Hobbit moments

A farewell to Hobbit Moments

March 1st was originally intended to be the day Hobbit Moments returned. Spring is starting out of doors, there’s a DVD release imminent and previews of the next movie and…..sadly, Hobbit Moments won’t ever be returning - because, in light of the news of the past week, I simply do not want to associate myself with anything being produced by WB or Peter Jackson.

Ummm…..what? I’ll explain, but first a little background. I’ve been a human rights campaigner for more years than I care to remember. Even more precious to me than the words of Professor Tolkien are the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those are the eyes through which I viewed this weeks release of emails between Peter Jackson, WB and the New Zealand goverment.

What these emails confirm is something I personally find to be disgusting - that very wealthy individuals and corporations would aggressively pressure a government to remove rights from its own people, that they would continue to do so when the government had originally responded that there was no need to change the law, that they would then further do so when they knew that any threat of a boycott had already been removed from the film production, that the minister responsible for eventually pushing through a very rapid law change now claims that he can’t remember why they rushed it through, that an international corporation were the financial beneficiaries of this erosion of the rights of people. I am as dumbstruck now as I was when I first read through the releases.

Labour rights have been fought for long and hard over many generations. That they can begin to be dismantled so quickly due to the pressure of rich individuals and corporations is nothing but a negative step and a basic contravention of Article 23 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I do not, cannot associate myself with that at all and as Hobbit Moments has always revolved around the hobbit movies, and because “Hobbit” on Tumblr pretty much equates to the movies now, then Hobbit Moments closes today. I’ll leave it up to support the posts that community has particularly enjoyed and reblogged, but there’ll be no further posts on here. The URL will revert to the default Tumblr URL in time.

I’m not stopping blogging, however. If you’ve enjoyed the natural world, landscape, food and drink posts on here, as opposed to the movie posts, then I’d love to see you over at the all-new Shire Moments blog, where those posts - seeking The Shire in my shire - will continue. There’s an awful lot more to enjoy about hobbits than the adventures of one particular hobbit after all…..

Thank you to all of you for following here at Hobbit Moments over the past few months. I’ve been honoured that you’ve wanted to follow me. Hope to see you for some Shire Moments in the future.

Read more... 1st February

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Day 50, year 2 - Wandering off into the sunset.

Have a look... 31st January

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Day 49, year 2 - Keeping warm.

“And the scarf came to him….gifted in all its glory. He opened the package tentatively….and as he turned it over gently in his hands it glistened magically, dancing like moonlit silver. Woven solely from the fleece of medieval grey sheep who had mastered the mountain peaks and valleys of Middle earth.

…….intricately entwined by the dwarves using the last vestige of the finest slithers of Mithril, perhaps stolen from Moria. It was perfect to complete his magical outfit, As he placed it around his shoulders it seemingly came to life on its own….it was truly a scarf befit only for a king, magician…the wisest man of them all.”

Have a look... 30th January

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TheHobbit.com is reporting the DVD/Bluray release date as March 19.

Looks like its official, going to be an early release.

Have a look... 30th January

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Day 48, year 2 - Marching off into the sunset

Have a look... 29th January

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Day 47, year 2 - After snow, once more the rain.

Seems a good day for gray skies and heavy rains.

Have a look... 28th January

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Day 46, year 2 - Winter daisies.

Its easy to look at the broad sweep of a landscape and see the beauty within it. We’re wired for a connection to the land and for finding landscape beautiful on the large scale.

Sometimes though, if you look closely in unexpected places, like nestling in a sunny spot between the roots of a lime tree, you can find a beautiful little treasure. Its had sub-zero temperatures. Its been buried beneath inches of snow. And yet somehow these plucky little daisies are still blooming in January!

If you’re only looking at the large scale you can miss the little surprises. If you look at the large scale and don’t think there is beauty within it - in a town or city, perhaps - then you can miss the little pockets of surprising beauty….like daisies blooming in January on an average suburban street.

Keep your eyes open, look and truly see, and you never know what you might discover.

Have a look... 27th January

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Day 45, year 2 - The final fling.

The end of the snow days are here, but not before they had a final fling in my corner of the shire, with a big snowfall (a foot deep in places) that then turned to rain and melting as soon as it was done. By the afternoon the sun was warming up and making the snow on the rooftops glow, as if it wanted to send it off looking its best.

Have a look... 26th January

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Day 44, year 2 - Good cheer at The Green Dragon.

The hobbits of Laurelin server in Lord of the Rings Online know how to enjoy themselves. Every friday they gather in The Green Dragon pub in Bywater and sing songs, dance to tunes, eat, drink and have good cheer!

Have a look... 25th January

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Day 43, year 2 - a small view of the past.

In younger days, when first discovering the world of Middle-earth, there were only 2 visual references I could find. The artwork of David Day’s Tolkien Bestiary and the miniatures produced in the UK by Citadel Miniatures. Discovering the website Stuff of Legends a few weeks ago became a huge trip down memory lane.

I used to pour over the Citadel listings pages, friends crowded around the catalogue to see these representations of what had only existed in imagination so far. The ones that seemed like what was in our minds, the ones that looked nothing like it but were still enchanting….

Strider was the first one that I bought and I can still vividly picture the shop that I bought it from, a gift, hobby and gaming shop in Berwick, Northumberland. It wasn’t my first miniature, but it was the first one I painted properly, careful strokes and shaky hand one rainy summer afternoon. It felt like a huge achievement to have bought this shiny bit of metal to life with some paint. It remained my favourite of all the later Lord of the Rings miniatures I bought, not just for that special moment but also because of the attention to detail. Wondering how Strider survived in the wild when only carrying the shards of Narsil in his sword sheath, the miniature had the answer - Citadel depicted strider with TWO swords on his belt. I still smile about little touches like that.

Some of the miniatures I owned, some of them I only saw in the store and some of them I never, ever got to see, like the fantastic depiction of Sauron on his throne. I still think that some of them are the finest and most faithful depictions of Tolkien characters, though of course nostalgia has a very great deal to do with that! Then again, I can’t help feeling the artwork for the bridge of Khazad-dum might have been a reference for later works….

To those whose first visual Tolkien references were the paintings of Alan Lee, or the Lord of the Rings movies these miniatures might seem impossibly quaint or even hopelessly flawed and foolish, but to childhood me they remain very special indeed. I strongly encourage you to head over to Stuff of Legends and view the full range for yourself. Has Middle-earth ever been captured better in 25mm scale form?

Have a look... 24th January

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Day 42, year 2 - What has it got in its pocketses?

I’d have done no good in the riddle game. Gollum would have got me, because I always have my little pocket knife on me. Never go anywhere without it, I say. You never know what you might find in the woods or hedgerows to harvest. Its a great little foraging knife and no sharp point either. Can’t see why pocket knives even need them.

I love my little knife and there a few days that go by when it doesn’t come in useful for something. I’ll just have to be sure not to get in any riddle games.

Have a look... 23rd January

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