Workout Update: Power-90 Day 44

 Day 44 was my last cardio 1-2 workout, and it was the best I have done so far. I was even able to do a handful of "regular" cross-hops, which by this point was my weakest of all the moves in the cardio sequence. Today will be my last sculpt 1-2 workout, and I start the 3-4 workouts tomorrow. I am definitely looking forward to what the next 45 days brings.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Suicide Squad

 

Suicide Squad is a 2016 action/superhero film directed by David Ayer and starring Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Will Smith, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Cara Delevingne, Jay Hernandez, David Harbour, Common, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje,  Ike Barinholtz, and Karen Fukuhara. The story is that ARGUS, headed by Amanda Waller (played wonderfully by Viola Davis) forces a bunch of inmates, some with metahuman abilities to covertly battle threats that the government cannot handle, knowing that the government can disavow them and throw them under the bus if things go sideways. And, to force their cooperation, nanite bombs are implanted in their necks, in order to kill anyone who wants to try and escape. The movie is set after Batman v. Superman. It references Superman's death, and Ben Affleck does have a couple of cameo appearances as Batman. And, the movie does do a bit of setup for the Justice League movie. 

The movie is mostly an origin story for the character of Harley Quinn (played by Margot Robbie) and, to some extent, Deadshot (played by Will Smith), and partly a mission story of the team trying to take down a 1000-year-old witch (played by Cara Delevingne). The team is headed by Special Forces officer Rick Flag (played by Joel Kinnaman, best known for the series The Killing), who tries to keep the bad guys in line. The movie also reintroduces the live-action Joker, played by Jared Leto, whose take on the character was totally different from any prior version of the character. Almost a punk rocker version of him. Leto was apparently pretty crazy devoted to the role in real life and did a very good job being psychotic. 

The big controversy over the movie is the extensive reshoots that WB forced Ayers to do to make the movie more like an MCU movie. His version would have had much less comedy, no pop songs, and would have been much more of a dark drama/action combination. After the Snyder Cut of Justice League was actually released, fans are now clamoring for an Ayer's cut of this movie. Whether it will actually come to pass remains to be seen. This is a movie that quite unfairly gets shit on (mostly by critics), as most of the DCEU movies have. That said, it is not a perfect movie and would have been better (I think) if they had stuck to director David Ayer's vision and not tried to make it a clone of Guardians of the Galaxy, and just had a bunch of misfits that quip at each other.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the movie looks and sounds great in HD. There are over an hour's worth of extras, including several making-of and behind-the-scenes features and a gag reel. Definitely, a lot if you like going through the bonus material. There are also two cuts of the movie: the theatrical version, which clocks in at just over two hours, including the credits, and an extended version that really just has some extended scenes in it and adds about 12 minutes of footage to the theatrical cut. 

Overall, the movie is much better than it was made out to be. I do think WB would have been better served to follow the MCU format of introducing the main characters in stand-alone movies before they got to the team-up movies. I think this movie would have worked a lot better if there was a stand-alone Batman movie that introduced this version of Joker and Harley Quinn in order to set up her capture, and then had the Suicide Squad movie be a follow up to that, instead of just throwing a bunch of new characters into a movie that only fans of the comics or Batman the Animated series would be familiar with. That said, it is still a good movie that could have been great if the studio had left it alone and let Ayer make the movie he wanted to.

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 42

 Day 42 was my second to last sculpt 1-2 workout. I was again able to max out on the 15 reps on a couple of exercises, and I hit another personal best (27) on chair dips (using bent knees still). So, overall, I am liking where I am at getting toward the halfway point of the Power-90 base program. I have found I am near the same weights for the exercises where I was maxing out at 8-10 reps before, so I am definitely getting stronger. And, I have managed to avoid tennis elbow so far (knock on wood) so I have not had to scale back any of the weights. My weight has been the same, but I can definitely tell that my jeans are getting looser in the waist, which is a very good thing.

