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Happy Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien!

TawmisTawmis Member Posts: 120
in Off-Topic
Took a moment to write about the impact J.R.R. Tolkien had on me, today being his birthday.
http://neverendingnights.com/archives/2900

Comments

  • BelleSorciereBelleSorciere Member Posts: 2,108
    Good article.
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    He's dead, Jim.
  • WilburWilbur Member Posts: 1,173
    What a great writer. I've been a huge fan since I started with The Hobbit back in '93 or something.
  • TawmisTawmis Member Posts: 120
    BelleSorciere said:

    Good article.

    Thank you. A lot of heart went into it.
    FinneousPJ said:

    He's dead, Jim.

    As are most of the greats.
    Wilbur said:

    What a great writer. I've been a huge fan since I started with The Hobbit back in '93 or something.

    He was really amazing... The world he created... was... phenomenal.
  • 10Bazza1110Bazza11 Member Posts: 169
    I can really relate to this, as I had a very similar introduction to Tolkien as Tawmis. My teach used to read the Hobbit to us in assembly while he smoked his pipe (not PC now I know) I remember every one sitting their hanginging on his every word. The same teacher also introduced me to the world of Dungeons and Dragons, and I haven't looked back. What a great article and brought back a lot of good memories for me. Thank you Tawmis.
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    BTW Amazon is planning to produce a LotR TV series
  • SquireSquire Member Posts: 511
    A theatre near me is planning to show all three extended versions of the films, back to back, tomorrow in honour of this day... I'd go but tickets sold out very quickly! :lol:

    I live in the city that is considered the home of Middle Earth - the one where Tolkien grew up and went to school - and yet we don't have proper museums or exhibits related to it. Most people consider New Zealand to be the definitive "Middle Earth" because you can actually see locations form the film.

    Instead, we have, literally, the very site on which he grew up (Sarehole Mill, I've been there - in fact, until recently, I lived just down the road from it!), which is nothing more than an old mill with some signs saying "this is where Tolkien grew up" (most people aren't going to travel to Birmingham to see that), and every summer they have a Middle Earth weekend... oh yeah, and a breakfast bar called "The Hungry Hobbit". I literally live in Middle Earth and I have to go to New Zealand to see it!! :angry:

    Sorry about the random rant, I just really wish Birmingham would celebrate its famous people a bit more, like Liverpool and Stratford does. :)
  • BelleSorciereBelleSorciere Member Posts: 2,108
    tbone1 said:

    FinneousPJ said:

    BTW Amazon is planning to produce a LotR TV series

    With Richard Hammond as Bilbo Baggins and Jeremy Clarkson as Smaug?

    This is the worst idea in the history of bad ideas about TV shows.
  • TawmisTawmis Member Posts: 120
    10Bazza11 said:

    I can really relate to this, as I had a very similar introduction to Tolkien as Tawmis. My teach used to read the Hobbit to us in assembly while he smoked his pipe (not PC now I know) I remember every one sitting their hanginging on his every word. The same teacher also introduced me to the world of Dungeons and Dragons, and I haven't looked back. What a great article and brought back a lot of good memories for me. Thank you Tawmis.

    Thank you for sharing your experience as well. I love knowing that Tolkien inspired so many; and that you had such a similar experience as me (I don't suppose you lived in Chula Vista, CA at the time? Imagine the irony of it being the same teacher?!) :) I too, was knee deep in Dungeons & Dragons by the 5th grade. And these days, build out an entire world with my own gods, history, monster lore, and the whole nine yards, so that my players experience a world I've created, rather than a pre-generated one (like Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms) - so that if they find something that was a lot of fun in a campaign I can take pride that it was part of my world creation that helped them enjoy the experience! :)
    FinneousPJ said:

    BTW Amazon is planning to produce a LotR TV series

    I heard. I am... curious. And worried. I can't... imagine they're actually doing another "Lord of the Rings" when we already have the movies. I am wondering if it's going to be about other characters, doing things, at the same time the entire "Lord of the Rings" thing is happening... and why, if that's the case, didn't they simply call it "Middle-Earth" or something?
    Squire said:

    A theatre near me is planning to show all three extended versions of the films, back to back, tomorrow in honour of this day... I'd go but tickets sold out very quickly! :lol:

    I live in the city that is considered the home of Middle Earth - the one where Tolkien grew up and went to school - and yet we don't have proper museums or exhibits related to it. Most people consider New Zealand to be the definitive "Middle Earth" because you can actually see locations form the film.

    Instead, we have, literally, the very site on which he grew up (Sarehole Mill, I've been there - in fact, until recently, I lived just down the road from it!), which is nothing more than an old mill with some signs saying "this is where Tolkien grew up" (most people aren't going to travel to Birmingham to see that), and every summer they have a Middle Earth weekend... oh yeah, and a breakfast bar called "The Hungry Hobbit". I literally live in Middle Earth and I have to go to New Zealand to see it!! :angry:

    Sorry about the random rant, I just really wish Birmingham would celebrate its famous people a bit more, like Liverpool and Stratford does. :)

    I am not going to lie, I am all kinds of envious of you at the moment. :)
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