Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 25

 Day 25 was Eccentric Lower in X3 and Drench in PIYO. As I mentioned in the last update, I am definitely able to get lower in the squat moves, which makes this workout more intense, even when using the same weight. The lunges are still very much my weak point in this workout.

Drench is nearly an hour-long workout in PIYO that really combines a little bit of everything from the prior workouts. There is not as many balance moves as in some of the other workouts (really the only balance move is warrior 3, which is not held all that long), so you do not really need to use a chair. Even though it is a longer workout, it does flow very well and does not seem like it is overly long.

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 24

Day 24 was Yoga in X3 and Buns in PIYO. The yoga workout went pretty much the same as it did the past couple of weeks. I did not really have any new flexibility gains at all. The buns workout is basically squats and lunges the entire time. I can definitely get a bit deeper in the squats, not so much in the lunges yet, however. Doing lunges with proper form that gets my knee close to the floor has always been difficult for me, even when I was in much better shape than I am now. 

Product Review: HDMI Switch 3 Port, avedio links 4K@60Hz HDMI Splitter 3 in 1 Out

 

This is a good three-way HDMI splitter that will allow you to run three devices to one HDMI port. My living room TV is mounted above my fireplace and I have a high-speed HDMI cable running through the wall so that I can put the devices connected to the TV (in my case, a blu-ray player, a Roku, and a PS4) to the TV without having cables running up the wall. Plus, my TV mount partially blocks some of the HDMI ports on the TV itself, so this was the best solution.

The splitter is powered through the HDMI cables and does not have (or need) a separate power source. I have not noticed any issue with lag or latency through any of the devices hooked into it, aside from one time when one of my PS4 games was loading. But, aside from that, the audio and video from all three devices has been fine.

The only thing that would make this better is that if it came with a remote that would allow you to switch between the channels without having to push the button on the box every time. That is not, however, a big issue, just something that would be a slight improvement. Otherwise, it works as advertised.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Dark Knight

 

This is, of course, the second movie in the Christopher Nolan directed and Christian Bale led live-action Batman trilogy which not only revived the live-action Batman franchise from near death, but arguably paved the way for the historic run of superhero movies that is still going strong today. The fact that Nolan took these movies seriously, coupled with the fact that the first Iron Man movie (which came out the same year as this) was so well done really took superhero movies out of the "cult following" that had been the majority of their fanbase and opened the genre up to wider appeal.

This movie is set about a year after the events of Batman Begins with Batman having terrorized the city criminals and inspired lackluster (to say the least) copycat vigilantes. Gordon (played again by Gary Oldman) is now the head of the major crimes unit (cleverly nicknamed MCU) which is trying to take down the mob and "capture" Batman. Joker (played brilliantly by Heath Ledger) offers his services to the mob to kill Batman and get the heat off of them put on by Gordon and new Gotham District Attorney, Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart). Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman also reprise their roles as Alfred Pennyworth and Lucius Fox, and Eric Roberts joins the cast as mobster Sal Maroni.

Aside from Ledger's casting, which was controversial when it was announced, the other big casting change from the first movie was replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes with Maggie Gyllenhaal. At the time, it was speculated the Holmes' marriage to Tom Cruise and participation in Scientology was the reason, but Nolan has gone on record saying that she was simply not available to do the sequel. Whatever the reason, while I personally would have preferred for Holmes to return (mainly because I am not a fan of recasting).Gyllenhaal does a good job with the role. 

This set has three discs, the 4K-UHD disc that has just the movie itself, a regular blu-ray disc with just the movie, and a second blu-ray disc with most of the special features. The regular blu-ray disc does include a making-of documentary called Gotham Uncovered, and the movie can be played with a picture-in-picture option that includes some of the material from the Gotham Uncovered documentary. The rest of the features are on the second blu-ray disc and include a featurette on Batman's tech, the psychology of Batman, a series of Gotham Tonight episodes, hosted in-character by Anthony Michael Hall's character from the movie and featuring some of the other cast members, and the trailers, and a gallery of the different Joker cards.

