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.
Heck, as a refuge from the political (2000) and religion wars, I'm on my third screenname. First time JR changed it for me, so I kept my original sign-in date. Second time, I wasn't sure I'd come back, so I cancelled the other account.
I just thought the dwarf-name I got from the Middle-Earth name generator was "clever." And that was before I ended up in The Hobbit Hole.
I've been around since 1999 (as a lurker, then a poster in 2000), so my "member since" date is misleading.
Same here...they told us to wait, as there would probably be more need later...but for the most part there wasn't.
There were dozens of local (Vermont) fire and rescue personnel ready to go at a moment's notice to help at the WTC, but those that DID make it there ended up mostly working in a recovery effort, not a rescue mission.
What a tragedy...
Don't ya hate those people that judge your right to an opinion by how long you've been a member?
I started lurking at about the time my brother joined, which would have been right before the 2000 elections, I think. So about a year's worth.
Yes and no. I've been known to join in on some newbie-bashing. Especially when it was obiviously a DU disruptor.
Jealous.........
Agreed - there are people who sign up just to cause trouble. But I also see people post good, well-thought out messages, only to have them thrown back in their face because they're a "newbie". That's what bugs me.
How come? Or is it shareable? ;-)
I'd never used anything but my own name before, mostly because I'm not very creative and I didn't want to pick something that said something ONLY about that moment in my life - i.e. something related to a hobby I might not stick with, or a book I was currently infatuated with but that might not be so important to me.
Since I've been infatuated with LOTR (and Sam) since I was 12 or so, I figured this was safe...
I agree. It's sort of "poster profiling" gone mad.
There was an article in the NY Times yesterday about a woman who was one of the first injured to be admitted and she is still in the hospital today! She had just come out of the Subway station that morning and was being directed away from the towers when the second plane hit the tower. They think she was hit by a piece of the landing gear. She was a Jane Doe until she was able to give hospital workers the name of her fiancee. He came up there that afternoon and has not left her side for any length of time since. Now THAT'S a guy!
The worst thing is, she has not been able to get any of that money donated for the victims and their families. The story didn't go into why, but I found that astounding! She'll need plenty of money to pay that whopping hospital bill she's accrued over this past year, and it is inconceivable to me that she wouldn't be one who would be qualified to receive it!
Maybe the Red Cross decided they needed a new building more. /sarcasm
Sometimes my name should definitely be HairOfTheCat...the stuff gets on EVERYTHING! I keep my black sweater at work or I'd never get to wear it...too covered in cat hair!
And it is counter-productive to alienate anyone new who doesn't "toe the line". By branding them as DU disruptors and running them off or banning them, we kill our growth.
People who come here with different ideas need to be looked at as potential converts, not run off. Only a party destined to die rejects new members for being new.
It takes people awhile to come around to conservative philosophy who are new to it. We need to sell our ideas to them, not get ugly on them... Just MHO!
-Hair the softy.
Freepers: we eat our young.
It's part of the reason I kind of have a hard time recommending this site to friends...even though there ARE some very good discussions and it's a great way to see news from lots of different sources, there are also lots of nutcases that make conservatives (especially whatever particular flavor of conservatism they subscribe to) look bad. It's rather sad.
Yup, and I've been barkin' back at some of the idjits today. You know the ones who just make stoopid comments, or inappropriate comments. The ones who show their clymers on a thread, just because they can...
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