in order to save up for the expense of Tolkien Moot 2013 at The Bozarth Mansion next year, we are having a smaller Moot this year. It will take place all day Friday, July 13th, all day Saturday July 14th, and all day Sunday July 15th in North Spokane.  The event this year is only open by invitation. You should have received an invitation email sent May 11th, 2012. If you did not receive this invitation email, check your spam folder and if not found there, then please contact us to add you to the invitation/RSVP list.

The event is taking place in North Spokane (near Whitworth University). The specific address will be sent to you by emai when you have been confirmed as an attendee.

Contact Information

Email: rsvp at tolkienmoot.org

Phone: (509) 481-5437

Website: http://www.tolkienmoot.org

There will be a "pot luck" approach to providing food, drinks, and snacks.  This year's smaller, more exclusive event will be open to only about 20 people this year, so do not procrastinate in confirming your registration this year.

The registration form for the larger Tolkien Moot 2013 at Bozarth Mansion will be made available in the weeks leading up to the 2012 event, watch for the announcement. 2012 will not have any fees, but 2013 will have a pre-registration fee as well as attendance/event fee(s) for those who are not helping as volunteers, game masters, or special guests.

More information about this year's (2012) event was included in the email titled:

SUBJECT: "Please Reply - Tolkien Moot 2012 reservation by invitation only, event just 2 months away."

Some of the details from that email (though not all) are included here:

"Greetings,

You are cordially invited to attend this year's exclusive Tolkien Moot VIII (2012). Please reply to this email whether you intend to attend or not.

.....

Next year's Tolkien Moot won't happen without your support, so please do not postpone attending this year's event.

Tolkien Moot VIII is taking place:

Date: July 13th, 14th, and 15th, 2012.

Days: Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Location: (address provided in email)

Spokane, WA, 99218

Phone: (509) 481-5437

Fee: Free of charge, but please do bring muchies, drinks, food, etc. there is plenty of room to bring your favorites.

Theme: Hobbits/Proto-Hobbits

Actiivities: Tolkien-based table-top role-playing gaming, board games, video games, movies, fan films, music, Middle-earth Talk Radio Show live broadcast with interactive live Internet audience, and various Tolkien-related discussions.

Please confirm (or deny) your intention to attend this event, with your level of commitment (firm, probable, tentative, wishful, or not at all) to attending this year by replying to this email.

There is some capacity for several to reside at my home to keep your costs down, but this will be on a first come, first serve basis. I have enough bedrooms and comfortable beds to accommodate about 6 people spending the night comfortably. Please indicate if this is an option you may wish to utilize.

If you can only attend 1 or 2 of the days instead of all 3, that is fine, just please indicate the days you intend to attend.

If you can help out with the event in any way, please indicate in what capacities you could help. For example help setting up tables, help with cleaning up the house at the end of the event, help with food/snacks, help with making characters, help as game master or co-game master, help with transportation, help with Internet chatroom or broadcast, etc.

Please include your phone number(s) with your reply.

I look forward to hearing from you and your attendance at this event this year.

Namarie!

========================================

PLEASE COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING:

INTENDING TO ATTEND (yes/no):

COMMITMENT LEVEL (firm, probably, tentative, wishful, not at all):

DAYS ATTENDING (all 3, just Saturday, Sat & Sun, etc.):

PHONE NUMBER (include area code please):

CHARACTER PREFERRED RACE/CULTURE (hobbit, dunedain, elf, etc.):

CHARACTER PREFERRED PROFESSION (warrior, healer, stealthy, etc.):

VOLUNTEER HELP (indicate if you can help in any way with event):

COMMENTS:

==========================================

--

Hawke Robinson

http://www.tolkienmoot.org

Tolkien Moot is an annual convention since 2005

by and for fans, gamers, and scholars inspired by

the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, sponsored by the Inland Empire Tolkien Society.

Tolkien Moot VIII 2012 takes place July 13, 14, 15

Friday noon to midnight.

Saturday 9:00 am to midnight.

Sunday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm or midnight.

1432 W. Lawrence Dr.

Spokane, Washington, USA, 99218

Admittance is free but only open to a select group this year,

(509) 481-5437

http://www.cofwestmarch.org/

Download: Other Minds Magazine Issue 12 PDF (8.3 MB - 8,690,172 bytes)

Download: Excel Form Survey XLS (88 KB - 90,112 bytes)

Download Zip file containing PDF and XLS files: OM 12 Bundle (8.1 MB - 8,542,207 bytes)

http://www.omzine.org

Topics

Editorial:
Some news, mostly about the state of the new game by Cubicle 7. In short, it's almost there!

Inside Information:
Some information about internal topics, primarily about the survey results so far.

"Númenórean Longevity Revisited" by myself
A short discussion about some topics of the Númenórean longevity that had not been
addressed in the OM6 article.

"An Unexpected Party" by David Daines
The description of the painting of a great Middle-earth miniature set and its inclusion in an
even more formidable diorama.

"The Phenomenon of 'Eternal Realms' in Middle-earth RPG settings" by myself
Discussion about a frequent phenomenon seen in past Middle-earth RPG publications.

