These two have said it all:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers.\u201d \u2013 Gollum<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe times they are a-changin.\u201d \u2013 Bob Dylan<\/em><\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re male, female or a mountain, time stands still for no one, and we are only here for a brief moment enjoying our small fraction of eternity. December 14, 2012 will be a special day, and I can\u2019t help but feel blessed to be here for it. As I wait here, ticket in hand for a midnight showing of The Hobbit<\/em>, I can\u2019t help but think back to December 19, 2001; it seems like yesterday! That was a Wednesday, and the day The Fellowship of the Ring<\/em> movie finally came out. I\u2019ll never forget the experience.<\/p>\n When you think about it, of course, much has changed since then. If you\u2019d have said twitter or Barack Obama to me in 2001, I\u2019d have thought you were talking about a bird and someone from the Middle East. And that\u2019s just going back 11 years! There are some fans out there, such as my friend and TORN colleague Quickbeam, who will never forget November 27, 1977. That was the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and it was the day the animated adaptation of The Hobbit<\/em> first aired on NBC. Just imagine trying to explain to someone from that time how much the world would change in the next 30 years! (They probably would have been blown away by the idea of an ipod.)<\/p>\n And what about September 21, 1937? That was a Tuesday, and there are faithful readers here at TORN who were around back then \u2013 the day The Hobbit <\/em>was published. Talk about a different time \u2013 there were still people around then who remembered when the American Civil War was happening and when Abraham Lincoln was alive.<\/p>\n Today I thought it would be fun to take a nostalgic look back, and see how the world has a\u2019changed \u2013 even in the last eleven years. So hop in the DeLorean with me and let\u2019s take a look together at what the world was like way back when \u2013 and what\u2019s it like now, which as I’m writing this is December 6, 2012.<\/p>\n World Population:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1937: 2.2 billion These are, of course, estimates. And it was especially ridiculous to talk about the \u201csixth billionth\u201d or \u201cseventh billionth\u201d baby, since the number of people in the world, due to deaths and births, is a fluid number always bouncing around. But it is said that somewhere in the world, a woman is giving birth every second. (Personally, I think we should find this woman and stop her.)<\/p>\n U.S. Population: <\/strong><\/p>\n 1937: 129 million As Ben Franklin wrote, \u201ctis the Duty of the first and great Command of Nature, and of Nature\u2019s God, Increase and multiply.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pope:<\/strong> <\/p>\n 1937: Pius XI Interestingly, John Paul II became the pope in 1978 just before the animated Lord of the Rings movie was released and died in 2005 just after the extended edition of The Return of the King<\/em> came out. So he\u2019s our LOTR movie pope, I guess. (It\u2019s also curious that Hobbit<\/em> movies were made just before and just after his time as pope. Maybe there\u2019s some spiritual significance to it all.)<\/p>\n Ages of Christopher Tolkien, Christopher Lee, and Dina Manfredini:<\/strong><\/p>\n September 21, 1937: 12, 15, and 40 years old Christopher Tolkien, as you probably know, is the youngest son of author J.R.R. Tolkien. Christopher Lee, of course, plays \u201cSaruman\u201d. Dina Manfredini is just an Italian woman from Iowa. The interesting thing about Dina is that she was born in the same decade as Professor Tolkien. To put it in perspective, she was 66 when John F. Kennedy was assassinated and was 66 when the Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show \u2013 older than both Kennedy and Sullivan. Dina, who was old enough to be a grandmother when The Hobbit<\/em> was originally published, is still with us<\/a>, which makes me think she is very determined to see a live action Hobbit<\/em> movie. Here\u2019s hoping she gets to see all three.<\/p>\n
\n1977: 4.3 billion
\n2001 6.2 billion
\nToday: 7.1 billion<\/p>\n
\n1977: 220 million
\n2001: 285 million
\nToday: 312 million<\/p>\n
\n1977: Paul VI
\n2001: John Paul II
\nToday: Benedict XVI<\/p>\n
\nNovember 27, 1977: 53, 55, and 80 years old
\nDecember 19, 2001: 77, 79, and 104 years old
\nToday: 88, 90, and 115 years old<\/p>\n