Rosie's review - the forum and the giving of the gifts

After a few hours sleep, I am finally coherent enough to share with you our journey to the Blessed Realm. We made the trip in 48 hrs with about 4 hours of sleep, laughing talking and crying the whole way...it was wonderful.. Stef and I are long lost hobbit cousins. We arrived in LA at 2:30 am, and having no where to crash, pretended to be eating at an all night pancake restaraunt. We got in line at around 5 am, being #2 and #3 in line. It was so wonderful to see the fan club members as they arrived and we all got a little carnation so we could recognize each other. We had an absolute blast. The 9 hours in line flew by and there was no lack of fun and conversation and hugs. The Q and A was an absolute once in a lifetime experience. I though if you all as we sat in the front row with our "THANK YOU" from the 'official' fan club" sign, (which was designed by our own StefBaggins) only a mere 7 feet from our beloved Sam, PJ Fran and Phillipa. Both ladies were full of class, and a! ll of them were so real and genuine, it felt like sitting with old friends. There were cheers as they came in, and at various times throughout. Stef pointed out Sean to me before we began. People were still filing in as I approached him with his gift, it was one on one with him, myself and deliz. When I told him we were from the fan club, he was a bit taken back and said "You mean the "Official" one?" He was also taken back a bit I think, expecting to be asked for an autograph, instead of being presented a gift. Deliz was so kind to point out I did the art work, muuch to my embarrassment, (my face was beet red) but he was wonderfully gracious and even asked me for "My autograph" LOL!!!! (I told him the painting was already signed,) so in exchange had him sign my item. We had framed pics with a thank you card in each gift, and Ararrats poem written in the cards along with an official thank you from the "ONLINE" members of the fan club. I was really nervous about giving their gifts, but a sweet girl who stood in line with us said "Hey those girls are from the fan club and they have a gift for you" so before they even began the Q and A there was a moment of gift giving with media and cameras and A statement that is was from the Fan Club. They were wonderful. Opened them on the spot. Held them up for all to see, and they all said Thank you, they are so beautiful. (Phillipa said it 3 or 4 times and I felt she was genuinely touched by the gift.)Peter and Fran recieved "A conspiracy", 11 by 14 in a gold frame, Sean got the original painting of Samwise and Rosie, and Phillipa got an 8 by 10 of "Parting of Friends." She put her hand on Sean's shoulder, leaned over to us "fan club gals" and said in a quiet voice "just wait till you see Sean in this! scene. He is soooo good." Fran kept hers on her lap looking at it for the whole hour. They Q and A was awesome! I'm sure you'll read the full report at torn, but this is the emotional review. I'll write a bit, and Stef will give full detials after her shower...and details on the autograph signing. They were so genuine. They did not talk down to us, but talked as if we were equal. At one point Fran had a few tears in her eye. We laughed and felt the warmth of their personalities and the depth of love and commitment they have to LOTR. Sean was very specific in his reaction towards the comments about Sam and you got the impression that Sam is very important to him. I believe he is also a new Tolkien fan because he asked one of the audience members if they had read the Silmarillion. They were charming and funny, absolutely delightful. Sitting on the front row, as they spoke we got alot of eye to eye contact and smiles directed at each of us. I think they were very happy to have Fan Club members there....anyway, this is getting long winded...It was one of the highlights of my life. As we were driving from LA I wept silently and said a little prayer for the Lord to bless them. It was absolutely touching. I have a whole new admiration and respect for them. (And feel my heart! swell when I look at all of their autographs already framed on my wall.) I hope by some blessing of Elbereth that you all get to have some similar experience in this journey we are all on together.

StefBaggins' review - the signing and coming home

Well, you have heard the long the short of the forum that Rosie and I attended. Now I will give you a brief review of events to follow, including the autograph signing and some of my personal observations. After the forum we were told to guard our tickets with our lives so we could be worked into the autograph signing without having to go back to the end of the line of well over a two hundred people. We patiently waited our turn, and unfortunately, Rosie and I got separated from deliz in the grouping. Rosie took my picture as I was having Sean and Peter sign my book and before it was passed down the line to Fran and Phillipa. Sean's attention was on another conversation at the moment, but Rosie knew I would be too shy to speak to any of them other than saying a simple thanks. (Imagine me shy... I know... quite a laughable image there.) Rosie told Peter that I came all the way from North Carolina to be there, and Peter looked very honored. I confirmed the statement to him as he looked me in the eye and I told him I just have a tremendous respect for his work. He thanked me and smiled, and Rosie wished them a safe trip back home to which he also thanked us both. Fran and! Phillipa were honored that Rosie had asked them, also, to sign her beautiful mouse pad that she was given as a gift from someone who received it at the London Permiere party back in early December. After we exited the building, we waited for deliz to emerge. When she did she let out a loud squeal, and that was the trigger to me finally releasing my own pent-up excitement for being there and experiencing everything. Before we parted ways, we hugged and talked about exchanging pictures via e-mail when we got home. Deliz went on with her friends that were waiting for her, then Rosie and I looked for some food. At first I had thought we should stay there at Century City Mall and grab some food to eat at the shaded cafe area across from the bookstore. That way we would be able to continue watching the store just in case any other LOTR locals showed up to greet fans and meet up with their dear friends. However, in my mind I didn't know if I really wanted to be there much longer in the crowds of people coming and going, and I was craving both sleep and pizza. The need to sleep won out when we finally got to the car. As we drove down Santa Monica Blvd. down toward the ocean, the car was quiet (except for an occassional backfire from our little Bill the Pony)... we were just in awe of the experience we just had. After we had driven around LA a little bit to see the ocean and the Hollywoo! d hills, I slept a solid 3 hours as we made our way on I-10. After that, we took turns sleeping a bit as the other drove, and by about 3:30 AM we were both awake and talking about all the events of the previous day. We finally made it back to Rosie's house about 6:30 AM and were greeted by "Sam" and the kids as they were having breakfast and preparing for the day. Being the sweet "Sam" that he is, he let us go straight to sleep and got out stuff out of the car for us to have available when we awoke refreshed a few hours later. Ah... the feeling of a refreshing shower... there is no other feeling like it in the world after such a trip. Now... if I could just convince myself it wasn't a dream. (Stef opens her front cover of her Official Movie Guide to reveal the signatures of four respected members of the LOTR community.) Ah... not a dream... just a wonderful adventure to remember forever!