Product Review: SET OF 2 VHS STORAGE CASES ; STORE UP TO 34 TAPES

 

While there are probably not many of us left who have both a working VCR and some VHS tapes laying around, if you are in your upper 30s or older you may have some. I do not have many, but I do have the original Star Wars movies (without the updates added in), a couple of movies that never got a DVD release, and a handful of home movies. These are a good way to store standard-sized VHS tapes (they will not hold the larger cases like those the Disney movies were packaged in) that is easily transportable. You get two bags that each hold about 17 individual VHS tapes. The bags are fairly sturdy and can be zippered closed to keep out water and dust. They are definitely a much better storage option than just having them in a box. So, if you are one of the few people who still have some VHS tapes and you can find these at a reasonable price, they are a good pickup.

Product Review: Magazine Protectors Set Of 3

 

These are decent magazine holders and can store about 20, give or take, individual magazines that are regular-sized or smaller. They will not, however, hold something the size of the older Life and Rolling Stone magazines that were oversized. Also, they are not extremely sturdy. You absolutely have to pick them up by both handles or they will rip at the seams, and I even put one hand underneath them while I hold both handles in the other hand. That is what drops them down a couple of stars for me. But, if you are a person that still has a lot of print magazines, these are a good way to keep them protected.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 14

Day 14 was a return to P90x and the Back and Biceps workout. I think I like this one a little better than the Body Beast workout, especially since right now I have limited space for a home gym so I really don't have room to have a bench and barbell set up. Someday that will be the case and I will definitely return to Body Beast, but right now P90x workouts are the better option for me with limited space. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 13

Day 13 was just a rest day. I was not feeling well at all (I think I caught a bit of a stomach bug) so I did not even do Recharge. I mainly just stayed in bed all day and tried to get some rest. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 12

Day 12 was Friday Fight Round 1 again. Overall, the workout went fairly well even though I was a bit tired going into it. I was able to do more unmodified moves and can definitely feel my stamina getting better. I maxed out about the same point as last week, making it a few more seconds (pretty much as I have done with all of the workouts this week).  

Textbook Review: Engineering Statistics 5th Edition

 

This is basically a statistics textbook with examples and problems that are geared more toward engineering contexts than what you would see in a statistics class in a pure math curriculum. Like many textbooks, it falls into the trap of giving you the basic theory for the various concepts and showing you a couple of easier examples, then giving you a problem set with a bunch of problems that are harder than the examples in the chapter. Many of the problems require the use of statistical software (in my class we used MiniTab), but the book is not really keyed to any particular software program and as a result, does not give anything more than basic instructions about how to approach those kinds of problems.

Overall, I would say the book is okay, but not great. To be honest I hated stats in general and had to really grit my teeth to get through it. I would not say that this is something you can easily teach yourself from. It explains some concepts well, but others, not so much. For example, I never did understand ANOVA no matter how many times I read the chapter text. Most people are going to get this because it is required for a class they are taking, in which case you are going to have to get it regardless. If you are looking for something to learn stats from I would definitely look for a non-textbook study aid.

Product Review: Keurig K-Express Coffee Maker, Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Brewer, Black

 

This is a good option for those who only want to make a single cup of coffee or hot cocoa at a time and only want to store the k-cup pods and not canisters of coffee or cocoa. This is very easy to use. Basically, there is a water container that you fill and put on the back of the unit. You put a pod in the top and then you can select to have it dispense 8, 10, or 12 ounces of water (depending on how strong you want your drink and the size of the cup you are using). There is also a button to have it make a stronger brew, which I believe waters down the contents of the cup less.

