Product Review: Omron HEM-432C Manual Inflation Blood Pressure Monitor

 

This is an easier way to take your blood pressure, and you can use it on yourself, without help. Unlike the old-fashioned method that requires the use of the stethoscope. It is not, however, as easy to use as the wrist cuff types that are totally automatic. It is very accurate and will get you a very similar reading to what you would get having your blood pressure taken at a doctor's office.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Penny Dreadful: Season 2

 

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

The second season of Penny Dreadful is in part a continuation of the first season's storylines and in part a reset for the show, introducing new storylines. Again the characters get individual story arcs that then intertwine throughout the season. Ethan's story arc is the aftermath of the inn massacre that we see him wake up from. What happened is not exactly hard to figure out, but he finds himself pursued by a Scotland Yard police inspector. Vanessa's story arc involves a coven of witches led by Evelyn Poole, the professional spiritualist introduced as Madame Kali in season one. We also get more of Vanessa's backstory and find out how she got her powers, mainly through a flashback episode in the third episode of the season. Frankenstein is still being threatened by the creature, which introduces a story arc involving a character played by Billie Piper that bleeds over into Dorian Gray's story.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the A/V quality is again outstanding. There are some extras, but they are not very extensive. First, there are a series of video production blogs that run for 2-3 minutes, then there is a feature about the fans of the show, a feature about the history of the occult, and character profiles. Unfortunately, there is no extensive behind-the-scenes documentary or any commentary tracks.

Overall, the show continues to be very good. It is well written and very well acted. Eva Green is again strong in the lead role and shows her acting range as she can go from being a proper Victorian-era woman in one scene and stark raving mad in another. And the costume and makeup department does a wonderful job making her look like a supermodel when Vanessa is normal to someone that looks like she lives in an alley in a box when Vanessa is out of her mind. Timothy Dalton does a great job as Sir Malcolm, dealing with his failings as a father while also trying to help Vanessa avoid a similar fate to Mina's. The show is very dark (as you would expect) and has a lot of violence and sex. So, if that turns you off then you definitely want to skip this. It deals not only with supernatural themes of witchcraft, werewolves, vampires, and the like, but also incorporates religion and religious themes into the storylines. So, it is not a show that will appeal to everyone, and it is definitely not family-friendly. But, if you are a fan of 19th-century horror stories, this is definitely worth checking out.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 19

Day 19 was the Friday Fight round 1 workout again. I actually was not able to get as far in this time as I did last week. I only got just over 11 minutes before I maxed out as opposed to the 14 minutes I made last time. But, I think I was able to push a bit harder this week than last, so there is a bit of a tradeoff.  

Textbook Review: Elements of Electromagnetics 6th Edition

 

This was my required textbook for Electric and Magnetic fields and Distributed Networks in my electrical engineering undergrad program. This is okay (but not great) at explaining the theory but it is light on useful examples. So, if you have to use this book, I would get one of the supplement guides that are out there to pair with it to flesh out the theory a bit more in spots where the book is weaker in explaining things and to have example problems that can help you get through your homework. My teacher in EM fields was pretty good at explaining the material and used her own homework and quiz problems so I did not have to use the book very much. I am still, to this day, not exactly sure what my teacher in Distributed Networks was doing, but he did use problems from the book for homework and exams, so I used the book more in that class along with supplements, to figure out the material.

Product Review: Tomcat Kill and Contain Mouse Trap, 2-Pack

 

I had a mouse problem in my townhouse a few years ago. I used these to catch a total of four mice within a couple of days. I used butter and peanut butter as the bait, putting a little dollop of each on in the door on the back of the trap, then put them alongside the refrigerator and stove. It is very easy to tell when the trap is activated and I have never had a problem with a mouse escaping from the trap. These are much safer than the old-fashioned traps because it is nearly impossible to accidentally trigger it as you are setting it, and you never have to see the mouse once it is trapped (although you can look to make sure one is in there if you want). I definitely recommend these.

