VHS Review: Madonna - Justify My Love

 

Back in the day when MTV and VH1 actually played music videos, this one was so controversial only an edited version of it would ever be played, and when it was played it was in the overnight block between midnight and 6:00 AM. It launched during what was arguably Madonna's most sexually controversial phase in which she released the Erotica album, published the Sex book, and was nude in the movie Body of Evidence. Of course, by today's standards, aside from a quick boob flash, the video is not nearly as big a deal as it was when it was released. Honestly, back then the fact that Madonna was making out with another woman was probably more controversial than the boob flash that lasted a couple of seconds. The controversy over the video actually masked the fact that the song is very good. It is not her best song by any means, but still much better than it gets credit for.

In the time of YouTube when you can find pretty much any music video ever made, there is no reason to get this on VHS anymore (even if you are one of the handful of people out there with a working VHS player). But, back in the day, this was pretty much the only way to see the video.

CD/Music/Album Review: Kenny G. Faith - A Holiday Album

Faith was the second, and now one of many Christmas/Holiday albums recorded by Kenny G. There are 12 songs in all on the album with a mix of classic traditional songs like The First Noel and Ave Maria, and classic songs like The Christmas Song, Let it Snow, Sleigh Ride, Oh Christmas Tree, and the like. The album also includes a Chanukah song called Eternal Light. Probably the highlight of the album is the Millennium Mix of Alud Lang Syne, in which audio clips from throughout history up through the major events of 1999 are played throughout the song. 

Whether you like this album really depends on, A) whether you like Christmas music and B) whether you can handle instrumentals with no vocals. Of course, Kenny G. is well known for playing Jazz on a tenor saxophone, however, the arrangements of the songs are very traditional. If you love Christmas songs, especially traditional arrangements (as opposed to what some pop acts/singers who put out Christmas albums do with the songs), then this is definitely worth listening to.

Movie/DVD Review: American Pie (1999 Release)

American Pie is the iconic coming-of-age comedy that premiered in 1999, and spawned three sequels that actually aired in theaters and a handful of (mostly bad) direct-to-DVD spinoffs in which pretty much only Eugene Levy (Jim's Dad) and Chris Own (Sherman) made regular appearances. The basic plot is that a group of teenage boys who are in their senior year of high school make a pact to have sex before prom. Of course, you have to buy that a guy who looks like Chris Klien could not have had sex before he was a senior in high school, but hey, it is a movie. 

It is a comedy in a similar vein to 80s coming-of-age comedies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Sixteen Candles, Private School, Porky's, and the like. It is more of a raunchy comedy than Fast Times and Sixteen Candles were, but does not have as much nudity as Porky's did.  I would call it a mix of those types of movies. And, for those of us who were not in high school in the 1980s, it is a bit more relatable than some of the older movies. Basically, anyone who was in, or graduated high school from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s will easily be able to relate to the humor. 

The movie pretty much launched the careers of Jason Biggs, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Tara Reid, Shannon Elizabeth, Sean William Scott, Chris Klien, Mena Suvari, and Natasha Lyonne. Alyson Hannigan was already known for having been on Buffy The Vampire Slayer for a couple of years, and pretty much stole every scene she was in. As most will likely remember, she had the iconic line about what she did at band camp toward the end of the movie.  And, of course, there is the Shannon Elizabeth Jason Biggs webcam scene which, while it probably would not be included in a movie today, is hilarious. The movie also helped revive the careers of Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge. Some of the younger stars would go on to have varying levels of success and a varying amount of turmoil in their personal lives. 

For those who have not upgraded to blu-ray but still prefer DVD to streaming, the original DVD release included a bunch of extras including featurettes on the locations, the music, and the cast and crew. There are also production notes, a feature on the classic quotes from the movie, outtakes/gag reel, the theatrical trailer, a commentary track with the director, producer, writer, and several cast members, and a bunch of DVD-ROM features if you play it in a computer CD-ROM drive. 

Overall, while the movie is probably as outdated for today's teenagers as the 1980s movies were at the time this came out, it still holds up fairly well 20+ years down the line. Face it, there are definitely things that will always be common to being a teenager that will easily cross generations. The movie is mostly tongue-in-cheek, although there are a few dramatic growing-up moments in it. But, if you accept it for what it is, it is a great comedy and definitely worth a look.

CD/Album/Music Review: Faith Hill - Breathe

 

Faith Hill's Breathe, released in 1999 was the album that crossed her over from Country to Pop music. I would say that she was more a hybrid than a total crossover act because the album did very much keep her country sound, but the big hits from the album, Breathe, and The Way You Love Me, were solidly in the category of adult-contemporary pop. Even for people like myself that are not that into country music, the country-sounding songs on the album are not extremely "twangy" like some country acts are, and thus people who get the album because of the song Breathe can enjoy the rest of them. Of course, in the days of streaming music (which was in its infancy when the album came out) can pick and choose which songs to buy without having to purchase the entire album. And, if you pay for an unlimited streaming service such as Amazon Music or one of the others, you can add whatever songs you like and leave off the ones you don't.

Overall, the album is very good. There are 13 songs in total, and is a good mix of her country sound and pop. Hill has a great voice, and while not every song on the album was a hit on the pop chart (I am not sure which songs charted on the country chart) all of the songs were very good, and better than a lot of what was on the pop chart in the late 90s/early 2000s and light years better than most of the pop music of today.

CD/Album/Music Review: Celine Dion - All The Way...A Decade of Song

All The Way...A Decade of Song was released in 1999 and is a mix of Celine Dion's greatest hits and new (at the time) material that she released for the album. It has 15 songs in total. The material released for the album included duets with Frank Sinatra and R-Kelly (which happened before the allegations of sexual abuse in his personal life came to light). The greatest hits material included songs like the theme from Titanic (My Heart Will Go On), which was probably her biggest hit, Beauty and the Beast, The Power of Love, and It's All Coming Back To Me Now) are included. While it does not include every hit she had up to that point in her career, but it has all the major ones.

