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. 

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Nikita: Season 2

 


+++Warning, this contains minor spoilers from season one, but no major season two giveaways.+++

Season two picks up right after the events of season one, with Nikita and Alex's relationship effectively having ended and Nikita and Michael's relationship restored. Now, Nikita and Michael are on the run with a hard drive called "the black box" containing the Division's darkest secrets and they plan to right the wrongs that Division has committed over the years. This allows the show to keep the procedural case-of-the-week format and then tie in larger serial arcs throughout the season. This season sees Miranda in charge of Division and Percy locked up in a cell in the basement, with Miranda manipulating Alex to keep tracking Nikita down. The season does have some twists and turns, which are, like the case-of-the-week elements, sometimes work and are sometimes silly. It does not ever stray too far from the formulaic approach, which I think is partly good and partly bad.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great in HD. The extras include a commentary track on the season finale, a documentary on the writers and the writing process, a feature on Maggie Q's health and nutrition regimen, just under half an hour's worth of deleted scenes, and a short gag reel. So, a decent amount of extras especially for a show that has more of a cult following than it does wide, mass appeal.

Overall, the season is good. You definitely have to like action shows (or movies) whose plots can get a bit silly at times and be willing to just go with it. If you overanalyze things too much, you will definitely not enjoy it. The fight scenes are good and all of the actors do a great job with their characters. Melinda Clarke's role as Amanda is expanded a lot this season, and as she did on The OC, when she got more of a leading role, she crushes it. As in the first season, there is a lot of violence and some sexual content. Obviously, since it aired on regular broadcast TV they could not get too extreme with either, but they do take every opportunity to show off Maggie Q in skimpy outfits. Just, just be aware if that is an issue for you.

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