Hobbit

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , has split the critics, creating a gulf as vast as the one separating Bilbo Baggins and Gollum. Such criticism could be expected from a movie that kicks off a trilogy -- yet is drawn from a novel that ran all of about 330 pages . So there's a bit of a slow wind-up here, something that has enraged a number of critics who wanted more action from a J.R.R. Tolkien adaptation. Here are exceprt from some movie reviews: -- Tribune: Extracting three generously proportioned films from Tolkien's books made sense.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , has split the critics, creating a gulf as vast as the one separating Bilbo Baggins and Gollum. Such criticism could be expected from a movie that kicks off a trilogy -- yet is drawn from a novel that ran all of about 330 pages . So there's a bit of a slow wind-up here, something that has enraged a number of critics who wanted more action from a J.R.R. Tolkien adaptation. Here are exceprt from some movie reviews: -- Tribune: Extracting three generously proportioned films from Tolkien's books made sense.

It was annoying enough to purists when Harry Potter and Twilight books were split into two movies -- a blatant attempt to squeeze more money out of rabid fans -- but now we learn that "The Hobbit" is going to be carved into three movies. If you do the math, that means director Peter Jackson will make a movie for each 90 pages of Tokien's book. And I'm guesssing that each movie will be epic-length, so we're probably in for seven-plus hours of screen time. That's more than enough time to read the book at least twice.

It was annoying enough to purists when Harry Potter and Twilight books were split into two movies -- a blatant attempt to squeeze more money out of rabid fans -- but now we learn that "The Hobbit" is going to be carved into three movies. If you do the math, that means director Peter Jackson will make a movie for each 90 pages of Tokien's book. And I'm guesssing that each movie will be epic-length, so we're probably in for seven-plus hours of screen time. That's more than enough time to read the book at least twice.

Hobbit's Glen Golf Club completed an emotional six-round run when it defeated Crofton CC, 12 1/2 -5 1/2 , for the 65th annual team-match championship of the Maryland State Golf Association yesterday. Not only was it the first title for the Columbia club, but it only had been as far as the fourth round once before.The winners used a pair of 3-0 wins at home, sparked by the play of the two youngest members of the 12-man squad, to build 7 1/2 -1 1/2 margin. Hobbit's won two of the three pairings at Crofton for a 5-4 edge.

I thought I had beheld every panaromic view of the bay. Then I discovered the Hobbit.The restaurant affords a sweeping view of the water and adjacent wetlands from its spacious dining room. Visitors are given the illusion of seclusion. But you'll soon realize you're sharing this view with dozens of other diners.We had heard wonderful things about the Hobbit, particularly about the rich sauces that accentuate the seafood and other dishes.Ever money-conscious, we arrived early to take advantage of at least one of the restaurant's early-bird specials (to complement, of course, a regular-priced dinner entree)

It seemed appropriate that Perky Cullinane, who has played on every Columbia Country Club side since 1950, would have a part in earning the clinching points, as Columbia won the 69th annual team match championship of the Maryland State Golf Association yesterday.The Chevy Chase club defeated Hobbit's Glen Golf Club, 10 1/2 -7 1/2 . The Baltimore division club, which won the title last year when it was placed in the Washington half of the draw, thus missed a chance to be the only team to win successive titles representing a different geographical division each time.

Hobbit's Glen Golf Club scored its second major upset of the Maryland State Golf Association team matches yesterday and stormed into the championship round. It will play Crofton CC for the title today.The Howard County club won the Washington-area title with a 12-6 victory over defending and multi-times champion Columbia CC. Hobbit's had previously put out another former champion, Congressional CC.Crofton dispatched Chantilly Manor, a losing Baltimore-area finalist for the second straight year, piling up near-identical margins at home and away in winning 14 1/2 -3 1/2 .The No. 1 pairing of professional Mark Spolarich and amateur Gary Carpenter set the tone for Crofton, shooting 4-under 67 for the round in taking 2 1/2 points from Chantilly Manor professional Mike Versuk and amateur Jim DeBusk, who shot 68.The Crofton team was 2 down on the back, but won the 16th and 17th holes to get a half for that nine.

THE HOBBIT," J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy adventure story, opens on stage Friday for six performances at Northminster Presbyterian Church Hall, 705 Main St., Reisterstown.Not only are the characters dwarfs and elves and unusual beasts, but each character is a puppet, operated by a puppeteer teamed with another offstage who supplies its voice."We're doing the traditional story of 'The Hobbit' with a variety of live-hand, hand-and-rod and simple-rod puppets," said Beth Phelps, a professional costumer who directs the nearly 40 puppets in the show."