Workout Update: Power-90 day 41

 Day 41 was just a rest day. I had planned on incorporating T25's stretch workout on Sundays as an alternate to rest days, but so far I have not done that. So, my plan is to start with that next week and do it for the last 45 days of Power-90, and then when I do the masters series workouts, use P90x's stretch workout during that 8-week phase. Which, hopefully, will get me set to do the P90x yoga workout (yes all hour and a half) once I start that. Because, honestly, the 4 minutes of yoga at the beginning of the Power-90 sweat workouts does not prepare you for P90x yoga by itself.

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 40

 Day 40 was cardio and abs again. This workout went very well, and I was able to make it through the entire workout without having to slow down or pause. And, I was able to do cross hops closer to the non-modified version in the video. I still did have to modify but, was able to do more of a skip jump than just a fast cross step. So, I think I am ready to get to the 3-4 workouts, which I will start on Wednesday.

Book Review: The Reckoning: Our Nation's Trauma and How to Fix It

 

The Reckoning is a book from 2021 by Mary Trump, the niece of the former (and unfortunately current) "president", whom she only refers to by his first name. It is, in part, a follow-up to her book "Too Much and Never Enough," which gave an inside look at life in her family, at least as she experienced it, and explained a lot about why the members of the family, including her uncle, are the way they are. And, it is, in part, a history lesson that rarely, if ever, gets taught in America. 

This book looks at the history of the United States as a whole, especially the period after the Civil War, to explain why the country got to a point where a person like t***p ever got anywhere near the White House. She specifically points to the failure of the United States to hold the traitorous Confederates like Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis accountable for their crimes as a through-line to not holding Nixon accountable for his, and allowing t***p to skate by (at least so far) for his. She does a very good job breaking down actual American history (what the RWNJs call critical race theory) and how the slaves were freed with no assistance afterward, and then held down by what became a fascist state in the south and ignored by Northerners who did not care what came of them after being freed. She kind of bounces back and forth between a history lesson and the trump administration policies that ultimately flowed from the ashes of that history.

While she does discuss specific aspects of the t***p administration (with a heavy emphasis on the final year or so) and t***p himself (again exposing just how big a fraud he actually is) the focus is more on the system that allowed him to come to power and the hold he has over the republican party and his drooling fans (most of whom he does not give two shits about). She, of course, heavily criticizes her uncle, but also criticizes past leaders, democrat and republican, for fostering a system that allowed the country to get to the ultra-polarized and dangerous state that it is in. She is very blunt in her criticism and does not sugarcoat or sanitize it.

It is a very short book (about 178 pages) and a fairly quick read. If you read quickly, it can easily be read in a day. Readability-wise, the only comment I have is that the font they used is pretty small, so if you are at the reading glasses stage of your life, it may not be easy on your eyes. It is a book that serves both as a history lesson and a warning. Unfortunately, not enough people heeded the warning, and we are where we are now. While the time to read it was back in 2021, it is worth reading today. 

DVD Review: Chicago Fire Season 6

 

The sixth season of Chicago Fire picks up right at the point where Season 5 ended, with many of the squad and truck members trapped (again) in an out-of-control fire, and Mouch, of course suffering a heart attack in the middle of it. Chances are fans of the show know the outcome, but I will not spoil it for anyone going in cold, (although the cover of the DVD gives hints as to what cast members returned to the show).

There are several overarching story arcs that progress throughout the season. Among them being Severide and Kidd's sexual tension, Gabby and Matt's strained relationship, Borden's potential for a promotion (a storyline that brings in Gary Cole about 2/3 of the way through the season as a rival for Boden), and a great story arc involving Otis (finally). The show does a good job giving most of the characters substantial material and balancing the action of the rescue scenes with the more soap-opera-like elements of the character's personal lives. And, there is a pretty good dig at the Chicago Justice cancelation in the first episode.

For those who get the DVD set, they are now full MOD DVDs with nothing to speak of for extras. The only extra is the Chicago PD episode from the season's two-show crossover. There was no crossover episode from Chicago Med this season, although characters from Med did appear on the show every so often. So, the only real reason to get the DVD if you are one that only gets physical media when there are a lot of bonus features is to complete an existing collection. Otherwise, you are not missing anything if you just stream it.

