The New Hobbit Hole

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The New Hobbit Hole
Concerning Hobbits
The New Hobbit Chronicles

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.

[rightwingreligiousfanatic]

Have a great time 2J!

[Corin Stormhands]

Well, we're getting ready to go...we're heading to Silver Dollar City for the weekend...

Have lots of fun!

[Corin Stormhands]

"Corin Honest Snaig" fit nicely in the keywords...

[rightwingreligiousfanatic]

OH PUHLEEEZE!

[HairOfTheDog]

Hullo! - I haven't read all the posts so I don't know what mischief you are making! - A friend stopped by and we have been chatting and now we are going out for red meat off the bone! - See y'all later!

[JenB]

Hello!

A! in Database Class! It's only because of the extra credit, true - but it's an A and it's mine!

Wow, those sneaks were really, really bad today, weren't they?

[JenB]

Pinging the NaNoWriMoites and Rosie cuz she's considering it.

I had some spare time today and did some research. A plain-text 50,000 word document with minimal formatting, run through Microsoft Outlook, creates an HTML file that's almost one MB. Now, true, doing it by hand means less of Outlook's garbage, but that's still a large file. So... Bear, you were offering space, right? How much space are you offering?

Also I'm hoping to whip up a real simple "frame" for my story so that I can organize it by day and make things easier for me to publish it online; also I can add images, if I want, and table of content, etcetera. If anyone would like me to make a similar page for them, and then use it wherever you're posting your story, let me know and it up. We can even customize it to suit your story!

[SuziQ]

You know, g'nad, that Volcano cake would be a great dessert for Entmoot! Get some little Frodo and Sam figures to put along one side like they're making their way back down!

[JenB]

That's kinda sick, don't you think? Can't we stick to lembas and miruvor?

[SuziQ]

"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.

Shortbread?

[SuziQ]

VERY GOOD, Jen B.!!

[SuziQ]

Can't we stick to lembas and miruvor?

Yeah, but that's boring! It would be fun to have something to commemorate the climactic moments of the last movie!!! And I'll bet under all that goop, it actually tastes good!

[JenB]

All right, then Wings and Pints it is!

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Evening, Jen!

Congratulations on the A!

I've got close to 200 MB of webspace not doing much at the moment, so we shouldn't have any problem with space... I'd be very interested to see the HTML frame you design, as well. Have been thinking of doing my own, but I'm not a real whiz at graphic design, so things like that can give me trouble....

[RosieCotton]

Shortbread?

That was how I first imagined it when I read the books for the first time, partly because we ate shortbread so often - it was about the quickest "cooky" Mom could make, especially as she did it in one big cast iron pan instead of cutting them out.

However, I think it's a)too sweet and b)too crumbly. So probably not quite it...

[HairOfTheDog]

Hullo! - I am back From dinner!

You hit on much of what ticks me off about the attitude in that "give me your horror stories" post. I went to good schools, I guess... where I am. It never occurred to me that anyone would do anything else, except for my one friend who went to Catholic school for half of high school. But it wouldn't have occurred to my family to home school, and we didn't feel cheated or oppressed or threatened by anything offered in my public school. Where my schools better than average? - Probably. I don't know.

But my dad said one thing that was true. When a school system talked about changing bus routes or eliminating bus stops, the school board meetings would be packed and the parents were involved. (his work at the state involved transportation funding so he would be there then) but when they got to the second agenda item, curriculum, the room emptied and all the parents went home.

In other words... There is all kinds of room for caring parents to impact curriculum in their local schools. Schools are very much locally controlled, and if yours is messed up, it might be messed up because only a few very liberal involved folk are impacting the board... and the conservative folk abandoned the schools for religious school or home school. Who do we really blame then if the liberals are the only ones left who still go to the meetings?

I think it is great that there are parents like 2J and yourself, and Jen's folks, and the others, who can homeschool and provide a whole education for your kids. A lot of parents don't have that kind of talent, or the ability for one parent to teach full time. That is a fact. One death, one divorce, or one imperfect family, and the whole idea of home schooling goes out the window. It is a luxury afforded by a few, not a standard everyone can live by. So I don't loathe the public schools. They are going to be the only option for most, and I don't think they are a bad thing. It ain't a disease, it's school. And I have heard the stories that person is hoping to find... the horror stories, but I don't think they are the rule. I don't think they have to be the rule. Looking back, I don't hear that any of you that home school would change a thing.... It worked for you. Well, I feel the same way. I wouldn't change a thing about the way I grew up either. It worked for me.

[HairOfTheDog]

Reading back through that post, it still reads like I believe only imperfect families send their kids to public school.

I don't mean that. Maybe I am living in a bubble, but there isn't a thing wrong with my local schools. Every single one of my friends is sending their kids to the very schools I went to.... and if I had kids I wouldn't hesitate to do the same.

I can't picture the scene now, because I am not even married. But I can say that I would assume when and if I have kids, I would send them to those same schools. I just don't fear them.

If I were in a situation where I could home school, I suppose I would consider it, but I don't see a compelling reason to in my climate. I know that I don't think I can't replace the school system I went to on my own.

[ecurbh]

Here is another review of the Extended version, with a few new screenshots... Found the story at TORN....

Wow, I just finished wading through this review. Pretty exhaustive to say the least (much like the DVD itself is, I guess). I think it comes to over 20 hours of special features!!

[HairOfTheDog]

Yes, the Extended Edition appears to be a very big commitment! Can we handle it? Are we up to it?

[HairOfTheDog]

Congratulations on your Database class triumph!