DVD Review: The Good Doctor Season 3

 

Season three of The Good Doctor starts shortly after the events ending season two, with Shaun asking Carly out on a date. Said date ensures, about as you would expect, and the rest of the season pretty much is centered around Shaun's interpersonal relationships. That is not to say that the medical aspects of the show are ignored, but the procedural case-of-the-week stuff does kind of take a backseat to the more soap operaish elements.

All of the major characters get storylines of varying degrees. Claire and Morgan each get major storylines and a lot of character development. Antonia Thomas and Fiona Gublemann really shine in their roles this year, and each will have major arcs going into season four (at least they are set up to be major arcs). The season does not really end on a cliffhanger, but more of a shock that will have a huge impact on the hospital. 

For those who get the DVD set, the twenty episodes are spread over five discs. The only extras are on the last disc, and those include a short gag reel (about 4 minutes) and 21 minutes of deleted scenes. There are no commentary tracks or behind-the-scenes material.

Overall, the series continues to be very well acted and pretty well written. As I said above, the focus of this year is a lot more on the various character relationships than the medical cases. And yes, there is a lot of sex talk, which does turn some people off. But, it is still a medical drama, and the medical cases are still important to the show. Freddie Highmore's acting continues to be top-notch. He can go from playing Shaun as unintentionally funny to sad, to angry on a dime. Some of his best acting is in an episode toward the end of the season in which Shaun's father is dying of cancer and Shaun goes to see him on his death bed. I cannot say that everyone will like the direction the show went in this year, but I think most fans of the show will still like it. 

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

 

This is, of course, the book that launched the multi-billion dollar franchise about the orphaned boy named Harry Potter that finds out he is a Wizard when he turns 10 years old, and has been accepted to Hogwart's School for Witches and Wizards. It would eventually spawn seven books, eight movies, a spin-off series, and a play. For the few who do not know the story, this book basically establishes Harry learning that his parents were Wizards and killed by an evil wizard named Voldemort, who also tried to kill Harry as an infant. The attempt to kill Harry failed, and Harry was sent by Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts to live with his aunt and uncle and then chronicles his first year at Hogwarts where he meets two schoolmates who would become his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger. 

For those who have seen the movie but have not yet read the book, this is the shortest of the novels so it has the least amount of material removed in the movie adaptation. That said, the movie did change some things and did shorten some sequences. For example, the opening sequence with the Dursleys is more extended in the novel and things like the trip to the zoo play out a bit differently than was shown in the movie. But, all the main plot points from the book ended up in the movie, especially once Harry gets to Hogwarts, so that will not be much different.

The book is age-appropriate for kids about 10-11 years old and up. Rowling intended that the kids reading it would be about the same age as the characters in the book, so for the first novel around 10-11 years old. The books get increasingly darker and more adult with each new book, but really for this book a kid only really needs to understand the concept of death and "good guys" versus "bad guys". Otherwise, the novel is pretty tame. It has a good blend of humor, action, and suspense, and touches on themes of family, friends, right vs. wrong, and the like. Even though it is technically a "kids book" it is enjoyable enough for an adult, and even though it was written in the mid to late 1990s, it holds up well enough to be enjoyable even years later. It can easily be enjoyed by people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, etc., whether your first experience with the Harry Potter universe was as a young kid, as a teenager, or (as in my case) as an adult because of watching the movies. And, because it is only a few hundred pages and meant for young kids to be able to read it, adults who are fairly quick readers can probably get through it in a couple of days without a problem

Ultimately, by now anyone reading this likely knows enough about Harry Potter to know the overall story and knows whether they like it or not. But, if you are just getting introduced to the series and are looking at the reviews if you are into fantasy novels or themes like magic, this is definitely worth reading. While it is nowhere near the best book of the series, it does a good job establishing the main characters, telling the stand-alone portion of the story, inviting the Sorcerer's Stone, and setting up what is to come down the line. 

Product Review: Altus Athletic Pull-up Bar

 

This is a sturdy pull-up bar. One drawback is that the mounting brackets may be a bit too large for your particular door frame, at which point you will have to determine if you want to send it back or damage the door frame to install it. There are things that flip up from the bracket that kind of secure the bar into the bracket, which, depending on the size of your door jam, may not flip all the way open unless you take a chunk out of the wood. If they cannot flip all the way up, the bar will not go into the brackets. Damaging the wood is not a big deal if you own your home, but could definitely be a big deal if you are renting. Either way, you have to screw the mounting bracket into the door frame, which, if you are renting, may not be allowed anyway.

