On September 22nd, the very date of Bilbo’s and Frodo’s birthdays, a large group of Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Men, Wizards, and well-behaved Wargs, gathered for a day of merriment, feasting, and activities.
The Party took place under the sheltering trees of Griffith Park, in the Mineral Wells picnic area, close by a meandering river. The day was warm, but not too warm. The sun high and bright. The leaves sparkled green and gold in a fair breeze which ruffled the Baggins’ Birthday banner and the feathers adorning Hobbit hats. Tents dotted the landscape: an Elven enclave here, a Dwarven fortress there, a Hobbit hole beneath a tree.
The banqueting table was laden with dishes–pulled pork, barbecue chicken salad, spicy sausages, cheese samplings, Lembas, watermelon, pasta salad (I could go on and on, but it’s making my mouth water all over again.) There were even two big jugs of delicious homemade apple brew crafted from a long list of enticing ingredients.
TheOneRing.net will be at Griffith Park Sunday, September 22nd, starting at 11:30am to celebrate Bilbo and Frodo’s birthdays with a picnic and festivities. Please join us if you are in the area!
This is a Potluck, so please bring a food item to put on the community potluck table–main courses, sides, snacks, fruit, salads, sweets–anything is welcome. We will also need plates, cups, napkins, utensils, etc. but check the Facebook sign-up so we don’t end up with too many. And if you have an ice chest to help keep beverages cool, fill it with ice and bring it along. Please RSVP in the discussion section on Facebook (see below) with what food, beverage or picnic supplies you plan to bring.
CAKE CONTEST: Instead of an official birthday cake, there will be a competition for everyone to show off their baking skills. All cakes and cupcakes designs with a Baggins Birthday or Middle-earth theme will be entered into the contest. Put your creative thinking caps on!
You can find detailed event information and a section to RSVP on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/events/8264139026978984/ Please read the About info, and open it to reveal more because there is a lot of info in there, including driving directions. If you don’t do FB, RSVP to Garfeimao@TheOneRing.net with what food or other supplies you will be bringing.
WHAT TO BRING (Besides food): As you can see from the above image, portable chairs, pop up tents, blankets, sunscreen, hats, sunglasses are all standard. Bring a cloak because it can be surprisingly cool some years.
COSTUMES: Any and all cosplay is welcome and encouraged. You can wear a full set of armor, dress like a Hobbit, or turn to the dark side. If you just want to wear a geeky themed shirt, that’s okay, too. Anything is welcome, but be forewarned, there is usually a costume contest, so be creative.
SKITS: If time allows, there will be a chance to do your rendition of Gollum, act out a scene from the films, read a poem or book passage, or sing a song. So figure out what you want to do and practice ahead of time.
TRIVIA CONTEST: Brush up on your Tolkien Trivia, the competition is usually fierce, but it’s a lot of fun, and everyone is welcome to participate.
Hope to see you all there this year! Don’t forget to check the Facebook page for more info.
Additional note: There is a second Hobbit event planned somewhere in Griffith Park on Sunday. If their signage does not say Baggins Birthday Bash or TheOneRing.net, they are not our Baggins Birthday Bash. This other event will be charging for attendance, and as you know, for the past 23 years, we’ve always been free. As long as you follow the directions to the Mineral Wells location we’ve been at the past decade or more, you will find your TORn Sibs waiting for you.
Also, kids and pets are welcome, we are always a family-friendly event. Dogs must be leashed, and we suggest you bring a water bowl for your pet. It is predicted to be quite hot that day.
“You have 90 seconds or sometimes less to transport people psychologically into a place where they’re ready.”
Variety’s Karen Peterson takes us on her deep dive with creatives Mark Bashore and Katrina Crawford, creators of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power main title sequence.
Bashore explains, “We came with the idea of a main title built from the world of sound, not built from the world of film.”
Read or listen here. Thanks to Discord Ringer RichardVII for the link! If you’d like to join the chat, we’re open 24/7 over at our Discord server. You can also find a prior article on this topic here with a link to Plains of Yonder, where no doubt you’ll find Mark and Katrina cooking up more great stuff.
The following is a guest review from TORn Discord Ringer Amandawrites:
Sharing your joys with loved ones isn’t always easy. My husband, Eric, is a New York Mets fanatic.
When we started dating, I thought baseball was only marginally more interesting than the proverbial drying paint. But because he watches every game he can, and listens when he can’t watch (and checks game updates on his phone when he can’t listen), I soon found that spending time with him between April and October meant learning to appreciate, if not love, baseball (and particularly the Mets). Twenty-odd years later, I’ve come to appreciate the game and even enjoy it (sometimes). But love? Well, let’s just say I have other priorities.
As baseball is to Eric, Tolkien is to me.
