The New Hobbit Hole

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The New Hobbit Hole
Concerning Hobbits
The New Hobbit Chronicles

This is a continuation of the infamous thread New Zealander Builds Hobbit Hole originally posted on January 26, 2001 by John Farson, who at the time undoubtedly thought he had found a rather obscure article that would elicit a few replies and die out. Without knowing it, he became the founder of the Hobbit Hole. For reasons incomprehensible to some, the thread grew to over 4100 replies. It became the place for hobbits and friends of hobbits to chit chat and share LoTR news and views, hang out, and talk amongst ourselves in the comfort of familiar surroundings.

In keeping with the new posting guidelines, the thread idea is continuing here, as will the Green Dragon Inn, our more structured spin-off thread, as soon as we figure out how to move all the good discussion that has been had there. As for the Hobbit Hole, we will just start fresh, bringing only a few mathoms such as the picture above with us to make it feel like home, and perhaps a walk down memory lane:

Our discussion has been light:

It very well may be that a thread named "New Zealander builds Hobbit hole" will end up being the longest Tolkien thread of them all, with some of the best heartfelt content... Sorry John, but I would have rather it had been one with a more distinguished title!… post 252 - HairOfTheDog

However, I can still celebrate, with quiet dignity, the fact that what started as a laugh about some wacko in New Zealand has mutated and grown into a multifaceted discussion of the art, literature, and philosophy that is Tolkien. And now that I've managed to write the most pompous sentence of my entire life, I agree, Rosie… post 506 - JenB

Hah! I was number 1000!! (Elvish victory dance... wait, no; that would be too flitty) … post 1001 - BibChr

Real men don't have to be afraid of being flitty! Go for it. – post 1011 – HairOfTheDog

Seventeen years to research one mystical object seems a bit excessive… post 1007 - JenB

Okay...who's the wise guy who didn't renew Gandalf's research grant?… post 1024 – Overtaxed

To the very philosophical:

…Judas Iscariot obviously was a good man, or he wouldn't have been chosen to be one of the Apostles. He loved Jesus, like all of the Apostles, but he betrayed him. Yet without his betrayal, the Passion and Crucifixion would never have occurred, and mankind would not have been redeemed. So without his self-destruction infinite good would not have been accomplished. I certainly do not mean this to be irreverant but it seems to me that this describes the character of Gollum, in the scenes so movingly portrayed above… Lucius Cornelius Sulla

To fun but heartfelt debates about the integrity and worth of some of the characters…

…Anyone else notice how Boromir treats the hobbits? He's very fond of them but he seems to think of them as children - ruffling Frodo's hair, calls them all 'little ones'. He likes them, but I don't think he really respects them… post 1536 - JenB

Yes... Tolkien told us not to trust Boromir right off the bat when he began to laugh at Bilbo, until he realized that the Council obviously held this hobbit in high esteem. What a pompous dolt… post 1538 - HairOfTheDog

…I think almost every fault of his can be traced directly back to his blindness to anything spiritual or unseen. He considers the halflings as children, because that is what they look like. He considers the only hope of the ring to be in taking it and using it for a victory in the physical realm. He cannot see what the hobbits are truly made of, he cannot see the unseen hope of what the destruction of the ring might mean--the destruction of Sauron himself, and he cannot see the unseen danger that lies in the use of the ring itself… I just feel sorry for Boromir--he is like a blind but honorable man, trying to take the right path on the road but missing the right path entirely because he simply cannot see it… post 1548 - Penny1

Boromir isn't a jerk, he's a jock… post 2401 – Overtaxed

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Oh, I think by the time Frodo reaches the Cracks, he's not even himself anymore! I think he's not only on the brink of a dangerous place physically, he's on the brink of losing himself completely during the exchange with Gollum. But for some reason, the take-over isn't complete till he actually has to throw the Ring in. The person speaking to Gollum is not Frodo, but the "Wheel of Fire" that Sam sees. After the Ring is destroyed, Frodo not only comes back to himself, but comes back with the unbearable (to him) knowledge of what it's like to be completely without compassion. I think that's why it's so important to him to be compassionate in the Shire… post 2506 - 2Jedismom

…Regarding Frodo's compassion... it's a little too much at the end. Even Merry tells him that he's going to have to quit being so darn nice. But you're right. He's learned a lesson about evil that very few ever learn since it wasn't an external lesson but an internal one. (Those kinds of lessons have the greatest impact) Not only did he totally succumb to it, but he was rather ruthless to my little Smeagol… post 2516 - carton253

Well that Frodo was a big mean bully! (to Smeagol)… post 2519 – Overtaxed

So as you can see, everything JRR Tolkien (and Peter Jackson) is welcome here in our New Row, our soon-to-be familiar New Hobbit Hole…; philosophy, opinion, good talk and frequent silliness.

[Overtaxed]

Good Morning!

[Sam Cree]

Hi Overtaxed, that's pretty.

Is it the Smoky Mountains again?

