The New Hobbit Hole

[Corin Stormhands]

Thanks. At least I wasn't making it up.

[SuziQ]

And it would still be too crumbly for lembas. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Yeah, you're right, but if you used more flour than cornmeal, it wouldn't crumble so much.

I always use more cornmeal because I LIKE my cornbread crumbly!!

[Corin Stormhands]

Does he come with a good warranty?

*Cough*...ahem...uh...not currently...

[SuziQ]

Guess what? I woke this morning to an inch of SNOW!!! We've NEVER had snow this early in the season in the almost 15 yrs. we've been living in Central MA. It seems odd to see the white stuff clinging to the red and gold trees!

[SuziQ]

Right now I'm talking Southern biscuits. Preferably with bacon, sausage, or country ham inside. :)

OH YEAH!! Preferably with Jimmy Dean Sausage!

[Paul Atreides]

I am going to be completely honest with you. At first, I was disappointed in the Dune miniseries. For one thing, the director led everyone to believe that very little had been changed in this version. Also, I brought my own prejudices about things, to the viewing experiences. Later, I looked at it from a realistic point of view and realized that they could not be 100% faithful to the books. Plus, I realized that I had been spoiled on huge-budget special effects, A-list American actors, and exotic location shoots. A big source of controversy with the fanbase were the costumes and the backdrops. The costumes can look a little hokey, but then I thought "hey, this is a time of decadent nobility", so it made sense. They certainly aren't any more outlandish than anything in the French royal courts or what comes off of the runways, today. The backdrops do look like backdrops, but they give the production the feel of a play. I read that they had planned to do some location shooting in Tunisia, but the weather prevented the shooting.

I really didn't care for the expanding of Irulan's role at the expense of other characters. She has a big enough role in the book sequels (which are being made into miniseries sequels!).

On the whole, I prefer the mini over the movie. I have both versions, and it is amazing how little of the story is present in the movie.

Did you watch the Special Edition of the miniseries, or the regular DVD?

Come over to The Landsraad for news on the upcoming sequel to the first miniseries. It will combine the second and third books.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Yeesh...tell me about it, Suzi...I've got to drive into Boston this afternoon. Without my galoshes, no less!

[SuziQ]

how to get them to keep a rectangular shape

If they're like beignets, you just cut them into that shape and drop them into the hot oil. They'll turn a nice golden brown and puff up in the middle. The only problem with the beignet comparison is that when you bite into a beignet, they're mostly hollow in the middle, so they can't be slightly crumbly! But they sure are GOOD!!

[SuziQ]

Since you homeschool and own bibles, if you have any guns in your house you could legally qualify to have your home classified as a "compound".

RUH ROH!!

[SuziQ]

When we talk about it, our comments are usually "it's just school...."

And thus it begins....

[2Jedismom]

She's a doll! I love that rich brown hair! When did she turn eight? Eight's not too old...

;-)

[RosieCotton]

However, I have a 28 year old friend named Tim who's single, charming, and makes very decent money.

So...does he play bass or drums, by any chance?;-)

There's a sort of running joke in my family...Dad has tried (unsuccessfully) for years to get someone to learn to play bass (or even bass guitar) and / or drums (including but not limited to the bodhran). He's tried bribing people with lessons, offers to buy instruments, everything...but none of us are rhythm affecionados, I guess! So Dad and my brothers tease me that I really should marry a bassist or drummer to complete the family band.

[RosieCotton]

Yeah, you're right, but if you used more flour than cornmeal, it wouldn't crumble so much.

It would still be crumbly, though. And not crisp. Which is fine for cornbread...but wrong for lembas.

[Overtaxed]

Me too! But I make soap out of it.

I wanted to make lard biscuits one time just to see if my Grandmother was right. Of course, I didn't have the wood stove to do it exactly right....(I'll catch up in a minute.)

[HairOfTheDog]

Hullo ksen.... I could just say "You're right". That would be the smart thing to do! [should, I should!] but I see a lot going on there between the lines that tells me this is not about home schooling. This is not a symptom that the gubmit is about to raid and take kids from all the home schooling parents. For good or ill, the gubmit gets involved when things fall below a certain level and the family is now dependent on the state. When the state starts supporting you, they will have more to say about your life.

