I’m blown away as well. When I heard the Crue discuss it, I thot, “Hmmm, that’s weird.” But now all these folks expressing the same testimony. puzzled
You’re weird.
I keed. I keed.
Is his writing style all that different between ‘the Hobbit’ and LOTR? That may have something to do with it, or it could be that some people simply don’t connect well with Bilbo. And find the characters in the later books more interesting and easier to empathize with.
When I was younger I read the Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring multiple times, but always got stuck when I read The Two Towers. I’ve since been able to make my way through the whole series a few times.
There’s a huge difference in style between The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit is far more of a kids books, things are almost silly in places. There is no overarching sense of danger or the world ending, and the voice of the author is a lot different. The book grew out of the stories Tolkien was telling his kids as bedtime stories.
Most people I’ve talked to (before here) said the Hobbit was a lot easier to read than LotR. Particularly the parts in the first half of The Fellowship like the Chapters Shadows of the Past and The Council of Elrond. I actually remember one person having recounted he was told that some teachers or booksellers would tell people to skip that chapter because they found it too boring.
Of course, the vast majority of people feel that the Silmarillion is the book they simply can’t finish. The most common complaint there is that they say it reads like the Old Testament.
I was able to get through the Old Testament. There’s more sex in it. 
I didn’t read any Tolkien until my 20’s and I read The Silmarillion first, big mistake, it took me a long time to get through it. The Hobbit and the LOTR were a piece of cake after reading that.
Hah! That’s it exactly. I bought it when it came out, and I remember sitting on the beach trying to read it and being utterly bewildered.
OK a few things…
As far as The Hobbit - I read that book first and thought it really easy. Loved it. Granted I was maybe 8 when I did.
The Martian Chronicles - Man I loved that book. Hated the mini. It’s a lot like How The West Was Won.
Stranger In A Strange Land - I would love to see that adapted to a film. If close to the book it would be NC-17. The one stumbling block is that Heinlein estate is somewhat reluctant to turn over film rights. Kubrick had considered it, but did A Clockwork Orange instead, after the collapse of his film on Napoleon.
Another person who found LOTR hard to read!
Harked image from ICanHasCheezeburger but changed the caption. 
I’m w/ you Talos. I, like Sean, saw the animated 1970s The Hobbit in the 80s. I, unlike Sean, was 4 years old. I LOVED IT SO MUCH. We wore out that VHS.
So I read The Hobbit in 5th grade because I couldn’t wait to read what I had seen 1001 times. Perhaps it would have been too hard to slog through otherwise.
Personally, my hurdle was Tom Bombadil. When I went to FotR in 6th grade, I had to skip parts of his chapters. The Two Towers was also difficult because it was all the crappy human parts of the story. I didn’t appreciate Faramir or Rohan yet at that age.
Bilbo isn’t anywhere near as likeable as Frodo. Not enjoying adventures? Constantly whining? And to make things worse, Thorin Oakenshield was a total pratt for 60% of the book. Just enough to not want to hear him talk, but the 40% heroism was also enough that I loved him, too. I think you’ve hit on the real issue that people have with The Hobbit–the main characters are more complex from the beginning and somehow less compelling.
hahahaha
My little Orange Sith (totally stole that from GwensDad) kitty assumes that position every night while I read before bed.
“O hai. U has a book? Perfect! I helps you read it thru mah butt!”
Uncharacteristically douchey review of EyePhone Futurama ep at io9:
“It was jarring enough to hear Zapp Brannigan talk about CSI: Miami last week, but it strains credulity well past the breaking point to have our heroes in the year 3010 precisely reenact the tech trends of a millennium ago.”
The writer’s got to be kidding, right?
I had 2 cats that were attracted by any book I was trying to read. One would come at me from behind the book and pull it down so he could see me and the other from the front over my shoulder. Chin rubbing session would commence on the book corners until one would be laying on the book.
Works the same with an iphone.
Fun fact! Kitteh pads work with a touch interface!
Yeah, I’ve seen several movies of Kittehz and iPad fun. Figured it works the same for the iPhones.
Futurama done LEGO style, a really cool geek acheivement. Click the link to see the full gallery-
Hey killerchris, welcome to the forum (or welcome as a new poster anyway!). Futurama may be a little too edgy for young kids. But maybe when your little brother is about 16 he can re-discover the joys of the series. 
Loving the new Futurama, the tv movies were all right and certainly would not be without them but as mentioned by others the shorter format suits this style of animated story telling.
I was a youngster when Martian Chronicles was aired the first time (maybe the only time) in the UK and it was one of the earliest memories of actually crying over something traumatic on the telly. Even to this day unless it’s done cheesy (Dark Star) or over the top (Star Wars I’m looking at you) the death of worlds is still a powerful tool.
I didn’t watch Futurama during its intial run, or in re-runs, or on DVD…point is, I’ve seen it here and there but never actually watched it. Anywho, since it’s on Netflix Instant Watch I just connected up, sat back, and started plowing through the series.
I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard in my life at a show. Oh and BTW with this unique perspective I find myself saying, “Chuck/Audra/Sean says that all the time!!” Nnnooooowwwww I get the jokes. giggle
I’m in the same boat, I tend to watch random episodes so I’m never seen them from start to finish.