Chances are if you were a fan of pop music in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and especially if you liked ballads, you were probably a fan of Celine Dion. She was right up there with Mariah Carey as the women who were to the 90s what Madonna and Whitney Huston were to pop music in the 80s (even though both of them were still going pretty strong by the time Celine and Mariah hit it big. While Celine's career has pretty well tailed off by now, if you want a nice mix of her music, this is definitely a good choice.

Movie/DVD Review: Halloween (1999 Limited Edition)

This is one of the first DVD releases (if not the first) of the iconic 1978 low-budget horror film starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance. It tells the story of a boy named Michael Myers who, on Halloween night in 1968 kills his sister. He is committed to a mental institution where he is under the care of Dr. Sam Loomis (played by Pleasance), ends up breaking out a decade later only to return to his hometown of Haddonfield Illinois to go on a killing spree. 

Halloween was more of a thriller than a horror movie. Although it falls in the horror genre, it relies far more on jump scares than it does gore. There is actually very little blood in the movie, and the goriest shot is probably when Myers attacks the boyfriend of one of the teenagers and hangs him to a wall with a butcher knife. Even in that scene, there is not really any blood. So, it is not a horror movie in the "slasher porn" genre that just tries to be as gory as possible. 

Even though it was a low-budget, independent movie, it was well-written and acted. Pleasance really carried the movie as the very intense Loomis who was hell-bent on stopping Myers and was the only one who saw him as the threat he really was. Curtis was still very green as an actress (this was one of her first acting roles, if not the first, and certainly her first major role), but still did a good job playing Laurie Strode, the goody-two-shoes babysitter. While the dialogue (especially that written for the teenagers) is now out of date and cheesy, the movie, overall, holds up now over 40-years later.

The DVD set includes both the theatrical version of the movie as well as a version that added in scenes (and introduced the controversial Michael-Laurie connection) that were added for the TV version of the movie to make up for the material (like the nude scenes) that had to be edited out. But, on the DVD they were just added to the theatrical version of the movie to make a longer cut. The extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette and a great commentary track with director John Carpenter, screenwriter Debra Hill, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Halloween is a bit of a cult classic movie, that has a large devoted following, but still probably does not appeal to the masses. To the extent that any horror movie does that, Halloween is probably the one that does. It was a far more successful movie than anyone, including Carpenter, ever thought it would be, and of course, became a pretty huge movie franchise spawning many sequels of varying quality (over Carpenter's objection). Chances are, most people already know if they love or hate the movie, but if you have not upgraded to blu-ray and do not want to shell out for the Halloween collection (which has every movie up to the Bloomhouse reboot of the franchise), this is a great edition to get. 

Movie/DVD Review: The Matrix (1999 release)

The Matrix if the movie that re-defined the action-adventure-sci-fi action genre of movies, and especially the computer-generated special effects of that genre. The movie has been around long enough that most people know the plot, humans created artificial intelligent machines that eventually became autonomous and went to war with humans. The humans eventually lost and were used as batteries to power the machines, living inside a computer simulation called The Matrix. Some humans were able to escape The Matrix (yet still plug into it and as a result have superhuman abilities inside the computer) and lead a resistance fight against the machines. 

The movie starred Keanu Reeves in his first big post "Bill and Ted" role, Laurence Fishburne, and Carrie Anne Moss, in the lead roles, with a supporting cast made up of mostly lesser-known character actors and actresses.  Some, like Hugo Weaving, who are very well-known now, and others who did not do much notably after The Matrix. At the time the movie was made, the most recognizable supporting cast member was probably Joe Pantoliano.  Back in 1999 a lot of people had very low expectations for the movie, based mainly on the "whoa" moment from the trailer thinking Reeves would totally blow the role. But, Reeves did a lot better than expected job with the role of Neo/Mr. Anderson than a lot of people expected, and Fishburne nailed his role as Morpheus.

The original DVD release did have some making-of and behind-the-scenes material, along with some deleted scenes, and a couple of different commentary tracks. And, the DVD could also be put into a computer CD-ROM drive and get some other bonus features. But, the extras are nowhere near as extensive as those that would be included on subsequent releases, especially on the Ultimate Matrix Collection Blu-Ray set or the 4K Blu-Ray releases. But, if you are one of those who never upgraded from DVD, and like going through extras, there is still quite a bit there for you.

Overall, it is an iconic movie with groundbreaking special effects that would influence CGI effects in movies and tv shows for at least a decade after its release. It is well written and acted, and even to this day can be one of those conversation starter movies. And, it holds up pretty well even 20+ years later. 

Streaming Review: The Man in the High Castle Season 4

Season four of The Man in the High Castle, was overall, aside from the series finale, very good. And, even much of the series finale was good, but it ended very weirdly and felt much more like a season finale that was setting up a fifth season that would take the show in a new direction. And, it left many of the major character arcs totally open-ended. I am not sure if the showrunners knew before they filmed the season that the fourth season would be the last for the show. If they did, then they ended it horribly. If they did not, then you do have to give the show somewhat of a pass for feeling incomplete. 

As was the case with the other seasons, this season had multiple story arcs going at the same time. In the Pacific states, yet another resistance faction, this one called the Black Communist Revolution (BCR) went up against the Pons. And, of course, the Nazis were still scheming to take over everything, but there were definitely splits in the ranks. In my opinion, the best story arc was that of Helen Smith and the kids and a mix of being awakened and close-minded.  There was again, a lot of cast turnover, with some major characters being written out of the show (or just forgotten) and a handful of new characters (including Rachel Nichols and Frances Turner). 