Product Review: EPSON T252 DURABrite Ultra Ink Standard Capacity Color Combo Pack (T252520-S) for select Epson WorkForce Printers

 

The print quality from these cartridges is good, but they run out of ink fast. Much faster than off-brand cartridges. Given that they are definitely a lot more expensive than the off-brand cartridges, they should last at least as long as those, if not much longer.

Book Review: Aftermath: Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens

 

Aftermath is the first of a trilogy of novels that are set after Return of the Jedi as the Rebels attempt to mop up what is left of the Empire. I honestly do not mind the story. Things that tend to upset some of the fans, such as having openly LGBT characters, do not matter to me one way or the other. What hurts the trilogy, especially the first book, is the lack of inclusion of the legacy characters. Leia and Han make a brief appearance in the book, but Luke is mentioned in passing, and really, the only character from the original trilogy that has a large role at all is Wedge Antilles, who was a pivotal but totally ancillary character in the original trilogy.

The book starts out on the outer rim planet Akiva, on which Wedge stumbles upon a meeting of remaining Imperial bigwigs. He is captured by Admiral Rae Sloane, who was introduced in the first canon novel released after the Disney takeover of Lucasfilm, A New Dawn. The main characters on the rebel side in this book are Norra Wexley, her teenage son Temmin "Snap" Wexley (who was played by Greg Grumberg in the sequel trilogy), Temmin's rebuilt B1 battle droid Mister Bones, a Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari, and an Imperial turncoat named Sinjir Rath Velus. The ragtag crew also discovers the Imperial gathering, finds out that Wedge is captured, and attempts to free him.

Overall, the story is fine. There are a lot of good action sequences, but they get broken up by Interlude chapters, which discuss things that are going on, like other planets, and introduce new characters (for example, the character Cobb Vanth, who would appear in live-action in The Mandalorian series). Personally, I think the first stories set after Return of the Jedi should have leaned on Luke, Leia, and/or Han and introduced new characters alongside the legacy characters. I also would have cut down on the interludes throughout the book, doing just one or two, maybe as a prologue and an epilogue. That would have allowed the main story to flow better. I certainly cannot say that everyone will like the book. Reactions to it seem to be all over the place. I am fairly lukewarm to it. I do not think it is the best of the canon novels by any stretch, but it is not as bad as some make it out to be.

Book Review: Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation #StarWars

 

Annihilation is a Legends novel set in the Old Republic by veteran Star Wars author Drew Karpyshyn, who also wrote the great Darth Bane Trilogy and the Old Republic novel Revan. As almost all of the Old Republic novels have, this one includes a lot of Sith infighting and jockeying for power. In this novel, the Sith Emperor is missing and presumed dead. Darth Karrid, who is commander of the fearsome Imperial battle cruiser Ascendant Spear, tries to take control and bring Sith domination to the galaxy. The story's protagonist, Theron Shan, who is the son of a Jedi Master but not a force-user himself, heads a mission to destroy the Ascendant Spear in a joint operation between the Republic Military, the Republic's Strategic Information Service, and the Jedi Order.

The hardcover version of the book is about 330 pages long. While no characters from the Skywalker saga are in the book, the story needs only a little character development. It is easy to follow, and thus the book reads quickly. The book tells a good one-off story that does not require reading any of the other novels to follow. It has a good blend of action and intrigue. I personally like the old Sith stories when there were a bunch of Sith all trying to take control and sabotage each other. There is definitely a lot of that in this book. I would not say that the story in this book is as good as the Darth Bane trilogy. Unlike the Bane story, this one is not likely to ever be folded into the canon material, but even so, it is still worth reading.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 18

Day 18 was the second Tabata Strength workout of the week. It was still very challenging, although I was able to make it a little longer (about 20 additional seconds) than I did on Tuesday. Having only one break after the warmup is very tough, but it is doable.  

