Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 1

This is my second time doing doubles with the 645 cardio workout and the MBF workout. I did the cardio workout in the morning and then the MBF week 1 lower-body burn workout. This time through the workout, I had a much better idea of what weights to use since the workout basically has no breaks once it gets going and has a lot of reps. The weight I used ranged from 10 lbs to 20 lbs, which is plenty given that you do volumetric training (very fast and a large number of reps). 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Homeland: Season 6

 

+++Warning, this will contain the spoiler for the cliffhanger at the end of season 5, but no major giveaways from season 6+++++

The 12-episode 6th season of Homeland aired in winter and spring of 2017. This season brings the show back to the United States. It is specifically set in New York and has a few different intertwined storylines, the main one being an attempt at taking down the President-elect. It is heavily influenced by the political climate and events of the past few years. The stories are well done, the acting is top-notch, and I do not think the show is overly preachy with the political elements as some shows can be. It did incorporate an Infowars-like radio show and a social media troll farm into the story and definitely used the real-world political divisiveness and hatred that exists to tell part of the story.

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set. The A/V quality is very good, and the discs have a season-play mode that allows you to stop during any episode and pick up where you left off. For extras, there are a couple of behind-the-scenes featurettes (each only a couple minutes long) and then an almost hour-long roundtable discussion with some of the cast and showrunners.

Ultimately, the season is very good. Rupert Friend as Quinn is really the standout this season. We learn in the first episode that Carrie did not end up pulling the plug on him, and when he comes back, he is a shell of his former self, dealing with, among other things, PTSD. He has to go through a range of emotions with the character and does it very well. While he is (in my opinion) the show's "backbone" this season, all the main and supporting actors did a great job with their material. Homeland is definitely a show that has had its ups and downs. I do think they struggled to end the Brody storyline, but now, being a few seasons removed from it, I think the show has recovered quite well. It could have easily gone in the tank after the first two seasons when all was revealed (and there are definitely some out there who think it did). But if you gave up on it during season 3 or 4, I think it has recovered nicely the past couple of seasons and is well worth taking a look at again.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Day 54

 Day 54 was the final workout in Lift 4, the full-body HIIT workout. And, of course, I did the 645 cardio workout in the evening. The HIIT workout was still very challenging, but not as hard as the first couple of times I did it. In the evening workout I did an "easier" version of the workout selected low-impact exercises as I do on the HIIT days. For the next few weeks, I will do another round of MBF and then decide if I want to do another round of Lift 4 or a round of Chalean Extreme. 

Book Review: Star Wars: Most Wanted

 

Most Wanted, published in 2018, is one of the main storylines adjacent young-adult Star Wars novels. The book was written by Rae Carson and is a prequel to Solo: A Star Wars Story. The story is set on Corellia, which is basically a run-down, backwater planet whose main industry is building ships. The story centers around Han and Qi’ra becoming friends. They are working for Lady Proxima (the wormlike creature at the beginning of the Solo movie), basically doing the dirty work for her crime syndicate. It hints at not only the characters they would become in the Solo movie but who Han would become in the original trilogy, at least when it comes to the Falcon, and why he allowed it to look like such a piece of junk. In the book, he is actually a more honorable character than we see during much of A New Hope. The book explains why he ended up as the selfish smuggler that we first meet in A New Hope, and this book (and the Solo movie) sets up the possibility that something involving Qi’ra will turn him into the guy who is only out for a big payday.

The hardcover version of the book is a little under 400 pages, so it is long enough that it could have been included as one of the main-storyline adult novels.  The story in the book is very enjoyable and good enough that it does not feel like a typical young-adult novel. I am one who did not necessarily need a background for Han to be fleshed out. I am personally more interested in the events between Return of The Jedi and The Force Awakens being explained. So, while I do not think either this book, the Solo movie, or the sequels to either that may end up being released down the line are all that necessary, That said, I think Carson tells an enjoyable, sometimes emotional, sometimes funny story, that provides a good supporting story for the characters. So, it is absolutely worth the time to read.

