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.
Line dancing dwarves! Or is line dancing soooo First Age?
Well fine. I'll just go off and enjoy the movie tonite all by myself. Actually with the 13-year-old, it's a 9:30 show, but tomorrow's the last day of school. We've got our priorities right!
(and he probably slept all afternoon cause he stayed up to watch the game last night)
Later all. I'll be back very late tonite or early tomorrow.
LOL!
;^)
Does that guy look kind of dwarfy? or is it Dwarvy?
I am gone for the afternoon.... meeting then commute home! See you all tonight!
I'll be here but not as frequently tomorrow and then will be gone for week.
Thank you for helping us out JohnRob! I guess we have the definitive answer to our question.
This means that there is no rush at all to change threads now, that we might make it to late November, after the release of the Director's Cut DVD of FOTR, but with this increase in posting it may be too close. Perhaps we should follow Hair's approach, make the next theme 'Waiting for TTT', and start it at out leisure this summer. Then the next thread after this new one would last all the way through the main release period of TTT and would be properly focused on that book and movie. Just my suggestion of course. (Then the next one will be celebrating the new right wing Congress, and waiting for ROTK, but I may be getting ahead of myself here)
I have always pictured Dwarves wearing hob-nailed boots, so stomping seems appropriate. Maybe something on the order of those dances you see with cowboys wearing cowboy boots.
2JM, if I don't make it back online before you leave tomorrow, I hope you have a safe journey to Wisconsin!
Have a good night, all!
Just chiming in with some of my science fiction experience, which started nearly 50 years ago, during a couple of week's hospitalisation. I read some of the classics, including Stapleton's 'Last and First Men', along with Welles and Verne. Some short stories, including Blish's 'Surface Tension' and Azimov's 'Nightfall' I found completely spell binding. Some of the novels of the early 1950's, including Bester's 'The Demolished Man', and Heinlein's (?) 'The Stars My Destination' were interesting and different from more recent formulaic SF.
Naturally Heinlein's future history stories, which recorded an alternate history 20th century, and Azimov's Foundation series, and the 'prequels' which were worked into the sequence of the history of the Galactic Empire based on Trantor, and its collapse, and rebuilding by the Foundation project were totally fascinating to a history buff.
Anderson and Niven are always fine, as are the military themed stories of Gordon Dickson (sp?) (The Dorsai stories), and Hal Clement for super-hard SF. I liked Zelazny's early stuff too, and Laumer's Retief stories are a hoot. If you haven't read the classics of the 40's and 50's, the summer is a good time to build a good 'foundation' (forgive the pun) in the nature of SF.
For TV SF, the only way to travel is by Stargate (without the bad guys of that series, of course), and the only previous real captain of the Enterprise was Jean Luc Picard!
Now if I can't get a flame war going here with some of these opinions, I don't know what will!
If we are going to break at 10,000 that will be between Saturday and Monday, I suggest breaking later, as I mentioned, in a month or so, unless those doing the creative stuff are sure they will be done in less than 48 hours. I think waiting till fall is a risk, and the best time is between the Fourth of July and Labor Day. What do you guys think?
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