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.
LMAO... I am sure you feel closer already!
Last summer I had to put a hot wire pretty close to the ground to zap a neighbor dog that liked to come in and chase the ponies. It worked, and I haven't seen him try in a long time. It takes a lot more maintenance to keep the grass down around it, do you think the dog would notice if I just disconnected that wire?
Yes and apparently it's not just me. See what I found on a fingering chart site:
Alabama's okay, but I don't think I'd want to live there. The coast is beautiful.
My brain is fried. We had a family fun day at the pool today. I stood either in the sun or next to a grill for 6 hours...
Welllll, I didn't think it was *dangerous*... I just like to know what's being put on my computer before it's put there.
By the way, I've been meaning to ask you... where do you find all those cute little "smileys"?
"by the grace of God..."
That's for sure
Thank you!
I've been trying to figure that out too. I also see it as very "fluid." Leftist or socialist philosophy follows specific ideology and is easily defined, but conservativism or "the Right" seems impossible to pin down, it encompasses too much. I always want to align myself with these names since I wish to be whatever the opposite of the Left is.
I basically believe in the rights of the individual and personal liberty. That is to say I don't believe in a specific ideology since my only ideology is that there should be no "official ideology" or rules except those that insure our rights to live our lives with freedom of choice. We should be free to follow our own personal philosophies and dreams. Pretty much the opposite of socialism.
My belief is that this way of thinking comes from Anglo Saxon roots, eventually making its way into the philosophy of the English Whigs, and from there through our founding fathers into our constitution and Bill of Rights.
Tolkien, in LOTR, was writing a mythology for the Anglo Saxon era of England, the era which gave birth to this concept of freedom. I think it's clearly demonstrated in his concept of the Shire, which operated virtually without government.
Do you know how to search for fresh AP stories? - Kiro TV (CBS affilliate) just ran a story here that may depress you too. I hate to bring everyone down, but you know the big Masonic Cemetery here in Tumwater at Cleveland Avenue? It was hit by vandals last night! "more than 70" tombstones where overturned, broken or smashed, the night before Memorial Day! The first people to discover it this morning were people bringing flowers to place there.
They showed pictures on KIRO 7 news, but they have not posted the story to their website (at least yet, I keep looking). I have tried searching for any news of it that would be suitable for posting here. I don't know if I would actually post it here though, it would just make everyone sad. The Olympian (local paper) hasn't posted it and probably won't till tomorrow, but I imagine press releases have been done.
It is so depressing, and I don't know anyone buried there. I just imagined, after my involvement in the cleanup at the local cemetery where my Mom and grandparents are, that if this happened there I would be prone to murder. I boil thinking about it. The pictures on the news were so sad with the old toppled stones and the poor crushed widow they interviewed. Those stones are so expensive, and there were so many. I just want to cry. scratch that... I already have been.
Sorry to be such a downer. I really just want to know if any of you know the secret to searching for news like this.
I'll see if I can find anything on it, Hair.
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