Day 31 was Push Circuit 2 in CE and 645 cardio in the morning. Like PC1, PC2 has you doing both upper and lower-body exercises, but they are on their own in this workout. You alternate doing a shoulder exercise (e.g., shoulder presses or delt raises) and a lower-body exercise (some version of a squat or lunge). I used 12 lb weights for most of the shoulder exercises and 15 lbs for most of the lower-body exercises, but I quickly found that I could easily do 8 reps on some of those, so I will be increasing the amount of weight I use next week.
Here you will find things about fitness and nutrition, mainly (but not exclusively) in relation to the Beachbody programs like P90x and Insanity. And, I will start adding reviews for Books, DVDs and Blu-Rays, and other products. All views and opinions on this blog are my own.
Welcome
Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.
I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.
I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time. As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree.
Monday, August 19, 2024
DVD/TV Series Review: Animal Kingdom Season 4
The DVD set is a three-disc set. It is a very basic MOD release. It does have English captions, but there are no extras to speak of. So, the only reason to get it is to add to your existing collection if you purchased the first two seasons on Blu-Ray and the third season on DVD. Otherwise, you are not missing anything just streaming it.
Overall, the season is very good. There is still a lot of violence, sex, and drug use depicted on the show, and it pushed the bounds of what can be shown on basic cable. But, that has been the case since season one, so it is nothing new for the show. The acting and writing are very good, and I think the show benefits from having shorter seasons as it is able to tell a concise story without having to drag things out to fill in 22 or 23 episodes. If you have been a fan of the series up to this point, you will probably like this season as well. On the other hand, if you did not like the prior seasons all that much, this one is probably not going to make you change your mind about the show.
Sunday, August 18, 2024
4k-UHD/Movie Review: Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
The 4K set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format, and it is a reference-quality release. There are awesome visuals that are a mix of practical and CGI, and they really pop in the UHD format. The UHD disc has just the movie, and the regular Blu-ray disc has the extras. The extras include over an hour of making-of and behind-the-scenes material, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and a couple of previews. A pretty good amount, especially with less and less bonus material being put out with the physical discs these days.
Overall, I think the movie is good, even if it is derivative (at times) of parts of the other movies. Assuming this is the final movie in the series, it does a good job telling its own story while having callbacks to and essentially finishing the Will and Elizabeth story (both Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly have cameos in the film). The younger actor's roles were clearly meant to mirror, but not outright copy, the roles of Bloom and Knightley in the first movie. Depp can easily step back into what has become an iconic character without missing a beat. It would have been nice to incorporate Orlando Bloom into the movie more, as there was certainly a pretty easy way to do so, but from what I remember reading back when it was announced that the movie would be made, he was not really interested in more than a cameo role. While I do not think that the movie is as good as The Curse of The Black Pearl, I do think that it was on par with, or better than, the other sequels. I do think with a running time of just over two hours, it did not feel like the movie was dragging on too long. I definitely think it is worth checking out.
Book Review: Debunking 9/11 Myths
The paperback version of the book is relatively short, at just under 200 pages. The main text is a pretty quick read, but if you want to correlate the text to the material in the source notes, it can take quite a bit longer to read. I think the book would have been better off using footnotes at the end of sentences or paragraphs in the text, pointing out distinctly what the sources on each side were and where to find them. The book does, in the text itself, do some of that, but it is not extensive, and the notes at the end of the book are tied to the particular chapters and do not point to specific wording within the chapter (i.e., they are not actual endnotes). That would have helped people wanting to do deeper research based on the material in the book.
Saturday, August 17, 2024
4k-UHD/Movie Review: Avengers Endgame
The 4K set is a three-disc set with a UHD disc and two regular Blu-Ray discs. The UHD disc only includes the movie, which looks and sounds outstanding in the UHD format. One of the regular Blu-Rays has the movie with an intro by the directors and can be played with a commentary track featuring the directors and writers of the film. The other regular Blu-Ray disc has all of the extras. There are seven different featurettes, the longest of which is a featurette on Captain America, and the shortest of which is about Thor. Then, there are about five minutes of deleted scenes and a short gag reel. If you are a fan of the other movies, this is a must-get. It is one of the best (if not the best) of the entire group of 23 movies. It is well-written and acted that is funny at times, emotional at times, and action-packed from start to finish. It is a good send-off for some characters and a good reset point for others. I will not spoil which characters fit into which category, but chances are anyone who has read about the future plans (or attended comic-con) will know.
