"Trilogy Tuesday Report" and "Bliss ~ Theme Thursday Images for 12.18.03"

It's hard to believe that Trilogy Tuesday and the LotR films have come to an end. Well almost. There is the extended version of Return of the King to look forward to on DVD sometime next year. Trilogy Tuesday was a blissful time for all, one big sidewalk party in the cold and I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world... and I do mean anything. Everyone was happy, everyone was friendly, everyone shared food and drinks. I spent thrity-one hours with good friends and fellow fans, and the best movie house anywhere in this world or in Middle Earth - The Historic Senator - hosted the event! Bliss I tell you, pure movie going bliss! An epic event never to be forgotten. These images also serve as my submission for this week's Theme Thursday challenge of Bliss. Click on each image for a larger view.

The precious tickets purchased back on October 11, 2003. They sold out in less than two hours. On eBay they were selling for anywhere from $200 a pair to $1200!!! My LotR tee-shirt serves as my backdrop. I wore this shirt along with thermal underwear, earmuffs, gloves, sweatshirt, heavy coat, Civil War great coat, jeans, scarf, LotR hat and battery operated heated socks to Trilogy Tuesday.

Cold weather survival gear lines the sidewalk in front of the Senator Theatre. There was a wide array of gear from blankets, to tents, to sleeping bags, foot warmers, kerosene heaters and little silver flasks of whisky and scotch (thanks JP and MH). I sat in the chair covered by the yellow blanket (I had three blankets). I was sixteenth in line and I arrived at 7:00 PM to secure a spot for our group of friends. Mike's Marshall and Hughes joined me in line around 10:30 PM. MM treated to pizza around 11:30. Jaime and her friend fell in around 12:30 AM and brought hot hamburgers, and Jeff Pass arrived going on 2:00 AM with donuts and a flask of scotch.

Saruman oversees the line of die hard Lord of the Rings fans. The first guy in the line is just over Saruman's left shoulder in the blue hat. He arrived at 10:00 AM Monday morning. He had a tent. There were folks that would be attending the main event, but who didn't stay in line with us. To make up for that they performed very important support functions. They would show up at intervals with hot drinks, hot food, donuts and fresh baked cookies and they shared with everyone in line.

The line at 10:00 PM Monday night. It was 31 degrees. Thankfully there was no wind. We passed the time talking about scifi and fantasy films, books and comics. Some folks played the LotR version of Trivial Pursuit. I am told that it's pretty easy and 45% of the questions can be answered correctly by saying, "Gandalf." The night was a total geek-out and we loved every minute of it. At one point a car of punks drove by and shouted at us, "NERDS, NERDS, NERDS!" We shouted back, "WE'RE NOT NERDS, WE'RE GEEKS DAMN YOU! GET IT RIGHT!"

This bank sign became known as the Eye of Sauron to those of us waiting in line. From up the street it watched over us and in five-second increments it flashed the date, the temperature and worst of all the time. It was cruel and uncaring. We hated it so much!

Photo by guest photographer Jaime Kimpton.
Mike Marshall is bundled up against the cold and sleeping on Tuesday morning around 7:30 AM. It would be another three hours before the Senator opened its doors and let us in.

Photo by guest photographer, Tom Perry.
Yours truly in line minutes before the doors opened at 10:30 AM. At this point I have been in line a total of fifteen and one half hours. Thank God for battery operated electric socks and thermal earmuffs.

Photo by guest photographer, Tom Perry
The doors open for Trilogy Tuesday. The thirteen-hour butt-numb-a-thon is about to begin. I am below the word ‘Sale’ on the marquee holding a white pillow. The pillow would save my back during the ten hours spent in a theatre seat. All of the waiting in the cold was well worth it. Our group got excellent seats eleven rows back. I was in the exact center of the row and sat with my most excellent and admirable friends Jeff Pass (on my left) and Michael Marshall (on my right) and we were surrounded by friends and die hard fans. The Senator provided entertainment between the films with fencing demonstrations and door prize drawings. They also gave us coupons to several restaurants in the area good for money off on meals. JP bought me lunch for holding him a place in line (thanks JP). We were also allowed to save our seats for the whole event! Once we took a seat it was ours for the whole day/night! The Senator treats movie goes right! To facilitate this the management gave each movie goer a label to put our names on and stick to the back of our seats! No other theatre in the country did this. We also received a nice keepsake event pass with lanyard that let us come and go as we please. It was like a backstage pass for a concert! Upon leaving at 1:45 AM Wednesday morning we received a gift from New Line Cinema. It was a small resin LotR frame containing a film strip frame from ech of the three movies. All in all it was an awesome day and it was the movie experience I have been waiting for my whole life. Once in a lifetime to be sure! The event exceeded my expectations. Return of the King exceeded my expectations! I am so ecstatic that I got to experience it like I did, and I thank everyone who helped make it special, especially the Senator Theatre and its staff! It was movie bliss to the nth degree!

You can read my other Trilogy Tuesday entries by clicking the links below.
Lord of the Butt-Numb-A-Thon
Night Lights ~ PhotoTime Tuesday Image for 12.16.03
The Return to the Line
The Lord of the Line