QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND — Queenstown is the kind of place where people come and never leave. In fact, talk to a few dozen folks in town and chances are good a few of them wandered into the place and never found their way out.
If it isn’t already, get it on your bucket list.
The mark of the Lord of the Rings films are still indelibly written here and to a degree that might surprise. Nestled on the shores of Lake Wakatipu with majestic mountains on either side, this busy adventure town looks a good bit like cinematic Middle-earth because many times this regions served as such in Peter Jackson’s films. In fact, the list is too long to include comprehensively here.
With a town big enough to have good food, amenities and lodging suitable for stars, it is also on the frontier and a gateway to much of the South Island. But, cultural and financial residue from the LOTR films is still readily apparent and especially to a writer who wears a “One Ring” jersey around town. Continue reading “LOTR still found in the fabric of Queenstown, Hobbit next”
As mentioned on our last *live* broadcast of TORn TUESDAYS, our friends at Badali Jewelry have an exciting Thanksgiving weekend sale going on where you can get a FREE replica of the One Ring (and other cool items) after buying $125 worth of jewelry. Each promo code is good for a particular free item on each separate day. Here are the codes: 11/26 Saturday “THANKS1” (for a Gold Plated Asha’man Dragon Pin), 11/27 Sunday “THANKS2” (for a Bronze Cthulhu Medallion), and 11/28 Monday “THANKS3” (for a Gollum Gold One Ring of Power with plain script). When ordering, select at least $125 worth of merchandise, then add the Free Jewelry Item of the day into your shopping cart (RJ-36 for Saturday, CTHN-22 for Sunday, and GG-01 for Monday). Then enter the day’s coupon code during the check out process and the cost of that day’s Free Item will be removed from the cart, giving it to you free! Also good on telephone orders! Check out their site Badali Jewelry for more details!
This Hobbit™ inspired pendant features the Arkenstone clutched in the claw of Smaug, one of the last great dragons of Middle Earth™. Smaug, in his desire for the treasures within, plundered the Lonely Mountain™ from the Dwarven Longbeards™ clan. Among the treasures he claimed was the Arkenstone, the Heart of the Mountain™. The dragon claw necklace is three dimensional and cast in either solid sterling silver or solid 14k gold. The Arkenstone is a 10 mm (3/8″) Swarovski Crystal sphere. The Smaug’s claw measures approximately 26.7 mm (1 1/16″) long, 12.6 mm (1/2″) wide and 12.3 mm (1/2″) thick. The Arkenstone pendant weighs approximately 2.1 grams.
Click here to order the The ArkenstoneTM Necklace
Janelle Powell from Badali Jewelry writes: Just wanted to let you know that we are bringing back the Comic Con Preview Night Exclusive Sale for 2011. During Preview Night (Wednesday the 20th) all customers will receive 30% off their entire purchase (excludes items already on sale). This is a chance to receive the lowest prices on our jewelry for the entire year.
We will have a full inventory of Sterling Silver One Rings, Nenya’s, Smaug’s and Gollum Gold One Ring Necklaces, as well as select sizes of Sterling Silver Narya’s, Vilya’s and Gollum Creature Rings. Sterling Silver One Ring will be marked down from $98.00 to $68.60. Sterling Silver Nenya’s will be marked down from $99.00 to $69.30. These will be some of the absolute lowest prices on our Lord of The Ring’s Jewelry that can be found all year long. We are even offering 30% off the regular retail price for any orders that are placed with us at our booth on Preview Night. This means that literally everything on our website will be available at the 30% discount, including all gold items. 10k Yellow Gold One Rings will be available for $581.90, that’s a savings of $235.10 off the regular retail price.
We wanted to give you readers an advanced heads up as it’s a wonderful opportunity to save a lot of money! www.badalijewelry.com
Last night I was contacted by the wonderful folks at Badali Jewelry, a family run jewelery maker with deep roots in Tolkien creations. They wanted us to ask you, the fans, what you would like to see them make from the LOTR Trilogy and The Hobbit books. What item would be your must-have? Post in the comments below, join the conversation on our message boards or Facebook page. Badali Jewelry are waiting for your input..who knows, your dream may become reality! Be sure to visit badalijewelry.com to see all their excellent work!
Helmets off to Michael Noer at Forbes. He has written a tremendously funny and intelligent piece for Forbes as part of its “Fictional 15” look at fictionally rich characters, including everybody’s favorite worm of Middle-earth. He walks us through Smaug’s net worth:
We know from the novel that Smaug’s wealth comes down to three primary components, the mound of silver and gold that he sleeps on, the diamonds and other precious gemstones encrusted in his underbelly, and the “Arkenstone of Thrain,” which is depicted as something like the Hope Diamond on steroids.
Smaug The Unassessably Wealthy and 14 other fictional characters can be found here whiile the bit focusing on Tolkien’s creation can be found right here. Can two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” (featuring Smaug) earn a sum equal to a dragon’s hoard? Enjoy and discuss!