Book Review: Star Wars: Knight Errant

 

Knight Errant is set later in the Old Republic before Darth Bane basically destroyed the Sith and instituted the rule of two. This story is set around the Sith-Republic/Jedi war. The protagonist, Kerra Holt a Padawan on a mission with her master and other Jedi in Sith Space. When the members of the group she is with are killed, she goes on a mission to take out as many Sith as she can find, first getting between Lord Daiman and his brother Lord Odion on the planet Gazzari. She helps a group of people escape Gazzari and ends up on another planet ruled over by another pair of Sith siblings. The novel is basically about Kerra going up against various Sith Lords trying to get the group of refugees out of Sith space and into the safety of the Republic.

Overall, the book is good but not memorable. It is one of those that I think is fine to read once but not one I would go back to multiple times. Chances are it is not a story that would ever be brought into the canon via a TV show or movie, which I think is ultimately fine. It is good as a one-off story, but not really anything more than that.

Study Aid Review: 2008+ Solved Problems in Electromagnetics

 

I used this to help with homework problems for my electric and magnetic fields and distributed networks (transmission lines) classes when I was working on my electrical engineering undergrad degree. This is really just a problems repository. It is not a guide that you are going to use to understand the theory. That you would need to get from your teacher, your textbook, or a different guide that distills the information in the textbook down to just the essentials. This just has worked out problems in it and will cover all the essential material/topics from an EM and/or transmission lines class. The way I would use it is if I got stuck on a homework problem, I would look in the section of the guide on the topic and find the closest problem to what I was trying to solve that I could. Most of the time I could find something really close that would allow me to solve whatever I was stuck on. That is, in my opinion, the best way to use this. If however, you are expecting to learn the material from scratch just with this guide, you will probably be disappointed.

Book Review: Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance

 

Fatal Alliance is a Star Wars Legends Novel set in the Old Republic era, which was introduced in a video game, then expanded in a series of novels, of which this is the first. The story involves a starship called the Cinzia that was intercepted by a smuggler named Jet Nebula. Nebula was intent on capturing the cargo contained in the Cinzia, but the ship self-destructed. The ship was carrying something valuable (we do not find out what until late in the book), and it is now in the hands of the Hutts, who intend to auction it off to the highest bidder; either from the Republic or Empire. Once the Jedi and the Sith figure out what it is, they have to team up to prevent the destruction of the galaxy.

The story is told on multiple worlds including Coruscant, the Sith homeworld Dromund Kaas, Nal Hutta, and even Tatooine. Of course, the story is set thousands of years before the events of A New Hope, so not even Yoda is around at this point in the story, but even so, the characters in the book are very well developed, and you do not really miss the absence of the more recognizable characters from the Skywalker Saga. The story is a good mix of action and intrigue, including a lot of backbiting among the Sith that was really their hallmark before the "rule of two" was instituted. Of course, the book is no longer a part of the Star Wars canon now that Disney owns Lucasfilm, but there is always the possibility that some part of the story may end up as canon if Disney decides to revive the Old Republic era. So, if you are one of those who reads some, but not all, of the Star Wars novels, this is a good one to check out.

DVD/Movie Collection Review: Porky's the Ultimate Collection

 

As anyone who grew up in the 1980s knows, Porky's was on the raunchier end of the coming-of-age comedies. The original movie, written and directed by Bob Clark and released in 1981 was set in FL in the 1950s and told the story of a bunch of teenagers (played by a bunch of twenty-somethings who barely pass as teenagers) from the fictional Angel Beach High School who want to have sex. They figure the best way to do that is to go to the local hicksville strip club called Porky's, run by a guy, as you would guess is named Porky (played by Chuck Mitchell). They also manage to peep into the girl's shower at school (in that classic hole-in-the-wall scene and the extremely funny aftermath). The final act of the movie turns into an action-revenge story as the kids take down Porky's after one of them gets beat up. The other almost iconic scene in the movie was the one with Kim Catrall (in one of her early movie roles) that involves a lot of howling.

