So, before Thranduil was King of Mirkwood was he one of Thingol's people?

I don't know -- I don't think it's laid out that clearly, or if it is, it's in one of the posthumous books which are full of additional details I can't remember very well. But Thingol's people weren't the only elves in all of Middle-earth after the Noldor left, so it's just as plausible that Thranduil came from Thingol's realm, or that he wandered along from someplace else.

I don't know about other Tolkien geeks; until the movies started being the topics of general discussion, Tolkien pretty much never came up in conversation. Except in the home, where quizzing each other over the appendices was a beloved pastime.

Has anyone seen the side-by-side comparison of actors in the Trilogy? It's interesting, and also proves that Legolas is still the prettiest.

I don't know about other Tolkien geeks; until the movies started being the topics of general discussion, Tolkien pretty much never came up in conversation. Except in the home, where quizzing each other over the appendices was a beloved pastime.

I don't in *any* way rise to high level of geekdom of the Tolkien geeks in this thread - but this rings very true for me.

My father and I and my one LotR-semi-geek buddy were the only people I knew who had read the books and could talk about them. And my dad and I especially were always trying to outdo each other with little details. Now I find myself having discussions about the Dunedain at the coffee shop with my barista. I love that everyone else loves it - but I miss it being an exclusive thing I had with my dad, too.

Also - TORN is saying that Sean Astin and Elijah Wood are going to be on Charlie Rose tomorrow night. Yay. The mixture of Rose and Astin pontificating might be a little much - but there will be Elijah to mix it up with disgusting anecdotes about his toe nails and testicles.

I don't in *any* way rise to high level of geekdom of the Tolkien geeks in this thread - but this rings very true for me.

I should probably make it clear that I meant this as a compliment to the folks who can share their knowledge about the books with such clarity. I always assume in buffista world that geek=compliment. But maybe not everyone does.

eta: grr. complement/compliment issues.

Except that EW doesn't hold Sean back -- too bad Dom and Billy weren't part of the group.

Except in the home, where quizzing each other over the appendices was a beloved pastime.

My sister, the recent Tolkien convert (she finally listened to the unabridged audio version last spring--she's tried the books and couldn't get past the Council) and now purist (she's really ticked that Jackson didn't film the Scouring at all), was convinced that Jackson also moved Frodo onto the Grey Havens much faster than in the books. I told her that he actually postponed the trip a few years (IMO, to allow Sean Astin's daughter to play Elanor at age 2 1/2), but she was positive that Frodo languished in the Shire for at least 10 or 15 years. She was confusing the 17 years before the quest with the two years after it, so I quoted the actual dates from the appendix by memory to straighten her out. She just looked at me and said, "You're such a dork."

too bad Dom and Billy weren't part of the group.

I know. I know. That would be tape it, show it at parties, make a DVD of it and re-enact it for friends worthy.

EW was actually entertaining with Jon Stewart last night. They traded some banter about how his "little film" was needing some help financially, so the studio was sending the troops on the press circuit again to try and get the film somewhere on the box office charts. Jon then asked EW what plans he had next, and instead of pre-plugging Eternal Sunshine, which I expected, he mentioned his hopes to start his own record label. No disgusting testicle stories, or adolescent drinking tales like on Leno.

And it appears that Chicago PBS no longer carries Charlie Rose.

Sumi, try WYCC (Channel 20)--they've got Charlie Rose on 5:00 pm, 11:00 pm, and 12:00 am today, according to their online schedule.