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.

[Corin Stormhands]

I'm sure that's a communist trait, not inherently Oriental.

[carton253]

No, the books aren't saying that... it has to do with exploits and history.

The PLO challenged the Israelis in the early 1970's. They got their butts kicked. Yet, Arafat calls this a great victory and so do the Palestinians.

Arafat told the UN in 1974 that Palestine was verdant with a thriving Arab population and culture when the Balfour Agreement was signed... and the Jews kicked out the indigenous population.

Yet, history shows the exact opposite. I'm not saying that there weren't Arabs in Palestine at the time, but to say that the area was "verdant" and "thriving" are flat out lies. Try to tell an Arab different (and I have) and they won't hear it. It's not propaganda... it's history... twisted and warped, but it's still history, and they won't be challenged on this fact. Their position is sincere yet wrong.

[ksen]

Did I ever tell you I met P.J. O'Rourke once?

I was in a tenth grade journalism class. I liked reading National Lampoon and somehow I found out that he lived one town over.

I looked him up in the phone book, and there he was! So I called and talked to him and we had him in as a guest speaker for our journalism class. I gave him a tour of the school then brought him to class when it was time and got to introduce him.

He said I was no Ed McMahon, but what do ya expect from a 16 year old? ;^)

He was very nice.

[carton253]

Les Miz (especially the book) is about God.

In Javert, you have the God of the Old Testament. Law and Judgement.

In Thenardier, you have the lack of God. He does what is right in his eyes.

In Valjean, you have the God of the New Testament. Grace and forgiveness.

That's how Hugo set it up... as if the New Testament God is different from the Old Testament one. But... that's a quibble.

But, it is interesting to see what happens to Javert when his "law and judgement" meets grace and forgiveness. He has the opposite reaction than Valjean. Valjean fell to his knees and repented and became a good man. Javert couldn't handle it and jumped from a bridge.

Miss Saigon is Madama Butterfly set in Vietnam and its aftermath. Written by the same team as Les Miz.

Ragtime is about America at the turn of the century.

[carton253]

Even though Arabs are "oriental", they are still Arab. This differs from the Chinese or Thais who are "oriental" but not Arab.

[carton253]

When I lived in Israel, I met many Arabs. I liked them. They were good people. Yet, in the market, they would lie straight to your face, cheat you and steal from you. If they got away with it, it was your fault. They saw nothing wrong with it.

Yet, they were generous, loving, and quite pleasant.

But, the books I mentioned are talking about history and exploits.

[2Jedismom]

Been mowin'

Been up since the crack of dawn, sipped coffee in the backyard, watching the chickens scratch around. Decided to surprise Steve by finishing off the lawn back there

Summer's here. I always slow down on freeping in the summer...expect me when you see me.

[Corin Stormhands]

After I saw Les Mis the first time, I read the book. It gave me a new appreciation for the musical.

I'm familiar with the settings for Miss Saigon and Ragtime. Last time we were in New York some of our group saw Ragtime on that Saturday afternoon. We opted to sight see. We have our picture at the base of the World Trade Center. Funny, at the time we thought $12.00 was too much to go to the top, so we went to the Empire State Building instead.

We saw Beauty and the Beast and Titanic on that trip.

[RMDupree]

Hello everybody!

I finally caught up at work and on the thread. Whew! What a weekend I had! Alyson's rash is doing a bit better thanks to some prescription "butt balm" the pediatrician phoned in. It actually says "butt balm" on the container! LOL! I have to provide samples of you-know-what to the lab so they can figure out what is wrong with her digestively that she doesn't stop "going". It's not helping the dipaer rash any. *sigh*

[carton253]

I didn't like Titanic, but Beauty and the Beast was phenomenal.

[2Jedismom]

Poor baby! Did you ever try the oatmeal sink sitz?

Aveeno even makes a bath powder that is heavenly for anyone...but plain old "quick cook" oatmeal works just as good and costs a lot less! "Quick cook" disintegrates in the water pretty quick.

[Corin Stormhands]

Okey-doke. (but did you like yer presents?)

[2Jedismom]

I mean the Aveeno stuff is a powder that you add to the bath water.

[2Jedismom]

Yes, esp. the very buff orpis!

[HairOfTheDog]

I Was just looking at yours, and I am not sure I ever read 'Mostly Harmless'!

[HairOfTheDog]

Where is Ruthy?

[2Jedismom]

Can you tell? I'm wearing my Suave Smart Shopper tee-shirt in those pictures. Every time I wear it, the boys are so proud! It's funny!

[HairOfTheDog]

You just called him up? - Cool!

[Corin Stormhands]

Heh, I went to sleep last night thinkin' about the Hole with these words going thru my head:

Pick a little. Talk a Little. Cheep, cheep, cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more... (from the Music Man)

[Scott from the Left Coast]

I could've used some when they kicked my butt out the door at my last job.