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.

[Sam Cree]

Hi, Rosie, nice to hear from you, everyone has been missing you.
I don't think your stuff was crap, I identified right away with your characters and was hoping you'd finish the story, since it's better than so much of what actually gets published. I like reading it better than most stuff that's around.

Hope you have good luck with your job...the Hole is a drabber place without you, so stay around if you can.

[JenB]

So, Hair, what did you think of that thread?

[HairOfTheDog]

Hullo Rosie! - Glad you checked in!

Good luck on the job front.

[HairOfTheDog]

I just now finished it. I had a long phone call that interrupted me.

I am about to post a question to it.

[Overtaxed]

Kinda feeling like OT did awhile back

Hi Rosie! Well I finished a bit of character background stuff and gave them enough motives to doublecross each other a few times so I thought I'd try to bring the crap to a plot point. Well I got the 2000 words that I wanted today, but the plot point didn't end up like I originally planned. Oh well.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Well, I finally got my special collector's set last night. I am going to have to take my bookends to work. The kids have already knocked them over once.

Had an adventure getting the dvd. Was at walmart, and they dug me one out of the back, but they had it priced for $65. So I went to Best Buy, they had theirs priced for $50, but out of stock. So I took their ad back to walmart and had them match the price (these 2 places are 20 miles apart, what an adventure).

So now I have it, but by the time I got home last night, I was so tired all I was able to do was open it and look at how beautiful it is.

Almost 6am here, think I will pop it in......here we go.

[HairOfTheDog]

How fun! - How are you liking it?

Hullo! - Good morning!!

[Sam Cree]

Good morning, All.

I hope the traffic wasn't too bad during the 40 mile drive, icbi. But you got the thing, which is great.

Hair, how was the HP thread? I'm interested, but didn't go there last night, except as it started. I didn't have the heart to read all that idiocy from the tinfoil crowd, all over again.

Though, as it began, there were some very favorable remarks from the "hardshell" people, which was refreshing, I thought.

[HairOfTheDog]

I had a really good time on the Harry Potter thread! It was going along the normal Potter thread lines until I asked one of the posters if real spell-casting witches really exist at 223. I think it got interesting after that!

[Sam Cree]

That was a good comment, Hair.

The couple pages of the thread I just read were unusually polite for this particular subject, that is, a subject with Christian theological implications.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yes, It was polite! - I was ROTFL at the "There are real witches on this website! - Go ask them if they are real!"

[HairOfTheDog]

Gotta respect people who carry the risk of screwing up in front of a lot of people!

Oops! Look Ma, We Ran the Wrong Ad!
11/15/02, 8:25 pm EST - Calisuri

A lot of US Ringers were watching the warm-up for tonight's Boston Celtics vs. Mavericks basketball game on ESPN when they saw a rather BIG blooper. It seems an ad, meant for December, was let loose on the general TV viewing public with the claim that The Two Towers will be in theaters this Wednesday! While that would be great and all, and we are all dying to see the film, don't get too excited...It is definitely a mistake! I just feel sorry for the guy who ran the ad!

[Sam Cree]

Too bad that ad's wrong (that is, if it's going to be a good movie)...well, I'm going out for a jog, before the rain starts. The radar image is ominous.

[Sam Cree]

Can you guys give me some help with my monitor? I thought the monitor was going bad, but the same symptoms appeared again when I hooked up a different monitor to my computer.

I'm getting gray horizontal lines and bands accross the screen, aligned with text and images. Is there a way to clear this up?

Thanks.

[ecurbh]

It sounds like a problem with the video card. I would start by downloading the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website. If you need more detailed information on how to do this, check out this website.

[HairOfTheDog]

If it happens with two different monitors, I would suspect you have a bad video card. But isolate that it is not a bad cord that you used for both, or a bad connection.

[Sam Cree]

Thanks guys, I will try those things. The monitor is actually 5 or 6 years old, but works fine except for the lines and bands, which are apparently not its problem anyway.

The video card, I'd say is only 2 or maybe 2 years old.

[2Jedismom]

Good morning everyone! Steve is at a training event for work and I am hanging out with the boys looking at all those photos on the other thread. Woohoo! I sure can not wait!

[HairOfTheDog]

You surely must wait!

[HairOfTheDog]

Going up to meet my friend and buy cloak fabric.... and then I am going to beach house to watch the Extended Edition with brother on home theater system!