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.
Yeah, that too. It's such a nice day that I didn't want to get myself all riled up!
You don't say...... ;^)
Hehehe
As a result, people are crammed together, traffic is awful (as I've mentioned before) and jobs are limited. Add to that, with such a diverse mix of cultures, it is impossible for most folks to get along. When we first moved here, hispanics were a minority, but as an American family, fully assimilated in American culture, we had no problems with bigotry at all.
Now, the new Cubans (and thousands of South and Central Americans) that come over have no desire to assimilate and really don't have to, since most every supermarket has more Spanish speaking staff than English. So the Dade County natives became strangers in their own town. That is why during the Elian affair, so much pent-up anger towards Cubans and hispanics in general finally lashed out and Americans of Cuban descent like me, took a lot of heat.
But, back to the topic at hand, the fall out of the rapid growth of Miami suburbs was the strain on public schools to handle more kids, a lot of them who cannot speak English and thus learn more slowly. This leaves the smarter kids who speak the language to become bored and frustrated with school and get into more trouble as their grades slip. Additionally, there is a mindset that mediocrity is A-OK and once a student falls into that trap, it's nearly impossible to get them out.
Lastly, God is persona non grata in public schools, so students with a less than perfect home life have no moral compass whatsoever. In all, you get a student with no clear distinctiveness in grades, morals and discipline - the perfect Democrat voter.
I saw Rosie's post and LOL because the same thing would have happened to me! :)
Yeah, but not as late as yesterday! I logged off last night, then started reading "Executive Orders"; BIG MISTAKE! I finally had to force myself to stop reading at 3 am! I dragged out of bed at 9:30 this morning because we have our homeschool teens get together today. Then I have to get our son ready for his Boy Scouts Fall Camporee. He has to prepare some stuff for a cooking contest. He won it a couple of years ago with a Cherry Crisp that he made. This year he wants to try an Apple-Cranberry Crisp!
Missed opportunity, eh? ;-) Yeah...should have said it was on purpose...but it was actually just me concentrating hard on trying to write well, and therefore goofing up!
Did you try a different lembas recipe last night?
I think I will just burn a pan of rice krispie treats in the oven - crisp, brown on the outside, cream on the inside - LOL!!!
I've had a few nights like that, but for the most part I can't do it! I'm a morning person, so by eleven I usually find myself reading pages over and over without fully comprehending and have to give up.
My brothers were all in Boy Scouts for SOME period of time, though only one spent enough time and effort on it to make Eagle. Still, they all had fun and learned a lot of good skills! The cooking contest sounds fun...best of luck to your son!
I don't really want to read it. I don't have a reason to want to fear the schools. I guess what I don't like to see is an attitude in homeschoolers that must tear down other methods of education in order to bolster their own method. If it is good, then call it good. It doesn't have to classify everything else as evil does it?
Home schooling is dandy. It is wonderful when it can be done, I will grant you that. But I don't want to have to embrace insults against where I came from in order to respect homeschooling, and I feel like homeschoolers too often don't promote homeschooling without tearing down everyone else that attends traditional schools. How can I answer categorical statements about kids that can't write? - I can write.
I don't think homeschooling is ever gonna be practical for the mainstream. It is unfortunate perhaps, but most families aren't ready for that. Many good families aren't ready for that, and the broken ones will never be ready. And the majority of Americans don't share the goal to school at home. So there has to be a good option for those kids. If the schools are broken, we should fix them because fixing them is the right thing to do. If they are wrong, why can't we make them right? - I don't agree with abandoning the schools to the liberals who are the only ones left there. - So I wish the best parents who care about the curriculum weren't already gone, and there was a place on the conservative side for those who want good schools. The good people have left the constructive part of the discussion. They are already on the other side of the road, where all they do is jeer and point, which doesn't help solve anything.
Hullo! - Good Morning! - I hope you don't mind the tediousness of this discussion in our cheerful Hobbit Hole. And RMD, I, like commas, too. My fault when I read my own writing is that I write in the way that I would speak it, with pauses, for effect, to make sure everyone heard, and is stopping to consider, my point.... LOL!
Not yet! Last night was our music tonight and I didn't get back until fairly late...then worked on peeling wallpaper until time for bed. I MAY try tonight, but I want to track down our old biscuit recipe which is written inside the cover of Mom's favorite cookbook. Dad told me I could have it, but I haven't retrieved it yet.
That's the approach we've taken. We've always been very involved with Corin Jr.'s schools and will be with his little brother when the time comes.
We're fortunate to be in a conservative area, like I've mentioned. Still there are times when we wonder if we'll need to think otherwise when the little one starts school...
I'll let OT and ksen make the obvious elf jokes about this...
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