[Sam Cree]

Overtaxed, is there a way to edit "My Comments?" There's some stuff I'd like to save from there, but most of it could just be deleted.

[HairOfTheDog]

Hullo! - Good Morning!

I am up! Where's my coffee?

Ooooh. Here it is!

Sam, your "My Comments" is a search result of your posts in the database, not a separate storage. Deleting them, if possible, (which it isn't) would delete your post from the thread.

I heard JohnRob mention in one of the software update threads that he was thinking of making it so you could hide things after viewing them, so that you could have only the new show up.

[htur_75]

Beautiful picture OT. I would love to be able to see the real thing when I got up every morning. Good morning everyone. I am here at work (yuck), but at least I don't close today (yeah). Sorry I missed chatting last night. GV and I had to get some things at WalMart (i.e. bug spray, roach motels, saline, etc.), and didn't get back till late. Went straight to bed.

Sorry I missed your message ecrub. Maybe tonight we can talk. You can use up some of your weekend minutes. LOL

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend, and that weather is fine for all.

[Corin Stormhands]

Morning all (nice wake-up picture OT)

Doing some paperwork here, but really procrastinating getting outside to paint...

Got just enough rain last night to make it more humid. Have a fine day all.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Good morning everyone... great picture OT!

Still waking up and trying to decide wheter I should get the day started... I guess I will.

Hope everyone has a great day!

[Sam Cree]

"Deleting them, if possible, (which it isn't) would delete your post from the thread. "

That makes sense, I guess. I'll just have to take what I want to save and copy it to a Word document. Thanks for the info. Good morning, all.

[HairOfTheDog]

Hey Good Morning! - I was cleaning up my computer without sufficient coffee in me this morning... and I deleted the folder that had all my FoTR Stuff in it!

And no it isn't in my Recycle bin. I went to delete what I thought was an extra copy of the whole folder, and it even warned me that the folder was too big for the recycle bin... did I want to permantly delete it? - Sure! Doh!

Then I realized everything was gone... lucky for me the hard-to-replace stuff, like the movie, I have on CDs, and have already replaced (whew). Everything else is available online still, and I just have to download it again if I still want it.

Which brings me to my question: Is your trailer page still up? - (all my favorite sites were shortcuts) I don't know the URL...

HairTheStupid

[JenB]

Fun day for you, huh? My parents went to Ohio for donuts and wine, and we rearranged the house. I have a room again! I have books and bookshelves and closets! Yahoo! And now I have to get ready for work - oh, there's a bummer.

[HairOfTheDog]

Wow going to Ohio for donuts and wine sounds like a big deal from where I sit!

Glad you have a room back... Good to have some of your mathoms around to make you feel at home. I lived for months on the couch when our beach house was being remodeled. I know how it feels.

I feel better now that I have replaced some of my most precious stuff from that folder, like the book files from the Hobbit Hole, my shortcuts to TORN and Penny's site, little things... and the official site trailers, and that cute little Bogart spoof I have some to like so much.

I guess I am trying to feel back at home too this morning!

[JenB]

Well, they said, "We're just getting wine, it's an hour drive". But that was four hours ago, so we think they went on to whatever donut shop they're talking about - probably Krispy Kreme, I didn't ask - because that's another hour. It's a gorgeous day for a drive here, so that probably what they did.

I spent 45 minutes arranging my books, and I still have to arrange my "mathoms". Maybe tomorrow...

[2Jedismom]

I just got back from getting my folk's yard mowed. Whew, what a hot experience. It looked fabulous, though. Steve edged and weed whacked around the trees and I mowed. It looked better than when my dad normally does it! He was really pleased. He threw his back out or something again.

[JenB]

Glad to see you! It's pretty hot here, not too bad inside, though. We moved five beds, two chests of drawers, a chair, a trunk, and my eight boxes of books, plus just general stuff. There's a desk still to come but I can't get it alone; one sister hurt her back and the other is refusing to help at all. So it's sitting in the livingroom!

[2Jedismom]

Why are you re-arranging??

[JenB]

We have four bedrooms. My parents have one, my sisters have one, and until today, each of the others had two brothers in it. I slept on a bed in the basement. Now I have the smallest room all to myself, and my brothers are in together. We were going to put two of them in the basement -they're boys, they wouldn't car - but no, they insisted. So there are two sets of bunkbeds and not much else in there. I, on the other hand, have a whole room. But it entailed a ton of work, and I'm not really done yet. I just kinda gave up an hour ago.

[2Jedismom]

How nice! But what was wrong with the basement? I would love a basement room to get away from it all in!

I use our shop every now and then for this reason...mostly to practice my whistle and avoid the seething of my husband when I do it! LOL

[JenB]

Well, it's the playroom, and I had nowhere to put my things, and no privacy. Otherwise it was fine!

[2Jedismom]

Ahhh...I would have to make it off-limits to all others except Mom (if the laundry is down there).

Here's the temp:

[Overtaxed]

Is it the Smoky Mountains again?

Yes, Clingman's Dome.

I haven't found any way to edit the My Comments.