Archive for June, 2014

June 2014 Exercise Results

Another month has passed, and now it’s time to look back and see the exercise results.

I’m going to rank June of 2014 as a so-so month for my exercise program.  During that month I only exercised for fourteen of the thirty days, leaving sixteen days of no exercising.  I do have a pretty good excuse though for having so many days off during the first half of the month.  My fiancée and I got married.

Marriage?  Really?

Yep.

Yes, part of the wedding date is intentionally blurred. No, I really didn’t wear a Hawaiian shirt during the ceremony. This photo was actually taken the following day at a picture studio.

There was a small ceremony in which my fiancée and I were married.  We’ve been living together for a couple of years now and finally made everything official.  We’ll take a honeymoon sometime this fall.

So, yes, with the wedding ceremony and other events surrounding it, I really wasn’t in the mood to be working on my exercise routine.  I tried to make up for it in the second half of June, but I ran out of days to make the exercise numbers look a little bit better.  Remember that with my newer version of the exercise program I’m alternating using the exercise bike and the strength machine, so to add another session to both machines requires two days on the calendar.

Anyway, here are my numbers for June of 2014.  The results aren’t terrible, but they’re also not as good as May of 2014.

June of 2014 exercise results:

Exercise bike totals (cardio):

– 7 sessions; 45 minutes each

– 315 minutes (5.25 hours)

– 70.9 miles

– 3,551 calories

– furthest distance during a 45-minute bike ride – 10.2 miles

Total Bodyworks 5000 totals (strength):

– 7 sessions; ~ 90 minutes each

Total number of sit-ups:

– 2,100

All of these numbers WILL improve for the month of July.

Book Review – Jeff Shaara’s “The Last Full Measure”

Today I finished reading Jeff Shaara‘s The Last Full Measure, the final book in a trilogy of American Civil War books written by Jeff and his father, Michael Shaara.  The previous two books are Gods and Generals and The Killer Angels.

First published in 1998, The Last Full Measure is a historical novel that takes readers through the last two years of war in the eastern campaign in the War Between the States (a.k.a. American Civil War).  We experience the war through several points-of-view, but mainly General Robert E. Lee, General Ulysses S. Grant, and Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Jeff Shaara — The Last Full Measure

The book begins in July of 1863 just after the Battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the Civil War.  General Robert E. Lee suffered a serious setback at the battle, and now the Confederate’s Army of Northern Virginia has retreated back into Virginia to reorganize themselves.  Meanwhile, President Abraham Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of Lieutenant General and the position of commander of the Army of the Potomac.

Grant knows that the key to winning the war is not in conquering Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy.  Capturing that city would only make the rebels change the location of their headquarters.  In order to win the war, Grant is going to have to defeat Robert E. Lee.  The problem is that although Lee’s army is smaller in size, they are more mobile, they are fighting on their home ground, and they are still very powerful.  It’s going to take a great deal of force and strategic planning in order to finally conquer Robert E. Lee.

The first major course of action in The Last Full Measure is Grant’s Overland Campaign (also known as the Wilderness Campaign), a series of maneuvers and battles between the two armies.  General Grant placed his army between General Lee and Richmond, and forced Lee into an engagement.  This was the same area that saw major combat in the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863 and the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862.

Battle of the Wilderness – May 5-7, 1864

One of the first fights in this campaign was the Battle of the Wilderness.  This battle was a victory for the Confederacy though they lost over 11,000 casualties, and General Longstreet was accidentally shot and wounded by his own men.  Thankful for the Confederacy, General Longstreet would recover from his wound and return to command troops in the war.  The temporary loss of Longstreet was a tough blow to Robert E. Lee as he was haunted by the similarities of the death (from accidental friendly fire) of Stonewall Jackson in the Battle of Chancellorsville. Read more…

Movie Review – Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

Released to theaters today is the latest Transformers film, Transformers: Age of Extinction.

As we remember from the last movie, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the Autobots were victorious in the Battle of Chicago.  Sentinel Prime, Megatron, Starscream, Shockwave, Soundwave and the rest of the Decepticons (that we were aware of) were all killed in the final battle scenes.  Even though the Decepticons were defeated, it was discussed that the U.S. government no longer wanted the Autobots around as they seemed to attract violence.