"Quendi" by Daniel 'Vaco' Vacaflores
An extensive discussion about the various elvish peoples in Middle-earth. Complete with
stats for Vacos own system as well as MERP.

In addition to this, we were able to illustrate all this with the images of several great artists.
These were (in alphabetical order): Catherine Karina Chmiel, John Howe, Ted Nasmith, Jan
Pospisil and Tuuliky.

Have fun with our most recent Issue!

For the OM team
Thomas Morwinsky


Visit Other Minds - a free international journal devoted to role-playing and
scholarly interests in J.R.R. Tolkien's works

http://www.othermindsmagazine.com

Topics

• Introduction
• Brian Huseland special guest co-host, from the Inland Empire Tolkien Society
• Administrivia
• Using the chatroom (still applies even though Tolkien Moot over)
• Send email to middleearthradio at gmail dot com for questions
• Discussion on The Hobbit films currently in production
• Earlier attempts to bring Tolkien's stories to film
• The Rankin Bass films
• Evolution of getitng the P.J. Hobbit film made, had to make LotR first, before could make The Hobbit due to licensing issues
• The lawsuits over the P.J. Lord of the Rings movies
• P.J. and King Kong, and other projects
• Guillermo Del Toro's comes and goes.
• Tolkien Trust lawsuit settlement
• Picking nits on the Dwarven appearances
• Beards (and lack thereof)
• The hoods
• Andy Serkis, The Hobbit (gollum), King Kong (2 roles), and other roles in other productions
• Serikis also directing unit 2 in The Hobbit
• Sir Ian McKellen reprising role of Gandalf
• Christopher Lee returning in role  as Saruman
• Hugo Weaving as Elrond
• and many of the LotR cast in returning roles
• During the broadcast we maxxed out the server settings (configured for 50 simultaneous users), had to reconfigure on the fly, then stayed around the 50-70 connected users
• Lord of the Rings Radio Show (with Orson Wells? audience member asking)  Anyone know?
• Hobbit cast very international, and wide range of English speaking countries
• Peter Jackson and his horror side and darker side overly darkening The Hobbit
• Hobbit less epic, more focused
• Filming The Hobbit Films - Unexpected Journey and There and Back Again - filming in 48 frames per second, and filming in 3D
• Comments on Thorin
• Where will film 1 end, and film2 begin?
• Filling the gap between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
• The pieces of The Hobbit more than enough to make 2 movies with just the material of the book without needing "filler", Hawke quickly summarizes many of the parts
• How long will the movies be?
• The 3 Trolls need to speak
• Using WETA workshop and many of the same sets
• The White Council
• Dol Guldur
• Galadriel
• Radagast
• The role playing campaign "Against All Their Enemies" and The Necromancer of Dol Guldur's involvement
• Role playing gaming news, Cubicle 7 releasing new Lord of the Rings role playing game Into the Wild, August 31st, 2011 (pre-releases at Gen Con August 4-7, and 175 pre-released via website)
• Campaign of Cubicle 7 set in the time between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
• Video games
• Figurines
• Games Workshop overpriced, and very ruthless on their license with hobby stores
• What is going on with Mithril Miniatures?
• Most of the Tolkien gamers I know won't buy Games Workshop because they are so overpriced
• Maybe end first film with the attack on Dol Guldur? (Internet chatroom statement)
• Lord of the Rings Monopoly
• The Hobbit board game by Fantasy Flight Games
• PS/2 Games Lord of the Rings
• Lord of the Rings Online - LotrO
• Mithril still doing miniatures based on non-P.J. sources, Games Workshop P.J. based licenses
• United Cutlery losing the license to Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit
• Frank Jones, vendor at Tolkien Moot providing chainmail, and had brought some United Cutlery Lord of the Rings swords
• Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings huge economic impact on New Zealand
• The New Zealand Actors Union guild strike
• Who in the USA had heard much of New Zealand befor ethe LotR PJ movies
•  Xena and Hercules filmed in New Zealand?
• Parodies of Lord of the Rings (many)
• "How the Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended"
• Bored of the Rings
•  Tasteful and tasteless merchandising
• Tolkien Enterprises changed name to Middle-earth Enterprises, less confusing with the Tolkien Estate and Tolkien Trust
•  Tolkien Moot theme "Tolkien & Trees"
• The U.K. Tolkien Society Seminar 2011 "Tolkien & Trees" July 30th, will read Hawke's paper "in abscentia" and publish with the other papers afterwards
•  Last year Tolkien Moot theme - Elves - Rehtaeh Elvish Singer
• 2 years before - Dwarves
• Some years before Numenoreans
• Ents, Huorns, Old Man Willow, White Tree of Numenor, Telperion, etc.
• Tolkien balanced view of man living with nature, against the wanton destruction
• Why does Tolkien's stories set in a "past" like other past stories, why do they have more appeal to many than if the same stories were  placed in a more contemporary setting.
• Lynn Burns made Hawke's Numenorean outfit
• Tolkien Moot VIII 2012 will be at the 1913 English Tudor Mansion April 20-22
• This is the last year of Tolkien Moot for free (7 years). 2012 will no longer be fully free event.
• Incorporating as a non-profit
• Will be accepting interns and dedicated volunteers
• Going much larger next year
• Wrapping up
• July 17th, 2011 show
• The Hobbit will be filmed in 3D
• More comments from local and Internet audience
• John Travolta "Battlefield Earth" film
• Howard Shore creating Hobbit Soundtrack
• Please P.J. keep lots of music and poems and singing and playing instruments!

