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 Buffyverse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buffyverse. Show all posts

Friday, November 10, 2023

DVD/TV Series Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Series

 


+++Fair warning, there are some spoilers ahead. Nothing that those who have seen the series don't already know, but just be aware.+++

I came on to the Buffy bandwagon later in the series run. The movie came out while I was in high school and I remember it being pretty bad, so I did not really have much interest when I heard that a TV show was being made. As a result I never watched one episode until the very end of the 4th season and then from the 5th season on. I just happened to watch that episode as a fluke because the WB happened to be the only channel I could get on my TV right after I moved and before I got Satellite TV hooked up. Needless to say, I am glad that I did.

Honestly, had I started watching at the very beginning I may not have stuck with the show. The first season (12 episodes) was really about the show getting a foothold, and establishing the characters. As a result, the stories did not always flow as well as they did in the later seasons. What the show did do well, even from the first episode on, was take the experiences that most of us had in high school and as teenagers in the 1980s or 1990s and present them as real monsters and demons. When you look back at it, the show tackled issues like living up to parents' expectations, peer pressure, abuse, rape, death, and sexuality (to name just a few) at a time when I was not politically correct to do so. The show, at its core, is really about growing up.

I personally think the show peaked with the 5th season. The perfect ending to the show would have been Buffy giving her life to save the world. While I did not hate season 6 and loved the musical episode in season 6, I just think that had it ended with season 5 the show would have probably never would have been accused of getting stale and holding on too long. In my opinion, season 3 was the best of the series. It had the best big bad(s) in the Mayor and Faith, the storyline behind Angel leaving the show, and really started giving substance to the supporting characters. I also very much liked season 4, which dealt with the core group going their own ways, and then having to come back together at the end. While that season saw the departure of Angel and Cordelia (aside from a couple cross-over episodes with the spin-off series, Angel) and the introduction of Riley and the Initiative, it was really about high school friends growing distant as they go to college. It also saw Anya (played awesomely by Emma Caufield) become a series regular. I know some people really hated the direction season 6 went and it did go much darker than many of the previous seasons, at least in terms of the main characters. The nerd trio was kind of lame, but I liked the direction they went in the last few episodes of that season and I do think the 7th season did a good job of wrapping up the story (especially after Firefly was canceled and Nathan Fillion came on).

Chances are anyone reading this by now is a fan of the show, or at least has seen enough of it to know what it is about. For anyone who is a total newcomer to the show, while I cannot say for certain whether you will like it or not, that is totally subjective and depends on your taste. I can tell you it was a funny, dramatic, well-written, and well-acted show. If you are a fan of Joss Whedon shows and movies in general and somehow have not seen much of the show (and I doubt that is possible) you will love it, especially from seasons 2-5. Of course, it has come out in recent years that the environment behind the scenes was very toxic, largely because of Whedon's behavior, which definitely sours some people's opinion of the show. I still think the show is enjoyable, but I definitely would not watch the bonus material that features him or listen to his commentary tracks anymore. Ultimately, in my opinion, the show was more than just Joss Whedon and I can support and enjoy the show even if Whedon may be a jackass. If your only experience was the movie, which was a lot more campy than the series, don't let that cloud your view of the series. Even if you are not totally into it in season 1, give it a chance. The series really takes off in seasons 2 and 3. If you were in high school at any point in the late 1980s or early to mid-1990s you will get all the references and jokes. Even if you were not, I think you will still find the show entertaining and far better than many of the shows that have been on the air since Buffy has been gone.

Thursday, November 9, 2023

DVD/TV Series Review: Angel Seasons 1-5

 


+++Warning, this contains spoilers from throughout the series+++


This is the Buffy spinoff series, Angel, which initially starred Buffy alumni David Boreanez and Charisma Carpenter, and later Alexis Denisof and James Marsters. Late actor Glenn Quinn also starred as one of the leads during the first season.

I stumbled on to Buffy and Angel rather late in the "Buffyverse's" run. I started watching the shows in what was the 5th Season of Buffy and the 2nd season of Angel (actually I first saw the season 4 finale of Buffy and season 1 finale of Angel the week before the season 5 and season 2 premiers, respectively, and then watched each show until they ended). Obviously, I have seen every episode since both shows were put out on DVD, but I remember becoming an instant fan of both shows, especially Angel, even without all the backstories. The overall theme of Angel was always the fight against evil, and how it never ends. The storylines on Angel tended to be more mature than those on Buffy, especially as compared to the first three seasons of Buffy. I really liked the show fleshed out Angel's backstory and his transition from Angelus to the good guy he would ultimately become.

Another storyline I loved from Angel was the redemption of Faith that started in season 1 and carried over to season 4. The whole story was well written and well acted and was probably not something that could have ever been done effectively on Buffy. The show also did well at making all the characters evolve, especially Cordelia and Wesley. The last season seems to be one that many fans either liked or hated. I loved the last season. The whole story of trying to fight evil from inside the belly of the beast was done well. And it had some of the best episodes of the series, including Hellbound, Smile Time, A Hole in The World, and Shells. I do think that the show did the character of Cordelia dirty and that Cordelia (and Charisma Carpenter) deserved a better ending than either of them got.

The ending to the series was rushed, mainly because the network canceled the show pretty much at the last minute. They actually had to go back and re-shoot some of the scenes for the last show after they knew it was going to be a series finale rather than the season finale. While not quite a Sopranos fade abrupt black screen, the series is not wrapped up in a nice tidy bow. It cuts off at the start of an epic battle, the conclusion to which we never know (unless you get the season 6 comic books).

This set is just a packaging of all of the individual season DVDs with all of the original extras. There has been another complete series set released, but this just has the original book-type cases. Chances are if you are reading this you already know at least a little bit about the series. While liking or disliking a TV show involves a large amount of subjectivity, what I can tell you is that if you have seen some of the shows and liked those, the series, on the whole, is consistently good with not many bad or "clunker" episodes among the 110 episodes. For some, the series may be a bit tainted by the allegations against Joss Whedon and how he treated the actresses (including Carpenter), but I see it as the series is larger than him, and choose not to let his jackassery ruin my enjoyment of the show.