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 noticed on the cat late last week that part of her fur is missing under (where I'd call it on a human) her underarms. It's on both sides. The skin is red and a good bit of fur is gone.
Today, I noticed the dog has something similar or worse on his butt.
Does this sound like mange? Can animals share it from species to species? Is this something the dog might have picked up at the kennel?
Am I going to have to spend a fortune again?
What do you think?
That's why I have to hurry home to keep painting windows...
Bummer! Sounds painful. One of our cats has an oozing from one eye, not really bad, but it never seems to totally go away. He's got a checkup soon so we'll get some ointment or something. But trying to put ointment in a cat's eye is only marginally easier than trying to feed them a pill...;^)
Sigh...but we've seen no evidence of fleas in the house all summer long. We'll see tomorrow I guess.
Ask your vet for a pill shooter. It's like a syringe but it fires the pill down the back of their throat so they have to swallow it...
For the dog, I just put his pill in a cube of cheese. It's halfway through his digestive system before he's even realized he's eaten anything...
Hey, since I'm just dreaming, I might as well dream big!
I want a new fiddle bow and a really nice fiddle, too. And a Phoenix mandolin.
Dogs are soooo much easier, no? My dog will eat about anything anyway...I almost wouldn't have to bother with the cheese! (I have more problems with what she WILL eat than with what she WON'T!)
The cats, on the other hand, can detect minute quantities of medicine powder and will turn up their noses at even their FAVORITE foods if they have anything unusual in them. And giving pills is NOT fun. One of them has no front claws (the person who had her before me had her de-clawed), but even SHE can inflict major injury on anyone trying to force something into her mouth!
That's funny, I never knew of any dog named Fiona before.
Apparently Fiona is the feminine version of the Celtic name Fion, sometimes seen as Finn. I pronounce my dog's name "Finna," but am probably mangling it. Maybe Overtaxed, or one of the Celtic folks can say.
But her very, very favorite thing to destroy is tissue paper
Mine lives outside these days, which I think is the preference of a hound dog anyway. She still gets in trouble, she digs holes everywhere now.
Hello everyone, was away for the night, I'll try to catch up again.
Well, when we first got him, we lost the corners to some rugs. But we try to keep him in chew toys. My older son has several Star Trek ships that will never reach warp speed again.
But the amazing thing is that he never bother the babies' toys. He chewed part of one thing on this little plastic playset. But the toys are constantly all over the floor. He just ignores them cause he knows they aren't his.
We noticed. And I don't think you cleared it here first. That's your last unexcused absence young man!
LOL! So did I!! Twice! I couldn't get it to go through on my mom's computer for some reason (maybe because it's a mac???). I just got home to my trusty PC.
GET READY FOR G'NAD EVERYONE!
You're correct - it's the feminine for Finn. I'm not sure about the pronunciation - I pronounce it like Fiona Ritchie pronounces her name: "fee OH nah". (Or, more frequently, "What did you DO??")
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