Overall, the show is still solid. Of course, Dick Wolff's production company pretty much specializes in producing long-running drama series (Chicago Justice not included), so it really feels like a show that can go on for as long as the network keeps renewing it or the bulk of the main cast returns. 

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 39

 Day 39 was the sculpt 1-2 workout again. I will have two more of this one before moving on to the 3-4 workouts. I was able to hit the 15 rep max on two more exercises, so I will be increasing the amount of weight for those in Monday's workout. Aside from that, most of my rep counts are in the 12-13 range. I can definitely tell I am getting stronger though so I should be in a good position to increase the weight to a point where I max out at 10 reps when I move on to P90x in a couple of months. 

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 38

 Day 38 was cardio and abs again. I was able to get through the workout without much of an issue and was able to do at least some of the moves a bit faster than the pace set in the video. I still have a ways to go to get back in shape, but I am progressing. 

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

 

This is the fifth book in the original series of seven novels in the Harry Potter world. Of course, more have been added over the years and the universe of Harry Potter has expanded beyond the original set of books. It is set in the fifth year of Ron, Harry, and Hermoine at Hogwarts. Harry and Dumbledore are being discredited by the Ministry Of Magic for saying Voldemort has returned, and as a result, the Ministry tries to take over Hogwarts by installing one of the worst characters (meaning one of the best "bad guy" characters) from the series, Deloris Umbridge, at Hogwarts. She is first installed as the new defense against the dark arts teacher, then accumulates more power. 

This is again another very long book (840 pages) and because it was not (unlike Deathly Hallows) split into two movies, there is a lot in the book that the movie cut out or changed heavily to fit the time constraints. There is a lot more at the beginning of the book than there was in the movie, there was a lot more to the Order and what they were up to, and there was a lot more of the Harry-Voldemort mind connection. And, of course, there was a whole storyline with Hermoine and SPEW that had been removed from The Goblet of Fire movie adaptation, so the continuation in this novel was totally left out of the movie.  The book is also darker (yet again) than the prior book and since the idea is that kids would be reading it when they were around 14-15 years old, they would be able to handle more violence and death than when they were 9 or 10 (about the ages that first novel was appropriate for). 

The style of the book is much like the others. It takes longer to read than the first three novels only because it is over twice as long as those books were. But in terms of readability and how easy it is to follow, it is on par with the shorter novels. And, as I have said about the other novels, even though they are technically kids' books, adults can easily enjoy them as well. That is true whether you read them as a kid and are now an adult, or read them for the first time as an adult.  The stories hold up very well over time, and are definitely worth coming back to.

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 37

 Day 37 marked a week from the transition from the 1-2 workouts to the 3-4 workouts, which are mostly just longer versions of the 1-2 workouts. Most of the actual exercises in the workouts are the same, they just go longer or they get added on to. For example, in the cardio workout, instead of two rounds of three moves, there are 4 rounds of the three moves (except for the kicking portion, which stays the same as in the 1-2 workouts). And the ab-ripper 200 workout is the same 10 exercises, just doing 20 reps of each exercise instead of 10. In the sculpt workout, there is an additional "block" of moves and some of the exercises in the original three blocks get modified a bit. For example, instead of the set of 7 wide, 7 tri, and 7 standard width push-ups, that move gets changed to 7 wide, 7 tri, and as many standard width push-ups as you can do. It is aptly named wide-tri-die. So, as I said in a prior post, there is a ton of repetition in Power-90, but given that it is really meant to prepare you for the harder workouts of p90x and provide you with a solid base to work from, that is not necessarily a bad thing. 

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 36

 Day 36 was cardio and abs. It went about the same as the past couple of times has. The one move I still struggle with in the main part of the workout is the cross hops. And, there are a couple of the ab exercises that I still have to modify the form on. But otherwise, I am ready to move to the 3-4 version of the workout.