Book Review: Star Wars: Last Shot: A Han and Lando Novel

 

Last Shot is one of the canon Star Wars novels published in 2018. It was written by Daniel Jose Older and focuses mainly on Han and Lando. The book is set in three different time periods. The "present" is in the time after Return of the Jedi, between the Aftermath series of novels and the Bloodlines novel, when Han and Leia are new parents, and the Empire has been defeated, but before the threat of the First Order is known. Then it jumps back 10 years before that between the events of the Solo movie and A New Hope, and then 5 years before that. The story essentially involves a gangster from Han and Lando's past who threatens their present with a scheme he has been working on for decades.

Overall, the book is okay but not great. The best part for me was learning about Han's fear of being a father (and, to some extent, a husband). While we do not get a ton in this book about his relationship with Ben (who is still just a toddler in the novel), it hints at what possibly went wrong in their relationship and will hopefully be fleshed out in subsequent novels. It also gives some insight into Han and Lando's post-Return of the Jedi relationship and how Lando's betrayal of Han during the events of The Empire Strikes Back affected it.

The main story of the novel is okay but nothing spectacular. Outside of what I mentioned above, the best part of everything else in the novel was the Ewok slicer and the Anti-Jar Jar Binks Gungan, who had a great line that was something along the lines of "stop with that Meesa stuff." Otherwise, the plot is really about uncovering and attempting to stop a threat to the galaxy that did not involve the Empire or its remnants in any way. Chances are, if you collect the canon novels, you will have purchased this regardless of any positive or negative reviews. I think it is middle of the pack regarding the canon novels. It's as good as anything in the Aftermath series, but not as good as Dark Disciple, A New Dawn, Battlefront II, or even the main storyline adjacent novels, such as Leia, Ahsoka, or Lost Stars (in my opinion). That is totally subjective, however.

The Hardcover version of the book is about 370 pages. While it is not really a novel I would read multiple times, it is decent enough to do so at least once. It reads fairly quickly and somewhat bridges the gap between the original and sequel trilogies.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Homeland: Season 5

 

The 12-episode 5th season of Homeland aired in the fall and winter of 2015. This season, most of the show is set in Germany and finds Carrie out of the CIA, working for a private company. Saul and Carrie are barely talking, and Quinn is taking out terrorist targets for Saul while falling apart more and more. I will not go into any more detail than that to avoid giving anything away, but the season involves Russian infiltration into the CIA, a major terrorist threat, chemical weapons with a Syria tie-in, and an Edward Snowden-like hacking angle.

I think the show is holding its own well now that it is a couple seasons removed from getting itself out of the Brody storyline (although there is a good easter egg-like reference to Brody, which happens in an episode that flashes back to Carrie's time in Iraq). The writers packed a lot into the season and had a lot of thought-provoking and almost clairvoyant angles (given what has been going on in the US political scene in recent years. The acting was again top-notch notch, with Rupert Friend, Claire Daines, and Mady Patinkin all standing out at different points. Miranda Otto is a good addition to the cast this year as a character who has ties to almost every character and plays a large role in the season.

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set, and as with the prior season releases, the show looks and sounds great on blu-ray. Thankfully, there is still a season-play mode for the discs, so you can stop and catch back up where you left off, even in the middle of an episode. There are only a couple extras. A feature on the evolution of Carrie as a character and a behind-the-scenes feature on using Berlin as the setting for the season. They each run for about 10 min. For die-hard fans of the series, it is a must-get. I think even the people who got sick of the Brody story arc in season 3 will find this one enjoyable.

