LotR Exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lady Snickerdoodle · 10-21-2004, 01:52 PM

haha no they're nowhere near as long if you're just going to the exhibit. but you have to reserve your ticket in advance!!!! and if you know any members of the museum personally, make them buy you a ticket. it's much cheaper... (hehehe conspiracies)

Encaitare · 10-21-2004, 02:03 PM

You lucky, lucky person, Lady Snickerdoodle. I desperately wanted to go, but alas, 'twas not meant to be?

How'd you like it, mark?

mark12_30 · 10-21-2004, 04:05 PM

I liked it well!

There was lots of orc-armor and Uruky stuff, plus a Treebeard display, and a pretty cool Mo-Cap station (I tried archery-- I can shoot, honest-- but the Mo-Cap was 2D, says the guy, and you have to do your archery side on, holding the thingies front-on. ) I gave up. I'll shoot for real instead.

Oh, and the store: totally lame. Nothing you can't get elsewhere much cheaper.

The room with the Ring in it was pretty cool. I was lucky enough to go in alone, and it was kinda neat to just stand there and listen to all the voices and ring-phrases.

Major Highlights:

Many have marveled at Boromir-in-the-boat. I must agree. The first few moments I spent looking at him, I could see he was artificial, wax; his hands were clearly waxen, more so than his face. But the more I looked, the more detail I saw. His constume; his eyelashes; the uneven-ness of his feet , one pointed more than the other; the smudges of dirt on his face. His hair looked untidy, and (I thought) blonder than usual. But what really got me-- Sean Bean as Boromir basically wore sort of a broad blond goatee-type beard, or something like that; just the moustache, the chin & mouth area. So he would have shaved his upper cheeks. The closer I looked, there was blonde down, or stubble, on his cheeks. He had clearly shaved just prior to setting out from Lothlorien, and they gave him four or five days' blonde beard growth. Invisible, unless you really look hard. Astounding.

It was around that moment I began to think I saw him blink.

More highlights: I am no fan of the XenArwenRanger approach taken between The Trollshaws and The Ford. That said: Arwen's riding habit was... just... amazing. I wanted one. Incredible. Why would I ever wear it? I wouldn't. But it was incredible.

Likewise: Galadriel's beaded white dress and cloak. Stunning. And the brooch, to my glee, looked like it surrounds a shell. How very elvish, especially for one who hails from across the sea!

Nenya was my favorite (it's big! And I've wanted one since I first saw it on screen so long ago.) Narya and Vilya were also pretty cool. The red-stoned ring, the ring of fire, impressed me the least. Next to Nenya... whatever.

Bilbo's red leather book. (I want one.) (Why? I never journal anymore.) (It's just gorgeous, that's why.) ( Covetousness....)

Frodo's Mithril shirt. Lovely.

I'm not sure about the Mithril shirt; but the rest of the hobbit-props and clothes were for the scale-double, the small guy. The brooch clued me in; it was half the size of mine (which I was wearing.) Sting was smaller, ditto the scabbard, and ditto Bilbo's red book. And the map, too (Bilbo's charred map of Erebor.)

All the fellowship brooches (they had three sizes, mini, huge, and man-sized) were in a much softer green than the ones the rest of us owned. I think I like ours better. THe rich green was a good choice.

Crowns... cool.

The Evenstar pendant: Yeah. I like it. I was unimpressed when it first "came out", but THAT one-- now that's nice.

Gondorian saddle: very spare! I hope it's more comfortable than it looks.

Theoden's armor: gorgeous and incredibly detailed.

In a glass case with several other helmets: Eomer's helmet!!!!! Can't I touch it? Pleeeeease? Oh, please please please?

Anduril-- cool. I wish they had translated the runes that ran all down the blade.

With gloves and limitations: Got to hold a copy of Glamdring, heft some genuine chain mail, a helmet (they wouldn't let me out it on), a gauntlet and a vambrace.

Aiglos! Gil-Galad's lance. Way up high. (That I would have liked some detail on... no cameras allowed, of course.) I stood there and sang "GilGalad was an elven King" under my breath. The guy next to me was saying "The countless stars of heavens filed were mirrored in his silver shield."

Aragorn's costume. Golly, it's almost all leather! I had asumed that it was half cloth. Nope; leather leather leather, tunic, coat, ties, everything. Very rugged.

