London

Sunday, December 29th, 2002 | Travel | 1 Comment

In london at the moment.
Absolutly shagged… spent the day wandering around Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. Saw lots of tombs, memorials, plaques, stone walls and a few million other tourists.

If I wasn’t one, I’d declare that ALL TOURISTS ARE FUCKWITS…. They’re like headless sheep that moon about like morons for a few hours, before taking the slightest bit of notice about the environment around them…

Oh, and somebody please explain to me the sence behind building a sundial in England? There is no damn sun!

Anyhow, my free internet time is about to expire so I think Dan, Sommer and myself are about to head elsewhere… I cant figure out where to put in more money!!

Oh. Bought a pirated version of TTT from some shady dealer near Trafalgar Square… remains to be seen whether or not it works.

Quotable Quote:
Jacqui, standing underneath Big Ben:
‘So, what -is- the time, anyway?’

*sniff*

Thursday, December 19th, 2002 | Tolkien | No Comments

Somebody hold me, I think I’m going to cry.

All today’s sessions for TTT were sold out. Means I’m not going to be able to see it until we arrive in Banff, which is *thinks* next week at the earliest.

*sniff*

Its ok. I’m ok. I’ll just be over here with the kleenex.

Hides.

Wednesday, December 18th, 2002 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Hides… You said to email your hotmail address. I would, if I could remember it. Can you send me an email sweetie?

That goes for anybody else who hasn’t heard from me via email in the past week or so. My addressbook kinda died…

Sorry to the rest of the world for this message. I have gone into network hell, and I’m stuck without my usuall array of software and gadgetry…

Going into Vancouver city now to see what kinds of trouble we can get ourselves into. Cant believe that TTT is opening in less than 12 hours.

*squeee*

Saw the Elijah Wood interview on Leno last night… Despite His Geekiness, I completely fell in love with the two monkeys they had on. *chuckle* Just adorable. Especially the way the bounced all over the place, running all over Jay and his show. *teehee* Did anybody else fall apart laughing when they did their ‘cuddle-run’ routine? *HAHAHA* Looked lilke one monkey was using the other monkey as a skateboard!!! Just so adorable!

Oh… and Elijah was cute too.
Roll on Two Towers.

Cold, who? Me in Vancouver. Thats who.

Tuesday, December 17th, 2002 | Travel | No Comments

*ugh* Need news!
Canadians dont know how to spell cricket, let alone how to play… Couldn’t believe it when I walked into the downstairs bar (at the hotel) they’re playing 5 sports channels full-time and not one of them knew ANYTHING about the game. Have the Pom’s been demoralised again? What about Warnie? Any word on his shoulder?? NEED INFO PEOPLE!

The total lack of information is a poor advertisement for the Canadian nation, really. They should instate compulsory cricket lessons in all schools. “Howzat!?” should be a household word. Really.

I’m trying to get some information about ice hockey so I can go and watch the blood thirsty sport, but I’ve yet to get any idea of whats going on. I did hear that the final cut has been made for the Canadian Junior team, set to play the Junior World Titles later this month. Like that means anything to me…
Ice Hockey is just like grass hockey on steroids, right? Matty?? *meep*

I haven’t seen much of the city, as I’ve spent most of today recovering from the flight from Auckland. I crossed the equator and the date line all in one flight, so I arrived in Honolulu before I took off, and have been confused ever since.

Hawaii is all crazy, with all the added securities they’ve put in place. To catch our connecting flight to Canada, we had to go through customs, collect our luggage, walk OUT of the airport and back in again.

I spent the whole time with a “what the hell?” expression on my face…. Mum got pulled up for a random shoe-check. I bet the poor security guard got the shock of his life. After walking around Auckland for a few hours, sitting in a dodgy bus to the airport, then another 10 or so hours in transit, mum’s feet smelled priceless….

Its -bloody- cold here. I accidently walked too close to the automagical doors in the lobby when I was coming here, and got a nice chilling blast of downtown Vancouver coldness. I’ve been told that we might hit 8 degrees tomorrow, if we’re lucky and the storm blows over.

*jaw drops*

I have no words.

Got my results from Uni.
A for the thesis, and 2 A’s and a C for my coursework. Stoked about the thesis and I want to know what that bumps my GPA up to.

Dont know what else to say, really, as my past few days have been all about airports, which you know all about. Had enough of -them- already.

Hope you’re all doing well.
Happy Holidays!

Jac.

Finding Hobbiton

Sunday, December 15th, 2002 | Tolkien | 1 Comment

Finding Hobbiton.

I didn’t expect to find any authentic evidence of Middle Earth still remaining in New Zealand. So, when I stumbled upon www.hobbitontours.com I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to jump aboard the Hobbiton express and see a piece of filming history. As I stood at the Matamata Information Centre with bright orange ticket in hand, I couldn’t hold back the geeky smile.




I was fortunate enough to be in a small group of other tourists led by Russell Stevenson, part owner of the property that was once just an ordinary sheep farm. He reminded us that it is still a working property, complete with authentic gates which visitors are encouraged to help open…. And then close, after the bus had passed through! While the beautiful hills are still full of white woolly bodies, all those on board were keen to get a small glimpse of The Shire.