Transformers: Age of Extinction begins a new set of films in the Transformers universe.  Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are back, and supporting them are a new group of Autobots, new human companions, and now the Dinobots.  Opposing them are Transformer robots created by a private industry.  Naturally, things go wrong and the new Transformers are a major threat to everybody.  In addition to the evil robots, you also have a CIA officer who has declared war on all Transformer robots, and Lockdown, an intergalactic mercenary Transformer who hunts the Autobots and works for an unknown alien lifeform.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) – movie poster

Directed by Michael Bay, Transformers: Age of Extinction stars Mark Wahlberg in the role of Cade Yeager, a single father and inventor struggling to pay the bills.  Supporting him are Nicola Peltz as Tessa Yeager, Stanley Tucci as Joshua Joyce and Kelsey Grammer as Harold Attinger.  Voices for the Autobots include Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, John Goodman as Hound, John DiMaggio as Crosshairs and Ken Watanabe as Drift.

Transformers: Age of Extinction begins about 65 million years ago as a fleet of alien spaceships invades prehistoric Earth.  The aliens land on Earth and use some sort of technology to wipe out the dinosaurs and convert the landscape into a metal that the aliens require.  Allegedly this is how the dinosaurs went extinct.

Fast forward to today.  The movie takes place four years after the Battle of Chicago.

The federal government has severed its ties with the Autobots and branded them as fugitives, forcing them to go into hiding or face extermination.  The Battle of Chicago ended up killing over 1,500 innocent people, and the government is not about to let that happen again.  Should people encounter any of the alien robots, they are required by law to make a phone call and report the Transformer.  Allegedly the people can collect a substantial cash reward for reporting the robots.

To hunt the renegade Transformers, CIA officer Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer) has created an elite group of soldiers known as “Cemetery Wind.”  With the help of Lockdown (voiced by Mark Ryan), a mercenary Transformer, the group travels around the world and hunts down the robots.  There’s a scene where the team locates and attacks the Autobot Ratchet (voiced by Robert Foxworth).  Ratchet is surrounded and then brutally executed by the CIA team and Lockdown.

Meanwhile, in a rural part of Texas, Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) is an inventor of robots and struggling to pay the bills and send his daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz), to college.  To make matters worse, Cade’s wife died a while ago and it’s up to him to support and raise his daughter during her teenage years. Read more…

Movie Review – Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

In 2009, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was one giant mess of a movie.

While the movie brought back the characters for more over-the-top action, the movie had numerous issues from the characters to the plot to inconsistencies and other problems.  Although the film performed well in the theaters and made the producers a lot of money, the sequel was pretty much an insult to the fans of the Transformers.

Could Michael Bay redeem himself and make a sequel worthy of the first live-action Transformers film?

Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the second sequel in the series, was released in 2011.  This film returns the surviving Autobots and Decepticons from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, adds some new robots to the mixture, and creates a tremendous science-fiction movie.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) – movie poster

Directed by Michael Bay, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen stars Shia LaBeouf in the role of Sam Witwicky.  Supporting him are Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as Carly Spencer, Josh Duhamel as Lt. Colonel William Lennox, John Tuturro as Seymour Simmons, Frances McDormand as Charlotte Mearing, and Patrick Dempsey as Dylan Gould.  You’ll also find John Malkovich and Ken Jeong in the film as well.  There are also cameos with astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Fox News journalist Bill O’Reilly.

No Megan Fox this time?  She decided to speak ill of the director after the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and that move eliminated her from the third film in the series.  In Transformers: Dark of the Moon it’s briefly mentioned that Megan Fox’s character Mikaela dumped Sam at some point before this film and he moved on to other women.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) – (c) Paramount Pictures

Transformers: Dark of the Moon begins with a brief voiceover by Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) as he explains how a civil war transformed planet Cybertron into a wasteland.  An Autobot spacecraft named the Ark manages to escape from Cybertron and transport an invention capable of ending the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons.  As the Ark flew away from Cybertron, the Decepticons successfully shot and heavily damaged the spaceship. Read more…

Movie Review – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

In 2007, Michael Bay’s blockbuster film Transformers successfully brought the classic action figure toys into a full-length film.

It was a big-budget film, the audience seemed to love it, and the ending left room for additional sequels.  It was just a matter of time before the sequel would be released.

Released two years later in 2009, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen continues with the general story established in the first film, and it also adds new material and characters as well.  The Autobots and Decepticons are back, so is the annoying Sam Witwicky and his equally annoying parents, and the film has plenty of action as well.  But can it match the first Transformers film, or does the sequel fall flat?