Overall, even with the less than stellar series finale, the season was very good, with a lot of action and plot twists thrown in. The ending of the series definitely did not tie up everything in a nice little bow. A lot was left to the audience's imagination. That can, at times, be a good thing, but I think more of the main characters deserved a better sendoff than they ultimately got. Still, it is definitely worth watching.

Movie/VHS Review: Bikini Summer 2

 

Bikini Summer 2 was a "Skinemax" special from the early to mid-1990s. Basically, a Playboy-style movie that had a loose, and very stupid plot, that was basically there between scenes of B-movie models nude or in softcore simulated sex scenes. The big casting coup was Jessica Hahn who was cashing in on her 15 minutes of fame from her affair with televangelist Jim Bakker, and the Playboy shoot that she had around the same time this came out. Ironically, Hahn was never nude in the movie at all, just sat around in lingerie, bikinis, and one dominatrix outfit. Avalon Anders had most of the noteworthy nude scenes in the movie. It does have one of the great lines in b-movie history when the sleazy rich guy is banging his hot Latina maid..."Senior, senior, is it in yet senior?"

Overall, the movie is pretty much what you would expect. Stupid, with bad acting, but a lot of good-looking people. For those of us who were teenagers in the mid-1990s and remember it from late-night cable if you really want it, it is available on DVD, but it is out of print, so you will spend way more than it is worth. I bought it on VHS back in 1999, watched it a couple of times, and now have it in a box with my last few remaining VHS tapes likely never to be watched again. 

Book Review: Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship With the First Lady

Melania and Me, written by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff is an interesting look behind the curtain of the lead-up to, and the first couple of years of, the 2017-2021 presidential administration from the perspective of someone who was a senior advisor/special advisor/friend of the former first lady. Wolkoff details how she met and became friends with the former first lady (she met her when she was working in the fashion industry, helping to plan and organize events like the Met Gala), and how that transitioned to working on the inauguration planning and trying to set up the staff for the first lady once the former president was in the White House. 

The book details a lot of the infighting and backbiting between the West Wing of the White House and the East Wing (i.e., the president's staff vs the first lady's staff; aka Ivanka vs. Melania), and how the former was doing everything the undermine the latter (at least from Wolkoff's point of view). The book definitely gives the impression that Ivanka and Melania have a chilly (at best) relationship, or outright hate each other. The book goes on to detail how, as the finances of the inauguration came to light, Wolkoff was thrown under the bus for the overcharges and missing money and was painted as a friend of Melania who got 26 million dollars for planning a handful of events. The Author's version is that she only made $400k (roughly) and put out so much of her own money between the inauguration, her time in the White House, and attorney fees for various things, that she ended up a million dollars in the hole.  

The author is a bit of a contradiction. She admits up front that she was apolitical and never voted in her life before the 2016 election, and felt it was better not to vote because she could not tell you the difference between the economic policies of Obama and Romney, yet voted for t***p solely because she was friends with his wife, and despite the fact that she disagreed with most of his policies. Wolkoff spends about 2/3 of the book fangirling over Melania then ends up saying she wishes she never met her. It is clear that she felt more and more betrayed by Melania over the course of time and, even though she thought she was different because she had a real friendship with Melania when it came down to it, she was expendable just like all the other people she had seen thrown under the bus and cast to the side by the trump family. The book does not talk much about the former president, although Wolkoff does take some shots at the things he said, paints Ivanka as a spoiled princess, and intimates that Jared was basically worthless and nobody knew why he had any responsibility in the administration. 

Overall, the book is a somewhat interesting and fairly quick read. If you are a fast reader you can get through it in a few days (or less), but it is not what I would call a page-turner that most people would read in one sitting. It portrays pretty much everyone in that White House as very petty (including the author herself) and most of the group out for themselves. The author is definitely more sympathetic than some of the other people detailed in the book, and it does seem that she was trying to make Melania look as good as possible as the first lady (despite Ivanka and Melania herself who had a "why should I give a shit about anything" attitude about damn near everything), and even put her health in jeopardy by overworking herself for Melania's benefit. Even so, it is hard to feel extremely sorry for her because she had certainly seen enough before she was thrown under the bus to know what was likely coming her way, which, in the long run, makes it different from a lot of the other tell-all books out there about trump. 

TV Show Review: The Man in the High Castle Season 3

Season three of The Man in the High Castle in part, ties up the storylines from season two (mainly Joe and his Father being arrested, as well as the aftermath of the bombing of the Kempetai headquarters). Then it launches into what is the crux of this season's story arcs. That involves finding out more information about the "travelers", those who are able to move between dimensions like Trade Minister Tagomi, and that the Nazis know about the multiverse and are trying to find a way to get into the other dimensions in mass in order to take over the other worlds. Of course, the resistance members, led by Juliana, try to stop them. The show also introduces a new character Wyatt Price (played by Jason O'Mara), who is somewhat of a fixer/dealer/guy to go to when you need something in the neutral zone.

The look and feel of the show are pretty similar to prior seasons. The season does take some of the characters in different directions. Some people will probably like that, and some not so much. As has been the case with past seasons, there is a lot of violence and some sexual content. So, if that turns you off to a show then it is not worth watching it. Also, Amazon has not released it on DVD or Blu-Ray, and probably never will, so the only way to watch it is on Amazon, either with a Prime membership or paying for the seasons or paying per episode. It continues to be very well-acted, and pretty well written, even though I would say that the writing is more uneven this season than in the first couple of seasons. Even so, the season is pretty well-paced and packs a lot into the ten episodes. 

