So over the weekend, this happened . . .
Now, I'm not saying I'm the coolest aunt, but . . .
That's Elijah Wood (Frodo in Lord of the Rings) showing us The Ring.
I've heard that one of the reasons they cast Elijah Wood as Frodo was because he has such big, bright, blue eyes.
They weren't kidding.
When I was standing this close to him and talking to him, his eyes were so big and bright and blue--it was like he had these two huge flashlights shining out of his sockets.
Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but they were so big and bright, like, not just in color, but happy-bright. And he just seemed so present and so happy, and energetic, but it was like, contained and controlled.
I get that he's an actor, and he was technically working at the time, but considering the fact he was meeting literally thousands of people, he was really present and happy. (But of course, after you've endured 16 months straight of filming, what's a convention?)
(More on Elijah Wood below)
Also last week, I had pit tickets to see Muse and 30 Seconds to Mars!
You probably aren't as big of a Muse fan as I am (who am I kidding? No one is.), but imagine being that close to your all-time-favorite band or musician, in a big pit full of the best audience you've ever been surrounded by in all your concerts throughout the years. Yeah. If you haven't experienced that, you need to.
The people I was next to in the pit were HUGE fans--so naturally I fit right in. We were freaking out the whole time Muse was on stage. One of the guys was jumping and dancing around almost the entire time.
30 Seconds to Mars said it was the best audience that they'd played for on this tour (and it was the last performance of the tour). When Muse was done, they said Salt Lake City was always their favorite audience in the U.S.A. Matt, their frontman, even broke his guitar, and chucked it in the air, and pieces were falling out before it hit the stage.
They are so dang talented. I would give anything to be as good at writing as Matt is at vocal range, guitar, piano, songwriting, and stage presence. 30 Seconds to Mars was really wonderful too! Definitely some of the best performers I've seen.
It was so fun being so close to my favorite band and being surrounded by so many people all rocking out and singing along too! If I could, I would turn around and buy that same ticket and experience it all over again.
Comic Con also had Christopher Lloyd ("Doc") and Tom Wilson ("Biff") from Back to the Future. And all I want to say is that Tom Wilson is hilarious! And super entertaining.
Fun fact: the word "Butthead" was invented by him, because he didn't want to say "a-hole" which was in the script. 😆 From there, he invented all the other off and wrong things Biff said.
Tom sang us two ridiculous songs that had everyone laughing, one included all the FAQs he gets about Back to the Future and their answers, so no one needed to ask him those questions. Oh and he sang us this dumb KFC biscuit jingle he still remembered from pre Back to the Future, when he did commercials. He was in the commercial that introduced the first ever KFC buttermilk biscuits.
They had the DeLorean there too. I wanted to get a picture with it, but every time I went by it, they were doing photo ops with the actors (which I hadn't bought) or I had other things going on. Oh well.
Of course, Comic Con always has tons of pop culture booths--like tons. I found this cool terrarium booth. It was amazing. And I totally fell in love with this one.
I did four panels this year. My favorite was probably the one on Harry Potter characters. There was a really great energy between the panelists and the audience. Way fun. But something new I did this year was help out with the kid section. For the first time, Salt Lake Comic Con wanted to do panels for the kids, so they put me on the Pokemon one. GREAT turn out. All the seats were full and kids were sitting on the floor (mind you, the sitting area for the kid panels are much smaller than the others, but still). I brought Pokemon cards to give out to all the kids, and it was a hit. (Maybe too much so, because they got a little difficult to control after that). But it was so fun because they were so excited.
Salt Lake Comic Con is so amazing, because, like the concert, everyone is there having a great time, celebrating what they love, and everyone is so friendly and nonjudgmental, and you can strike up happy conversations with any stranger.
This has definitely been the most fun I've had this year so far. I mean, it's pretty hard to beat those concert tickets AND meeting Elijah Wood. Everything was a blast. Everything. I didn't want to come home!
Overall, this trip reminded me how great life can be. Yes, there are low moments and difficulties, but life can be just so dang good sometimes. If you ever feel like it will always be doom and gloom, please know that there are wonderful moments and experiences to be had in the future. And never forget to make time to have fun! When you are having lots of fun, many, if not all, those things you worry about, were annoyed about, stressed about, melt away and feel small and insignificant--all that matters is that you are doing what you love.
Elijah Wood's panel highlights:
- His first film role was in Back to the Future 2, when he was 8 years old. (And the group who got a picture with him before us, actually had him hold a hoverboard haha)
- He actually did a lot of film as a child actor, and of course, his mom had to travel around and everything and be with him. (Imagine all the things his mom did to help him with his career and no one even knows what she looks like or what her name is.)
- The Hobbit feet took a while to put on, and they had to glue them to their own feet. They were made of silicon, so their feet were all sweating like crazy.
- When he returned to the role of Frodo for The Hobbit, it was so easy to slip back into, that it was as if no time had gone by.
- "By the time The Hobbit was being filmed they had Hobbit feet boots." (Elijah Wood getting very animated) "The actors had it so easy. They had NO IDEA what it was like!"
- "They were still silicon though, so your feet still sweat like crazy! You'd take them off, and it was just like this huge river of sweat coming out!"
- "And the cast of The Hobbit, I mean, they have no idea what it was like." (Still animated and jokingly) "They have like layers and layers, and huge jackets, and boots, and everything. Meanwhile in the Lord of the Rings, we filmed in so many locations that were freezing, and we are in shorts and thin shirts, and we're progressively wearing less and less clothes and they are getting more and more raggedy."
- "And in Mordor, it was freezing! And it's supposed to be really hot and volcanic and we're supposed to be all sweaty. They didn't want to spray me with water, so they put baby oil all over my shirt like sweat. And it was freezing, and my costume was all tattered, and I was all sticky and smelled weird." (Everyone is laughing.)
- The most emotionally difficult scene for Elijah to film was near the end of the series, before Frodo collapses and Sam carries him. And having to keep getting into that emotional state for each shot was something.
- Someone asked him to say his favorite Frodo line, and he had a hard time picking one, and then said he was getting really nervous and was afraid he'd remember it wrong in front of everyone, and that he was afraid he wouldn't be able to do Frodo's accent anymore. (And I'm thinking, Frodo had an accent? . . . I guess a little.) So he did this one:
