I'm having trouble controlling my bodily functions. Every time I think I have it under control, the world spins yet another day closer to the event of a life time. Every time I think my bladder problem has subsided, something new appears to trigger a fresh round of potty dance antics. Last night was the worst.

Last night was LOTR Day in the USA. With the film merely a month away, yesterday was LOTR Day and I bet only geekboy LOTR fans even noticed. I noticed. I was there. I fought my way through Dallas traffic, tripping over effeminate bookstore managers, enduring mindless trivia questions that even the lamest Lord of the Rings fan could answer, to get my LOTR Day reward.

Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes of fluff that I freakin loved. November 8, 2001, 20 Lord of the Rings freaks, girlfriends in tow, journeyed to Borders Bookstore, and were rewarded with the sweet scent of things to come. The video shown was a short 20 minute documentary, featuring a brief history of the publication of the book itself, followed by shots of the production, interviews with cast and director, and scenes no one else has yet seen.

The interviews themselves were nice, and touching. It was so easy to feel how much these people care about the film. What really pulled me in was a little piece on famed Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee, who also helped design most of the sets for Peter Jackson's film. Some really inspiring shots of Lee sitting in the middle of a forest on location, frantically sketching Rivendell onto his well worn pad. Clips of him making last minute adjustments to the tiniest minutia on the sets between shooting. This guy LOVED what he was doing, and LIVED to make this thing real. Jackson too had a fire in his eyes, a yearning to bring this thing to life.

Then came the clips. Some great shots of Hobbiton, of how they picked the location, of how the set was designed around the location, of the detail put in to making it so REAL. Its hard to believe anyone could ever so accurately capture that place... but Jackson has done it. It's beautiful. It's perfect. We've all seen pictures, but god it looks even more... Hobbity on film. Jackson felt it important that the audience understand why this place was so important to the Hobbits, what it is they are fighting for. He has done it.

After that, on to Rivendell, and some sweet succulent looks at location scouting and set design. Then the finished set, entwined among the trees and looking so beautifully Elfish that its hard to believe it wasn't put together by Tolkien himself.

But there was more. Movie clips, most of which we've already seen in the current set of trailers... but expanded. My favorite was the clip from Weathertop, you know, the one we all see in the trailer, with the fireworks exploding in the dark? Well, let that clip keep playing, and you discover that the fireworks don't just shoot up into the sky, but that they sweep down over the hill and FLY past the camera with a furious amount of power.

Flash to quick shots of Rivendell, of Arwen on Shadowfax, hotly pursued by speeding black riders. Clips from Moria, fighting the Balrog, which they just stop short of seeing, as is done in the trailers. But again, expanded a bit, to show more of the battle, of flames leaping around Gandalf.

LOTR Day was a good day, even if it only lasted a half hour or so. I left with a better picture of how amazing this film is going to be. I successfully managed to avoid purchasing any of the newly released LOTR movie guides and escaped out the door clutching in my left hand, my very own "Frodo Lives" button. If this LOTR fervor continues, I will soon need diapers as the excitement wreaks havoc with my normal body processes. I hope I can hold out another month.