[Kalimac]

I pretty much liked 'em all. "Concerning Hobbits" was probably the most expendable (the ear-mining thing was, I agree, completely unnecessary) but it had its redeeming features; getting to see Bilbo working on his book, also yelling for Frodo to answer the door; it's amusing then to see Frodo reading outdoors and realize that he's playing hooky in a way . To be honest, the only scene that really threw me was the addition at the Council of Elrond where Boromir tries to pick up the Ring and Gandalf recites the "Ash nazg durbataluk..." (I think that's how it starts). It was good to have the recitation of the poem back in there, as well as Elrond's bit about how the Black Speech had never been spoken in Imladris before, but the way Boromir lunges for the Ring after about three seconds of discussion makes him look slightly...unstable. You do sort of wonder why Elrond didn't hesitate at least slightly when Boromir announced that he'd be coming with the Fellowship; if the Ring was calling out to him to snatch it after two minutes' acquaintance, who knows what might happen later?