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.
We have a robin that built a next right where we can easily see it. It was empty the first time we took the barstool out there and looked...then there were four eggs. One day, I noticed more commotion out there than usual, so we hauled out the barstool and found 3 very newborn baby robins! The fourth egg must have been a dud. Now they are quite big and we don't even need the barstool...we can see them very well when the mama bird flies up. It is unbelievable! That mama robin is so used to the kids that it hunts for food just feet away from them while they are back there playing. There are the kids...running around, with a robin hopping around right beside them!
We also have a bunny that I have decided to let alone to see if it will bother our garden. So far it has done nothing but eat grass, and it just grazes out in the backyard. It also stays back there while boys are playing and it seems almost unconcerned. The boys are under orders not to harrass it and they both just seem to accept the other!
It's like a little Eden right here in my own back yard!
I may have gone off the deep-end, but if so, it has led to a possibly fun tale to tell.
Last night I had a dream. (Jen, this one is rated "G", don't worry!) A bunch of us were all together at a theater watching Fellowship of the Ring! Which was fun enough of an idea... but it gets better.
I looked behind us, and in the back row was Peter Jackson. (I know, I know)
After the film, we approached him to meet him and tell him how great the film was... and he sat and talked and listened to us (while some of us even had the gall to complain about Galadriel)...
Then he said... "We are having a very secret advanced showing of the Two Towers here. We think it is very nearly finished... All of us are going to take a look at it and see. I would love to have some fans here to see it too. We want to make sure it is good enough for the fans. But you will have to promise not to tell anyone about what you have seen. And he handed us these ticket/passes.
I don't know which of us were there. I know most of us hobbits were there, but my brain sortof morphs people together and changes them around in my dreams, (especially people I haven't met) but I know Penny was NOT there for whatever reason, because I asked if we could get a ticket for her too, and he said no... only those of us that were there... (sorry Penny I tried!)
Unfortunately, I woke up before the movie started, so I still haven't seen TTT. But it was a fun idea! I almost got us there!
Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming...
Fun to watch birthings and critter activities in the spring. Last year I had a Robin's nest high in a tree in my yard, and a baby Robin fell out of the nest (actually the nest broke). A friend and I rushed it to the Wildlife Rescue place. - Hope he made it but I never called to find out!
Are you sure that you're not just keeping to the promise you had to make to PJ?
-Kevin
I absolutely can't wait! Only 218 more days, according to my nifty desktop countdown thingyjigger.
I should have plugged this in at the dream post above, but I forgot!
That must have been my punishment for seeing a movie other than LOTR in the theater last night! :o
Saw Spiderman, my friend really wanted to see it, but I still managed to sneak in to see bits and pieces of LOTR before and after Spiderman started. Unfortunately, the movie was scheduled to start right at the time the preview would have been showing, otherwise I would have snuck in for that too. Oh well...
BTW, really enjoyed Spiderman for what it was, even though I don't particularly like Tobey Maguire. But it was fun and entertaining, and I found myself remembering certain parts of the comic book that they seemed to follow pretty well in the movie.
Found any rumors in your travels on when an official TTT trailer will be released? - Any rumor of it being posted to the official site again so I don't have to actually go SEE any of the summer films?
I would not be at all surprised to hear that a teaser trailer is attached to AOTC. In fact, that would be kinda funny. I still remember seeing back-to-back trailers for FOTR and AOTC, and seeing the quality of FOTR juxtaposed with AOTC made me laugh all the way through the latter. I'd be up for a trailer for TTT making AOTC look juvenile, not that it'll need any help. ;)
Sorry, just read a not-so-nice review of AOTC, so it's all very fresh in my mind...
Going home now, bye!
-Kevin
Have a pint and relax...
Glad you made it online before you became catatonic!
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