Report One Ring Celebration 2005

[Disclaimer: The opinions and ideas expressed herein are reflected solely on the reporter and may not reflect the views of the actors, friends, or anyone else who attended ORC. Part of this is semi-report but more journal entry like so I’m entitled to my opinion in some areas. If that offends you…well…you’ve been warned]

Outline: One Convention to Rule them all; 4 Hobbits walk into a bar…the impish John Rhys-Davies….you get the picture: this weekend was purely magical and a tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien and the LOTR trilogy films. That weekend will be ingrained on my memory for a long time….

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Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |


 Thursday was pre-registration day: I waited in line, got my badges for the weekend, and got a sneak peak at the exhibit hall and main theatre. At first I thought the exhibit hall was WAY too small but then realized (the next day) that there was another section of venders closed off during pre-reg.

Only reason why I mention talking about Thursday is because I had a run in with Jarl Benzon, the actor on LOTR who made a cameo as Glorfindel (course no one knows that unless they’ve seen the darned Decipher cards).

Because I only had my cell phone with me, I was hoping to snag a quick shot with Jarl and he told me that I could do it later on during the convention. I remembered later that he was probably doing photo ops like the rest of the actors. Of course, I wasn’t going to pay for a photo with him…no offense, although I can’t blame him for his shameless plug to buy a photo op.

Although granted he was a nice guy—he asked me how my day was going and likewise I did the same. Afterwards I crashed at bluejeans07’s house and played fun Katamari Damacy… insaneness ensued.

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Having crashed at bluejeans07’s house, I woke up Friday morning with renewed fervor and excitement for the con. I quickly went over the con schedule and compared it to my tentative schedule printout that I made for myself. I had plans to make the most of my con time since I paid so friggin much for admission.

I dressed up as Party Frodo and the first thing on my list was to turn in my costume information for the “Costume Parade.” I didn’t know that kentelo was helping to run it so it was a major surprise and delight to see him again!

Also it was funny to bear witness to the “Singing Gandalf” serenading to children. It was something along the lines of… “And Bilbo was his name-o.” You get the picture…that song was stuck in my head for awhile, yet it was nice to see good programming for the kids.

After turning in the paperwork I checked out the rest of the exhibit hall. The exhibit hall (now seeing the rest of it) was a tad bigger than the size of Ani-magic’s but still small enough that there really wasn’t anything “new” to buy. I was able to get a free Gollum bust however just for being a “Wizard Circle” membership…which I thought…COOL!

I also checked out the art show and was thoroughly impressed by the talent pervading in the room. Bluejeans07 had some of her art up on display and auction for charity. It was also cool to see David Falconer’s (Senior Weta Workshop Designer) designs! It’s one thing to see them on the appendices on the DVD’s, but to see the actual work up close was awesome! Too bad no one was allowed to take pictures inside the art show.

Bluejeans07 and I then traversed to the “Patterns of Defense: Making Armor Templates” panel. JediElfQueen, scendan and AJ moderated the panel and it certainly provided a wealth of information. I’ve never worked with armor before and this panel was a great introduction into an aspect of costuming I’d like to do in the near future, or rather, when I have more ample time. I said my hellos to AJ and scendan and also ran into wyvern! Much hobbity hugs were given before I left to get lunch with bluejeans07. On the way we ran into some Japanese Hobbit cosplayers that were the most adorable and fun people I met! I was glad to be able to practice my Japanese with them (I feel a bit out of shape with the language).

Just as an FYI we were both feeling a bit “crampy” if you get my drift and we knew that the Dominic Monaghan panel was going on (at least we thought) while we were eating. So then bluejeans07 says something along the lines of “I need some Midol” and I said “Let’s go to Dom’s panel…I’m sure we’ll feel better after seeing him for a bit.” Then she replies, “Yes, Dom is my Midol...” in which I add, “He’s the Midol to my heart.” Yeah……..we’re dorky all right.

Surprisingly we were NOT late to the panel because Dom himself was late! But all was good once he arrived because he answered questions from the audience members concerning Lord of the Rings, his strange relationship with Billy Boyd, and his new show LOST. Dom also wanted the audience to play a joke on the other actors tomorrow by saying “Door, triangle, and X.” He wouldn’t explain why…but I felt a funny story was to ensue.

