Tuesday Open Thread: Hobbit Edition

“It is the job that is never started that takes longest to finish.”

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

J R R Tolkien

On September 21st,

- 1792, the French National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy.
- 1897, the New York Sun ran its editorial that declared, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."
- 1938, the hurricane dubbed "the Long Island Express" struck parts of New York state and New England, causing widespread damage and claiming more than 600 lives.
- 1964, Malta attained independence from the U.K.
- 1970, "NFL Monday Night Football" made its debut on ABC-TV as the Cleveland Browns defeated the visiting New York Jets 31-21.
- 1981, the Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice on the Supreme Court.
- 1982, the NFL players union began a midseason strike. The work stoppage would reduce the schedule from 16 games to nine.
- 1989, Hurricane Hugo, packing winds of up to 135 mph, made landfall in Charleston, S.C.
- 1999, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck Taichung, Taiwan, killing 2,474.

GREAT BOOKS!

'Nuff said.

What Bilbo Baggins learns in the Hobbit, among other things, is to be brave. And to fight on, even when removed from his comfortable little burrow and placed in the most trying of circumstances. It's not long into the book when he is captured by trolls. He is about to be devoured but the trolls get to arguing and wouldn't you know it, the sun comes up and they turn to stone, allowing Bilbo and his friends to escape.

Tolkien wrote the story for a reason. You know, it only got more dangerous and scary for Bilbo on his adventure. But going out there enriched him, made him wise, and made him strong. We too should not be afraid to go out there and get organized, join a canvassing effort for our neighborhoods, and talk to the folks we might know that still think Obama stands for Main Street and not Mordor.

Obama would probably get a different perspective on the books, like its better to stay in your hole, chill out, let the gaffer do all the work while He sits at home smoking good Shire "leaf"

I walked a lot and all I got was this lousy ring……. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmuT8UeTk4s

go ahead-get mad…admit it it is funny:)

" Chapter 1

An Unexpected Party

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. "

………So begins the Great Adventure so simple children love it, so profound scholars debate it………….

Not only have I read the book but also does anyone remember the animated movie the Hobbit? I do and it was poorly done.

Russia to cut 100,000 bureaucrats: http://news.ph.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-d...

Comon, we can't let the Ruskies have all the fun! Let's top them and cut 1 million.
USA!USA!USA!

I've heard you speak of that day and your circumstance pix,,, HE was especially great for YOU.
.

What are you doing here so early, huumm? Trying to rack up extra points, I assume?;-D

Mornin' Famous….. My, my you do have a competitive streak, don't you?

Have a nice day!
.

…..I decided that to catch you, I got to give up sleep, sex, scotch and cigars – I hope you're worth it !….

….and "Fritz the Cat"……!

I do not know what a hobbit is, nor does it look like I will care.
Are they like Tele-tubbies, or Barney the Purple Dinosaur?

That would be Gollum.

Great books!

Perhaps if Barney boinked a Tella-tubbie?

Good morning everyone.

I wonder what a trillion or 2 would buy?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39271495

Here we go again. Fire up those presses.

I'm with ya CB, I didn't read those books either.

o'kay then, enjoy your high Dr…..
.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yFBapNOGEw

Funny Markowski video @ the tube

"It was a dark and stormy night…"

This is true. I went to a funeral at a Congregational Church. I had never met or even seen the departed. Instead of the Bible, the pastor did readings from Lord of The Rings and the Hobbit. You know how silly sounding the names are in the Hobbit, so when he started quoting characters, I burst out laughing. Did I mention I was in the center front row. I had to cover my face with tissues and act like I was overcome.

Let's not forget the reason he was able to be brave was his thoughts of home, although that played a stronger role for the hobbits in LOTR. Knowing that their home was secure was enough to get them through some pretty scary places.

My sister had me read the books before allowing me to go to the movies with her to see them. She's a huge Tolkien nerd who didn't appreciate the fact that while I loved Tolkien's story, I was kind of annoyed by his writing style. (I was stuck for months on the Council of Elrond.) I need to go back and give the books another shot when I've got time.

If it weren't for Tolkien's paving the way for "little people" to be accepted by society, Tom Cruise would not have had an acting career.

