DVD/TV Series Review: Due South Season One

 

Due South was a twist on the cop-buddy drama created by Paul Haggis back in the mid-1990s. It was supposed to just be a two-part TV movie, but when it aired on CBS it got good enough ratings that it was picked up for a regular series run. It starred Paul Gross as Benton Fraiser a tried and true member of the Royal Candian Mounted Police. When his father, also a mountie, is killed he traces the killer to Chicago and enlists the help of a wise-cracking detective, Ray Vecchio, played by David Marciano. Fraiser ends up installed at the Canadian consulate in Chicago, and along with Ray, his wolf, and the hallucination of his dead father (played by Gordon Pinsent) solve crimes with their clashing styles providing hilarity along the way.

The show was very well-written and acted. It had a good blend of action, comedy, and drama. It also served as the big break for a lot of actors that would hit it big after appearing on the show including Mark Ruffalo, Maria Bello, Carrie Anne Moss, Jonathan Banks, Melina Kanakaredes, and Ryan Phillipe. Leslie Nielsen made numerous appearances, and the show would also It also include numerous recognizable character actors including Beau Starr, Dean McDermott.

The first couple of seasons were more of a straight drama with some comedy mixed in. Later in the show's run, it was more of a dramedy, with the comedy being more silly. The first season was almost exclusively a case-of-the-week procedural, but events from prior episodes do get referenced. The season ends with really a three-part series of episodes that are set up earlier in the season when Fraiser regales the other detectives with the story of the love that got away. All of the actors get to show off their acting chops at some point during the season with Marciano's standout episode being "The Deal" in which he confronts the local mob boss who was a spoiled brat that he grew up with as a kid.

The show was definitely not a carbon copy of anything else. While it did have some of the themes that nearly all buddy-cop dramas have it was definitely different. It was one of the only shows that included indigenous people and/or customs (Northern Exposure being the other one that easily comes to mind) on a fairly regular basis, and having the straight-laced, polite, by the book Mountie play off the mouthy cop not adverse to cutting corners worked well. It also had a very good soundtrack. The DVD presentation is okay but does not have any extras. Given, however, that the show does not stream anywhere that I know of, if you want to watch the show, grab the DVD set when you can.

Book Review: Dragonlance: The Annotated Chronicles

 

Chances are, if you were even slightly interested in Dungeons and Dragons back in the mid-1980s to early 1990s, you probably read these series of books. Back in the day, the sci-fi and fantasy section of the book stores had a massive Dragonlance Section. This is actually a set of novels that introduced the world of Krynn, and basically revolves around a fight between good and evil. The basic premise is that there are gods of good, evil, and neutrality. The "people" of Krynn are sometimes just regular people, and other times they have power (like magic-users and clerics). And, in addition to humans, there are other species like dwarves, elves, half-elves, trolls, and even dragons. The characters were based on a D&D campaign that one of the authors was playing, and it spawned multiple novels by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman involving the main characters, and a ton of ancillary novels that either augmented or expanded the storylines in the main novels.

Chances are anyone looking to buy this has already read the books multiple times, however, if you have not, a couple of provisos. First, this set is annotated, as the title suggests. The authors insert comments throughout the book that discuss specific events and even spoil things that happen in the later parts of the story. So, if you are reading this for the first time, and you care about spoilers, I would advise you to get the mass-market paperback versions of the novels and read those first, then read this to get additional insight into the story and the characters. Or, just do not read the annotations before you read the story. Second, the annotated version is probably overkill for anyone who is not a die-hard fan of the series. It provides a lot of extra detail that someone who is just casually reading the books is not likely to care about. But, if you are someone who really loves the characters and the story, this is definitely worth reading.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 6

Day 6 was the combination of Burn it Off and the ab burner workouts. Burn it off is a 28-minute cardio workout that consists of 11 total moves. You do five, get a 1-minute break, then do the remaining six. There is a bit more impact in this one than in burn intervals. But, like all the other workouts there are a couple modifiers, each of whom do the moves without jumping. For some reason, my knee started hurting in the warmup, so while I was not intending to do as much non-impact today, I ended up doing it. The ab-burner workout is 11 minutes and uses a combination of traditional ab exercises like crunches, with more unique combinations of moves. It is very challenging and I had to pause a few times during it. So, all in all, it was a good workout.

Product Review: Tooyyer 14 Metal Bed Frame Twin XL

This is a very sturdy metal bed frame, and it is relatively easy to put together. It helps to have two people putting it together to hold things in place, but one person can do it. There are no special tools needed. All that is required are the Allen wrench and the open-ended wrench that are both included. One thing I do like about this is that the slats that go across to hold the mattress are metal, and they fit into grooves on the frame. So, unlike the slats that go across other bed frames that have to sit just right in order to stay in place, these are not going to move. Hence the bed is very sturdy once put together. The only drawback is that the edge of the frame is very thick that some bed rails may not easily mount to it, which is really only an issue if the bed frame is for a senior.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 5

 Day 5 was Burn Circuit 3. It is a very quick (32 minutes including warm-up and cool-down) that again combines upper body moves (pretty much all shoulders this time) with lunges and squats. There are a couple lower-body only moves (basically squats combined with calf raises). Again, the idea is to lift as heavy as you can to make it to 10-12 reps lifting and lowering the weights very slowly. It definitely works to fatigue your muscles, and even after a round of P90x, I am getting new muscle soreness from this program. Overall, it went well. I chose most of the weights accurately, but there are a couple moves that I will be able to increase the amount of weight I use next time.