Study Aid Review: The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems

 

This book is mostly a problems repository. Like the author's other "humongous" books, from chapter 1 it starts giving you problems with very little setup. It does have a chapter introduction page, but then it just starts in with example problems. But, unlike some of the other guides out there that have just a ton of example problems in them, the author does weave in the explanation of the theory in the form of margin notes that are added to explain how to tackle/solve the problems. Along with the theory, the author gives you tips for solving different problem types, advice on things to look out for, and marks the hardest kinds of problems with a skull and cross bones, which I think are good problems to go over before your exams.

The book is good in that it does not just dive into the calculus material. The first 8 chapters (about 120 pages or so) are a review of algebra and trigonometry, making sure you have the fundamentals down in case you need to brush up on them, and then it gets into the calculus material. The calculus material covers all of the topics that you will be exposed to in the first year of calculus (which in most schools is split up into two semesters, one focusing on derivatives and one focusing on integration), starting with limits and ending with using integration techniques on sequences and series problems.  It also goes over the introduction to differential equations that students usually get in the second semester, and has good examples for solving related rates problems and optimization problems. 

This does not cover multivariable calculus, linear algebra, or the more complicated differential equations problems you will get in later classes if you need to go beyond Calc I and II. This will, however, definitely help you get through the first year of calculus, especially if you have a hard time understanding your textbook and/or your teacher. 

Book Review: Rage

 

This is the second book written by famed journalist Bob Woodward about the 2017-2021 US presidential administration. Woodward covers events from throughout the administration but has a heavy focus on the response to Covid-19 and the relationships between the president and key members of his administration.

Specifically, Woodward talks about the relationship between the orange genital wart and members of the cabinet like Mattis, Tillerson, and Dan Coats (who was the Director of National Intelligence), and how all of their relationships soured with dipshit until they were fired or resigned. Woodward also discusses at length the love-note relationship between it and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Then, towards the end, Woodward goes on to discuss the disastrous Covid response that actually started out promising then went off the rails as t***p became more worried about getting reelected than he was about listening to medical experts. The big deal about this book as opposed to Woodward's first book is that t***p agreed to be interviewed, and taped, so Woodward uses t***p's own words throughout the book. 

The big takeaways from the book for me are, first, just how big a dipshit t***p really is, and two how much of an unjustified overinflated ego he has. For example, thinking he knows everything about science and technology just because his uncle taught electrical engineering at MIT when it is clear if you put any kind of physics or engineering problem in front of t***p and told him to work it out, his brain would explode. Secondly, just how stupid everyone around him found him to be and how frustrating it was to deal with his stream of consciousness jumping from topic to topic while still managing to say (or know) anything of substance. That is really borne out when Woodward reprints the exact questions he asked and exact quotes in response from t***p. 

Woodward does admit that many people he interviewed for the book only agreed to talk to him anonymously, but he also has about 400 endnotes that point to publically available sources for a lot of the material. Woodward is very critical of t***p and is clearly not a fan. But, he does give t***p credit for some things, such as his initial response to Covid, like restricting travel from China and Europe and then instituting the initial lockdowns. Unlike a lot of the journalists who have written books about t***p, Woodward does give his overall impressions and opinions of t**p and does not just stick to reciting facts and quoting sources. Woodward does not go as far as someone like Michael Wolff and actually call t***p batshit crazy, but you can tell that seems to be his impression of t***p. I do think Woodward can be fairly criticized for keeping what t***p truly knew about Covid versus what he was saying in public under wraps until his book came out. 

There is not a ton of new information in the book, especially if you are one who kept up with the news about that administration from reputable news sources. But, Woodward did manage to uncover details that flesh out the events he discusses in the book that I had not heard before. So, I do think that it is worth reading and definitely recommend it.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: American Assassin

 

This is a 2017 film based (very loosely) on the series of spy novels written by the late author, Vince Flynn, centered on the character of Mitch Rapp (played in the movie by Dylan O'Brien). The book series started out with the novel Transfer of Power, which was actually Flynn's second novel, but the first to feature the character of Rapp. In that book, Rapp was a 31-year-old off-the-books CIA agent who hunted down terrorists in the prime of his career as a spy/assassin (think Jack Bauer in the series 24). After writing about 11 novels set around the older Rapp, Flynn wrote two prequel novels, "American Assassin" and "Kill Shot", which basically filled in Rapp's origin story. 

