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, July 15, 2022

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Bridge: Season 1

 


The Bridge was a crime drama that aired on FX for two seasons. The 13 episodes of the first season aired during the summer and fall of 2013. The series starred Diane Kruger, Demian Bichir, Ted Levine, Annabeth Gish, Thomas M. Wright, Matthew Lillard, and Emily Rios. The series is a US adaptation of a Danish series of the same name. The series is set on the border of El Paso, Texas, and Juárez, Mexico. There is a murder on the bridge between the two cities. Kruger's character, Detective Sonya Cross, investigates the murder from the US side, and Bichir's character, Detective Marco Ruiz, investigates from the Mexican side. The series deals with the drug trade on both sides of the border, human trafficking, and general corruption, as well as trying to catch the serial killer responsible for the body on the bridge. 

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set. The A/V quality is wonderful, and the show looks great in HD, with some great visuals of the desert landscape and the mountain regions. The extras include a commentary track on the pilot episode with the series creator and members of the cast, about thirty minutes of making-of material, and about twenty minutes of deleted scenes. So, while there are only a few extras,  what was included was fine. Overall, the series is good. It develops the story well throughout the thirteen episodes and does not give away too much too soon. It is well-written and very well-acted, with Kruger doing a lot of the heavy lifting playing a character with Asperger's, which causes her to be very blunt and have a non-existent brain-to-mouth filter (which can be pretty hilarious). It is primarily a drama/thriller combination with some dark humor thrown in here and there. It was definitely original for American TV and not like anything else that was on at the time. If you like crime dramas, this is definitely worth checking out and holds up pretty well despite being off the air for a few years.

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