Portland Tolkienfest, 1/17/09

[thrihyrne]

It was fun! I got there not long after the first movie started, and ended up sitting in the third row. I hadn't realized just how popular this event was, and was so glad that it was a Portland tradition of sorts. It was, in fact, sold out, movie-wise, in regards to seating. I ended up being there solo, which was just fine. At the first break between movies, I saw a woman dressed as a hobbit and I just knew that I knew her from my one and only Barlibash, the infamous event in Bellevue, WA in 2002 (I'd thought it was '03!) when I first met snottygrrl. So I approached said woman and asked if she'd attended the Barlibash in Bellevue years ago, to which she said, "Yes..."
"Are you a harpist?" I asked, remembering that element as well.
"Yes!" She was indeed the same person. Such a small world fandom can be. She'd also attended the Two Towers/One Party Oscar Party I attended in Los Angeles back in the day, which ended up landing me in a color NYTimes photo above the fold the following year when RotK was up for so many awards.

During today's event, I cheered for Gimli. I was told my dress was gorgeous. There were 25 adults who participated in the costume contest, and I was in the top 8, so I now have a McMenamin's gift certificate. :) Oh, and the guy dressed as one of the Nazgul won. Apparently he's also a Portland Tolkienfest tradition. His costume was fabulous. I chatted with the Arwen in my pics for a while as well; we had a mutual admiration conversation about really caring about doing the research and sewing one's own outfits. There are still always far more Elves and Hobbits; almost never any other Éowyns. :sigh:

I'm sure you're just dying for the few pics that I did take, or not. But if you're curious,



Tiffany and Thevina




Thev and Nazgul and Arwen




Legolas (yes, it's his real hair; he got third place) and a self-proclaimed Gandalf the Young




The woman with greenery strapped to her as an Ent was in the top 5; her companion said she was Legolas, but really, she was much more a peppy Cupid-looking entity with real arrows strapped to her back. Still, she was enthusiastic!




This was just a shot of some of the folks in the contest.

Maybe there'll be something about this in The Oregonian, but I have no idea.

I think most of you know this, but I'll be moving tomorrow, into a very positive environment but also one in which I won't have dedicated internet until Tuesday. My friends down the road do have internet, so I won't be totally unplugged, but I may well be more sporadic than usual (especially on a holiday, which it is for me on Monday) until Tuesday evening. It may also mean that I'll actually get my holiday postcards written up and sent out!

Comments

[lena3.livejournal.com]

I'm not into LotR, but that looks like great fun! It always is when you get together with fandom type people. ;)

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

It was a lot of fun to be around fellow LotR fans again. Seeing Tiffany was such a hoot!! There were lots of people just there to hang out and see the movies, but seeing other folks in costume was definitely a highlight. :)