This movie is loosely based on the novel American Assassin (and to some extent Kill Shot) but changes elements of the story significantly (such as how Rapp's college girlfriend is killed which set him on his path to the CIA). Some elements from the book do make it into the movie, but it basically tells its own story (largely involving a rouge agent). While the movie does include character traits and heavily adapted plot elements from the books, it does not use the actual storylines from either of the books as Vince Flynn wrote them. 

For those who get the 4k disc, the A/V quality of the UHD disc is very good, and all of the extras are included on the UHD disc, although you do get a regular blu-ray disc as well. The extras include a making-of featurette that runs about 10 minutes, a featurette on casting O'Brien as Rapp, a featurette on the character of Stan Hurley (played by Michael Keaton), and a featurette on the main antagonist. Then there is a featurette on the stunts from the film, and one on the locations in which the movie was shot. Finally, there is a Q&A session with O'Brien and Taylor Kitsch, that runs almost a half an hour (and is the longest of the extras). All totaled, you get about just under 90 minutes of bonus material.

This is a good action movie, but it is definitely better if you have not read the books and are not already invested in the characters. I had not yet read the books when I saw the movie, but now that I have started reading them, I can definitely tell why some fans really felt that the movie did not do enough to hold true to the books. I remember Flynn being interviewed when he was negotiating the movie rights before he passed away and basically admitting that he would have to give up control of the story and that if the characters made it to the big screen, the stories would be a lot different than what he wrote. That is absolutely what happened and I think if the movie would have been more faithful to the book, and been set in the late 1980s, it would have been better received by the fans. That said, I think O'Brien did a very good job as a young Mitch Rapp, and Michael Keaton was great as Stan Hurley. Since the movie pretty much bombed in its theatrical release, the chances of there being a follow-up movie or a franchise of movies are pretty slim, but as a stand-alone action movie, it is definitely worth watching if you can accept that you are not going to get the story from the book.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Flash: Season 4

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major spoilers from season 4+++

Season four of The Flash aired during the 2017-218 TV season. The show picks up six months down the line from the end of season three in which Barry exiled himself in the speed force to maintain balance after his defeat of Savatar. Iris is leading team Flash from Star Labs, with mixed results, and Cisco eventually finds a way to get Barry out of the Speed Force without destabilizing it. Of course, once Barry is back, not all is right with the world. This season finally moves away from the speedster "big bad" instead bringing in the character Devoe, who was mentioned by Savatar during season three. The show does still have a bit of the case/villain of the week procedural aspect to it, but it has become, like the other Arrowverse shows, a show with a serial story arc that spans throughout the course of the season. The big Arrowverse crossover, Crisis on Earth-X, occurs eight episodes into the season and includes episodes from Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends. The season ends on a huge cliffhanger reveal that will have a big impact on season 5.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the A/V quality is the same as it has been for the prior season releases and for the other WB/DC shows. The 23 episodes (plus the three other crossover episodes from the other shows) are spread across four discs, and there is no "play all" feature, so you cannot pick back up from where you stop. For extras, you get the episodes of Arrow, Supergirl, and Legends of the crossover so you can watch it all at one time. Then there is a featurette on the crossover and the 2017 best of DC TV at Comic-Con that are common to all of the Arrowverse DVD and Blu-Ray releases from that season, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and a handful of other featurettes specific to the show.

Overall, the season is strong. There are a lot of recognizable guest and recurring actors this season including Katee Sackhoff (from Battlestar), Jessica Parker Kennedy, Jessica Camacho, Kim Engelbrecht, Neil Sandilands, Bill Goldberg, and Danny Trejo. And, of course, actors from the other Arrowverse shows make appearances throughout the season. I do think it was nice to mix the main bad guy up a bit this year and not do another evil speedster storyline while still giving the team a challenge. So, if you have liked the show up to this point, it is definitely still worth watching.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 36

For Day 36 I switched to the flow workout week in Pilates, which will alternate Flow 1 and Flow 2 M-Th, and then do hips, buns, and thighs on Friday and Abs + Core on Saturday. Then, this was another Chest and Triceps workout in Lift-4.

