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.
Oh dear.... LOL!
hey! laugh all yuh want... it works...
Sheesh man!?! I felt bad enough last night when his fever hit 102...
Everclear? Don't have any...but isn't paint thinner pretty much the same thing?
Last night, for example, I watched Medical Detectives on TLC and they showed this apple juice company in Seattle that had e-coli 0175 in their juice. They were sued after it was found that the US military had done an inspection in their processing plant prior to this and said that they could not approve their juice for the troops (the company never revealed this information to anyone).
The e-coli had put over 11 children into the hospital. One (a 19 month old) died from it.
Pretty much...but he won't go blind drinkin' paint thinner...
Sheesh man!?! I felt bad enough last night when his fever hit 102... I did a 15 mile forced march in four hours with a 60 lb ruck and a 102 degree temp from a virus... was one of the crappiest moments of my life...but when we got cooled down, I felt much better... I'm not tellin' yuh to put him thru that, just get his blood movin and muscles loosened up...he can do stretching on the floor... just don't let him get too sedentary...
"The food was mostly in the form of very thin cakes, made of a meal that was baked a light brown on the outside, and inside was the colour of cream. Gimli took up one of the cakes and looked at it with a doubtful eye.
'Cram,' he said under his breath, as he broke off a crisp corner and nibbled at it. His expression quickly changed, and he ate all the rest of the cake with relish."
So it actually is more cake-like and crisp, rather than bread-like and chewy. You are correct.
Maybe something like arrowroot biscuits, only baked in thin squares?
Corin, I recommend you keep the kid away from both of these people! 
Hmmmm....instead of honey, I guess light brown sugar would do. Wouldn't be as chewy, that's for sure. Maybe a pan of brown sugar cookies? They'd be crisp on the outside and softer and lighter on the inside. Instad of separating the dough into balls, just spread it thin in the baking pan like brownies.
You think that would work?
I know. The little one had a stomach virus last week. I started counting back to a few days before when a mosquito had been in the car and he'd been bitten several times...
(We've had West Nile in our area...)
Mmhmm...btw...it's Marine...
"Lack of opportunity" is not a virtue...
I think it'd be too sweet, but might be a good starting point. I'm think I'm still leaning more towards slightly sweetened milk biscuits, cut somewhat thick and in squares rather than circles. I have a recipe I came up with from figuring proportions on a package of biscuits we liked and then experimenting with - that might actually be close! I haven't made those in forever...we even made a pattern pricker for them!
Did you really think you needed to warn me about that????
I only worry about high fevers that don't break and stomach flus that last longer than 24 hours. Then, I turn into MY mother, fretting over what horrible disease it might be.
My 5 year old complained that her neck hurt and when she developed a fever I thought it was meningitis. There had been a few kids in the area that had come down with the bacterial strain and I was a basketcase until the fever broke a few hours later and the neck pain went away.
I think my daughter hurries through her illnesses just to be rid of her fussy mom. LOL!!!
Lembas are supposed to be mildly sweet, so I think you are on to something there.
If Tolkien were a woman, he would of written a recipe for lembas in the Appendix! LOL!
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