And Legolas's costume... *shakes head* ...incredible. Silk shirt, fine leggings of course; then the boots (double-wrapped and laced, as best I could tell) and then -- the tunic. Incredible. (want one want one want one.)(When would you wear it?)(Every day, so there.) Soft bluish grey suede, finely tailored and carefully sewn, fitted to the shoulders (fitted everywhere) with layers wrapped across the shoulder and bicep to allow for freedom of movement. And an amazingly delicate tracery up the center to the neck and branching out over the shoulders-- faded, thin, and in places rubbed or worn completely off.

I stayed for two hours, lingered for another twenty minutes pondering, and then I was done. I am quite glad I went.

Oh, and before I forget-- how could I forget!-- it was quite hot, so the brown cloak and green vest got left in the car. And nobody was really costume-watching anyway, although there was one girl in a lovely foor-length royal purple cloak. A few people noticed taht I was dressed in 'forest greens and browns', I think, but I kept my brooch hidden most of the time. However, I did wear Rae's pendant and earrings; and ate Rae's 'lembas'-brownies, too. Rae, interesting Mallorn leaves you wrapped those in!

Lady Snickerdoodle · 10-21-2004, 04:15 PM

omg i swear I saw Boromir blink too. I got soooo freaked out. I actually stayed there for like 5 minutes just like staring at his closed eyes, waiting for him to blink again. But no. Didn't happen. (thank god.. how scary would that have been? unless it was actually sean bean. that would be cool.)

mark, when did they let you hold the stuff???? lucky!!! I really wanted to try out the elven swords. Like you know the ones with the extra long handles, because they looked really comfortable.

Encaitare · 10-21-2004, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Anduril-- cool. I wish they had translated the runes that ran all down the blade.

I ran a little Google search and discovered this, courtesy of CB Swords:

Quote:

... inscription down the length of the blade on both sides in the Middle-Earth language of Quenya, written in the runes of Eregion, that say "Nanye Anduril i ne Narsil i macil Elendilo. Lercuvanten i mali Mordoreo." This translates to "I am Anduril who was Narsil, the sword of Elendil. Let the thralls of Mordor flee me."

mark12_30 · 10-21-2004, 05:15 PM

Thanks, Encaitare! Maybe someday I'll buy one... I always thought I wanted Sting, but... hmmmmmm.

Lady Snickerdoodle-- there were only a few items that you could hold. They had a couple of people in red shirts who were doing the hands-on stuff. You had to put on brown cloth gloves (they were pretty sweaty by the time I got to them, but whatever...) There was one lady at a table with the samples of armor: a child's mail shirt (incredibly heavy!), a helm, a gauntlet, and the -- well, really, it was more than a vambrace, because it included the elbow joint and the tricep-cover... I put it on. Made the lady a bit nervous. It was heavy! I would have been freaking out in about ten minutes, or less. I also started to try the helmet on but the lady nixed that right away. Guess she didn't want me getting stuck.

Glamdring: Again, there was a guy who stood there and held it, and lectured you for a bit. You had to put on another pair of the brown cloth gloves again. He helps you hold the sword... too bad. I wanted him to let go of it, but he wouldn't. (I used to fence, foil and sabre, but broadsword is quite different and I wanted to have some fun... uh uh. No such luck. Like I said, maybe I'll buy one... either the Ranger sword or Anduril. (What would you do with a SWORD?) (Oh, just get arrested for disturbing the peace, and assault with a deadly weapon, and things like that. No big deal.)

Oh! One more thing that was ultra-cool. They had a display that said 'please touch'. It was three rohirric swords side by side. (Next to that was another similar display of three elvish swords, side by side.) One was the original steel sword; then they do a cast of that, and make aluminum copies and plasticky copies for various purposes. They wanted you to try and feel the difference.

The steel was coldest.

Encaitare · 10-21-2004, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Glamdring: Again, there was a guy who stood there and held it, and lectured you for a bit. You had to put on another pair of the brown cloth gloves again. He helps you hold the sword... too bad. I wanted him to let go of it, but he wouldn't. (I used to fence, foil and sabre, but broadsword is quite different and I wanted to have some fun... uh uh. No such luck. Like I said, maybe I'll buy one... either the Ranger sword or Anduril. (What would you do with a SWORD?) (Oh, just get arrested for disturbing the peace, and assault with a deadly weapon, and things like that. No big deal.)

