Sunday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Sunday, September 4, 2022
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74 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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The speech no president should have to give.
http://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/09/the-speech-no-president-should-have-to-give/671338/
Pam Grier: ‘I was part of a female cinematic revolution’
The whole interview is worth the reading.
Getting Storrowed
Boston’s, Storrow Drive and Cambridge’s, Memorial Drive are infamous for shaving the tops off of trucks due to low bridges. While it happens to all types of trucks, the follies reach a peak on moving weekend when 150,000 or so students return to Boston.
It’s not like the MaDoT doesn’t warn folks. PSA’s are sent, tweets, the colleges send warnings not to use those roads if you’re driving a truck. But they do…
I believe GPS is partly to blame. If coming in to Boston from I93 and not going to the waterfront or financial district, the GPS routes you down Storrow, vehicles coming from the west on I90 are also sent down Storrow. The victims on Memorial Drive are mostly students heading for Harvard, MIT and maybe Tufts, so the irony is very heavy.
More
@Sleeping Dog: One more reason for me to avoid GPS.
@Sleeping Dog:
There’s at least one street in Mexico City, albeit in an industrial area, that has a warning a few blocks from a tunnel about its low clearance. The warning includes small metal plates hanging from poles, indicating the height of the tunnel. If your truck hits them, you should take another route.
I’ve seen it, but I’ve no idea whether it works.
Is everybody asleep but for us four stalwarts?
@CSK: Awake, but nothing to say
@CSK:
Nope, but Luddite is lurking in the back of the classroom as usual. Morning, everyone!
@CSK:
I awoke very early today due to nightmares (stolen nukes in orbit and missile attacks). So I made breakfast, eventually went to the store, than to the office for a bit, and now I’m heading home to take a nap.
That’s a full day, and it’s only 9:35 am.
@MarkedMan:
Well, I suppose we could get outraged about Trump’s rally yesterday in Pennsylvania, but I’m not sure I have the energy.
@MarkedMan: It’s a lazy Sunday morning.
@CSK:
Being curious as to what type of coverage TFG’s rally had, I went over to Memeorandum and noted that the only top line link was to the NYT’s. I’m taking that as an indication that there is not a lot of ‘news’ interest in his activities.
Because it is Sunday and the Times, there will be hits on the story. And no coverage made the print edition.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
You remind me of the guys in my sixth grade class–the world’s greatest natural nightclub comics. God, they were funny.
@Kathy:
Geez, I haven’t finished my first cup of coffee yet. I salute you.
For your daily outrage:
@Sleeping Dog:
This just popped up at The Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2022/09/trump-rally-fbi-pennsylvania-maga/671343/
Fear and loathing indeed.
Oh, and Trump accused Fetterman of using illegal drugs.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I don’t get it. The girl bought the goat; she didn’t steal it. It’s hers.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I feel bad for the kid, but, as you’re aware, that’s part of the deal with entering a state/county fair contest. It’s part of teaching farm kids the hard truth about raising livestock.
@CSK:
At county and state fairs, there is a competition for children raise an animal, on entering the contest, you agree to give up the animal, for it to be sold at auction. There is always a lot of tears as the children give up the animal that they’ve bonded too.
@Sleeping Dog:
Having never done it, I didn’t know that. But why does one have to buy the goat just to give room and board? Shouldn’t you be reimbursed for raiding it to slaughter? What am I missing?
I watched the second episode of “The Rings of Power” last night. Enjoyed it, and am curious as to where the story is going to go.
@Sleeping Dog: A person has the right to change their mind. The Republican state senator who bought it said he was fine with her decision and willing to cover any costs.
As far as, “It’s part of teaching farm kids the hard truth about raising livestock” I raise meat birds. I have slaughtered pigs. The first rule of raising any animal is “you don’t name something you might have to eat. The state/county fair association is being unnecessarily hardassed about it. Maybe somebody needs to teach them about compassion before they try teaching kids anything else.
@CSK: I would suggest you read the article. It’s a little bit complicated.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I did, but I’m still a bit puzzled why a kid has to pay for the privilege of raising someone else’s goat for slaughter.
@CSK: It’s just a way to support county fairs, which is a laudable goal.
It’s bake bread day. Later, y’all.