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) – movie poster

Directed by Michael Bay, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen stars Shia LeBeouf as Sam Witwicky.  Co-starring in the film are Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes, Josh Duhamel as Major William Lennox, John Turturro as Seymour Simmons, Ramon Rodriguez as Leonardo Spitz, and Tyrese Gibson as Master Sergeant Robert Epps.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) – (c) DreamWorks

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen begins with a look at the Earth back in 17,000 B.C.  The voice of Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) informs us that humans and robots from planet Cybertron actually met during those ancient times.  It’s not clear why the robots were on Earth back then, but the scene ends with the hunters fighting the robots and the robots winning the battle.

The film jumps to modern times.  In Shanghai, China, Decepticons are being hunted by NEST (Nonbiological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty), a secret band of soldiers and Autobots.  NEST soldiers include Major William Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and Master Sergeant Robert Epps (Tyrese Gibson).  The Autobots include the usual gang of robots along with newcomers such as twins Skids (voiced by Tom Kenny) and Mudflap (voiced by Reno Wilson), Sideswipe (voiced by Andre Sogliuzzo) and Arcee (voiced by Grey DeLisle).  In command of NEST is Marine Corps General Morshower (Glenn Morshower). Read more…

Washington Redskins and Political Correctness

In a , the U.S. Patent Office ruled that the Washington Redskins NFL team’s nickname is insulting to Native American Indians, and the team’s federal trademarks on the name must be cancelled.

It’s really no surprise that the U.S. Patent Office made the ruling against the NFL team.  There has been momentum in the federal government for the team to change its name.  Yes, it’s the government pushing the team to change its name and not the general public and those fans who pay the fees to sit in the stands for each game.

Why is it such a big deal for the Washington Redskins to change their name?

The truth here is that it’s all about political correctness.  That’s it.

It doesn’t matter that the term “redskin” was frequently used throughout the American Indian Wars when the Indians were also thought of as bloodthirsty savages and fierce warriors.  Back then the redskin term would strike fear into the hearts of their opponents.

Nor does it matter that the team has been using the name Redskins since 1933, a name that has been in place for over eighty years.  The team has had a trademark on the name since 1967.

In addition to that, most polls still show that the vast majority of people want the Washington Redskins to continue using that name.  These are the everyday people who purchase tickets, buy merchandise, and support the sponsors’ products.  These are the people who matter the most. Read more…

Digital Camera Shopping at BrandsMart USA and Fry’s Electronics

Earlier this month my fiancée and I got married, and she gave me a wedding gift of a new compact digital camera.

I’ve been in need of a new compact camera as my previous one broke, and we’re planning on travelling this fall.  We started looking at cameras a few weeks ago, but I was hesitant as I wasn’t in need of one yet.  It’s still a few months before we head out of town.

Knowing that I’ll keep putting it off until the last minute, my fiancée went ahead and got me one of the cameras as a wedding gift.  It was a nice one, but for the price that she spent there were more ideal cameras out there.  We returned the camera and I spent the next few days doing extensive research trying to find a new compact digital camera.

I narrowed the selection down to a few cameras.  The next step was finding a store that had them in stock so I could play with them.

Samsung’s WB350F compact digital camera

It turns out that BrandsMart USA had a great selection of digital cameras, and their prices were some of the lowest at the retail stores.  One of my favorite cameras was in the store, the Samsung WB350F, and it happened to be priced at about $170.  This camera caught my attention during my online research, but many other stores had it priced over $200.  If I was going to spend $170 on a camera, then I was going to do more research and make sure that it was a good one.

I did more research over the next couple of days and decided that this was going to be my next camera.  The reviews were extremely positive, the camera’s optical zoom is ridiculously good (21x), it has optical image stabilization, it can record video at 1080p, it has a bunch of Wi-Fi features, the camera’s retro look is awesome, and the camera’s settings include full manual mode, something that many compact digital cameras lack.  The camera’s onboard software also includes a bunch of special effects for both the photos and videos.  Creative people will have a ton of fun with all of the options with this digital camera.

It also took me a couple of days to finally accept the camera’s price.  I’m one of those people who does not like spending a ton of money, whether I do it myself or somebody spends it on me as a gift.  It makes me feel guilty and selfish.  As a result, I was determined to keeping the spending limit below $180 for the new camera, even if it was my wife spending her hard-earned money.  My original price line was $150, but the $170 price listed at BrandsMart USA was only a $20 difference.  Since the camera had so many features that I wanted, the $20 difference was a moot point.