Our tour passed the ‘backstage’ areas of the property where a mini-city was constructed during filming. Animal wranglers, expert gardeners (should have just asked the Gamgee’s….), power generators, toilets, lighting, plumbing, kitchens and costume/makeup vans had to be organised within the property. Apparently, at the height of activity over 400 people were fed three hobbit-sized meals a day. In all, a logistics nightmare. After seeing the ‘backstage’ Russell then drove us into The Shire.
The sign said ‘Welcome to Hobbitton’ - it should have read ‘check your brains at the gate and prepare to see some really cool stuff.’

I walked along the path that leads to Bagshot Row,

According to Russell, we haven’t seen the end of the Shire in the films. (Shhh… you didn’t hear that from me. Big ‘Yay!’ for the Shire. Cant wait to see more though!)

And saw across the lake toward the Pub and the Mill. All of these structures were created from scaffolding pipes and polystyrene cladding. The Bridge, despite being made of pipes, plywood and polystyrene, had enough strength to withhold a 4-wheel drive!

From the top of the hill, we can look over the party field and see the Party Tree, which still has remnants of ribbons and decorations within its branches. It was from this very spot, where Sir Ian McKellen and Ian Holm sat smoking pipe weed and contemplating Bilbo’s Eleventy-First birthday bash.

And then, we found it. Bag End. THE Bag End. It’s right on the top of the hill, overlooking the Party Field, right where it should be. There’s still a little bit of evidence of the wonderful garden Samwise would have maintained, with a small cobblestone stairway still set into the beautiful green grass.

And, of course, the window that poor old Sam would have been pulled through…

You may have spotted the obvious lack of the big tree, which featured on the top of Bag End. This tree had actually been transported from a neighbouring property (all 28 tonnes of it), then stripped and manicured to look exactly they way it does on the film.

Many small hobbit holes dotted the greenery, with a score more having been taken down after filming. Still, there was enough holes here to house a small army of hobbits

Without retelling all of the tales and anecdotes, its hard to convey just how wonderful this tour was. Although The Shire has been left to regenerate into its natural state, the experience was really wonderful. The tour guide was more than willing to answer any questions and was always ready to recount some small snippet of information about the magical filming process. Asked if there were plans on recreating an actual Hobbit Hole, Russell explained that it would be so difficult to do justice to the magic that Peter Jackson created over 6 months of preparation before filming began. Due to its remote location, maintaining a hobbit-garden would be extremely difficult despite the hundreds of sheep that would simply LOVE to make a hobbit-sized meal of any pretty plants. Without hiring a fleet of gardeners, a recreation simply wouldn’t hold up to the high standards that was created for the film. Visitors would likely be disappointed with any attempts, so the set was kept as it was left by the film crew when they stopped filming back in February, 2000.

I tend to agree with him. The experience was more about learning how the film was constructed, rather than seeing the actual sets. We saw how the image was built, and how the small town of The Shire was created and to the lengths that Peter Jackson’s team went to make everything as authentic as possible. (The thatching on the Golden Dragon Pub is real thatching, made from reeds from the Hobbiton Lake!)

I’m really glad I took the opportunity to visit the set, as it gave a unique look into the almost fanatical way the films were brought to life. If I ever need another reason to praise the work of all those who worked on this film odyssey, this would be it. Long live Middle Earth!

May all your days be filled with Hobbit cheer.
Jac.

Where the hell am I?

Friday, December 13th, 2002 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Went on the HukaJet this morning, dragged poor old mum along with me. This F1 speed jet boat spins about, and skims across the water like nothing on earth!

The driver was a mad bastard, and kept doing 360 and 720 spins, drenching us with spray. My sunnies were sacrificed to the Waikato river during one of our many manic displays of raw horsepower. Oh well.

Spent a few hours wandering around a “highly unstable” geothermal park this morning and I now understand what they mean when they say that it has a distinctive aroma. Phwoar. We also stopped by the “Hidden Valley” thats chock full of geysers, mudpools and calcium structures that have been formed over the millions of years. It was really quite astounding just how many colours and minerals were there. Reds, Blues, greens oranges pinks purples and a whole range of yellows and browns.

I’m sure I’ve seen enough geysers, mudpools and exploding holes to last me a life time!

I bought some MudPool Facial Mud at their rather small gift shop, too. There seems to be a vast quantity of really nice stuff in the NZ gift shops unlike the vast quantity of crap in the aussie versions. Got some warm socks as well, as I have a feeling Canada might be a little cooler than I’m used to….

Also met the worlds cheekiest sparrow. Wouldn’t even wait for the crumbs to get out of my hand before making off with them. He quite happily sat on my thumb, and ate crumbs out of my hand. Cheeky little bugger.

Since then, its been a slow drive back up the country in order to catch the flight out of Auckland in a few days. I really dont know when I’m flying out, just that I am at some stage. Didn’t know it was friday til some silly bint on the radio informed us that it was a Black Friday.

Huh. There ya go. Perhaps thats why I lost my sunglasses.

Still no information about Matamata and the Hobbiton visit. I think its all shut until after the Two Towers premier. *glum* Oh well. I’m not sure there’d be all that much to see. Still… woulda been good. The hills and pastures around Hamilton are “as hobbiton as.” anyway. If it wern’t for the 50y/o sensible person sitting in the passenger seat, I would have veered off the highway and sat in a tree ala: Frodo Baggins a long long time ago.

There’s some architect/designer here who’s offering to design and build real life Hobbit Holes (scaled up, somewhat) for residential use.

Nutters.

Anyhow, better dash.. dont really understand the price of this cafe. Its all in Korean. What a way to make microsoft even more user-unfriendly. I haven’t even pushed what should be the ’start’ button, and already I’m bamboozled.

Jac.