Book Review: Body For Life

Body For Life (BFL) was for many, including me, their introduction to fitness and nutrition. It was, in its time, as popular as P90X or any of the other Beachbody workouts have been, and for the most part, it holds up. It was written by Bill Phillips who, at the time, owned a supplement company called EAS and put out Muscle Media magazine. Phillips had been a competitive bodybuilder back in the 1980s and in the mid-late 90s set up a competition with parameters similar to the BFL plan, in Muscle Media Magazine for real people to do a body transformation with his Lamborghini as the prize to the winner. That competition was chronicled in a film called Body of Work and ultimately became the basis for this book and the Body for Life challenge that was, in the early to mid-2000s, as red hot as anything in fitness has ever been. 

The book is basically split into three parts. A background/motivational section that tries to get you into the right mindset for undergoing a transformation like this. A workout section that explains the workouts and gives example exercises, and a nutrition section that details the nutrition plan and has some sample recipes. Throughout the book, there are testimonials by people who have transformed themselves going through a version of Body For Life (mainly by the people who were chronicled in the Body of Work video). Even though those people did not have as regimented a plan as the book sets out, the plan laid out in Muscle Media was similar to what ended up in the book. 

For the workouts, you lift weights three days a week (alternating upper body and lower body), then do cardio three days a week, and have one rest day. For the resistance exercises, you choose two exercises per body part. For example, bench press (BP) and chest flys (CF) for a chest exercise. For one of the exercises, you do a circuit of 12, 10, 8, 6, and 12 reps, with one minute in between each set of the circuit. You increase the weight for each circuit through the 6 rep circuit, then you drop the weight down to do the 12 reps, then you do 12 reps of the second exercise, with no rest with a weight heavy enough that you fail at the 12th rep. Then you rest for 2 minutes and go on to the next body part like shoulders, biceps, etc. So, the chest circuits will look something like this:

BP 12 reps 20lbs

1-minute rest

BP 10 reps 25lbs

1-minute rest

BP 8 reps 30lbs

1-minute rest

BP 6 reps 35lb

1-minute rest

BP 12 reps 20lbs

CF 12 reps 15 lbs

3-minute rest

Next circuit

The BFL workout program is one that can be done at home with a good selection of free weights and some kind of cardio equipment.  But, even though you can do it at home, it is a bit limited as a purely at-home workout, especially when doing the lower body workouts, because it requires you to lift weights to failure. And, it is hard to find two different hamstring exercises and two different quad exercises that will be easy to do to failure with dumbells. This is especially the case since the program wants you to rotate exercises every four weeks so your body does not plateau. So, it is much easier to do the leg day in a gym, unless you have a pretty good home gym setup with a leg press machine and/or a leg extension machine, which can get quite expensive. You can probably use resistance bands for the upper body workout, but it would be very hard to do the lower body workout with bands. And, as you progress and get fitter and stronger, you will need heavier and heavier weights, which again will be pretty expensive over the course of time. So, even though you can do the workouts at home, it is definitely easier to do them in a gym. That said, there are a lot of example exercises in the workout section of the book that demonstrates free-weight exercises that can be used in the program, so if you have a good home gym setup, or have the money to put one together it is possible to do it 100% from home. And, if you get creative, you can do the cardio simply by walking/running up and down steps or something like that. But, it helps to have a treadmill, elliptical, or the like. 

The upper body workout lasts about 45-46 minutes and the lower body workout lasts about 42 assuming you rest between sets for the recommended period of time.  The cardio portion of the program has you doing 20 minutes of progressive cardio. Similar to the resistance workouts, you start out at a low intensity like a slow walk, then you start doing a bit more intense and ratchet the intensity up each minute until you go all out, then back the intensity down. So it looks something like this:

Minutes 1-2 intensity level 1 (walk)

Min 3 intensity level 5

Min 4 intensity level 6

Min 5 intensity level 7

Min 6 intensity level 8

Min 7 intensity level 9 

Min 8 intensity level 5

....................................

...................................

Min 19 intensity level 10 (sprint)

Min 20 intensity level 1 (walk)

So basically, in minute 19 you go all out for as long as you possibly can (hopefully the whole minute) then you go back to a walking intensity level. Of course, what is a level 1 vs level 10 intensity will vary person-to-person, and for some people, the equivalent of a brisk walk will be a level 10, where for another person that will be their level 5. But, as with the resistance workouts, the idea is that people will progress over time because their intensity level 10 will change as they become more fit. 

The nutrition plan is fairly simple. It has you eat a portion of protein (about the size of your palm), a portion of carbs (about the size of your fist), and a veggie for three meals, use a meal replacement shake (the book promotes a nutrition shake called Myoplex which was put out by EAS back in the day) for three meals. Although EAS and the BFL challenge, in general, went the way of the dodo bird (I think mainly when P90x and Beachbody really took off), there are definitely a lot of meal replacement shakes and protein powders out there if you want to go that route. Although,  the book stresses that you can eat six solid-food meals a day and get great results. Basically, you just need to eat six times a day, consuming a balance of protein and carbs, and a reasonable amount of fat. Then, one day a week it allows for a cheat/free day in which you can eat anything you want. 

The nutrition plan is a bit cookie-cutter. For the people it works well for, it works great. But, for people who cannot get to an adequate caloric deficit with the palm-fist method, are carb sensitive, or for whom the palm-fist method does not result in enough calories per day, it may make you healthier, but probably will not get you ripped or make you look like a fitness model (if that is the look you are going for). It is also a low-fat emphasis plan and does not really differentiate between good fats (like nuts) and bad. So, in that way it was kind of akin to the old food pyramid except it emphasized eating a lot more protein (just very lean protein like grilled chicken breast, and the like). 