Shortly after his panel he came out again with the production team of RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS. That panel was VERY interesting and I was also pleased to find that I was in the documentary too…if even for a short clip! I now really, REALLY want to see the documentary. It’s the last thing to look forward to unless New Line Cinema calls Peter Jackson to do “The Hobbit.”

After the panel Bluejeans07 and I went outside to do a quick shoot with my Party outfit. It was cool how the trees outside the convention center were lighted, making it atmospheric of Bilbo’s birthday party! Now if only we had a Bilbo for the shoot…

It was then time to go check in at the hotel. Word of advice to the wise: do NOT wait like I did to get the room clean; for some reason when I checked in the maids had forgotten to clean. Seeing as I was initially tired I didn’t think much of it and was trying to do some touch-ups on my wig before I returned to the con for the 50th Anniversary party. I ended up missing an hour of it which was a shame, but I had to get some business settled before hand.

Of what I DID experience of the party was that delicious chocolate mousse cake, marshmallows and candy dipped in that gorgeous fountain of chocolate, moseying with fellow Hobbit cosplayers, and watching “My Eye” performed wonderfully by Nina, Scendan and Wyvern. I was also privileged to listen to World without Sundays for the 2nd time (first time being at the Oscar party) and really enjoyed their music! Although I was quite lethargic and started to attain a headache (due to the lack of caffeine and sleep) so I ended up retiring early.

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I ended up not getting a lot of sleep the previous night but somehow the adrenaline (and the shock of caffeine I later got) helped to keep me pumped throughout the day. I was dressed as Traveling Frodo and with Taru-chan and Sana-chan, our first stop was the Billy Boyd photo op. What a charming man! And to quote Sana-chan, “His hands are SOOOOOOOOOOO soft!” He also seemed really thrilled to see us all in costume. Just as an FYI, Sana-chan was in her Legolas and Taru-chan also in her traveling Frodo outfit.

Soon realizing I had left my Sting Sword batteries at the hotel, I gave some money to Sana-chan to go to the local store and buy some batteries. During the interim I waited in line for Elijah Wood’s photo op and it was DEFINITELY worth the wait. Like the short moment with Billy Boyd…that had to have been the BEST 30 seconds of my life. I think he was rather surprised to see me all dressed up (but I’m sure by now he’s seen plenty of those people). I basically FORCED myself not to act all fangirly, but I did say it was a pleasure meeting him and he said likewise. After our initial photo I thanked him again and he said no problem and I couldn’t hold it in. I gave him a half hug, but he reciprocated so….yeah…I am a VERY happy Hobbit!

Granted he’ll never remember me but I think he might have during the autographs…which I’ll talk about later.

After the photo shoot I got lunch with Taru-chan and Sana-chan and made haste to the Billy Boyd panel. Although I got to see him in a panel setting at Comic Con, I have to admit that this panel was by far sillier than the last. I’ll have to admit though that the CRAZIEST questions came out of this panel. Now I don’t mean offense to any of you who asked questions, but this is coming from someone in the audience who felt it wasn’t necessary to tell your whole life story. It’s ok to compliment the actor for a “good job,” but get to the darned question! I know it feels like the only time you’ll have a conversation with the actor, but in all honesty it’s not like we’re their new best buds. As much as I’d like to delusion myself…it’s not like Elijah will remember me beyond this con. I probably would have had to make some sort of extraordinary gift (which I didn’t have time nor money) or asked a ridiculous question (as Billy Boyd stated, “This is in my top 5” but I wonder what he meant by top five) to garner attention. But as the “fans,” us Ringers as the collective whole, I felt I had a responsibility to treat them just the same as I would anyone else. Granted I had a good laugh by some of the questions, nice intelligent questions wouldn’t hurt either.

I think this is why I don’t even bother asking, because I know people either have the same question I’d ask, or I would ramble on before getting to the question. Anyways moving on….

