Book Review: The Last Patriot (Scot Harvath Series #7)

 

The Last Patriot, published in 2008, is the 7th book in the Scot Harvath series of action-thriller novels written by Brad Thor. This book is set down the line from the events of the prior novel, The First Commandment, with Harvath determined to get out of his role as a quasi-spy/assassin based on what he sees as being kept in the dark, sold out, and then betrayed by President Rutledge. This book starts with Scot and Tracy vacationing in France where they are witness to (and get involved in) an attempted assassination/hit. Their involvement gets Scot pulled back into working for President Rutledge in a storyline that mirrors a National Treasure-like follow-the-clues storyline, all while trying to avoid the assassin.

The hardcover version of the book is relatively short, coming in at just over 330 pages. In the Afterword, Thor lays out the background research he did for the book and goes through what elements of the story were real (or at least based in reality) and what he made up. The book has a good mix of action and suspense and by the end, essentially resets the overall storyline leaving the direction of the series very much open. There is less political intrigue/fighting as in some of the prior novels, but something like that would not have worked in this story anyway.  If you are a fan of the prior novels in the series this one is absolutely worth the time to read. 

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 3

Day 3 was a bit of a shit show. My back was spasming at 4AM so I was standing up all morning to loosen it up. Thankfully, this was a rest day in Lift 4, so I did the two recovery routines in the morning, which definitely helped my back. 

In the evening I did the total body circuit workout in T25. In this workout, you go through a series of exercises for 20 of the 25 minutes that alternate between a cardio focus (like sprints), chest and shoulder focus (like push-ups and pike-ups), core focus like plank moves, and legs (doing a lot of squats and lunges). Then, you do a burnout in minutes 20-24 doing some of the exercises from earlier in the workout at a little faster pace, and then for the last minute you do body runs, which is basically shuffling your feet forward and back while swinging your arms. Then you get a 3-minute cooldown (if you choose to do it). 

As with the other workouts, this does not have any scheduled breaks, but I did pause a few times to drink water and catch my breath. Tonia again modifies all of the moves. Unfortunately, there are some exercises for which the camera does not show what she is doing until about halfway through the time for that particular exercise. The cast in this workout is mostly the same, Tonia, Derek, and Scott, and they are joined by someone named Jan or maybe Jam. It is hard to tell what Shaun T calls her, and he does not really do formal introductions. Shaun is a bit irritating in this workout, repeating the word "focus" over and over again. He does get a bit "word-of-the-day" with the names of his workout programs in general, but he is a bit over the top in this one. 

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 2

Day 2 was Speed 1.0 in T25 and Back and Biceps in Lift 4, which was the non-HIIT circuit workout with two quad blocks, a burnout round, and the three sets of core.

The Speed workout in T25 is one in which you do a series of exercises and then stretch for about 30 seconds, and then you do another series of exercises and then stretch. There is only one burnout portion in which you do most of the exercises that you did earlier in the workout back-to-back without any stretching. The burnout portion lasts about 8 minutes and then you slow down for the last minute. The cast is the same except Susan (another fitness professional) replaces Christina. Tonia is modifying again.

I was able to modify a bit less in today's workout than in yesterday's. Although I definitely had to slow down and modify here and there. As I said a couple of posts ago, my lack of cardio fitness is what is really holding me back, so I am hoping that the two-a-day workouts will get that back close to where it was before.  

Book Review: Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion: The Visual Guide

 

Dawn of Rebellion is another one of the Star Wars visual guides. It is one of the books that I would categorize as a coffee table book, with as many pictures as it has text. The book mainly has character profiles of the main characters (from the movies, novels, animated series, and live-action series) who were around during the time period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It is updated to include the characters in the Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi series so it includes, for example, profiles of young Leia and Luke and the updated backstory of Cassian Andor.