Overall, the movie is great. One of the best superhero movies of all time in my opinion. While Ledger was only in the movie for a minimal amount of screen time (all totaled), he dominated pretty much every scene he was in, and his appearances were spaced out well so it seemed like he was in the movie much more than he was. The only thing I would have done differently is [SPOILERS AHEAD] kept Two-Face for the next movie. Maybe make him disappear and then exact revenge in the third movie instead of killing him off after only four scenes. From what I had read, the plan was originally to bring Joker back for the third movie in some capacity. Of course, Ledger's death shortly after filing wrapped made that impossible and by that point, the movie was finished and it would have been too expensive to go back and totally change the ending.

Regardless, the movie is great and the A/V quality of the UHD disc, especially in the IMAX scenes is wonderful.  It is definitely worth the upgrade to the 4k blu-ray. 

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 23

Day 24 was Triometrix in X3 and Core in PIYO. Triometrix was tough, but each time gets a little better, but I still hate Core (almost as much as Sweat). Nothing really new to say about either of the workouts aside from the fact that I got them out of the way.  

Book Review: Star Wars: Convergence

 

Convergence is, for the moment, the first (chronologically) in-canon Star Wars novel. It is still set during the High Republic era, but a generation or so before the novel Light of the Jedi and the conflict with the Nihil. So, there is an entirely new crop of characters in this book, and again, the one character that everyone is familiar with, Yoda, is only referred to in passing but is not directly included in the storyline.

The plot of this book involves warring neighboring planets Eiram and the E'ronoh, and the Jedi being dispatched to help negotiate a peace treaty during a cease-fire between the two planets. As you would expect, things do not go smoothly, and the Jedi must stop an attack that threatens to plunge the planets back into war.

The book is good, but not one that I would call a must-read.  It is a moderate length at just over 350 pages, but it is a fairly quick read. If you are a fast reader you can probably finish it in a day or two. I think it suffers from what the other High Republic novels do, namely too many characters that have no real backstory or setup that fans are just supposed to be invested in. I think that the books would be a lot better if Yoda was a lead character and then introduce the other characters around him. The story does have a good blend of action and mystery/suspense and does set up some of the elements that are used in the later High Republic novels. It is one of those books that I would say is worth reading once, but it is not one that a lot of people are likely to read more than once. 

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 22

 Day 22 was the start of the 4th week of the PIYO and X3 doubles, which meant the Eccentric Upper workout in X3 and the Sweat workout in PIYO.

Both workouts really went about the same. I was still under a time crunch dealing with the family medical issue from last week, so I think the X3 workout in the morning went a bit better than the Sweat workout in the evening. I think that was also due to the fact that I am not a huge fan of the Sweat workout. But, I go them done and did the best I could with each one.

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 21

Day 21 was the rest day in X3 and the Strength Intervals workout in PIYO. 

In the interval workout, you basically do a cardio move and then some version of a squat or a lunge. So, in a way, it is more like one of the Chalean Extreme workouts than it is any of the previous PIYO workouts. It is very short, just over 20 minutes, and the workout flows well so it does not get boring. The moves are again modified (mostly the burpee exercises) so you can do them with less impact and/or slower if you need to.  

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 20

Day 20 was MMX in X3 and was scheduled to be the Sweat workout in PIYO.  I did do the MMX workout, although very modified because I was going without almost any sleep the night before but skipped the Sweat workout. I will probably make it up on the Friday rest day this week depending on how much time I have. 

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 19

Day 19 was the rest day in PIYO and Incinerator in X3. Incinerator was still hard, but I found it to be a bit easier than it was last week. I really like the pace of the workout as there is very little rest and very little wasted time between the moves. This is not one in which Tony chats for an extra 30 seconds to give people an extra break. Even though you are lifting weights the entire time, it does test your cardio fitness as well. 

Book Review: Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. T***p

 

This book is partly a memoir that spans the course of Peter Strzok's career as a counterintelligence officer for the FBI, but it is mostly focused on the investigations (which he led) before and after the 2016 election. The book is a moderate length, about 350 pages, but it is not what I consider a quick read because it can be a bit dry. 