@Sleeping Dog: The U Haul office near the University of Washington (other Seattle outlets, too probably, but I only remember this one) had warnings both in the store and in some of the trucks that you couldn’t drive them on Montlake Boulevard near the Arboretum. The lucky trucks only get stuck under the bridge. The most spectacular accident I ever saw had the truck box almost completely destroyed and the cargo spread 30 or 40 feet up Montlake from the bridge forward.
But at least he didn’t have to unpack the truck when he got to his destination.
@CSK: I haven’t even MADE coffee yet. I drink decaf, so it’s no big deal, but still…
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
People ignore the height warnings all the time. While the self movers get a lot of the attention on Storrow, an equal number of accidents had professional drivers at the wheel.
@CSK: I think that you’re missing that it’s teaching children the nature of commercial agriculture–the costs of raising the animal are borne by the husbandperson whereas the profits from the sale are retained by the business entity.
Made the beans and rice dish posted by @Kathy Friday. Left out the ketchup (used more tomato sauce) and added two jalapeno peppers. Delish!
@Sleeping Dog:..There is always a lot of tears as the children give up the animal that they’ve bonded too.
I was 46 when I had to take my 17 year old Momcat to be put down.
It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
…as tears go by…
Channeling my inner de stijl, I share this anecdote from the other day:
I pull up to my home. A few cars curiously stopped in front, drivers looking at a guy laying down in my front yard. Bicycle on its side by the curb. Looks like he’d been hit, crashed, or something bad.
I pull over, run to check on him, wrestle him awake. He is intensely drunk. I ask if he’s ok, he says yes, he was just sleeping. After a bit of back and forth he agrees to move along. I park my car and go inside.
A few minutes I look out my front windows to see that he resumed his slumberly position. I go back out to wake him, at which point he becomes aggressive. Threatening, posturing, etc.
Him: You don’t want to fuck with me!
Me: You’re right, I don’t want to fuck with you.
Him: I’ll fuck you up.*
Me: I believe it.
Him: Back the fuck up off me.
Me: I don’t want to be up on you (as I hold my hands up and back away even further), I just want you to be ok and move along. You’re concerning people who pass by…it looks like you’ve crashed your bike.
Him: You don’t want me to call my friends.
Me: You’re right, I don’t want you to call your friends.
Him: You don’t want to fuck with me!
Me: You’re right, the last thing I want to do is fuck with you and get my ass kicked in my own front yard.
{pause}
Him: Alright man, I hear ya, I’ll leave.
Me: Cool, thanks man. I don’t mean to be an asshole, it’s just that…
Him: Na man, it’s cool.
Me: Are we ok? I don’t want to end this on a bad note.
Him: Yeah, we’re cool.
Me: Ok, take it easy.
He precariously gets on his bike and rides away. I’ve thought about this exchange a lot. What, if anything, do I take away from it? What, if anything, would I do differently? Missed opportunities?
Perhaps it’s an indictment of my sensibilities, but one of the key takeaways** is that I need to be more mindful of where I plant my wildflower garden, as I later noticed that he rode his bike straight through, probably on the way to his temporary resting place. I’m salty about that. Very salty.
*I’m no combat specialist, but given his current state and mine, this is highly unlikely.
**Spending the weekend repairing and maybe rearranging some landscaping 🙂
@CSK:
Thanks, but I was the skinny geek in the front of the room who’d already read the book and got stuffed in a locker by the qb’s goons. Course, that only happened once…
OTOH, I was the only guy who signed up for homemaking, typing & shorthand. Only guy in a class of 20…
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
And there were a couple places under the West Seattle viaduct that I remember having evidence of folks hitting. Lucky ones let the air out of the tires… unlucky ones had a easy time unloading, eh?
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
Hahahaha! Oh man, you triggered some memories for me. I used to run in that area a lot and have witnessed the before, during, and after on many occasions. Even stopped a few times to help a poor sap out. The carnage juxtaposed to the surrounding wealth is jarring — and then you get used to it. Thanks for triggering me in that way.
@Skookum:
I may post recipes more often.
@CSK: From the Atlantic piece:
This is, plainly put, utterly ridiculous. If the FBI started “targeting” conservative Christians, the agents would all be arresting each other. This guy is just the typical MAGA fool who desperately wants to be more important than he is.