Book Review: The Physics of Superheroes

 

The Physics of Superheros is a book by James Kakalios, who is a physics and astronomy professor at the University of Minnesota. The book presents physics concepts without getting bogged down in the weeds like a regular textbook can. While the book does include some of the equations, it does not have the presentation you get in a textbook with all the formulas being derived and examples of worked-out problems. It reads more like a novel than a textbook, with the author explaining the concepts as he goes along but not really showing the work. In fact, I think doing some of that (giving a problem statement and working out the math) would have made the book a bit better. That said, he was not going for a rigorous academic presentation of the material, so it is understandable that he took the approach he did. Each chapter is devoted to a physics concept and then tied to a particular superhero (Aquaman with fluid mechanics, The Flash with friction, etc). In some chapters, the author will give an equation or two; in others, he just explains things without any equations.

The book is moderately long, at about 400 pages, but it is pretty easy and fun to read. For a student, it is actually the perfect kind of book to read before you take a class in physics because it is rigorous enough that you will actually learn the material but is presented in a fun enough way that the concepts are more likely to stick with you. It is not a book that I would say will ever help you pass a physics exam or assist in solving homework problems, but it will give you the all-important base of knowledge and understanding of the concepts you need when you do get to the point where the math, and working out the problems is critical.

Book Review: Star Wars: Before the Awakening

 

Before the Awakening, written by Greg Rucka and published in 2015 in the lead-up to the release of The Force Awakens, is a collection of three short stories, one for each of the three new characters (Rey, Finn, and Poe) introduced in The Force Awakens. Each story leads directly into the movie, where the characters are first encountered. Finn's story is told first. It basically goes through his training and fleshes out a bit of the background between Finn and Phasma. It sets up a story of Phasma being suspicious of Finn's actions in the lead-up to the Jakku mission, which the troops are heading out for at the end of the story. It creates a continuity error in the movie when Phasma tells Hux that Finn's freeing Poe was his first transgression.

The second story is about Rey, showing her life as a scavenger on Jakku. It hints at but does not directly delve into her force sensitivity and establishes that she is waiting for her parents to return for her. It is set around a story of her repairing a ship that she plans to sell to Unkar Plutt for thousands of portions and generally gives an overall glimpse into what life on the planet is like.

The third story centers on Poe. It tells of how he meets Leia and joins the Resistance. It also shows how the New Republic has essentially ignored the threat posed by the First Order and leads directly to the events of Poe's mission to Jakku to get the map to Luke from Lor San-Tekka. His story also serves as a continuation of the comic series, which was centered around Poe and his parents, who were members of the Rebel Alliance.

The hardcover version of the book is short at a little under 250 pages. Each of the stories reads quickly so if you are a fairly fast reader, you can get through it in a day or so. There are no major giveaways to the questions about Rey's past that (as of when this was originally written) were left open after The Force Awakens and have (potentially) been answered in The Last Jedi or may ultimately be tweaked in Episode 9. Of course, now that all three movies have come out and the book Shadow of the Sith has been released, Rey's backstory has been revealed, but in this book, we just know that she is a scavenger on a desert planet waiting for her parents to return to her. The book does a good job of introducing the new characters and giving them a bit more backstory that could not be done in The Force Awakens. Even though it is a young-reader novel, it is enjoyable enough for adults and is worth the time to read.

DVD/ Movie Review: Lie With Me

 

Lie With Me is a 2005 movie starring Lauren Lee Smith and Eric Balfour.  The plot is not overly complicated. A sexually adventurous woman (Smith) meets an emotionally complicated guy (Balfour), and the two try to have a relationship, to varying degrees of success. 

The US version of the film is almost impossible to find at a reasonable price since the DVD is now out of print. If you look around, you can get international versions (I got the UK version), but you must ensure you have a region-free DVD or Blu-ray player to play the disc.  The UK release just has the movie itself but no bonus features. 

The movie is okay, but not great. The writing is very weak, and as a result, the acting is not much better. The visuals are pretty good (for a low-budget indie film), and while it is slow in parts, it does not seem much longer than the hour-and-a-half running time. There is a lot of sex in the movie, and it borders on being graphically explicit. There is full frontal nudity, both male and female, so if that is a dealbreaker for you, this is not for you at all.