The flow workout went very well. I was actually able to get deeper into the stretches and get both of my legs farther off the ground for the side leg lifts. The Lift-4 workout was another circuit workout, doing two quad sets for three rounds, then a burnout set with wide push-ups and triceps push-ups back-to-back for three rounds, and then finishing with three rounds of alternating core/ab exercises. My arms and chest were definitely toast by the end of the workout and I felt like I was doing a HIIT workout by the end of the quad sets. So, both workouts today went very well.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Supergirl: Season 3

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the second season, but no major spoilers from season three.+++

The third season of Supergirl aired during the 2017-2018 TV season. This season mostly does away with the villain of the week (as have the other Arrowverse shows) and basically has interweaving serial arcs. The season starts out with Kara still reeling from the loss of Mon-EL after the defeat of the Daxamites at the end of season two.  Kara has to deal with a new threat in the form of an industrialist named Morgan Edge (played by Heroes Adrian Padsar) who wants to take out Supergirl and buy Catco, which is being run by Jimmy since Cat is now the White House Press Secretary. Then, the series shifts to a threat from a rouge Kryptonian named Reign, who wants to take over Earth and form a new Krypton, and Kara learns a surprising truth about her mother Alura, now played by Erica Durance, who of course played Lois Lane in the series Smallville. Eight episodes into the season, the big Arrowverse crossover happens with episodes of Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends each devoted to the crossover. Supergirl's episode is the first episode of the crossover (Crisis on Earth-X), and more characters from Supergirl are included in the event this year than were included in the prior season's crossover. The season ends on a big reveal that sets up the storyline for the next season.

For those who get the blu ray set, the 23 episodes (plus the three other episodes from the other shows of the crossover event) are spread across four discs. The A/V quality is on par with the prior season releases, and the releases of the other Arrowverse shows. The extras include a featurette on the character Reign, a gag reel, and deleted scenes. Then, there is a featurette on the crossover event (which is the same one that was included in the release of the other Arrowverse shows from that season) and a best of DC TV at Comic-Con, which was included on all of the season releases for the DC TV shows. 

Overall, this is another strong season. There are more changes to the cast, some of which would be permanent and others that are not. This season's additions to the cast include Odette Annable, Andrea Brooks, Carl Lumby (from Alias), and Jessee Rath. This would be the last season with Jeremy Jordan as a series regular, and Floriana Lima had a reduced role this season. Helen Slater makes another appearance as Eliza Danvers, and Katie McGrath is upgraded to a series regular as Lena Luthor. Ultimately, if you liked the second season of the show (which is much different from season 1) then you will probably like this season. If you preferred season 1 of the show over season two, then you may not like this as much, but it is still good and fits better into the Arrowverse.  

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 35

For the day 35 workout, I went back to doing the regularly scheduled (although a day later) abs and core Pilates workout. Again, I feel like the workouts are getting a bit easier over time, and my flexibility is very slowly getting better. So, I definitely plan on sticking with it. I did not do the Lift-4 recovery workouts today since I think they are a bit redundant when also doing Pilates. Plus, I did the workout later in the evening than I intended to, so I just wanted to do the 23 minutes of Pilates and not bump it up to 40 minutes by adding the two recovery workouts from Lift-4. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 34

For Day 34 I just did the two recovery workouts from Lift-4, which went well. During the foam roller workout, I felt like I had fewer "knots" in my calves and hamstrings and it does not hurt as bad to roll my IT band (on either side).  I'm still not to the point where I would dare try it with the rumble roller, but it is getting better.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Gotham: Season 4

 

The fourth season of Gotham is the second to last season of the show and aired during the 2017-2018 season. It starts out some time down the line from the events that ended the last season, with the effects of the Tetch virus still affecting the city. This season has several different serial arcs going on as the show has pretty much done away with the bad-guy-of-the-week format combined with the serial arcs that the first couple of seasons had. This season really jumps between the different arcs, the plot lines of which overlap at certain points, and then come together at the end of the season. This season is really focused on who with get control of the criminal underworld with Oswald/Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) Lee (Morena Baccarin), who has taken over The Narrows with the help of Nygma/Riddler (Cory Michael Smith), and Barbara (Erin Richards) all battling for control, while Gordon (Ben Mackenzie) tries to keep the city together. In the middle of the season, there is a multi-episode arc involving the serial killer Professor Pyg, and toward the end of the season, Jerome (Cameron Monaghan; who the show is still teasing as maybe he is or maybe he is not The Joker) returns to cause even more mayhem. Bruce (David Mazouz) continues to have to deal with Ra's al Guhl (played by Alexander Siddig) while getting closer to taking up the mantle as the protector of Gotham.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the 22 episodes are spread across 4 discs. The A/V quality is the same as it has been for the prior season releases, and the other DC shows such as Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, etc. The extras are definitely scaled back from prior releases, but there are a few featurettes specific to the show, including a "new" villain who appears this season, a featurette on The Sirens (basically all of the female villains on the show), deleted scenes, and The Best of DC TV's 2017 at Comic-Con, which the same featurette that was included on the other DC show season releases that year. 

