Oh there is! ;) On Facebook, for now. I may upload it elsewhere...

This was my first time at Oxonmoot and I loved it!

Kath already covered everything essential about Friday, except that my guess about how long Smaug reigned under the mountain only went off by one year (like a boss), and that I taught her how to tango. Our room was freezing, and because she didn't want me to shiver against her on two nights, we got a radiator on Saturday morning. I couldn't carry it for Kath, but I could carry Kath.

My head is still kind of achy from all the headbutting we did on Saturday in our dwarf costumes, but it was worth it. Our good looks and awful jokes got quite a lot of attention from the ladies and gentlemen alike, leading to some failed kissing attempts, and some that did not fail (a due reward for organising the moot, I should say). The funniest part about the evening, however, was when Kath threatened to rip my beard off.

I cannot quite remember how, but the two of us volunteered to host a room party. One of its highlights was when I got to plait a real beard (whose wearer seemed happy about it and continued to sport the plait the next day). After changing rooms in consideration of a neighbour who wanted to sleep, I was introduced to Pervinca Took (which means that after finishing this post, I'm at least going to check out the Password thread). However it was very late and I was quite occupied with other people, so we didn't manage to talk much.

On Sunday Faramir Jones (whose lecture I missed again because ART) took me around the graveyard and showed me Humphrey Carpenter's grave. Apart from that, Kath and I sat more or less comatose in the ground, but lunch and hanging out with awesome Downers and Tolkien Society people cheered us up. Still, I can't remember when saying goodbye has last been this sad because the weekend (and the week that preceded it, which involved me playing a housewife, meeting Kath's family, having a Finland day at her school, and hiding dirty drawings around her flat for her to find) was so amazing.

I am currently occupying Hookbill's brother's old room, and tomorrow we miiiight head up to Scotland to meet Eonwe. I don't like British computers which refuse to give me umlauts.

Here is a BD group picture with a quarter of Pervinca Took, Poison Ivy, Faramir Jones, yours truly, Kath, Hookbill, Squatter and narfforc:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...39658559_o.jpg

And you're implying that after this England still doesn't look like a giant meteorite crater? Impressive, quite impressive, I must say.

Does anything Tolkien-related ever happen in New England?

I don't know about NE, but in the Southeast the answer seems to be "no". :(

That's why you should all come to Toronto! :smokin:;)

Anything Tolkien-related (or rather, Barrow-Downs related) wouldn't happen in Finland either if we weren't so adamant about it. :smokin:

To switch franchise...make it so!

Sitting at breakfast table with Kath, Greenie, Hookbill, Encaitare and the future Jonathanleon. Legate and Lommy are (surprisingly) up too but they're probably cuddling somewhere. They will soon go and get Oddwen and Rune from the airport. It's a grey day, and our only hope is the forecast that predicts snow for Friday.

As for our plans, we thought about having a little skype call with Downers who are willing to join us for a moment! The times are today between GMT 6-7 p.m. and tomorrow 8-9 p.m. My skype name is scavengerlikeme - feel free to join in! :)

I may be able to join in tomorrow, and even today if its, like, right now. :)

Okay tomorrow is maybe better - there isn't anyone around now at least, and we're writing stories. :)

I see nobody has posted this on the Downs itself yet. So here's the group of odd balls that met up in Helsinki this new year! We are all happy.

http://i39.tinypic.com/zvbt5g.png

Mystery Man / Encaitare / Kath / Aganzir / Hookbill the Goomba / A Little Green / Rune son of Bjarne / Legate of Amon Lanc / Thinlomine / Oddwen

It was the best of times! Even if there was no snow, there was good friends, good wine, and mediocre Tolkien film adaptations.
Here's to another year of Barrow Downing! :)

Legate, if I'd seen that face before the end of the WW game, I would definitely had voted you on the grounds of your face. :D:p

This is quite all right, I'd say. You haven't seen the faces I was making at Hookbill when we had a short skype call after he'd left the moot...

Speaking of that, I am sure more about the 'Desolation moot would be posted here soon...

