The New Hobbit Hole

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The New Hobbit Hole
Concerning Hobbits
The New Hobbit Chronicles

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.

[Lil'freeper]

I was really disciplined and made 'small' cookies with a measuring spoon. When I bake for my family, I use a big stirring spoon and the cookies end up saucer-sized. But I'm so cookied out that I'm ill just thinking about them. Big_ol' has already sampled some of every kind I brought home from the exchange.

[Rocko]

"Let the Ring Leader decide."

[g'nad]

...since he addressed you as 'Sir' I assume that you outrank him...

you are correct ma'am... and this "sir" with a hollow leg can hang with the best of 'em... I could regail you with accounts of my hangin' ability, but they would be innapropriate for this forum... ;o)

[g'nad]

Sir SuziQ loved it when she would come to visit because she cleaned like a fool; she just couldn't sit still!

Sounds like my M-I-L... I call her Cinderella... once I came home and found her scrubbin' our tile floor with a toothbrush... my missus, however, has much to learn about organization and housekeeping... I do the lion's share...

[2Jedismom]

I'm off to Midland Texas...going to see my niece in the Nutcracker.

I'll be home Monday! I may check in, my brother has high speed internet!

[g'nad]

Have safe trip and a great time, 2JM!...

[Lil'freeper]

my missus, however, has much to learn about organization and housekeeping

That's because she's not military (right? I'm guessing) and hasn't had the basic training housekeeping experience. My Army-fied hubby says much the same about our household. I will never get the hang of folding towels that way!

[Lil'freeper]

Be safe! Have fun!

[Overtaxed]

I'm off to Midland Texas

Dang! And I'm about ready to record Inion Ni Scannlain for ya.

Have a good (and safe) trip.

[g'nad]

No, the missus ain't military... but I could care less about how the towels are folded, and I don't expect a white glove clean house... little things like, when your done using somethin' put it away... a place for everything and everything in it's place... clean as you go, don't let things pile up so that you're overwhelmed at the end of the day...if you haven't touched it or needed it in a year, get rid of it...knickknacks are trash, a muisance...

I ain't complainin' though... she's a much better human being with far more redeeming qualities than I...

[Lil'freeper]

Sounds like she and I would get along well! This is why they have 'wives clubs'!

[g'nad]

she sure is popular... I don't know a single person that doesn't like her... cain't say the same fer me...

[HairOfTheDog]

Goodness! - Have a good weekend!

[ican'tbelieveit]

I have to agree with what you have said. I am a single parent, and have been homeschooling for all but 2 of my kids school year lives.

They have both finished another "year" of schoolwork in the last month, and are moving into their next grades. They move at their own pace. I also have some very strict housekeeping rules for them. If they want free time/play time/socialization time, they will do their chores.

So the day goes like this: get up, get dressed, have breakfast, do schoolwork. The really incredible thing about homeschooling, they can get their daily work finished in a couple of hours.

Both of them LOVE playing online games with people from around the world. So they make sure that chores are finished, and I have reviewed their schoolwork for the day, and they can play. They don't meet those goals, they don't play.

For me, my mom never cleaned much for me when I was growing up. We were all very busy with the family business, so we all did things around the house. I have taken that on with my own kids. My children started washing dishes with me when they were 3. They started actively helping me cook around 5. They now can cook better than me, and actively seek new recipes, etc. They also know how to do laundry.

Anyway, the point I am getting at, is I feel too much is laid on mom and dad to do around the household. We want our kids to be "happy" and have their lives fulfilled, but I think we aren't teaching them enough survival skills if we don't actively engage them in helping out around the house.

I watched my SIL do every single chore around the house because she was a stay at home mom. Her kids never lifted a finger. Unfortunately, she passed away from cancer a few years ago, and that household was unable to function because no one knew how to do anything, and were unwilling to do anything. I heard my niece actually tell my brother, her dad, that she didn't have to do housecleaning, because she was not his slave. My poor kids were standing there, their jaws on the floor. Never would they talk to me like that or suggest that helping out around the house is slavery.

[g'nad]

Hey OT... gonna liquify any animal flesh today?

[HairOfTheDog]

How sweet! = Good morning g'nad...

The wimmin round the hobbit hole just aren't neatnicks eh? I clean when it needs it, but I have a friend who is one of the "white glove" kind of people, no shoes in the house, no pets. She makes a face when she comes over. She doesn't think I notice, but I do!

[g'nad]

I normally kick my shoes off when I come in the house... habit from years in the Orient (can I use that term anymore?...) the country and in the Marines... no tellin' what I may have stepped in...

as fer yer friend, she's the kinda gal I'd serve food to, let the dog lick the plate clean and then in full view of her, put the plate back in the cupboard... that'll learn her....

[Overtaxed]

Hey OT... gonna liquify any animal flesh today?

Nahh....did that yesterday. I'm waiting for our ventilation system to be repaired so I can evaporate 'em down on the 'still.

[g'nad]

...so I can evaporate 'em down on the 'still...

kewl...

[HairOfTheDog]

HA! - The first thing I do when I come in the house is kick my shoes off too! - for comfort! - I am a barefoot gal. And my mud boots for the barn sit right by the door.

But what is irritating at her house is when during the summer even, being at her house for a barbeque outside and having to stop and take my shoes off to go to the bathroom, then put them back on, only to repeat it 30 minutes later when we are drinkin beer!