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, September 25, 2024

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Shameless Season 2

 


The 12-episode second season of Shameless aired in the winter and spring of 2012. It picks up months after the events ending season 1. The first part of the season focuses on Karen acting out as everyone discovers what happened with Frank and Lip trying to keep some kind of relationship with her. Fiona is working a series of summer jobs, primarily earning money as a server in a club, and is rebounding from Steve as he has gone off to South America. Frank continues to be the neighborhood menace, finding a new mark to scam as Shelia starts to venture out of the house more and more, as he is afraid that she will find out how he really is. I will not say more about the storylines because there are some twists and turns along the way this season, but as was the case in season one, it does the story of the week theme very well, along with having callbacks to prior storylines as well as wrapping up others.

The series continues to be well-written and acted. William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum still hold their own as the series leads and continue doing a great job as the characters of Frank and Fiona. This season, Jeremy Allen Wright as Lip and Laura Slade Wiggins as Karen steal many of the episodes. Even as a show with very few "good" characters, but mostly characters with varying degrees of horribleness, the writers and actors make you feel for, and even root for, the characters.

The Blu-ray set is a two-disc set with about 50 minutes of bonus material. The extras include several behind-the-scenes/making-of featurettes and deleted scenes for many, but not all, episodes. As was the case in season one, there is a lot of drinking, drug use, sex, and swearing that goes on. So, if that turns you off to a show, then this one is not for you. It does have a lot of dark humor, but it does not glorify or make fun of dysfunctional people and families. If you liked or loved season one, you will probably feel the same way about this season. On the other hand, if you hated the first season, this season will probably not make you a fan.

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