SPRING IS sprung, the grass is riz, and some of Hobbit's Glen's golfers is. Apologies to whoever wrote that enduring piece of seasonal doggerel for unauthorized modification No. 132,916, but what those golfers is, is teed off about the condition of the Columbia golf course's greens. Not all are, probably. But some are, for sure. At least, a few are. Maybe a couple are. Yet again, maybe many are but just choose to perfect their bumpy-green putting techniques instead of pitching the press.

As a resident of Columbia for 42 years and of Hobbit's Glen for 19 years, I would like to thank Jervis Dorton for his letter regarding planned changes to the Hobbit's Glen clubhouse . He speaks for me and many of my neighbors in Hobbit's Glen who frequent the Coho Grill and who believe that the clubhouse, as originally conceived, is a perfect fit with the surrounding residential community. The low-slung and rambling design of the building integrates it nicely with the ambient landscape, while the internal architecture creates the warm and friendly atmosphere that Jim Rouse believed should be inherent in the design of our public buildings.

Last week I attended Columbia Association's public meeting to hear presentations by the four finalists being considered as architects for the renovation or replacement of the Hobbit's Glen clubhouse. I found the presentations very disappointing. They focused on how good each firm is at responding to their clients' needs, on being team players, working within budgets and meeting schedules. All were cautious not to say anything that might jeopardize their chances of getting this job. Consequently, they were noncommittal and vague when asked about the style of architecture that they considered appropriate for a renovated or new clubhouse.

The Children of Hurin By J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien, illustrated by Alan Lee) Houghton Mifflin / 313 pages / $26 Almost everyone has some familiarity with J.R.R. Tolkien these days, thanks to the successful film version of The Lord of the Rings - his great three-volume epic of the Third Age of Middle Earth. Prior to the movies, those books were too thick (and too opaque) to attract a broader popular following. More were familiar with Tolkien through his children's book The Hobbit.

LOS ANGELES--When it comes to power games, some in Hollywood are beginning to learn a basic lesson of digital politics: The Internet plays rough. Such is the case with a growing spat between New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson, the A-list director of the Lord of the Rings movies and a savvy player when it comes to the power of the Web. Last week, Jackson posted a letter on a fan Web site, theonering.net, explaining that he had been dumped by New Line from The Hobbit, a movie based on the book by J.R.R.

Golf -- Hobbit's Glen and Fairway Hills golf clubs in Columbia are open. Patriot Bermuda grass, which requires fewer chemicals and less water to maintain, has been installed at Hobbit's Glen and is to be installed at Fairway Hills. Savings on maintenance will be used to improve other areas of the courses. Fairway Hills, 5100 Columbia Road, 410-730-1112; Hobbit's Glen, 11130 Willowbottom Drive, 410-715-5980, or www.colum biaassociation.org.

Researchers probing a cool cave on a tropical Indonesian island have found a bizarre branch of our family tree - an extinct hobbit-size species of human that experts are calling one of the most important discoveries in 50 years. The people on the island of Flores were a little over 3 feet tall, weighed about 55 pounds and had brains a third the size of ours - smaller than the brains of chimpanzees. But they used fire and stone tools and hunted collectively as recently as 13,000 years ago - a period when humans elsewhere were beginning to farm.

My image of the Hobbit restaurant was formed weeks before ever visited it, the day I first moved to Ocean City and my television set broke down. While the repairman worked on the TV set, I talked to a friend about restaurants I might want to visit, and said I'd heard that the Hobbit was dressier than most of the restaurants in town."

DEBATE OVER fixing shabby greens at the once-cushy Hobbit's Glen Golf Club resides now in the realm of the Columbia Park and Recreation Association's politics. Here's hoping the talk remains open and public. And for free, here are some thoughts to foster that discussion. First, fixing greens at Hobbit's Glen simply isn't, as was recently argued, a matter of spending either for swimming or golf. That kind of baloney doesn't serve anyone intelligently, be it association managers, directors, or lien- and fee-paying Columbians.

Bill Neus' seminal day of relief came recently after an inch of overnight rain. "We were out there mowing the greens," said Neus, director of maintenance at Hobbit's Glen Golf Club, which has just reopened after extensive repairs. "We couldn't have done that before. The old greens were built with native materials, and many were shaped like bowls. They held water." The old greens sprouted bumpy poa annua every spring and were laden with drainage and other problems that at times made them virtually unplayable.

When the Columbia Association was beginning its nine-month, $1.2 million renovation of Hobbit's Glen Golf Club, Mother Nature stepped in with other plans. Forty-three days of rain and muddy conditions during the fall kept the course's greens from being rebuilt on time, delaying the project by more than a month. Seeding the greens was expected to take 45 days, but the task took nearly double that because of the weather. "It rained, and then it rained, and then it kept raining, and then [Tropical Storm Isabel]