Except Jonathan is not Mystery Man but Thanleon these days. ;)

Ah you all look beautiful (except Rune ;))! I'm very sorry I missed this.,

And if I didn't know better I'd say that Agan was Lommy's sister, not Greenie.

Yeah, we share the same unflattering pose of jutting our chin up in pictures - although in my case it was merely in order to snuggle up to Kath as efficiently as possible. ;)

Thanks ;)

Perhaps it's the lipstick.

Well, I'll give my report if nobody else will.

I flew out to Finland on the 28th. It was fairly uneventful, though I felt a little queasy mid flight and didn't eat any of the food. But I landed in good time and was greeted by A Little Green who was very nice and happily led me back to the flat of Mooting. There I found Lommy, Legate, Aganzir, Oddwen, Kath, pomegranate, Thanleon and Encaitare!
We played many games and generally had a lot of fun.
We went to the Christmas market in Helsinki centre and also to a museum of something or other. There was a 'MATCH THE MOUSTACHE' game where you had to match moustaches of famous people to their faces. I want this game on my home computer.
We also took a ferry across the water and went to Tallinn. It's a very pretty place and has lots of colourful buildings. We went to a medieval style restaurant thing where the people were dressed in tunics and cloaks and all that jazz. DREAM. I had mushroom soup. It was nice. Kath and Aganzir spent a lot of time as Dwarves. As seen HERE and HERE.
Always a sign that fun is about to happen! BEARDS.

Anyway, Tallinn is very beautiful, and there's a vantage point from which you can see a tremendous example of its mix of architecture. It goes from spires of pearly white, red rooftops and pale brickwork, all the way to tower blocks and office buildings. There were also Reindeer hanging around. They were cute. We also went to a random little museum while in Tallinn and there was a huge model of a ship which I quite liked.

We spent the next day or so lazing around and being silly, which is always nice. Then one evening the others sprung a surprise on me. Apparently, for the past year, they'd all been working on making a book for me. Do you guys remember the William Worm video I made in 2012?? THIS one, if you're unfamiliar. Well, the people made a custom version of this book for me and sweet Eru's bum, it's ridiculous! I won't post pictures here because, um, this is a family friendly forum!
They even made a little finger puppet of William Worm, ala the original book. It has googly eyes, because what else would it have?
Well, I was left pretty speechless and shocked. You are all wonderful people and I wish I could hug you all again!!

On New Year's Eve we had a little fancy pants party thing. I dressed as Doctor Who and nobody realised! Muhahahah! >:) We saw fireworks, some professional, some amatere. Most were dangerous. Here, have some photos...

WOW
MUCH EXPLOSION

Here is myself and A Little Green looking a little blurry.

We had much fun and games. There was dancing and singing and general silliness. We waited up all night because Thanleon and Encaitare were leaving on a ridiculously early flight and it made more sense than going to bed for about three hours before getting up again. Though I kept falling asleep in my chair anyway. I am success.
The following day was spent mostly snoozing and then watching Sherlock. XD
We did some touristy things around Helsinki, visited the cathedrals and the dockside. They were pretty neat. There were also christmas trees on top of cranes. Because why the hell not?

HERE'S A RANDOM PICTURE OF ODDWEN, AGANZIR, KATH AND ME.

And here is an adorable picture of Aganzir and Kath. The lovely couple.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...76759184_n.jpg

On my last day we visited the island fortress thing that I quite like. Didn't spend long there as it was getting cold and dark very quickly. But we had some fun messing around on the rocks. We are grown up adults.

PICTURE OF A LITTLE GREEN AND LOMMY

AGANZIR LOOKS OUT TO SEA

We watched the extended edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. We laughed and cried and got angry in equal measures.
Then I had to go home in the morning. Sad times. But all the people came with me to the bus stop and we all said goodbye and I made rash promises to return some time in the year, though Eru knows how I'll afford it!!

The flight home was pretty bumpy. But I did get to see a very impressive and prologued sunrise. All the colours were quite intense and blended like ink in water as the sun dipped back and forth on the horizon.
I was also treated to the in flight meal for the first time. Everyone else was getting massive barmcakes with loads of fillings, but because I'd ordered the vegetarian option I got this tiny bun the size of a watch face with a bit of cheese slapped in it. Not impressed, Finn Air. Not impressed.
As soon as I landed I got the train back to Parbold where I immediately went back to work. Busy busy!

