RING*CON 2003 BONN, GERMANY NOVEMBER 14 - 16, 2003
PHOTOS AND REPORTS:
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A message from Bruce:
Well, well, well. Apart from being 3 holes in the ground, those 3 wells are me shaking my head once again at the craziness that is a Lord Of The Rings convention. RingCon 2003 lived up to the expectations that I had created, and more. Some of the key points for me prior to going were, I was going to Germany for the first time, Tom, my oldest son was coming (thank you Air New Zealand), I was flying business class for the first time (thank you Games Workshop), and I would meet up with a bunch of fellow kiwis from LOTR as well as some of the increasing group of friends I am making from previous LOTR encounters. On top of this is the fact that I could guarantee I would meet more fascinating new people from totally different cultures to mine. Meeting up with the likes of John Leigh (Rohan rock!!!) and Nat Lees who were coming to their first Con experience, I felt like an old pro. Throw us together with Craig, Lawrence, Sala, Mark & Jorn, and it seemed that we could well have been back in NZ with a bunch of German LOTR fans visiting our place. Probably the first major new experience was travelling down the autobahn at 220 kpm,…. very fast and very legal. Tom was buzzing and so was I. Arriving at our home for the next 5 days, the Maritim Hotel, was cool. It is a real nice place to stay, with big spaces, lots of shiny knobs, see through elevators, a good hot sauna and really nice staff. Both Tom and I got a kick out of turning on the television hearing shows like DragonballZ, The Nanny and other global fodder dubbed into German. Some of the shows make about as much sense in German as they do in English and in fact are more entertaining to watch in German! It was great catching up with Stefan and also to meet the rest of the Ring*Con team, commanded by the inimitable Dirk. As seems to be part of these events, a party eventuated on the first night and some of us got introduced to the evils of jaegermiester. Mind you if you did not want to take part in the jaegermaister there were other options!!! Enough of the social activities. What about the con? I hear you say, well (another one of those holes in the ground, as with almost every LOTR con I have been to, it seems that half the time you are surrounded by an ocean of elves. Luckily this time I had Hama for company. Next time John Leigh attends a con I would ask that “Haldir lives” be amended to “Haldir and Hama Live”. One of my first duties was to do a Q & A with John. I have been flattered and amazed to see in reports that people really enjoyed this session, as John and I had no bloody idea what we were doing essentially. As with a lot of these sessions, it is you, the fans, that help generate such a welcoming and positive energy, we can get away with what seems to be nonsense at times. The signing sessions were very full on and due to the numbers involved, unfortunately it was a bit rushed. I would like to have a little more time to at least say 'hi' and personalize the photos, so hopefully next year the schedule will allow that(if I am invited back!). Saturday nights party, with the cranking sounds of Shelmish (I hope I got that right) was huge. What a sound this band puts out. It is almost impossible to not be ensnared by the power of the percussion, let alone the sound of the pipes. My only regret is I didn't get to see the beautiful belly dancer, Yazmeen, belly dancing. Saturday night's celebration finished very close to the start of the day on Sunday, there were many people who had very little sleep, I was one of them. During the days I actually enjoy going for the odd walkabout, (always with someone keeping an eye on you of course!!!), it is quite strange having a person assigned to your security, who follows you around all day. I think my guy was Jan! but I never saw him, did I Jan, he must have been really deep undercover!!! Don’t worry, it’s a joke, Jan was cool). Walking around the stands you come across an amazing array of talented people, some wanting to make money, others just sharing what they love doing, all brought together ultimately by the genius of Mr. Tolkien. The costume competition is one of the times at Ring*Con when you see how passionate many of the people attending are. An incredible number of hours must be spent creating those amazing outfits. Congratulation to you all. Due to a 3:45am wake up call in order to be at Dusseldorf airport by 5:30am, I did not last too long at the final night's dinner, which is a shame as I really enjoyed the company of my Ring*Con hosts(including Jan). Once again I have to say I feel so priviledged to be part of Peter Jackson's realization of this amazing work of literature, and I am thankful to you fans for creating the demand for these events, which means I get to come along as part of my own journey. I’m going to finish up here, but I will just mention that when the plane was about 3 hours away from landing back in Auckland, there was one final surprise in store. I was told by one of the aircrew on board the plane that there were two guys behind me who were travelling to the world premier of ROTK, so I went over and met them. It turns out one of them was Royd Tolkien, that’s right, JRR’s great grandson!!! What a way to complete a wonderful experience. Outta here Till next time, ciao. |
Guests at the convention were: Bruce Hopkins, Craig Parker, Mark Ferguson, Sala Baker, Lawrence Makoare, John Leigh, Nathaniel Lees and Jorn Benzon.
Photos courtesy and property of Elisabeth Mueller. These are not for use on other sites.
Craig Parker, Elisabeth Mueller, Bruce, Sala Baker.
Craig Parker, Elisabeth Mueller, Bruce, Sala Baker.
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A short review courtesy of Elisabeth Mueller:
"Amid all the glory and the greatness of this year's Ring Con, all the panels, the stars, the lectures, the music and the shows - one of the things I will remember best and will keep in my heart will be meeting Bruce Hopkins - a kind and lovely man. It is important to me to point out that I have hardly ever met someone who is more warm-hearted, friendly, natural with his fans than the man we all adored in his role as Gamling-one of King Theoden's best men- who rides with him to battle at Helm's Deep. It was an honor for me to meet Bruce Hopkins and being around him most of the time to be able to take the pictures for this -his site. I am also very glad that I have the chance now to provide all the fans with impressions of this spectacular event. Between all the hectic and the busy schedules it was a cure for the heart to meet such an adorable man. I hope that many people will after this convention share this opinion with me!" |
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Bruce with Claudia Sieber of craigparker.de (German fansite). Photo courtesy of Claudia Sieber. | Bruce bows to the crowd during the closing ceremonies. Photo courtesy of Sibylle Malinke. | Bruce in his Gamling Department shirt the LOTR crew made for him. Photo courtesy of Sibylle Malinke. | Bruce passes the mic onto Lawrence Makore during the opening ceremonies. Photo courtesy of Sibylle Malinke. |  |
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| Bruce and Sala bow to the fans at the closing ceremonies. Photo courtesy of Sibylle Malinke. | Bruce talks to fans. Photo courtesy of Sibylle Malinke. | Bruce and Sala bowed to the fans, kneeling, and as they had their heads down Lawrence ran in front of them and accepted their bows in his generous manner. Photo courtesy of Sibylle Malinke. | Bruce greets fans at the Air New Zealand table. Photo courtesy of Silke Denise www.rivendelltwins.com. |
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| Bruce at the Air New Zealand table during Ring*Con. Photo courtesy of Silke Denise www.rivendelltwins.com. |
The sites listed below have some wonderful photos of Bruce from the convention.
- No. 1 Parker Place. A great report.
- IAN SMITH'S REPORT/INTERVIEWS AND PHOTOS.
- RING*CON PHOTOS BY OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER ROBERT KLENK. Photos available to purchase.
- VISIONS AND SOUNDS
- WDR.de. Photos and article. *The site is in German only.