Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 44

Day 44 was the max-out power workout again. I was able to get a little farther into it, just over 15 minutes as opposed to just over 13 minutes the last time. I am still maxing out during the push-up portion, and I have a feeling that will be the case for a while. 

Textbook Review: Radio Astronomy

 

This is a textbook for an advanced physics or engineering class. I picked it up to help me with a project for my radar engineering class that I did on Radio Astronomy. It assumes that you have been through the calculus sequence and taken some physics. I did not really work on any of the problems in the book, so I cannot really say how well the theory in the explanatory text guides you in doing those. But, assuming you have taken enough classes to understand the material, the book does explain the theory quite well, and understandably. It is not something that an astronomy hobbyist who has not taken calculus and physics is likely to get a ton of use out of, however.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Pushing Daisies: The Complete First and Second Seasons

 

Pushing Daisies was a series created by Bryan Fuller, who has a track record of developing shows that are critical successes with small but rabid fanbases (like Wonderfalls before this and Hannibal after this). The series stars Lee Pace as Ned "the piemaker" who owns a bakery called the pie hole. He has the ability to bring a dead thing back to life by touching it, with a couple of caveats. First, if he touches the dead thing a second time, it stays dead forever. If he does not touch the thing a second time within a minute, then something of similar "life value" in the vicinity will die to maintain a balance. So, if he lets a person live, another person within the vicinity will die in that person's stead. These caveats are important in a couple of respects. First, Ned works with a private investigator named Emmerson Cod (played by Chi McBride) who uses Ned's ability to solve mysterious murders by bringing the victims back to life long enough to ask them about their deaths. Second, in the first episode, Ned makes the choice to let his murdered Ned's childhood sweetheart, Charlotte (Chuck) Charles, played by Anna Friel live. This, of course, has major consequences that last throughout the series, one major consequence being that Ned and Chuck cannot touch each other as they inevitably fall in love. Also, Chuck's aunts, played wonderfully by Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz, are traumatized by believing their niece to be dead.

This set just has the individual seasons packed together in one set. It is not a special complete series that was packaged separately. As for extras, the first season box claims there is a featurette titled Pie Time that features interviews with the cast and crew, but that is not actually on any of the discs in my set, which indicates it may be an imported set. The season 2 set does have a handful of featurettes including an interview with Bryan Fuller, a featurette on the music of the series, a feature on the production of the episodes, and one of the visual effects. Good for what is there, but not a ton of material. The A/V quality is good, but the show was made at a time in which the CGI special effects could still look kind of fakey and corny, and that definitely does come through in HD for some of the scenes.

Overall, the show is great. It is well-written and very well-acted. Kristin Chenoweth who plays Olive Snook, a waitress at the pie shop who is in love with Ned steals pretty much every scene she is in, and the series has a great set of recurring and guest stars including Stephen Root, Joel Mchale, Raúl Esparza, George Hamilton, Rachel Harris, Paul Reubens, Orlando Jones, and Ivana Miličević (among others). The second season was mostly finished before the official cancelation came through, so the series finale was tweaked a bit to give the show an ending that kind of tied things up. But, there was more than one storyline that was set up to play out in season three that just got abandoned because of the show's cancellation. So, if you have not seen the show before and really get into it, it will definitely feel incomplete, even though the second season does not end on a major cliffhanger because not everything gets tied up by the end. That said, it is still a great show, so if you like procedural crime shows that are a mix of drama and dark comedy, this is definitely a good one to check out.

Product Review: LONIN Sponge Holder Over Faucet Kitchen Sink Caddy Organizer

 

This is a basket that can be installed on a pull-down faucet that can hold sponges and/or scrubbers to keep them out of the sink (or a bin that can attach to the inside of the sink) and prevent them from getting soggy and/or trapped under dishes. Many times the bins will have small holes, but will not be small enough to allow a sponge sitting in it to really dry out. This is very easy to install, just screw off the end piece, put the basket around the faucet and then screw the end piece back on. The basket will move if you rotate the faucet from side to side, so you position the basket based on how far you rotate the faucet. As long as you wring out the sponge, it is not really a big deal to have the basket over the counter as you will only get a couple of drips which you can wipe up with a paper towel. This is definitely worth the price and I highly recommend it.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Gotham: Season 2

