The Hall of Fire

Faramond said: Take this from a different perspective. Make it about Frodo, instead of Gollum. Sam never really considers Frodo's point of view on Gollum. For all that Sam admires the wisdom of Frodo, he never asks the question, "Could I be wrong about Gollum, and Frodo correct?" Do he ev...

So very pleased you have come to join the party, Griff! I'm not eleventy-one today, but I am, on this very day, turning sixty-seven. :shock: Now then: Griff wrote: My first few readings of LOTR, I didn't really care for Sam as a character. Of course, I was only a child, and what Sam was went right o...

Sass, I have written extensively in the past about that letter about Sam, and particularly how Tolkien expressed so well feelings that I long had about Sam before I ever read Tolkien's Letters, or discussed Tolkien with anyone, or read any scholarly works about Tolkien's writings. I firmly believe ...

What a wonderful post, Faramond . Quite lovely. And yours too, Tosh. :love: Thank you. I read your post, Faramond, and decide that I shan't post the one I've been working on all afternoon after all ..... but that's silly. I came back for this. ********************* What Tolkien thought about Sam. I ...

Been ruminating. Elephants ruminate, don't they? Well, they should. :scratch: On second thought though, this be a problem with my retention and this is how it goes. Posts are in laid out in an orderly fashion and like everyone else I read consecutively. And I'm always having these little “aha!” mome...

Belated hello and hug for Sunny and Rowenberry ! :hug: Just a heads-up.....I've changed a lot of my thoughts about the concept of the "Long Defeat".....you know, just to be difficult Athrabeth , quite contrary! Heh. Ahem: “relentless hopelessness” We, rather vison and Prim, seem to have gr...

Prim said: “Sam sees things as they are  He doesn't have some ideal in his head of how things ought to be, and so even when the worst happens, when Frodo as he thinks dies, we don't see it knock him down for long. He doesn't  spend his strength railing against what is and ought not to be if the uni...

Ah me, how do I begin to express my reactions on reading your lovely replies to my post? It was an emotional one, wasn't it? To merely write“Thank you all” sounds so perfunctory and so damned inadequate but I don't know how else to say how touched I am. :hug: Thank you, then; and here let me say tha...

By way of explanation: (Here’s hoping this will not turn out to be too self-indulgent although I must confess to having doubts) I was diagnosed several months ago with terminal lung cancer and I’m told my time is limited. There is no reason to disbelieve my oncologist plus there is, besides, the ind...

I mean come on. You have a guy that makes more than the Marlins, yet can't bat .200 when it means anything. Humpf. 2005 ALDS .133 BA, .381 OBP, .200 SLG 2006 ALDS .071 BA, .07 OBP, 071 SLG --- Ouch! 2007 ALDS .267 BA, 353 OBP, 467 SLG Not good, I agree; but you know what? we don't make the postseas...

Holby, the entire article is a tongue-in-cheek. It amused me, I thought it might amuse you, too. Meanwhile, on SoSH, Rob Neyer predicts the Yanks to take the division and the Sox to miss. Rob, I noticed your prediction that Boston will miss the playoffs this season. Are you predicting a significant ...

Yes, Torre does preach patient at-bats so the opposing pitcher is forced to throw more with the result that he wears down and either throws mistakes up in the zone and/or reaches his pitch count earlier than intended. The Yankees are famous for wearing down pitchers. It doesn't always work, of cours...

I'm listening to the Tigers/WSox game .... WS 13- Tigers 2 in the 9th :shock: 5 dp's turned by the Sox! Do you know the odds of an 0-6 starting team making the playoffs? Very slim. And 0-7 has never happened. Still, I do hope they manage to win a couple against the Red Sox; although with their abysm...

A few minor observations and rants: Johnny Damon has morphed into Juan Pierre :x What's the point of being a lead-off hitter if you can't get on base? {.111 BA, 0 HR, 0 RBI.} Theo looks like a genius here in not re-upping his contract. Cashman looks, well, short-sighted, if not foolish. Additional b...

As unhappy as I am about our start this year (I think I've said the exact same thing for the past ten years :D) and as happy as I am about the Red Sox start =:) Don't ever count either team out. We both always find ways to win. I (boldly) predict that the Yanks will take the division and the Sox wil...

What Ath said.

Griff! :hug: Yah. I'll be here all season long. Btw, kudos to Torre for benching Pierre. :D I've been paying more attention to LAD and I am very impressed by Loney. I know it's a SSS but he's made some pretty plays in the field. Alas, poor Voronwë , your Giants are the epitome of suckitude this yea...

Now here's a topic that sparks my interest ..... Honestly, I don't know how many times I've read LotR .... dozens at least, although I did have a period in the 80's when I don't think I picked it up at all. I think the idea of allowing the discussion to evolve organically is an excellent suggestion....

Let the games begin. And let the bugs bite the #%*$ out of Joba.

Hello Holby!

Ready for another season?

Our pitching will really be quite good this year, or haven't you heard?

Hot Stove stuff: :shock: The Johan Santana watch is over and we can all breath a sigh of relief. Yankee fans are happy. I suspect most Red Sox fans are happy. The only fans who are miserable are Twins fans. I mean, look, Santana is in the NL where, one assumes, he will dominate; and both Yanks and S...