I miss you all and we need another moot soon!!

That's a brilliant report of great fun and fellowship, and Helsinki and Tailinn sound like lovely places. :)

Does it state anywhere in The Silmarillion that Eru Iluvatar had a bottom, though? (Or is it in one of the HOME footnotes?)

He certainly had hands and a face and was able to sit. Unless he sat on his hands I hope he had a bottom! :p

You always take every chance to snuggle with Kath don't you? But seriously, even your facial features look very much alike in this picture, which is kind of weird because you don't normally look like each other.

Forget Downer, there's no Tolkien fan here. Though I really, really want to meet people here. That's possible only if someone visits India. ;)

There certainly aren't as many downers in India as in the States, and they certainly aren't as close together as some in Finland, but there are a couple who live in India...

Yep! In that sense I'm as worried about my friends(and people of my country) as Frodo was about the Shire.

How come nobody has written about Oxonmoot yet?
 

It was on 11-14 September at Lady Margaret Hall, and it was great fun!

The picture here features Squatter of Amon Rûdh, Poison Ivy, Kath, yours truly, Hookbill, Estelyn and Faramir Jones. Absent are Pervinca Took and Bungo, who also attended Oxonmoot.
https://scontent-b-fra.xx.fbcdn.net/...e2&oe=54C7A4F0

Team Bingo Baggins (the bravest little hobbit of them all) - Esty, Kath, me and three other girls (who will hopefully join the Downs in the future) - came third in the Thursday night pub quiz. It was incredibly difficult and there were so many wonderfully knowledgeable Tolkien Society people that I'm quite frankly amazed!
Squatter and Faramir's team (which didn't score) was called Even Dimmer, which I think was great.

Friday, mostly spent with Esty and Hook (because responsible adult Kath was at work), was full of very interesting lectures, creative things and a lovely afternoon tea party. In the evening we had the reception and the banquet. We misbehaved. I finally managed to claim the Chairman's badge and carried it very proudly for hours before Kath stole it from me.

On Saturday after a short rest, we - Kath as Mr Dwalin and me as Fili Son of Dís - prepared for the Masquerade with Bungo's amazing daughters (Idril and Gimli). We had a brilliant hair dressing moment with Thranduil, and it's my favourite picture from the entire weekend. Gimli threw an apple at me, which wasn't nice at all because as you know, Fili hates apples, but we punished him by carrying him off the stage (after Idril had very kindly tripped him). However, we left a banana skin for Hookbill, who was the Fall of Arthur. Esty won the awards for the best costume and best performance with her hobbit lady, which wasn't very surprising. Esty is amazing.
We also had the privilege to see the fantastic Aratalindalë costumes that won the WorldCon masquerade!

After the Masquerade there was chilling out, pizza, Ceilidh, Telerin Circle, and a tea party. Sadly Kath and I had to move our room party elsewhere because the college had messed up the room plan, but it was fun to poison people with my self-made Finnish salty liquorice vodka anyway.

On Sunday, after even less sleep, we got up for the Enyalië at the grave. The TS chairman (who had got his badge back by now) read the Song of Eärendil which is one of my favourite poems in LOTR. Then us Downers headed to the Bird and Baby for lunch, and eventually, too soon, it was time for goodbyes.

I had a really good (if quite intoxicated) time, and it was especially lovely to see Esty again after two years.

Until next September! ♥
(or hopefully sooner)

Our third place in the quiz was only revealed to me when I got back on the Friday night for the banquet. I think I can safely say it was the most surprising thing about the entire event!

That's the best!!! :D

That word carries a slightly... unusual connotation in my mind after watching Sherlock. Though I'm not sure you'd mind. :p

Oh my goodness! This is priceless!

And so bananas make their way into moots again. I'm so proud of you. :D

I was part of the Even Dimmer team. The name came about because I was sitting next to a TS friend who is part of the Lake Evendim smial and we were talking about quizzes or something - and I think I played on the smial name by mentioning the idea of entering the quiz even though we're dim. ;) We came fourth, I think.