Book Review: Star Wars: Myths and Fables
The book is a fairly quick read at 170 pages. The book has a large font size, and there are illustrations throughout so it is not all text. So if you are a fast reader you can easily get through it in a couple of hours (at most). It is in the category of a young adult novel, but the stories are good enough and written well enough that an adult can easily enjoy the book. It is not what I would call a must-read, but worth picking up if you have collected the other books.
Friday, August 16, 2024
4k-UHD/Movie Review: Venom
The movie is a great blend of action and very dark humor. Because they did not use Spiderman, Venom is introduced as the anti-hero version of the character, doing bad things (mainly eating) bad guys. Michelle Williams plays the ex-wife of Eddie Brock. She does a really great job playing off Tom Hardy and brings a lot of comedy to the movie, which is outside her usual acting roles. The best part of the movie is the discussions/arguments/bickering that goes on between Brock and Venom, mostly in Brock's mind which makes it look to everyone else like he is talking to himself. It also requires Hardy to do a lot of physical comedy, which he turns out to be great at.
The 4K set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. On the UHD disc, there is only the movie and a preview of the movie Into the Spiderverse. All the other extras are on the regular Blu-ray. Those include several deleted scenes, including an extended version of the end credits scene which teases where the next movie will go, assuming it gets made, then about an hour's worth of making of and behind-the-scenes material mixed with some featurettes on the history of the Venom character. So there are a lot of good extras.
I cannot say everyone will like the movie, and it definitely pushes the PG-13 rating to the limit, mostly because of the language. There is a lot of swearing and some sexually suggestive jokes. It is closer to Deadpool than it is to, say, Avengers. But it puts a different twist on the MCU movies and sets up a good possible franchise to exist in that universe. It is worth checking out.
Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Hustle
The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is excellent, and the movie looks and sounds great in HD. The cinematography is wonderful, and there are some really great visuals that really pop in HD. For extras, there are about 15 minutes worth of behind-the-scenes and making-of material and a commentary track on the movie by the director. While the extras that are included are good, they are not extensive.
Overall, the movie makes for a fun comedy. Wilson's physical comedy is great and the comedy is a good mix of low and high-brow. I would not say it is the best comedy of all time, but there are more than a few laugh-out-loud moments, even though I was never doubled over laughing. Certainly, there will be people who are fans of the original movie who will not like this as a remake but I think it can stand on its own without having to do a shot-for-shot comparison with the original. The movie flows well and, at just under an hour-and-a-half, does not seem to take too long from beginning to end. I definitely recommend it if you are looking for a fun comedy.
Thursday, August 15, 2024
Book Review: Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Force Collector
Even though the book is one of the young-adult novels, it is long enough (about 370 pages) and good enough that adults can find it enjoyable, too. Through his travels, the main character visits different locations from the prequels, the original trilogy, and the sequel trilogy. It contains events from the movies, sometimes shown from a different perspective from what was shown in the particular movie scene. The story flows well, and if you are a fast reader, it is pretty easy to get through in a few days or less. Chances are, if you collect all the hardcover novels as they come out, you will get this anyway. If you are one who only gets some, but not all, of the young-adult novels, I definitely think this one is worth the purchase.
Book Review: Dragons of Eternity (Dragonlance Destinies Volume 3)
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
DVD/Movie Review: Shanghai Knights
For those who get the DVD, there are a few extras, including behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a commentary track. Not a ton of material, but what was included was good, and worth watching. I definitely would not call it a must-see movie, but if you are looking for an action-comedy to kill an hour and a half, it is okay.
4k-UHD/Movie Review: Aliens
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray is outstanding. The movie looks and sounds great in the HD format and the special effects look seamless with the practical effects. The extras are much like what was included in the Blu-Ray release of the first movie. The most extensive being the Maximum Movie Mode, which allows you to play the movie with behind the scenes material interjected. Then, there are some other behind the scenes features included as well. A lot to go through for people who like the bonus material.