 

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

The second season of Gotham includes 22 episodes that aired during the 2015/2016 TV season. The season picks up shortly after the events that ended season one. Oswald has taken over Fish's empire after killing her, Jim has been fired from the GCPD and is now working with Oswald while trying to get reinstated, and several of the villains from season one are locked up in Arkham, including Barbara Keane and Jerome Valeska (whom the series is still playing coy about whether he is The Joker). Two new antagonists are introduced this season, including James Frain, who plays Theo Galavan, a billionaire industrialist who is secretly the heir apparent of the Order of St. Dumas, and his sister Tabitha (played by Jessica Lucas from the short-lived series Life as We Know It). Michael Chiklis (from The Shield) plays a no-nonsense captain, Nathaniel Barnes, who is brought in to clean up the GCPD.

The series mostly consists of several serial story arcs that go throughout the season and overlap at various points. There are also stories-of-the-week, which are one-off stories that are used as filler material for the serial arcs. The big serial arc this season involves Arkham Asylum and shady work being done by Hugo Strange, played by BD Wong, which is not revealed until the very end of the season. The season ends not so much on a cliffhanger but with a big reveal that will surely be one of the big story arcs in season three.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the A/V quality is great once again. A big part of the show is the look of the city, and the cinematography is wonderful making the city look gritty and run down during the day and dark and imposing at night. The extras include several short clips from throughout the season, which are used to introduce a plot line or character. Then there is a 16-minute portion of the show's 2015 Comic-Con panel, a 25-minute featurette that discusses the look of Gotham, a 20-minute featurette devoted to the character of Alfred, and a featurette on the character of Victor Fries, who is another villain given an origin story this season. So, not a ton of bonus material, but what is included is good.

Overall, the season continues to be strong. The large ensemble cast is balanced well, and while Gordon is the main character in the series, the writers do a good job of giving all the main characters compelling storylines. This is especially important because David Mazouz is still quite young and a long way from being physically imposing, so he really cannot get involved in action sequences that are too intense. He is still honing the skill that will eventually allow him to become Batman (and there is a nice clue in the season about how he gets the general idea for Batman), but he is definitely not there yet. Cameron Monaghan does a great job again as Jerome and definitely leaves you wanting more of the character. Of course, he was splitting his time between Gotham and the series Shameless, so he was only in a handful of episodes, but he stole pretty much every scene he was in. Ultimately, if you liked season one and are okay with the fact that this is not a show about Batman, you will probably like season two.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Flash: Season 2

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season 1, but no major season two spoilers+++

Season two of The Flash picks up down the line from the events of season one, in which Eobard Thawne was defeated due to Eddie's sacrifice. The team has essentially split with Cisco working for the police department, Caitlyn working at Mercury labs, Iris mourning Eddie's death, and Barry trying to singlehandedly take down the various evil metahumans. The big bad is set up early in the season, revealing that Zoom, an evil speedster on a different Earth, Earth-2 is sending metahumans to Earth-1 to take out Barry. Barry is joined by Earth 2's version of The Flash, Jay Garrick, played by Teddy Sears (from the series Masters of Sex) to help Barry take down Zoom. Zoom's identity is kept secret until later in the season, but when he does make his first couple of appearances, he is voiced by Tony Todd.

The season also expands the Arrowverse. First, there is the annual crossover with the parent series Arrow, which set up the cast and storyline of the first season of Legends of Tomorrow and served as a backdoor pilot for that series. Second, later in the season, Barry crosses over to Supergirl, which was in its first season and airing on CBS. That established that Supergirl was on yet another Earth, fully entrenching the multiverse concept which would be key, especially for later crossover episodes. Of course, the show has a ton of twists and turns, and given the multiverse and time travel aspects of the show characters who are dead do not always stay that way. The multiverse also gave a way for the show to keep Tom Cavanaugh (who of course played Eobard Thawne impersonating Harrison Wells as Earth-2's Well, called Harry, comes to Earth-1 to help the team take down Zoom.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the show again looks and sounds great in HD, with the special effects looking nearly seamless. Because the Flash's speed requires using animation, you can tell the difference between when it is Grant Gustin in the suit versus an animated version of the character, but even that blends in pretty well. The extras include deleted scenes, several short behind-the-scenes featurettes, a gag reel, and a half-hour-long panel discussion with the showrunners and cast from the 2015 Paley Fest.