Strzok was the lead investigator on both the Clinton email investigation and the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, which morphed into an investigation of the Orange Genital Wart's ties to Russia and that interference, and which then morphed into the Mueller investigation. Strozk was initially a member of the Mueller team but was kicked off when text messages between him and an FBI lawyer whom he was having an affair with showing potential bias against t***p were revealed. Strozk, for the most part, does not get into the lurid details of his personal life but explained what he meant in the most controversial messages, and rightly points out that if he wanted to hurt t**p's campaign he could have leaked the fact that the campaign was being investigated before the election (which he did not), and that actions he took in the Clinton email investigation probably hurt her campaign and helped t***p (which was not his intended effect, but the likely outcome). Of course, the pussy grabber has no qualms about referring to Strozk and "his lover" over and over again, as if he had not cheated on all of his wives, which Stozk rightly points out. 

A couple of the more interesting tidbits from the book is that while the FBI did refer to the Steele Dossier (which Strozk was not really a dossier, but a collection of reports) when obtaining their warrants during the Russia investigation, they did not rely on the information as they thought a lot of it was not well-sourced and could not be corroborated. But, they felt that it should be brought the to judge's attention and the purpose for which it was put together. Second, not only did agent orange become a target of the investigation, but the FBI also started an investigation into whether Jeff Sessions perjured himself during his confirmation hearings. Unfortunately, Strozk does not go into much detail about that, and it seems that the investigation just flamed out. 

This book is basically a way for Strozk to tell his side of the story and defend his actions and those of the FBI. He recites as many of the facts as he could at the time he wrote it, and did not hold back his opinions of the former president or the people around him. He also criticizes some of the decisions that were made by the FBI leadership but also details the process through which those decisions were made. It is definitely worth reading.

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 18

Day 18 was Eccentric Lower in X3 and Define Lower in PIYO. 

Eccentric Lower is a pretty fun (but still challenging) workout with a good selection of moves, some of which are in other P90x workouts and some of which are new. That workout went a bit better than Define Lower did, but I go through each of them.

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 17

Day 17 was yoga in X3 and Core in PIYO.

I don't really have a ton to say new about either workout. Core is probably my least favorite of the early PIYO workouts, mainly because it is the hardest one for me to do. And, I have not been super motivated to work out this week dealing with family issues. But, I did what I could for each one and got them done. 

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 16

Day 16 was Triometrix in X3 and Buns in PIYO. The buns workout is a 28-minute workout that includes mostly all squats and lunges, or some variation of those. There are no Vinyasas or triceps push-ups in this workout.  As is the case in the other workouts, you are moving almost the entire time, except for a few seconds in the Pigeon pose, so you will probably burn quite a few calories.

Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11

 

This is a group of stories collected by the author, Damon Dimarco who started collecting the stories within months of the 9/11 attacks. The book was originally published a few years after 9/11 and then updated for the 20th Anniversary to add a new forward by the former NY governor, George Pataki, and provide some updates on some of the people that he originally interviewed. 

The book exclusively details the experiences of people who were in or around the towers that day as well as people whose lives were affected in the aftermath, such as a woman who basically became the organizer who made sure workers at "the pile" were fed daily, got supplies, etc. The people whose stories are told in this book are generally not the more well-known people who have been interviewed many times, but that does not lessen the impact at all. The author does a very good job of conveying the emotion of the people who he interviewed, which was sometimes very raw, and did a good job of introducing who that person was and what they were like during the interview.

My only nitpicky point about the book is that it does contain a number of errors, mostly about the timing of events on 9/11, both in the timeline at the beginning of the book (e.g., saying that Flight 93 took off at 8:01 AM when it took off at 8:42 AM and that it crashed at 10:10 AM when it really crashed at 10:03 AM), and in the footnotes (e.g., in one he said the south tower was hit first by Flight 175). Even if these made it into the initial printing, they should have been corrected in the update. However, those do not really take away from the rest of the book, and since the point of the book is not to detail the overall events of the day, but to tell the stories of the people affected, it is still a five-star book in my mind. 

The book is fairly long, just under 500 pages, but it does read fairly quickly. Most of the stories span about 5 pages, give or take, but there are a couple longer ones that span about 20 pages, so there are a lot of natural stopping points. It is definitely one that I consider a must-read.

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 15

Day 15 was Eccentric Upper in X3, and Define Upper in PIYO. I would say that both workouts went about the same as they did the last time I did each one. Eccentric Upper is challenging, but not impossible, and Define Upper is the same. I am still doing the push-ups on my knees until I can get my chest to the floor for 20 reps then I will switch to doing them on my toes. 

