ORC 2006

Hey All!

marybluefairy here, with Traveling Bilbo. We've both been recovering from the festivities at ORC 2006, held in Pasadena January 20-22, so forgive us for not writing sooner.

Thursday night, we pre-registered, and ran into our friend Sideshow Dusty, who posed for pictures with Bilbo. Lucky hobbit. ;)

On Friday, Bilbo met up with Daniel Reeve, the calligrapher and cartographer for the Lord of the Rings films. Not only did he sign the book, but he wrote “There and Back Again: A Hobbit’s Tale by Bilbo Baggins” just as he did in the real Red Book, using quill and ink. Bilbo and I thoroughly enjoyed Daniel's PowerPoint presentation, detailing his work on The Lord of the Rings, as well as Narnia and Kong.

On Saturday, Bilbo hung out with some of his plastic friends, namely the Premium Format Lurtz and 12” Strider figures by Sideshow Collectibles. 3D team members Scott Klauder and Heath Hammond gave a very informative talk about designing the figures. Afterward, we were invited to take pictures of Bilbo with the prototypes.

Bilbo and I really enjoyed the day's main stage presentations, given by John Noble, Elijah Wood, and Sean Astin. We were treated to some pretty funny stories! Since Bilbo had never met John or Elijah, we had to have his picture taken with them. Elijah even signed Bilbo's book, writing "Keep on keepin on!" Bilbo kept us out late, as he wanted to watch the awards show.

On Sunday, we decided to sleep in a bit, but got there just in time for Billy's presentation. He was hilarious, as usual, and Miranda Otto was as nice as you would expect. Afterward, Bilbo and I had our photo taken with Miranda, which was a very pleasant experience. She remarked on Bilbo's likeness to Ian Holm, you know, that actor who played him in the movie. :P

We ate like hobbits the whole weekend, meeting up with various local LOTRG members every day. He's come away with some nice souvenirs, but more importantly, some excellent memories.

Bilbo's next trip will be to Cleveland to enjoy the Lord of the Rings Symphony, conducted by Howard Shore. He wants to have a word with Mr. Shore about writing the score for his movie, "The Hobbit." While there, Bilbo will be visiting with some more LOTRG members, and I have to say, he's very excited!