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.
Ah! Now we understand your need to get out into the woods and hunt! It is so you can feed your habit!! Tsk Tsk!!
I was comin’ back from droppin’ off a deer at the meat locker out in Spotsylvania County… I had a big smear of blood on my shirt and pants, and dried blood on my hands. There was a bloody tarp in the back of the Explorer, my shotgun in it’s scabbard, and my .45 in a holster on my left hip…I was on Hwy 218 when I rolled up to a roadblock manned by 4 Troopers and two cars…The female trooper waved me down…
Trooper: “License and registration… “
Me: Pulling out my IL license and hand it to her…
Trooper: Noticing the blood on my clothes and hands “This is expired”
Me: Rummaging in my wallet “Yes ma’am, I have a military deferral”
Trooper: “Where’s your military ID”
Me: frantically checking, the realizing “I left it in my uniform, ma’am…”
Trooper: “Why are you covered in blood?” Open hand now resting on pistol butt
Me: Now not moving, “I’m taking a deer to the meatlocker”
Trooper: Looking in back, seeing bloody tarp “I don’t see it…”
Me: “Cuz I don’t have it anymore, I already dropped it off…”
Trooper: Irritation now clearly evident “are there any weapons in the vehicle?”
Me: “Yes ma’am…”
Trooper: Now firmly grasping her still holstered pistol “Are they loaded?”
Me: “The shotgun in the back ain’t, but the .45 I’m wearin’ is locked and cocked...”
Trooper: “Put your hands on top of the steering wheel” Partner now coming over, moving to passenger side…
Me: “yes ma’am…umm… I have a concealed carry permit”
Trooper: “which hip is your pistol on?”
Me: “Left”
Trooper: “Hand me your wallet with your right hand.”
Me: “Can’t”
Trooper: Clearly consternated now…“Why not?”
Me: “My right hand isn’t workin’ so good… and my wallet slid off my lap and is now between the seat and the door…
Trooper: Looking frantically at her partner…
Me: “how about I open the door and let it fall out?”
Trooper: To her partner “cover him.” He draws his pistol and points it at my head…
Me: “This is crazy…”
Trooper: Pulling her pistol, looking me dead in the eye “Open the door slowly.”
Me: “You got that right…” opening door slowly thankful to hear the wallet hit the gravel…
Trooper: After looking through my wallet and finding my license deferral card, CCP, and my Military access cards… “Have a nice day…”
Me: “You too ma’am…who are yuh lookin' for?"
Trooper: "Fugitive... male caucasian, late 30s, short brown hair, blue eyes, armed and dangerous..."
Me: "That explains alot...thanks"
Aaaaahhh dear lady... the "field" is not hunting... but I will say, I'd rather be sweatin' in a jungle, roasting in the desert, or up to my neck in mountain snow than flyin' a desk... which, unfortunately, I do alot of lately...
believe me ksen, I thought I'd end up bein sorry I wasn't wearin' clean underwear...
Lucky it ended nicely and you didn't end up with the shoot first, ask questions later crowd. *shudder*
Alright folks, I'm heading out early to get my sister's Christmas present. She loves Harry Potter and Radio Shack has got the animated Norbert toy for $19.99. So off I go!
By supplying her with a Harry Potter gift, I am hoping to inspire her to purchase a Two Towers gift (cough, soundtrack, cough, ahem) for my birthday right after Christmas! It's called "strategery"! ;)
Glad you made it through.
I was in the right... never doubted I'd be Okay... was a little concerned about the impendin' "body cavity search" if it kept goin' downhill though...
Man! - I hate it when they do that!
He draws his pistol and points it at my head…
Oh I REALLY hate it when they do THAT!
Heh... Good story g'nad. Glad you kept your head!
My dad had them draw on him one time. He opened the glove box to try to find the registration, and in there was an empty holster for a small revolver. It had been floating around in his glove box for years. Not sure what gun it ever even went to. Dad heard a movement and a click, and turned around to see a pistol pointed at his head. "Where is the pistol that goes with that holster?" was the question.
There are a lot of situations that can look very different from an outside perspective! Another story!
When I was living in a house with some other students in college, we had a friend who was proving to be a suicidal wackjob, a cat with an abcess in his tail, and a worried dad who all collided to create a scene hilarious in its outcome.
I had told my Dad that "Stefan" had been back to the house after having been missing. He had left a box full of stuff with a note to ship it to his parents if "anything happened". I never should have told my Dad that. He was 200 miles away from us, and worried sick about Stefan doing something crazy to us.
We had a cat with an abcess on his tail. Infected from a fight, and I was going to take him to the vet on monday. Until then I closed him in my room.
We went out for a day of fun in the sun, leaving the house unnocuppied.
My dad panicked when he couldn't reach us on the phone, worried that Stefan had blown up in our direction. He called the Sherrif's dept to come by and check the house.
Meanwhile back at home, the cat's abcess burst. Leaving a big pool of blood in the middle of my bed, on the floor, and where ever else he went.
Deputy doing house check per my dad, sees blood all over my bedroom and kicks the door in. At least a dozen other deputies show up.
College kids arrive home after partying all day to find house surrounded with deputies trying to figure out who had been murdered.
Bleeding cat hiding under bed is found and freaked out father is called and soothed! Cat doctored the next day, friend never did kill himself that I know of, though he tried nine times. Police do not pay to fix door! End of story!
somehow, Ruthy, I just can't picture you in bloody clothes and two weapons in the car...
g'luck with the shoppin'...
Can't they cite you for not wearin' drawers in rural Virginia? ;-)
I told my wife it was a comedy of errors that afternoon... forgotten ID, carelessly getting blood on me... hitting the roadblock after I had droopped the deer off...
yer right... perspective is critical...
She's going shoppin' two weeks before Christmas and you have a hard time imagining her in bloody clothes with weapons in the car?
good point...
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