So Billy Boyd cracked some jokes with the audience and moved around the entire time, making it VERY difficult to get a decent shot of him. He did mention that he and Dom were still working on that script for their “show” together. I can’t wait to see how that’ll turn out. He also ended up singing Happy Birthday to one of the members of the audience—what a LOVELY voice! As an ending question, albeit not really a question but forgivable nonetheless; a guy offered to sing to Billy (with the help of the audience) the Drinking song from the extended edition of Fellowship. Billy told him to get on stage so they’d do it together and Billy joked that he should do Merry’s part while the guy do Pippin’s part. But it never worked out that way since the audience and that guy were “Merry” and of course Billy was Pippin. Great way to end the panel since Billy sang it with enthusiasm, which of course, the audience appreciated.

Shortly afterwards was the Elijah Wood and Sean Astin panel. It consisted of Elijah and Sean expressing their appreciation for what we came out to do (of course Sean at one point told us to get a life…all in good jest) and eventually they started asking questions. To some end I had no idea that Sean was in New Zealand filming again, nor that Elijah’s appendix had burst; shows how much I keep up on the times.

The two of them ended up singing happy birthday to a few people; ballroom danced with each other, spun on a drummer’s seat, and lit up while answering questions. The saddest thing happened at the end when the questions were cut short and it was time for Elijah and Sean to leave: a little girl started crying (she had to have been five or so) because she didn’t get to ask her question and her mom started dragging her off. But Elijah said, “No, we’ll have none of that! Bring her here!” and so Elijah gave the little girl a reassuring hug. I thought that was incredibly sweet and considering of him. It was on that tender note that the panel ended.

As I got up from my seat I met up with Bluejeans07, Sana-chan, Taru-chan and Utenatai. I ended up purchasing a Sean Astin photo op for her birthday and she was quite thrilled! I then quickly rushed to check in for the costume parade where I saw Scendan all dressed up as Frodo! I wished I could’ve hung out more but the parade was on a tight schedule. It was my first time entering a masquerade and while I didn’t win anything, I still had a blast! The people in line were absolutely amazing to talk to: before me was a Beren and Luthien couple and behind me was an elf maiden reading the Simarillion (so apropos!). They were fun people to talk to and I was quite amazed at the caliber of competition! There were walking Ents (who won Best in Show) a Frodo of Nine Fingers, The EYE of Sauron, and a Tom Bombadil and Goldberry to name a few. A lot of them gave me inspiration to do better on future costumes.

After the costume parade, I waited in my seats for autographs from Sean, Billy and Elijah. I was ready this time unlike previous cons I attended: this time I would have all four hobbits signature on my lithograph. It’s really funny because Dom’s signature takes up the most space since he personalized it at Comic Con two years ago. Yet even so, it is nice to have them all on now and framed for my viewing pleasure.

During the autographs Bluejeans07, Eowyn, elf friend, and Utenatai accompanied me (mostly to carry stuff, much hobbit gratitude to be given) and Bluejeans07 held up my photo with Elijah and I and he thought it came out really well! I was a bit turned off when Sean signed my autograph because he was being distracted by the security guard next to him. I didn’t mind too much seeing as I got an autograph from him at Comic Con about a year ago. Getting Billy’s autograph was fun because again I showed him the photo op we took earlier and he said, “Why look! That’s all of us! Boy we look good!” I thanked him again and he was very sweet in his response. Bluejeans07, being the art major that she is, commented on Billy’s doodle that he was drawing on the table; Billy thanked her and explained something artistically about the drawing that I either forgot or do not understand, but it was still cool nonetheless! I was also happy Bluejeans07 was able to give her gifts to the actors since she wasn’t able to purchase photo ops with them (apparently photo ops were the only OFFICIAL place to give gifts, but I think that got disregarded with attendee’s arguments that they could only go to the autographs or vice versa).

So ends my tale of being literally within a foot of these actors. The rest of the night became devoted to the “One Ring Awards Celebration.” While the food was good, there definitely was not enough and I was hoping more for dinner food than just appetizers. Emerald Rose entertained the audience before the awards were presented and I was able to meet and pose with Bruce Hopkins and Royd Tolkien. I have to add that Royd was EXTREMELY hot being the great-grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien.