Ah I didn't know that, congrats! All I heard was that you got a special mention for your name. :D

Thanks for posting and sharing photos, Aganzir! I had so much to do upon getting home from Oxonmoot that there was little time for reminiscing, aside from trying to keep up with the flood of post-event photos on FB.

I very much enjoyed being with the BDers again - it's so much fun to spend time together in real life! Bungo's daughters are absolutely charming - one of them drew a delightful picture of Mr. and Mrs. Barad-dûr in my scrapbook.

The costume show would be only half as interesting without Downer contributions, that's for sure! Poison Ivy, Hookbill and other(s) played a funny skit in that context.

I think the best costume of the weekend was Gandalf (Jens from the German Society) - he looked so real!

By now I know a lot of Oxonmoot attendees from the Tolkien Society and its German equivalent (of which I am a member), yet the Downers are my tribe when I'm there. I love you all!

Barrow-Downs New Year Kentmoot
 

Heyya all!

Are you in southern England (namely Faversham, Kent, although we'll probably do a fair bit of moving around) around New Year? Well, so am I.

And Kath, A Little Green, Hookbill, Encaitare, Thanleon, Rune, skip spence, Squatter and perhaps others.

So if you're around and would like to meet for a cuppa, celebrate New Year, or join us for toasting the Professor on the 3rd, let me know! Also let me know if you're nearby but can't make it to Kent, and we'll see what we can do. :)

(Greenie and I will be there from 27 Dec to 6 Jan.)

And in the future, they would ask, "Where were you when the Downs shut down?"

Let me tell you where I was.

In England with a beautiful group of fellow Barrow-Downers. Together, we wondered what was going on and commiserated when we thought the forum was gone for good.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62...psqwqxqmps.jpg
Top row: Kath, skip spence, Encaitare, Hookbill the Goomba, A Little Green
Bottom row: Aganzir, Thanleon, Rune Son of Bjarne, Squatter of Amon Rûdh
(This is New Year's Eve and the faces are just too funny. Greenie is known for creepy new year's eyes anyway.)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62...psup1obesq.jpg
left to right: Rune, Kath, Hookbill, Greenie, Aganzir, skip, (Squatter), Encaitare, Thanleon, and featuring in the amazing pink shirt, the guy who be short!

So thank you, Barrow-Downs, for these brilliant friendships and an amazing new year. ♥

And I probably ought to mention that I'll be in Washington/the Seattle area the first two weeks of July with The Ka, TGEW, Encai and Thanleon, and hopefully also Oddwen and Gil-Galad. If anybody is in the area and would like to meet up, let me know! :)

edit: Oh yes Oddwen and Hookbill are coming to Finland tomorrow for a week or two! Downer times ahead!

I like my hair better in the first picture.... I might consider it for a permanent look.

Nice to see you all!
 

Nice to see you and so many of the others, Aganzir and Rune!:D:cool:

Nice to see you too, FJ!

Yeah Rune I'd definitely keep that hair.

Independence Moot 2016
 

Independence Moot, if I may call it that, is actually still ongoing, but the Formendacil and Nienna portion has run its course, and I will get my thoughts out now, while they are still fresh, even as the remnants of our party are literally awaiting NYC's Fourth of July fireworks.

This thread has been fallow for a while, and it has been even longer since I was part of a real moot--four years, since my wedding. I think the meeting of people who met on the Barrow-downs is an ongoing thing, but most discussion of it has moved to the up-to-the-minute stream of Facebook. There is nothing wrong with that, but I still think it's a good thing to post here. This is still the "Paper of Record," you might say, and there are excellent Downers who are not quite part of the "friends on Facebook" crowd that might, nonetheless, be inspired to meet other Downers someday.

Anyway, Nienna and I drove down from our home in the greater Boston area on Friday afternoon, expecting the worst of the holiday weekend traffic, to New York City, where dwell Encaitare and Thanleon. Boromir88, Aganzir, and Rune son of Bjarne were already there and upon our arrival the seven of us formed quorum for a Moot and headed out to Long Island, where Encaitare's parents very graciously hosted us for the weekend. Giddy with company, busy with cake-making, and full of downpour driven adrenaline, we were up until the wee-est of hours.