The season continues to be good, and at times very good. The show is definitely trying to pack all the bad guys it can into the show and give as many as possible origin stories. It is still hard to buy that David Mazouz will eventually turn into Batman, because, while he has gotten taller over the course of the four seasons of the show, he is still not to the point where he has grown into his body and started putting on muscle, so he just looks like a taller, skinny kid. This is fine when they have him honing his detective skills, but not all that believable when he is fighting off a bunch of bad guys. The season ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger that will definitely set up the storyline for the final season. Ultimately, if you liked the first three seasons then you will probably like this one. If not, then this is probably not going to change your mind about the show.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Arrow Season 6

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season 5, but no major season 6 spoilers+++

Season six of Arrow aired during the 2017-2018 TV season. The season begins five months after the events ended season 5 with Adrian Chase detonating the bombs on Liyan Yu. Of course, we get a flashback to see who made it out and who did not. From there, the season involves Oliver struggling to keep his vigilante identity a secret, and then the team has to deal with a couple of different "big bads" throughout the season. The season ends on a quasi-cliffhanger and is resolved very differently than the prior seasons have been. Eight episodes into the season, the big Arrowverse Crossover event happens, with a big storyline that crosses between Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow. This one involves a version of Earth, called Earth-X in which the Nazis won World War II and the heroes have to face evil doppelganger versions of themselves. 

For those who get the blu-ray set, the 23 episodes are spread over four discs. The A/V quality is on par with the prior season releases and the releases of all of the Arrowverse shows. The extras include each episode of the crossover from the other shows, so you can watch the crossover straight through without having to get discs from the sets of the other shows, then there are featurettes on Slade Wilson, whose arc was basically wrapped up this season, a featurette on one of the big bads, and then two featurettes that are the same as on the releases for the other Arroverse series from that year. One is a featurette on the crossover event, and the other is a Best of DC at Comic-Con.

Overall, the season is very good and takes the show in a new direction, which I think was necessary. The cast pretty much remains the same, really the only big change is that some cast members are upgraded to series regulars, including Katie Cassidy, who was a recurring character in season 5 after Earth 1's Laurel died and she started playing Earth 2's Black Siren. She has a very good arc with Paul Blackthorne this season and does a good job playing an evil character that is starting to show hints of good. The series also brings back characters from previous seasons, including a pretty nice surprise return. Some of the recurring and guest cast members include Kirk Acevedo (from the series Fringe), Michael Emmerson (from the series Lost), Manu Bennett (reprising Slade Wilson), and Katrina Law (reprising Nyssa). The acting and writing both continue to be very good, and the writers do a good job of keeping the show relatively fresh, even after 138 episodes. This season also sees the end of the flashbacks from the island which were getting harder and harder to make realistic as Stephen Amell got older. So, if you have been a fan of the prior seasons of the show, this is definitely worth watching.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 33

For Day 33 I switched up the Pilates workout. Instead of doing the hips, buns, and thighs workout, I tried the 20-minute express workout. That one is much tougher as there are no modified moves, and it has a much quicker pace, going from move to move without much setup. Then, in Lift-4 it was leg day, and this time it was a 50/50 workout, which meant three rounds of two different exercises, back-to-back, lifting heavy for most of the exercises. Then, three rounds of HIIT cardio doing three different moves, one for a minute, one for 45 seconds, and one for 30 seconds. Then, finishing it off, as always, with three rounds of alternating between two core exercises. The entire workout was very tough because the entire thing, even the core-focused moves, uses your legs. In the resistance portion you are lifting as heavy as possible so by the time you get to the cardio, you are pretty much gassed. Again, the people in the video were having a hard time, so you know it is a good workout.  

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 32

Day 32 was Fundamentals 2 in Pilates and Shoulders in Lift-4. This time the shoulders workout was an interval workout doing three rounds of three exercises back-to-back, without any rest between the exercises and minimal rest between the sets, then finishing with three rounds of two core exercises. So, even without any cardio, it was very tough.  

