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]

Oops! And to all Elves, Beornings, Dwarves, and Men of Gondor also! Okay....so I'm hobbit-centric.

[HairOfTheDog]

Good morning. I am not really awake yet and I am not really here.

[Overtaxed]

Isn't it kind of early over there?

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah - It is very early... was 5:45 then... 6:15 now. I tended the ponies and tried to go back to sleep... but it didn't work. Here I am again.

I see you pinged me to a new thread, will check it out.

[sip]

[Overtaxed]

Just a thread about fantasy movies: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/727431/posts

[HairOfTheDog]

Hullo! - Good morning! - I am awake now...

So have you started your looking at DVD players that will play Media Player and Quicktime movies? Do you have any particulars to recommend? I am going today.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Good morning... beautiful sunrise, OT!

Not likely to get much done here today, but then, it's Sunday!

Hope everyone has a good one!

[Overtaxed]

I hope you're happy! I just ordered the Apex player from Circuit City and the FOTR DVD. :)

I can pick up the player anytime (probably go tomorrow afternoon) and the DVD is being shipped. Hope to have it by Tuesday night.

The specs say it also plays mp3's and Kodak CD's. Those are the only formats it mentions. Says it plays cd's cdrw's.

I can always play the Media Player and Quicktime files on the TV through my laptop.

[Overtaxed]

Sunday......the plans are barbecued chicken and NASCAR.

[HairOfTheDog]

hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe!

I am happy! And you will be too!

I am not entirely hopeful that I can find a player that will play all the formats it would need to be functional... I mean... we had to go download that obscure codec to even get the bootleg to work... I think it is asking too much, but I am gonna bring my CD anyway. If a machine is making promises... I can test it.

I am gonna go to Circuit City first. I will look at your player and the others. I need to touch them before I buy I think.

[Overtaxed]

Just get a laptop with an S connection!

As for touching them, they're just going to bring a boxed one out of the warehouse anyway.

[HairOfTheDog]

I know... but I can look at the displays, and look at the remotes... and hopefully see how they work. Hoping they have them connected to a TV...

What do you plug the S cable into? The TV directly? What kind of connector is it at the each end? Can I hook it into one of the other boxes, like the Cable Box?

What I have is an older TV with a cable port and that is it. It is hooked up to my digital cable box, which does have the line in/line out ports....

I wouldn't need to get a laptop, because my office is in the living room, and I could arrange my setup so that my computer is near enough to the TV to connect it.

[Overtaxed]

I have a S connection adapter that plugs into the S connection on the laptop on one end and into an RCA cable on the other. I plug the RCA cable into the aux video plug in the VCR. My cable box has an S connection so if I ever get around to buying an S cable, I can just connect it to the cable box.

[HairOfTheDog]

OK - so I am not limited by my antique TV then...

Would they have these cables and devices at Circuit City? - Perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone!

[Overtaxed]

They probably do. The RCA cable I have has one connection (female, I think) at one end that connects to the adapter and two males at the other: one for video input and one for audio. But you might just want to get the S cable....fewer connections that way. :)

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Sunday morning... techie talk... so... confused!

[HairOfTheDog]

Sorry - Didn't mean to make you twitchy. I thought you had a high tolerance for techie talk!

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

hehe, my techie-ness has a narrow focus... audio/video systems confuse the heck out of me!

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, my techieness does not include audio visual systems either... and my only hope is that I can memorize the words that OT just tossed out here, and repeat them in coherent conversation at the store!

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

I think you'll do all right... most places that sell this type of equipment have salespeople that can answer any questions you might have. Just don't let them sell you an expensive system you don't need... if you're not sure, walk away, go home and do some research on the web, and then go back.