This is perfect for a single person, someone who has limited space, etc. The only thing I have discovered is that when it initially starts dispensing it can kinda spray the stream a bit, so you definitely need to make sure your mug is exactly centered under the spout, otherwise you will end up with some dripping down the outside of the mug. Also, I have found it helpful that after every few uses with a k-cup pod, do just a run to have it dispense hot water (so run it without a k-cup pod in it). That will allow it to clean the nozzle without doing a full descaling cycle which is needed every few months. Finally, the water canister has to be aligned just right in order for the unit to operate, so you may have to reposition it a couple of times to get the thing to run. So, if you are in the market for a k-cup coffee maker, do not need a bunch of bells and whistles, and do not want to spend a fortune, this is a good option.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 11

Day 11 was the last Tabata Power workout for this round. Overall, it went about the same as it did on Tuesday. I was able to max out a few seconds later than I did on Tuesday, and was able to do more of the half-tuck jumps both at the beginning and the end of the workout. I still have to modify all of the push-up moves and max out during the triceps dips. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 10

Day 10 was the sweat intervals workout again. Nothing major to report on this one. I am still maxing out fairly early into the workout, but I have a feeling that will be the case for a while. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 9

Day 9 was the Tabata Power workout again. This went about the same as it did last week, although my back is feeling better so I was able to do more unmodified moves. I am still doing half-tuck jumps to protect my back, but I can do more of them for a longer duration before I switch over to the modified versions.  I maxed out at just over 23 minutes during the tricep dip portion of the workout.

DVD/TV Series Review: The Catch: Season 1

 

The Catch was a procedural crime drama series starring Mireille Enos (from The Killing) and Peter Krause (from Sports Night, Six Feet Under, and Parenthood). Enos stars as Alice Vaughan, a high-end private investigator in Los Angeles. Krause plays Ben Jones, her fiance who mysteriously disappears yet leaves Alice with a stolen painting. From there, the show becomes a mix of a case-of-the-week procedural that follows Alice's private investigation cases, with a serial arc in which Alice is determined to track down Ben. The serial arc is basically a cat-and-mouse game between Alice and Ben and has a lot of twists and turns. The rest of the cast includes Sonya Walger, Jacky Ido, and Rose Rollins.

For those who get the DVD set, the ten episodes are divided between two discs. The set is very bare-bones in terms of extras. It has some deleted scenes and a gag reel, but that is it. Also, anyone looking to get this should know that the show did get a second season that did not get a DVD release, so if you get the DVD you will not be able to complete the series on DVD.

Overall, the first season is good. It has a nice blend of drama and humor. It is not quite what I would call a "dramedy" as it is definitely more of a drama than it is a comedy. But, it does have some humorous moments. It is also interesting to see Enos glammed up for her role as a sexy private investigator. It is in stark contrast to her role in The Killing in which she was very much a regular person and was rarely ever made up. The season ends on a pretty big cliffhanger, so thankfully the show did get a second season to pay that off. But, the show was canceled after the second season and the show was never really properly wrapped up. So, I would say that the show is worth watching if you like the genre, but it is not worth getting too heavily invested in.

Study Aid Review: Schaum's Outline of Basic Circuit Analysis, Second Edition

 

As most science/engineering students know, Schaum's guides can vary widely in quality and helpfulness. This is one that, for the most part, is very helpful. It distills the concepts into easily digestible chunks, giving you enough of the theory to understand the concepts without getting bogged down, and many example problems. The first couple of chapters are basically an overview of various concepts, but once you get to chapter three, you will start with the material you will see in your first couple of class sessions of a circuits analysis class. The guide covers both DC and AC circuit analysis as well as power and three-phase circuits.

There are also chapters on PSPICE, which is one of the circuit simulation software programs that you may or may not learn how to use in your classes. In my electrical engineering program, we used Multisim and MATLAB, so the PSPICE chapters were of no use to me. The guide also has a chapter on Transformers which in my program was not covered in circuits analysis and only covered unless someone took Power Systems. So, not everything in the guide may be covered if you are actually getting this because you are taking a class. If, however, you are getting it to teach yourself the topic, need it for work, or just want to brush up, this is very good and much easier to understand than some of the circuits textbooks.

Book Review: Star Wars - Thrawn

 

The character of Thrawn has been a favorite of die-hard Star Wars fans from his introduction in the now Legends novels known as the Thrawn Trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command), also written by Timothy Zahn. Those novels were what many of us hoped would be made into a sequel movie trilogy, but as the actors got older (as it was set only a few years after Return of the Jedi) that became impossible. When Lucasfilm bought out Disney, it was unclear whether Thrawn would ever be included in the new material. Thankfully, he was. This novel serves as a partial origin story for Thrawn (or Mitth'raw'nuruodo), detailing his rise through the Imperial ranks from a cadet to eventually becoming a Grand Admiral.

