Product Review: Memorex 74-Minute Minidisc Media Colors

 

Mini-discs ended up being a total flash in the pan around 2000-2001 but did not last much longer than that. They combined the convenience of a cassette tape with the sound quality of a CD and were more durable than either one. Of course, that lasted all of a couple of years until the mp3 players and digital recorders hit, and then by the time smartphones killed those off, mini-discs and their players were relegated to the dust-bin of history.

For those of you old enough to get the reference, mini-discs were to the CD what 3.5-inch computer discs (for gen-z think the save icon) were to the 5.25 floppy discs. They were smaller than a CD, could generally hold more data than a cassette tape, and would not skip if you hit a bump while driving as the Discmans did, or were jogging or something like that. For those who really prefer physical media, the players are still out there, as are the discs. But, for the vast majority of people, you will probably never need to use these.

DVD Review: Hawaii Five-O (2010): The Final Season

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major giveaways from season 10+++

Season 10 of the show was not meant to be the final season, but when Alex O'Laughlan announced that he would not be returning to the show for an 11th season, the powers that be ultimately decided to cancel the series. So, the season finale that was supposed to be just a goodbye to the character of Steve McGarrett, ended up being the swan song for the show. And, for the most part, because of the already emotional nature of the show, it worked. In fact, the cast was told while they were shooting the series finale that the network decided not to pick up the show, so all of the emotion from the actors was very real.

Season 10 picks up shortly after the events of the season nine finale. We find out what happens in the aftermath of Jerry being shot. Jorge Garcia had already decided to leave the show, but he comes back for the first episode to allow Jerry to be written out. Most probably know the fate of the character already, but I will not spoil it. The big new addition to the cast this year was the addition of Sparticus and Arrow alumn, Katrina Law. I had only seen her on Arrow, so it is definitely weird hearing her talk in her normal voice, and not with Nyssa's accent. She plays Quinn, an MP who gets wrapped up in a Five-0 case and ends up joining the team. All the other characters are kind of at crossroads in their various lives. Steve is still reeling from the death of Joe White in the prior season, both Steve and Danny are trying to move on from their respective loves, Tahni and Junior have the will-they, won't-they get together dance going, Adam has moved on from Kono, this time being the one involved with someone with ties to the Yakuza, and Lou is adjusting to life as an empty nester.

The season pretty much follows its hybrid procedural-serial format. There are cases of the week that get intertwined with the larger story arcs that have prevailed throughout the show's run. In fact, old storylines are revisited again this season, and as a result, we see some old characters like Max, Doris, Wo-Fat, and even Victor Hesse. There were notable omissions from the season, including Teilor Grubbs (Grace Wiliams) or Joey Defore (Charlie Williams) even though there was a perfect opportunity to have them appear in the finale. Nor did Taryn Manning make an appearance as Steve's sister Mary, and there was definitely a storyline that would have allowed for her to appear. And of course, the notable omission of Grace Park (Kono) and Daniel Dae Kim (Chin) who left the show because of a contract dispute after season seven. Chances are, even if it had been known earlier that the series would be ending after season 10, there were likely too many hard feelings for either of them to come back. About halfway through the season, there was a crossover with Magnum PI one of the other 80s reboots that were developed by Peter Lenkov with Jay Hernandez, Perdita Weeks, Zachary Knighton, and Stephen Hill appearing on Five-0, and Megan Rath, Katrina Law, and Beulah Koale appearing on Magnum.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include deleted scenes for select episodes and then on the final disc a twenty-three series wrap-up feature, an eleven-minute interview with Alex O'Loughlin discussing the evolution of his character and his decision to leave the show, and a four-minute gag reel. All in all, a decent amount of material.

Overall, the season was good. I think it could have been better if they had been more prepared for the series ending. Given that Alex O'Loughlin had hinted for years that he could not do the show much longer given the physical demands and the fact that he hurt is back pretty badly early on in the series, they should have really known that with him goes the show. The show obviously survived with major cast turnover in the past, but unlike shows like ER that did survive major cast members leaving, the character of McGarrett was the show, and the show would never have been able to survive without him. But, like I said above, given that the final episode was a send-off for the character of McGarrett it worked okay as a series finale, but would have been better with a couple more tweaks to the ending.

DVD Review: Halloween: 25 Years of Terror

 

This is basically a documentary that discussed the first 25 years of the Halloween franchise, which at that point had gone up through Halloween Resurrection, the worst of all of the Halloween movies. It was narrated by PJ Soles, who played Linda in the original movie. She definitely had a good time looking back on the history of the franchise, and yes, threw in a couple of "totally"[ies] for old time sake. It contains a lot of archival footage as well as interviews that were new at the time. There were a couple of very glaring omissions when it came to "new" interviews. Those being Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter. Both were shown in archival footage, but neither contributed anything new. It is unclear if they were approached for the project and turned it down (which would be understandable, since I think Curtis had a bad taste in her mouth over how Laurie's storyline was handled after H20, and John Carpenter really did not want anything to do with the Halloween franchise after he made Halloween II), or if they were never approached at all.

You really do have to be a fan of the franchise, and like DVD extras/bonus material to find this interesting. If you don't really like going through extras on DVDs or Blu-Rays, AND, you are not a fan of the Halloween franchise, this will have absolutely nothing that will appeal to you. For others, you do get some good information about how the various films were made, including the cluster that was Halloween 6 (The Curse of Michael Myers) and get behind-the-scenes footage from the various movies that had not been included anywhere else.

Book Review: Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader

 

This was a novel put out before the Disney-Lucasfilm collaboration so, it was relegated to Legends status. It is a novel that really retells Anakin/Vader's life through his own eyes, so much of what is told (things that were seen in the movies) are still a part of the official canon. However, some of the inner monologue material and things presented from a slightly different perspective are not. Much of that has been replaced by the Vader comic series that chronicles his life after the battle of Mustafar and being put in the suit.

As others have mentioned, the book does rehash a lot of the "old" or already known material. But, that is not to say that there is nothing new in the book. We get a lot of what Anakin or Vader was actually thinking during the events, which were not always things that were in the movies. So, it is disingenuous to say that there is nothing new in it. That said, it is not going to be a book that will appeal to everyone. While I would not necessarily put it in the category of a must-read, for die-hard fans I do think it is worth checking out.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 4

Day 4 was the Burn Intervals workout. It is both a cardio endurance workout and a muscle endurance workout. Basically, you alternate between doing cardio moves (for about 1-2 minutes) and then doing a very high rep strength move (or set of moves) using a very light weight that targets a particular body part. The cardio moves are things like burpees, jumping jacks, boxing moves, etc., and the strength moves are bicep curls, shoulder presses, shoulder flys, triceps extension, etc. There is even a bit of ab work at the end. The workout is 47 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down, but goes pretty quickly. The one drawback is that the most annoying cast member in Chalean Extreme is in the video, Skip, the guy in the back who never shuts up. Plus, he totally lies about how much weight he is using, which anyone who owns a set of Bowflex SelectTech dumbells can see. At one point, Chalene's sister Janelle shoots him a pretty hilarious look. But, he is offset by my total CE crush, Toni, who looks like a fitness model despite having (at that time) seven kids. I think she is actually up to nine or ten kids now. 

Overall, the workout is very good. It can be modified somewhat, but even modified it will give you a good workout. I am not doing the ab workout that is usually done after this workout. I am saving it for after the Burn it Off cardio workout on Saturday.