Reviews, Health, and Other Stuff: Nashville

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.

Saturday, July 30, 2022

DVD/TV Series Review: Nashville: Season 2

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season one, but no major season two giveaways+++

The second season of Nashville picks up after the car crash that ended season one, revealing that both Rayna and Deacon survived, but Rayna has to be put into a medically induced coma. Deacon does not remember the crash, admits to driving, and is taken to jail. Obviously, neither of these things remain permanent, but the effects last throughout the season. The show basically then goes into the prime-time soap opera mode with the relationships of the various characters, platonic and otherwise, being front and center. One of the best storylines of the season involves Will (Chris Carmack) partially coming out, yet still trying to hide and maintain his public persona.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras are pretty light. The most substantial one is a feature on the music, where the stars of the show perform for a live crowd and the performers and songwriters discuss the songs. Then there are deleted scenes and a blooper reel. So, while there are no commentary tracks and a ton of making-of featurettes, what was included is good.

Overall, I'd say if you like season one, you will like season two. It is, most definitely, a soap opera that also happens to include musical numbers. Like any soap, daytime, or primetime, the relationship arcs can get a bit silly, but for the most part, I do think the storylines are well-written and not too over the top. The acting is great, with the entire cast giving great performances, and the music, even for people who are not otherwise fans of country music, is very good. I think the show does a good job of being authentic with the music but also choosing numbers that will appeal to more than just the hard-core country music fan base.

Saturday, June 4, 2022

DVD/TV Series Review: Nashville - Season 1

Nashville is a prime-time drama that definitely leans toward the prime-time soap opera category centered around the characters of Rayna James, played by Connie Britton (of Spin City and Friday Night Lights), who is an aging country music star whose career is on the downswing, and Juliette Barnes, played by Hayden Panettiere (best known for the series Heroes) who is the up and coming young star whose life is kind of a train wreck. The first season is really all about developing the characters and establishing storylines for the various characters. For Rayna, it is trying to inject new life into her career and dealing with her husband Teddy (played by Eric Close) who is resentful of her fame and decides to run for mayor on the back of her fame, and her ex-flame (and ex songwriting partner) Deacon (played by Charles Esten). Juliette is trying to make it big while dealing with issues in her personal family life that she tries to hide. The big appeal of the show is the musical numbers. Nearly every episode has one or more musical numbers with members of the cast actually singing. Even if you are not a country music fan, which I am not, the music is arranged in such a way that it is not tailored just to a hard-core country music fanbase. And, while not all the actors are great singers, some of them have a lot of talent, especially Sam Palladio who plays Gunnar Scott, and Clare Bowen who plays his girlfriend, and songwriting partner Scarlett O'Connor. Lennon Stella and Maisy Stella (who play Rayna's daughters Maddie and Daphnie are a real music duo out of Canada and are great singers who get a few chances to sing on the show.

For those who get the DVD set, the supplements are okay. There are a few behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel. What was included was okay, but the featurettes could be longer and it would be nice if at least some of the episodes included a commentary track.

Overall, the series is well-written and very well acted. The plot definitely gets a bit soap-opera-like when it involves the various character relationships. There is some sexual content, but nothing you do not see on any other prime-time dramas. Even so, the rest of the storylines are very good, and all of the actors, including the strong supporting and recurring cast which includes actors like Powers Boothe, Robert Wisdom, Jonathan Jackson (who came from the Daytime Soap Opera world), and Chris Carmack (from The OC). The season ends on a pretty large cliffhanger and does a good job setting up the second season. I definitely recommend this if you are looking for a good serial drama.