# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 3) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 29, 2026, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157 "2026-01-29T18:21:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 144
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2861 "2026-08-25T10:49:23Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I got the music book of _The Road Goes Ever On_, with music composed by Donald Swann. My mum had that book. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2862 "2026-08-25T18:27:41Z")
I just listened to a little of the Donald Swann music. Man, that sounds NOTHING like how those songs have sounded in my head for the last 50 years. I can’t picture hobbits belting out that operatic style while walking down the road. The Clamavi De Profundis version is closer. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2863 "2026-08-25T20:46:44Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Along with The Lay of Leithian but that one is a bit longish. When I first read this, I thought you were referring to Aragorn’s song about Luthien at the Weathertop camp. I just realized you were referring to the nearly book-length poem in H.O.M.E. volume III. Har har. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2864 "2026-08-25T20:50:32Z")
I know a number of those Tolkien poems/songs; I recognize the lines from most of the other ones in the poll, but I don’t know the entire verses. I’m 61; I lost both grandfathers before I was 18, and my grandmothers both passed in the early 1990s, when I was in my late 20s. My father passed away two weeks ago (at age 92), but my mother is still alive and is sitting three feet away from me at this very moment. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2865 "2026-08-25T21:43:02Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I just realized you were referring to the nearly book-length poem in H.O.M.E. volume III. Har har. Guilty as charged. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2866 "2026-08-25T23:07:02Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I just listened to a little of the Donald Swann music. Man, that sounds NOTHING like how those songs have sounded in my head for the last 50 years. I can’t picture hobbits belting out that operatic style while walking down the road. This was my reaction too. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2867 "2026-08-26T01:23:29Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I just listened to a little of the Donald Swann music. Man, that sounds NOTHING like how those songs have sounded in my head for the last 50 years. I can’t picture hobbits belting out that operatic style while walking down the road Yeah, while great singing, nothing like Hobbits or Gandalf. See my suggested version a few posts up. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2868 "2026-08-26T03:05:54Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I just listened to a little of the Donald Swann music. Man, that sounds NOTHING like how those songs have sounded in my head for the last 50 years. I can’t picture hobbits belting out that operatic style while walking down the road And yet, those are the versions Donald Swann performed for JRR Tolkien, and of which Tolkien approved, other than amending one of the Elvish songs. I’m with the professor on this one! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2869 "2026-08-26T04:28:44Z")
I dunno if it is cheating, but when i was with the government, I gave some volunteer lectures and classes, and I found I had no stage fright (for just talking, anyway, I get bad if i am asked to sing) and was asked back, etc. So, I could play a lecturer or teacher. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2870 "2026-08-26T12:14:20Z")
I think I could give a very realistic portrayal of someone giving a science talk or explaining something scientific, but it’s not clear to me that that’s how film works. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2871 "2026-08-26T13:30:39Z")
Unless it’s a YouTube video on how to do a repair, one of the rebuild/ restore shows like West Coast Choppers or an specific plot point in an episode of L&O SUV, aren’t most mechanic scenes just some guy with his head in the engine turning a wrench & you don’t actually know what he’s fixing. I could do that much. I could also memorize enough lines to stand in front of a class & say, “Turn in your homework & tomorrow’s quiz/test is on chapters 4-6”. I don’t need to be able to repair a flux capacitor or actually impart knowledge on those with butts in seats. That being said, I have never taken an acting class & would therefore probably be beaten out by someone else in the open call for any acting roll. I have been part of the behind-the-scenes, technical crew for a couple of commercials & a movie. I was in a scene or two from the movie, but at a distance & not-speaking. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2872 "2026-08-26T17:19:01Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ac7G7xOG2Ag/hqdefault.jpg ""Turbo Encabulator" the Original") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac7G7xOG2Ag) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2873 "2026-08-26T17:45:28Z")
Good call, at some point I tried to memorize that whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2874 "2026-08-26T17:51:58Z")
There are some clever updates to that, but that’s the “original” I guess. Accept No Substitutes! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2875 "2026-08-27T09:11:28Z")
I have never seen that before, and I salute that man for his services to deadpan. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2876 "2026-08-29T19:15:52Z")
I have a lot of songs from their LOTR collections, and it informs at least one of the answers to that poll. 🙂 * * * Neither binary (and I’m not sure it’s really a binary) in the personal philosophy meets me. If anything I’m closer to “He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.” Really, sometimes a fight is unwinnable, or at least, unwinnable in the immediate future, but biding your time until circumstances are better may allow you to lose the battle and win the war. Since both of the quotes leans more towards conflict, I chose the above, rather than a more generic life philosophy quote. Of course, no pithy quote represents all, or even _most_ circumstances. But we all knew that. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2877 "2026-09-01T17:40:25Z")
Most Diet Coke junkies don’t need a gun to their head to drink a warm, flat, Diet Coke. If it’s the only thing available, it’s getting drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2878 "2026-09-01T17:43:12Z")
The only thing on that list that I wouldn’t allow to pass my lips is the bullet. Grandma’s jello salad is a close second, but since I’ve already done it I know it won’t kill me. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2879 "2026-09-01T18:10:54Z")
Wouldn’t eat the Chinese take-out. Food poisoning _sucks_. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2880 "2026-09-01T18:18:47Z")
It could have been purchased last night. Possibly… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=143) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=145)