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, October 5, 2022

DVD/TV Series Review: Psych: Season 2

 


The second season of Psych aired during the 2007/2008 TV season. Approximately half of the episodes aired during the summer of 2007 and half in the winter of 2007 into 2008. The season continues the procedural case-of-the-week format as the first season, in which fake psychic Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and his assistant Gus (Dule Hill) consult on some particularly tricky cases for the Santa Barbara police department. The season has the same kind of witty banter and tongue-in-cheek comedy as the first season ramps up the sexual tension between Shawn and Juliet (Maggie Lawson) and the outright tension between Shawn and Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) and expands the role of Cheif Vick (Kristen Nelson) promoting her to a series regular. The show almost always starts out with the young version of Shawn (and sometimes Gus) learning a lesson from Henry (Corbin Bernsen) that ties into the theme of the episode.

There are many extras for those who get the DVD set. There are multiple commentary tracks, deleted scenes for most, if not all, of the episodes, a gag reel, a find the pineapple game, a montage that shows all of the crazy names Shawn has used to introduce himself and Gus, fake scenes (called "psych outs"), and some animated adventures of Shawn and Gus as kids. A ton of stuff for those who like going through the extras. The commentary tracks are pure gold, especially those in which Roday and Hill participate.

Overall, the show continues to be great. The acting and writing are both great. While the show had not quite gotten into the homage episodes yet (those that were spoofs and/or homages to some 1980s or 1990s movie, TV show, or trend), there are plenty of pop-culture references, and the show did start getting the great guest stars that the show would become known for. They include Phylicia Rashad and Ernie Hudson playing Gus' parents, John Amos, Curtis Armstrong, Obba Babatundé, Malcolm Barrett, W. Earl Brown, Matt Cedeno, Tim Curry, Cristián de la Fuente, Amanda Detmer, Gina Gershon, Ben Giroux, Philip Baker Hall, Howard Hesseman, Telma Hopkins, Katharine Isabelle, Christopher Jacot, Bianca Kajlich, Eric Keenleyside, Melanie Lynskey, Shane Meier, Alex Meneses, Brian Doyle-Murray, Dylan Neal, Amanda Pays, Lou Diamond Phillips, Saul Rubinek, Corey Sevier, Kerry Washington, and Calum Worthy. If you liked or loved season one, you will probably feel the same about this one. It is definitely worth the time to watch.

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