The hardcover version of the book is very short. The book totals just under 140 pages, but none of the pages are full of text. Some pages just have a picture and little to no text, and other pages have several pictures with text blurbs next to them so the book is very easy to read. There is also a timeline at the beginning of the book that shows the major events that occurred during the time period from the creation of the Empire to the Battle of Yavin. I think the book is good, but not really essential reading. Chances are most people who are going to be interested in the book are the die-hard Star Wars fans as opposed to the casual fans, and most die-hard fans will likely already know most of the information in the book. It does, however, have some fine details that you may not have picked up watching the live-action material so if you are more than just a casual fan of Star Wars it is worth the time to look over.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 1

Today was the start of two-a-day workouts. In the morning I did the T25 cardio routine. This one has Shaun leading 4 cast members, Tonia (who was in the original Insanity workout, plus some of Shaun's hip-hop oriented workouts), Scott (who is Shaun's husband), Derek (who is Tonia's husband), and Christina (who is a fitness instructor and fitness model). Tonia modifies all of the moves.

The workout is set up such that you do a series of moves for about 30 seconds each move, then you do a burnout sequence in which you do some of the moves from the series going as fast as you can. Then, you do another series and another burnout. None of the moves are particularly hard, depending on your cardio fitness. T25 is really a program that was intended to prepare people for Shaun's Insanity programs, so even the unmodified exercises in T25 tend to be a bit less intense than what is in Insanity and Insanity Max 30. 

The Lift 4 workout was chest and triceps, which in week 1 was the 50/50 workout. I do think that lowering the amount of weight I used for the lift portion (and moving the weight more slowly) helped a lot because even using the lower weight I could barely finish the 10 reps, especially in the last set of each block. The HIIT portion was tough. I had to modify more than I would like, but hopefully once I get to week 3, my cardio will be much better because of doing doubles. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 56

 For day 56 I did the two recovery workouts from Lift 4 again, and that wraps up round 2 of the program.

For the next phase I am going to go back to two-a-day workouts. In the morning, I am going to do T25 and then in the evening I will do another round of Lift 4. I really feel that my cardio fitness (or lack thereof) is holding me back right now. So I wanted to add in AM cardio that I can do on an empty stomach. Since I do not have space to put the Beachbody bike, I figured I would just do one of the more cardio-focused programs. 

I will do as much unmodified in T25 as I can, and then try not to modify in Lift 4 (or go as long as I can unmodified). I will, however, do all  the push-ups in T25 on my knees and then do all the push-ups in Lift 4 on my toes. Hopefully, that will allow me to get full range of motion in the push-ups by the end of this phase. 

I am still going to do the upper and lower body foam rolling routines from 645 on the weekends, and just do the Lift 4 recovery routines on Wednesday and Sunday. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 55

Day 55 was the two lift 4 recovery workouts. Nothing really new to say about either of them. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 54

Day 54 was lower body foam rolling from 645 and the last workout from Lift 4, Full Body HIIT.

The HIIT workout was intense but short. It followed the three round of two exercises (with the easiest exercises done for the longest time and the hardest done for the shortest) followed by a bonus round doing all of the exercises back to back for 30 seconds.  Then, of course, we finish with three sets of core. This was also the workout in which the entire cast (minus Steve) and Joel were working out, so the set was crowded, but all the moves are familiar by this point in the program so you really just need to listen for the transition cues.

Book Review: Watching the World Change: The Stories Behind the Images of 9/11

 

Watching the World Change is a book that is about the images and videos taken during and after the 9/11 attacks. The book was written by David Friend and published in 2006. The book focuses strictly on the images out of New York. In the foreword, the author says that was because he is based in New York and that is where most of the images from the day came from. The book is not an image by image analysis. In the middle of the book the author does include several pages of images that he does discuss throughout the book. But, the book really talks about the impact of the images and videos from that day and how those impacted the response of the nation to the attacks, changed media coverage, and the like.

The hardcover version of the book has just under 350 pages of substantive text and then about 60 pages of endnotes that refer to various sources, and an index. The best part of the book is when the author is telling the human stories about the people involved, including people who were killed, people who survived, and people who were left behind. The chapters in the book correspond to the dates from 9/11 through 9/17 but the author does not limit what he discusses in the chapter to what was happening on the particular date. For example, in the 9/16 chapter he starts out talking about that day and then discusses the wars that occurred months and years later. While I do think that the book would have been a little better if it included more images, included the images in the chapter text, and told the story behind a specific image right after it was shown, the book is still very good and worth the time to read.