Ultimately, if you liked the first movie, you will likely like this one, as it has a very similar tone and feel with an even better bad guy to be a foil for Holmes. You really cannot compare it with the BBC series Sherlock, as the movies and the series were really their own thing. It just so happens that, unfortunately, were released very close in time, and the series went on to be a very big hit. This, I think, is at least a part of why future movies have not materialized (not to mention Downey Jr. and Cumberbatch's commitments to the Marvel movies). It is definitely worth a couple of hours if you are looking for a good action movie.
Monday, August 12, 2024
Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
The Blu-Ray is very bare bones. The only extra is a commentary track a commentary track that features Smith, Mewes, and producer Scott Mosier. There is nothing much to the story itself. The whole movie is set around two characters who are funny in small doses but can get to be a bit much in large doses. However, it does not try to take itself too seriously or go on for longer than necessary. It is not a movie that anyone other than fans of Smith's other movies (up to that point, at least) will likely be entertained by. But even now, 18 years or so on, those who are fans can still find it amusing. And, you get a few minutes of awesomeness from George Carlin and Carrie Fisher, as well as Shannon Elizabeth, Eliza Dushku, and Ali Larter (along with Smith's wife) in skin-tight outfits as they steal diamonds in a nod to the Catherine Zeta-Jones scene in Entrapment.
Overall it is good, but definitely not a great movie. It is not on par with Clerks, Chasing Amy, or Dogma, which I thought were excellent. I don't even think it is as good as Mallrats, which was, in my opinion, the weakest of the movies that served as source material for this one. But if you don't expect it to be more than it is, it is enjoyable.
4k-UHD/Movie Review: John Wick
Of course, every action movie Keanu does is going to be compared to the Matrix movies. This does have very similar fight scenes with a lot of martial arts and shoot-em-up "gun-fu," as they call it. The fight scenes are more realistic than in The Matrix, obviously, and Keanu is not quite as indestructible as he is in those movies. Almost, however. The supporting cast includes a great mix of notable and character actors, including Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe. It seems like everyone involved was having fun with the movie, being serious about it without taking it too seriously.
The 4k set is a two-disc set. It includes a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The UHD disc has the movie and all the extras (so the regular Blu-Ray is pretty much redundant). The bonus material includes about 45 minutes or so of making-of and behind-the-scenes material, the best of which shows that Reeves is still committed to doing as many of his own stunts as possible. So, it has a good amount of material, especially since the movie is only about an hour and 40 minutes long.
Overall, if you are looking for a good action movie that flows well and is a fun ride, this is definitely worth it. It is very violent and bloody, but that works for the type of movie it is. I absolutely recommend it.
Sunday, August 11, 2024
Book Review: Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker The Visual Dictionary
The hardcover version of the book is about 200 pages long, but because it has a lot of pictures, it reads quicker than a 200-page novel. It is basically a coffee-table book as opposed to a novel. You can read it cover to cover, but chances are most people will end up skimming it and really reading in detail the parts they are most interested in. It is probably not something that anyone other than die-hard fans is going to invest in, but I do think it is enjoyable enough for even casual fans of the franchise.
DVD/TV Series Review: Merlin: The Complete Series
In the early seasons, the show is really a story-of-the-week, and really almost a magic-event or magic-user of the week playing on the fact that magic had been outlawed in Camelot by King Uthur (played by Head), and anyone caught using it would be put to death. As the show went on, the series really used the larger theme of the good-versus-evil battle that would occur at the end of the series, with weekly tangential stories mixed in here and there. It is mostly a family show but does get darker over the course of the five seasons, so it is probably not something that very young children should watch. There is really no nudity or swearing in the show, but a couple of instances of sexual innuendo and then fairly tame kissing.
The complete series set is just a packaging of the individual seasons on DVD, with all the same extras that were included in the original release. There is a bonus disc that I think was probably original to the set that has more features like commentary tracks on a couple of the season five episodes, and a road-trip with Colin Morgan and Bradley James as they traveled around England to areas tied to the Arthurian legend. Luckily the show came out on DVD before the studios started skimping on extras, so if you like bonus content, this has a lot of it.
