importance given to the Wargs in the movie (other than beasts of burden), we must wait to find out Peter Jackson’s decision about the fifth army in the next movie.
The discussion moved on to the actor who will play Dain, Billy Connery. Ash used his iPad, and read out an interview with Connoly. Apparently Billy has never read the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings and he thinks people who read them are weird. :)
Here is a Yoube link to a similar interview from him. Be warned - it goes slightly NSFW after a while, but given that it's Billy Connoly, that's not too surprising.
After wrapping up the discussion, we moved on to some other business. Jack has been working in the background about a new feature for the Welly-moot, an email-list. We agreed that a mailing list will be useful and easy to receive timely notification of updates on the Welly-moot website. When the work is completed, Jack will send a single email to all past and present Welly-mooters - please REPLY to that if you want to be on the Welly-moot mailing list. New Zealand has very strict anti-spam laws (gladly!), so we have to have an opt-in list rather than an opt-out one.
The Hobbit 3 is coming in three months, so we are expecting more information about any events in Wellington, and we are trying to organise a Hobbit movie marathon at Roxy in December. We will keep everyone informed on this website if there is any update.
Next Welly-moot 3.5 meeting is October. We are thinking of having it at the Rivendell site in the Kaitoke forest. The area has been updated with some new poles, paved paths, new signs, and of course the new Archway. Let’s explore Rivendell!
Also Jack will take a Hobbit location tour of Trollshaw's Forest in Piopio (near Waitomo), as well as the new night tour at Matamata's Hobbiton including dinner at Green Dragon. He will report them with photos at next meeting in October!
Till then!
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