Here you will find things about fitness and nutrition, mainly (but not exclusively) in relation to the Beachbody programs like P90x and Insanity. And, I will start adding reviews for Books, DVDs and Blu-Rays, and other products. All views and opinions on this blog are my own.
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 27, 2022
DVD/TV Series Review: Chicago Med: Season 2
Sunday, October 30, 2022
DVD/TV Series Review: Chicago Med: Season One
The show is a pretty standard medical drama that has, mostly, a case-of-the-week format, in which one or two major medical cases come through the hospital, and then also focused on character development. The main cast included Colin Donnell (from Arrow) as Dr. Connor Rhodes, Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Natalie Manning, Yaya DaCosta as April Sexton (who had a past with Severide on Chicago Fire), Rachel DiPillo as Sarah Reese (a medical student working in the emergency department), Brian Tee as Dr. Ethan Choi, S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin, Marlyne Barrett as Maggie Lockwood (the head nurse for the emergency department), and Oliver Platt as Dr. Daniel Charles (the head of psychiatry). Tee and Merkerson are interesting additions to the cast that created continuity issues (not that Wolf's shows have been big on continuity) as they had played other characters (Merkerson on Law and Order, and Tee who played a bad guy on PD the season before) in the same universe. Of course, the Law and Order shows were established to be in the same universe of shows as the Chicago-based shows via the crossovers between Fire, PD, and SVU. While the show did a good job telling its own stories, it was a part of the three-episode crossover with Fire and PD, and characters from the other two shows made short appearances throughout the season.
For those who get the DVD set, the 18 episodes of the first season are spread across five discs. The only extras are the episodes from Fire and PD that made up the three-episode crossover, so if you did not watch the other shows, you could see the entire storyline of the crossover. There are no other extras like behind-the-scenes features, deleted scenes, or the like.
Overall, the show is very good. If you are someone like me, who only started watching the show because you like medical dramas, and did not watch the other Chicago-based shows, it is enjoyable as just a medical drama. If, however, you are a fan of the other shows, you can enjoy the crossovers and mini-crossovers throughout the season. For me, pretty much all medical dramas stack up against ER. While I would not say that Med is as good as ER, it is still very good (the name of the Hospital from ER is even named-dropped in Med). It does have a bit of soap-operaishness to it with romance storylines (although not as much in the first season as it would have in later seasons), but it mainly focuses on the medical storylines. It is well-written and acted, and definitely worth checking out.
Thursday, May 19, 2022
DVD/TV Series Review: Chicago Fire Season 2
For those who get the DVD set, the extras are pretty much the same as with the season one release. Each episode gets a behind-the-scenes featurette. Most of them run for 2-3 minutes and some are a bit longer. The pilot episode of Chicago PD and the second part of the two-show crossover are included, and then there is a web series entitled "I am a firefighter" featuring mostly the "b characters".
Overall, the show is well-written and acted, and has a good mix of action and drama with some humor (not exactly comedy) mixed in as well. The characters continue to be developed well and the large ensemble cast is juggled fairly well (although the cast is clearly broken into main characters and supporting characters). If you liked season one, then there is a good chance you will like this one as well. On the other hand, if the first season did not do much for you (or you straight up did not like it), then this season is probably not going to change your mind about the show.
Sunday, May 1, 2022
DVD/TV Series Review: Chicago Fire Season One
For those who get the DVD set, the extras include several behind-the-scenes featurettes of varying length, but mostly in the 3-4 minute range, and then a series of in-character podcasts by Otis (played by Yuri Sardarov). So, if you like going through the bonus material, there is quite a bit there.
Overall, the show is a good mix of action and drama with a little bit of humor mixed in. It juggles the large ensemble cast well and really does a good job developing the characters which is crucial for a procedural drama. It is well-written and very well acted, so if you are a fan of story-of-the-week procedural shows, this is definitely worth checking out.
Thursday, October 21, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago Med Season 6
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago PD Season 8
Monday, October 18, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago Fire Season 9
Thursday, October 7, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago PD Season 7
Friday, October 1, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago Fire Season 8
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago PD Season Six
Friday, September 17, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago Fire Season 7
Saturday, September 4, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago PD Season 5
Saturday, August 21, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago Fire Season 6
Sunday, August 8, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago Justice Season One
Sunday, August 1, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago PD Season 4
Thursday, July 22, 2021
DVD Review: Chicago Fire Season 5