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 14

Day 14 was a rest day in X3, and the core workout in PIYO.

Core is a mix of easy (or at least easier) core-focused exercises and some hard (to very hard, depending on whether you modify) exercises. What is nice is that it has a mix of standing, lying down, and seated exercises, and like the other workouts, you are moving the entire time. So, you burn a lot more calories than just doing crunches and leg lifts. 

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 13

Day 13 was the MMX workout in X3 and the Sweat workout in PIYO.

MMX is basically a harder version of P90x's Kenpo X. You do some of the same punching routines as in the original workout (jab cross and hook uppercut combos, for example), but you do harder kicks ( such as crescent kicks) and then add in sprawls and elbow strikes along with those. So, you get a big calorie burn.

The sweat workout was a bit easier this time around, but not by much. These two workouts on the same day make it the hardest day to get through (at least to this point) when doing them as a hybrid. Of course, I started PIYO 30 days into X3, so if you start them both at the same time, you may not end up doing this combination of workouts. 

Book Review: Act of Treason: (Mitch Rapp Series Book 9 Chronological Order; Book 7 Publication Order)

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior novel, Consent to Kill+++

Act of Treason, published in 2006, is the follow-up to the novel Consent to Kill written by Vince Flynn and continues the story of CIA counter-terrorism operative, Mitch Rapp. In this book, Mitch is dealing with, or not dealing with, the death of Anna, basically drinking himself into oblivion until he gets wrapped up in the investigation of a bombing that kills the wife of a presidential candidate just before the election. The book starts out in October and then does a time jump to early January just before the President-elect Josh Alexander and Vice President-elect Mark Ross, who was introduced in Consent to Kill are ready to replace President Hayes, who announced he would not seek another term because of his Parkinson's disease diagnosis. Rapp discovers that responsibility for the attack is pointing away from it being an Al Qaeda operation as everyone assumes, and is instead pointing toward domestic terrorism.

By this point, Flynn had written six novels in the Mitch Rapp story and had really developed his style and tone. This one has a similar blend of action and suspense, with political gamesmanship and corruption interweaved throughout. The book is 415 pages but is a pretty quick and easy read. If you read fast, you can easily finish the book in a day or two. The story is mostly self-contained and resolved by the end of the novel. Flynn does introduce some new characters who could potentially be included in later novels and also uses some of the characters from the prior books. So, if you have liked Flynn's prior novels, you will probably like, or love, this one. 

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 12

Day 12 was a rest day in PIYO and the Incinerator workout in X3. 

Incinerator is a very fast-paced upper body workout that consists of doing ten reps of an exercise (usually with weights) immediately followed by a bodyweight exercise for thirty seconds that works the same muscle. So, for example, doing 10 reps of chest flys followed by thirty seconds of push-ups. There are no breaks worked into the thirty minutes (aside from the times when Tony stalls a bit), you just go from one exercise to another, rotating between shoulder exercises, chest exercises, back exercises, biceps exercises, and triceps exercises. The last two minutes, or so, is a burnout round in which you alternate between holding some variation of plank and doing push-ups. The workout is a tough one, but it flows well and does not drag at all. 

Book Review: Star Wars - The Battle of Jedha

 

This is now the second book in the Star Wars canon, both in the High Republic era and overall (at least for the moment). It is set on the Jedha, which is the moon that was introduced during Rouge One. This book is another one of what has become fairly common for the adult canon books being released, in that it is written as a script. It follows the events of the novel Convergence, and the battle between the planets Eiram and E'ronoh depicted in that book. Jedha is preparing for a Festival of Balance in which different groups worshiping and/or studying The Force, including the Guardians of the Whills, are included. The festival will be used as a backdrop to peace negotiations between the Eiram and the E'ronoh, to be aided by two Jedi Masters. 

The book introduces a new group named Path of the Open Hand, who hate the Jedi's use and manipulation of The Force and sets up a clear precursor to the Nihil, who are the group of pirates that are the protagonists in the other High Republic books. There are tie-ins to the later novel, including introducing the monster that can sever the Jedi's connection to The Force, although what it is exactly, remains a mystery in this book. Of course, the negotiations go sideways and the Jedi must try to protect the citizens of Jedha, many of whom do not want them there at all. 