The second and third movies, Porky's II (The Next Day) and Porky's Revenge never did live up to the first movie. Clark bowed out of the franchise after the second movie, and by the third movie, none of the actors could pass for teenagers in their senior year of high school. Both the first movie and the second movie dealt with the racist south. The second movie especially lampoons the KKK and the racist southern preachers with the story set around the fact that a Native American transfer student was cast as Romeo - alongside a Caucasian Juliet in the high school play, and the protagonists taking down the racists. The third movie, released in 1985 was about Porky blackmailing the Angel Beach basketball team as revenge for the kids destroying his club in the first movie.

As far as the DVDs go, the set has all three movies on separate discs. The first movie has the most extras, with the commentary track by Bob Clark being the most extensive, and then a 13-minute making-of documentary. Then, each disc has the trailer and some tv spots for the respective movies. Definitely not as much as some box set releases get, but given that none of the movies were a critical success, that is not all that surprising.

Overall, the first movie is good and the other two fall in quality. There is a lot of nudity in each movie, including full-frontal nudity from both men and women, which was highly controversial back then. The themes of racism and antisemitism in the first two movies would be much more of a big deal now, and chances are the movies could not get made the same way today as they did back then. Porky's Revenge is more of a straight-up comedy (and is also the worst of the three). None of the movies were as good as other coming-of-age-teen comedies or dramedies of the era like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Sixteen Candles, but it was definitely a precursor to the more raunchy teen comedies like American Pie that would come out years later. For most people, the movies will be a nostalgic blast from the past, and for that, this is a good set.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 17

Day 17 was the Sweat Intervals workout again. I made it to just over 27 minutes before I maxed out, but I give that a bit of an asterisk because I did have to pause the workout to take a call. But, I did the entire workout, even though I did not sleep that well at all last night.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Following: Season 3

 

+++Warning, this contains minor spoilers from season two, but no major season three spoilers+++

Season three of The Following begins one year after the events that ended season two and now sees Joe Carroll back in jail and Ryan once again trying to move on with his life. When Mark Gray resurfaces and forces Agent Clarke to confess about the FBI's misconduct in the killing of Lilly. Michael Ealy appears a few episodes in as a new threat, Theo Noble whom Ryan has to try and take down, and Annet Mahendru appears toward the end of the season as the leader of a shadowy group. This season also sees the Joe Carroll storyline finally wrapped up as the show begins to transition to a new story arc.

The reason the season feels unsatisfying is that the writers were clearly setting up the storyline for the fourth season when the show was abruptly canceled (after everything had been filmed) so it never got a proper ending. It does not really end on a massive cliffhanger, thankfully, but what would turn out to be the final story arc is never resolved.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the A/V quality is very good as it was with the Season 1 and 2 releases, and there are a handful of extras. Those include deleted scenes for most of the episodes, a few behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a Funny AND Die spoof of the show. There is also a gag reel and a portion of the 2014 Comic-Con panel.

Overall, the season is good even if a bit unsatisfying. There is not as much of the Carroll-Hardy back-and-forth from the prior seasons, but when James Purefoy does appear, he is great. There is not as much gore this season as there was in the prior seasons, but it is still a pretty violent and bloody show. So, it is not exactly family-friendly. But, if you are a fan of psychological thrillers and crime dramas, this is a good blend of each genre. You definitely want to watch the show all the way through and not jump right into season three, otherwise you will miss way too much backstory.

