Welly-moot 1.1 (Feb 26, 2012)

The first official meeting of Welly-moot was a total success, as all who attended would agree.

Instead of As well as the usual chaotic, coffee-drinking, cake-eating, gossip-mongering sessions of 2011, we also managed to stick to the announced theme ("How Gandalf ended up with the Key and the Map").

Special Guests
Speaking of Gandalf - we had two Gandalfs present at the meeting! I had received word that Jens Goetz from the German Tolkien group Tolkien Stammtisch Rhein-Main would attend, however we were all amazed when he walked in to the meeting in full Gandalf the Grey costume! Well done and well met, Jens, and a pleasure meeting you!

Tolkien Societies reps - Mervi from Finland, Jens from Germany, and myself.

After introductions, Jens started the meeting off with a rousing singalong of 'Hymn Of The Hobbits' (sung to the tune of Queen's 'We Are The Champions'). The lyrics (reprinted here with Jens' permission):

Hymn of the Hobbits

By Jens Goetz

Melody: We are the champions

We are the hobbits, my friend.

And we keep on eating, till the end,

We are the hobbits.

We are the hobbits.

No time for diets.

Cause we are the hobbits.

And eat till the end.

Everyone joined in with the chorus with enthusiasm,

I mentioned TWO Gandalfs - I'm not sure how clear this was to everyone there, but also present at the meeting was Michael Elsworth, who doubled for Gandalf in the LOTR movies. According to his very brief page on IMDB, he was also the Gondorian Archivist who helps Gandalf get to the library in Minas Tirith in FOTR.

Careful with that torch in a library!

What isn't clear on his IMDB page is that he was also Cirdan the ship-building Elf who originally receives a Ring of Power from Sauron in the Prologue of FOTR. This means Michael was not only one of the first three people on screen - he was also the only person to wear a Ring of Power as two separate characters (since Cirdan eventually passes the Ring on to Gandalf)!

Unfortunately Michael had to leave the meeting slightly earlier than I expected, so I did not get a chance to properly introduce him to the group. Hopefully he will grace our meetings again, and I will correct my inadequacy!


The Theme
 Kris and I had planned to discuss the format and content of the meeting properly beforehand, but we have both been very busy lately and the discussion just hasn't eventuated.

Luckily, since Kris is a trained as a teacher, she didn't wait for me to begin. She started the discussion by handing out blank paper to anyone who wanted to take notes on the session. Kris had arrived to the meeting with a good sized bag full of Tolkien books. Among them were The Return Of The King, the Unfinished Tales,  and The Letters Of JRR Tolkien.

Kris on the left, reading, everyone else writing (from left, Rachel, Michael, Martyn, Viv, Charlene, Jenifer, Ryan, Mervi, Jens, and (the hands of) Jo and John

Using the Appendices of ROTK, Kris took us through the events leading up to the meeting between Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield, that fateful day in the Prancing Pony.

I had also prepared a few notes, and I had brought a small map of the relevant areas in Middle-earth, so Kris and I filled in each other's omissions. The complete timeline will be published here just as soon as Kris and I have a complete (and agreed upon!) version of it. Watch this space!

I've been in touch with the UK Tolkien Society about reprinting Mark Bednarowski's excellent articles on the subject, and Mark has gracefully granted this, so I will provide those here online as well.

Best moment of the afternoon - Kris finished her timeline off with "...and finally, Gandalf stands in front of the round green door in the Shire, and that..." (points at Jens in Gandalf costume) "... is where you come in!"

Jens immediately responds with "Yes - would you like to see a photo of that moment?"

Click for better detail

Jens's photos certainly brought home the reality of living in Middle-earth New Zealand.

Attendees

All in all there was a really good turnout. Ryan and Jenifer brought little Hawk along (he's getting less little every meeting!). After a year of Facebook contact, and a month after her arrival in NZ, I finally met Charlene, and she'll be coming on a LOTR tour with me in the next week as well. My partner Alex had invited Viv, a friend of hers, from her current workplace. Martyn had brought Michael and Rachel.

Mervi from the Finnish Tolkien Society again managed to make it to Wellington from her NZ travels, and Ayako and Randall drove all the way from Palmerston North with their delightful daughter Rio and her friend Akari. It was nice to see Kumi again, but John and Jo I hadn't met before and I hope will join us again for the next moot.

And with Jens "Gandalf" Goetz from Germany, and Kris and myself, that made 20 Welly-mooters. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did - I'm looking forward to our next meeting, which will be on the 29th of April, 2012. I will announce the next meeting's theme in the next few weeks, as soon as Kris and I agree on it. We're taking suggestions!


  - Jack Machiela

Heads up people! Welly-moot this coming Sunday!

A quick reminder about the upcoming Welly-moot this weekend.

The meeting will be held on :

Sunday, February 26th, 2:00pm

upstairs at the Embassy Cinema

For the first "proper" meeting I'm proposing a subject to start the ball rolling with, however if we completely veer off that, then I'm more than happy with that as well. I gather a few things have been happening to a few of us in the meantime, so I'm sure there will be plenty to discuss (the studio's Non-Disclosure Agreement allowing, of course!)

With a look towards the Hobbit movie being filmed here in Wellington, I would like start the first meeting with a discussion about how it all began - how did Gandalf end up with the map and key that he passes on to Thorin in Bag End, on that fateful night as The Hobbit book begins.