Book Review: Dune: House Atreides (Dune #7)

 

House Atreides is the 7th book in the Dune series (if read chronologically) and the first in the Prelude to Dune trilogy/House trilogy (which is chronologically the third prequel trilogy to the original Dune novels). It is also, in publication order, the first prequel novel to the original Dune series that was written by the duo of Frank Herbert's son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson. The book, published in 1999, is set a generation before the events of the original novel when characters like Leto Atreides and Duncan Idaho were children, and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen was early in his rule of Arrakis/Dune. Despite what the title of the novel suggests, this is not solely about the Atreides, but alternates between different storylines that intersect at different points. The book hints at the origins rivalry between the Atreides and the Harkonnen Houses (although those stories had not yet been fleshed out so if you read the books chronologically you know the backstory that was not presented in this book), and the circumstances of Leto becoming Duke of Caladan and of Shaddam IV becoming Emperor are also detailed in this book. The book also includes storylines about Pardot Kynes and the Fremen and the maneuverings of the Bene Gesserit. 

The hardcover version of the book is just over 600 pages. It is not an extremely quick read since there are several new characters introduced in the book and the chapters jump between the different storylines. Even so, the overall story flows very well and never seems to drag. Plus, the chapters are kept relatively short, so there are many natural stopping points. I am reading the books in chronological order, so I have not yet read the original Dune novels written by Frank Herbert, so I cannot say how this book (or the other prequel novels) compare to those. But, if you have read the other novels in the series written by Anderson and Brian Herbert, then you will likely enjoy this one. And if you have read the original Dune novels, this will provide a lot of good backstory. It is absolutely worth the time to read.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 53

For Day 53 I did upper body foam rolling from 645 and the shoulders and arms workout from Lift 4. This week, the shoulders and arms routine is a circuit workout, doing two circuits of four exercises, and then a bonus circuit of three exercises, followed by core. Since my shoulder was still hurting and had less range of motion than usual, I decided to back off on the amount of weight I was using for some of the exercises and that definitely helped. Even so, it was still challenging. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 52

For Day 52 I again did upper body foam rolling from 645 and then the two recovery routines from Lift 4. The foam rolling definitely helped my sore right shoulder. Other than that, there was really no noticeable difference in any of the routines. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Alias: Seasons 1-5

 

+++Warning, this contains some spoilers from throughout the series.+++

This is the complete series of Alias which ran from 2001 to 2006 and starred Jennifer Garner, Michael Vartan, Victor Garber, Ron Rifkin, Kevin Weisman, Greg Grunberg, Carl Lumby, and David Anders. In the early seasons, it also starred Merrin Dungey,  Bradley Cooper, and Sarah Shahi, and in later seasons, Lena Olin, Melissa George, Rachel Nichols, and Mia Maestro.  Alias was a great concept that got a little weird when it started to focus on the Rambaldi storyline. The first few seasons where the Rambaldi storyline was merely in the background and would be advanced in one or two episodes each season were great. Once it became the focus and the supernatural elements got more and more silly, the show definitely took a downturn. 

The crux of the storyline in the first season is that Jennifer Garner's character, Sydney Bristow, believed that she was working for the CIA (which she could not reveal to anyone), while she was really working for a shadow organization run by criminals. When the organization discovered that she told her fiancee that she worked for the CIA and he was killed by the organization she discovered who she was really working for and what she was really involved in. From there the show focuses on her life as a double agent and her attempts to bring down the rogue spy agency/criminal organization.

Where Alias really shined was character development and perfect casting. Every character that was around for a significant amount of time changed from the time they were first introduced. And of course, Alias was a world where being dead did not always mean staying dead. I think the best storyline of the series was the time jump and the way it was done. Sydney having lost two years with no memory, then finding out exactly how and why her memory was erased was a great payoff. Especially when that is the kind of story that often falls flat at the big reveal.

