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.
Our new cat was a rescue kitty and we think she was previously abused. She likes to sit on your lap, but she hates to be picked up. But she is also not 20 lbs.
Prescott Daily Courier coverage
Fire near Prescott being held at bay (Arizona Republic)
Morning everyone! Just woke up! [sip]
I got up about half hour ago after a night of thunderstorms and cramped sleeping with 4 people in one bed! The kids don't care to stay in their beds when it storms and we were all packed in like sardines.
Funny, but I actually sleep very soundly when we're packed together like that during a storm. I like having everyone close by in case the sirens start going off!
I am still trying to wake up... Need to go to a meeting this morning... Then I am going to take it a little bit easy.
I can't imagine living in tornado alley, having sirens around that might go off to wake the whole town!
Heard on our news this year that "Virginia hasn't been hit by a major hurricane in several years."
Our time might be coming...
My husband went with our church and an 18-wheeler full of supplies to the OKC area to help clean up. He said that there was nothing left of the houses...that even the foundations had been stripped away, and the street pavement looked like it had been pealed up. He couldn't even talk about it, it was so upsetting to him. Our little nest would have been of little good with this particular storm.
I'll never forget a police officer found a baby, covered with mud at the base of a tree. They showed the officer's car cam showing him sitting the baby on the hood of his car and cleaning off it's face. It was muddy, but fine!
My wife, her sister and husband and I were working the "Faberge" ball which was THE social event of the year. We went to the YMCA to get dressed in our formal attire.
Our main fear from huricanes at my house is that one of the dozen oak trees in our yard will fall. Our neighbors have lost two, and we've already taken out the six most dangerous ones.
The other day, when the lightning hit so close and I felt it in my hands, the news actually showed the storm right over our street!
You can have ours! :)
Overtaxed you said "No more school, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!" Unfortunately, I am going to be a teacher and I still have another semester of student teaching to do before being certified. However I get to do the dirty looks now. lol
I'll try to keep up as well as I can, and not go so long without saying hi.
We usually share yours. My brother has a house in Nags Head. We'll be there in mid-August.
They're on the sound side (actually on the canal) for that very reason. They've lost some gutters before, but they've been very fortunate not to have major damage.
We have friends who lived in Florida when Andrew hit. The only thing she saved was "The Club" from the steering wheel of the car. Everything else was gone.
This is very funny--you watch the movie as you go to sleep, and I have the movie set up as my alarm clock to get me up in the morning, lol.
Seeing all these reports on the SW line parties and such, I find myself getting more and more excited about joining the TORn line party up here for TTT in December. I can't wait! :)
BTW, I couldn't resist checking out fan reactions to AOTC--some fans are truly blind. There was a "rate the movie on a scale of 1-10" thread at theforce.net, and people were rating it "11" and "12" but in the same post saying things like, "there were some problems" or "the acting and dialogue in some of the scenes wasn't very good"....but they still rated it off the scale in terms of quality! LOL!
Hope everyone is having a happy Friday!
Yep! Doing the same lousy extraction for the next couple of weeks. At least it's good for dieting purposes...the smell of tissue samples in acetonitrile kills my appetite! At least I have some form of a hard drive right now although "failure is imminent."
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