The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads!

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Journey to the Cross-roads
The Two Towers Edition

Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)

Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.

[HairOfTheDog]

Does he? - Is he up there?

It wasn't a huge room... and it had four exits. I guess everyone headed for the front door anyway. Habit I guess.... they came in that way.

[Corin Stormhands]

There are prolly others I coulda/shoulda pinged, but I gots another computer question...

Jrs doctor is recommending we provide him with a laptop for school work. Since he believes, as we do, that Jr. is dysgraphic (trouble getting what's in his head onto the paper), we're in agreement.

We had talked about a Mac because of the film editing he wants to do, but most of the educational software and stuff he will need is prolly IBM based. Jr. also wants a CD burner.

HELP! What do we look for? (and can we get it for $17.00?...seriesly tho, we need to consider cost...)

[Overtaxed]

Good Morning!

I could have gone all day without hearing that story. :)

[Corin Stormhands]

"Your friends can come but they can't bring their parents."

I was thinking "You go with them. I'll see it by myself."

[Corin Stormhands]

I could have gone all day without hearing that story.

We dwarves provide a valuable service.

[RosieCotton]

Hey, did you guys get the email about National Crap Editing Month?

The one about spending March rewriting our novels, you mean?

Nooooo!! Run, run away!

[RosieCotton]

Hey, me too. I remember going to the library every couple weeks to get a new stack of them.

The old brown cover ones are the best...not at all PC, but the best.

[Overtaxed]

Good Morning, Rosie!

Maybe I could turn it into comedy crap.

[RosieCotton]

These copies I have are exact replicas of the 1920s versions...even the typos and commercial ads in the back are included! Very interesting reading at times. Just the vernacular is so strange! They are put out by Applewood books and the boys just love them.

Whoa! I hadn't heard they redid these! Do you have a link to where you got them? I've never seen them here...

Mom read pretty much alll of those books to us when we were little. Did all the voices and everything. ;-) You're creating some wonderful memories for your boys.

[HairOfTheDog]

Ramius probably has your answer.... when he gets up two or three hours from now!

[HairOfTheDog]

"You go with them. I'll see it by myself."

Oh well that works too!

[RosieCotton]

Been having some Photoshop fun tonight. Here is my latest creation. This is definitely "Stinker"!

Scary!

[HairOfTheDog]

Nice job on that ecurbh! Poor Smeagol...

[RosieCotton]

I know I end up sounding like a shill...but I like Dell. They've got some pretty inexpensive laptops with a CD burner and all that - right around the $1000 mark, as I remember, which isn't bad for a laptop. You might even be able to get an educational discount, I'm not sure.

[HairOfTheDog]

hmmm.... Does it need to be a laptop so he can actually take it the good one to school? I have an old laptop that is worth nothing would be good for just taking notes... (outdated laptops are a dime a dozen) Then you could spend the real money on a nice desktop computer for him to do his film stuff on.

It is my prejudice really. I can't stand doing real work on laptops, cuz the keyboard-mouse ergonomics sucks, and the screen resolution and size on a laptop wouldn't be as good for the film stuff.

How about that for an idea?

[Corin Stormhands]

Actually, that would work for mom and I, but I'm not sure the practicality of doing that for him. It would seem the best graphics/film option would be a Mac, but the best laptop would be IBM.

But you're right. I should get Mom a cheapo laptop for school. She just needs it for word processing.

[300winmag]

If you hit the lottery, you could afford the Class III License to have a real M-60... but I'd take the M-240G... it's what we're usin' these days... a much better vehicular mounted weapon...

This is Michigan. The state won't let the BATF issue a tax stamp unless you're a LEO, or have very important friends in Lansing. The state law regarding this is word-for-word identical with that of Ohio, which allows NFA items with no hassle. Laws in both states are based on model laws drawn up in the 1930s, but 48 years of RAT attorneys general have decreed the law means what they want it to mean, and not what the words say.

I'd get a Class III license, but a friend had one, and he was among the 90% of FFL holders put out of business during the klinton regime. So I would guess my chances of getting one is somewhere between slim and none.

Hair, I haven't seen an Army recruiter Hummer, and this one was travelling down a cross street, and I never got too close to it.

[HairOfTheDog]

Who all is in Texas? - Don't remember now!

Sean Astin At Texas A&M Saturday
Xoanon @ 11:35 pm EST

From: robogeek.com

Actor-director SEAN ASTIN has been confirmed as Guest of Honor for this year's 10th Anniversary Texas Film Festival, which is currently taking place this week at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Thanks to some truly heroic schedule-juggling on his part, Sean will present his acclaimed short film "The Long and Short of It" (which recently premiered at Sundance) at noon this Sat., Feb. 20, in Rudder Theatre on the Texas A&M campus. In addition, Sean will discuss highlights of his career (accompanied by a retrospective of clips), and participate in a Q&A.

Tickets are only $6, and are on sale now at the Rudder Theater Box Office (11am-8pm) in person or by phone -- 979-845-1234 or toll-free at 888-890-5667.

For more information on the Texas Film Festival, click here. [More]

[ksen]

I've seen the commercials for Gods and Generals, but isn't it from Ted Turner? I wonder if it will just be another one of those movies about the EVIIIIIILLLLL southerners.

[300winmag]

I know I end up sounding like a shill...but I like Dell. They've got some pretty inexpensive laptops with a CD burner and all that - right around the $1000 mark, as I remember, which isn't bad for a laptop. You might even be able to get an educational discount, I'm not sure.

I'd recommend Dell, IBM, or Toshiba. If you go with Dell, stop by ther web site, and look at refurbished Lattitudes (their commercial product line). The IBM site has similar deals. Don't know about Toshiba. I've worked on all three brands, and like them, although some models are better than others.

Another thing to check are the big online dealers, like CDW and Tiger Direct. Look for a just-discontinued line of laptop that they're blowing out. Laptops are built in smaller quantities than desktops, and are constantly being replaced by newer models. They're always eager to get rid of the older models.

As far as a CD burner goes, consider an external USB burner, which can be shared among PCs in the house.

There's enough movie-making software for PCs that I'd stay away from a Mac unless and until he absolutely has to use one.