The family has been in the homeless shelter or camping for three years. Three years is a long time to be a victim of one bad circumstance of the house burning down. She got insurance money from that and bought a property that was not livable and was gonna take a lot of money to fix up. Money she didn't have. There are people who just can't make a good decision to save their life. Their lives are always on the verge of chaos. They end up in court battles where in the midst of everything else that is coming apart, they decide the most important thing to do to pitch a fit about fingerprints and allow themselves to be jailed over it. In other words.... She is fighting the state over EVERYTHING at once. Every aspect of her life is messed up, and her continuing to home school is one tiny piece of it.

Regarding the animals, she put goats and dogs and chickens on the property. There are a lot of holes in the story that I have filled in with my own experience. They didn't have shelter, she said she was going to build shelters out of the stuff in the junk piles. But she didn't. I don't believe for a minute she was driving 38 miles back and forth every day to tend all the farm animals, because that takes money for a lot of gas, and a working car, and money for food and supplies for them... money that she doesn't have. Imagine a person of great responsibility keeping up that schedule for very long on little money. Now realize our person does not have a good track record for keeping her life in good order. Animal control took them. Tinfoil hats aside, they don't take animals that are healthy and cared for. Taking them is a major pain.

And I can't tell what is going on with all the arrests and hurt wrists and hearings about the two special ed kids and this and that, but I used to work in social work, and the story rings like one of those. "None of these tragedies is my fault... bad things just always happen to me, over and over and over again." She reads like a train wreck... and my main point was that not every case is a great example of anything. The really whacked out stories only complicate the argument. We have to be careful which martyrs we choose in our causes. We have to choose the good ones.

There. Hullo! Good morning!

[RosieCotton]

Using lard in refried beans makes 'em really good! Seems to be very hard to find lard anymore, though. Maybe I just don't look in the right places, but the last time I tried to find it at the grocery, I finally gave up.

[SuziQ]

Maybe you could even get his lessons from the school from his teachers for the rest of the year, and use that instead of a curriculum? (I admit, I don't know how that works.)

You could get all the textbooks he's using at school right now from the publishers, or used, online. Each of the texts has a teacher's manual, so that would help you if you feel you needed it. Our daughter is using the Amer. History, Literature, and Grammar textbooks we still had from our older sons' private school. She likes them a lot. She has a great Geometry text, and we've gotten a couple of other texts for other subjects; the History of the Catholic Church in the Americas, Spelling, Latin, and Vocabulary. She decided she wanted to learn Japanese, so I got her some textbooks and workbooks for that as well, published by the Japanese Language Society!

There are SO many resources for studying at home, and sometimes the kids just THRIVE at home. That has been the case with our kids. They have learned so much more at home; and not necessarily having anything to do with their studies. When they're home, you can have such interesting discussions about stuff that comes up in life.

Just wanted to give you a little more info about homeschooling in the high school years! BTW, did you know that you don't necessarily have to have a high school diploma to be admitted to college? OK, I'll shut up now!

[Corin Stormhands]

And thus it begins....

AACK! Don't let them get me...Call the PTA! Call the NEA.....eeeewwwwww...gasp....sputter....faint....

Where'd everybody go?....oooohhh the colors....gasp....sputter....

Ahem...excuse me...now what was the name of that curriculum again?

[Corin Stormhands]

Maybe I just don't look in the right places...

Well see, there's your problem Rosie, you're Looking for Lard in all the wrong places....ducking...

[ksen]

A big source of controversy with the fanbase were the costumes and the backdrops.

There were a couple of places (Paul and his mother walking across the sand dunes after escaping from Harkonnen's men and before they met up with the Fremen) where I had to tell my wife, "Do not let the bad effects master you, let the bad effects pass through you, and all that will remain is the story." ;^)

I really didn't care for the expanding of Irulan's role at the expense of other characters.

Which character was Irulan?

Did you watch the Special Edition of the miniseries, or the regular DVD?

I don't know, I'll have to look when I get home. Whatever version it was I had to turn my volume all the way up in order to be able to understand what was being said (maybe my audio was set wrong).

Come over to The Landsraad for news on the upcoming sequel to the first miniseries. It will combine the second and third books.

Thanks for the invite, I'll check out the site.