When I went, the lady working the little booth thing did make us wear these cotton gloves, but if she deemed you strong enough she let you hold the sword by yourself -- I'm very glad she let me. But, the blade was of course dull, and there was a little rubber tip on the point for safety.

My friend is taking fencing lessons and asked me if I wanted to join her, but tragically, I have no time for it. I do really want a sword, though, just to look at and show people -- or to attack any would-be burglars.

Anduril or Glamdring would do nicely; I think Glamdring has this cold, simple elegance to it.

10-21-2004, 01:52 PM	#1
Lady Snickerdoodle Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: in the cookie jar Posts: 256	haha no they're nowhere near as long if you're just going to the exhibit. but you have to reserve your ticket in advance!!!! and if you know any members of the museum personally, make them buy you a ticket. it's much cheaper... (hehehe conspiracies) __________________ "Let me handle this, I'm British." ~hitchhikers guide

10-21-2004, 04:05 PM	#3
mark12_30 Stormdancer of Doom Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars Posts: 4,349	I liked it well! There was lots of orc-armor and Uruky stuff, plus a Treebeard display, and a pretty cool Mo-Cap station (I tried archery-- I can shoot, honest-- but the Mo-Cap was 2D, says the guy, and you have to do your archery side on, holding the thingies front-on. ) I gave up. I'll shoot for real instead. Oh, and the store: totally lame. Nothing you can't get elsewhere much cheaper. The room with the Ring in it was pretty cool. I was lucky enough to go in alone, and it was kinda neat to just stand there and listen to all the voices and ring-phrases. Major Highlights: Many have marveled at Boromir-in-the-boat. I must agree. The first few moments I spent looking at him, I could see he was artificial, wax; his hands were clearly waxen, more so than his face. But the more I looked, the more detail I saw. His constume; his eyelashes; the uneven-ness of his feet , one pointed more than the other; the smudges of dirt on his face. His hair looked untidy, and (I thought) blonder than usual. But what really got me-- Sean Bean as Boromir basically wore sort of a broad blond goatee-type beard, or something like that; just the moustache, the chin & mouth area. So he would have shaved his upper cheeks. The closer I looked, there was blonde down, or stubble, on his cheeks. He had clearly shaved just prior to setting out from Lothlorien, and they gave him four or five days' blonde beard growth. Invisible, unless you really look hard. Astounding. It was around that moment I began to think I saw him blink. More highlights: I am no fan of the XenArwenRanger approach taken between The Trollshaws and The Ford. That said: Arwen's riding habit was... just... amazing. I wanted one. Incredible. Why would I ever wear it? I wouldn't. But it was incredible. Likewise: Galadriel's beaded white dress and cloak. Stunning. And the brooch, to my glee, looked like it surrounds a shell. How very elvish, especially for one who hails from across the sea! Nenya was my favorite (it's big! And I've wanted one since I first saw it on screen so long ago.) Narya and Vilya were also pretty cool. The red-stoned ring, the ring of fire, impressed me the least. Next to Nenya... whatever. Bilbo's red leather book. (I want one.) (Why? I never journal anymore.) (It's just gorgeous, that's why.) ( Covetousness....) Frodo's Mithril shirt. Lovely. I'm not sure about the Mithril shirt; but the rest of the hobbit-props and clothes were for the scale-double, the small guy. The brooch clued me in; it was half the size of mine (which I was wearing.) Sting was smaller, ditto the scabbard, and ditto Bilbo's red book. And the map, too (Bilbo's charred map of Erebor.) All the fellowship brooches (they had three sizes, mini, huge, and man-sized) were in a much softer green than the ones the rest of us owned. I think I like ours better. THe rich green was a good choice. Crowns... cool. The Evenstar pendant: Yeah. I like it. I was unimpressed when it first "came out", but THAT one-- now that's nice. Gondorian saddle: very spare! I hope it's more comfortable than it looks. Theoden's armor: gorgeous and incredibly detailed. In a glass case with several other helmets: Eomer's helmet!!!!! Can't I touch it? Pleeeeease? Oh, please please please? Anduril-- cool. I wish they had translated the runes that ran all down the blade. With gloves and limitations: Got to hold a copy of Glamdring, heft some genuine chain mail, a helmet (they wouldn't let me out it on), a gauntlet and a vambrace. Aiglos! Gil-Galad's lance. Way up high. (That I would have liked some detail on... no cameras allowed, of course.) I stood there and sang "GilGalad was an elven King" under my breath. The guy next to me was saying "The countless stars of heavens filed were mirrored in his silver shield." Aragorn's costume. Golly, it's almost all leather! I had asumed that it was half cloth. Nope; leather leather leather, tunic, coat, ties, everything. Very rugged. And Legolas's costume... shakes head ...incredible. Silk shirt, fine leggings of course; then the boots (double-wrapped and laced, as best I could tell) and then -- the tunic. Incredible. (want one want one want one.)(When would you wear it?)(Every day, so there.) Soft bluish grey suede, finely tailored and carefully sewn, fitted to the shoulders (fitted everywhere) with layers wrapped across the shoulder and bicep to allow for freedom of movement. And an amazingly delicate tracery up the center to the neck and branching out over the shoulders-- faded, thin, and in places rubbed or worn completely off. I stayed for two hours, lingered for another twenty minutes pondering, and then I was done. I am quite glad I went. Oh, and before I forget-- how could I forget!-- it was quite hot, so the brown cloak and green vest got left in the car. And nobody was really costume-watching anyway, although there was one girl in a lovely foor-length royal purple cloak. A few people noticed taht I was dressed in 'forest greens and browns', I think, but I kept my brooch hidden most of the time. However, I did wear Rae's pendant and earrings; and ate Rae's 'lembas'-brownies, too. Rae, interesting Mallorn leaves you wrapped those in! __________________ ...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve. Last edited by mark12_30; 10-21-2004 at 05:20 PM. Reason: tidy-up