Throughout the novel, we get an idea of Thrawn's brilliance as a tactician and master of strategy. However, that is not as much on display in this book as it was in the Thrawn Trilogy. However, that was set at a time when his skills were more refined and developed and this book is really about character development, so that does not bug me as much. The book does include minor appearances by Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, and Tarkin, but mostly the book is about Thrawn and his translator (Eli Vanto) participating in various missions as they rise in rank. The book ends shortly before the point where Thrawn was introduced in the animated series Rebels.

Overall the book has a good mix of the political intrigue that the novels set during the early years of the Empire have and action, whether it is Thrawn chasing down smugglers or dealing with Wookie raids. The book is clearly just setting up the character in the new canon for additional appearances (which would come through additional novels, the appearance in the Rebels series, and a very widely speculated live-action appearance in the new Ahsoka series. While I do not think it is as good as the Thrawn Trilogy from the 1990s, it does tell a very good story and sets up the "new" version of the character well. If you are someone who only reads some of the novels, I would definitely put this in the must-read category.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 8

Day 8 was Cardio Challenge from Max 30. Honestly, I did not have a very good workout today. I did not get a lot of sleep thanks to the Daylight Saving Time change and I think I ate a bit too much too close in time to working out. So, I was having to take a lot of breaks and slog through. But, I did get it done. 

Product Review: Innovera Universal Economy Bookends

 

These are very sturdy bookends, perfect for use on open or floating shelves, and have a wide enough base that can keep even very heavy books upright without a problem. They are definitely not fancy-looking or decorative, but they do what they are supposed to. Of course, they can also keep DVDs or CDs in place too if you are still one of those who does the physical media thing (which if you still have a lot of physical books is probably the case). I definitely recommend these.

Product Review: Coldest Sports Water Bottle - 32 oz

 

This is a more expensive water bottle for sure. That said, if you can afford it, it is head and shoulders above any other bottle I have come across. It is very well insulated. I filled it with ice and then put in some water over the course of the evening when it got down to just ice as I was drinking out of it. When I went to bed, I put the cap on, and in the morning there was still some ice left in the bottle, so the water was still very cold. I have not tried putting anything hot in it, and I am not sure that I will, but given how it performs with ice water, I am sure that it will keep hot liquids for a long time as well. And, despite being filled with ice for hours, the bottle did not "sweat" at all. There was absolutely no condensation on the outside.

The 32oz bottle is definitely too large for most standard cup holders, so if you wanted to take it in your car you would need a cup holder that is capable of expanding. But, for something that you plan to keep in one spot, this is definitely worth it.

Book Review: Star Wars - A New Dawn

 

A New Dawn was the first novel written under the Disney/Lucasfilm umbrella. The Tarkin novel was grandfathered into the canon material and the Heir to the Jedi novel had been started, but this was the first novel written completely after the merger and under the new rules that everything released in any format was a part of the canon. This novel also has the distinction of setting up the two main characters of the Rebels animated series Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla. Jarrus, had been a Jedi Padawan named Caleb Dumee at the time of Order 66 and narrowly managed to escape with his life. He went on the run and has been living as a freight pilot, who is also a womanizing alcoholic. Herra is doing what she can to disrupt the Empire at every turn, and she shows up at a mining colony that is being run by the Empire where Kanan is working, and the two end up, reluctantly, teaming up after Kanan has to use the Force in order to save himself.

While the novel does mention Palpatine and Vader, they do not make direct appearances. The book does include Rae Sloane, who is a main character in the Aftermath series of novels. At this point, she is a Captain of a Star Destroyer and has not reached the rank of Admiral. The main antagonist is a cyborg named Count Denetrius Vidian, whom the Empire dispatches to the mining colony to root out the rebels and restore production.