Product Review: OZERO Winter Thermal Gloves Men Women Touch Screen Water Resistant Windproof Anti Slip Gloves

 

I live in Minnesota which can get some very cold winters. I was looking for a pair of winter gloves that I could wear when I knew I would be in a situation in which I would need the use of my hands, such as getting mail out of my locked mailbox, without having to take the gloves off. To that end, these definitely work. That is not to say that your hands can never get cold while wearing them, but if you are going to be outside for a short period of time in very cold weather, or want a good pair of winter driving gloves, these are definitely a good option. You can use the touchscreen of a smartphone or tablet with the index finger of the glove, but it does not work as well as using your bare hand. The sizing chart is fairly accurate, but if your hands are kind of between sizes, the size that the chart tells you to get may be a little bit big. Overall, however, I do like these and would recommend them.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3

 

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

Season three of Legends aired in the 2017-2018 TV season and is again a mix of a monster/demon/"weird thing"-of-the-week procedural and a serial with a Big Bad that the group has to deal with by the end of the season. This season, the big bad is a demon named Mallus (voiced by John Noble) who was released when the Legends tried to travel through time with two versions of themselves at the end of season two. This also created anomalies called anachronisms, which are basically people or objects displaced in history. Rip (Arthur Darvill) has created a Time Bureau to replace the time masters to hunt down the anachronisms and try to restore the timeline, forcing the Legends to retire. Of course, they do not stay retired, and the usual shenanigans of the show ensue. Eight episodes into the season we get the big crossover event, Crisis on Earth-X (which includes episodes of Supergirl, Flash, and Arrow), of which the Legends installment is the final one. The crossover has major implications for all of the shows, including Legends.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the release is pretty much on par with the prior season releases, both in terms of A/V quality and bonus features. The extras include all of the episodes of the crossovers from the other shows, so you can watch in total without having to get the discs from the other shows, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. Then there is a featurette specifically on the crossover event and a best of DC TV at Comic-Con, both of which were released on all of the DC show's DVD and Blu-Ray releases that year. 

Overall, the season is good, both in still developing the existing cast members and introducing new cast members, some of whom would eventually become series regulars. Those include Jess Macallan, who plays Ava Sharp, a member of the Time Bureau, who can't stand the Legends, Adam Tsekman, who plays Gary Green, a member of the Time Bureau who loves the Legends, Courtney Ford (Brandon Routh's wife), who plays Nora Dhark, the daughter of Damien Dhark, and Matt Ryan, who reprises his role as John Constantine, who was brought into the Arroverse during one of the flashback sequences on Arrow. The show continues to be the more offbeat of the Arrowverse shows and can get downright silly (especially in the season finale, when the silliest thing the show has ever done is pulled off). That said, it works for the show, and the actors seem to have a lot of fun with the material, and with each other. So, if you have liked the more offbeat nature of the show in the first couple of seasons (especially in season 2), this is definitely worth watching. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 31

Day 31 was Fundamentals 1 in Pilates and a recovery day in Lift 4. I ended up doing the foam roller workout and then the pilates workout back-to-back in the evening. I skipped the stretching workout in Lift-4 since the Pilates workout does most of the same types of moves that the stretch workout has. I was pretty busy in the morning so I could not do the usual Pilates in the morning and  Lift-4 in the evening, but I got it done. 

Product Review: Hoover SmartWash Pet Automatic Carpet Cleaner with Paws & Claws Carpet Cleaning Solution

 

This is one of Hoover's newer carpet cleaners, which operates like a vacuum cleaner. It has a tank that you fill with warm water (that snaps onto the front of the unit) and a reservoir to put the cleaning solution. There is also a reservoir on the handle into which you can put the spot cleaner solution, which is basically a pre-treater that you can spray on the pet mess that will help get it out when you run the main unit over it. You have to make sure that the two water tanks are seated correctly, otherwise, water will go into the carpet but will not get sucked back up into the waste water tank. Basically, you push it forward to clean and then pull it back toward you to have it suck the water up, and "dry" the carpet. It does not really end up drying the carpet as it will still be damp when you are done, but it will get the waste water out of the carpet so it goes from wet to damp. 