Overall, I would say it is a good program to try, especially if you are a beginner at working out and following a strict nutrition plan. But, keep in mind, that you may not end up looking like the people photographed in the book even if you follow it to a tee. If that is the case, and what you want, you will probably have to tweak your nutrition plan in order to get to that point. The book does give a lot of very good inspiration and provides a good starting point for some people who want to get in shape and start weight training, but really do not know how to start and don't want to use a personal trainer. For other people, it can be a plan that they can follow for life. 

Book Review : Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Prisoner of Azkaban is the third book in the original group of Harry Potter novels, thus it is set in the student's third year at Hogwarts. The book introduces several new characters, including the new defense against the dark arts professor, Professor Lupin, the titular prisoner of Azkaban (which is the wizard prison), Sirius Black, who is out to find Harry, and the Dementors, the guards at Azkaban who are trying to track down Black but also have a huge effect on Harry any time they come near him. 

This book is significantly longer than the first two, and as such, it has more content cut out for the movie adaptation than the first two books did. For example, the book has two additional Qiddich matches that were not shown in the movie, and there was more to the Buckbeak storyline than was shown in the movie. Also, some events played out differently in the book than they did in the movie, such as when Hermione decks Draco, Harry facing the Boggart for the first time, the circumstances of Harry getting his new broom, and the climax of the book when all is revealed has a lot more detail than was shown in the movie. And, some characters that were introduced in this book did not show up on film until the Goblet of Fire movie.

Overall, the book is very well written, and done in a similar (yet a bit darker) tone than the first two. As most know, Rowling anticipated that kids reading the books would age as they were released so she made them darker and more "adult-like" as each book was released. So, there is a lot more talk of death in this one and we learn more details of the night that Harry's parents died than in the first two books. While it is technically a book for kids, in the 10-13-year-old range, adults can easily enjoy it. Even people like me who were older than the target reader group when the books were originally published. I had seen almost all the movies before I ever read the books for the first time and I think I enjoy the books more having already seen the movies. Even though the book is longer than the first two (435 pages), it is still a fairly quick read, depending, of course, how fast you read and how much time you have to read. If you are a fan of the movies or the first two books, it is definitely a must-read.

TV Show Review: The Man In the High Castle Season 2

Season two of The Man in the High Castle in some ways fleshes out the season-one storylines (mainly, and probably most significantly, the jumping between dimensions/universes), and also begins some new storylines. The large one being the threat of imminent nuclear war between Japan and Germany which threatens almost everyone living in America. The show also introduces new cast members, including Bella Heathcoate, who plays Nicole Becker, Tate Donovan, who plays Dixon, a resistance member shown in one of the first-season films, and Callum Keith Rennie, (best known for his roles on Battlestar and the very underrated buddy-cop show Due South). He plays Gary Connell, a member of the resistance in San Fransico not about sacrificing anyone to get at the Pons. 

Overall, the show continues to be well-written and acted. While a bit more of the story is fleshed out, not too much is given away yet, and the 10-episode season continues to be a good length for the season. It gets in and out of the story without things getting stale, and leaves the viewer wanting more. As is the case with the first season, for those of us who still prefer physical DVDs or Blu-Ray discs to streaming, this is one of the series that Amazon only streams and has not released (and probably will not release) on physical media. So, if you want to watch it, you either have to be a prime member or pay Amazon to stream it.

It is definitely not a series for everyone. There is still a lot of violence, swearing, and some sexual content. There is not a ton of sex and nudity (nothing akin to Game of Thrones for example), but there is a bit. So if those things turn you off to a series it is best to avoid it. But, if you like dramas with a but if sci-fi and mystery mixed in, this one is definitely worth checking out. 

TV Show Review: The Man In the High Castle Season 1

The Man in the High Castle is an Amazon Original streaming show set in the early 1960s. It shows an alternate reality in which the Axis powers won World War II and essentially took over the world. In this reality, Hitler is still alive, ruling from Berlin, and the United States is divided between German rule (occupying everything East of the Rocky Mountains) and Japanese rule (everything West of the Rocky Mountains). The Germans have imposed their system of Aryan dominance on their portion of the U.S., and the Japanese have instituted their caste system. The Germans and the Japanese have what can only be described as an uneasy and untrustworthy alliance, and the Americans are basically indentured servants of the Japanese or (the ones who have not joined the Reich) living under the heel of the Nazis. Of course, there is are resistance groups that are trying to take down both Empires. There is also a sci-fi element (which you would expect from Ridley Scott), which highly suggests the existence of alternate dimensions or realities, where history plays out differently, including as we know it, in which the Allies won the war. This is mostly shown by videos put out by the titular Man in the High Castle, showing different versions of history than the one the characters live in.

The series stars Alexa Davalos (probably best known for her role on the series Angel) as Juliana Crain who has ties to the Pacific coast resistance, Rupert Evans as her boyfriend Frank Frink, Rufus Sewell as John Smith, a leader of the Nazi Reich in New York, Luke Kleintank, DJ, Qualls who plays Frank's best friend and co-worker, Ed McCarthy, Joel De La Fuente as the head of the Japanese police force, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as the Japanese trade minister, and Brennan Brown as an antique dealer.

The series is very well-written and acted. The 10-episode season is paced very well and does a good job establishing the characters and telling some, but not all, of their various backstories. It is a show in which the characters are almost all morally gray, with no absolute good guys or bad guys (at least in the main cast). The writers do a good job making even characters like John Smith, who is clearly on the side of evil have a human side. There is a lot of violence, swearing, and some sexual situations and nudity (although not a ton). So, it is definitely not something that you would want young kids watching.