Open thread means post whatever, right? OK. Would have been better yesterday with the open thread-tea party but whatever. Here goes. Know what the tea party reminds me of? The airborne drop into France on D-Day. The Germans had no idea how to respond. We were everywhere and nowhere. No supply lines, no bases, just a whole heck of a lot of people you did NOT want to pock with. Like the tea party today. Obama and Co. are now saying 'the tea party has no plan blah blah blah.' Well with no real leaders or any sort of hierarchy it is not surprising a clear platform has not emerged. Well, I've been thinking about it a bit, and I thought I'd throw my thoughts out there, see what you guys think. here goes: Repeal Obamacare. Dissolve the Federal Reserve. End the Great Ponzi Scheme known as Social Security. Reduce the EPA to research-only levels and make them go through Congress if they want to do something. Like anything. Now we are gonna pick up our axe and go have a talk with the following departments: Commerce, Education, Homeland Security, and Energy. Bye bye. There are way more departments to axe but that will do to start. Taxes. Strangely enough, no one knows exactly how many pages long the tax code is. Lets be conservative (har har) and say it is 7000 ages long. We can reduce that by about 6994 pages. Institute a flat tax at 11% for EVERYONE. Good, now we can reduce the IRS by 90%. Whats left of the IRS can start by auditing everyone who receives federal pay starting with the President, Congress, administration officials, down the line to all federal workers (more on taxes below). Encourage all lawyers to emigrate to Cuba (just kidding. well, kinda) Military. Now we will exchange our axe for a scalpel and make our military lean and mean. Get rid of the overabundance of pogue REMF desk sitters and bean counters. More teeth, less tail. We have over 700 bases worldwide in over 100 countries. 90% of our fighting men and women will be coming home. Re-open mothballed military bases. That means they will be spending their money HERE instead of THERE. With such a massive infusion of money into the economy, that will mean JOBS (out the ying-yang). Good. Now that our guys and gals are back home, patrol the border. No, excuse me. CLOSE the border. Tanks, infantry, helicopters, the whole can. Illegally entering this country is an act of war. Aim for center of mass. Sheriffs nationwide deputize Military Police units to aid in arresting all illegals (I was going to say send infantry to back up the MPs but the MPs actually have some SERIOUS firepower, more than they will ever need). Transfer illegals to the border. Have them build a wall. Pay them a one-time worker fee. Deport them after taking fingerprints and DNA. If you are caught in America again, you are going to a penal work camp for a loooong time. Put Sheriff Joe Arppiao in charge of the camp. Repeal the 14th and 17th Amendments. OK, good start. We just seriously reduced federal spending. Whew, I need a smoke. OK back. Next? Keep current tax rates for 2 years. With the drop in expenditures, the tax revenue should eliminate the national debt (actually I have no idea but it sounds good, amirite? Too lazy to crunch the numbers). Put our currency on the silver standard. Demand Congress pass a law that makes it illegal to spend more than we have (no deficits). Require all new legislation to cite its constitutionality.Then go to the flat tax (see above). Also eliminate the federal fees on your landline, cell phone, utility bill, and the other hundred fees we don't even notice. Eliminate the capital gains tax.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Thanks for that.

Well, see, they did a study (it only cost 5 gajillion taxpayer dollars), the result of which showed that all upper-case letters made some people uncomfortable, like all caps was too in their face, and camel code was the was to go to be more sennnnsitive. Fast forward 6 or 7 years from now, there will be another study (and another 5 gajillion dollars) showing that camel code was discriminatory to all the letters besides the first one, and we will need to switch to all lower-case. /chuckle

This is probably O's idea of stimulus. Let the cities accross the nation tax everyone to pay for an unfunded mandate and then say you put a few sign makers to work. OR – maybe it's as simple as good old corruption. You know, the sign makers or suppliers donated a bunch to the Dems.

By the time Rankin Bass came out with the Television Special of the Hobbit, I was already deep in the world of The Shire and Middle Earth. I ran across The Hobbit in a department store, in a bookrack that was selling books at a reduced rate. I was looking for something that would continue my love of fairy tales, as I had devoured my Dad's copy of the Blue Fairy Book and all the children's books that were out in the 70s were boring, pedantic, condescending and simpleminded. I just didnt know that I wanted adventure and romance and fantasy until I stumbled upon The Hobbit and I read it 16 times in one week, so taken was I by Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf and the quest for treasure. Rankin Bass' production was indeed cheesy but for a 10 yr old little girl who wanted to more than cutesy little tales of horsies and the burgeoning writings of grrrlpwr! "literature", it was a dream come true to see my favorite story being told in the public sector. I wanted EVERYONE to fall in love with it the way I did.

Unfortunately, I remained a true Hobbit Freak for a long time before all of that happened. Now Hobbit Fans think they are so unique, but I remember being outcast because I craved more of what Tolkien offered in his "unconscious fairy tale". I was abnormal because I loved the underlying themes of bravery and courage and pain and growth and tragedy. I wanted a classical education while all others were happy with post-modernism.

"It was a pleasure to burn…" (to be honest, I found Stranger in a Strange Land one of Heinlein's hardest to read books.. even with the fantastic opening.)

NB: The Hobbit was written before WWII, and is much less dark and threatening than the post-war Lord of the Rings.

