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, November 15, 2022

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Lucifer: Season 1

 


Lucifer was a series that aired from 2016 to 2021, starting on FOX and finishing its run on Netflix after being canceled by Fox. It is mostly a case-of-the-week procedural show (especially early on) in which Lucifer Morningstar (played by Tom Ellis), the DC Universe's version of the Devil, abandons Hell for Los Angeles where he runs his own nightclub named Lux. He becomes a consultant to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) working with Detective Chloe Decker (played by Chicago Fire's Lauren German), whom he becomes enthralled with. Lucifer uses his powers of persuasion to help Chole solve crimes, while his older brother, Amenadiel, played by Buffy's D. B. Woodside, and his demon confidant Mazikeen, played by Lesley-Ann Brandt, try to get Lucifer to return to Hell. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Kevin Alejandro who plays Chloe's ex-husband and current co-worker, Detective Daniel "Dan" Espinoza, Rachael Harris as Dr. Linda Martin, Lucifer's psychologist and occasional fling, and Scarlett Estevez who plays Beatrice "Trixie" Espinoza, Chloe and Dan's daughter, who befriends Lucifer and Mazikeen and steals nearly every scene she is in.

As I said above, the show is pretty much a case-of-the-week crime drama, with a lot of snarky humor mixed in. It is not a superhero show per-se, but of course, Lucifer does have powers that he uses in a very morally ambiguous (at best) way. There are story arcs that play out over the course of the season, the big one being that Lucifer is trying to hide his real identity from Chole, and always close to getting caught for something illegal he is doing. The season ends on a quasi cliffhanger, definitely setting up what is to come in season two.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the show looks and sounds great in HD. The 13 episodes are spread across three discs, and there are a handful of extras. The extras include about six minutes worth of deleted scenes, a handful of very short character profiles, and a 13-minute portion of the 2015 Comic-Con panel. What was included was good, but there is not a ton of material.

Overall, the show is very good. It is definitely not what I would call family-friendly as it definitely pushes the bounds with violence and sexual content that they could get away with on broadcast TV. While there are certainly religious themes in the show, it is more a buddy-cop procedural than a show with in-your-face religious dogma. It is well-written and very well-acted, and definitely worth checking out.

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