I hate that this is the now de facto design for a Balrog, most of all because it's a cool monster design in its own right. Alas, check out the illustration for Durin's Bane (the Moria Balrog) in The One Ring 2e. There they did a text-accurate Balrog and it's amazing, I think you can find it online, and Anna has the book archived I hear
theblips
Early The Office is up there with some of the best comedy ever written IMO. The later seasons are a spin-off doing slapstick cartoonish comedy, which is funny in it's own way, like actual cartoons are funny still as an adult.
The storylines aren't and honestly weren't ever good, except for Michael Scott Paper Company which was an amazing idea
I see this explanation very often but have not encountered textual evidence (either for or against this hypothesis). The feats we see from every ringbearer (be it the Sauron, the Witch King, Galadriel, Gandalf and even Frodo) can more easily be explained by the rings just enhancing magical feats of all kinds, and maybe the elven ones are better at preservation magic. I wouldn't be surprised if I was wrong, though
Sauron still has a physical form during the events of LOTR. Frodo sees him through the tower window when walking towards Mount Doom, and Gollum remarks he was personally tortured by him, and that his hand has 4 fingers.
Dwarves seem resistant to the rings because of their mechanical nature. As you described, they were first designed by Aule instead of Eru, and then given free will, so that gives them a more "automaton" nature than the other free peoples
Can't forget immortality, which is shown pretty clearly in the movies with Bilbo and obviously Gollum, but also:
The Ring enhances the wearers "presence" and ability to influence others. Sam observes in the books how elf-like and majestic Frodo has become by the time they get to Mordor due to carrying the ring. At around the same time as this scene, we see Frodo impose himself on Gollum and the book remarks how powerful he looks and how his words seem to influence Gollum.
Later on, when Sam is carrying the Ring, this effect is noticed even more clearly when the orcs see his shadow not as that of a small hobbit but that of a powerful elf lord
The effects we've seen are on the pretty low race of hobbits, and would be even greater in someone of numenorian descent, but assuming it stops at those: Boromir would become an immortal, ultra charismatic leader who can also become invisible to everyone but the Wraiths and other spirits, which he can pretty easily take on 1v1
Apparently there are some people that live under the illusion that nicotine doesn't actually do anything, I saw one of these guys in another thread. I'm sure whoever placed them under that illusion did it with good intentions, but the implication that there are people getting hooked on it every day just to look cool is so funny
I'd Jim the camera and say "logs, amirite?"