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.
If you can wait until Entmoot, we can probably get you a collection of them...As long as you don't mind them saying "Holiday Inn"...
Racist.
White starts looking dingy soonest.
Wasn't it given to the Fellowship when they received their gifts in Lothlorien? Maybe the extended DVD will show it. It figures more in TTT any way with the different groups eating it; Merry and Pippin after they freed themselves, Aragorn Gimli and Legolas while on their chase, then Sam and Frodo on the way to Mordor.
Does she jump in bed with you and burrow her way down to your feet? That's what our Suzie and Pumpkin used to do! It was great on those 'two dog nights' in Mississippi!
Uh, you know, you can get that stuff delivered right to your house. Then if it's not right, you can take it back to the catalog store and THEY'LL ship it back. If you don't have their catalogs, you can order online.
Hullo all! I am back.... I noticed that ecurbh also marked many different dates... I intended for everyone to mark just one, which showed their preference... (and it wasn't the Florida voters who got confused, I note! ;~D)
BUT What Rosie and ecurbh did was also a good way to do it, if you marked all the dates you could make it. So lets all do that. It might be more informative than just knowing people's favorite day... we could see which date ends up with the most names on it as doable right off the bat.
So everyone, go back in and add a vote for every day you could go... and lets see which date ends up with the most able to make it. You can change your votes. I just added every date for myself, because I don't have conflicting plans that far ahead.... RoTK and Entmoot IS my plan!
And which FReeper is Chowlizzie? Anyone know?
When we remodel, there won't be a scrap of carpet in our house, with the exception of the basement floor. We're going to put radiant heat under all the floors (in the walls of the basement), so our tootsies will be warm all winter. We'll use hardwoods on all the floors except the bathroom and laundry floors, and there we'll use ceramic tile. We're tired of the dust and allergens in the forced hot air heating system and the dust and stain catching properties of the carpets.
But I DO love those towel mats. They are so easy to keep clean, and they're so much more absorbent than those bath mats with the poly backing.
Yep...actually she goes to bed before I do, now that it's getting dark earlier. When I come in, there's a lump under the covers in the middle of the bed and I have to shove her over.
We did a lot of "naughty dachsie" discussing over on that other thread - funny how alike and yet how different they all are!
Yeah, I know...but I know myself well enough to know I'll accept stuff I wouldn't normally buy, just because I hate the hassle of trying to bring stuff back. So I'd rather just wait until I can actually have some physically in my hands and before my eyes. ;-)
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