Mod of the Month

-an interview with Keterai

How did you find CoE?
Well, I had been looking for another place to “hang out” online for a while. So I started putting things from Lord of the Rings into google (oddly enough: “Council of Elrond” wasn’t one of them). I think at the time I was on an Elvish kick, and looking into seeing if anyone had lessons on it. Well, after about five days of searching, I found a reference link on a random board, that sent me to another random board, that sent me to yet another random board that linked me here. One of the things I really liked was getting my welcome PM (which I still have, thanks k! :)). I wasn’t sure if it was an automated thing, or if someone took the time out and sent me one, but I thought it was a very cool way to say hi and welcome, so I stuck around longer and found the gallery :). That’s pretty much what got me hooked.

What are your duties here at CoE?
I’m a moderator of the Palantir and Collectibles forums. As well as the head of Orome.

What are your favourite areas of the site?
My forums ;). I really do like discussing the new movies out and of course there’s the gallery, and multimedia section. I have a huge amount of pictures on my computer which I made into my screen saver, plus dozens of wallpapers that I randomly change whenever I get bored with the current one. I also really enjoy the humor section, there’s some really great stuff in there. But it’s really hard picking a favorite part of the site because I enjoy all of it.

How often do you visit CoE?
I’m on here a few hours a day. Not all together and not actively all at once, but I normally have a tab or two open to something on CoE….Like right now, I’ve got a tab open to the Forum and the Gallery….as well as a few other places on the web.

How many times have you read the books?
The Hobbit, a lot. It’s a great book. I first read it way back in grade school. I picked up a copy at the airport a few years ago and read it to a kid on the plane (it wasn’t a crowded plane, and the kid liked being read too. ;))

As for the Lord of the Rings, maybe five or six times. I’ve started it a lot, but other things like my studies get in the way. Last time I read the Lord of the Rings cover to cover was winter of last year, and it took me about four days.

I haven’t read the other back stories yet purely because I have a lack of time on my hands, but they are on my reading list. Since it is summer now, and I can take a break from studying all the time, maybe I can knock off a few :).

Who is your favourite LOTR character?
Tom Bombadil. I found him charming.

Do you have a favourite scene from the trilogy?
I have two favorite scenes. The first one is when Gandalf and Bilbo are sitting before the party and blowing smoke circles, and the second is the ending when Sam comes home. I think it was a terrific way to end the trilogy, it was just calm, and laid back compared to the rest of the book with it’s battles and adventure.

While the battles and special effects are pretty cool, nothing beats a calm quiet ending. It’s just so much more special when it ends on a soft note.

What character left out of the films do you miss most?
Well, Glorfindel wasn’t really left out, but he was replaced, and I can totally understand why Jackson decided to do that. But I think it would have been pretty cool to see him on the screen. For a character that was completely cut out, I would have liked to see Goldberry.

Do you know any Sindarin or Quenya?
I gave up on that a long time ago, lol. I know Suilad and Navaer. And…that’s pretty much it. I still have my workbook….I printed it out and hand bound it….but then life got the better of me and I never go to work in it.

What are you looking forward most to in ROTK:EE?
The extended scenes. I hear so much got cut out to make it short (ha!) for the theatrical release, and I really want to see how it all fits together with all the footage put back in.

Short Bio
I’m a college student studying Computer Science at a local University. I love animals and science fiction. You can normally find me online, playing the latest RTS game, or curled up with a good book. Unless it’s winter, then I’m probably trying to convince someone to go skiing with me.