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. 

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Book Review: Star Wars: Red Harvest

 


Red Harvest is a Star Wars Legends Novel written by Joe Schreiber and published in 2010. It is definitely a different kind of Star Wars novel. It does tie into the Sith vs Jedi conflict (before the rule of two was instituted by Darth Bane) to some extent, with almost all the action taking place at one of the Sith Academies. Without giving away too much, it basically involves a Sith's quest for immortality (that they all seemingly have) gone wrong and gets very out of control. A couple of Jedi end up at the academy, trying not only to get off the planet but also to keep the threat from getting out.

The hardcover version of the book is relatively short. It is around 270 pages and reads pretty quickly. Like most of the novels that predate Episode I, a stand-alone novel that does not really tie into the other Old Republic storylines. None of the characters from the other novels cross over, and it is, of course, prior to Darth Bane and his whole rule of two philosophy in which only two Sith existed and stayed hidden. Before the action gets going, the book does include some of the Sith infighting that is always hinted at in the Old Republic-era novels, which destroyed most of the order. Otherwise, it is really its own self-contained story that does not tie into the other Old Republic-era novels. It is a unique and enjoyable read, with quite a bit of suspense and unlikely alliances. While I would not say that this is one of the must-read novels, it is worth the time to read.

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