The FBI doesn’t hate conservatives, and it’s certainly not being run by lefties, but you know what the FBI really doesn’t like? Criminals, people who steal classified information, and terrorists. Trump hits two out of three (and encourages the third).
@Mimai: I would categorized your story as “successful self/home defense”. Self-defense does not always entail punching people. Redirecting their attentions and emotions is always, always, a very powerful act. If you can do it while in a fight, that’s still true, by the way. But doing it without harm is a wonderful thing.
I don’t blame you for the saltiness about your garden. Dude had no right. But you have every reason to feel good about how you navigated this situation. I thought the “I don’t want to get my ass kicked in my own front yard” was really artful, by the way.
@Mikey:
I know. The MAGAs regard the FBI, the DOJ, the CIA–the entire government, for that matter–as their mortal enemies.
Only Trump can rescue them from these godless minions of Satan.
Why they’ve made a hero of a man who despises them, I don’t know.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
I did a series with the British actor, James Purefoy* (a fellow Manchester United fan), and when I asked him how he got into acting, he said.. “When I got to college, I was looking for a major. When I looked into the trades, it was all blokes. I saw a theatre class where there were two poofters and 18 girls. I signed up immediately. ”
*Super nice guy, and a total professional, like most British actors.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
I’ve lived near both the Storrow and Montlake bridges, but neither approach the absurdity of the canopener in Durham:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_9rWH0p43A
http://11foot8.com/
Sleeping Dog-Here in Boston trying to find kid a place to stay after last minute acceptance into an MIT program. (Think we have one.) I really didnt notice how low any of the bridges are but if we bring him more stuff will keep in mind. I dont recall any warnings. If ti went to our computer genius it wouldn’t be noticed as practical stuff is just not a concern.
Steve
Trump is claiming that at the end of his two hour (God help us) speech in Pennsylvania, the rally attendees were screaming at him to “please, please, go longer.”
@Mimai: Aside from your poor garden and maybe being a shaken by a threat, you came out of it unscathed. And the other person took no further damage, either. Those results suggest that you navigated it as well as possible.
Should you have called the cops? No, that would have caused extra trouble for both of you. If your town is one of the few but growing ones that have a hotline for an unarmed non-police response (usually for mental health crises), that’s a maybe. They would have probably done approximately what you did.
I suppose you could have offered a water/Gatorade to re-hydrate the drunk, to be a super compassionate person. But you were protecting your boundaries which is important.
Anyway, bravo!
@steve:
Congrats on your kids landing at MIT. Good school, inventive pranksters.
@Sleeping Dog:
The MIT pranksters once changed the sign on the Kendall Square subway station to read: “Hellbound to Hahvahd.”
A play on the local accent, you understand.
I know I said I wouldn’t be around this week, but I had to share this:
Mock The Week has been cancelled.
Here’s a petition to save it.
@MarkedMan:
I respect your opinion, and am glad you enjoyed it, but my first reaction is, there’s a story?
I’m a big Tolkien fan, loved the Peter Jackson LOTR movies, hated the Peter Jackson Hobbit movies. But I suspect Rings will be much more in the latter camp.
After the first two episodes I was kind of hoping someone would pull a Sean Bean on Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel. What a tedious Mary Sue. I don’t understand why writers find it so hard to treat male and female characters as equal. It’s always a or b, never a plus b. In order to big-up a female character they have to degrade the guys. It’s irritating AF and suggests writers who don’t know how to handle character, period.
The uttering of nonsensical profundities, contemporary dialog, flatly idiotic scenes like Galadriel jumping into the ocean. . . it feels like writers already out of ideas. It feels like GOT seasons 7 and 8. And man, if they’re struggling this early how in hell are they going to write 5 seasons?
I’m actually worried Amazon will walk away from producing original content, which would suck because I like some of their stuff and I like having choices.
@Jay L Gischer:
Thanks, I appreciate it. In addition to “redirecting their attentions and emotions…” in hindsight I was “rolling with the resistance.” Rare that I use this to ward off a physical altercation. Good reminder that it can be effective in a host of applications…as I suspect you very well know.