Overall, the season is very good. It is well-written and very well-acted. The season ends on a pretty massive cliffhanger that will definitely have an impact on season three. It is more light-hearted than Arrow, overall, although it does have some dark moments of its own. It also includes a lot of good guest stars including Peyton List, Mark Hamill (reprising his role as Trickster), Aaron Douglas (from the remade Battlestar series), and more. Of course, characters from Arrow appear on the show, and Amanda Pays reprises her role as Tina McGee, a version of the character she played in the 1990 Flash series. So, if you liked or loved season 1, you will probably feel the same way about season two. Since the Arrowverse is now starting to tell intertwined stories within the case or metahuman-of-the-week procedural format, you almost have to watch all of the shows to understand everything that is going on in the others.

DVD/TV Series Review: Psych Season 8

 

The 8th (and final) season of Psych was a shorter season (just ten episodes) that aired in the winter and spring of 2014. The show received the shortened season to wrap up the various storylines. Unfortunately, it seemed like the writers wanted to jam everything they could into the season at the expense of some of the things that made the show great to begin with, namely, the relationship of the characters. Chief Vick and Juliette were absent for most of the season, just making what amounted to cameo appearances. The writers really just went with every novelty episode that they still wanted to do, like a remake episode, in which the episode "Cloudy... With a Chance of Murder" from the first season is remade (with different twists) using the same cast members. We also get to see Gus geek out over Harry Potter in a Harry Potter-themed episode and there was an episode that was an homage to A Nightmare on Elm Street. The DVD set also includes "Psych the Musical," which is the musical episode that aired between the seventh and eighth seasons of the show. 

The DVD set is a three-disc set and, like the prior season DVD releases, includes many extras for those who like to watch them. The extras include deleted scenes, several commentary tracks, montages, a gag reel, and a making-of/farewell featurette. Overall, the season is good, but not as good as it was in prior seasons. As I said above, it seemed like the writers just wanted to jam a bunch of stuff into the show before the end but did not focus as much on writing a fitting end to the series. Of course, the show would be resurrected via now three TV and/or streaming movies, so it is not totally the end of the show. The show did have another great slate of guest stars (as well as bringing back some of the recurring characters). The guest stars this season included Dana Ashbrook, Katharine Isabelle, Carlos Jacott, Ed Lover, Ralph Macchio, Lindsay Sloane, Janet Varney, Alan Ruck, Ray Wise, Tom Arnold, The Bella Twins, Corbin Bleu, Yvette Nicole Brown, Dean Cameron, Bruce Campbell, Olivia d'Abo, Loretta Devine, Sutton Foster, Vincent Gale, Kali Hawk, Vinnie Jones, Val Kilmer, Floriana Lima, Peggy Lipton, Deon Richmond, Peter Stormare, Vincent Ventresca, Vincent M. Ward, Celia Weston, William Zabka, and Billy Zane. Yes, Kilmer and Zane finally made appearances after being referenced multiple times over the course of the series. So, even though it is not as good as it was, it is still worth watching to see how the series ended.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 43

Day 43 was the start of week seven, which means doing Max Out Cardio. I made it all the way to the end, of course modifying, which is much easier than the unmodified moves for many of the exercises, without taking any breaks. My goal, since last week I maxed out at just over 19 minutes was to make it to the 23-minute mark, but I was able to push through to the rest break and then got through the last six minutes (barely) without stopping. So, a good workout to get the day started. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 42

Day 42 was the Recharge stretching workout from CE. My flexibility level is the same as it has been for the past few weeks. No big improvement, but no backsliding either. So, overall, it went fine. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 41

Day 41 was the first time doing a Body Beast workout, specifically, the back and biceps workout from the Build portion of BB. It is about 45 minutes in total. The first half of the workout is just various back exercises like one-arm rows, pullovers, pull-ups, reverse rows, etc., and the second half has the biceps exercises.  The workout uses giant sets, and drop sets. Basically doing 15 reps, with a light weight 12 reps, with a heavier weight, 8 reps with the heaviest weight, and 8 reps with a slightly lighter weight. 