Overall, the book is very good. Because it is the first novel under the new canon, the hardcover version (which is out of print) is very hard to find at a reasonable price. But, you can still get it in mass-market paperback. The story does a good job establishing the two main characters but does not include the other members of the Ghost's crew at this point. It does not really suffer from not including legacy characters because there would be no reason for Kenobi, Luke, Leia, or Han to be included in this story without being shoehorned into it in a way that would not feel authentic. The book is about 400 pages long but is a fairly quick read. It is definitely one of the novels that I put in the must-read category especially if you are a fan of the Rebels animated series or plan on watching that.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 7

Day 7 was the fourth of the Body Beast back and biceps workout from the build portion of that program. Next week I am going to do a five-week cycle of the p90x back and biceps workout to transition back to that. The weights I used for the body beast workout remained the same, but I think I may be able to bump a couple of the p90x exercises up in weight since the last time I did that workout. We will see how things go. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 6

Day 6 was the Recharge stretch/yoga routine from CE. It went about the same as it did the past couple of weeks. I did find that I can crouch down a bit more in the forward-folds to crouch moves in the beginning. I cannot say that either my hamstrings or my lower back have had any significant gains in flexibility, however. So, while I am making progress it is slow.

Study Aid Review: Schaum's Outline of Electronic Devices and Circuits, Second Edition

 

This is a book that is not really keyed toward one class, although it is probably most helpful for a two-semester Electronics class (sometimes called Microelectronics). It mostly deals with diodes and transistors and then how Op-Amp circuits are fabricated using diodes and/or transistors. It is not a guide that would be good for, or even useful in, the first two semesters of circuits analysis which is taken at the beginning of an electrical engineering curriculum. This is very math-intensive, which is helpful if you have a teacher that requires you to get deep into the math. My electronics teacher basically just gave us the equations, deriving a few here and there, but did not require us to get too into the weeds and derive the equations ourselves. He did not really lecture from the textbook, and thankfully was pretty easy to follow. But, if you have a teacher that does heavily use a textbook that is hard to follow and/or does not give understandable lectures, then this may help you as it does give a concise (yet math-heavy) explanation of the theory. It is not something that is going to be easy to teach yourself the topic from scratch, however.

Book Review: Star Wars - Ahsoka

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers for the Animated Rebels and Clone Wars series, but no major spoilers from the book itself+++

This book was actually my introduction to the character of Ahsoka Tano. She was, as most people know, the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars, between Episodes II and III. She was framed for a murder that she did not commit and was almost kicked out of the Jedi order only to be proven innocent by Anakin, yet ended up leaving the order. This book tells the story of what happened after Order 66 and the fall of the Jedi and tells how she was recruited by Bail Organa into the Rebellion, which would play out in the animated series Rebels, which is set a handful of years before the events of A New Hope.

In this novel, Ahsoka has taken up the name Ashla, and hiding in a farming settlement on a moon called Raada in the Outer Rim, trying to stay off the Empire's radar. The Empire ends up coming to the moon in order to strip the moon of its resources, and Ahsoka builds a mini resistance against the local troops. She eventually gets on the radar of the local Imperial Bureaucrat, Bail Organa, and one of the Inquisitors.

The novel does outline some of the details of Ahsoka's storyline in the final season of The Clone Wars, which was resurrected after this book was written and the Rebel series had ended. Also, a portion of the storyline in the novel is shown in the new Animated Series, Tales of the Jedi, which is a collection of short animated stories that heavily feature Ahsoka. While the book is enjoyable even if you have not seen the Clone Wars animated series, it is definitely better if you have that background and context as her past is only lightly touched on in the book, mostly through flashbacks.

Overall, it is a very good story, for a character that was somewhat divisive when she was first introduced but has become more and more beloved as she has been fleshed out in the animated series and in live-action. It is definitely one of the canon novels that I would include on a must-read list. It is a fairly easy read, and despite being a young-adult novel can easily be enjoyed by adults. It is definitely worth the time to read.

Book Review: Star Wars - Heir to the Jedi

 

Heir to the Jedi was the first canon novel after the Disney takeover of Lucasfilm to focus on a legacy character during the time of the original trilogy. This one specifically focuses on Luke during the time between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, written from Luke's point of view. He is sent on a mission by Leia and the Rebel leadership to rescue a cryptographer being held by the Empire. That is the main storyline with Luke trying to discover more about the Jedi and increase his ability to use the force and introduces a potential love interest for Luke, Nakari Kelen, daughter of a biotech mogul and member of the Rebel Alliance.

