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.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, we don't have any ants like that up here! - We don't have ants with a worse bite than a mosquito.

And, I began appreciating my ant hills (I have about six big colonies out in the pasture) when I noticed a steady stream of ants raiding the horse's manure piles and carrying out all of the fly larvae that gets laid there... I consider them an important part of my fly control regimen!

I also feed a supplement that is intended to keep fly larvae from hatching in manure...

Some of it must be working... I have my door wide open today, as usual, and no flies are coming in! I have very few flies for a horse farm. I rarely need to spray the horses, and my friend (who burns her anthills, by the way) has a bad fly problem!

[2Jedismom]

We don't have fire ants here in Tulsa...yet. The ants we do have only nibble on you and we live peacefully with them most the time. I sure hate it they're eating my rutabagas, though...I may put some boric acid on them.

[Sam Cree]

My next door neighbor has horses, but I don't think she treats them so good. Her yard is over an acre, but the two horses don't get to walk around in it. They occupy a "paddock" no more than, perhaps less than, 40 feet by about 15 and they stay in it 24-7. They have no shelter of any kind from sun or weather and don't get ridden much. Nor does she seem to muck out that often. At least there's lots of manure and flies in there with them (that come over here some).

She considers herself an animal lover, but I have my doubts.

[Sam Cree]

Your fly control system is cool.

[Corin Stormhands]

Jen, I pinged you and Corin to the thread, and you refused to be nice!

Hey! I'm always nice. You must be talkin' to Jen.

Afternoon all. Here briefly. Have to go deal with neighborhood pool stuff. Grumble, grumble. A man called this afternoon after renting the pool for a private party. Said the guards on duty had their own friends there and weren't guarding his guests...

To paraphrase Aragorn: "Lets go hunt some guards..."

[HairOfTheDog]

It is frustrating to see people that don't do all they could do, or should do, for the animals in their care. It doesn't seem like your neighbor's horses have a particularly good life... Although they are pretty all-weather tolerant, I would worry about them with no shelter in your heat and storms. If they look fed and always have water, they will survive it, but not enjoy their life much. If they appear to be well-fed enough, watch their feet. One of the easy to neglect tasks is foot trimming, because it sneaks up. Even people who are not so bad that they would forget to feed may neglect their feet. If their toes get long and/or cracked , it is time to say something.

My goal with my horses is to give them a great life first, and through that I improve my life by having them in it. A lot of people only consider the second part.

I have a friend who wants the pleasure of having them but wants to do the minimum amount of work for them.

Horses do spend a lot of time not being used, and many horses that are worked regularly are kept well in small paddocks. She probably had good intentions and has gotten burned out on the sheer repetitiveness of horse care. You feed them every day, they poop every day.

Most of us don't ride as much as we wish we did. But I try to tell my friend that having a horse is not like having a boat... They may spend the same amount of time as a boat sitting around not getting used. But you can't just park a horse in a small paddock and forget it like you can a boat. (I use that example with my friend because she has both) Having a horse is a lifestyle change, not a part-time hobby.

[sigh] < /rant >

[Corin Stormhands]

By the way... last night I had a dream.

You know Rose Hovick and her two daugthers Louise and June were from the Seattle area. Rose was always talking about how she had a dream...

Was there a cow involved?

[HairOfTheDog]

Oh yes, I was talking about Jen not being nice... In my dream she kept calling Spongebob Squarepants evil and wicked.

[HairOfTheDog]

You know Rose Hovick and her two daugthers Louise and June were from the Seattle area. Rose was always talking about how she had a dream... Was there a cow involved?

Corin I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about! ;~D Help me!

Hey all - I gotta run into town... be back in a bit!

[JenB]

Right, and what part of the "evil and wicked" is not true?

Hi all - Jen is not happy because she has to work for a while this evening since one of the other drivers called off because his mom is in the hospital, and Jen was the only person they could get to work. So she has retreated into three-year-old mode, sulking and talking about herself in the third person.

Hopefully I'll be back around 9 eastern and more myself...

[HairOfTheDog]

Should we address Jen in the third person when she is like this? I hope to see her tonight!

[Corin Stormhands]

Corin I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about!

I just love obscure references. That one was pretty far out there...

Rose Hovick was a stage mother from Seattle with two daughters and a Vaudeville act. The one daughter grew up to be the actress June Hovick. The other daugther grew up to be Gypsy Rose Lee.

In the stage show Mama Rose sings "I had a dream..." (several times). But there's a "cow" in the act and in one of the last ones she says the cow talked to her in the dream...

[Corin Stormhands]

Should we address Jen in the third person when she is like this?

Do you think she'll mind if we do?

[HairOfTheDog]

Cattle have never talked to me, in dreams or otherwise! A bull tried once, but it was a "stock" tip I couldn't use. I tried to tip a cow once. And I have had tip steaks.
[whew!]

[Sam Cree]

"they will survive"

They've been there like 10 years and look OK, so I guess you're right. She's not that nice a lady usually, but not terrible either, I believe she does have feelings for her animals, just isn't the best care taker.

[JenB]

Good evening! Back from work, tired, and not much richer, but oh well. Hey! FotR comes out in just over a week! Let's party!

[Overtaxed]

A view and chat perhaps?

[JenB]

Sounds good... I'm free every other Tuesday from 11 PM til whenever I go to bed... just kidding I'll see what I can do. My parents have a few nights out of town next month, nearer the end than the beginning though, but at the very least that would do for a second date.

[Overtaxed]

11:00 is a bit late for me. Wonder how many days we should allow for the pre-order folks to get their disks?

[JenB]

Well, let's take a brief poll... seriously, don't worry about me being able to do the view, there'll be time for that later.