Shortly before we were planning to leave for the theater the evening Return of the King opened, I accidentally drove an electric drill bit into my palm. (Unhandy people like me really ought not attempt carpentry projects, especially minutes before going somewhere important.) Eric sensibly suggested we go to the ER, but it was Return of the frickin’ King—for me, the fantasy equivalent of a Subway World Series—so seeing the film took priority. I bear the ensuing scar as proof of my love of LOTR. Yet Eric views Tolkien as I view baseball—it’s something he has come to appreciate and sometimes even enjoys—but love? He had other priorities.
September 2: Rings of Power or the Mets?
Our separate loves came in conflict on Friday, September 2, when I insisted we watch the premier episode of The Rings of Power while the Mets were playing. My husband, in an expression of love for me, acquiesced with only a little grumbling. He knew I’d been itching to watch the episode for months and granted me the boon foregoing his joy in favor of mine. (There’s a reason we’ve been married for two decades.) Incidentally, my daughter loves LOTR, although she might prioritize the ER over the theater if she had a puncture wound in her hand. So last Friday night, we all sat down together to watch ROP, me with fingers crossed and palms sweating in hopes that the show wouldn’t end up RIP in our family viewing line up.
A family fit: of kin and kindred
It was fitting to watch as a family, since family is the cornerstone of the series. Galadriel’s mission to find the missing Dark Lord Sauron is driven by her love for her elder brother Finrod, whom Sauron killed. Nearly everyone else we meet — harfoot, human, dwarf, or elf — has a family to protect and care for, or aspires to forming those bonds. I love that the series has begun on this footing, centering motivations on kin and kindred rather than the standard-issue Great Evil That Will End All Things.
The lesser evil of playground bullies
The show also rapidly establishes the little evils that get in the way of defeating the big ones—a regular theme throughout all of Tolkien’s work. This was one of my favorite things about the first two episodes. In the opening voiceover narration, Galadriel tells us “nothing was evil in the beginning,” but she’s lying to us and herself. Right away, before we see any evidence of a Great Evil, we see the ignorance and casual cruelty of Galadriel’s own people. This lesser evil of playground bullies foreshadows the conflicts and motivations that will drive Galadriel for the rest of her life (and the series).
Underestimated, undervalued, and undermined
Before she can confront Sauron, she must contend with peers who doubt and foil her, friends who betray her, and a king who pushes her out of the way. She may be Commander of the Northern Armies, but she is still underestimated, undervalued, and undermined. It’s easy to read this as a feminist take on Tolkien, where a brilliant woman is hindered by the petty jealousies and hubris of a bunch of men who think they know better and want her to sit down and shut up (and think getting her to stand down is for her own good). But whether you love or hate the feminist angle, it’s entirely consistent with all of Tolkien’s work.
Family roadblocks and bad@$$ sisters
From the Sackville-Bagginses to Denethor to Fëanor, who started the whole mess that led Galadriel’s people out of Valinor in the first place, Tolkien always dwells on the roadblocks put up by the hero’s friends and family as much or more than the threat posed by the Great Evil Enemy. And Galadriel certainly isn’t the only heroine in his work to succeed where men fail. From Melian to Lúthien, Haleth to Eowyn, there’s a long list of badass sisters doing it for themselves in Tolkien’s work.
Another favorite thing is the dialogue, which I thought brilliantly crafted (despite a few awkward expository moments). Every word carried its narrative weight, especially when Galadriel was speaking. There were plenty of Easter eggs for Tolkien nuts, but not so much Deep Lore that the more casual viewers in my house were lost.
Questions
There were questions, of course, like why hobbits are called harfoots, and why there is no mention of the family Galadriel is leaving behind when she’s shipped off by the king. The first question was easily answered with a look at my trusty Complete Guide to Middle-earth, but the second has me wondering if showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay have dispensed with Celeborn or delayed Galadriel’s relationship with him. I hope he’s somewhere in the wings, and Payne and McKay are sticking to the established genealogy. It would tick me off if Elrond doesn’t marry Galadriel’s daughter, Celebrían, the mother of Arwen in the books
It’s personal.
I’m also not entirely thrilled with the implication that Finrod died in battle rather than in Sauron’s prison (while helping Beren with his quest for the Silmarils), but I understand that film requires some narrative streamlining, and what’s important is the end result: Sauron killed Galadriel’s brother, and that’s what drives her now. In fact, I love that the series is founded on this classic narrative trope. It’s not just about saving the world for Galadriel, it’s personal. Very personal.
We’re in for the season!
Time constraints and other obligations had us watching only the first episode Friday and the second on Sunday night. All in all, the show got a big thumbs up from the family and will be on the viewing roster for the next 7 weeks. And if I somehow injure myself minutes before we plan to watch? Don’t worry — I have my priorities straight.
This review was written by TORn Discord Ringer Amandawrites and reflects her opinions only. Check out her blog and more writing here!