When Lord of the Rings hit the cinema screens back in 2001, we were all impressed by the visualisation of JRR Tolkien's classic. Aside from the epic storyline, memorable characters and special effects, one thing which was particularly impressive was Gandalf's pipe smoking. Sure, Middle Earth had a bunch of Hobbits and a whole load of magic stuff, but the simplicity of smoke rings made for brilliant cinema. The pipe smoking scene is quite brief, as Gandalf and an ageing Bilbo have a good old get together. However, a simple game of blowing smoke rings takes on whole new levels of Middle Earth cool-ness as Gandalf magically turns his smoke into a tall ship. The ship formed by the grey wizard sails off into the night air, making its way elegantly through a smoke ring made by Bilbo. Gandalf's party trick is nearly impossible to pull off, and only a few wizards in the UK have ever claimed to have achieved it.
