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.
They've missed first breakfast...
Yeah, that's what I'm hoping. If it's just corrosion, the fix will cost all of about two bucks (the cost of buying a chocolate bar for the guy who has a kit for cleaning 'em...he's a chocolate fiend!)...but it COULD be something serious, I guess. I've never had single problem with this car in the two years I've owned it, though, so I guess I can't complain too much.
Highland pipes. Just the thing to get if you want to bother the neighbors.
And the neighbors, and the neighbors, and THEIR neighbors. They can carry a mile or more! My brother comes over and practices in my basement sometimes since it's cement and therefore the sound doesn't carry quite as much, but you can still hear them quite a distance away.
When I took my son to the Bush Inauguration, my transmission went out just as I pulled into the parking space at the Metro Station. We went on to the swearing-in and dealt with it later. But it was a pain.
Hehehe...that'll teach 'em to let their kids play trumpet in the school band.
Ugh! We did that, too! Two of my brothers learned to play trumpet...trust me, a trumpet beginner does NOT make pretty sounds. (My Mom said it sounded like a cow in heat...)
Let's see...we've had to listen to people learning bagpipes, violin, and trumpet. Have we covered ALL the most-obnoxious-in-the-hands-of-a-beginner instruments?
I dunno. I played saxophone in school band...
Ah...there's one we missed! Those can make some pretty awful squeaks and screeches, no? I wanted to learn, but didn't. Took flute instead, and never really liked it.
My Mom said it sounded like a cow in heat...)
My son is learning trombone, which I have likened to a Water Buffalo in heat ;^)
But God bless him, I love to hear it nevertheless. He is really enjoying it, and that's all that matters...
I apologize for pinging some of you to an article that really wasn't that great after all (good but not great - he is an elitist and overly wordy), but I thought since it had LOTR references it would be of at least minor interest.
Rosie: After you clean the corrosion off the battery leads, and verify that the battery is still good, smearing Vaseline over the connections helps reduce the corrosion buildup immensely. But you probably know all about "winterizing" your car. We have to, don't we? ;^). I missed the sale at Green Linnet, but please let us know when the next on comes on....
Also, I have ordered a Dell laptop (Inspiron 2650 with 1.7 GHZ, 256MB RAM, CDRW/DVD, etc.) But I am balking at the cost of RoadRunner cable, yet still tempted.... Are you happy for me?
"We're happy for ya..." is the refrain of one of our humorous sportstalk radio hosts around here after playing sound bites of bragging athletes....
Ha! Or a moose! Yeah, one of my brothers took trombone for awhile, too. Sounds rough at first, but then you start to hear more and more music mixed in with the...other sounds. My fiddle playing still has far too many other sounds, but I'm working on it!
Rosie: After you clean the corrosion off the battery leads, and verify that the battery is still good, smearing Vaseline over the connections helps reduce the corrosion buildup immensely.
Yeah, that's what the guy who's going to help me with it said. I'm the first to admit I'm clueless when it comes to cars, so I didn't know. I'm just glad my car has, been so dependable except for this one issue. I love my car! It's boring, but does what it's supposed to do very well.
I'm happy for ya...I have a Dell laptop, too - similar to the one you're getting. I like it a lot. I'm also tempted by cable (they just started offering it in town), but it's $50 a month...as nice as high speed would be, I don't know that I could justify it, even with the phone savings. I WOULD get cable TV (I don't get ANY channels now), which might be nice, but also could be addicting and I don't have enough time as it is!
You might be better off than you realize. I am increasingly of the opinion that TV and 90% of the stuff it churns out is "of the devil". But that is probably just because I have kids now and see it through their impressionable eyes. We don't watch much TV in our house any more and don't miss it at all. But we did enjoy "The Rookie" last night, a very good movie....
Excellent movie.
LOL!! I used to have to do that for our Festival Choir. For the first few years, we hardly had any men, and the tenors showed up the last couple of practices. The higher tenor notes I can do fine, and I can hit most of the lower notes, but I don't have any volume on them. I've never had to to the actual tenor parts during Mass, thank goodness. But it means I had to learn 2 parts, which is a pain. I don't read music, even after having been in choirs for lo these last 35 yrs! I guess I really ought to learn, huh?
Fortunately the last two times we've sung (last Christmas and Easter) we've had LOTS of men show up, so I've been happy to go back to the alto corner!
I DO have a TV, VCR and DVD player, so I can watch videos, just not TV.
I listened to some beginning saxophonists at our kids' old school. AACK! They sounded like a huge flock of really angry geese!!
I'm a baritone, but for years we were in smaller churches where there were no tenors (or none of the macho guys would sing tenor). So I sang it because I could. Now we're in a huge church, but I'm still singing first tenor. (not always well mind you).
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