Unfortunately, for those of us who still prefer physical DVDs or Blu-Ray discs to streaming, this is one of the series that Amazon only streams and has not (and likely will not) release on physical media. So, if you want to watch it, you either have to be a prime member or pay Amazon to stream it. So, if you are a prime member or are willing to pay to watch it, and are looking for a good drama/thriller it is a great series, and definitely worth checking out. 

Book Review: Star Wars Dark Legends

 

This is a collection of short stories that is what you would get if you combined Star Wars with kid's ghost stories told around a campfire. All of the stories are about 20-30 pages long, give or take, and basically deal with the Sith in some way, shape, or form.  One of the stories involves force-sensitive kids being kidnapped from an orphanage by an Inquisitor-like character, a story about what it is like to be a grunt on Vader's Star Destroyer, and a moon near a star with a damaged Kyber Crystal (like those that power sith lightsabers) at it core, whose solar flares send out dark side energy that makes anyone on the moon go crazy. 

Overall, it is a quick read, and while it is a kid's book, it is written well enough that an adult can enjoy it.  It is definitely not what I would classify as a must-read, however. It is totally ancillary to the main, canon, adult novels that are more heavily tied to the main storyline or characters in the main storyline. It is the kind of book that most people would get because they collect most of the Star Wars novels and it is a book that most people are likely to read once as opposed to going back to it multiple times.

DVD Review: Chicago Fire Season 4

Season 4 of Chicago Fire picks up immediately after the conclusion to Season 3 when Dawson finds the stripper dead in Casey's apartment. The season three loose ends get tied up fairly quickly into the season, and then the show goes on to new storylines. As has been the case with prior seasons, this one follows the format of larger story arcs that play out in between the various fire/accident calls the crew gets sent to. Some of the larger arcs this season involve Casey running for Alderman of the 21st  district, Chilli spiraling because of personal issues (much like other characters have), a medical issue for Otis, Joe trying to help another gang member get out, and of course, many love interests for Severide. 

The show also features many appearances from characters on Chicago PD and Chicago Med (which officially premiered during Fire's 4th season). And, there was the official "One Chicago" crossover event where each of the shows tied together in some way. Unlike some seasons in which there is a single storyline that crosses between each show, the event that gets the members of Firehouse 51 to Chicago Med was set up in the episode leading into the crossover, then a medical case that looked to be ancillary to that storyline ended up being the main part of the Med and PD hours of the crossover. 

For those who get the DVD set, the 23 episodes are spread over six discs. The bonus material includes behind-the-scenes material for most of the episodes, as well as the Med and PD installments of the crossover. A decent amount of material for those who like watching the bonus features.

Overall, the show continues to be well-written and acted, and blends a lot of action with elements of drama, comedy, and romance (it is a bit soap-opera-like at times). There is a bit more cast turnover this season, but not as much as the prior couple of seasons. I would say if you liked the prior seasons of the show you will probably like this one. On the other hand, if procedural shows with a large ensemble cast are not your thing, or if you have just not liked the prior seasons, there is nothing about this one that is likely to change your mind. 

Book Review: The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson

The Run Of His Life gives a detailed view of the O.J. Simpson murder trial from a quasi-insider's view. Toobin was a reporter, not a member of the prosecution or defense, nor did he personally know any of the people involved. But what he had was a ton of access to both sides. On the defense side, largely because of the article he wrote in the New Yorker detailing what at that point was merely a troubling past and a lot of red flags about detective Mark Fuhrman surrounding a possible racist past, and in the prosecution, because he was around the courthouse constantly and knew whom to talk to. As a result, he was able to provide a lot of narrative in the book about what was going on in both camps, and because he is a Harvard-trained lawyer, was able to provide a lot of insight into the (mainly poor) job that both sides did. So you find out things like what O.J. was really like behind the scenes (according to Toobin he was not involved in his defense strategy at all), Toobin also claims that Simpson's lawyers all knew he was guilty and did not care, not necessarily because they through every defendant deserved a zealous defense, but because they wanted to stick it to the cops, make money, or both, and that many of the defense attorneys could not stand working with each other. He presents the prosecution as being almost an equal mix of incompetence and arrogance, which, along with a jury that was mostly pre-disposed to acquit Simpson no matter what, made the outcome almost a foregone conclusion. He also presented a lot of inside knowledge on what was going on with the jury while they were sequestered as well as detailing a lot of behind-the-scenes details of what he saw as Judge Ito's utter incompetence and worrying as much about his reputation in the media as making correct legal rulings.

Overall, the book is very well written and sourced. While Toobin makes it clear that the evidence is overwhelming that Simpson committed the crimes, he is not biassed toward either side remaining neutral in his criticism and praise. He praised the few things that anyone on either side did well and excoriated the things they messed up. Unlike many who wrote books after the conclusion of the trial, he did not have a vested interest in presenting a 'side" or defending any action or decision. It has a lot of good information that even people who watched the trial from beginning to end and read some of the other books may not be aware of (or have forgotten over the course of time). It is definitely worth the read for those of us who lived through the trial, or people who are just fans of true crime books.

DVD Review: Chicago PD Season Two

The second season of Chicago PD follows a very similar format and tone as the first season. It alternates between cases from the intelligence unit (which is the focus of the show) and the main beat cops Burgess and Roman (played by Brian Geraghty) Burgess' new partner since Atwater was promoted to the intelligence unit. It is mostly, but not exclusively, a case-of-the-week type procedural which also crosses over with the "parent" show Chicago Fire, and a couple of times through the season with episodes from Season 16 of Law and Order SVU, which is also a part of the Dick Wolff production machine. In fact, in the crossover later in the season, a case that continued one of the SVU storylines from a decade earlier was brought to a conclusion. The events of that crossover would have ramifications that lead into season three, as one of the characters is at a major crossroads as the season ends on a cliffhanger. 