Book Review: Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror

 

Against All Enemies, first published in 2004, is a book written by the former US head of counterterrorism, Richard Clarke. Clarke held several government positions for 30+ years through several administrations, but it is his position as the head of counterterrorism for both the Clinton and Bush administrations that he is best known for. The book is not focused primarily on the events of September 11, 2001, itself. The very beginning of the book is devoted to that day and a few days afterward. The focus of the book is the lead-up to 9-11 and how the country's view of terrorism changed from the Regan administration up to George W. Bush's administration, and then what Clarke describes as the major screw-up by the Bush Administration following 9-11. Specifically, the invasion of Iraq.

One of the things that struck me the most about the book is how ill-prepared the intelligence agencies were for Al-Qaeda. For a long time, even when they were actively attacking US interests many in the FBI had no idea they existed or that there were sleeper cells in the United States. One very telling point was when Clarke asked the FBI to research whether there were websites hosted on US servers that were recruiting terrorists, and he was told there were none, and then asked a reporter to look into it who found dozens of them. Just the fact that there were very few within the FBI, CIA, and other agencies who realized the kind of threat they posed, combined with the agencies' unwillingness to share information with each other, and the Clinton and Bush administration very different lack of responses (Bush's downplaying the threat and brushing it aside, and Clinton's overanalyzing combined with his lack of action due to "Wag the Dog" like comparisons to deflect from his personal scandals) left the country open to attack.

Clarke's harshest criticism is saved for the Bush Administration's obsession with going into Iraq. He claims that from almost day one of that administration they were itching to find a reason to go invade Iraq to "finish the job" from the first Iraq war, and that even a couple days after 9-11 they were trying to find any connection between Iraq and Al-Quaeda despite it being clear that there was no connection between the two. He also argued that by invading Iraq the United States gave Bin Laden exactly what he wanted, the US occupying a Muslim country, which could be used as a terrorist recruiting tool. In the final chapter of the book Clarke lays out what he thought the proper response to 9-11 should have been, vs what was actually done.

The softcover version of the book is about 330 pages long. For me, it read fairly quickly, but I was already aware of a lot of the information discussed by Clarke. Overall, the book is a very interesting read. It does not come across as partisan in that Clarke criticizes and praises things that were done right and wrong by Republicans and Democrats, as well as the career professionals in the various intelligence agencies. While not likely an exhaustive history, it lays out how the United States viewed, and responded to, terrorism, including how the US learned of Bin Laden and his group's existence and motives over a long period of time. Given the age of the book, if you are into the subject at all and have watched any of the documentaries that are out there, read any of the other books, or even have seen the series The Looming Tower, which is currently playing on Hulu, you may know a lot of what is in this book. But it gives a very good and insightful look at what was going on from an insider's perspective. It is definitely worth reading.

Book Review: Hidden Order (Scot Harvath Series #12)

 

Hidden Order, published in 2013, is the 12th book in Brad Thor's action-thriller series centered around Scot Harvath. This book takes a bit of a turn from the prior novels in that candidates to take over the head of the Federal Reserve are being kidnapped and killed. Harvath is one of many people trying to track down the killer and free any remaining hostages.

The hardcover version of the book is just under 400 pages and reads much like the prior novels in the series. It has a good blend of action and suspense, and the full extent of the plot is not revealed until the last few chapters. The end of the book is a bit of a reset of Scot's storyline that will allow future novels to go in almost any direction. If you liked the prior novels in the series (or are a fan of the action thriller or spy novel genres), you will probably like this one. While most of the story in the book is self-contained, it does help to know who the returning characters are, which does require reading the other novels in the series. However, if you are not someone who needs a ton of character development, it is not impossible to follow the storyline in the book if you have not read the prior novels. Ultimately, it is a good story that is worth the time to read.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Day 53

Day 53 was the shoulders and arms circuit workout in Lift 4 and the final resistance workout of the program. It contains all of the same exercises as the week 7 version of the shoulders and arms workout, but in a slightly different order. Then, I did the 645 cardio workout including moves that generally tire me out the most. But, I found that they are getting easier over the course of time. 