DVD/TV Series Review: House, M.D.: Season 2

 

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

The second season of House uses pretty much the same format as season one. It is mostly (about 95%) a case-of-the-week medical procedural, that also intertwines story arcs that span multiple episodes. At the beginning of the season, the main story arc involves Sela Ward's character Stacy, House's ex-wife who showed up in season one seeking his help with her new husband's medical condition. House keeps trying to win her back (and Ward was basically a series regular) for about the first third of the season. Other arcs involve Cuddy looking into getting pregnant via a sperm donor, Wilson and his wife (who we still don't meet) separating, and a Cameron versus Foreman conflict that appears later in the season. The season finale ends on a major cliffhanger going into season three. As in season one, there are numerous recognizable guest stars this season, for some of whom their guest-starring role was one of their first big breaks. Some of this season's guest stars include LL Cool J, Ron Livingston (from Office Space), Cynthia Nixon (from Sex and the City), Elle Fanning, Julie Warner, Howard Hessman (from WKRP), Greg Grumberg (from Heroes and Alias), Michelle Trachtenberg (from Buffy), Jake McDorman (from the series Limitless), Lance Guest, Jayma Mays, and Elias Koteas (from Chicago PD).

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include commentary tracks by Executive Producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs on two of the episodes, a blooper reel, a collection of clips on all the times it was not Lupis, cleverly titled "It Could be Lupis", two alternate-take scenes in which Cuddy and Cameron do the scene in "Valley Girl" speak, which is pretty hilarious. The most extensive feature is a roundtable discussion with the cast members and the writers and producers entitled "An evening with House", in which everyone discusses the show, their characters, etc.

Overall, the show is very good. It is well-written and very well acted. There is still a lot of character development going on, and the show does a good job being as medically accurate as possible while still embellishing for dramatic effect. Chances are, anyone reading this by now has at least an idea of what the show was like, but if you are one of the few that has not seen it, it has a good blend of drama and humor and is definitely worth checking out.

Book Review: Doctor Aphra

 

Dr. Aphra is a story set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back when Vader is trying to find out who the rebel who blew up the Death Star is. This is also a time when he is in trouble with the Emperor and actively scheming behind the Emperor's back. One of the people whom he uses to figure out Luke's identity is Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra, who has a doctorate in archeology and is kind of a bounty hunter who hunts information as opposed to people. She is joined by two droids with a taste for murder, (and any murder will do) Triple-Zero (the same model protocol droid as C3P0) and Beetee. Aphra is snarky, smart-mouthed, and selfish, which definitely does not endear her to Vader, and is always looking for an angle to get the upper hand on whomever she is dealing with.

The book is written as a script and is basically a narration of a recording Aphra is making for her ex detailing her dealings with Vader (should she be killed in the process). Some of the legacy characters including Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, C3P0, and R2 make appearances in the book, some for very short periods of time and some more extended. Aphra's description of them at the beginning is pretty hilarious. Basically, the book details exactly how Vader found out that Luke was alive and that Obi-Wan (and others) made it seem like Padme was still pregnant when she died. The book is just under 300 pages but is a relatively quick read (as I think the books that are written as a script tend to be). If you are one that reads (or listens to) some, but not all, of the canon books, this one is definitely worth the time to read.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 2

 

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

The second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a lot going on. One of the main arcs is the fallout from the reveal (In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which occurred at the end of the first season) that HYDRA had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and that Ward was a double agent. There are a bunch of really good recurring characters in the Hydra storyline including Reed Diamond (playing Werner Reinhardt / Daniel Whitehall) and Adrian Pasdar (from the series Heroes) as major Glenn Talbot.

Then, there is a major story arc involving Skye and her father (played by Twin Peaks' Kyle MacLachlan), which ties into the Inhumans storyline (and brings in many great recurring actors such as Dichen Lachman and Luke Mitchell. Then, there are the tie-ins to the movies that were released during the second season, primarily, Avenger's Age of Ultron, and a loose tie-in with Guardians of the Galaxy, which reveals the race of the blue-skinned alien that we saw in season one and again in season two. Jamie Alexander makes another appearance as Lady Sif, and Cobie Smulders makes an appearance as Maria Hill. The two main additions to the regular cast are Nick Blood as Lance Hunter and Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse. Hailey Atwell also reprises her role as Agent Carter for a cameo in the season premiere.