Overall, the series is very good. I think it finds its legs during the second and especially the third season and stays strong until the end. The acting and writing consistently improve over the course of the series, and as an added bonus, fans of Game of Thrones will recognize more than one guest star. It is definitely worth checking out.
Book Review: Code of Conduct (Scot Harvath Series #14)
Saturday, August 10, 2024
Book Review: Dragonlance: Dragons of the Autumn Twilight
The story is set in the world of Krynn, around a group of friends who make a pact to return to their home city of Solace in five years after deciding to split apart to travel the world on their own. When they reunite the world is on the verge of a war between gods of good and evil with humans (and other races like elves, goblins, and yes dragons) aligning themselves with each side, some, like magic-users and clerics with powers, and others who are just "regular" people caught in the middle.
While overall the story is not all that unique, it does have a great group of core characters, all of whom, whether good or bad, have a mix of flaws and strengths. And, unlike The Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, the number of main characters is kept relatively small (especially in the first book), making them easy to keep straight. That, in my opinion, makes it a much easier read than either of those series. It also uses the fantasy world to touch on real-world issues like racism, religion, politics, power, ambition, etc. This first book is really set up for the larger story which plays out over the second and third novels in the Chronicles trilogy and extends into the sequel, Legends trilogy. There is a lot of action in the book, but it is sandwiched between slower parts where details are revealed to the characters and of course the reader.
Given that the Dragonlance series of books are not anywhere near as popular as they were back in the 1980s and 1990s when if you went into any bookstore, the books would take up multiple bookcases in the sci-fi/fantasy section, chances are most reading the reviews by now are fans of the series. For those who are just checking it out and not extremely familiar with the books, I would describe it as something between The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. So, if you are a fan of either or both of those series, there is a good chance that you will like, or love, this book and at least some of the books that came after it. I first read this book in the late 1980s, and have read it multiple times since then. I think it holds up all these years later and is definitely worth the read.
DVD/TV Series Review: Animal Kingdom Season 3
The DVD set is a three-disc set. They are fairly poorly done MOD discs. I did not have a problem playing them on my 4k blu-ray player, but it looks like other people are having issues playing them, so you definitely want to make sure your firmware is up to date. For extras, there are deleted scenes for most of the episodes. And, not just a couple of seconds worth of deleted scenes, but probably just short of an hour's worth, which is definitely more than you get with most MOD DVD sets. And, there are English captions. It is definitely disappointing that the show was not released on MOD Blu-ray, but not all that surprising given that sales for tv-series on Blu-ray are not all that great anyway, so only the most popular shows get even a MOD release.
Overall, if you liked the first couple of seasons you will probably like this one. There is still a lot of violence, swearing, and sex, about as much of each as they can get away with on basic cable. So, if you did not like that from the prior seasons, this one is not going to change your mind.
Friday, August 9, 2024
DVD/TV Series Review: Merlin Season 5
I will not go into too much detail to avoid spoiling it for people who have not seen the final season, but the show manages to tie up various loose ends while actually changing up character arcs and storylines quite a bit. We are also treated to "Old Merlin" again, with Colin Morgan doing a great job with that character, among others. We also get an appearance from Anthony Head to reprise his role as Uthur in a unique way.
The DVD set is a four-disc set. The extras include commentary tracks on select episodes, then some behind-the-scenes material, deleted scenes, storyboard sequences, and a gag reel, all on the last disc. One thing you may run into is that the episode numbers on the final two discs may be incorrect. In my set, disc 3 is labeled that episodes 9-12 are on that, and episode 13 is on the final disc, whereas in reality, episodes 9-11 are on disc 3, and the final two episodes are on the last disc. Also, in some of the episodes, the frame rate is a bit off so the characters will look like they are moving in slow motion for a few seconds before it corrects. For people who are huge on AV quality, it could be irritating, but I did not find that it lessened my viewing experience.
Overall, the series comes to a good conclusion. It definitely ended in a way that I did not expect, but I was pleased with the ending. I do think that all the actors continued being stronger with their performances, even as the show got darker over the course of the series. It is definitely worth checking out, whether you stream it or get the physical discs.