The other drawback is that once the bar is in the brackets it can be very hard to get it out of them. It is definitely secure in the brackets and really, the things that flip up from the brackets are totally useless because it is secure in the brackets whether those are flipped up or down. But, when you want to take the bar off the door, getting it out can be a pain. 

That said, once the thing is on, it is sturdy. I have never felt like the bar was ever going to come out of the brackets or that the brackets were going to come loose from the door frame. So, if you can live with the drawbacks, this is definitely a good option, and much safer than some of the "no-install" pull-up bars. 

Product Review: LPOW Forehead Thermometer

 

This is a fairly standard forehead/no-touch thermometer. It is powered by two AAA batteries, which are included. It can be operated in two modes, body and surface. The first is exactly what it sounds like, taking your body temperature. The second is for taking the surface temperature of objects. You can also set it to display degrees Fahrenheit or Degrees Celsius. The main trick that I have found is when taking your body temperature, it is best to aim low on your forehead. The instructions kind of say this, but not explicitly. My only real complaint is about the instruction booklet. It is pretty small and the print is tiny. So, if you are over the age of 40 and your eyes have begun to change so you need reading glasses or progressive lenses, the instruction manual will be a chore to try and read. Just from messing with the buttons on the unit, I can tell that there are some other settings/features, but I am not in a big hurry to try to read through the instructions to figure them out. But, if you want it just for taking your temperature, without the need for sticking a thermometer in your mouth, this is a good option. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 32

Day 32 was the back and biceps workout, and again using ab-ripper as the warm-up. Ab-ripper went well. I mostly did 20 reps on the exercises again, but there were a couple of them that I could hit all 25 reps. As for the main workout, I really like the back and biceps workout. It alternates between the two muscle groups switching between two back exercises and two bicep exercises. One of the back exercises is some variation of a pull-up, and the other is something like lawnmowers, a version of heavy pants, back flys, etc. The total time is about 51 minutes including warm-up and cool down, so it goes very quickly. It is very challenging and will give you a good pump. So far, phase 2 is going well, even though the overall schedule got turned around a bit. 

Book Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

 

Fantastic Beasts is, of course, the prequel to the Harry Potter series, set in the same universe, but in the mid to late 1920s as opposed to the early1990s, which was when Harry Potter started at Hogwarts in the novels. Unlike the Harry Potter books, this is not a novel. It is a screenplay for the movie. As such, it is pretty much, scene-for-scene, and word-for-word what you see in the movie. There are no "extra" or additional storylines included in the book that were not in the movie. It also, clearly, does not read like a novel, but more like a script. 

The story is set in New York in the mid-1920s. Newt Scamander (who coincidentally writes a book of the same name that Harry has to purchase for class years later) travels from England to New York in order to release a creature into its natural habitat. He has a run-in with a Muggle (or no-maj as they are called in the United States) named Jacob Kowalski and in the process, a creature called a Niffler, which is pretty much a kleptomaniac gets out and starts causing havoc. Newt's beasts also get blamed for wreaking destruction throughout the city which is actually caused by something more sinister.

While the story is set in the Harry Potter Universe, the story is definitely not a carbon copy of the Harry Potter story. Due in large part to the fact that most of the characters from the Harry Potter novels and movies are not yet born when this is set. The only characters that were seen or mentioned in Harry Potter that are established to be around now are Dumbledore (who is mentioned in the book) and Grindewold, who the book establishes as the main antagonist of the time period.  He is basically the Voldemort of his time, with a goal to start a war between the magical world and the nonmagical world. The other main characters in the book are Tina Goldstein who works at the US version of the Ministry of Magic and her sister Queenie, TIna's boss at the Perceval Graves and Credence Barebone 

Overall, the story is very good. I like the fact that it is different than the Harry Potter world. For example, wizards and no-majes in the US are totally separate from each other, and wizards and witches are forbidden to marry a no-maj. And, the story is not focusing on a young Dumbledore (at least not at this point), using Newt and Tina as main characters along with Queenie and Jacob. So, as long as you accept that this is not a carbon copy of Harry Potter, it is enjoyable. Although, I do think it would have been better as a traditional novel as opposed to just a screenplay which may be difficult for some people to stick with reading. 