As far as the blu-ray set goes, it is a MOD set that is an Amazon exclusive. Thankfully, it is still priced reasonably well, so if you prefer physical media to streaming, you can get it on blu-ray. Just be aware, that after the second season, Amazon stopped the exclusive manufacturing, and to get the show on blu-ray you have to find an imported version. The final two seasons were not released on blu-ray or DVD in any mass format and so the only way to get them is to find a bootleg version (if you want one of those). So, it is not easy to keep a collection together, so if that is a big deal to you, then you may want to just stream it. The second-season blu-ray set is very light on extras. Just deleted scenes and a blooper reel.

Overall, the season is very good. While it does still have tie-ins to the MCU movies, the show really does start to stand on its own this season. Of course, as the seasons go on the show becomes less tied in with the movie, and is not "filler" to get from movie to movie as it seemed to be in season one. The acting and writing are both very good, and even though many of the cast members like Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge were still relatively new (at least in major TV roles), they do some of the best work in the show. And, Ming-Na Wen is always awesome. Of course, the Marvel Universe is basically one long (and large) intertwined story, and the show very much fits into that, but it also tells a good stand-alone story that is definitely worth watching.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 16

Day 16 is the first new workout in Insanity Max 30, Tabata Strength. This is a difficult one. The workout follows the 20 seconds on 10 seconds off format where you do each exercise twice before moving on to the next one. It is divided up into segments, but at the end of each segment there is a 30-second long recovery move, that is sometimes a move from the OG version of Insanity, like mummy kicks. Thus, there are no breaks during the workout. And, it is made even harder by having a lot of pushups. I would say the workout is about 75% pushups, 15% squats, and the rest cardio. It is funny that only a few people in the workout actually wrote the time they maxed out on the board despite taking a lot of breaks. The only people who I think legitimately did not max out were the modifier, who is Scott (Shaun T's husband) again, and Sarah, the cute short one that was to Shaun T's right in the front row. Thankfully, Shernita was nowhere to be seen in this one because she would have been dogging it about six minutes in. I managed to make it to just over 11 minutes before I had to max out and I was pretty gassed by the end.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Marvel's Agent Carter: Season 1

 

Agent Carter is set after the events of “Captain America: The First Avenger” and the 2013 “Agent Carter” Marvel One-Short short film. In the first season, Peggy (Hayley Atwell) works for the Strategic Scientific Reserve investigating Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper, also reprising his role from "Captain America"), who is accused of selling weapons to America’s enemies. He enlists Peggy to help prove his innocence. She teams with Stark’s butler, Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy) to track a secret organization called Leviathan that is trying to steal Stark’s more dangerous inventions. Peggy often butts heads with the other members of the SSR, especially her boss Roger (played by Shea Whigham) and agent Jack Thompson (played by Chad Michael Murray). She has to fight against the blatant misogyny at the SSR where her only real ally is another agent named Daniel Sousa (played by Dollhouse's Enver Gjokaj). Her best friend outside of the SSR is played by Lyndsy Fonseca (from the Kick-Ass movies and Nikita TV Series).

This is more like a mini-series, with the season lasting just eight episodes. It has a good blend of action and comedy, especially in the scenes between Atwell, Cooper, and D’Arcy. There are definitely some tie-ins with the Captain America movie, as you would expect, but the show really tells its own story apart from the larger MCU franchise. Atwell does a great job as the series lead, as does the entire cast. Bridget Regan plays a great foil for Peggy as a Russian sleeper agent from the program that preceded the Black Widow program.

The Blu-Ray set is a MOD Amazon exclusive. The only bonus content is a short blooper reel. Otherwise, the is no behind-the-scenes material, commentary tracks, etc. It is worth picking up if you can find the blu-ray set at a reasonable price. But, given it is just eight episodes and there is not really any extra content to speak of if you cannot get it at a reasonable price, streaming it is probably the better option.

