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So I watched the LOTR movies with my teen daughter and stepdaughter over the weekend. I have of course seen them many times, but they had never seen them.
When we got to the part in ‘Towers’ where the orcs and Uruks fight because one of them wants to eat Merry and Pippin, the one little orc who was trying to eat them hobbits of course gets pwnt. Then the big Uruk goes, “Looks like meat’s back on the menu, boys!.” I have seen this quoted many times on the Internet, and I suppose I knew that this line from the movie is from whence the meme came (a line which was not in the book, incidentally), but I guess I had forgotten about it.
Anyhow, it just then occurred to me that, in order for a monstrous creature of Mordor (technically Isengard in this specific case, but I digress) to utter this line, he would have had to have, at some point in his lifetime, dined in a restaurant, or perhaps in some sort of carry-out or drive-in establishment, at which he was required to order his food from a menu. Otherwise, how could he possibly be aware of this word? Not only that, when he said it, the other orcs nearby cheered in agreement, so they clearly had heard the word before as well and seemed in no way confused by his use of it. Yet nowhere in Tolkien’s writings does he mention either a) menus, or b) taverns or other eating establishments that cater to orcs. Anyway, huge plot hole imo.
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Yeah, why can’t we have some meats!
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Not only do the orcs have restaurants but they have hipster restaurants with seasonal menu items.
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I’ve got elves as a delicacy and dwarves as the grade of meat that they feed to their wargs
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One theory is that orcs are corrupted elves. If the live as long as elves, maybe the Uruk include orcs who remember their pre-corrupted knowledge, which may have included taverns or restaurants.
Also, “menu” can refer to the list of dishes served at a banquet, not just a restaurant. I suppose orcs could have banquets.
I remember that in a voiceover from the movie but don’t recall it from the books. Don’t remember which character was telling the orc origin story. Saruman?
Edit yeah
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You need to be part of more lotr meme groups imo, welcome to 20 years ago!
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I know, apparently I am the last Tolkien nerd that this has occurred to which makes me question my own fandom :/
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Having been hit with the Standard Model stick myself, I find this Elon tweet funnier than it probably is.
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I could swear this is a well-known bit of Tolkein lore but I don’t know where in the books it comes from.
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I think he’s just making a claim that our common assessment of the age of the universe depends on the standard model. Seems true, but I don’t know how we get the estimate. What’s more concerning is his assumption that consciousness is a binary state. What about bat consciousness or dolphin consciousness, or maybe consciousness is an illusion? Also, he seems to want to smuggle in some kind of teleology of consciousness.
Why doesn’t Elon STFU and give $1bn to found a center of consciousness studies instead of lighting $44 bn on fire so he can prove to the world he’s a moron? He thinks he Michaelangelo when he could actually be of use as a Medici.
The guy who invented the palm pilot has spent the last 15 years trying to understand the nature of intelligence and funding a research center. He’s an actual thinker. George Soros and Bill Gates have written extensively on their philosophy. Elon is just an investor/manager who got lucky a couple of times and had some dumb intuitions while on drugs.
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I have no idea what any of this means, but I hit the heart because I want to seem like I do.
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If I recall it’s not actually in any of the books but was adapted from his dad’s notes by Christopher Tolkien.
“But of those hapless who were snared by Melkor little is known of a certainty. Yet this is held true by the wise of Eressëa: that all those of the Quendi that came into the hands of Melkor, ere Utumno was broken, were put there in prison, and by slow arts of cruelty and wickedness were corrupted and enslaved. Thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orkor in envy and mockery of the Eldar, of whom they were afterwards the bitterest foes. For the Orkor had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Ilúvatar; and naught that had life of its own, nor the semblance thereof, could ever Melkor make since his rebellion in the Ainulindalë before the Beginning. And deep in their dark hearts the Orkor loathed the Master whom they served in fear, the maker only of their misery. This maybe was the vilest deed of Melkor and the most hateful to Eru.”
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So the problematic stuff arguably isn’t canonical? That’s nice to know.
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I understand just enough to know Elon understands less, and I’m petty enough to enjoy that. 
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I think you need gravity, which isn’t part of the Standard Model. He might have something valid to say but idk what it is.
Did this project produce any actual results?
jesus christ nerd shit containment thread when
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