DVD Review: Family Guy Season 15

 

Season 15 of Family Guy pretty much follows the same format that it has used. The episodes are all stand-alone stories of the week, but there are callbacks to old jokes and references to past episodes. By now, anyone who is thinking about buying the show, especially on DVD, knows what it is and what it is not. Like the more recent DVD releases, this is uncensored, so there is a lot stronger language than what can get broadcast on TV, including some f-bombs here and there. There are a lot of good episodes this season, but honestly, the season finale, "A House Full of Peters" was probably my favorite of the bunch. There is not really a stand-out episode this season (like the "Family Guy Presents" episodes in which Stewie and Brian go on some adventure) but there were not really any duds either.

This release is fairly light on bonus features. There are deleted scenes for every episode that run from a few seconds to a few minutes. There are no commentary tracks on any episodes or any interviews with the cast or anything like that. There are two tributes, one to Carrie Fisher and one to Adam West, who died in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The tribute to Fisher was mostly the writers talking about their love of Star Wars and how much they enjoyed working with her on the series. The tribute to West was basically a collection of the more memorable scenes of his character from the series with a tribute card at the end of it. 

Overall, the show is what it is. If you have been a fan, it is worth watching. If you have never been into it, this season will not change your mind. A case can certainly be made that the series is getting long in the tooth, but I think the writers continue to come up with good story ideas, so I do not think it has gotten to the point where it is totally stale, or the writers are not coming up with new ideas. So, if you are a fan of the show it is worth watching. Whether you think getting the DVD is worth it vs streaming, I do not know if the streaming versions are censored (I believe they are the broadcast versions), but that is one consideration, and you do get some bonus features that you will not see if you just stream it. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 31

 Day 31 was Kenpo-x on my altered schedule. It went fine. I again skipped that cold stretching that they do as the warm-up and just started with the workout itself using the twist and pivot and punches to warm-up. The workout went pretty much as it has the past couple of times I did it, so no big changes to report.

Book Review: Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama that Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11

 

Touching History is a book written by a former pilot and airline instructor, Lynn Spencer. It tells the story of 9/11 mainly from the perspective of the air traffic controllers and military personnel, starting at the time air traffic control lost contact with flight 11 and ending with the military patrols that were flying over all the major cities in the days after the 9/11 attacks. Therefore, the book does not focus much on what was happening in any of the buildings or even a ton about what was happening on the planes aside from talking about some of the things that were relayed from passengers or flight attendants to the airlines. She did not even focus much on the known discussions and messages left by passengers to their loved ones (with a few exceptions). 

The main takeaway from the book is just how unprepared everyone from air traffic control to the airlines, to the military, was for an attack like this. As anyone who grew up in the 1970s or 1980s remembers, when planes were hijacked they would force the pilots to land somewhere and have a list of demands they wanted to be met as they negotiated with authorities. There was almost never collateral damage on the ground, and planes were never used as missiles. So, it seemed that very few people had any real idea of what was actually going on even after American 11 hit the first tower, really until Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. The book also details experiences of other flights, some of which were considered to be hijacks even after they landed safely, and details one flight that was very likely a 5th plane that would have been hijacked (that was never mentioned in the 9/11 report) had it got in the air (it was caught up in the ground stop) that had 4 or 5 Arab men sitting in first class who ditched their luggage when the plane went back to the terminal in which box cutters and Al-Queda documents were found. It also details the chaos both from the FAA standpoint and pilots in the air when the ground-stop order was issued and trying to land all of the planes currently in the air or coming to the US from overseas. 

Overall, the book is very well written and has a lot of detail that has not been widely revealed to the public. It is more of a just presenting the facts kind of book, but the author does a great job conveying the emotion that the various people involved had while the events were unfolding. She also does a great job conveying the inability of the FAA and air traffic control to effectively communicate with the military because they were all using different systems and different lingo, and how even the different branches of the military had a hard time communicating with each other. I would consider this a must-read for anyone who is into history or just researching, or interested in learning about, the events of 9/11.

Workout Update: P90X Day 30

 Day 30 was the Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps workout and ab-ripper. I again used ab-ripper as a warmup doing 20 reps for each move. Then, the main workout was the first resistance workout of phase two. I will be honest, I am not a huge fan of this workout (mainly because I hate all of the push-up moves they are doing). I liked the push-up exercises from the Chest and Back workout, but hate pretty much every single move in this one. I do like the shoulders and triceps moves that they picked for this workout, but that is the only redeeming quality for me. This was supposed to be the Day 29 workout, but this week's schedule got turned around, but I am going to adjust as I need to and keep at it.