Book Review: Star Wars: The Old Republic - Deceived

 

This is a Star Wars Legends story (meaning not a part of the canon storyline of the movies and the books that have been put out since Disney acquired Lucasfilm). It involves a Sith Lord named Darth Malgus, who ransacks the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and kills Jedi Master Ven Zallow while on On Alderaan the Jedi and Sith are trying to work out the peace treaty. Jedi Knight Aryn Leneer, who had sensed her Master Zallow's death in the Force, turns her back on the Jedi Order to go to Coruscant, find out who killed her former master, and kill the murderer.

There are a couple of intertwined plotlines in the novel. Aryn looking for Malgus and the Jedi-Sith peace negotiations. Malgus hates that the Sith Empire is negotiating peace with the Jedi, and Aryn hates that the Jedi are negotiating a peace treaty with the Sith after the Sith attacked the Jedi Temple. The crux of the story is whether Aryn will fall to the dark side in her quest for revenge and Malgus's plan to take over the Sith Empire. The book has pretty steady pacing, with the action spaced out well, and does a good job with character development. The Legends timeline is set about 3500 years before A New Hope, so not even Yoda is around at the time of the events of the novel. Even though none of the "major" Star Wars characters are in the book, it is no less entertaining than any of the novels that were set after Return of the Jedi. Of course, it is not part of the official Star Wars canon anymore, but it is still worth reading if you are one who picks and chooses different Star Wars novels to read.

Book Review: Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and Crew Who Fought Back

 

Among the Heroes is a book about Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked in the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was the only one of the planes that did not hit the intended target because the passengers and crew fought to regain control of the plane. The book is excellent not because it details the events of the day (which it does) but because it tells the story of the people on the plane, including who they were and what their lives were like before that day while they were traveling that day, and as much as the author could piece together, what they did during the hijacking. The author interviewed the families of all but one of the passengers and crew members and thus told a very human story about the people caught up in the horrible events. And, it includes information that has not been included in other documentaries and in other books, like the story of the boyfriend of one of the passengers who tried to switch his flight to Flight 93 so they could travel together. He had a flight that connected to Minneapolis and then was going to San Fransico, and because of the price, he did not switch flights and ended up in Toronto, where he learned of her fate. The author was also able to interview the family members of the pilot hijacker and people who knew him here in the US. His family refused to believe that he was involved in the hijacking and said he did not hate America while admitting they had not heard from him after 9/11, and the people who knew him in the US were amazed that he had anything to do with the attacks because he acted kind and easygoing, and never indicated any hatred toward America.

The book does not really tell the story of the flight in a detailed timeline. It chronicles the events from the time the flight crew arrived at the airport, then cuts to talking about one of the people, and then goes back to the events of the day. So, it would be something like "the plane started boarding at "x" time" and then discuss the life of one or two passengers or crew members, and then continue with the timeline like "the plane pulled back from the gate at "y" time. The author does not speculate about events that have not been confirmed, like whether the passengers and crew successfully got into the cockpit or not. He did point out, however, that given how low the plane was flying and the speed it was going, it would have been unlikely for a commercial airline pilot (much less anyone who was likely still alive on the plane during the fight with the hijackers) to save it from crashing.

It is a very well-written book that is very sad (as all the books about 9/11 are) but does a wonderful job honoring the people and their families. It is definitely worth reading, and at just under 300 pages, it is a fairly quick read. I highly recommend it.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 15

Day 15 was the Cardio Challenge workout again. I made it past the twenty-minute mark today, maxing out at just over 21 minutes. The last two rounds of moves definitely wear me out though, so I am not sure if I will make it past 25 minutes in the first round of this. But, I can tell my cardio endurance is getting better, so I am making progress. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Parks and Recreation: The Complete Series

 

Parks and Recreation (or Parks and Rec) was another mockumentary show from the creators of the US version of The Office (Greg Daniels and Michael Schur) that aired from 2009 to 2015). It starred Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, an overeager and chipper worker in the Pawnee Indiana Parks and Recreation Department who wants to do her part to save the world. She is gung-ho about civil service, politics, government, etc. In contrast, her boss, Ron Swanson (played by the great Nick Offerman) is a Libertarian who hates government and is only working in government in order to grind it to a halt. The supporting cast includes Aubrey Plaza, who plays the apathetic twenty-something April, her doofus of a crush Andy, played by Chris Pratt, the guy who was always looking for a side gig, Tom, played by Aziz Ansari, Leslie's "best friend" Ann played by Rashida Jones, Donna played by Retta, in later seasons Ben played by Adam Scott, Chris played by Rob Lowe, and Jerry/Larry played by Jim O'Heir.