The unit is easy to put together and works well. I had to use it on a pet mess very quickly after purchasing it, and it was able to clean up both urine and poop stains, both of which came out easily so you could not even tell there was ever a mess. It does come with a small bottle of the cleaning solution and the spot chaser solution. They are enough to get a couple of uses out of the machine, but if you plan to clean your carpets on a regular basis, you will definitely need a larger bottle. So, if you are looking for a reasonably priced carpet cleaner, I definitely recommend this one, especially for pet owners. 

Book Review: Flight 93: The Story, the Aftermath, and the Legacy of American Courage on 9/11

 

This is a book that was written around the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that is almost exclusively devoted to what happened on Flight 93 (which was the plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania after the passengers and crew fought back), and the aftermath for the families and the nation as a whole. The author does detail some of the other events of the day, mostly the likely sequence of events that resulted in the other planes being hijacked and what targets they hit, but the focus of this book is mostly on Flight 93. 

The author interviewed many of the family members of the people on board the flight as well as the people who saw, heard, and/or felt the plane crash, and the responders (mostly the local coroner who became a rock for the families as he was trying to find and then identify remains) in his research. Even if you have watched many of the 9/11 documentaries and/or read the other books (even those devoted to Flight 93, specifically) there is probably material in this book that you have not heard. Both about the people on the plane (why they were traveling, etc.) and about the hijacker's movements before 9/11. There is also a lot of detail on the family member's fight to hear the cockpit voice recorder tape, and all the back-and-forth that they had to do with the FBI in order to be able to listen to it. The book is fairly short, just under 300 pages, and provides a lot of information, including endnotes that mostly cite to sources of information, but also occasionally provide additional detail. There are most definitely very sad parts, especially when he quotes family members, and especially those who got to talk to their loved ones before the fight for control of the plane began. It is definitely worth reading.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 30

Day 30 was Fundamentals 2 in pilates and back and biceps in Lift-4. The back and biceps workout was a circuit workout, doing two blocks of four exercises, back-to-back, with just a few seconds of rest between them for three rounds. Then you do a burnout round of two exercises for three rounds (back extensions and full curls), and then finish with three rounds of cardio.  I am not sure if I like the circuit days better than the 50/50 days. They both have their plusses and minuses (at least when it comes to getting through them), which is probably why the program is set up the way it is. I do like that the workouts do not repeat over and over, even though the exercises that you are doing in the workouts do. That is one thing about the earlier programs from when everything was on DVD, they could get boring after a while, if for no other reason that you watched the same thing over and over and in P90X heard Tony Horton's same corny jokes over and over. Plus, I think the "real-time" workouts keep your body from adjusting as much since each workout is at least slightly different.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 29

Day 29 was Fundamentals 1 in Pilates, and the Chest and Triceps workout in Lift-4, which was a 50/50 workout. Since we are now in week 5 of Lift-4, I did try to bump up the amount of weight I was using for the resistance exercises a bit, but since there is so little time between the exercises, for the second and third sets of a couple of them I had to back off on the amount of weight that I used. The HIIT portion of the workout was tough but not as bad as some other weeks, so I do think my stamina is getting better (slowly). Maybe a little faster than my flexibility is. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Blade Runner 2049

 

This is the 2017 long-awaited sequel to the (now) iconic 1984 film Blade Runner, which starred Harrison Ford a Deckard, a Blade Runner who hunted down and retried Artificially Intelligent Androids called Replicants. Of course, that movie ended with Deckard falling in love with, and escaping with the replicant Rachael (played by Sean Young). This movie is set 30 years after the original movie. We find out that the Tyrell Corporation has been taken over and is now the Wallace Corporation, run by Niander Wallace (played by Jared Leto). The corporation still makes replicants and has basically turned them into slaves, and the Earth has become a dystopian nightmare, in large part due to an electromagnetic pulse that wiped everything out in 2022. Most humans now live on the colonies that were promoted in the original movie. Ryan Gossling plays K, the most advanced replicant (a Nexus-9 Replicant) who is a Blade Runner that hunts down and retires rogue replicants. In the process of retiring a replicant at the beginning of the movie, he discovers evidence that replicants can reproduce biologically, and this leads him, through a series of events, to finding Deckard (again played by Ford). I will not spoil the movie for those who have not seen it, but if you have seen the original movies, similar themes play out in this movie that did in the first one.