Workout Update: P90X Day 29

 Day 29 was the beginning of phase two. It was supposed to be the Chest, Shoulders and Triceps workout, but I swapped with Plyometrics so I could do a shorter workout since my schedule was thrown off by an emergency errand. Plyo went pretty well, although my body did have to adjust a little to it since I had not done it in over a week. I still have to modify some moves (like the guitar hops) but I am getting better on others (like the jump-knee-tucks). Anyway, the schedule will be a bit out of wack this week, but I am going to adjust and keep going.

Workout Update P90x Day 28

 Day 28 was Yoga x, the last day of the recovery week. I did most of the workout (up to yoga belly 7). and for the harder moves at the end of the moving asana series (warrior 3, half moon, etc.) I used a chair to balance myself, which worked very well. It was a lot easier to do it that way than to fall all over the place if I try to do them without the chair. Hopefully, by the end of the 90 days I will be able to do them without a chair assist and without losing my balance every two seconds. 

Workout Update: P90x Day 27

 Day 27 was x-stretch again. I was going to do yoga, but as I do a lot, switched them up. Nothing really to report on this one. As I said the last time, I can tell I am getting a bit more flexible, but definitely not as flexible as I would like to be. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 26

 Day 26 was the second time of doing Core Synergistics in the recovery week. While I still do not like the workout all that much, I did feel it went a bit better than the first go-around. I still cannot do a full Dreya Roll to save my life, even a full modified one, and bow-to-boat was still very hard, but otherwise the rest of the moves were better than when I did it on Monday.

Workout Update: P90X Day 25

 Day 25 was x-stretch, which is done once as a part of the regular schedule in the recovery week and then once optionally (on day 7 if you want to do it). As I have said before, I really like this "workout" and try not to skip it if at all possible. I can definitely tell that I am getting more flexible in my hamstrings, although my back and hips are still very tight. But, in all of the moves that focus on the hamstrings, I am getting better. I have a few more days of the recovery week and then it is on to phase two. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 24

 Day 24 was Kenpo-x. It, and yoga, are the two main workouts that are repeated during the recovery week. Overall, it went fine. I had to do it a bit later in the day than I had planned, but I got it done and felt good afterward. I again skipped that 11 minutes of cold stretching that they do at the beginning, which drops it down to about 46 minutes.

Book Review: Star Wars The High Republic: A Test of Courage

 

A test of courage is a short story about a newly promoted Jedi Knight named Venestra Rwoh, who is given her first assignment to supervise a young inventor on a luxury starliner that is traveling to a space station called Starlight Beacon, which was opened after the hyperspace disasters. She is unique in that she was promoted to a full Jedi knight at the age of fifteen., so she is powerful, but still has teenage insecurities, which I think makes her a more interesting character. The ship is sabotaged by the Nihil, who have been the main antagonists of the High Republic novels, and Venestra becomes stranded on a moon with a Jedi Padawan whose master was killed in the first encounter with the Nihil, a couple of civilians, and a droid. The group has to survive not only the dangers of the moon itself but the threat posed by the Nihil.

As most probably know, the junior novels and young-adult novels are really telling ancillary stories to the main adult novels. They generally introduce some different characters or involve a side-mission that is tied into the main story, in this case, the conflict with the Nihil but is not as involved as the adult novels get. To that end, this is a good, but not great story. It is definitely more of a kid's book, but that does not mean adults cannot enjoy it. There is a bit less violence in it than the "main" canon novels have but there is still a lot of action in it (relative to how long the book is). The author also finds a way to incorporate the dark side of the force without it being in the Jedi vs. Sith context that has been in most of the novels, tv series, and movies. The Nihil make for good bad guys that present a challenge to the Jedi without being force users themselves. The book is relatively short, just over 200 pages, so it makes for a fairly quick read. While I do not think it is a book that most are likely to read over and over, it is a good short story ancillary to the main storyline.

Workout Update: P90X Day 23

 Day 23 was the first Core Synergistics workout. It is the workout that is done during the recovery weeks. It is honestly one of the workouts that I do not like all that much. Mainly because it has a couple of moves I really hate doing like the Dreya rolls. Mainly because I have never been able to do them all that well. There are some moves that use weight, but you are doing so many reps you really only need very light weights. For most of them, 3 lb weights were enough for me. There was only one move, the lunge, kickback, curl, press that 3 lbs weights were way too light for. Most of the moves do not require using any weight and are core-focused like bow, banana, and boat. Then there are a lot of push-up and plank-based moves in it. I definitely struggled with this workout but made it through. 