The one drawback to the series as I said before is by the end the entire focus was on the Rambaldi storyline, and making the whole supernatural/eternal life storyline. It really did change the feel of the show, and while it did provide a good explanation for Sloane's motivation from the beginning, I think it did better when those parts of the storyline were in a few episodes of the season as opposed to the focus of the season. Overall though if you are looking for a show that combines action, comedy, great acting, and a unique take on the spy world (plus the bonus of Jennifer Garner in skimpy outfits on a pretty consistent basis) this is a good one.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 51

For day 51, I did upper-body foam rolling from 645 and the Legs 50/50 workout from Lift 4. I have decided, at least for now, to skip the corrective ankles and hips routines from 645 because I feel that my hips and ankles are doing well and I get more benefit from the shoulders, upper, and lower body routines. The Lift 4 workout was another rough one. I decided to drop the weight on a couple of the exercises like front-load squats and the lunges so that I can get deeper into my squats and my lunges and use the correct form. I think that will help a lot more than using the heaviest weight I can and only doing a partial range of motion. The HIIT portion of the workout was tough again, but the format, like in last week's workout, was to do all three of the exercises for 30 seconds. I did swap out catcher jumps for speed skaters because I was not feeling doing the plank move. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 50

Day 50 was corrective shoulders from 645 and the start of week 8 in Lift 4. That meant the Lift 4 workout was again chest and back, this time doing a circuit workout. The circuit consisted of two quad blocks which had you doing two chest exercises and two back exercises, back-to-back, with no rest. You do three sets of each exercise in both blocks, The final block is a burnout block with regular push-ups, back extensions, and wide push-ups, each done for 30 seconds back-to-back with 15 seconds of rest between each move. You again do three sets of the burnout and then finish with three sets of core.

I can definitely feel that I can get deeper in the push-ups (but I am still modifying them). I am not sure why my range of motion has diminished from when I was doing 645, but thankfully, it is coming back. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 49

For day 49 I again just did the two Lift 4 recovery routines. Nothing new to report about either of them. My mobility and flexibility have stayed the same as they have been. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 48

For day 48 I again just did the two Lift 4 recovery routines. Nothing new to report about either of them. My mobility and flexibility have stayed the same as they have been. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 47

Day 47 was full-body HIIT. That basically means that pushups (and lots of them) are incorporated into the HIIT rounds. In this workout you do three rounds of HIIT, each round consisting of two moves, an upper body move and a lower body move. So, you do a total of six exercises. In each round, the amount of time you do the move goes down, as does the amount of rest between moves. Then, you have a bonus round (just one thankfully) in which you do all six exercises, back-to-back, without any rest. Then you finish with core. This is a hard workout, so much so that every single cast member had to modify exercises at some point. I modified some of the exercies and did the regular versions of others, as I could.  

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 46

Day 46 was shoulders and arms in Lift 4. This one is a circuit workout of three blocks of three exercises (shoulders, biceps, and triceps), then a burnout round with swimmers, biceps curls, and triceps pushups. I did notice that I could get a bit deeper into the triceps pushups this week than I could in prior weeks, so that is a plus. 

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 45

Day 45 was the two recovery routines from Lift 4. Because I had to play taxi a few times this week I have foregone the morning workout and have just done the evening workouts (which are the Lift 4 workouts). Nothing new to report about either of these routines..

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 44

For Day 44 I just did the Lift 4 workout which was Legs 50/50. It was a tough workout, especially since my body was still sore from the Chest and Back workout. But, once I got warmed up the soreness in my upper body mostly went away. Thankfully, the HIIT exercises were not as hard in this workout as they have been in some of the other ones. Joel definitely eased off a bit since you basically blast your legs for about 20 minutes before getting to the HIIT.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch: Season 9

 

The ninth season of Baywatch was the final season of the original version of the series and aired during the 1998-1999 TV season. This season, the show returned to its roots as being a story-of-the-week procedural in which the vast majority of the storylines were contained and resolved in a single episode. This was due, in large part, to even more cast turnover in which most of the female cast members, including Gena Lee Nolin, Carmen Electra, Angelica Bridges, and Traci Bingham left the show. Only Kelly Packard was brought back and Brooke Burns and Mitzi Kapture were brought in as new series regulars. Jeremy Jackson was also a part of the cast member shakeup going from a series regular to a recurring character. Nolan's exit required the character of Neely to be recast and then essentially written out to get out of the Neely-Mitch marriage that ended season 8. 

