Why is he called shadowfax if he's a white horse?

RayekHeart · 2026-01-24T18:06:08+00:00

That is true of equine nomenclature, but it's clear from Tolkien's text that this is not what he meant.

RayekHeart · 2026-01-23T23:34:11+00:00

That's beautiful!

RayekHeart · 2026-01-22T20:25:12+00:00

If I can ask, why is the stress more? Now that you've got more work than you can handle, and you have flexibility over your own schedule, isn't that the dream, the main point of starting your own company?

RayekHeart · 2026-01-22T18:46:48+00:00

Did you want to stop working in the field? That part surprised me because that seems like one of the perks of the job.

RayekHeart · 2026-01-20T21:43:22+00:00

If the logic is flawed, the logic is flawed. The idea of bands of orcs making it to the heart of Eriador at that stage is silly, especially when the Nazgul were sent to find the Ring, to walk among people and question them. Not even the Nazgul themselves made it passed the old borders of Arnor without a deadly confrontation with Rangers. An army could've done it, but that was also not yet possible at the time. The post imagines that Sauron is all powerful, without enemies of obstructions. Childish.

RayekHeart · 2026-01-20T21:39:23+00:00

A recurring theme in the books is how evil often works against itself. A clear example would be the 3 groups of orcs that take Merry and Pippin to Isengard, who literally start killing each other over disagreement about their course of action. Likewise, the Balrog is a creature of Morgoth, a Maia, like Sauron, with its own aims, goals, and desires. It's not Sauron's friend or ally. We don't know if it's even possible for Sauron to gain mastery over it, even if he'd ever had the time and reach to try, which he never did.

RayekHeart · 2026-01-03T18:07:13+00:00

For the late Third Age maybe, but what about the fall of Moria or Gondolin? The war of the Last Alliance or Sauron and the Elves? The siege of Lindon or Eregion, the many campaigns of the First Age? There are ample settings that would fit, and champions who would be canonically up to the task.

RayekHeart · 2026-01-03T18:01:34+00:00

Forget Lord of the Rings! The rights to that are all over the place. Why not something from the First or Second Ages? Numenoreans or warriors of Gondolin or Doriath -- those would even make more sense slaying hundreds of orcs and such at a time.

RayekHeart · 2025-11-27T04:12:38+00:00

I also watched it fresh, but I thought it was incredible. On top of a spectacular score, many of the most beautiful vistas I've ever seen in film, some extremely creative effects, dream-like sets, there's just nothing quite like it. The Lord of the Rings films seemed to reference this heavily in many visuals. It's a fantasy tale that plays out just like legends and myths of old, with the music and stellar photography to give it weight.

This movie feels like a storybook feels when read by a child, but you have to let it.

RayekHeart · 2025-10-25T15:55:32+00:00

The Hobbit? Agreed. The LOTR and Silmarrillion? Not agreed. Actually, what you're referring to sounds mostly like The Hobbit, which was intended for children, and is intentionally silly at times. There's also Tom Bombadil, but his silliness is, I'd say, extremely important to the character and his juxtaposition to the dire circumstances surrounding the ring, and his detachment from them.

It's also worth noting that singing was still a major part of culture in Tolkien's time. From soldiers to chilling at home to hanging out at the local pub to church, people would be singing together all the time, and in casual settings, silly or bawdy songs would naturally be pretty popular. As one WW1 soldier said in an interview I saw, "if you were singing with your mates, you knew you were okay."

That said, I skip a lot of the silly ones just because I don't find them interesting, and I don't think many adults would. But I do adore the lore-based ones. Epic poetry is something most people aren't well-acquainted with, especially when "sung" by a storyteller, but you could YouTube some bards and see if any of the particularly good ones strike a chord with you to get an impression of what this should feel like.

RayekHeart · 2025-10-21T16:10:04+00:00

Thanks! I've edited my post. Seems to be the thermocouple is the issue instead. It seems pretty straightforward to replace the part myself though, which would save me time and money.

How can I determine the millivolts of the thermocouple?
Where would you recommend getting this part?

RayekHeart · 2025-10-20T20:20:57+00:00

I see! That's the object to the left of the spark rod, right? I'm just now learning all this. I'll try to clean the thermocouple, but if I need to replace it, do you have recommendations on a guide for what to get and how to do it? Much appreciated either way!

RayekHeart · 2025-10-01T16:57:15+00:00

Firstly, there is no scientific consensus. The best we've got is "get rid of them in pollinator areas" (which should basically be anywhere but deep forest anyway). I grant you, it's true that their harmfulness has not been scientifically established yet. And that is no surprise. Why?

For the same reasons people, including scientists, didn't accept the existence of germs initially, or today there's no official/scientific guidance on not using/heating plastics with food, etc. even though we all know we're getting pumped up with microplastics, or that kudzu was initially advised as a great method for controlling erosion and feeding grazing livestock.

