The Clackamas print., November 14, 2001, Page 10, Image 10

NovENibER 14, 2001
A&E
The CI ac I camas P rínt
’The Lord of the Rings’provides fantasy and adventure
ISAIAH CREEL
Staff Writer
Three Rings for the Elven-
kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in
their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed
to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his
dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where
the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all
and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where
the Shadows lie. -“The Lord of
the Rings”
“The Lord of the Rings” by
J. R. R. Tolkien is a classic tril­
ogy of literature loved
worldround. The first book,
“The Fellowship of the Ring,”
has been made into a film set
to open in theaters on Dec. 19.
In anticipation of this event, I
have written a brief summary
for those of you who aren’t fa­
miliar with the story of Frodo
Baggins and company. I hope
it intrigues you enough to
check out the books for your­
self and then see the movie.
“The Fellowship of the Ring”
being the first part of “The
Lord of the Rings” is the be­
ginning of Tolkien’s saga of
Frodo Baggins and his quest to
destroy the One Ring. It starts
off in Hobbiton, a small town lo­
cated in the West Farthing of the
Shire, a section of Middle Earth
in which the entire population of
Hobbits dwell. Every Hobbit in
Hobbiton is preparing for the
“eleventy first” birthday party of
resident oddball Bilbo Baggins,
of whom “The Hobbit,” another
Tolkien classic, was written.
His parties have grown to
things of legend, and this one
shall prove more elaborate than
all the rest. There will be food
aplenty and wine all around,
which says a lot due to the gas­
tronomic capacity of Hobbits.
Gandalf, a mysterious traveler
and longtime friend of Bilbo, will
set off a magical fireworks display.
But Bilbo takes off in the middle
of the party in order to have one
final adventure and leaves his ac­
cumulated wealth to Frodo, along
with his most precious heirloom: a
gold ring which grants its wearer
the power of invisibility. Little
known to Frodo is the dark his­
tory of this particular ring and the
true power it possesses.
Frodo is forced to leave the Shire
in an attempt to draw the forces of
Sauron, the owner of the Ring and
Dark Lord of Mordor, away from
his family and friends. He is thrown
into a world of fantasy and adven­
ture which he thought was merely
legend.
This book opens the doorway
to the enchanting land of Middle
Earth, a mystical land where any­
thing is possible with the help of
good friends and courage. It is
suitable for children but holds an
amount of wisdom and morality
which adults can learn from as
well.
“The Lord of the Rings” tril­
ogy may be bought in a one vol­
ume edition for approximately
$20. They may also be bought
individually for about $7 to $8.
Two orchestras join
together to make harmony
JESSE GURZYNSKI
Staff Writer
On Sunday, Nov. 4, the Colum­
bia Symphony Orchestra to­
gether with the Sapporo Philhar­
monic Orchestra held the Port­
land - Sapporo Sister City
Friendship Concert. This joint
concert featuring these two or­
chestras was performed at the
Portland Art Museum’s Grand
Ballroom in front of a full crowd
of around 350 people.
It has been years since I have
attended a symphony orchestra
concert, so I feel fortunate to
have attended such a wonderful
musical experience as this. The
performers were very talented,
and all of the instruments were
well tuned. (I once attended an
orchestra concert in which there
was a poorly tuned instrument;
that was very, irritating). The
musical selections were beauti­
ful.
A speaker before the concert
introduced the orchestra, then ir­
ritated me with some dumb com­
ments about why people come
to see concerts. “The arts are the
eyes of humanity,” he said. Then
he went on to explain that when
we take in the arts, that’s cul­
ture, and of course people go to
concerts to experience culture.
That is something that has al­
ways irritated me about the
crowds at symphonic concerts
— they’re filled with preten­
tious ‘culture’ seekers. Talk
about “the arts” as “culture.”
What do you know about cul­
ture?
I, attended this concert for
the music and was thrilled with
it. One of the selections, Will­
iams’ The Lark Ascending, was
built around a violin solo per­
formed by Megumi Stohs, of
which the only part that was
not extraordinary was the per­
son kicking my seat.
The Sapporo Philharmonic
Orchestra was only visiting,
but the Columbia Symphony
Orchestra is based in Portland,
and seems to be quite talented.
If you wish to attend a con­
cert, here’s my advice: go for the
music, not for ‘culture.’ If you go
for culture, you’ll be bored. If
you go for the music, you are
likely to enjoy yourself far more.
Student tickets for this event
were only $5, so the cost
shouldn’t keep you away. For
upcoming concert information,
call 503-234-4077, or send an e-
mail to cso@pacifier.com.
OPENS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 21 AT THEATRES EVERYWHERE