Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Friday, May 28, 2021

DVD Review: Chicago PD Season 1

Chicago PD is the first of a few different shows spun off from Chicago Fire, setting up a Chicago-based series of shows from the massive production factory of Dick Wolf (who also produces the many shows of the Law and Order franchise). As fans of Chicago Fire will know, many of the characters, including the series lead Hank Voight, played by Jason Beghe, Jay Halstead, played by Jesse Lee Soffer,  and Antonio Dawson, played by Jon Seda, were introduced in season one of Chicago Fire. There, Voight was an antagonist for the crew of Station 51, so there is definitely some rehabilitating of his character, while still keeping him rough around the edges, being done. Mostly through a story arc that involves Voight helping a teenaged gang member get out and free of the gang. Voight is now leading the intelligence unit at Chicago PD which is kind of a rag-tag group that takes on all kinds of cases. Rounding out the intelligence unit is Erin Lindsay, played by Sophia Bush, Olinski, played by Elias Koteas, and Ruzek, played by Patrick Flueger. The main cast also includes Amy Morton as the gruff desk Seargent Trudy Platt, and beat cops Atwater (played by Laroyce Hawkins) and Burgess (played by Marina Sqerciati). 

The show pretty much follows the case-of-the-week procedural format that shows like Hawaii Five-0, Castle, and the like have followed. Because it premiered at midseason and had a shortened run, there are not a ton of story arcs beyond Voight being pressured to work with Internal Affairs or risk going back to prison. The rest of the season is really spent on very slow character development. It is more character introduction with some hints as to their backstories, but not giving away too much too soon. The show had an official crossover episode with Chicago Fire, that involved a story that was kind of a cross between the Boston Marathon bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing events. It also continued a storyline from Law and Order SVU with some characters from that show appearing on an episode of PD. It was a good use of established shows to help out PD, yet the show was still able to stand on its own with its own characters. 

Unlike the Chicago Fire DVD sets, this one does not have any behind-the-scenes material. The crossover episode with Chicago Fire and the Chicago Fire season one episode that introduced the character of Hank Voight are the only extras included. 

Overall, the series is well-written and acted. It is definitely a gritty police drama and is not something that is extremely family-friendly. It has about as much violence as you would expect for this kind of show, and some sexual content, although very toned-down for network television. And they really don't push the bounds of what they could get away with on network TV with the sex. I would say they do push the bounds of network tv censors with the violence though. If you are a fan of Chicago Fire, and I would say even a fan of the Law and Order franchise, I think this is definitely worth checking out. 

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