Article: 173458 of rec.arts.books.tolkien
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From: <<<sbjensen -aaatt- midway.uchicago -daht- edu>>> (Steuard Jensen)
Subject: Re: [I] Proposed classification system for AFT posts
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References: <7mkim9$8gv$1@lure.pipex.net> <2rlj3.739$CG3.1207@nntpserver.swip.net> <7mlars$3k8$3@lure.pipex.net> <378E7974.2AC9A020@erols.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 04:25:43 GMT

Quoth Flame of the West  <<<jsolinas -aaatt- erols -daht- com>>>:
> I like Arkady's idea.  I've expanded it a little bit to include several
> common types of postings that various people might want to ignore.
> 
> [I]   Irrelevant
> [R]  Relevant
> [F]  Flame and/or complaints about being flamed
> [L]  Long
> [U]  Unsnipped (some very long previous post is reposted)
> [T]  Juvenile sexuality  ("T" is for "tilde")
> [A]  Religious/Metaphysical argument
> [B]  Dealing with the identity of Tom Bombadil
> [W]  Deals with Balrog wings
> [H]  Deals with Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, Homophobia, etc.
> [P]  Tolkien is/is not racist, sexist, or otherwise prejudiced
> [M]  I hate the old movie and/or fear the new one
> [E]  My autographed and/or very old copy is available now at eBay
> [C]  Casting for the new movie

This is truly hilarious.  Thanks for a great laugh.

> Have I forgotten anything?

Perhaps you should add

[^] Elves do/do not have pointed ears
[N] Visit this new/updated network site
[2] Me too/I agree/Good idea (this conveniently eliminates the need
                              for a message body as well!)

Of course, this can be generalized to combinations of symbols as well:

[PH]  Tolkien was/was not homophobic
[CB]  Who should play Tom Bombadil in the new movie?
[MB]  Nobody, because they're ruining it by not including him.
[EM]  My copy of that stupid Bakashi movie is available now at eBay
[ITA] Which of the following sexual positions will bring me the
      closest to God?
[MW]  Oh no!  The Balrog in the movie will/will not have wings!
[WA]  1) It is impossible to imagine a demon nastier than a Balrog,
      and 2) A winged demon is nastier than a wingless demon, thus
      3) Balrogs must have wings.
[TF]  You couldn't write pornography if your life depended on it
[LWB] A masters' thesis discussing the textual evidence in HoMe
      indicating that Tom Bombadil is the incarnation of the
      Morgothian essence which pervades the world, and that the
      dissipation of said essence over the course of the second and
      third ages led both to Tom's reduced range of influence and to
      the decay of all remaining Balrogs' wings into dark, cloudlike
      goo
[BATMAN] My new website decries the shockingly immoral scene rumored
         to be in the new movie, in which the hobbits witness an
	 explicit sex scene between Bombadil and Goldberry, which
	 leads the entire group into a discussion of religion in
	 Middle-earth in which it is revealed that Bombadil is in fact
	 Iluvatar.
[PI^2] I agree that Hollywood is racist, because Jar Jar had such
       weird ears

	     				     Steuard Jensen