4k UHD Blu-Ray Review: No Time to Die

 

Rami Malek, Lea Seydoux, Naomie Harris, Michael G. Wilson, Lashana Lynch, Jeffrey Wright, Neal Purvis, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Ben Whishaw, Robert Wade, Daniel Craig, Barbara Broccoli

No Time to Die is the 25th overall Bond film and the final film in which Daniel Craig will be in the title role. As has been the case for all of Craig's films, this one is tied in with all the others and is a direct sequel to Spectre. While Christoph Waltz does return as Blofeld, the main villain of the movie is Safin, played by Rami Malek, who has a direct tie to Madeline Swann (again played by Lea Seydoux). In fact, the opening sequence of this movie does not involve Bond at all but shows the death of Madaline's mother when Madeline was a little girl. Then the movie jumps to the present where at Madaline's urging Bond visits Vesper's tomb in an attempt to get closure. He is ambushed by Spectre agents which sets off the big opening action scene. Of course, he survives and the movie does a five-year time jump at which point everything else plays out. 

The main plot involves the use of nanobots which can be used to kill specific people or even millions of people, which is what Safin intends to use them for. Bond has to take down Safin, but like everything comes with a price. All of the main cast returns for this installment, Including Jeffrey Wright. Ralph Fiennes, and Naomi Harris. Lashana Lynch is introduced as the newest 00, even taking up the 007 designation when Bond is retired. Ana De Armas is introduced as Poloma, a CIA agent operating in Cuba. She definitely fits the "Bond Girl" model, including the dress they had her fighting in. She was not in the movie for long, but the time she was in it was definitely memorable. I will not spoil anything, but as you can imagine not every character makes it out unscathed, but it is made clear that Bond will return in some form down the line. 

For those who get the 4k set, the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. And, all of the bonus features are included on the UHD disc and start playing immediately after the credits if you let the credits roll all the way to the end. The longest of the bonus features is a 45 minute or so retrospective on Craig's Bond from the controversy regarding the announcement that he got the role to his last day on set during No Time to Die. Then there are a few shorter featurettes on the making of the movie. Not a ton of bonus material, but what was included was good.

Overall, I really liked the movie. I think it was a fitting end to this era of the Bond franchise, and leaves open the possibility of a hard reboot of the franchise or continuing with at least some of the characters that were introduced in the last few movies. It is definitely worth watching even if you are a casual Bond fan, or just want to watch a good action movie.

Workout Update: P90X Day 22

 Day 22 was the first day of the recovery week, which meant doing Yoga-X again. For this one, I went up to the Yoga belly 7 exercises and then bailed out of it. But, I did do all of the moving asanas, even warrior three and the half-moon series, but I used a chair to keep my balance since I could not get to the floor with my hands. I don't think I will ever like this workout, but I can tell that I am getting better at it, little by little. Years ago when I was in better shape I could do most of the moves (pretty much everything but shoulder stand into plow and wheel). I could even do crane for about 30 seconds. But, I am basically starting at square one again. I really wish the Power-90 Master's Series would have had a full beginner yoga workout that would have been a transition to this workout. That is the one thing that the Master's Series lacked. At the beginning of the cardio 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6 workouts there were some sun salutations that were done as a warm-up, but they lasted a total of about four minutes, which is not nearly enough preparation for this workout. Going from essentially no yoga in power-90 to a very long program with some very advanced moves in p90x was the one thing I think the two workouts series did wrong. 

4k UHD Blu-Ray Review: Spectre

 

Spectre is the 24th James Bond movie and the fourth with Daniel Craig in the role of Bond. It begins in Mexico City where Bond, acting on a posthumous message from M (Judi Dench's version of the character), is trying to take down a terrorist plot. He discovers that the plot involves an organization called Spectre, led by Ernst Blofeld (played by Christoph Waltz), who has been responsible for many of the tragedies in Bond's life. I will not go too much more into the plot, but the movie has ties to the other Craig installments but mostly stands on its own. 

For those who get the 4K disc, the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. There are two discs, the UHD disc that just has the movie itself, and the regular Blu-Ray that has the extras. Those include a featurette on the opening sequence (which is the longest of the extras at 20 min) and then a series of video blogs, a photo gallery, and trailers for the movie. Not a ton, but what was included is good. 

