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.
1. My office was graciously invited to attend holiday festivities (decorated cubicle contest, guessing jar, brass quintet, yadda yadda yadda).... but it is being held at our sister office approx 50 miles away. My cube-mates and I are going to draw a picture of our decorated cubicle and enter their contest anyway. :P
2. Silly me, I signed up for a cookie exchange. Usually the way these work is you take home as many cookies as you bring. So, bake a dozen, take a dozen. If you want more, bake more. But the way this one is organized there's no flexibility- I'll be baking 6.5 dozen cookies...ACK!
Anybody want a cookie?
So, it was more of a game-show parting gift, than a Christmas present? lol
I can't remember any one thing, and maybe I shouldn't tell this story since it's about me and not where I worked...but hey, it's Christmas...
My last Christmas at the place where I worked in D.C. things were pretty crappy. They were most of the time, but that year was particularly bad for all of us.
I got to the restaurant early as I had made the plans for our Christmas dinner. I started with a double Jack and water. Then I had another...
By the end of the evening the PR director and I were going around to the tables and chugging the remains of the red wine bottles.
Mrs. Stormhands had to stop about every 300 yards on the drive home so I could puke. I've never done anything quite that stupid since...
Which is why I was intrigued with PJ's development of Boromir in the film- esp. in the extended edition. There was so much genuine affection for the hobbits that you began to believe his heart was softening, that he was growing as a person, moving towards wisdom and maturity, so much so that when he tries to take the ring and curses the hobbits at the end it is a heartbreaking betrayal. Was it the ring all along? A fantastically complex character.
As Denethor's favourite son, Boromir was perhaps the 'faithful jewel', while the less favoured Faramir was merely the 'sufficient jewel'.
....would that make them the "family jewels?"
*cringe*
When I worked for this storage place, my boss was the daughter of one of the owners (the niece of the other). She planned the party and decided to spend money on crap like caviar and pate (and various other inedibles). After all that, she obviously ran out of cash to rent a place, so we had our party at the sales office of one of the warehouse locations! LOL!!
At the party, she hounded everyone to eat the nasty vittles and berated anyone she saw was (in her opinion) "drinking too much". Everytime any employee (including myself) would try to sneak out for a quick cigarette (just to get out of the oppressive and not-so-merry atmosphere), she'd pop out of the doors within 2 minutes and shoo everyone back in.
The music was terrible. One CD of Christmas muzak and another kind of guitar thing that put everyone into a catatonic state. And if you dared get near the boom box - WATCH OUT! Instant chastizing from Queen Bee herself.
To make matters worse, in the interest of "cost reduction", no employee was allowed to bring a guest, not even your spouse!! And attendace was MANDATORY! How did they achieve the perfect attendance of the crap party you ask? They handed out Christmas bonus checks at the end of the party. Thus, if you didn't go, no bonus for you!!
Fortunately, I worked only there for a year (only one party to endure) and then was finally hired here, at my perfect job. No Christmas party to attend, mandatory or otherwise, and a nifty Christmas bonus equivalent to almost a whole extra paycheck!
I know I shouldn't laugh, but....BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!
Isn't that terrible? How they can instill so much guilt over something so trivial. Like you absolutely MUST be there...for the sake of your career. It's hysterical how out of whack their priorities in life are.
ba-da-BING!
You'd think a twenty-something from the 80's generation would know how to party, but then you find that isn't the case with some people. Her problem was that she wanted to be first class on a third class budget.
IMHO, it would have been better to reserve a spot at the local Steak & Ale and use the extra money to let people bring a date.
Considering "they" are a group of women, it's not surprising at all. I'm a she, so I can say things like that.
notgonnasayit...notgonnasayit...
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