I agree with you 100% but here is what I mean. This is a quote from Pres. Obama via NYT:
“The challenge for the Tea Party movement is to identify specifically: What would you do?” the president said. “It’s not enough to say get control of spending. I think it’s important for you to say, ‘I’m willing to cut veterans benefits, or I’m willing to cut Medicare or Social Security, or I’m willing to see taxes go up.’ ”

off topic: i just read this on another page 'if the us government was put in charge of the Sahara desert, in 5 years there would be a shortage of sand.' It was said by some economist, i wish i could find it again to give him credit.

"What a lot of things you do use Good morning for!" said Gandalf. "Now you mean that you want to get rid of me, and that it won't be good till I move off."

"Not at all, not at all, my dear sir! Let me see, I don't think I know your name?"

"Yes, yes, my dear sir – and I do know your name, Mr. Bilbo Baggins. And you do know my name, though you don't remember that I belong to it. I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me! To think that I should have lived to be good-morninged by Belladonna Took's son, as if I was selling buttons at the door!"

"Gandalf, Gandalf! Good gracious me! Not the wandering wizard that gave Old Took a pair of magic diamond studs that fastened themselves and never came undone till ordered? Not the fellow who used to tell such wonderful tales at parties, about dragons and goblins and giants and the rescue of princesses and the unexpected luck of widows' son? Not the man that used to make such particularly excellent fireworks! I remember those! Old Took used to have them on Midsummer's Eve. Splendid! They used to go up like great lilies and snapdragons and laburnums of fire and hang in the twilight all evening!" You will notice already that Mr. Baggins was not quite so prossy as he liked to believe, also that he was very fond of flowers. "Dear me!" he went on. "Not the Gandalf who was responsible for so many quiet lads and lasses going off into the Blue for mad adventures? Anything from climbing trees to visiting elves – or sailing in ships, sailing to other shores! Bless me, life used to be quite inter – I mean, you used to upset things badly in these parts once upon a time. I beg your pardon, but I had no idea you were still in business."

"Where else should I be?" said the wizard. "All the same I am pleased to find you remember something about me. You seem to remember my fireworks kindly, at any rate, and that is not without hope. Indeed for your old grandfather Took's sake, and for the sake of poor Belladonna, I will give you what you asked for."

"I beg your pardon, I haven't asked for anything!"

"Yes, you have! Twice now. My pardon. I give it to you. In fact I will go so far as to send you on this adventure. Very amusing for me, very good for you – and profitable too, very likely, if you ever get over it."

"Sorry! I don't want any adventures, thank you. Not today. Good morning! But please come to tea – any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Come tomorrow! Good bye!" With that the hobbit turned and scuttled inside his round green door, and shut it as quickly as he dared, not to seem rude. Wizards after all are wizards.

- John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, An Unexpected Party, The Hobbit, Or There And Back Again

Its a "Creation Myth". Look at it as the "Bible" of Middle Earth. I too had a hard time when I first read it. But years later I went back and slowly read the book and found it absolutely amazing. If you read the Book of Lost Tales first, it helps make sense of the Silarillion

"I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, since they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. They are (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large and stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off. They are inclined to be fat in the stomach; they dress in bright colours (chiefly green and yellow); wear no shoes, because their feet grow natural leathery soles and thick warm brown hair like the stuff on their heads (which is curly); have long clever brown fingers, good-natured faces, and laugh deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner, which they have twice a day when they can get it). Now you know enough to go on with."

- John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, An Unexpected Party, The Hobbit, Or There And Back Again

Cowboy,
Hobbits in Tolkiens book represent ordinary people, people of no particular standing or expectation in the world who, by being willing to step outside of their comfort zone and do the right thing, change the course of history.

A very apropos read in times such as this.

Very very true, my Texan born Corn Goddess

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk about determination BAHAHHAHAHAHA

Ohh ye suffering gawds…"Hand Over Fist" and the ever popular "the loc nar's mine, you b!tch"

The things one never forgets (but probably should) LOL

….Much better answer than mine, Bee, much, much better…. ; )

Bad me, I also forgot Bennett.

UNCG…yeah, the parties were epic LOL I never was enrolled there, but "went" there, if you get the distinction ; ) However, I did go there for all my exams and certs when I discovered what the word "responsibility" truly meant <snort>

Nice to "meet" you, fellow LogansRun fan are you still in NC?

I dare say that new fans (because of the movies) may not understand the depth and long memory of Mr. Tolkien in his writings. Although written for children as it were, The Hobbit delves very deeply into the history and lore of Middle Earth. This book truly exceptional.

Ah, the Hobbit. Excellent book. I love Tolkien's Middle Earth universe. Great books, The Silmarillion, Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings. My absolute favorite works of fiction ever.

And another, vertically challenged, is the leader over in North Korea!!!

Nope, not worth giving up the simple pleasures in life especially during the current economic situation!!

Yes ,it was funny.

Sounds like it! The Middle Earth Tea Party!

….You Win, Rabbi…!…. ; )