Overall, the movie is good, but not great. I know Bond aficionados found it underwhelming, given that Blofeld was the "big bad" that ties all of the movies together, and found his reveal to be less than menacing. I am very much a casual fan of Bond, so the fact that Craig's movies departed from the way the other movies were set up was not a big deal to me, and thus the big reveal of the villain was not a let down for me. I would say that if you are generally a fan of the Craig films you will probably like this movie. If you have been lukewarm to them in general, then this movie is probably not going to convert you into a fan. 

Book Review: The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11

 

The Only Plane in the Sky is a book by Jared Graff that details the events of 9/11 using quotes from different people that were involved in the events of that day. The author has used quotes from survivors, people who talked to people on the planes before they crashed, government officials, and even just people who lived through the day. The book is divided into chapters, and then in each chapter, there are quotes from people discussing the topic of the chapter. So, it does not quite read like a traditional book. Each quote identifies the person giving it and where they were (if they were in the buildings). If you have watched any of the documentaries on 9/11 you will know that some of the quotes the author uses are lifted from interviews that people have previously given about 9/11, but the author also conducted quite a few first-hand interviews. Because the book was written in 2019 some of the material he included was from a modern-day perspective on how a person's life had changed since that day.

Overall, the book is very good. It is very emotional in parts and does include some material that I had never heard about despite watching many of the 9/11 documentaries and reading a lot of books about 9/11. It can be very jarring getting a first-hand account of what happened by the people who lived it, and you get a sense of just how lucky some people got where literally being able to turn a corner was the difference between living and dying. I highly recommend this for people who experienced 9/11 or are just into history, current events, etc. 

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I and II

 

This is mostly a good story, but it introduces a huge continuity problem with the original novels and movies. I cannot say what it is without spoiling it, but if they were ever to make this into a movie, there would definitely have to be some kind of explanation given to make the reveal at the end make sense. The story is set 19-23 years after the events of the Deathly Hallows. The first "scene" is actually a version of what we see at the very end of Deathly Hallows Part II where Harry and Albus discuss what happens if Albus is sorted into Slytherin. Then, the next few years pass by within a handful of pages and the main portion of the story plays out from there. I will not give too much away, but it involves Albus and Draco Malfoy's son messing with time and then trying to undo the mess they make. 

To be clear, the book is not a novel. It is the script of the play. So, it definitely does not read like any of the other books, It does not have chapters, but does have the act and scene breaks, which makes it a bit easier to read sometimes at least when it comes to the length of the breaks. If you are a person like me who will always try to get to the end of the chapter before stopping reading, when you have very long chapters, it can be a bear to get to the end of the chapter (especially at night). Here, the scenes tend to be shorter (sometimes a page or two) so if you are getting tired, you get a lot more potential stopping points.

Overall, I think the story is a good one (aside from the continuity issue) that mixes the original characters with the newer characters very well. All of the main characters (Hermoine, Harry, and Ron) are in the book and even some of the more ancillary characters (like Neville) do show up even if for a very short time. I like that it gives some closure to Harry and Draco's relationship (more than we ever got at the end of Deathly Hallows), which for me, was one of the best things about the book. It is certainly not what I would call a perfect story, but with a few tweaks, it could be made better and easily adapted into a new movie (if the cast were up for doing another one). 

Workout Update: P90X Day 21

 Day 21 was the last day of phase 1, the x-stretch workout. Unlike the yoga workout, I really like this one. It flows much better and ends just when it gets to the point where it starts to feel too long. Personally, I like doing it back-to-back with yoga because I feel like I make better progress stretching two days in a row than I do separating them. This upcoming week is recovery week which means yoga twice and core synergistics (my second least favorite workout) twice. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 20

 Day 20 was yoga. I still hate it, mostly because it is way too long and has moves that I think can easily be eliminated from it and still keep it very challenging. I did skip the very end of the moving asana portion (the last series with warrior three, standing splits, half-moon, and twisting half-moon) but did do "yoga belly seven" since I skipped ab-ripper on Friday when I did legs and back. I will never like this yoga workout as much as the one in P90x 2 or P90x 3, and I do not feel bad about cutting it short when I feel I need to. Some people may disagree with that approach, but I think as long as you do some yoga as a part of the program, you will get the benefits of it.