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.

[JenB]

Yes, I've read some of Elizabeth Elliot's books (Jim's widow. She married twice but still keeps his name).

[HairOfTheDog]

Not One Man More!

[ksen]

What amazed me about those missionairies was that they had rifles! I never knew that until a couple months ago. They could have defended themselves, but didn't because they knew if they did then that tribe would be closed off from hearing the Gospel.

Now THAT'S dying nobly, in my book anyway.

[JenB]

Wow...yes, it really makes you think, doesn't it?

[RMDupree]

It's such a happy spam-free hole, isn't it? *wicked grin*

I'm glad to hear that I am not alone in the forensic show audience. I know there has to be plenty of fans, since the shows remain on the air, but I am the only one in my house that likes them.

Which ones do you watch?

[RMDupree]

Thanks for the shuttle info, Ksen.

I'd love to see one launch! How exciting!

[JenB]

Sometimes my sisters and I watch those shows. We just call them "Bloody Murder Mystery" shows, I don't know any of the actual names, but they're pretty cool.

[HairOfTheDog]

I leave it on Court TV for hours at a time sometimes!

And the New Detectives? ones - I think they are on Discovery.

I like crime-sleuth stories... where they spend an hour profiling the whole case, from the scene through the trial if there is one.

[ksen]

Here is my take on the "changes" from the books to the movies. I don't remember where I read it, I think it may have been in one of JameRetief's articles, but I read somewhere that as the stories of M/E evolved and took shape that sometimes inconsistencies would be found. Tolkien, being the perfectionist that he was, would investigate the inconsistencies and come to the conclusion that there was either an "error in transmission" of the stories down through the ages, or it was a matter of character perspective.

For instance, the movie Faramir as compared to the book Faramir could be explained away by noting that the book encounter with Faramir would have been penned by Bilbo or Faramir after the events had transpired and after being able to consult with Faramir.

The movie version can be thought of as being "real-time" and told from Frodo's perspective who has no idea what the character of Faramir actually is, and would have been looking at him through the lens of his last encounter with Faramir's brother, Boromir. Later on I suspect we will see the true Faramir shine through.

Those are some thoughts I've had that I wanted to share with you.

215 HOURS TO GO!!!!!!!!

[JenB]

Interesting though, ksen!

By the way, you are a better person than I am, to be able to hold off this long.

[RMDupree]

Last night I read something about Hobbits in the Prologue of FoTR that caught my eye.

Nonetheless, ease and peace had left this people still curiously tough. They were, if it came to it, difficult to daunt or kill; and they were, perhaps, so unwearingly fond of good things not least because they could, when put to it, do without them, and could survive rough handling by grief, foe, or weather in a way that astonished those who did not know them well and looked no further than their bellies and their well-fed faces.

This explains the constant underestimating of the Hobbits' strength by other races in Middle Earth. Even the wizard Saruman with his confidence that no Hobbit could withstand the will of Sauron. Yet, the underestimation is what became their saving grace. Only Galadriel and Gandalf showed any open confidence (without surprise) in the strength of Hobbits.

Though slow to quarrel, and for sport killing nothing that lived, they were doughty at bay, and at need could still handle arms. They shot well with the bow, for they were keen-eyed and sure at the mark. Not only with bows and arrows. If any Hobbit stooped for a stone, it was well to get quickly under cover, as all trespassing beasts knew very well.

In the movie of TTT, Merry and Pippin throw rocks at Saruman's orcs during the Ents' destruction of Isengard. They have remarkable aim. We also saw this at the end of FoTR when they knocked Uruk-Hai off their feet with stones.

One of the things I love most about LoTR is that you will always find something new every time you read it. And I thought it was great for PJ to demonstrate such a small detail about Hobbits talent for rock throwing, that nobody else would have bothered with.

The same can be said for many small details that only fans of the books would notice in PJ's movie(s).

[RMDupree]

That's an excellent way to look at the changes, ksen!

Thanks for sharing it.

[ksen]

...penned by Bilbo or Faramir....

Whoops, that should be Bilbo or FRODO....

[ItsOurTimeNow]

awesome news g'nad!

Was it one of the new 4-D Ultrasound machines that GE puts out?

Those look awesome!

[RMDupree]

Forensic Files is one of my favorites! That's on Court TV, along with The System and many others. They are great.

I think TLC has a few as well. They also have those emergency room programs that are cool to watch also.

My cable provider shafted us with the Discovery channel in our area. They replaced it with HGTV. *sigh* I love The New Detectives, but cannot see it anymore.

[JenB]

And mine should have read "thought" ;-)

[HairOfTheDog]

Did you see the Emergency Room show with the guy who had the huge wicked knife in his head? Showed it on the xrays, clearly 3/4 of the way into his brain - and he was still conscious? WOW! Hold mah beer indeed!

[HairOfTheDog]

Good take ksen, and a healthy view to have when you go into your first view. I don't find the Faramir of the film to be unfair, especially after seeing it a couple times now.

[RMDupree]

Still conscious and LIVED!!!

That one was crazy!

It's really amazing to see someone survive that, and then you see someone with an injury not half as bad come in, and they don't survive. Amazing and heartbreaking.

[ksen]

Anyone seen Corin?