Unlike some of the more international moots--or the more international parts of this moot (Boro and Agan were around for quite a while before we got there)--this was not a particularly touristy moot, which suited me fine: I was there for the people and got a lot of them. Saturday was devoted to a day-long barbecue celebrating Encai's birthday: gorgeous weather and good company outdoors from morning until long past dark. Sunday was a visit to the beach and the Atlantic Ocean, after which we lost Boro to the airport. The Moot reconvened, a member fewer, for Thai food supper, another late night, and finally a morning of breakfast food, a lazy afternoon, and then the departure of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Barrow-downs Mutual Appreciation Society.

Simple enough details to recount--do people really cross oceans for this, you ask? Yes, I must answer. A moot isn't really about WHAT is done, but WHOM it is done with, and in the grand tradition of old posts on this thread, let me put out some thoughts for the stalking-but-oddly-not-using-Facebook-minded among us:

Encaitare: This was her party and her moot, so she shall have the honour of going first. I have met Encai thrice now, so it does not feel quite right to call these "first impressions"--maybe refresher impressions. This was her home turf, though, and she was both the hostess and mediatrix with her parents, as well as the mastermind (mistressmind?) of the operation. As it happens, she is both an efficient and gracious hostess: everything needed was present and then some, and she never seems to tire of making sure people are fed and watered and happy (a trait she demonstrably has inherited from her parents).

Rune son of Bjarne: I have actually only ever met Rune at moots at which Encai has been present (the reverse is also true), though I think the total amount of time I have seen him has probably been greater. His hair length has varied over the years, but his personality has not changed. Rune continues to be indefatigable in his desire to talk to everybody about everything. As usual, I come away from a moot both well-entertained and somehow more knowledgeable about Danish politics.

Thanleon: This is the second time I have met Encai's Significant Sea-bear, but for some reason I was very busy at my wedding, so there was plenty of unexplored getting-to-know-Thanleon territory to cover. He is an excellent complement to Encai: laid-back, helpful, and willing to accommodate the incessant need of the European Downers to catch trains. Without his skills, nary a bottle of beer would have been opened, I fear.

Boromir88: was my roommmate for a year and a groomsman at my wedding, so I'm not sure there was a whole lot of surprise to be found--but I haven't seen him since he moved back to his native state and it was great to catch back up.

Aganzir: My only "new" Downer (I think this brings my total to... *counts on his fingers*... 21? I think? Let me get back to you...). Agan didn't feel like a new Downer. Whether that's because we've met on Skype, been on the Downs and Facebook together for years, or because she looks vaguely familiar to me for subconsciously unknown reasons, I couldn't tell you. It probably helps, though, that she's outgoing and direct--so exactly the same as her online persona. She was a true ambassador of Mooting spirit, bringing tales of other Downers and probing for Downer memories and making certain we partook of group activities.

Nienna: well, I took her home with me. I don't know if I learned a lot about her this weekend, but it seems likely enough she learned more about me. ;)



In summation, Independence Moot was thoroughly enjoyable and I regret completely that Nienna and I had to go back to being functional adults with jobs this week. It had a different spirit than what I remember of past moots: it didn't have that elixir of "wow, I'm meeting new people!" so much as a reunion. But not a bad reunion, like a television high school reunion. As someone who both likes his family and now lives far abroad from them, it reminded me of nothing so much as a family reunion. Here's hoping it doesn't take four years for my next one!

Hear, hear! You are too kind. I'm not great at these recap things, that's more Aganzir's talent, so hopefully we can expect a further write-up from her on the goings-on after you and Nienna left. But it was so wonderful to see you both again!

Thanks!
 

Thanks for your account of what you and Nienna got up to at Independence Moot 2016, Formendacil! :D

I will have you know that I actually attempted to sit quietly and read Die Leiden des jungen Werthers in the garden, but people kept coming over asking me about details of Danish parliamentary proceedings... :smokin:

Anyways, thanks for writing this recap of our adventures, I might go do something similar if I feel inspired.