For those who get the 4-k blu-ray, it is a two-disc set with a UHD disc just containing the movie and a regular blu-ray with the movie and the extras. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is top-notch, pretty much what I would call reference quality. There are, of course, a lot of CGI effects in the movie, and everything looks seamless so, if not for flying cars and the like, it would be hard to tell what is real and what is not. The extras include two longer featurettes, one 17 minutes and one about 22 minutes, that focus on casting and the look of the new movie. Then there are a series of prologues which are prequel shorts to the movie that provides some backstory. The longest is just over 15 minutes and the other two are around 6 minutes. Then there are a series of short featurettes that total 11 minutes and can be played all at once, which cover different aspects of the Blade Runner world. Then there is a trailer for the game that was released around the same time as the movie. All in all, the extras total about an hour and twenty minutes, give or take. 

Overall, the movie is very good. The original movie, which was directed by Ridley Scott is widely considered one of the best Sci-Fi movies of all time, if not the best, so this had large shoes to fill. The writers did a good job incorporating parts of the story from the original film into a new, updated movie, and made it work. The cast is very strong and includes Robin Wright,  (in her first major role in the US), and Dave Bautista. The movie even finds a way to incorporate Sean Young's character (using a similar kind of CGI and real actor blend that was used in Rouge One) from the first movie without her appearing in person (although she is still credited as appearing as Rachael). Like the first movie, it is hard to classify what genre this is. It is a movie that has a lot of action, but it is not really an action movie per-se. It is a mix of action, drama, philosophy, and thought experiment all rolled into one. The acting is top-notch with Gossling doing a great job taking over the leading role, and Ford steps back into the role of Deckard well. It is a worthy follow-up to the first movie and is definitely worth watching. 

CD/Music Review: Gwen Stefani: You Make it Feel Like Christmas

 

This is the original version of Gwen Stefani's Christmas album, released in 2017. It is a good "popified" Christmas album, with a mix of more traditional songs (e.g., Jingle Bells, Let it Snow, and Silent Night) and newer, non-traditional songs, such as the title track (which she sings with her husband, Blake Shelton). The songs definitely sound like pop songs, so if you are one who prefers more traditional arrangements for Christmas songs (like those that the crooners like Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, and Nat King Cole, or even Amy Grant used on their albums), then you may not like this one. If you do not mind versions of the songs that use a non-traditional, more modern arrangement (like Christina Aguilera used on her album), then you will probably like this. Personally, I probably would not listen to the album front-to-back all that often but would have no problem including any of the songs in a playlist of Christmas songs being played on shuffle. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: It - Chapter 1

 

This is the updated 2017 live-action adaptation of Stephen King's novel, It, directed by Andy Muschietti. The movie is subtitled Chapter 1, as it is the first of two movies one which will focus on the members of the "Loser's Club" as kids, and the second one which focuses on them as adults (much like what was done in the 1990s miniseries. This, as you would expect, is the movie that tells the story of the heroes as kids. 

The movie stars Jaeden Lieberher as the main protagonist Bill Denbrough, whose brother Georgie is killed by a monster at the beginning of the movie, setting Bill on a quest for revenge, and Bill Skarsgard as It/Pennywise, the ancient evil that terrorizes the town of Derry Maine every 27 years. The rest of the main cast includes Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Nicholas Hamilton. 

There are several differences between the movie and the book, one of the main differences being that the Children's part of the story is set in the late 1980s as opposed to the 1950s. Also, the book jumps back and forth between the story with the group as kids and as adults, which makes it very hard to follow, so the movie is much more streamlined in the storytelling. And, even by splitting the story into two movies, they could not include every element that was included in the book, so there are parts of the story that the movie takes out. The book has a lot of exposition and backstory that is honestly not needed in the movie, so I do not think anything that is left out of the movie is really missed. And, the movie does change the most controversial part of the book from something that could never be filmed to something that could.

For those who get the 4K set, there are two discs, the UHD disc with just the movie itself, and the regular blu-ray which has the movie and the extra. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is fine, but not great. The movie was shot in 2k, so it is upscaled to 4k, and honestly does not look much different than the video quality of the regular blu-ray. The extras include trailers, about 15 minutes of deleted scenes, and three different behind-the-scenes featurettes, one on Pennywise, one on the cast of kids, and then one in which Stephen King is interviewed about this latest adaptation of the book.