The web video streaming worked (without audio) and the chatroom. There were at least 54 people trying to listen to the speech audio. Unfortunately I had trouble with the audio stream for the speech on Tolkien & Trees and the Q&A afterwards. My apologies for that. Fortunately the laptop did record the audio, and also the speech and Q&A were recorded on video, which I have uploaded to the website. I will add a link shortly to that when finished uploading. Hopefully the broadcasting will be fully functional.

Fank had his wonderful chainmail and other wares on display. Lynn the person who designed Hawke's and Katy's wonderful garb, was unable to make an appearance due to illness (we greatly missed her, hope she gets well soon!).

There was much more ,but those are some of the highlights.

Part 1 of the 6 part adventure finished wtih the 4 hours session today.

Parts 2, 3, and 4 will play out Saturday, with the final 2 parts, 5 and 6 on Sunday.

The guest Speaker will be be broadcasting the reading live, and take questions through the chatroom for the live Q&A from both the on-location audience and the international viewing/listening audience, Saturday 1:00 pm (GMT: 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm).

Then on Sunday will be the live broadcast by Middle-earth Talk Radio with special co-host Brian Huseland from the Inland Empire Tolkien Society, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm,  (GMT: 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm).

We did not having streaming turned on for Friday, since we didn't have time to get it all setup, but it should be up in time for the guest speaking segment.

Lots of fun to on the way!

Namarie.

Tolkien Moot VII 2011 takes place July 15, 16, 17
Friday 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am to 9:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am to 6:00 pm

Ramada Suites Limited      
9601 N. Newport Highway
Spokane, Washington, USA, 99218

Admittance is free and open to the public,
but seating is limited so you must RSVP.
 

RSVP: http://tolkienmoot.org/arc/rsvp/

USA (509) 481-5437 (leave a message with contact information)

Tolkien Moot VII (2011) will take place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on July 15, 16, & 17 at the Ramada Suites Limited on 9601 N. Newport Highway, Spokane, Washington, 99218.

TolkienMoot admittance is still FREE and open to the public this year, but you must RSVP to reserve your seat.

July 15th, Friday registration begins at 3:00 pm.

Friday events run from 4:30 pm to 9:00 pm.

Saturday begins at 9:00 am and ends 9:00 pm.

Sunday begins at 11:00 am and ends 6:00 pm.

See the Schedule Page for the up to date schedule of events.

See the Location & Accommodations Page for directions, hotel special rates for Tolkien Moot attendees, and other information.

See the About Page for information about Tolkien Moot, guest speakers, and past events.

See the Archives for photos, videos, and audio clips from all the previous moots.

Seating is limited, so fill out the RSVP Online form ASAP: http://www.tolkienmoot.org/arc/rsvp/

http://tolkienmoot.org/arc/tolkien-moot-2011/preferred-weekend-for-tolkienmoot-2011

Hurry and vote, we need to firm this up as quickly as possible.

The weekend schedule is roughly (all times Pacific Time Zone):

Friday, 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm (5:00 pm registration, begin events at 6:00 pm until around 10:00 pm).

Saturday, 10:00 am to 10:00 pm

Sunday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

As it is with any volunteer task, the amount of time spent is highly variable and up to the individual, but a Volunteer Coordinator would not be expected to spend more than about 15 minutes per day, 3-5 days per week, checking email and forum postings from volunteers.

The following would be the expected tasks and responsibilities of the Merp.com Volunteer Coordinator:

• Maintain a list of active volunteers and their role assignments (roles of some of those volunteers would be listed as forum moderator, irc moderator, news postings page, links maintainer, etc.)
• Add/remove website privileges for volunteers (doesn't require any technical background, you can be easily trained how to do this through the web (it is simply a web page where the user is listed, and you click some checkboxes)
• Receive, forward (mostly), or respond (occasionally) to emails on various sections of the website (helping to direct to the correct volunteer)
• Monitoring and helping gently "nudge" the volunteers that commit to a task, with a simple reminder, to help keep them on their task
• Encouraging additional people to join as volunteers.
• Must have acceptable English writing skills (for emails and forum postings)
• Would be helpful to have someone who is multilingual, but not required by any means

I can tell you from personal experience that Merp.com is actually something worth putting on a resume. I have ended up with several unrelated hirings (a radio station, 2 different technology companies, and others) from interviews because the managers/executives/owners of the interviewing business knew of merp.com and the community building that once thrived there, so this is something that can help those looking to strengthen their resume in a number of different fields if they wished.

If you can commit to just 15 minutes per day, for about 3-5 days per week, and think you would be the right person for this position,

please email merpdotcom at gmail dot com.

Even if you do not have previous experience, your application may still be considered, the most important role of the position is the reliability of following through with others.

Please spread the word to others you think might be interested.