The acting and writing on the show are very good. The writers do a great job redeeming the character of Hank Voight, while still leaving him with a very hard edge. Of course, the show has a very large ensemble cast, and while not every cast member gets an in-depth storyline or even character-centric episode, the writers do a good job balancing the cast and making all the characters interesting. While season one really focused on the character of Antonio, this season, the focus is on Erin. We learn a bit more about Lindsey's background and meet her mother, played by Markie Post, who as some will remember was one of the leads on the great 80s sitcoms, Night Court. This season also introduced the character of Will Halstead played by Nick Gehllfuss (who has a small recurring role on Shameless before this) who would go on to play the same character (although written differently) on Chicago Med which would premiere the next season as another Chicago-based spin-off. Interestingly, Brian Tee who would also be hired for Chicago Med played a completely different character in one episode this season, which made it a bit surprising that he managed to get cast as Ethan Choi since the shows are pretty good about continuity. 

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include behind the scenes featurettes for some, but not all of the episodes (similar to what are included in the Chicago Fire DVD sets for seasons 1-3 of that show) and then the episodes from Chicago Fire and Law and Order SVU that were a part of the crossovers so you can see the entire story even if you do not watch the other shows. Overall, I would say if you like the first season and are a fan of Chicago Fire, you will probably like this season of PD. On the other hand, if you did not like the first season of PD, and/or the weekly procedural drama format does not appeal to you, then it is not likely that this is going to change your mind.

Product Review: PB-JIFE! The Ultimate PB knife

 

The PB-Jife is essentially a long, non-serrated knife made especially for large peanut butter or jelly jars. It has an end that allows it to scrape the various nooks and crannies of the large jars and is long enough that your hand never has to go into the jar as you scrape the bottom. I tried using this on a nearly empty jar of natural peanut butter which I had gotten everything out with a regular butter knife that I could. Using this, I got another tablespoon and a half of peanut butter out, enough to cover a rice cake or spread on a piece of bread. So, it definitely works. a lot better than a regular butter knife. While, contrary to their rather cheesy but memorable tagline, it may not change your life, if you eat a lot of peanut butter, especially if you get the large jars, this will definitely be useful.

Product Review: AUOON Silicon Clip On Strainer

This is a strainer that you can use on a pot to strain pasta, boiled vegetables, potatoes, or the like. It is made of silicon (mostly) so it is heat resistant. The only non-silicon parts are metal that attaches the clips to the body of the strainer. You can put the strainer on the pot before it heats up or after the food is done (although you have to be much more careful so as to not touch the side of the hot pan). It provides enough room on all but the smallest of pots to add food to the pot after the strainer is on. For something that you put in the water before it comes to a boil (like eggs, potatoes, or the like), you can certainly put the food in the pot first, then clip the strainer on, and then start the burner under the pot. 

I have used this to strain rotini in a medium-sized saucepan and in that situation it worked perfectly. It allowed the water to strain without any of the rotini falling out. The holes of the strainer are big enough that water can get through them quickly, but not so big that food can get through. The only thing that I think could possibly get through the holes is angel-hair pasta, but even that would have to hit one of the holes at just the correct angle. Also, you could run into a problem if you are boiling a bunch of potatoes in a large stockpot. In that situation, I could see potatoes potentially falling through the open side of the pan. But, for boiling and draining a serving or two of pasta, it works great. 

Product Review: The Advanced Calculus 2 Tutor, 14 hour video course

I found the Math Tutor DVD sets when I was in the process of returning to school about a decade ago to get an electrical engineering degree. I had to start over in math, a subject that I was horrible at when I was in college the first time around and was looking for study aids to help me get through the classes. Calculus II is very hard and very involved, especially if you get a very difficult teacher. Jason does a great job at breaking down the problems and walking you through, step-by-step, how to solve them. There is some overlap between what is on this DVD and what is in Jasons Calc I and II tutor. That is mostly the very basic material, however. Also, some of the integration techniques you will need to know if you take a Calculus II class in college is on that DVD set. Different schools will present the "first-year" calculus curriculum in a different order. In my calc I class we got to anti-differentiation/integration at the very end, then in Calc II picked up with applications of integration like area and volume (which is on this set) and then went into techniques of integration (like u-substitution, partial fractions, trig substitution, trig integration, etc), some of which is on this set and some on the previous DVD. So you really want to get both of those to catch everything.

This DVD set is a complement to, not a substitute for going to class and doing homework. For two reasons. First, as Jason states upfront, he does not cover everything you will be exposed to in class. He hits the areas that he feels are the most important. Second, Jason is not picking test and homework problems, and the only way to get an idea of what your instructor is going to focus heavily on is to go. For example, when Jason teaches improper integrals, he takes what I would describe as a less formal approach which will give you the correct answer, but omits some steps that the book (and possibly your teacher) will show. The technical way to do the problems however is the convert the problem to a limit introducing another variable like t and plugging that in as one of the limits of integration. If your teacher is a stickler for the "formal" approach you may get points taken off for omitting that step. An example of something you will spend some time on in class that Jason does not cover here is approximate integration which involves different rules for getting a decimal approximation. In my class, we also spent a chapter on differential equations, getting an introduction to them and how to approach solving some of the more basic types of differential equations.

