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.
I'm afraid of spooking the deer by opening the window. But if I can do that silently, you're right, there's a built in rest. I know that deer walk where I want to build.
It wasn't doe season or I'd have killed her.
It was a permanent stand near the top of a hill, most of the deer follow a creek bed in the bottom, anyway, they don't usually notice me...though I've heard that hillsides can swirl your scent around in odd ways.
When my family first moved down to Florida (Palm Beach) from Chicago back in '79 (I was 7), a HUGE roach flew into my hair.
My mom had sprayed it and we all though it would drop down and die. Nope. It came at me and started its death throes in my hair (which was almost waist-length at the time). I nearly fainted and couldn't breathe until my dad showed me the corpse on the floor bashed to a pulp.
Something similar happened about a month ago when I was up at 5AM with my baby. A big sucker was on the kitchen counter and I gathered my courage and sprayed it. It took off flying straight at me and I tripped over the stroller and leanded on the ground sreaming "My baby!". Everyone woke up running thinking it was a burglar. Instead they find me prone on the floor, clinging to the stroller's back wheels, sobbing hysterically, with a dying roach about 3 feet away on the ground.
No. That's why it's better for my wife to respond, 'cause I'd say something like "Get your head out of your backside and let your kid grow up..."
They're still gross.
ick.
I love reading history, but I'm not much of one for going and seeing it myself. I'd actually been to San Antonio a dozen times or more (Rose is from there) before I ever saw the Alamo, for instance. And then when I actually saw it, it was because we were staying in a hotel nearby, and walked past it on our way to a restaurant... I turned around, looked, and asked Rose, "Is that...?" Turned out it was!
I'm sorry Ruthy, but Bwaahaahaahaaaa!!!! BTW, you owe me a new keyboard...
The secret to keeping most of them out is to spray the outside of your windows and doors on a regular basis. Also, they usually move in pairs so when you see one, expect another.
They are terrible to kill though because of their large size. They live for over 5 minutes after you spray them and during this time they can rise from the dead and flutter around or thrash wildly until they right themselves for another dash at your feet.
My fear of roaches is a family joke. Even my 7 year old nephew has a rubber one he delights in tormenting me with.
It's very life-like and he puts it in drawers or in my shoes or even on a plate in the cupboard. I've nearly broken a dish or two because of that thing!
It would be hard for me not to say just that to her as well. My hubby is as non-political as they come, so I let him handle stuff like that.
...good idea...but I've got the grid coordinates of Richmond and a radio...
But, but, but - that would require close proximity!!! AAAAAAHHHH!
Whenever you get down in a holler the wind can do strange things... that's why I prefer to hunt high ground...
It wasn't doe season or I'd have killed her.
I hate it when that happens...the worst is when you get a bunch of deer and turkeys together...that's almost a no-win situation...
Texas has 'em too. I can't stand them.
One time I smacked one with my shoe. I was putting my shoe on, felt something inside, took my foot out, and out crawled the roach. Since I had the shoe in my hand, I smacked him hard with the heel. He didn't move for about 10 minutes... then he started wiggling around, so I smacked him again harder, then I flushed him.
Now I always spray them. And I always knock my shoes on the floor before I put them on!
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