Andy
Chris
Chuck
Dan
Jonas
Louise
Mike N.
Mike S.
Rhys
Ryan Mc.
Ryan Mu.
Dervala
ChrisMongolia
JoeAndGill
Tony
Vagabonding
Posting from an Internet cafe in Nelson, NZ, where I have the iBook connected to their network. This is the fastest public Internet connection (ADSL) I've found yet on this trip; I got over 40k/s uploading all the pictures to Arwen, and over 70 k/s uploading them as a backup to Toasty!
Woops- been here for an hour and a half already, and I was supposed to meet Beth at the grocery store 10 minutes ago to pick up dinner supplies... D'oh! I'll get descriptions of all the new pictures online soon- there are some great stories behind some of them!
Posted by Eric at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)
Back in the Wellington tourism office I picked up a brochure about the filming of The Lord of the Rings, all of which was done in New Zealand. Lots of it happened in and around Wellington, and yesterday we hiked Mt. Victoria. Here's an article about it. It's where they filmed the scene when the Nazgul (black riders) were pursuing the Hobbits, who were running from the Shire for Brie. Here are my pictures from the day.
Then, at 5pm yesterday, we went and saw the movie (my third viewing, after about 8 readings over the past 8 years!) at the Embassy Theatre, where the New Zealand premiere was. The lady at the ticket counter told me it's Peter Jackson's (the director of the series) favorite theatre in the world, and that he picked out and bought them a brand new sound system a few years ago while they were filming. I believe her- we were shaking in our seats from the audio of the tiniest little action- Sauron's severed yet still-ringed finger hitting the ground in the opening scene in front of Isildur, Bilbo dropping the ring on the floor of Bag End. The screams of the Nazgul were especially piercing, and Gollum.... Preciousssssss..... :)
Posted by Eric at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)
A few tidbits from our short stay in Wellington last week:
We're now members of the New Zealand Automobile Association, which is NZ's equivalent of AAA back home in the US. Basically, they'll help us if we have trouble with Samson.
The drinking age here is 18; Beth got carded the other day when buying a glass of wine!
I picked up a power inverter for Samson, so I can plug in various gadgetry and not waste batteries.
There are oodles of one-lane bridges here. Uggh. As if things weren't already weird enough, driving on the left side of the road!
Posted by Eric at 01:48 PM | Comments (0)
Beirne writes that he gives Samson another 2 months of lifespan... What Beirne doesn't realize is that Samson has the Lord on his side!
Posted by Eric at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)
Courtesy of Ryan, who has waaay too much time on his hands back in Oxford (grin), here's a picture of a Pontiac LeMans, a red version of which Beth and I are currently driving around New Zealand.
Posted by Eric at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)
"May all beings be happy."
Vipassana meditation.
Shwedagon Pagoda,
Yangon,
Burma
January 3rd, 2003
Latest photos:
-24/3: Skyline Blvd hiking
Howard Rheingold: Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
Cory Doctorow: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Robert Jordan: Crossroads of Twilight: Book Ten of 'The Wheel of Time'
Charles Dawes: The Path of Spiritual Progress in Theravada
Listening:
© 2003 Eric Case.