DVD/TV Series Review: The Sinner Season 3
The DVD set is a two-disc MOD DVD set. That means there are no extra or bonus features. And, unlike seasons 1 and 2, it was not released individually on Blu-Ray (but it is included in the complete series Blu-Ray set that was released after the series ended with season 4). As physical media slowly goes extinct, TV series are taking the brunt of that, with fewer of them being released even on DVD, and only a very select few being released on Blu-Ray. This is a very bare-bones MOD DVD with no captions and no extras. You just get the eight episodes spread over two discs. So, I think most people who will get this will be those who are just wanting to keep their collection complete. But, if you only get physical discs if there are a lot of extras, then you will just want to stick to streaming this one.
DVD/TV Series Review: Batman Beyond: The Complete Series
It is a very different series from the original Batman series. Kevin Conroy returns as an old (and even more grizzly) Bruce Wayne but really fills the Alfred role for Terry McGinnis. He does a great job with the voice work again, just as he did in the original series. The series also has tie-ins with both the original Batman series, as well as the animated Superman series. The time jump is a bit weird because the original animated Batman series looked like it was set in the 1940s or 1950s, and part of this series looks like it was set in the mid to late 1990s with CD Rom and cell phone technology, but then also has flying cars and makes Gotham look like a futuristic Toyko or Bejing. They never do nail down when it was supposed to be taking place, and all the showrunners said in the bonus material is that it was set 50 years after whenever the original series was. There is no actual series finale in this set. It just ended with a regular episode. The real wrap-up to the series was done on an episode of Justice League Unlimited, which actually aired after this series but is set earlier in time when Bruce Wayne was still young.
The DVD set is an eight-disc set with three seasons spread across the 8 discs. There are two discs for the 13-episode first and third seasons and 4 for the 26-episode second season. There is also a bonus disc that has a couple other show-specific features and then an hour-and-a-half-long documentary on the history of DC Comics and all that had spanned from it, including the TV series and movies (up to about 2008). The other extras are commentary tracks for some of the episodes, some making-of featurettes, which were interviews with the producers of the show, and trailers for some of the other animated shows and movies. Thankfully, there are no double-sided discs like there were for the Superman series. A good amount of bonus material for what is included.
Thursday, August 8, 2024
DVD/TV Series Review: Merlin Season 4
The DVD set is a four-disc set. The extras are not as extensive as in the first three seasons. There are commentary tracks for select episodes, and then on the final disc, there is a 19-minute making-of feature, a gag reel, storyboard sequences, fan pictures, and about 21 minutes of deleted scenes. There is no separate disc with extras, as had been the case in the prior seasons. So, while there are not as many extras, what was included was good and worth checking out for those who like the bonus material.
Overall, the show remains quality in the fourth season. All the younger actors continue to develop into the roles and seem to feel more comfortable in them. There is some cast turnover this year with some roles being reduced and others expanded. Katie McGrath is really a standout this season playing evil, remorseless Morgana very well. And Bradley James does a great job shedding the arrogant "bro" version of Arthur from season one into the noble ruler the character becomes. It is still a family show, with the same level of violence as in prior seasons, and really no sexual situations (beyond kissing) to speak of.
4k-UHD/Movie Review: Tomb Raider
Like the other movies, this is heavy on action, with a little bit of drama mixed in. There is not as much humor as in the original two movies (on the whole). Alicia Vikander does a good job making the role her own and not copying what Jolie did. That said, I do think Jolie was better overall in the role (although she was playing Lara in her 30s as opposed to her early 20s), so by definition, hers was a more mature version of the character. It should be noted, however, that this is a total reboot, not a prequel to the Jolie movies. It is set in the modern day, not a decade (or so) before the original two movies. So, die-hard fans of those films may be upset by that fact.
The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. It does seem like there are different 4k sets pit there, but the version I have has a UHD disc (with just the movie on it) and a second regular blu-ray, which has the movie and the bonus materials. For those who get that one, the bonus features are three short behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes and then a slightly less than 10-minute feature on the evolution of the video game franchise. Good for what is there, but not a ton. Ultimately, the movie is good but not great. It is worth watching if you are in the mood for an action movie that is not too deep and that you don't necessarily have to pay attention to every second of it in order to follow along.