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Nice! Watching the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition in one sitting is an annual event for my close group of friends. This will be our 8th year. It's an exhaus

Nice! Watching the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition in one sitting is an annual event for my close group of friends. This will be our 8th year. It's an exhausting 12 hour venture. We have a hard start time of 11:00am and have food prepped prior to the start. Though we've never integrated food from the books beyond wine, ale, and potatoes (boiled, mashed, or in a stew). Thank you for posting this, Nate. If anyone plans to take this on, I can provide some advice beyond the article. First off, we've found that smaller groups work better. Too many people and it becomes a louder forum. Also, most newcomers pass out a short way into Two Towers. Make sure you're rested up. It may seem like you're simply sitting for several hours, but it is long and unusually exhausting. Also, too much of that previously mentioned wine and ale will only assist the dozing. Pace yourself if you're including drinks. Have the food prepped early in the day (hour before you start at least) and scheduled to bring out at certain times to help minimize delays. The biggest delay is bathroom breaks. We have these scheduled at the disc swaps, but emergency stops are understandable. If you're watching with a group, decide whether commentary should be included or not. Some people like to make jokes and quote lines the whole way through while others get really into it and just want to watch. It's helpful to determine which group you are early on. If you're in the quiet camp, know that there is almost no one talking by the end. Even if you're the most heartless person, after sitting through and watching the Fellowship's struggles, few people can refrain from welling up after Aragorn says "My friends...".

brootstrap 8y ago
POTATOES... Biggest complaint about the post is lack of boiled, mashed, and or stewed potatoes.
- bguerra 8y ago
  Though Sam and Frodo never actually got to eat the 'taters', the author did include some form of potatoes from that reference. He mentions it in the section about rabbit stew. > Sam’s advice on potatoes - “boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew” - also inspired us to serve a triple side dish of new potatoes, cooked in the ways prescribed.
navbaker 8y ago
My wife and I try to do this every few years. This year we started by marathoning the Hobbit trilogy. While I like the Hobbit movies, it was the first time I had watched them back to back with the LOTR movies and I was blown away by how much more simple (in a good way) and less frenetic the LOTR movies were than the Hobbit. I actually noticed a physical reaction to the last Hobbit movie. We watched it in one sitting right before bed and I felt so mentally overdriven I couldn’t fall asleep for several hours after getting in bed.

brootstrap 8y ago

POTATOES... Biggest complaint about the post is lack of boiled, mashed, and or stewed potatoes.

bguerra 8y ago
Though Sam and Frodo never actually got to eat the 'taters', the author did include some form of potatoes from that reference. He mentions it in the section about rabbit stew. > Sam’s advice on potatoes - “boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew” - also inspired us to serve a triple side dish of new potatoes, cooked in the ways prescribed.

navbaker 8y ago

My wife and I try to do this every few years. This year we started by marathoning the Hobbit trilogy. While I like the Hobbit movies, it was the first time I had watched them back to back with the LOTR movies and I was blown away by how much more simple (in a good way) and less frenetic the LOTR movies were than the Hobbit. I actually noticed a physical reaction to the last Hobbit movie. We watched it in one sitting right before bed and I felt so mentally overdriven I couldn’t fall asleep for several hours after getting in bed.