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. 

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

DVD/TV Series Review: Blade The Complete Series

 


This was a TV series adaptation of Blade, one of the lesser-known Marvel comics that was first adapted for the big screen in the trilogy of movies that starred Wesley Snipes. The series was created by Geoff Johns and David S. Goyer who have been involved in a lot of the comic book adaptations (both movie and tv series adaptions) over the years. The series starred Jill Wagner as Krista, an Iraq war veteran who returns to the US to find that her brother has been killed under mysterious circumstances. She discovers that he was a familiar (lackey) for a group of vampires led by Marcus Van Sciver (played by Neil Jackson) and crosses paths with Blade (played by rapper Kirk Jones).

The series ended up being canceled after its initial run of 13 episodes expired. Unlike the movies that got progressively worse as they went on, the series actually got better. It took a few episodes to get its footing, and right as it was hitting its stride and developing what was going to be a very interesting story, it was canceled. So, if you do watch it and like it, it is going to leave you feeling unsatisfied because it ends on a pretty big unresolved cliffhanger.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include commentary tracks on the pilot episode as well as an hour-long making of documentary. I good amount of material for a series that was canceled after one season. Overall, the series was good, but not great. As I said, it was just finding its footing when it was canceled, and having an unresolved cliffhanger always sucks. The writing was good and the acting was good to very good. Jones was definitely a green actor, but I think he did a decent job in the role and definitely could handle the physical aspects. Wagner was great as Krista in what was her first "main" role in a TV series, and Jackson was great as Marcus Van Sciver. The series was very violent and did have some sexual content. And, the DVD has unedited episodes so you get a lot more of both than what was broadcast. While I cannot say that either fans of the comics or the movies will automatically like this version, I do think that it is worth watching even though the story will never be completed.

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