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. 

Showing posts with label Battlestar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Battlestar. Show all posts

Friday, February 23, 2024

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome

 


Blood and Chrome is a 2012 TV movie that is a prequel to the rebooted Battlestar Galactica series. This tells the story of a young Adama (played by Luke Pasqualino), and one of his first missions after being assigned as a pilot on Galactica during the First Cylon War. The story takes place after the events of the Caprica series and long before the Battlestar Series picks up. You get some insight into what Adama was like in his youth, but you only get a portion of his backstory. The movie portrays him as a hothead who is always looking for a fight and not the more measured leader he grew into. At this point, the Cylons are still just the chrome versions, although see the beginnings of the "skin job" versions at the very end.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is very good and is on par with the blu-ray release of the series. The disc does have a couple of extras, but they are not extensive. The extras include deleted scenes and a short feature on the visual effects. It seems that people's feelings fall into a couple different categories when it comes to this story. Much like the Caprica series, people seem to either love the movie or really hate it. It seems like the people who hate it do so mostly because it does not include any other characters from the series. I liked the series but was not so devoted to seeing just those characters that any kind of spin-off would be awful. This movie is really just an extension of the new Battlestar universe. It is like a long flashback episode of the series that tells a single story involving Adama. It has a similar feel to the parent series and does have some twists and betrayals going on much like the series had. No, you are not going to get Edward James Olmos's version of Adama, but the point of the story is to show how that character changed from his youth. If you can get past that and just enjoy the story and the fact that you are getting a new Battlestar story, then this is worth the time to watch.

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Battlestar Galactica (2004): The Complete Series [Blu-ray]

 


As most are likely aware, this is a reboot/remake of the 1980s series of the same name that involves a war between machines called Cylons and humans. Many of the Cylons are made to appear human, and some even think they are human. Battlestar is one of the ships that is traveling through the universe both fighting the Cylons and trying to find a new home for humans after a group of planets known as the twelve colonies are wiped out in a Cylon attack.

The series starred a number of actors who were both well known, or at least recognizable, at the time (including Edward James Olmos and Michael Hogan) and those who would become famous because of the series including Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, and Katee Sackhoff. The writing and acting were very good throughout the series, although some of the plot elements did get a bit silly at times. For the most part, however, the show was very strong. It did have a pretty controversial ending that people seem to either really like or totally hate.

For those who get the collector's set, it comes in a box that would take up a ton of shelf space and a Cylon action figure. But, the individual seasons are packaged in smaller boxes that fit on the perimeter of the large box, so you can remove those and put them on a shelf and save a lot of room. Each season has a lot of extras including commentary tracks on select episodes, making-of featurettes, cast interviews, and more. So, if you are a fan of going through bonus material, you get a lot.

Overall, if you are a fan of sci-fi shows, you will most likely like this. It does have adult language and a lot of sex, along with as much nudity that can be gotten away with on basic cable. So, if those things turn you off, then you probably want to skip this. In fact, the series starts out with Tricia Helfer stripping down and having sex in the first scene, which pretty much sets the tone for the sex content for most of the rest of the series. That said, sex does not dominate the series or the storylines, but it is prevalent. Those provisos aside, if you are a fan of the genre, this is definitely worth checking out.