@Franklin:
Thanks, I very much agree: both parties unscathed = success. I am familiar with the “mental health crises” option in my area. Given the circumstances, it didn’t seem like the best route. Though there would have been some delicious irony had I pulled that lever.
I thought about the water/gatorade option too. In fact, I keep a case of gatorade in my home for such situations. Truth be told, I didn’t offer him one, and it was 100% due to spite. I’m not proud of that. And I’m not ashamed either.
That you are a far better person than I. As much as I dislike violence, I can be pushed to it.
@Flat Earth Luddite: So you were one of the ones smart enough to keep all the girls to yourself, eh?
@OzarkHillbilly: Don’t forget the underappreciated Tarentino movie “Jackie Brown”. Done before he discovered that being outrageous pays off much better. Grier did a heck of a job in that one.
@Michael Reynolds:
Galadriel in LOTR:
As opposed to, “…well, I was on this boat sailing west, but changed my mind and decided to swim east instead…”
Not to mention that at the beginning of the Second Age “young” Galadriel is supposed to be already some thousand years old.
OK. So I’m an annoying Tolkien geek.
But the series writers might care to consider whether or not they are better at this sort of thing than JRT; because initial reports indicate they aren’t.
Everything I’ve read about it indicates: A+ for visual splendour; D- for story and characters that make sense.
The thing is, if they wanted to create a new story in the “Tolkien universe” that should be pretty easy to do.
Plenty of time and hints of context.
For e.g. the “Wars of the Kinslaying” in Gondor.
Why not give that a shot, rather than mangling known narratives in ways that make to sense in “internal history” or characterization?
@Kathy: You should. I copied that one down.
@Mikey: I think there’s some amount of projection or whatever in this stuff. On one side, we were grateful that we live in a country where freedom of religion and association was guaranteed (well freedom of our religion and our association anyway, gotta have limits and all that). On the other side, I knew lots of people who were afraid that put to such tests as people in other countries experience (or were said to experience, anyway), we were too comfortable and complacent and would fail spectacularly because of it. Evangelicalism has moved over the years from seeing minor slights–real or imagined–about things we do as opportunities to show the same backbone as those in nations actually hostile to Christians (whether those places exist in reality or not) to the present-day making up slights to “our Lord” that we must defend Him against out of whole cloth. Not a pretty picture. 🙁
@dazedandconfused: I features bigly in the interview. I like it, own it, watch it from time to time. But rating Tarantino movies, it doesn’t quite measure up to Pulp Fiction (#1) or Reservoir Dogs (#2). It’s above Django and and the Hateful 8 tho.
@Crusty Dem: I’ve seen that one before. The amazing feature to me is that it appears to not be the overpass itself that causes the problem but rather the warning bar that looks to extend 4 or so inches below the overpass itself. (Didn’t have my hearing aid in, so I wasn’t listening to the narrative that may well have said the same thing, I dunno.)
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well, that could have explained the unfortunate “getting stuffed in a locker (upside down) incident.” QB’s girlfriend (and her cheerleader friends) decided they’d rather hang out with a geek who’d been taught “no” means “no” and how to hold a door open.
OTOH, the “locker incident” led to the QB nearly loosing fingers when his locker door mysteriously blew open when he slammed it. Locker door landed on the other side of the hall. I learned an important lesson about (a) having an alibi and (b) making sure I wasn’t the only person who could have rigged the door.
I’m a much calmer person now that I’m in my dotage. Then again, as Cracker has reminded me, a life sentence isn’t the deterrent it used to be.
Sometimes not. 30 years ago… Has it really been 30 years? Nope, it’s been more than 30 years. Damn.
Anyway, long long ago in a galaxy far far away, I was awakened by a neighbor softly knocking on my front door.
“Tom!” came the insistent whisper thru my front window.
Huh?
“TOM!”
“Wha?” I sat up rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Look at the clock, 12:30.
“There’s somebody in your truck?!!!”
“What the fuck…” I pull my pants on and walk to the door.
The brake lights of my truck are lit up. Ah, the spring on the faulty brake peddle slipped off. I step out on the porch and realize that no, somebody is in my truck. “Wtf?” I turn to my wife and say, “Call the cops.” and walk down the steps. I quickly realize that I am the only human being out and about, the street is absolutely deserted. Not good. Usually at 12:30 the porch monkeys* line Keokuk Street, drinking beer and yakking it up.