Book Review: Star Wars: Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure

 

Movie Target is one of three short young-reader novels published in 2015 before the release of the movie The Force Awakens, that centers on the main characters from the original trilogy. This, of course, is the Leia-centric novel. The prologue and epilogue are set sometime before the events of The Force Awakens and have tie-ins to that movie (we find out Leia is a general in the Resistance, fighting the First Order). The book starts with Leia dictating her memoirs and then flashes back to a mission she took part in, set between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. She is torn between wanting to help Han and being patient while Luke gets intel on what Jabba has done with Han and continuing to help the Rebels. Luke makes what amounts to a cameo appearance in the story and we get some insight into how his and Leia's relationship was changing after the events of Empire.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 200 pages long. I will not give away the main story of the novel, but it basically is set around the intel the Rebels received about the second Death Star being built around Endor and Leia's participation in the plan to keep the Empire occupied while the Rebels planned the assault on the station. Even though it falls into the young reader's category of novels, it is good enough that adults can easily enjoy it. I definitely recommend it.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Day 52

 Day 52 was the rest day in Lift 4, so I did the two recovery workouts in the morning and 645 cardio in the evening. The cardio workout was probably my best one of this round. I was able to jump for the entire 30 seconds of jump knee switches (from P90X) as opposed to just switching my feet, and I could do all 30 seconds of squat jacks (although I did have to slow down a bit on that one) without stopping. 

Book Review: Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure

 

This is one of the Star Wars young-reader novels written by Jason Fry and published in 2015 before The Force Awakens was released.  The story is set in between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. While on a mission for the Rebellion, Luke ends up on a planet called Devaron, at the remains of a Jedi temple. Similar to the other young reader novels put out at the time, it has a prologue and epilogue, this time with C3P0 telling the story of Luke's adventure on the planet to a resistance pilot (hence the tie-in to The Force Awakens hinted at on the back cover) in the time shortly before the events of the new movie. 

The hardcover version of the book is just 184 pages, and it reads very quickly. It can easily be read from cover to cover in a couple of hours. The book's main theme is Luke trying to figure out how he is going to become a Jedi without anyone to train him since Obi-Wan died. I will not say more than that so as to not spoil the book for anyone who has not read it, but it is definitely written well enough for adults to enjoy. While many of us are still waiting for more novels that lay out Luke's post-Return of the Jedi stories, this is still an enjoyable short story.

Book Review: Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo Adventure

 

Smuggler's Run is one of the young-adult canon novels published in 2015 before the release of The Force Awakens. As many know, there is a mess with the Star Wars novels regarding what is and is not canon material since Disney's takeover of Lucasfilm. Every novel that was put out before Disney acquired the rights to Lucasfilm is relegated to Legends/Expanded Universe non-canon material (aside from the novel Tarkin, which was grandfathered into the new canon storyline). Per the introduction to the novel A New Dawn, anything put out after the Disney acquisition, regardless of format (novel, TV series, movie, comic, video games, etc), is considered canon. However, the young adult and junior novels are canon material but are tangential and filler to the main "adult" novels.

This is a very short story set (mostly) after the events of Episode IV and the destruction of the first Death Star. Han and Chewie agree to go on a mission to extract another rebel from the planet Cyrkon. As expected, things do not go smoothly, with Han being tracked by bounty hunters and his ship being sought by the Empire. The prologue and epilogue are set sometime before The Force Awakens, with Han telling the story of the extraction in a cantina somewhere. It has one tie-in with The Force Awakens. At the very end of the book the name Ducain is mentioned. Ducain, if you remember the quick exchange between Rey and Han in the movie when Han and Chewie track down The Falcon, is the one who stole the ship from Han. There are no clues about or tie-ins with the movie besides that, just that one reference.