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 35

 Day 35 was the sculpt workout again and marked the start of the last 10 days of the 1-2 workouts. I was able to hit 15 reps on 1 exercise today (the shoulder flys), and got close (13-14 reps) on a couple others. I can also do 22 bent knee triceps chair dips, so in the 3-4 workouts I will be doing the straight leg dips. Hopefully, once I get to p90x I will be able to do the version where I alternate the leg lifts. I will be back tomorrow with another update.

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 34

 Day 34 was a rest day again. It was also my "free day" when it comes to food. I have found that, after a couple of months of carb cycling, that even on my free days, in which I tend to eat more junk food, I cannot really overeat anymore on the free days. On my "regular" days I tend to be in the 2200 calorie range, give or take, and on the free days I tend to be in the 2500 calorie range (occasionally I can go higher than that, but not much higher). But I definitely cannot house 5000 to 10,000 calories in junk food on free days like I could when I was in my early 20s doing free days on my first round of Body For Life. 

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 33

 Day 33 was cardio and abs. It was a bit slower a workout today for me as I did not have a lot of energy, and waited until later in the evening to do it. That said, I was still able to make it through and burned only slightly fewer calories than I normally do. 

Workout Update: Power- 90 Day 32

 Day 32 was the sculpt 1-2 workout again. I was again able to hit the max 15 reps on a couple more of the exercises so I will be bumping up weight again on Monday for those. For the weights that I bumped up for this workout, my rep count went to about 10-11 before I was maxing out. I am also able to do more push-ups and get a better range of motion on them. So, overall, things are progressing well. I will update again tomorrow.

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 31

 Day 31 was cardio and abs again. I was a bit tired during the cardio portion, but on the plus side, this was probably the best I did on the Yoga warm-up since starting. I definitely have a love-hate relationship with Yoga. I like to do it but even when I am in shape am not very flexible, so it is difficult. I love that this workout has a very basic intro to Yoga as opposed to a separate workout like p90x, x-2 and x-3 do, because it is a way to gradually get used to it (or back into it, as the case may be). Anyway, I will be back tomorrow with another update.

4kUHD/Movie Review: Almost Famous

 

Almost Famous is a 2000 film starring Kate Hudson, Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, Anna Paquin, Jason Lee, Zooey Deschanel, Fairuza Balk, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Frances McDormand. The movie is a semi-autobiographical story of the life of writer/director Cameron Crowe (who also wrote the screenplay for the great coming of age movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High and directed Jerry McGuire) about his time in the early 1970s as a writer for Rolling Stone, specifically about his time on the road with the Allman Brothers Band in 1973. 

In the movie, William Miller, played by Patrick Fugit, ends up on the road with a fictional band called Stillwater. The main band members were played by Jason Lee (who up to that point was mainly known as playing smartass characters in Kevin Smith's movies) as lead singer Jeff Bebe and Billy Crudup as lead guitarist Russell Hammond. Miller ends up joining the band on tour (basically dropping out of his senior year of high school at age 15) and has unparalleled access to the band despite being the "Enemy" as a journalist. The band is also followed by Band-Aids (basically glorified groupies) led by Penny Lane (played by Kate Hudson in her first major role), Anna Paquin, and Fairuza Balk. The movie sports an A-list supporting cast, including Frances McDormand as William's overbearing mother, Zooey Deschanel as William's sister, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs. Actors who would later become recognizable, if not A-Listers themselves, such as Eric Stonestreet (best known for his role on Modern Family) and Jay Baruchel, also appear. Jimmy Fallon appears in what amounts to a great, extended cameo role. 

The movie basically gives an insider's look at the rock scene at the time and does not sugarcoat the sex and drugs that went along with it. The film boasts a fantastic soundtrack that any fan of 1970s music will appreciate. The acting and writing are both top-notch, and despite being a now 20-year-old movie (as of this writing) that is essentially a period piece set almost 30 years before the film was made, it holds up well. Hudson was great as Penny Lane, making her both mysterious and vulnerable simultaneously, and Fugit does a great job playing William despite being very young. 