Overall, the movie is very good. It is scarier than I remember the mini-series being, but that makes sense given that this is a movie and the mini-series aired on broadcast television. It is still not overly gory, but it does get a bit gory toward the end. Still, it is more of a psychological thriller than a blood-and-guts horror movie. The acting is very good, which given the cast was made up of young, mostly unknown actors (Finn Wolfhard was probably the most well-known of the child actors), is kind of surprising. Bill Skarsgard is great as Pennywise, who is definitely the main attraction. He can switch from innocent, to creepy, to scary at the drop of a hat. Even if you are not a huge fan of the book, this is still worth watching, as it is one of the few times where I have found a movie to be better and more entertaining than the book. It is definitely a must-watch if you like horror movies.

Book Review: The Third Option (Mitch Rapp Series Book 4 Chronological Order; Book 2 Publication Order)

 

The Third Option is the third book written by Vince Flynn, and the second novel to feature the character Mitch Rapp (if you read the novels in the order they were published). If you read the series in chronological order it is the fourth in the Mitch Rapp series.

This novel is set sometime after the events of Transfer of Power, with Mitch wanting to get out of his clandestine work with the CIA and settle down with Anna, the reporter whose life he saved in the first book. He decides that his current mission, to assassinate a German arms dealer who has been selling weapons to Sadaam Hussein will be his last. The mission goes sideways when the people he is working with turn on him, causing Rapp to try and figure out who tried to take him out. 

Most of the events in the book are set in Washington D.C. Most of the major characters from Transfer of Power return in this book, and there are a few new major characters that are introduced. Some of whom will clearly be integral to later novels. Most of the story is wrapped up by the end of the book, but it is clear from reading the book that the story told in this one will play out over at least one additional book.

It is interesting reading Flynn's work while looking through the lens of history. His first books were written in the late 1990s and this one was published in 2000. In the real world Al-Queda was becoming the major terroristic threat, yet in Flynn's novels, Sadaam Hussein was much more of a threat than he was in reality. I am interested to see whether that changes at some point after the events of September 11, 2001. I am reading the books in chronological order so I have only read American Assassin, Kill Shot, Transfer of Power, and now this book. 

Overall, the book is very entertaining, with a nice blend of action and suspense. It does have a bit more political intrigue and behind-the-scenes backbiting and maneuvering than Transfer of Power Had. Even though Flynn was a pretty staunch conservative, he has no problem having bad guys in either party. If you ever listened to him being interviewed, he often sounded exasperated with politicians in general, regardless of party (at least the interviews that he did on local Twin Cities talk radio), and that sentiment does come through in this book. It is definitely a good read, and a must-read if you are into the spy novel genre.

Book Review: Star Wars: Thrawn: Alliances

 

This is the second novel in what was, back in 2017, the new Thrawn trilogy which returned the book is a fine follow-up novel to the first book, just entitled Thrawn, but it is not as good as any of the novels in the very popular original Thrawn Trilogy of novels (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command) which were written by the same author back in the 1990s, which are now relegated to Legends, or non-canon status. 

This book is set in two time periods, one during the Clone Wars, between Episodes II and III, and the other between Episode III and a New Hope, during the events of the animated series Rebels. The novel is set mostly on the planet Batuu in each of the time periods. In the early time period, Anakin is trying to find Padme who was kidnapped on Batuu, and in the later time period, The Emporer tasks Thrawn and Darth Vader to investigate a disturbance in the Force the Emperor has felt. 

This book has a lot more action than the first Thrawn novel, and it shows off more of Thrawn's strategic planning and thinking ability than the first book did. Zahan is definitely setting up a larger plot, even though much of the storyline that is set in the "present" is resolved by the end. Vader and Thrawn actually work well together, even though neither particularly likes the arrangement, and Thrawn does have suspicions as to Vader's real identity although he agrees to never speak of the subject. 

While Thrawn is not written exactly the same way in the new canon as he was in the Legends books, some of the character traits do carry over to the new novels. I am guessing that Zahn has much less carte-blanch to do what he wants with the character than he did years ago when the only directive from LucasFilm is that he could not kill any of the legacy characters off and he could not set any of the stories before A New Hope. I find this to be one of the better novels in the new canon and definitely consider it one of the must-read novels. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 28

Day 28 was an off day from Pilates and the recovery workouts for Lift 4. Again, I did them back-to-back, first the stretch workout and then the foam roller workout. I think each of them would be a little better if they were 15-20 minutes long (especially the foam roller workout), although you could just repeat them if you really wanted to. That said, I do feel much looser after I am finished that I do going into the workouts.