The show is a pretty standard sitcom that has a story or theme of the week that the characters have to navigate. The comedy style is much like the other mockumentary shows like The Office and Modern Family in which the jokes are either set up or performed, and then there is some kind of follow-up, either a reaction shot of characters in the background or cutting to one of the characters being interviewed by the documentary crew, or something like that. The humor is all over the place, given the wide range of acting styles of the cast members. Ron's humor is much more gruff and deadpan, while Leslie's is more chipper and upbeat. Chris Pratt does a great job playing a dimwitted doofus who thinks he is a rockstar, and pretty much everything Aubrey Plaza does is awesome.

The complete series set is just the individually packaged DVD seasons in a box set. There is nothing new if you have already purchased the individual seasons. There is also a blu-ray version of the complete series set out there that, from the looks of it, has the same overall content as the DVD set. The big reason to get the physical discs (beyond just preferring them over streaming, as many of us do) is for the extras. Each season has a bunch of extras, including commentary tracks on many episodes, deleted scenes, gag reels, fake PSA spots, and more. One of the best extras is a great joke that Chris Pratt made during the comeback story scene that cracked everyone up and is included in one of the gag reels.

Overall, the series is wonderful. It is very well-written and acted. It did take a couple of seasons to really find its footing and did have some cast turnover after season one. But, once it found the formula that worked it was strong all the way to the end. There were a ton of great guest stars, including people like Will Arnett, Tatiana Maslany, Jenny Slate, Patton Oswalt, and even the occasional DC politician. While the entire cast is great, Aubrey Plaza and Nick Offerman were the standouts to me. His scenes with his real-life wife, Megan Mullally, who plays his ex-wife, Tammy II, were pure gold. While it is a show about politics, and certainly, it was easy to tell the political leanings of the showrunners, it made fun of both parties, Democrats and Republicans alike. And it holds up well even after having been off the air since 2015. I highly recommend it, especially if you like political comedies.

DVD/TV Series Review: American Dad Volume 10

 

Volume 10 of American Dad! is a MOD Amazon Exclusive DVD set that contains all the episodes of season nine of the show spread across three discs. By now, most people are likely aware of what the show is like. But for those who are not, it is a story-of-the-week adult animated show created by Seth McFarlane (who also created Family Guy) who also voices several characters on the show. The main characters are the Smith family, led by Stan Smith who is a CIA agent who also harbors an Alien named Roger, who disguises himself as various "characters" he comes up with. The weekly story usually involves one of those two, but also can involve Stan's wife, Francine, one of their kids, Steve or Hailey, and/or one of the side characters.

The show is definitely not family-friendly, especially the DVD versions which have uncensored episodes which often include the actual swear words (including f-bombs) which are not beeped out. There are no DVD extras, just the episodes themselves, but so the only reason to get the DVDs is to have the uncensored episodes (which are not included when streaming the show). The episodes this season include a spoof on the movie Poltergeist, a parody of the show Breaking Bad, and the first evil Christmas-themed episodes, which would become a running gag throughout the run of the series. The episodes are mostly self-contained, but occasionally there are two-part episodes, and the episodes sometimes refer back to prior episodes.

Overall, the show is still good. It found a formula that works and has stuck with it. It can certainly be argued that it is getting a bit long in the tooth, but I do think they still tell entertaining stories. I would say that there are not as many laugh-out-loud moments as the earlier seasons had, but it is still funny. So, if you are a fan if the show it is still worth watching. If you have never liked the show, however, this season is not likely to change your mind.