10-21-2004, 04:15 PM	#4
Lady Snickerdoodle Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: in the cookie jar Posts: 256	omg i swear I saw Boromir blink too. I got soooo freaked out. I actually stayed there for like 5 minutes just like staring at his closed eyes, waiting for him to blink again. But no. Didn't happen. (thank god.. how scary would that have been? unless it was actually sean bean. that would be cool.) mark, when did they let you hold the stuff???? lucky!!! I really wanted to try out the elven swords. Like you know the ones with the extra long handles, because they looked really comfortable. __________________ "Let me handle this, I'm British." ~hitchhikers guide

10-21-2004, 05:15 PM	#6
mark12_30 Stormdancer of Doom Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars Posts: 4,349	Thanks, Encaitare! Maybe someday I'll buy one... I always thought I wanted Sting, but... hmmmmmm. Lady Snickerdoodle-- there were only a few items that you could hold. They had a couple of people in red shirts who were doing the hands-on stuff. You had to put on brown cloth gloves (they were pretty sweaty by the time I got to them, but whatever...) There was one lady at a table with the samples of armor: a child's mail shirt (incredibly heavy!), a helm, a gauntlet, and the -- well, really, it was more than a vambrace, because it included the elbow joint and the tricep-cover... I put it on. Made the lady a bit nervous. It was heavy! I would have been freaking out in about ten minutes, or less. I also started to try the helmet on but the lady nixed that right away. Guess she didn't want me getting stuck. Glamdring: Again, there was a guy who stood there and held it, and lectured you for a bit. You had to put on another pair of the brown cloth gloves again. He helps you hold the sword... too bad. I wanted him to let go of it, but he wouldn't. (I used to fence, foil and sabre, but broadsword is quite different and I wanted to have some fun... uh uh. No such luck. Like I said, maybe I'll buy one... either the Ranger sword or Anduril. (What would you do with a SWORD?) (Oh, just get arrested for disturbing the peace, and assault with a deadly weapon, and things like that. No big deal.) Oh! One more thing that was ultra-cool. They had a display that said 'please touch'. It was three rohirric swords side by side. (Next to that was another similar display of three elvish swords, side by side.) One was the original steel sword; then they do a cast of that, and make aluminum copies and plasticky copies for various purposes. They wanted you to try and feel the difference. The steel was coldest. __________________ ...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve.

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10-21-2004, 02:03 PM	#2
Encaitare Bittersweet Symphony Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: On the jolly starship Enterprise Posts: 1,814	You lucky, lucky person, Lady Snickerdoodle. I desperately wanted to go, but alas, 'twas not meant to be? How'd you like it, mark?