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.
I learned to play poker the hard way. My late father-in-law told me that if I wanted to learn, I needed to show up with $5 and a sharp mind. 2 hours and $20 later, I was remarkably good at it! He loved to play cards and would goad me into playing rummy with him until the wee hours. I'd try to tell him I was tired and he'd say "We got coffee, right?" LOL!
I miss him so much sometimes. :(
Sorry, Hair! We weren't fighting, just discussing and perusing!
I realized after about my third post that I needed to get back to the business at hand!! I'm getting so excited! I didn't even download the 16 min. section because I want to be surprised!! Well, as surprised as I can be having read TTT twice in this last year and having heard the complete thing on audiotape. (minus Helm's Deep because the tape was damaged, ARRGH!!) Even though we know the stories intimately, PJ always seems to surprise us somehow, doesn't he?
I don't think losing the kind of rights that you and I care about are a big deal for them to start with, especially as the word "rights" to them means entitlements and material things that they think they have a "right" to, rather than the freedom to live their lives as they personally see fit.
PJ says that he was playing tribute to a New Zealand fad of dwarf tossing. Great! But it doesn't belong in your movie. Here we are in Middle Earth. And we escape Middle Earth for a Kiwi fad of the late 1980's and early 1990's and another joke at the expense of Gimli... then we are back to Middle Earth.
Those two lines needed to be cut.
The new scenes with Gimli (in the SE) I find very amusing because it is a natural humor that comes from the situation and character not because PJ is looking to be funny.
But... that's my one true beef with the movie. Three hours, and that's all I got. Pretty good movie!
We realize what is going on, but that is not the norm. There are 8 people sitting in front of me right now at work. I would bet $100 that it would take all 8 of them to name their senators and congressmen. They don't know what is happening politically because they don't care to know.
So, bottom line what I am saying is that the liberal agenda is being realized through the courts because that's where it can advance unseen and unchallenged. Thanks to the welfare recepient votes, (because the welfare recepient votes predominantly democratic) the liberals have taken over the court system. But, I think the day is coming, when the agenda will come out from under cover and be advanced in the light of day. To do that... the liberals will call their marker. The welfare recepient will vote for the liberal agenda because their money for shelter, food, clothing, children's education, etc. is at stake.
There is still one dwarf in The Hobbit Hole who draws a chuckle from those lines...I don't think they should be cut at all.
Somone much wiser than me has requested that I avoid talking about religion -- feelings would likely be hurt.
Nope.
Boy! Kids can be so FRESH! LOL! I sure am glad Henry convinced his dad to do the movie!! We'll have to look for Henry's name in the credits. You think he might play one of the boys in Minas Tirith who befriends Pippin? In that case, we'll have to wait until NEXT year for that one!
Well, I doubt he owns a sweatshop and treats his employees badly. If he pays them fairly, he's actually helping THEM create wealth for themselves!!! It might rock his world to inform him of that little fact!
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