The hardcover version of the book is short, just under 200 pages. It tells a good story that reads quickly. Even though it is a young reader's novel, it is enjoyable enough for adults. While it is probably not a book that most people will read over and over again, anyone who is a fan of the characters will likely enjoy the book.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Day 51

Day 51 was legs 50/50 in Lift 4 and 645 cardio. The Lift 4 workout was very tough. I was sweating like crazy even during the lift portion of the workout and was absolutely wiped out by the end of the HIIT. Needless to say, during the 645 workout, I did much lower-impact exercises. 

Book Review: The Star Wars Trilogy

 

This book contains the novelizations of the original three Star Wars movies, A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. They do, for the most part, track what you see in the movies almost exactly. Especially the first two books. Some of the dialogue is changed a bit (and most times what ended up onscreen in the films was better than what was in the books), but they pretty much just stuck to the story and did not add anything. A couple things in Return of the Jedi differed, such as the Emporer guessing it was Yoda who trained Luke after Obi-Wan's death and the scene where the Ewoks agreed to help the Rebels played out a bit differently than it did in the movie. There was one detail, however, that, if they had kept it in the movie, would have changed the prequels significantly and would have eliminated a continuity error that existed once the prequel series came to be.

I was struck by just how short all the novels are. I had read them before as a kid and could get through them quickly, but as an adult who reads much faster these days, I could get through them in a couple of hours each. All three novels, plus the page-or-so-long introduction to each novel that was written by George Lucas, clocks in at exactly 500 pages. The novels themselves are all under 200 pages. This is far shorter than the novelizations of the other movies (some of which have ended up at over 400 pages for a single book). But as I said above, there was really not much in any of the novelizations for these that did not end up in the movies, whereas each of the prequel novels added a substantial amount that never made it into the movies (either because it was cut from the screenplay, or added when the novel was written after the films came out). This book trilogy was put out in 1995 as Lucas was working on the Phantom Menace screenplay (and making the much-debated edits to the original films, which would become the Special Editions). He wrote a short introduction to each novel basically just giving some detail about that part of the story.

All in all, the books are a very quick and enjoyable read. Yes, some of the weak and/or cheesy dialogue from the movies is in the book(s), and in some cases, it is even worse than what was in the movies, but overall, they are enjoyable, especially for those of us who were kids when the original movies came out.

Product Review: Firestick TV Stick

 

I cut the cord a few years ago, canceling my satellite TV and switching to all streaming. I purchased this to use on one of my non-smart televisions to stream movies, TV, etc. The installation is fairly straightforward, depending on the quality of your wi-fi connection and router. When I connected it, I was having problems mainly because of a slow internet connection and poor router, so it took a lot longer than normal (and a lot longer than it did to connect when I upgraded my internet with a new modem and router) to connect to wi-fi and get it set up. 

It was fairly easy to use once it was set up (after discovering it somehow caused my router to reset itself and set up a new ID name and Password). Since upgrading my internet, however, that has not happened again. The home screen has all the Amazon video material on it and any apps you download, such as CBS, Hulu, HBO-GO, etc. If you are a Prime member, anything you can watch for free in the Amazon material is denoted with the Prime banner. The remote is a bit dinky and could have more buttons on it, but once you get used to it, it is fairly easy to use. Because the fire stick is plugged in behind the TV, you sometimes have to press things on the remote a couple of times to get it to respond. 

The only thing that can be a bit irritating is any time you download an app, even a free one such as the Fox TV app or PBS, it will essentially place an order through Amazon (you are not charged anything, of course), and you get an order confirmation email for each one. That gets to be a bit of a pain if you download a bunch of apps at once, but is ultimately a pretty minor issue. All-in-all it works well to turn a non-smart TV (as long as the TV has HDMI ports, which anything relatively new will) into a smart TV. Mine eventually died when it would no longer load, even working with Amazon's customer service. I am unsure if that was an issue common to early generations of the Firestick, but it is something to be aware of.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Day 50

Day 50 was the start of week 8 in Lift 4, which was the Chest and Back circuit workout. Then, I did the 645 cardio workout in the evening. Both of the workouts went fairly well. I did back off on the amount of weight I was using for some of the exercises in the chest and back workout since the four exercises back-to-back without rest is harder than doing blocks of two or even three exercises. Then, in the evening cardio workout, I selected higher-impact exercises since there was no HIIT in the Lift 4 workout. 