But now? Nobody wanted to get shot.
I walked down to my truck. The driver side window is open. I say to the guy** sitting in the seat, “Hey, how you doin’?”
“Not too bad.” he slurs out.
OK, just a drunk from the bar across the street. “You know you’re in my truck?”
“I’m in your truck?”
“Yep.”
“Sheeit.”
The conversation continues on repeat of the above for a bit. Finally I tire of it. “OK man, time to get out of my truck.” I open the door and take him by the arm.
He yanks his arm out of my hand, slams the door shut, and says, “Nobody’s pulling me out of my damn truck!”
“Goddamn it,” I think, “the last thing I want to do is drag a drunk out of my truck on a Thursday night and beat his ass in the street in my bare f’n feet.”
And he says, “Yep, I got my gun and I’m ready to go.”
“OK…” I say to myself, “I’m not dragging a drunk out of my truck on a Thursday night and beating his ass in the street in my bare f’n feet.” and proceeded to pass the time until the cops showed finally showed up.
When they did, I walked toward them and said, “I don’t know, he’s drunk and he says he has a gun.”
The cop was like, “He’s got a gun???” and flips the leather catch on his holster.
Once they had him out of the truck and in cuffs, everybody and their mother’s uncle was back out in the street. It was a regular street party.
Long story short, the cops searched him, searched my truck, walked over to me and said, “What do you want to do? We can take him in or let him go if you say so.”
I thought about it. Was he really drunk? Or just good at faking it? I always locked my truck up, hard to believe it had been unlocked. On the other hand, my old man had once walked out of Powell Hall and unlocked a vehicle that looked just like his but couldn’t make the key work in the ignition because it wasn’t his f’n car. And maybe, just maybe, this time I had forgotten to lock it after getting all my tools out? His buddies were begging me to let him go because he’s a Vietnam vet, PTSD, a nice guy, etc etc.
I said “Fuck it. Let him go.”
As they pulled out with him in the back seat they were laughing and waved and I couldn’t tell if it was because they were grateful or because they had pulled one over on me. Seeing as I never saw him or them again, it didn’t really matter. I hadn’t had to figure out the hard way whether he really did have a gun or not.
* I realize now that this phrase has racial connotations but back then it was just how one referred to the neighborhood denizens, white, black, it was all the same. Forgive me, I still don’t know a more appropriate moniker.
**he was white, that always plays a part.
While I’m about as far from St. Louis as a Luddite can get without falling off the edge, I think most of us can identify with about 70-90% of this list:
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/say-goodbye-to-these-annoying-things-about-st-louis-summer/Slideshow/38417460/38417741
Summer is an important part of why Luddite’s don’t buy leather upholstery in our cars.
@Flat Earth Luddite: At that age, I didn’t have the balls* to take that class. My hat is off to you good sir.
*20-30 years later I learned that the more outrageously I dressed the more attention I got from the wimmins. And yes, I did it often and proudly after that.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Of course, we already knew that! Though I suppose a good reminder is in order.
That said, I guarantee that you are a much better woodworker than I.
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m sure that it wasn’t amusing at the time, but good story! I suspect you’ve had far more personal experience with these types of confrontations than I have. But if Mimai hinted at a gun being present, I’d agree that would have notably changed the equation for calling the cops.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I think the greatest acting job he got out of any of his actors was Pam Grier in that movie though. It demanded the most, and that gal delivered. Bigly.
@Flat Earth Luddite: Heh:
The stifling humidity.
Oh my f’n Gawd…
The relentless mosquitoes and coming back in with at least four bites that will itch until at least next summer.
The skeeters are far worse in the city than they are out here.
The amplified smell of rotting garbage in alleyways
I don’t miss that at all.
Getting into your car and finding it’s a 200 degree oven.
Here’s a hint: Crack your windows. Oh yeah, and find some shade. That’s 2 hints, the 2nd is free.
Traffic backed up for miles outside the Zoo every single weekend.
Why you botha? Why you botha?
Lack of parking downtown during events or Cardinals games.