The 4k-UHD remaster looks and sounds great. There are two 4K-UHD discs, one with the theatrical version of the movie and the extras, and one with the Bootleg cut (that adds over half an hour of extra footage). The first disc includes the original extras in the DVD release and new material made during 2019, including an interview with Cameron Crowe from his yard during the pandemic, where he shares his view of the movie now 20+ years later. All in all, there are about two hours' worth of extras, the longest feature being the original making-of featurette that clocked in at about 25 minutes.  

Overall, the movie is wonderful, and this set is a must for anyone who is a fan of the film, especially if you love bonus features. Some people like the bootleg cut more than the theatrical version. While I think the scenes in the bootleg cut added somewhat to the overall story, I would not say it was significantly better than the theatrical cut. They are both outstanding. It is definitely worth the pickup. 

Product Review: Cirkul Water Bottle and Flavored Sips

Cirkul is an innovative water bottle that can replace flavored water and things like Crystal Light or Kool-Aid on the go packets. It is a water bottle that has a lid essentially with a hole in it. A flavored "sip", which is a cylindrical cartridge that screws into the hole in the lid, and when assembled forms the cap. The cap has a "straw-like" structure that you drink through. You have to tip the bottle like a regular water bottle and at the same time suck through the cap to get the flavor in the sip to mix with the water. Here is a picture of the bottle with a sip inserted into the cap.

There are a few advantages over something like Crystal Light on the go packs. First, you do not have to use disposable plastic bottles, so it cuts way down on waste. Second, the flavoring from the sip does not go into the water bottle. At least not in large amounts, You suck the water through the cap to get the flavor out, so the bottle does not get slimy and scuzzy. And, anyone who has ever used the Crystal Light on the go packs in a permanent water bottle knows you have to clean them after almost every use to keep them clean. And, probably the biggest advantage is that you can use the dial on the sip to control how much flavoring you get. If you want straight water and no flavoring, you turn it to what is essentially zero, and if you want the max flavor, you turn it to 9. I have only tried the peach-mango flavored sip so far, and using a setting of three for the amount of flavor is perfect for me. And, I find that setting makes the water taste pretty comparable to the Crystal Light peach mango packets. Depending on what setting you have it on, you get approximately 132 ounces of water (or six fill-ups of the bottle) per sip. 

Cirkul has various options for trying its products. You can build your own bundle with a bottle, the cap, and however many sips you want. You can also subscribe to a monthly program that allows you to have whatever sips you want to be sent to you monthly. I made my own bundle, choosing about 10 sips (they have over 40 flavors) and a chill sleeve (a sleeve that you can put on the bottle to keep it from "sweating" as much if you put ice in the bottle and keep it cold longer). The bundle costs about $65. As you purchase more, you save more (up to 25% off your order). You can also order extras like a lid without the bottle (the lids can fit on most regular water bottles) a sip keeper that will allow you to remove a sip and keep it fresh (otherwise you have to put it back in the package the sip comes in, which cannot really be resealed). The regular price for the sips is about $3.50, which is pretty comparable to the cost of a pack of 10 on-the-go packets of Crystal Light (a bit more expensive than the generic offshoots). You will get about 6 bottles of water per sip (give-or-take), so you definitely get more per serving from crystal light, but each of the crystal light packets has about 15 empty calories and if you drink 2-3 per day (or more) that can add up. Whereas the sip flavoring has no calories so you are basically drinking straight water. Plus, if you use the lower setting for the flavor, you will probably get more like 7 or 8 bottles. 

I plan to get another bundle so I can get a second lid and the sip keeper and then will very likely subscribe to the monthly plan once I figure out which sips I really like. So, if you want to get yourself off of soda, and/or still want to have flavored water without wasting plastic bottles, this is a very good option. I definitely recommend it. You can purchase the bottle and sips at the following site: https://drinkcirkul.com/

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 30

 Day 30 was the sculpt 1-2 workout again. I was able to increase the weight from the last workout on Monday for a few exercises and I definitely felt the effect of doing so. On a couple of them, I could only get to 10 reps before maxing out. My push-ups are getting better, but are still my weak point. But, I am doing them all on my toes, none on my knees. I have 15 more days of 1-2 workouts and then start the 3-4 workouts. I will post another update tomorrow and then will have another product review posted in the next couple of days.