Sagi Kalev is an Israeli-born ex-bodybuilder. He definitely has some meathead quality to him, using phrases like "I want to get huge" a lot. Like Shaun T. in Insanity, he has his buzz words and phrases that he says ad nauseum. In this workout, it is limited equipment. Basically, one of the guys in the workout just uses dumbbells and a stability ball, whereas Sagi and the other guy use a bench for some exercises, an EZ-Curl bar. And Sagi tells you about 50 times if you have limited equipment to follow Nick. 

The workout is definitely good, and because you are increasing the weight between sets your muscles definitely fatigue, even if you cannot lift the same amount of weight as what the people in the videos are lifting. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 40

Day 40 was the second go-around doing Friday Fight Round 2. I made it just over 23 minutes into the workout before maxing out. So, I should be able to make it through the entire workout either next week or the week after.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Heroes Reborn: Event Series

 

+++Warning, this contains spoiler's from the final season of the original run of Heroes, but no major spoilers from Reborn+++

Heroes Reborn is a thirteen-episode miniseries that aired in 2015. It was a continuation of the original series Heroes, which aired from 2006-2010. Heroes was always a cult show, even though it aired on NBC. It predated the Marvel Cinematic Universe of movies that, arguably, brought the superhero genre into the mainstream by a couple of years. The first season of Heroes was nearly flawless, but the subsequent seasons had a lot of ups and downs and could not recapture the magic of the first season.

While the season is a continuation of the original series, it is not really a season 5. The series picks up after the real-world five-year time period between the end of season 4, in which Claire Bennett (played by Hayden Panettiere) exposed the Heroes, now known as "Evolved Humans" or "Evos" to the world, and a year after a terrorist attack at an event meant to bring Evos and humans together in Odessa, Texas. As in the original series, there are a bunch of individual storylines that cross over with each other at different points. The major storyline involves the shift in Earth's magnetic poles, and a plot to use the fact that Earth is vulnerable to solar radiation during that time. One of the best storylines involves Zachary Levi (from the great series Chuck) whose life was altered by the terrorist attack and who is hunting Evos. The show is mostly made up of new cast members, however, members of the original cast do appear throughout the series, including Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka), Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), The Haitian René (Jimmy Jean-Louis), Angela Petrelli (Christine Rose), Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey), and Molly Walker (recast by Francesca Eastwood). The only main original series character who was a main character in this series is Noah Bennett, played by Jack Coleman. Notably, original series cast members like Milo Anthony Ventimiglia, Zachary Quinto, Ali Larter, and Adrian Pasdar did not return for the series, and Hayden Panettiere (who was starring in the series Nashville) was only shown in flashback clips.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the series looks and sounds great in HD, and the special effects are very well done and are seamlessly integrated with the practical shots. The extras include deleted scenes, a 10-minute long making-of featurette, and 42 minutes worth of prequel webisodes which bridges some of the gap in time between the original series and the event series. While the series event does provide the show with a bit better ending than the original run of the series got, it still suffered with some of what plagued the original series' later seasons. Specifically, trying to be clever with the twists and turns and just having one or two big twists. And, of course, introducing a bunch of new characters into an established world is always hard, but that was made easier by the fact that Noah Bennett was front and center of almost everything. So, even though it is not as great as the first season of the original show was, it is definitely worth watching and will probably give you a more satisfying end since it was not written with the expectation that there might be another season, as the ending of season four was.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Deadpool

 

Deadpool is a movie that you will know where you stand about it within the first few minutes. It is a superhero movie that breaks all the superhero movie norms in that it is R-rated, is over-the-top violent, has sex in it, and the main character breaks the fourth wall constantly (because he knows that he is a comic book character). Backed by Ryan Reynolds' wit and smart Alek comments all the way through the movie (including making snarky comments about himself), the movie tells the origin story of Wade Wilson, AKA Deadpool, a mercenary who's part of the X-Men universe (although it is not exactly clear which timeline he is in, which is a joke in the movie). Wilson is seeking revenge on a guy named Francis, who essentially turned him into what he is. He is joined by X-Men Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic), and sullen teen girl Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), who are trying to recruit Deadpool to join the X-Men. Francis is joined by Angel Dust (played by Gina Carano) who is a super-strong evil mutant.