CD/Music Review: Northern Exposure: Music From The Television Series

 

This is the first of two soundtrack albums with music appearing in the 1990s drama Northern Exposure.  As many reading this would likely know, the DVD release of the show in the mid-2000s removed a lot of the music because of licensing issues. The first season set, and I think most season 2 sets, contained the original music from the show, but from season 3 on, many original songs were replaced with dubbed over instrumental (think elevator) music. Given how much a part of the show music was (especially the radio station scenes) while it did not make it unwatchable (for me anyway) it takes away from the overall experience. Assuming the show will not get any further DVD or US blu-ray releases with the original music back in (there is a UK Blu-Ray set with the original music that is very expensive and requires a Region 2 Blu-Ray player to watch), this soundtrack (and more music from the Northern Exposure soundtrack) will be the only way to hear some of those songs. Especially those that are not by major artists that you can get on other albums easily. This is a must for anyone who is a fan of the show and loves the music used in the show.

CD/Music Review: More Music From Northern Exposure

 

Northern Exposure was a show in the 1990s that lasted six seasons and became somewhat of a cult hit. As anyone who is likely looking at this knows, music was very much a part of the show's original run, with many scenes set in a radio station. Many of the songs in the show were selected specifically to tie into the plot/storyline of the episodes in which the songs were used. By the time the show was put out on DVD, the studio had lost the rights to a lot of the original music, so generic "elevator" type music had to be dubbed into many of the scenes in the show. While getting this does not make up for that completely, it will allow you to hear some of the music from the show that had to be taken out because of copyright issues. 

Most of the songs included on the CD are not the big hits or well-known songs used on the show. For example, this does not include songs like "At Last" or "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." That said, the songs that are included are all very good, and the CD does include the opening credits theme music (which is the most recognizable track). If you are a fan of the show, and especially the music in it, then you will definitely enjoy it.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Day 49

On day 49, I did the recovery workouts from Lift 4 and the 645 cardio workout. Again, I selected higher-impact exercises for the cardio workout and then did the two recovery workouts immediately after I finished the 645 workout. Again, I can tell that my cardio fitness is getting better, but it is not where I want it to be yet.  

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Day 48

For day 48, I just did the 645 cardio workout. Since this was also an off day from Lift 4, I selected more intense exercises for this one including the jump switches from P90x and squat jumps from Insanity.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Malena

 

Malena is a movie from 2000 starring Monica Bellucci and Giuseppe Sulfaro. It is mostly a coming-of-age story mixed with a period piece. It is set in Italy during World War II. It is centered on a local teenager's lusting (kind of creepily) after the daughter of a local teacher and wife to a soldier off fighting in the war named Malena. She is played by Monica Belluci, who most Americans likely know from the second and third Matrix movies. She is the subject of town gossip from both the men and the women, and the only one who knows the truth about her life is the teenager watching her every move (when he is not fantasizing about her). The story takes a few turns, some rather dark, but it is very well told, well acted and has a satisfying ending.

I have the single disc blu ray Korean import of the film, which shows the uncut version not released in the US. I have not seen the edited version of the movie so I am not sure what scenes were cut, although it is not hard to guess which ones. There is one where a topless Bellucci (who was 35 when the movie came out) was kissing the 15-year-old Sulfaro (during a fantasy sequence) that was almost certainly cut or edited for the US release. There is a lot of nudity in the film, but it does not seem like it was just done for the sake of showing nudity. The Korean disc is region-free, so it will play on US blu-ray players. The movie has English and Korean subtitles (the audio is only in Italian). The bonus material, though (a making of feature as well as some interviews), only has Korean subtitles, so unless you can read Korean or understand Italian, those probably will not be worth going through.