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, December 24, 2024

Book Set Review: Frank Herbert's Dune Saga 3-Book Deluxe Hardcover Boxed Set

 


This is a newly printed (in 2023) hardcover set of the original Dune Trilogy written by Frank Herbert (1965's Dune, 1969's Dune Messiah, and 1976's Children of Dune). The trilogy details the rise and fall of Paul Atreides. The first and longest of the three books, Dune, is the most well-known part of the story as it has been adapted into live-action movies. The stories in the other two books tell Paul's story after he obtained control of Arrakis (Dune). The books include new artwork and are packaged in a decorative outer box. The first book is the best of the three. If you read it first, it can be a bit hard to follow. If you read the vast collection of prequel novels written by Kevin J. Anderson and Frank's son, Brian, you get the backstory alluded to in Dune, which helps to make sense of and give context to the events in Dune. The story gets much weirder in Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. The storylines of those books are not bad; they just get more challenging to follow, especially since time jumps set the events of those books many years after the events in Dune. While the books will not likely appeal to everyone, they are classics in the sci-fi genre and are absolutely worth reading for fans of sci-fi and fantasy books. 

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