There are essentially two storylines that run in parallel with each other during the movie. The first is Wade's origin story includes his sex-worker girlfriend Vanessa (played by Firefly and Gotham alum Morena Baccarin), and TJ Miller, as Deadpool's buddy Weasel. Miller steals many a scene he is in, which is no small feat with Deadpool throwing out zingers every couple of seconds. The second is the revenge story, which is where all of the action in the movie takes place. Of course, the storylines do intersect at the end.

For those who get the blu-ray, the movie looks and sounds wonderful in HD. The extras include two separate commentary tracks, deleted scenes, a gag reel, an image gallery, videos that were a part of the movie's promotional campaign, and the most extensive extra, an hour and twenty-minute long making-of documentary (that is split into five parts).

Overall, the movie is awesome. The jokes are great, and make fun of everything from Reynold's acting ability vs. his looks, the horrible incarnation of Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (also played by Reynolds), as well as the Green Lantern movie (also starring Reynolds). It seems that everyone in the cast was having a blast and not taking themselves too seriously. It is most definitely not a family-friendly movie as there is a lot of swearing and sexual jokes. The action is great, especially the battle at the end, and the movie has no problem lampooning the superhero genre. It is definitely worth checking out.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 39

 Day 39 was the Max Out Strength workout again. This one has a single round warm-up, then you go right into the workout, going about 10-minutes of leg-focused exercises, then a break. As I mentioned last time, each move is 45 seconds then has a 10-second active break, then you move to the next move. After the first break, you get into the hardest portion of the workout, which is the chest-focused portion with a ton of push-up variations. That is where I maxed out (at about 13 and a half minutes; a little farther than I made it last week). Then you do a core-focused round, and then the last six minutes are more push-ups. So, the workout is very tough if push-ups are tough for you.

DVD/TV Series Review: Psych: Season 7

 

The seventh season of Psych included 14 episodes that aired in the winter and spring of 2013. The show pretty much follows the format of the prior seasons. That is, the show is a case-of-the-week procedural that does have story arcs (and jokes) that go throughout the course of the season (and there are callbacks to prior seasons). And, of course, there are the spoof/homage episodes that are a play on something from pop culture. This season, it is a spoof of the movie Clue, which also serves as the show's 100th episode. Shawn and Juliet's relationship takes a couple of turns this season, as does Lassiter's relationship with Marlowe.

The DVD set is a three-disc set with the episodes and bonus content spread throughout the discs. The extras are pretty similar to the prior seasons. There are commentary tracks on select episodes, a gag reel, a ton of deleted scenes, montages and psychouts, and an extended version of the 100 Clues episode. Note that the musical episode(s) that aired after the 7th season ended is not included in this set. Some of the guest stars this season include Parminder Nagra (from ER), Anthony Michael Hall (from pretty much every 1980s teenage comedy), Garcelle Beauvais, Jake Busey, David Koechner, Christopher Lloyd, Lori Loughlin, Cybill Shepherd, and Lesley Ann Warren.

Overall, the show continues to be good, although probably not as good as it was in the first couple of seasons. The show definitely recycles jokes, and there are only so many times it can do that without getting stale. That said, the writers do manage to keep the show fresh with the spoof episodes which give fans something to look forward to each season. The acting is always great, and the cast members either have or fake great chemistry. I assume it is the former since they all keep coming back to do the TV movies even after the show ended. So, if you are a fan of the show, this season is definitely worth watching.

DVD/TV Series Review: Community: Season 6

 

The sixth season of Community would be the show's last. The season was short, just thirteen episodes, and was saved by Yahoo after being canceled by NBC. There was more cast upheaval with Yvette Nicole Brown leaving the show (after Donald Glover and Chevy Chase's previous exits). Jonathan Banks, who was great in the prior season as Professor Hickey left the show to do Better Call Saul, and was definitely missed. The additions to the cast were Padget Brewster, who is a (mostly) straight-laced accountant brought in to keep the Dean from sending the school into bankruptcy, and Kieth David who plays the new IT guy for the school.

