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.
Can you believe it? A party-pooper. Me???
See, my cousin is having a party and we're supposed to write down something funny we remember about this particular cousin and someone else is going to read them to her. Well, for one thing, I can't think of anything funny. So I get this email from my mom telling me where to email my funny story and since I can't think of anything, I ignored it. So today, she asks "Did you write down your funny story and send it?" at which point I said "No, and I think it is the utmost in bad manners that someone would obligate their guests so."
Then she called me a PARTY-POOPER!
humph.
HairOfTheDog, ksen, 2Jedismom, ecurbh, Bear in Rosebear, g'nad, RosieCotton, Corin Stormhands, rightwingreligiousfanatic, JenB, SuziQ, Lucious Cornelious Sulla, Overtaxed, and all the others wake up and realize they have nothing more to say....
Tell you what... you can say "Happy Birthday" and buy me a drink. That's my 21st birthday. And then OT will criticize the Elves, and Corin will start making Dwarf-threatening-noises, and 2J will post about her 2,000th whistle, and g'nad will tell us stories about hunting down Saddam, and new people we haven't met yet will join in...
and then someone will drop another thermobarbic bomb on us. FR is never gonna get rid of us. (Everyone remembered to donate, right?)
Hobbits love FreeRepublic!
Like today, in my class, it was the first half of our reports on programming language. One of the speakers was the Chinese guy. Who speaks English badly, with a really, really thick accent. And was speaking on Cobol. And loves Cobol. And proceeded to share his love of Cobol - badly - for 25 minutes. Now that is pain.
Yep. I got contacted about a reunion once. I think they got the message not to bother me again. :)
Oh please. Who's the poop-head that thought that up? I HATE stuff like that.
Why can't they just let our families be dysfunctional and grumpy and let us get on with life? We're going to a family reunion of all my cousins in a couple of weeks. But we're not going until after my son's football game on Saturday and we're leaving first thing Sunday morning. My aunt wants us all to go to church together on Sunday, but we're leaving. I left that church in 1984 because it was a cult. (It's a vey long and vey series story...). That Pastor has since passed away (mainly because he waited to late to see the doctor about what turned out to be colon cancer). I'll go back for a family funeral. But I won't go back just because I'm in town.
I'm already mad at my sister, who lives in the home-town. She bounced the reunion from Columbus Day Weekend (you know the three-day weekend) until the 19th so her husband wouldn't be working while everyone was in town. HE WORKS THE DANG 7-3 SHIFT!!!!!! Arrrghhh!
Have some catnip tea 2J and tell your Mom and cousin to poop on somebody else's parade.
I can't wait to hear what your Mom will say about Entmoot...
Not even an elves associaion reunion?
This is very not PC of me. But we have a Chinese guy working in our building who 1) doesn't speak English very well and 2) is clueless. For some reason he thinks that what he is doing has to be reported to ME. I have nothing to do with his projects and it's not even in my division.
I've tried to handle it by just forwarding his e-mails to his supervisor. But yesterday he corned me in my office with "what do I do with this report." Before it was over I was practically screaming IT'S NOT MY JOB!!!!
He still didn't get it.
Well, I'd tell you to rent a fancy car and you and Steve go back dressed to kill. You could make up some story about your homes in Aspen and your cottage in the islands and your villa in France.
But your Mom would blow your cover...
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