Posted on 12/17/2002 7:32:02 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)
Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.
I believe ya'.
McKellen angling for TV Hobbit.
Tehanu @ 3:45 am EST
Ringer Spy Greylin sends this in from the Times in England; it was in their March 9 edition.
McKellen angles for a TV Hobbit
Richard Brooks, Arts Editor
SIR IAN McKELLEN wants to reprise his role as Gandalf in a television version of The Hobbit. The actor has already won many plaudits for playing the wizard in the film versions of The Lord of the Rings.
McKellen, who is currently appearing in a West End production of August Strindberg's play Dance of Death, has suggested to Peter Jackson, the director of the Rings trilogy, that he makes a television version of JRR Tolkien's novel The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings.
The Hobbit begins with Bilbo Baggins living very happily in a hobbit hole until Gandalf arrives with the dwarves to take him away. On their adventure they encounter elves, goblins and trolls.
"I've asked Peter if he'll do The Hobbit as a huge TV series," said McKellen, who for many years was best known as a stage actor. "All those different strands in the book seem perfect for TV. We could also do every scene of the book."
"It sounds a good idea to me," said Christine Crawshaw, chairman of the Tolkien Society. "Ian McKellen was perfect as Gandalf, though one or two people have said to me that he was not grumpy enough. I also think a long-running TV series is a good idea, as that way you won't have to cut anything.
"While I thought that the two film versions were good, particularly the Fellowship of the Ring, I'm a bit critical because so much had to be cut from the books."
McKellen believes that television could be a better medium than the cinema for The Hobbit. "I remember those marvellous BBC children's dramas they used to have on Sunday afternoons. This could fill that slot.
"I also think that TV could appeal more to Peter Jackson as he used to hint that after three movies he might be fed up with Tolkien."
The first two films, which have starred Elijah Woods as Frodo Baggins, Liv Tyler as Arwen and Christopher Lee as Saruman, have been huge successes. Both have already grossed more than £500m. The third, The Return of the King, will finish filming in New Zealand this summer before its release in December.
Jackson, who has established a huge set and infrastructure for the Rings near Wellington, has recently hinted that he might make The Hobbit, too. "He's not yet replied to my idea but I'm hopeful of persuading him," said McKellen.
The director is currently in Los Angleles and was not available for comment. However, it is understood that he would not be happy seeing anybody else make a version of the novel. [This is completely wrong - I've read interviews with Peter Jackson where he's said he'd look forward to being able to sit down in a cinema, relax, and watch somebody else's work on the Hobbit. - Tehanu]
The screen rights to the book are held by the movie producer Saul Zaentz, who won Oscars for The English Patient, Amadeus and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
New Line Cinema, which made the Rings movies, is thought to have first right of refusal on producing a screen version of The Hobbit.
And for those of you who missed it... other news:
LOTR Loses 
SAG Award To 'Chicago'
3/09/03, 10:03 pm EST - Xoanon
LOTR: TTT has just lost out the 'Best Ensemble' award at the Screen Actors Guild Award to Chicago. [More]
And a nice story, (4 pages) about weta with some interesting pictures, haven't read the whole thing yet!
Built on Weta's precious mettle.
3/10/03, 4:01 am EST - Tehanu
A nice article about the Weta team and their work on the films, from Animation World Magazine. Thanks to Wordsmith for the link. [More]
Makes you want to snatch somebody bald-headed, doesn't it?
We bought our house when it was still under construction, and our builder came to detest us. I came by every day to check up; good thing I did. We had bought our own paint, in the colors we wanted for our LR and DR. One afternoon, I found the painter using the typical 'Builder's Blah' on the walls in the DR. Told him it was the wrong color and he could get the right stuff in the contractor's trailer. He was not pleased; tough!
At the walkthrough, the night before closing, SSQ spent 3 hours checking everything out. The realtor was SO p*ssed! One thing we mentioned was that the kitchen cabinets were full of sawdust. Small problem, maybe, but we were paying almost $300K for the house, and I certainly wasn't planning on having to clean out the dang cabinets before we could move in! Besides, SSQ said that was his job when he was young, and working with his Daddy building houses, before he was old enough to use the heavy tools. He'd be the one who cleaned out all the cabinets and swept up, so the folks would have a clean house to move into.
A few weeks later, I had to go tell the builder about a problem we'd found. He was working on one of the newer houses down the street. When I mentioned the problem, he turned to the guy he was working with and make some snide remark about how picky we were, and about the dust in the cabinets. Maybe he thought I would be embarrassed and go away. BIG MISTAKE! I unloaded on him, and he never spoke to us again. Fine with us. He was such a jerk! His name has been spoken with derision each time we've found some new problem over the last 15 yrs.
That's why we want to do as much of it ourselves as we can. We'll contract someone to put up the outside walls and the roof. I'll pre-paint all the outside trim and siding, then go back and touch up after it's installed. We'll do all the inside work except the sewer and gas hookups, and the drywall. We're excited about the prospect, but we both have to get in better physical shape to do it! LOL!
Somebody call the Waahhhhmbulance! Those folks can always dish it out, but they never can take it!
It's always good when you can get a home that a builder designed and built for himself. His wife would be sure he'd take a lot of care in it's construction.
SSQ will be doing things that will definitely exceed code requirements because they are not too stringent here, even if it IS a nanny state! We don't have to worry about hurricane straps, but he'll be more diligent about insulation etc., especially since we'll be doing the radiant heat in the floor. He'll insulate beneath the pipes so the heat goes UP not down!
Sounds like you have to find a run-down place and start a remodel job!! LOL!
I must qualify that remark. If the builder is in the business of building houses, live in them a few years, THEN sell it, he'll spend some effort on it.
In your story of the beach house, I was reminded of my Daddy working on our Fish Camp. He always did the minimal necessary to get the job done so he could get on to the next job that needed doing on it. SSQ and I were down there once when he was working on the electricity. We were down at the pier, but heard the unmistakable sound of electricity arcing. We looked up in time to see the glow and SSQ made it the 100 yds up the hill to the house in record time. Daddy was fine, though his bright white hair was sticking straight up!! It's been over 24 yrs. since that, but SSQ still won't stay in that house cause he's worried it might burn down while everyone's sleeping!
Bless his heart, my Daddy died about 4 yrs. after this episode, and my oldest brother always jokes that he went young (64) because he would have done anything to get out of levelling the kitchen floor!
Sounds like you have to find a run-down place and start a remodel job!! LOL!
Hmm... Not a bad recommendation. Nothing else has seemed to work... :-)
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