For those who get the DVD set, there are definitely not as many extras as the prior season releases got. There are no commentary tracks on any episodes, but there is a gag reel, deleted scenes, a trivia game featuring members of the cast and crew, and a behind-the-scenes featurette titled Six Seasons And A Finale.

Overall, the season is good, but not as good as it was in prior seasons, especially the first couple of seasons. I think the number of main cast members who left the show really hurt it, but the remaining cast members did do a good job. Because the show went from an over-the-air broadcast to streaming there is some swearing and more adult jokes than the show had while on NBC. And, the show had long abandoned the concept of the group being actual students. That said, if you were a fan of the prior seasons and hung in to get to the sixth season, this one is still worth checking out.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 38

Day 38 was the second time doing the Max Out Sweat workout. I was able to get just a little bit farther into the workout (by a few seconds) but was not able to make it to the first water break. The power moves at the end of each cycle of exercises are very tough, even at the beginning of the workout.

DVD/TV Series Review: Psych: Season 6

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major season six spoilers+++

Season six of Psych included 16 episodes that aired from the fall of 2011 to the spring of 2012, including the mid-season break that lasted almost two months. The show continues with the formula that has worked well for the show up to this point. It is still mostly a case-of-the-week procedural crime comedy with a bit of drama mixed into it. It does have some ongoing story arcs. One of the big ones this season is Shawn and Juliet's relationship since they finally got together during the prior season. Another multi-episode arc involves Lassiter getting a love interest, played by the movie version of Buffy in a vampire-themed episode. And, as has been the case in all of the seasons, there are several pop-culture references, including an episode that is a total spoof on the movie The Hangover and an episode that is an homage to Indiana Jones. That episode brings back Cary Elwes' character Pierre Despereaux and brings in the nearly ageless Mädchen Amick, who was not a part of the Twin Peaks homage in the prior season but whom James Roday said he really wanted to work with. This season ends on a pretty big cliffhanger that leaves the life of one of the main characters in doubt going into the next season.

The DVD set is a four-disc set with the extras and the episodes spread evenly throughout the discs. The extras are pretty consistent with what has been released for the prior seasons. There are deleted scenes for nearly every episode, a gag reel, montages (which are almost gag reels themselves), psychouts, and commentary tracks (audio and/or video) for many of the episodes. So, if you want to go through the bonus material then there is a lot for you, although you will have to watch episodes multiple times (which, I'm guessing most people will not mind).

Overall, if you have liked the prior seasons, you will probably like this one. Yes, the show is on the sixth season and some of the jokes are getting recycled now, but on the whole, I think the writers do a good job keeping the stories fresh, and the cast seems to really enjoy their characters. The show is mostly a comedy, but does have some moments of drama mixed in that works well. So, it is definitely worth watching.

Supplement Review: EAS Myoplex Original Protein Shake Mix Packets, Chocolate Cream

 

Myoplex hit it big in the late 90s/early 2000s when Body for Life was all the rage. It is not a straight protein supplement (although it does have 42g of protein), instead, it is meant to be a meal replacement which means it has a lot more carbs, vitamins, and minerals than straight protein powder has. It tastes okay when mixed with very cold water and better when mixed with milk. Since EAS has gone out of business it is no longer being produced so chances are if you can track down a box of it, it most likely expired (if these things had expiration dates). It is on the more expensive end of the meal replacement spectrum, but if you use it as a snack between meals it is economical (assuming you can still track a box of it down for a reasonable price).

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 37

Day 37 was the second time doing the Max Out Power workout. I was able to get a little bit farther into the workout, maxing out at about 14 minutes, but the push-up sequence is still killer, even doing them all modified. I do like the core sequence that comes about 2/3 of the way through the workout, and generally think that the program could use a bit more core work. 

CD/Music Review: The Monkees - Good Times

 

This is really the last "real" Monkees album. It was released in 2016 when three of the four members of the group were still alive (Mickey, Peter, and Mike). The album is pretty much a collection of new 2-3 minute songs that are a mix of more upbeat "pop" numbers with a couple of ballads thrown in there. To me, the best song on the album is "Me and Magdelena," and a very slightly remastered version of "Love to Love," through which they found a way to include Davy on the album.