In the DVD set, the 22 episodes are spread over six discs and there are no extras. The season was the weakest of the show's run, mainly because there was no time (or attempt) to really establish the new characters. The show did not have as many recognizable guest stars this season but did get Kerr Smith (who would star on Dawson's Creek) and Alex Trebek (playing himself). Parker Stevenson also reprised his role as Craig for a couple of appearances, and Jeff Altman made another appearance. 

Mostly, the writing was horrible and the acting was not much better. There were a couple of good moments in the season, including a nod to Baywatch Nights in an episode featuring voice-over narration by Mitch and an episode that breaks the fourth wall by joking about the cancelation by NBC and the show being successful in syndication. The best storyline of the season was one of the few multi-episode arcs involving child abuse that would be written very differently today than it was back in the late 1990s.  Unfortunately, the series never got a proper finale. The final episode just had the feel of any regular episode, and none of the really big names (like Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Alexandra Paul, etc.) from the series were brought back. The season is not a must-watch by any means.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: 300

 

300 is a movie that very loosely interprets the battle of Sparta between 300 Spartan warriors against the invading Persian army directed by Zack Snyder and starring Gerald Butler, Michael Fassbender, Dominic West, and Lena Headey (among others). This is not, and was never meant to be, a historically accurate version of the 300 Spartans. While it is based on an actual event, it is an adaptation of a graphic novel version of the story. There is a lot of action and over-the-top violence as well as some sexual content and nudity. Personally, I think the best performances in the movie come from Dominic West and Lena Headey. 

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the A/V quality (for the initial release anyway) is very good. The visuals really pop and the special effects look authentic. The extras include a commentary track on the movie by Zack Snyder, several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and trailers. Ultimately, if you are looking for accuracy or a documentary with an accurate representation of the Battle of Thermopylae, this is not it. If you are looking for an action movie with great visuals, good fight sequences, and good acting, you will probably find this to be entertaining and worth the time to watch.

Book Review: The First Commandment (Scot Harvath Series #6)

 

The First Commandment, published in 2007, is the sixth book in the Scot Harvath series of action-thrillers written by Brad Thor. The events of the book are set about a week after the end of the prior novel, Takedown. In it, Harvath is told to stand down and not look for the person who shot Tracy, but as more people connected to him are attacked, Harvath has to figure out who is going after the people he loves while also avoiding capture by government agents who are told to take him dead or alive. The story is a good mix of action and suspense and keeps readers engaged.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 400 pages. The style and tone of the book are very similar to the other books in the series and it reads as fast (or as slowly) as the other novels. As in the other novels, Thor weaves real-world elements into the fictional storyline, including the debate that was occurring after 9/11 about how the US should go after and treat terrorists. This book ends with the story wrapped up and concludes without a hint of where the storyline in the next book is going to go. If you liked the prior books in the series and/or like similar books (such as the Mitch Rapp series), this is absolutely worth the time to read.

Workout Update: Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Round 2 -Day 43

Day 43 was the start of week 7 in Lift 4, which is the first of two "shred weeks" and I did the corrective shoulders routine from 645.

The Lift 4 workout was a chest and back circuit workout (so two quad blocks) with alternating chest and back exercises in the first block then two chest exercises followed by two back exercises in the second. Then, after you are toast, you do three sets of burnout, doing regular push-ups, back extensions, and wide push-ups. Then, of course, you finish with three sets of core. Needless to say, this is a tough workout. I had to decrease the amount of weight I was using on multiple exercises. It is a shock to the body, but a good one.