Mark Bednarowski from the UK Tolkien Society has written on the subject on at least two occasions now, articles which were published in their magazine Amon Hen (for those who subscribe, they are in issues 228 and 233). I'll have those issues with me as well, if anyone wants to brush up!




Apart from all the regulars (odd though that sounds, for our first meeting!), I'm also expecting Jens Götz from the German Tolkien Society (Deutsche Tolkiengesellschaft) who is currently travelling through New Zealand. Jens contacted me a few days ago.


So, please tell a few people - send a link to this page to all your Tolkien-lovin friends, and see you all at the Embassy at 2:00pm this Sunday!

Upcoming trip

Due to my upcoming trip to Europe later this year, I have changed the date of the June moot from June 24th to July 1st. All other details will remain as they are. Please update your calendars.


While in Europe I hope to make contact with the Dutch and Belgian Tolkien Societies. Also I'm absolutely planning a visit to the Tolkien Shop in the Netherlands!

I'll be in the Netherlands and Belgium mainly, and possibly a quick trip to Germany if there's time.

We're not going to make it to the UK on this trip, unfortunately. A pint at the Eagle and Child will have to wait for another time.


Is there anything else I should add to my list? Leave me a comment here or email me!

  - Jack

Acknowledged!

I see we've been added to the official list of Tolkien Smials on the Tolkien Society (UK)'s website.

We're RIGHT down the bottom! Which, geographically speaking, is exactly where we belong!

Welly-moot 0.7 (Jan 25, 2012)

I'd been trying unsuccessfully to meet up with a few people over the past few weeks, and had thought of a better way - I set up an impromptu Welly-moot meeting instead. It was supposed to be three or four people, it ended up being eleven!

The meeting format was the same as the moots before - turn up, greet, get acquainted, buy coffee and cake, and catch up on Tolkienish things.

As you can see, we achieved the goals with ease!

From left - Kumi, Alex (for once not taking the photo!) & me, Martyn, Rachel, Kris, and Judy. Missing are Shu (taking the photo), Rebecca & Peter, and Honey

Rachel and Judy had been travelling through the country, and Honey is temporarily a Wellington citizen. Kumi has been to a few of the meetings already. Martyn had been in touch with me via email to discuss Tolkien stuff in the past, and Kris and I needed to get together again to discuss the running of the Moots.

Was a fun afternoon, and more successful than my two-day planning would suggest!

  - Jack

The Middle-earth Song (by Fortinbras Proudfoot)

After the Dec 22 (2012) Welly-moot, Peter Kenny from the Fortinbras Proudfoot Esq. Foundation sent me another song to use on this website. Peter (aka Fortinbras Proudfoot) had earlier recited one of his poems for our group - here is another one (reprinted here with his permission):

The Middle-earth Song:

By Fortinbras Proudfoot
Tune: "I'm a Believer".

I thought Middle-earth was only in my dreams,
A land found in books and movies;
That has now all changed,
I've travelled to a land;
Imagination's now reality. Chorus:

I travelled that land;
There's no more dreaming.
Through Middle-earth;
And places so real.
I'm amazed....Yeh!
No more dreaming,
There's no dreaming anymore.

First we toured down to Bibo's Hobbiton.
Then off to Mount Doom and Mordor.
Walked Emyn Muil ;
Sat by Gollum's Stream.
Saw the mighty River Anduin; Chorus:

We entered Rivendell the Elven realm;
And magical Lothlorien.
Wore the Elven Cloak;
We "Got off the Road";
And strolled through Gardens of Isengard. Chorus:

In the South we climbed up to Edoras;
Travelled across the Rohan plains.
On the Pelennor,
Charged across the fields,
Like the bravest horsemen from Rohan. Chorus:

Our road led to Fangorn and Amon Hen,
And even to the Wizard's Vale;
The Ford of Bruinen,
Mighty Argonath,
With the Misty Mountains all around. Chorus:

Wellington's own Tolkien group - finally!

Welcome to the official blog of Wellington's very own Tolkien group, Welly-moot. It's been years in coming, but here it finally is. We're now officially affiliated to the UK's Tolkien Society, making us a real "Smial".


Tolkien's works have inspired many people around the world into creativity. Of course, Wellington has a few people who have taken that to extremes, so it seemed an unnatural situation to me that we did not yet have a Tolkien Society or Smial here in town. With this group, we hope to correct that!


The purpose of this group is to bring together people in Wellington who are interested in discussing the works of Tolkien in an informal setting. There's no tests, no grades, no "inner circles of wizardry", and no necessity to memorise parts of the Silmarillion. If your only interest lies in gazing deep into the eyes of Orlando Bloom's version of Legolas then I'm sure we can accommodate that - however if you know the answer to whether Balrogs have wings or not, then we're the group to come to also. Really, Tolkien is the red thread between us all, and we're keen to come together and celebrate his life's works.


We propose to meet every two months, on approximately the last Sunday of the even numbered months. So, this year's schedule is as follows:

• February 26th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema
• April 29th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema
• July 1st, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema (*Note the new date!)
• August 26th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema
• October 28th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema
• December 30th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema

Watch this space though - there may be changes to this later as everything is in flux currently.

I'm currently setting up a Welly-moot presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ as well, and in he next few weeks I'll be linking them to this blog. Generally, this blog will be the main page for news, although Facebook tends to carry a lot of our online discussions. Join them all, they're all free!