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.

[ksen]

Good grief. Some of you are all to eager to report your neighbors like good little Germans.

Ja Voll! I am zo excited for next month's releaze of ze next inshtallment of Ze Lord of Ze Ringsz: Die Zwei Towersz.

;^)

[HairOfTheDog]

I think it means when this fog burns off we will have sun.

I hope so... let us dry out a little. The ponies would like to take off their heavy raincoats and run naked on the grass.

[RMDupree]

I was only worried because it was something you indicated was not normal. Don't mean to act like the gestapo though. ;)

And when it comes to my friends, I am not embarrassed to suggest anything that may protect them. It would be a very BAD idea for you to go check it out yourself. What if it happens to be a nutjob?

[Corin Stormhands]

Any man will tell you, each of these jobs (especially ones assigned by his wife) comes ready-made with a set number of cuss words that must be spoken before the repair can be completed.

I am not a "handy man" by anyone's imagination. But for my son's sixth birthday, I decided to build him a fort in the backyard. I bought the kit from Lowes and got to work while he and the missus were visting family for Spring Break. About 3 days in, I was talking to the wife on the phone:

Mrs. Stormhands: How's it going?

Corin: Well, it's taking longer 'cause I've had to spend so much time at the library...

Mrs. Stormhands: What are you doing at the library?

Corin: Looking up new swear words. I already used all the ones I know...

[Corin Stormhands]

The ponies would like to take off their heavy raincoats and run naked on the grass.

Must not comment...must not comment...must not comment...

[g'nad]

Gotta agree with John on this one... you need to call the guy and find out what's up...

When I was stationed at 29 Palms, I lived out in Wonder Valley, a desolate area 13 miles outta town... the only neighbors were a cluster of 4 houses a half mile away...

I got a visit from a deputy sheriff due to concerns of "constant gunfire" on my place... I had a a shooting range with range markers and backstops, which up to the time of the deputy's visit, I had used maybe three times over a month, and sent less than a hundred rounds down range...

Needless to say, I was a little perturbed that these citizens never called me or visited me, they just called the cops...

Since I wasn't doing anything illegal, the deputy said "have a nice day..." There was a marked increase in my shooting from that day on... every day, I took the time to empty at least one weapon into a berm... right around sunrise or sunset

[ksen]

Good grief. Some of you are all to eager to report your neighbors like good little Germans.

If it was just me I would agree with you. However, when single women living alone start hearing gunfire 200 feet away from their home I would counsel them to call the cops.

No matter what nationality it made me look like.

[Corin Stormhands]

Some of you are all to eager to report your neighbors like good little Germans.

No, I think you mis-read us John. Random gunshots over an extended period of time in a fairly high populated area...

I'm 30 minutes away from the Ashland sniper shooting. They brought the victim to MCV hospital two blocks from my office. My kid missed two days of school...(which I thought was a bit excessive until I heard about the note).

No over-reacting Germans here. But suspicious (or at least highly unusual) gunfire. You can be darn sure I'd want it checked out.

[ksen]

Ok, let's suppose your out in the field. Mrs. g'nad is home alone with the dwarvlings. She starts hearing gunfire closer than normal to the house. Would you want her to go by herself to investigate?

[HairOfTheDog]

It did sound like he was sighting in a rifle. The time of year, and the pattern of his shooting indicated that. One shot, couple minutes... another single shot. but he probably went through a box of bullets. I hope he does have a nice range set up. But I was not gonna go over there alone and find out. I wish we still lived in a time and place where I would feel safe stopping in, but I don't know them.

[g'nad]

no, but I would want her to call the neighbor first... then take the appropriate action...

the missus is an accomplished marksman, as is Hair...

and I didn't call y'all Germans... I just agree that her first course of action should not have been to call the cops...

[Corin Stormhands]

no, but I would want her to call the neighbor first... then take the appropriate action...

I can live with that. But as Hair stated, she doesn't know the neighbors.

She does, however, know the deputies. And she knows they won't overreact.

[g'nad]

I wish we still lived in a time and place where I would feel safe stopping in, but I don't know them.

I just figgered you knew yer neighbors... if I didn't know them, I'd call first... and prob'ly skipped the face to face...

BTW, it took me 13 rounds to get that new scope zeroed in... sometimes yuh have to shoot that much...

just glad to see yuh safe...

[g'nad]

she doesn't know the neighbors...She does, however, know the deputies...

didn't get that from her first two posts on the subject... understand that now... that changes the picture... every situation's got unique variables... but I still say she should've called the neighbor first... just my opinion...

[John Farson]

I'm 30 minutes away from the Ashland sniper shooting.

So? If someone nearby is maimed with a lawnmower, would you freak everytime you heard the sound?

Firearms are still legal in this country and you shouldn't be suprised when you hear them used.

You can be darn sure I'd want it checked out.

Fine, but call your neighbors before you invoke the power of the State.

I had a similar situation a few years ago. One of the new neighbors didn't like how my shooting startled his horses. He called me up and after some heated words, we worked out a solution. It didn't involve calling the cops.

[John Farson]

Would you want her to go by herself to investigate?

A telephone call to your neighbor doesn't put her in any danger.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

LOL...I think I exceeded my limit last week when the hot-water valve in my bathroom corroded and burst.

[HairOfTheDog]

Our Sherrif's department is not the Gestapo. I don't fear them doing the wrong thing if they find a gun owner doing something lawful on his own property.

Our sherrif is a conservative who I know somewhat personally, because he is a horseman, and he sponsors a trail ride every year as a fundraiser for his mounted search and rescue posse.

His deputies have never so much as flinched when I have been pulled over with a gun in my truck. Sometimes I have told them it was there in the first contact, like they ask, and sometimes they have asked me when they walk up. (because my CWP would show up when they checked me out) The conversations go like this [HairOfTheDog's hands on steering wheel] "Hello maam, is there a gun in this vehicle?" "Yes, there is" And I indicate where it is. He will move around to where he can see that place. "OK maam... Do you have your license and your CWP?" End of conversation about it. One time, the deputy asked me what kind I carried, because guns interested him, and we talked about it.

So I don't worry that this guy would be mistreated if I called a deputy to check it out. Maybe Scott will vouch for that, because he lives in the same town. And maybe Ramius my brother would vouch for gunfire seeming a bit unusual where I live. Am I less of a "good German" now?

[Corin Stormhands]

So? If someone nearby is maimed with a lawnmower, would you freak everytime you heard the sound?

Lawnmowers are a normal sound in my neighborhood. Shots are not. That's a silly comparison.

My reference to the Ashland thing was a bit non-sequitur, other than the fact that I'm in a much more highly populated area. Shooting in my neighborhood would not be "normal" under any circumstances.

[HairOfTheDog]

A telephone call to your neighbor doesn't put her in any danger.

I know John... but I don't even know their names. There are three houses there where it could have come from, one of which, I mentioned yesterday too, is a deputy. I debated calling for a long time... And when I did call, it was because it had finally just got on my nerves, and I didn't fear that I would be causing harm to the person if a deputy drove in. There are enough people around here that the neighbors ought to have been considered when the guy decided to sight in his rifle at home. We have a very good gun club a few miles away that is cheap to belong to.