Overall, I do not think the album is as good as what you would get on one of their greatest hits albums or even as good as the album Justus, but it is still good. It is also, now that Peter and Mike have both passed, the last album that can be attributed to the group. Definitely worth the listen if you are a fan of the group.

CD/Music Review: Then & Now...The Best of the Monkees

 

This is primarily a Monkees greatest hits album released in 1986 to honor the 20th anniversary of the TV show and spawned a reunion tour by Mickey, Peter, and Davy. It was the album that, along with the show's re-runs, made me a fan of the group. I was not even born when the show originally aired but was pretty much the perfect age in 1986 when the group had a huge resurgence in popularity because the show was being played on Nickelodeon and MTV almost constantly. It does also have a few new songs that feature just Mickey and Peter (Davy did not sing on any of the new songs because he did not think they were paid fairly, and Mike was still pretty bitter about the whole Monkees experience and pretty much-avoided anything to do with the anniversary and the reunion aside from making one appearance at one of the tours stops).

The album includes all of their major hits like Last Train to Clarksville, Daydream Believer, and Plesant Valley Sunday, as well as some of the more obscure songs like DW Washburn. The last three songs, Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere, Kicks, and the song that got them back into the top 40, That Was Then, This is Now, are the only new songs on the album. They are not the only new songs that the trio of Mickey, Peter, and Davy put out around that time as there was another album "Pool It" that included new material, but did not do nearly as well as this album did.

Overall, it is a very good greatest-hits album. It is probably even more of a desired item now that three of the four members of the group have passed away, but whether you were a fan of the group in the 60s or became a fan after that, it is definitely a must-listen.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 36

Day 36 was the second go around with Max Out Cardio. I was able to get much farther into the workout (almost 20 minutes) than I did versus the last time (just over 8 minutes) when I was still feeling kind of crappy. The modified version of the workout is definitely easier than the non-modified version, but it is still tough, especially since there is some kind of plank-based move in each of the circuits, which are the hardest moves for me.  

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 35

Day 35 was the Recharge workout from CE. Thankfully, I did not lose any flexibility despite having skipped last week as I was feeling crappy after getting my Covid and Flu vaccines at the same time. My flexibility did not improve from two weeks ago, but it did not backslide either. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Psych: Season 5

 

+++Warning, this contains a minor spoiler from the prior season, but no major giveaways from the fifth season+++

The fifth season of Psych included 16 episodes that aired in the summer and winter of 2010 (after its usual break about midway through the season). Season five of Psych continues the formula that made the show a hit for the USA network, combining a case or mystery of the week with a ton of 80s and 90s pop culture references and some ongoing story arcs. This was the first season to pull an all-out pop culture-themed show, specifically, an episode called Dual Spires, which is a combination spoof/homage of the early 90s cult classic show Twin Peaks. The show actually managed to get quite a few of the actors from Twin Peaks to play spoof versions of their characters from Twin Peaks, including Sherilyn Fenn, Ray Wise, Sheryl Lee, and more. There is also an episode that is a spoof of the Fast and Furious movies that, while not as good as the Twin Peaks episode, is still funny. The season finale continues the Yang storyline, with Ally Sheedy reprising her role and finding a clever way to include Jimmi Simpson's character, Mary, who was killed in the Yang episode in season four. The show also continues to develop all of the characters, including teaming up Gus and Lassiter for an episode and Henry coming out of retirement to be in charge of all the consultants for the Santa Barbara PD, making him Shawn and Gus' boss.

The DVD set is a four-disc set, and like the prior season releases, it has a ton of extras. There are deleted scenes for pretty much every episode, extended versions of some episodes, commentary tracks (audio and/or video) on many episodes, and a gag reel. So, if you like bonus content, there is a lot there for you. Overall, the season is very good. The acting and writing are both top-notch, and the show finds new ways to tweak the formula that makes it work. It is still playing the will-they-won't-they-together dance between Shawn and Juliet, drawing out the tease of a relationship for as long as possible. So, if you were a fan of the prior seasons, you would probably like or love this one. It is absolutely worth the time to watch.