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 30

 Day 30 was cardio and abs. This one was much better than the last time I did this workout this past Saturday when I had no energy at all. I have 15 more days of the 1-2 workouts and then will start the 3-4 workouts. Those will go for 45 days and then I will do the Power 90 masters series workouts for 8 weeks before I start p90x. I will either do p90x with the band modifications for the pull-ups or use my pull-up assist to try and do as many reps as I can. That will depend, in large part, on how much more weight I can drop by the time I start p90x. If I can get down below 210 (which means losing about 11 more pounds) I will probably use the pull-up assist, but if I am above that I will at least start phase one of p90x using the bands doing the pull-downs. But, we will see what happens when the time comes.

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 29

 Day 29 was the sculpt workout again. I was able to hit the 15 rep max on three exercises today, so I will be increasing the weight on those on Wednesday. Overall, this was a much better workout than I had on Saturday. I had a lot more energy and got through it without an issue. We will see if that continues with the cardio workout tonight. I will be back with another update tomorrow.

Workout Update: Power 90- Day 28

 Day 28 was my rest day, so there was nothing new to report. Hopefully, I will have more energy for tonight's workout than I did for my workout on Saturday, but we will see how that goes. I will post another update tomorrow.

DVD Review: Chicago Justice Season One

 

Chicago Justice is the answer to how many Chicago-based dramas were too many before fans lost interest? The answer being four. It was, back in 2017, a part of the massive Dick Wolff (of Law and Order, and Chicago Fire, PD, and Med fame) productions. It basically was set in court (most of the time) and tackled a lot of heavy issues during its run (such as gun control, racism, gang violence, etc.). Of course, this could really be titled Chicago Justice The Complete Series because it only lasted one partial season, never making it past the initial run of thirteen episodes (13.5 if you count the backdoor pilot that it got in the third season of Chicago PD).

The series starred Phillip Winchester as Illinois assistant State's Attorney Phillip Stone, Carl Weathers as his boss, Monaca Barbaro as the junior assistant State's Attorney Anna Valdez, Joelle Carter (best known for her role in the series Justified) as Laura Nagel, who, along with Jon Seda's character Antonio Dawson who came over from Chicago PD, were investigators for the State's Attorney's office.

As I said, the show dealt with a lot of heavy topics, and actually got a lot of the law and some of the courtroom stuff right. Of course, legal dramas have to take a lot of liberty with courtroom scenes because the way things play out (for the most part) in real-life courtrooms are pretty boring and would not make for good television. I think what hurt the series was twofold. First, there was never anything more than superficial glimpses into the characters' lives outside of work. The audience never really got to know what the characters did in their "regular" lives, so it was hard to care about them. And, the show did not lean enough on the other Chicago-based series. The series premiere started out as the third part of a crossover with Fire and PD, but really after that, characters from the other shows just made cameo appearances. I think the show would have benefitted from having more of the PD storylines bleed into Justice, kind of as a setup to the courtroom dramas. Instead, you had everything wrapped up in a bow by the end of the episode from the initial investigation to the jury verdict. Certainly, that did not have to be the case with every show, but I think using the more established Chicago PD to help this one get its footing until it could stand completely on its own would have been a good idea. And, since it had already ended its season before the next season pickups were announced, it was never given a proper series finale. 

Overall, the series was good and should have had more rope than it was given. The acting was very good, and the writing, while it was not as good as it could have been, was better than it got credit for. There are no DVD extras beyond the Fire and PD episodes that make up the "One Chicago" crossover event to start the series off. So, really the only reason to get the DVD over streaming is if you have the sets for the other shows and want this one to make a complete collection.

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 27

 Day 27 was cardio and abs. Yesterday was definitely a struggle for me. I did not have a lot of energy and was not all that motivated to work out. But, I struggled through it, definitely having to slow down a bit more than usual, and managed to finish it. It was definitely not my best workout, and probably my worst since starting Power-90, but I did the best I could and finished the entire workout and ab-ripper 100.