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.
Wish my own artistic skill had advanced from stick figures and cartoon landscapes... :-)
On another front, I just received this e-mail from my dear old Marine buddy, Hal, and his wife, Betsy... he is stationed at 29 Palms, and his newborn son is dire need of prayers...
Just wanted to let you all know that I've been off line for awhile.
Last Monday, the 28th, during a routine check-up of our week old, Dillon, the Dr.'s noticed erratic breathing and a heart murmur. He was taken to the emergency room and from there medevaced to Loma Linda University Medical Center.
He was examined by a cardiologist that day and found to have some serious heart problems. Initially they hoped that these problems could be dealt with by surgery. On Thursday the cardiologist spoke with us again on Thursday, the 31st, and told us that the problems we're greater than previously thought, and that while they could try a series of surgeries to correct them, his odds of surviving that surgery were minimal. Therefore he recommended a heart tranplant as the best option.
Dillon is on the list, waiting for a heart, as of this past Monday. He is at the best possible place for this, since Loma Linda was the first facility to do infant heart transplants back in the mid-80s. The staff there has been very good and they are taking good care of him. The waiting is the hardest part, since there is no predicting when a donor heart may be available. Also, the greatest mortality rate is during this period, about 20% of all infants awaiting a transplant die before and organ becomes available.
Would appreciate you saying a quiet prayer for Dillon.
Thanks,
Hal
Please let all the prayer warriors know about this...
Maybe I'll kill someone off. Might give me some satisfaction.
ooooooooo.... major dilemma... letting yer buddy shoot yer weapon while your together at the range is like him dancin' with yer wife at a party...no big deal... but usin' it fer huntin' while yer not there is kinda like havin' him take yer wife for a test drive... if yuh know what I mean...
It's yer decision, but I would have a hard time unless I was extremely confident in his abilities... and I'd be darn sure he understands, if he breaks it or in other ways effects its looks or operation, he's replacin' it...
you can bow hunt until the first week in Jan... gun season starts 16 Nov...
You get it from flea bites. I wouldn't be worried.
The couple are from New Mexico and I believe that there are some bubonic plague carriers in the rodent population out there (another reason to hate squirrels.) It's treatable with antibiotics if you catch it soon enough.
See? It's all you HH's fault! If you weren't expecting posted updates I wouldn't be so uptight about writing crap. :)
Any critter that falls into the phylum Rodentia needs whackin'...IMHO...
I just feel like my story is repeating itself and not going anywhere and it's really boring. So I hate it, but if I don't continue, it's STUCK being boring. But it's boring, so I don't wanna write. And on and on it goes...
Logging off now...back to crap production...
Exactly! I'm not sure HOW to write something this long, so instead of coming up with a story that takes 50,000 words to tell, I feel like I'm taking a story that could be told in about 5000 words and padding the heck out of it until it draaaaaaags. I'll learn from this, I guess. I'd better.
Now I'm really going!
Gondor has no subplots... Gondor needs no subplots... or sumthin' like that...
Gondor has all the plots it can handle. :)
Gondor is too shallow for sub plots...
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