Truth, never a problem for me, but I only go to day games. That might have something to do with it.
Wild youths running rampant downtown and stirring trouble.
I haven’t spent any time down town in 40 years. There’s a reason for that.
The rowdy drunkards on float trips who blast country music and clog rivers.
If it’s tourist season, why can’t we shoot them? (seriously, I long ago learned to avoid the Meramec, the Black, and the upper Current during drunkard season.
Long-ass lines at Ted Drewes and Clementine’s.
I’ve been going to Ted Drewes for so long I just thought waiting in line was part of the experience. Clementines? I thought they closed years ago. It was a lot of fun long ago. I assume it’s still a gay bar?
The burning desire to go to the Tower Grove Farmers Market, but finding you can’t summon the energy on a Saturday morning to get there before it closes at 12:30 p.m.
The Tower Grove Farmers Market is pretty damn good, but there is no way I am driving 60-90 minutes on a Saturday morning for a couple tomatoes and an eggplant.
Dumbasses still swimming at Castlewood despite several warnings of the Meramec’s dangerous waters.
Darwin rules.
Obnoxious golf cart drivers zooming around neighborhoods.
I drive a beat up, rusty, old P/U. Golf cart drivers get the fuck out of my way.
Driving at least 90 minutes for any decent swimming hole.
Trust me, you don’t know any decent swimming holes.
Feeling obligated to do stuff outside because “winter is coming.”
I am waiting for winter so I can once again do things outside.
@Franklin: I laugh about it. Even then I laughed about it. Living poor in South STL was always entertaining, sometimes even humorous, and never boring.
@dazedandconfused: She always delivered.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I don’t disagree with that ranking, but I just look at it a little differently. Those three films are all masterpieces, and I don’t believe any film Tarantino has done since comes close. I also think Jackie Brown is somewhat in its own category. Even though it has some of the Tarantino trademarks (non-chronological storytelling, clever dialogue, Sam Jackson using the N-word like “smurf”), it stands apart from his other works in a lot of ways. If I’m not mistaken, it’s the only adaptation he’s ever done. It’s probably his least violent film. It’s somewhat slower paced than usual for him, which I think turns off some fans, but it’s a film that really gets better with rewatches; the small character moments are the best part of it. And I think the character of Jackie is definitely his greatest female character, something he hasn’t always excelled in.
@Flat Earth Luddite: Ayup! It’s amazing that neither one of us became the person we could have been. (Although both of us came way too close for comfort. 🙁 )
@de Stijl is never around when I find a new song that speaks to me, but it’s the weekend, so maybe he’ll show up. 😛 This one encapsulates my whole life….I’ve never stayed in one place very long since I hit adulthood, I always had to go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKM4nAVRa-s
And then this one….I like the lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QP71GAcIvs
@OzarkHillbilly: I unnerstan it works that way for birds, too. Maybe that was my problem growing up*–not birdlike enough.
*and later in life, too, as far as that goes.
@JohnSF:
I’d agree with that. The visuals are great. The words and casting decisions, not so much.
I look at choices the writers made and it is worrying. They shouldn’t be straining at this point, they should have had this thing down. I don’t think they know WTF they’re doing. I cannot imagine what was going through Amazon’s head. I suspect they don’t know the difference between a plausible pitch and the grueling job of pulling something like this off. This could go really wrong. They’ve made so many mistakes.
@Michael Reynolds:
To each his own, so I’m not trying to convince you of anything, but I actually thought this was clever. Galadriel has lived for thousands of years and we know she will live for thousands of more. Ship isn’t going anywhere wants to go? Jump off and swim in the other direction. That is open to a near immortal being who, almost, cannot die. It’s infinitely better than the tiresome “foe shifting”, where every hero has their powers instantly recalibrated to be just slightly better or worse than their current enemy.
@MarkedMan:
Thing is, Tolkien’s elves definitely can die, including by drowning at sea.
Those written as popping their clogs that in way include Amroth, predecessor of C & G as ruler of Lorien.
@MarkedMan: “Jump off and swim in the other direction. That is open to a near immortal being who, almost, cannot die.”
And we’ve already seen her climbing up the Middle Earth equivalent of Everest with nothing but an ice axe…