After the awards (in which Wyvern won for Best Fanfilm, well deserved), dancing was enjoyed by Elves, Men, Hobbits and Orcs as Emerald Rose played till 1:00 am. It was definitely a party to end all parties and I felt a bit more relaxed and enjoyed myself more at this party than the 50th. It probably was due to the double shot Starbucks iced coffee I had prior to the party. I actually DANCED at this party….and that’s saying a lot since I really don’t dance.


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After a day like Saturday, I felt like I was in a surrealistic place and time. I kept thinking, “I just did not meet Elijah or Billy” but it happened; and on Sunday, even better things happened!

Sunday started off with me, Utenatai and Bluejeans07 getting in line for John Rhys Davies’s (Gimli) photo op. I was so worried that our photo came out blurry (which it didn’t) because John likes to tickle people in photo ops and he has the audacity to tickle me right on the ribcage, where I’m ticklish the most. Oh dear Lord it was so hard to keep myself from laughing.

Bluejeans07 gave her artwork of Gimli to John and he gave her a hug AND a kiss! What an impish character! I was so glad to meet him!

John’s panel was very interesting and probably the highlight panel of the entire convention. I say that without a doubt even though Frodo is my favorite character from the trilogy. Out of all the actors I’d like to spend a day with, I’d pick John. He reminded me of the quirky Grandpa (as is evidenced by his quick acceptance to let little kids on stage to talk to him) and told fabulous stories and jokes while ridiculing some parents for not teaching their kids proper manners towards dwarfs. An interesting question from one audience member was whether or not, if New Line decides to the Hobbit; would John do the voice of Smaug. That elicited quite a number of “Ooos” and “Ahhs!” because quite frankly, that never even dawned in my mind. But John as the voice of Smaug, oh boy, that’d be something!

After John’s thoroughly entertaining panel, an inevitable wait for John’s autographs followed…but it was worth the wait! When I finally got up there for my autograph, he takes one look at all the others and comments saying, “What in the world are these boys doing? They took up all my spot!” I then showed him a place where he could sign and he did. I asked John if he had hung out with any of the Hobbits and unfortunately he did not, but if he did, he’d give Merry “a good kick in the pants.” I thought that was hilarious. I thanked him once again and he said it was a pleasure meeting me.

After the autographs I did my final shoppin, my final goodbyes, and exchanged e-mails to new friends. Bluejeans07 even gave me her really gorgeous artwork of Luthien, and now I'm inspired to cosplay her version of Luthien! It was really the sweetest gift ever!

 I was really sad to be leaving this magical place. While the weekend was certainly loads and loads of fun there were some downsides:

1. I must’ve spent $500 total for this con; includes hotel, con admission, photo ops, food, and merchandise. In some ways I was angered about the “pay to play” thing to quote Scendan, but I figured it was the first con and when was the next time I’d see these actors again? Probably not for a long time…perhaps not even for the upcoming Comic-Con!

2. I lost my Phial of Galadriel. That stupid Noble Collection replica I bought I somehow lost and I’m kicking myself about it because now I either A, make one that actually lights up, or B, buy it again. I really do not want to buy it again because it seems a tragic waste.

3. I think the parties should have served WAY more food and at least serve it till closing. I was upset when the desserts closed shortly after I got there. They could’ve at least let the attendees know that the caterers could only be there till a certain time.

4. This is totally irrelevant but on some of the report sites I’ve been reading, apparently all costume contestants got a consolation prize. I never got it but it’s not a big deal…I guess I should’ve hung out longer after the masquerade.

All in all four bad things out of a MILLION good things doesn’t seem like a bad ratio to me. I think my pictures speak volumes about how this is definitely not a con to miss! Concerning next year’s ORC, I will go provided on two conditions; A-I have the money, and B-Different actors attend. By different actors I mean people like Miranda Otto, Viggo Mortensen, and Bernard Hill.

But even if I don’t go in the coming years, I will always remember that weekend as being truly magical. It sucks returning to the real world of work and no play…but I tell you, when I look at the pics of me and Elijah, things turn right side up. I truly went there and back again…

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