The book is a bit of an uneven read. There are a bunch of side missions that Luke and Nakari end up going on in order to locate the cryptographer. The best parts of the book involve Luke trying to develop his skill with the little training he has and the conflict between his feelings for Nakari and those he has for Leia (whom, at this point, he does not know is his sister). Overall, I would say that the book is not as bad as some make it out to be, but it is also not one of the canon novels I would put in the must-read category. Of course, that is all subjective, but I am much more looking forward to finding out what Luke did between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens as that gets revealed more in the novels.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Jason Bourne

 

Jason Bourne is the fifth, and likely final, movie in the Bourne franchise. It saw the return of Matt Damon as the titular Jason Bourne and Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons, after the Bourne Legacy with Jeremey Renner and Rachel Weisz underperformed.

The style of the movie is much like the others in the franchise with Bourne seeking answers about the Treadstone program and trying to evade government agents sent this time by Tommy Lee Jones' character Robert Dewey, the current director of the CIA, who is another in the long cavalcade of agents who have tried to take down Bourne. As is the case with all of the other movies, there is a ton of good action, and the requisite chase sequence, which is again the highlight of the action.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the A/V quality is very good and there are a decent amount of extras. Those include seven making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes ranging from about four and a half minutes to just under nine minutes.

Overall, the movie is good, but really nothing all that different from what we have seen in the other movies. It would have been very nice had there been a team-up between Bourne and Renner's character Aaron Cross, but unfortunately, because of Renner's MCU commitments, that was not meant to be. This movie feels like it could be the final movie in the series, but it ends in a way that another movie could be made at some point. The supporting cast in this movie is very good and, besides Jones, includes Alicia Vikander as Heather Lee, head of the CIA Cyber Ops Division, and Vincent Cassel as an assassin sent after Bourne. I would say, in general, if you have enjoyed the other movies, you will probably like this one, especially with Damon reprising the Bourne character. If, however, you did not like the earlier movies or felt they were getting stale, this one is not likely to change your mind.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 5

 Day 5 was the first Friday Fight Round 1 workout of this round of the Hybrid workout. It went pretty much like the other workouts this week. I did as many of the unmodified moves as I could and then switched over to modified. There were a couple of jumping moves that I still took it easy doing. I kind of did half-tuck jumps for the unmodified moves because, even though my back is feeling better, I did not want to tweak it again and be back at square one. 

Movie Review: The Girlfriend Experience

 

The Girlfriend Experience was a movie by Steven Soderbergh and starring now ex-pornographic actress Sasha Grey, although she was still performing in porn when the movie was made. It is about a woman named Christine (who uses the name Chelsea) who is being interviewed about her life as a high-end escort, and the effect that it has on her personal life, including her real relationship with her boyfriend. It is also a period piece that works in the financial crisis as her clients are finding it harder and harder to pay for her services, and she and her boyfriend are worried about having enough money to maintain their lifestyle.

This is definitely not a film with a lot of sex or even a lot of nudity in it. Grey is topless in a handful of scenes, but that is really it. It is more about the overall life of a call girl. There was much more sex in the series adaptation that aired on Starz. The movie most definitely has an indie film feel, and it is not fast-paced at all. The character of Christine was written to be very reserved with a lot of emotional barriers, so Grey really was not able to show the personality that she does in her YouTube videos.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, there are two cuts of the movie, the theatrical version and the unrated cut (which does not really add much at all to the movie, and unlike what some may think does not have any salacious sex in it). There is a commentary track on the movie with Grey and Soderbergh, a very short making-of featurette, and a few trailers for other movies.

Overall, the movie is good, but not great. It can definitely be a bit slow at times, but it does have a lot of great visuals of NY, which do look really good in HD. Grey was very young (just 21) when the movie was made, and she definitely gives off the vibe of trying to act like she's more in control of her life than she actually is. Whether this was true for her real life or just as the character she was portraying was hard to tell, but either way, it worked. It is not a movie that is going to appeal to everybody. But if you are a fan of indie movies and don't mind a slower, documentary-like style, then this is worth checking out.