If you learn all the material on this DVD set well, you will have about 75-85% of what you will need for the final exam. These are great to look over before you start class to get an idea of what you will be doing in class and during the semester if you don't fully understand a concept from the lecture or how the book explains it. They are also great to use as a final review (if you have time) when studying for a final exam. Jason selects problems as examples that range in difficulty level but are usually not as difficult as the hardest problems in the book (usually the even-numbered problems from the end of the problem sets). The examples you get here are most likely the types of problems you will see on a quiz or exam because they generally do not take a lot of time to solve, whereas some of the homework problems you may come across could be the one and only exam problem (if your teacher really wanted to be mean) because it would take the entire time to solve it. Therefore, if your learning style is conducive to learning from taking notes off a DVD presentation, this will be a great investment.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

This is the second book in the original Harry Potter series. It is set in the kids' second year at Hogwarts. This novel introduces a couple of new characters including the fan-favorite Dobby the house-elf, and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Guildory Lockhart. It also expands Ginny Weasley's role as she is now a first-year at Hogwarts. And, of course, the novel moves the Harry vs. Voldemort storyline along, giving more of Voldemort's back story, including some of his early life. The crux of the story is that there is something connected to a Chamber of Secrets, which has been opened after 50 years, attacking students at Hogwarts.  The attacks threaten to close down the school, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione try to solve the mystery.

The book is a bit darker than the first novel, but given that it is only the second book in a series that was intended to mature as the children who would read it aged, it is definitely not as dark as the later books would become. Basically, Rowling intended that kids who read the book would be about the same age as the characters as the series went along, so about 11 when reading the first novel and 17-18 by the time they read the final book. So, while kids definitely have to be old enough to handle the characters being hurt and understand the concept of death, the subject matter is not too dark for most kids who are around 10-13 years old. And, of course, the book series is written well enough that an adult can easily enjoy it.

The book is slightly longer than the first novel, but not much. It is a fairly quick read for anyone who reads a lot and has good reading comprehension skills. For those who have only seen the movies, this, along with The Sorcerer's Stone, also happens to be the book that had the least amount of material cut out in the movie adaptations. As the subsequent books got longer, entire plotlines had to be removed. In this novel, while some things were pared down a bit in the movies, the vast majority of the story made it in. 

Overall, the book is very good, and is definitely not "just a kid's book". Like many good coming-of-age stories from the fantasy genre, it uses fantasy elements as metaphors for the experience of growing up and ties the difficulties of growing up into a world of magic. And, it is a story that holds up well even twenty-some years after it was written, and will probably continue to do so years from now. 

DVD Review: Chicago Fire Season 3

Season three of Chicago Fire sees the first major cast turnover in the show, with two series regulars departing. One of the departures is a carryover from the season two cliffhanger with a death that shakes up the firehouse at the outset of the season and continues to have major ramifications throughout the season, including in one of the crossover episodes with Chicago PD. The other departure comes toward the end of the season. I will not say who the characters are or which one died so as not to spoil anything for people who may not have seen the season episodes yet, but if you are a fan of another, now recently concluded series, you will know who one of the characters that left the show is, and why the actor left.

As far as season three goes, it is much in the same vein as the first two seasons with story arcs of various sizes and importance, that play out between emergencies. Some of those this season include Chief Borden, becoming a dad, Casey getting in deep with shady people through his construction gig, Severide's spiraling personal life, and more. Throughout the season, there are a couple of crossover events that include Fire, PD, and Law and Order SVU, including calling back to a case from SVU 10 years prior. Season three again ends on a big cliffhanger, but much different than the one in the season two finale. This season also includes an introduction to the new show, Chicago Med, as well as an episode that is basically a backdoor pilot for Med, which would premiere the next year. This is much the same as what was done to launch Chicago PD. Some of the series regular cast members from Med made at least one appearance on Fire, and of course characters from Chicago PD appeared regularly on Fire in small cameo drop-ins throughout the season. 

For those who get the DVD, the bonus material includes behind-the-scenes featurettes for each episode and the episodes from Chicago PD and Law and Order SVU that were a part of the crossover events. Overall, the show continues to be well-written and well-acted. It is a bit soap-opera-ish because of the fact that there is, for the most part, not a case of the week but accidents that are mainly resolved within a few minutes of screen time. That said, the show does a good job balancing out the soap opera-like elements with the job-related elements to keep the show from getting too cheesy and keeping it interesting. If you were a fan of the first couple of seasons of the show it is definitely worth sticking with for the third season.

Book Review: Too Much and Never Enough

The book can be summed up like this: It. Explains. A. Lot. 

Mary Trump is the niece of the now (thankfully) former president donald t***p (whom she just refers to as donald, both throughout the book and in interviews). It is a book that really explains a lot about why he is the way he is, shedding light on the fact that his father, Mary's grandfather, was very much like donald (with a bit better business acumen and at least somewhat smarter). It details how Fred t***p basically saw donald as the heir apparent to his real-estate empire, yet constantly had to keep bailing donald out of one bad financial deal after another because, frankly, donald was too damn stupid to run a successful business on his own. And, this, basically, instilled in donald that he would always fail upward as long as he could blame his failures on anyone else and take credit for any success. She details a lot of information about how the family members interact with (or don't interact with) each other, and that nearly all the relationships are transactional-based, and not based on a loving, tight-knit family unit. 

The book is not long at all, just over a couple of hundred pages, and is a fairly easy read. Mary portrays donald as a guy who is deeply stupid yet thinks he knows more about any subject than anyone else walking the face of the earth and lies like a rug constantly. The impression she gives is that he sometimes knows he is lying and does it on purpose, and sometimes believes what he is actually saying and just spouts off and riffs and does not know what is the truth and what is a lie. This definitely comports to how he was as a Presidential candidate and as President, when, if you really listened to what he said, he would contradict himself, sometimes in the same sentence. 

Overall, if you are a trump cult member or Q-nutjob, nothing she says in this book will ever change your mind about your orange messiah. For anyone else who has ever listened to it ramble on nonsensically and wonders what the hell made it the way it is, this provides a lot of insight. It is definitely worth the read.