The book introduces even more characters (at least if you read this before Convergence as I did) and still does not utilize Yoda (which has been my big issue with all of the High Republic books to this point), just casually mentioning him at the very end. The book is one of the longer ones at just under 500 pages, but it is a fairly quick read. If you are a fast reader it can easily be finished in a couple of days. I think the story is good, but not great. It is not one of the canon books I would classify as a must-read, but I do think it is worth reading at least once for those who are keeping up with the stories outside of the movies and tv series. 

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 11

Day 11 was eccentric lower in X3 and Define Upper in PIYO. 

Eccentric lower is the same concept as the upper body workout, just doing lower-body exercises like squats and lunges. You are again focusing on the "lowering" portion of the movement, doing three counts down and then one count up. So again, it is best to try the workout using a lower amount of weight than you might otherwise use for the various moves and then adjust for the next workout. 

As far as Define Upper goes, I did not really notice any big change from the last time I did the workout, so I have nothing new to say about it at this point.

Book Review: Landslide: The Final Days of the t***p Presidency

 

Landslide is the third book written by Michael Wolff about the 2017-2021 presidential administration. The focus of this book is on the 2020 election and the aftermath, including the lead-up to January 6th, the former president leaving office, and the second impeachment. The book is just over 300 pages and reads fairly quickly. It can easily be finished in a couple of days if you are a fairly quick reader.

I would say that the book does not have any really salacious details of the kind that were in Wolff's prior books (e.g., Wolff's insinuation that t***p was having an affair with someone in his administration, or t***p's alleged bragging about someone in the administration giving him a blowjob), it was pretty much a straight retelling of what happened in that time period, with Wolff not holding back about the fact that he thinks t***p and many of the people around him (those who were telling him he won the election and it could definitely be overturned), were batshit crazy, and getting crazier with each passing day. For me, the best part of the book was the detail of the clusterfuck that was t***p's defense during the second impeachment and the team of dipshits (including a self-described wimp who did not want to talk in front of the Senate) who were defending him. Mainly, because nobody else was willing to do it. At the very end of the book, Wolff details meeting with t***p at the southern shithole (Mar-a-Lago) during which Wolff asked the Orange Genital Wart to name who exactly was behind the non-existent plot to steal the 2020 election, and of course, the dipshit could not do so, only saying it was not Biden, and the names would come out shortly. 

Overall, you have to know what you are getting with Wolff. He is not a journalist, so he has no qualms about inserting his personal opinions or putting in all the dirt he hears that nobody else would touch. As I said above, this book was mostly a retelling of the facts without much dirt, so in that way, it is closer in tone to many of the other books about the administration written by journalists who just provide facts and quote sources. But, Wolff is not shy about letting his personal feelings be known, so in that way, it is different than many of the other books. I would say most of the information in the book is fairly well-known, especially as of this writing, but it does have some fine details about events that have not been widely reported, which shows Wolff continued to have good access to people behind the scenes, even after writing two books excoriating that administration. So, if you liked Fire and Fury and Siege, this is worth reading.

Product Review: 3-in-1: Collapsible Magnetic Microwave Cover

 

This is a collapsible food cover for the microwave. It is made out of silicon so unlike the plastic equivalents, which cannot collapse, this one can flatten down to a little thicker than a dinner plate and expand to easily cover a large bowl. And, because it is bendable, it can be used as a hot pad to grab the sides of hot bowls or plates. There is a plug at the top that can be left open to allow food to vent or be closed to allow food to steam. When it is closed, you can pour a bit of water on the top to help the steaming process. And it can easily be rinsed off or put on the top rack of a dishwasher, so it cleans up a lot better than plastic covers. Even though it costs a bit more than the cheaper covers, it is definitely a "get what you pay for" kind of thing. I highly recommend it.

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 10

Day 10 was Yoga in X3 and the core workout in PIYO. 

Core is a very tough workout that requires a lot of balance and core strength. So, depending on where you are with that, even the modified moves may be tough to pull off. There are a couple of times built into the workout when they go into child's pose, but for the most part, like the other PIYO workouts, you are moving the entire time.