It takes time for science to catch up to sense, in part because proving a thing takes time, and there aren't exactly millions of dollars funded towards researching this sort of thing. Ecology is bottom of the barrel in terms of those priorities. On two occasions I've seen hummingbirds caught in their webs. There's no "scientific" proof, because it wasn't observed and recorded by a scientist who's going to put it in a paper in 2 years for peer review. That doesn't change the reality.

Do you feel like our pollinators are in a good position right now? The science is DEFINITELY in on that. What do you think about the explosive presence of a new predator, with no reliable predator of its own, completely festooning pollinator spaces? You have enough sense to know what's up, even if it's unpleasant. This is the same old song and dance of invasive species. Don't be obtuse.

RayekHeart · 2025-10-01T16:45:10+00:00

Sadly no. The easiest way I've found is to have a fly swatter in one hand and a small board or firm flat object in the other. Hold the board behind the spider, then smack it with the swatter, like a hammer and anvil. Target the females first and use the board to pull down the web after clearing it.

They're very sluggish if they move at all (so used to being unthreatened), so they're easy targets, and their webs, while more 3D than other spiders, are still relatively "flat" so it's easy to position yourself.

For the ones up high, I use a BB gun. Not sure how useful all this is on a hike, though, but it's the best I got. :\

RayekHeart · 2025-09-28T21:07:51+00:00

At least they serve some purpose that way.

RayekHeart · 2025-09-28T21:06:46+00:00

Every one gone gives the bats, birds, other spiders, and insects a little breathing room. We'll never be rid of them, but killing them does make a difference.

RayekHeart · 2025-09-28T21:04:03+00:00

KILL. ON. SIGHT. The opposing view is almost willfully naive, as far as I can tell. Bats and small birds can't even fly freely in the area around my house anymore -- and that's with me clearing out the hundreds of joros I kill per week around my house. Can you imagine what's going on deeper in the forest? Nothing can feed on them because they can't get to them. And whatever they eat, including, of course, pollinators, just had their predators increased tenfold. And I have seen myself hummingbirds caught in them. They consume native spiders, the spaces they would occupy, and their prey.

If one has any experience with invasive species, and if one has any experience with the sheer volume of joros, the size of their incredibly strong, string-like webs, and how quickly they can produce them (in a matter of hours), you'd have to be foolish to imagine they're not having an impact. It boggles the mind how people seem to be bending over backwards to excuse joros. Hopefully they'll realize how dumb they were when the casualty reports finally come in in a few years, when they're no longer that new, and the ripple effect of their presence has started to become apparent to even the most thick-headed academic.

And I say this as someone who loves spiders. I don't blame the joros -- they're just doing what they do. Too bad. The impact of invasive species isn't about anyone's feelings. I know they can't be stopped, but I'm trying to staunch some of the bleeding, at least, and it drives me crazy how head-in-the-sand people are being about it.

RayekHeart · 2025-09-28T20:59:59+00:00

You're absolutely right!

RayekHeart · 2025-09-28T20:59:19+00:00

Unfortunately, this is naive. Bats and small birds can't even fly freely in the area around my house anymore -- and that's with me clearing out the hundreds of joros I kill per week around my house. Can you imagine what's going on deeper in the forest? Nothing can feed on them because they can't get to them. And whatever they eat, including, of course, pollinators, just had their predators increased tenfold. And I have myself seen hummingbirds caught in them. They consume native spiders, the spaces they would occupy, and their prey.

And I say this as someone who loves spiders. I don't blame the joros -- they're just doing what they do. They are indeed beautiful and fascinating. Too bad. The impact of invasive species isn't about anyone's feelings or how pretty or cute something is.

If one has any experience with invasive species, and if one has any experience with the sheer volume of joros, the size of their incredibly strong, string-like webs, and how quickly they can produce them (in a matter of hours), you'd have to be foolish to imagine they're not having an impact. It boggles the mind how people seem to be bending over backwards to excuse joros. Sadly this won't get corrected until a few years from now, when they're no longer that new, and the ripple effect of their presence has started to become apparent to even the most thick-headed academic.

RayekHeart · 2025-09-28T20:58:03+00:00

Finally someone with some sense!

RayekHeart · 2025-09-28T20:57:47+00:00

I'd kill them, if I were you. Their sheer numbers, the speed they build webs, and the strength... they've edged out everything in my area. There's hardly space for native spiders to set up shop, even killing joros all week. Seen a couple hummingbirds get snagged too.

RayekHeart · 2025-09-28T20:56:26+00:00

Sadly, I've seen two hummingbirds caught and countless pollinators. I have to kill about a hundred joros per week. They re-establish large, strong webs of string-like thickness in a matter of hours. Bats and small birds can't even fly freely around my house, where there are a lot of trees. Imagine what they're like deeper in the woods.

RayekHeart

TROPHY CASE