Posted on 03/14/2002 5:07:26 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
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.
My problem with the simul-view is that our DVD player is upstairs, my PC is downstairs...
No, I don't think the hamster can run that fast...
I actually have my home office set up right now so that I can't see either of the two televisions we have downstairs. But maybe I can watch it the night before and still follow the conversations.
Jackson Explains New Two Towers Footage
July 25, 2002 - They've been up to something the last few months down in New Zealand; and by "they," I mean Peter Jackson and the various actors that have been spotted at the airport or in the country's scenic burgs and boroughs.
Jackson explained to British film magazine Empire Online that although principal photography on the Lord of the Rings trilogy ended last year, he and his people have shot about 25 minutes of new footage for The Two Towers in recent months. Some of it will consist of new scenes being added to the second Rings chapter, and some of it was filmed to replace existing scenes.
"It was a process I always planned on," said Jackson. "It's a great way to shoot, like hand-crafting a film, allowing you to figure it out over time." Jackson went on to say that some of the new footage was shot to expand the Frodo/Sam/Gollum story thread. "[Ever] since we finished [principal photography], we really wanted [sic] to make the Gollum story more psychological, things we thought of later."
And as executive producer Mark Ordesky explained to the magazine, Two Towers is the Empire Strikes Back of the Tolkien trilogy – it's where the characters separate, different storylines emerge, and the situation grows grim. "You've got Merry, Pippin and Treebeard in Fangorn and Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas at Helm's Deep and Frodo and Sam going to Mordor. It's like an aperture that opens wider. I mean, they literally get to the Black Gates. You get to see the Black Gates, with these gigantic cave trolls pushing them open."
Post-production crews are already hard at work, fitting the new celluloid into their working cut of The Two Towers; and what's more, they already have a rough preview of The Return of the King, the trilogy's final segment, completed. Even as the December 18th release date for Towers approaches, Jackson is looking ahead to the final installment. Maybe we'll see yet more reshoots, more of Jackson's organic filmmaking happening this winter or in the spring.
Click the pics for larger images! Good morning hobbitses When you wake!Unofficial Frodo Pocket Facial Tissue Paper
Strider @ 3:19 pm ESTWe've found it: the worst piece of unofficial merchandise ever whose sole purpose is to cash in on the success of The Fellowship of the Ring. What is it? Well Gollumayee from Singapore has sent in these pictures of..wait for it..the Frodo Pocket Facial Tissue Paper. Ever wondered what Frodo would look like beside Conan the Barbarian and the Grim Reaper? Wonder no more!
'This must take top prize for "worst fake LOTR product": Frodo Pocket Facial Tissue paper! Found it at a neighbourhood sundries shop in Singapore. It costs S$2 (about US$1) for 48 packets. There's no manufacturing info on the packets but it's probably made in Malaysia or Indonesia.
The tissue comes in 2 designs: both have haunted-looking Bagginses and bony "ringwraiths"; one has a pink-and-purple "Gandalf' while the other depicts a green screaming Gandalf/Gimli hybrid beside Conan the Barbarian (Boromir?), and a "palantir"-gazer who definitely doesn't look like Saruman. Please tell me that bow-wielding guy/gal isn't meant to be Legolas! Truly the shadow grows longer...'
Yes, but I would just soon drink my ice tea while I'm mowing!!
It's supposed to be 100 here today without the heat index factored in....good excuse not to mow the weeds when I get home and just kick back with some ice cream.
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