When my wife and I returned to BrandsMart USA to purchase the camera, we were shocked that the price rose dramatically.  It turned out that the camera was actually on sale for $170, and that sale ended the previous day.  The new price was $210 (after an instant rebate).  No deal.

We talked to a salesman in that department and asked if there was anything they could do about the price, but the best he could do was lower it to an even $200.  Again, no deal.  It was hard enough spending $170 on a camera after my original price line of $150.  There was no way I was going to spend $200.  On a side note, it’s nice to know for future reference that the salesmen are able to work with you a little bit with the pricing. Read more…

Movie Review – Blade Runner (1982)

Imagine a futuristic world where androids are so lifelike and dangerous that they are banned from planet Earth.

What if some of those androids out in space rebelled and murdered some humans and made their way back to Earth to find a way to prolong their short lifespan?

That’s the premise for the 1982 science-fiction film Blade Runner, a movie loosely based on Philip K. Dick‘s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Blade Runner (1982) – movie poster

Directed by Ridley Scott, Blade Runner stars Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a blade runner (a police officer bounty hunter) assigned to hunt and kill the renegade androids.  Supporting him are Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty, the leader of the renegade androids, Brion James as Leon Kowalski, Daryl Hannah as Pris, and Sean Young as Rachael.  Also in the film are M. Emmet Walsh and Edward James Olmos.

Blade Runner (1982) – (c) Warner Bros.

Blade Runner is set in Los Angeles in November of 2019.  It’s a dystopian society where overcrowding has caused skyscrapers to reach tremendous heights.  It’s a place where Asian influences dominate the American city, and the people speak a language called Cityspeak, a blending of English, Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Hungarian and Japanese.  It’s also a world where replicants (genetically engineered humanoid robots) are banned on Earth and used exclusively as slave labor in the off-world colonies.  The police officer bounty hunters who track and “retire” (a.k.a. kill) renegade replicants are known as “blade runners.” Read more…

Book Review – Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”

Today I finished reading the classic science-fiction story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.

First published in 1968, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a story that follows a bounty hunter who is assigned to kill (a.k.a. “retire”) six advanced androids who are hiding in the general area.  As the bounty hunter pursues his targets, it becomes more and more of a question of what really separates human beings from advanced humanoid machines, if anything.

Philip K. Dick – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? takes place in a post-apocalyptic 1992 (set 24 years after the publication of the story).  The world has experienced a devastating nuclear war in World War Terminus (a.k.a. World War 3), and a large portion of the global population has been killed.  It’s a perpetually darkened world as clouds of radioactive dust are still a lethal threat.  The radiation has caused many of the world’s animals to have become extinct.

Since many of the animals are now extinct, owning a live animal is seen as a status symbol.  Some live animals, such as sheep and goats, can be prized possessions.  Of course, people also own electronic versions of the animals, but they tend to keep that as a secret to themselves.  The prices of such animals, both real and electric, are continually referred to in Sindey’s Animal & Fowl Catalogue, an annual publication.

Because of the radioactive fallout and heavily damaged planet, people have been encouraged to migrate into space to off-world colonies, from Mars to locations deeper in space.  To help people migrate, each emigrant is given a servant android.

The androids have become more advanced and harder to detect from human beings.  These are machines with human tissues, and to the untrained eye, are nearly impossible to detect.  Separating an android from a human being involves a complicated psychological examination through an empathy test.  Because of their sophisticated nature, androids are not allowed on Earth even though many of them seek the planet for a variety of reasons.  When androids are detected on Earth, bounty hunters are sent to “retire” / destroy them. Read more…

Book Review – Clive Cussler’s “The Race”

For the one hundredth book review here at Rellimzone, today we’re taking a look at Clive Cussler‘s action story, The Race.

The Race is the fourth book in the Isaac Bell series of novels.  Although it chronically follows The Spy, virtually nothing from The Spy relates to the story in The Race.

Clive Cussler – The Race

Set in 1909, The Race begins with Preston Whiteway, the owner of the San Francisco Inquirer newspaper, hiring the prestigious Van Dorn Detective Agency to protect Josephine Josephs Frost, a promising aviatrix.

Preston Whiteway is hosting an air race across the country.  Called the Whiteway Atlantic-to-Pacific Cross-Country Air Race, the fastest pilot to cross the country along the designated route, and doing so in less than fifty days, shall receive the Whiteway Cup trophy along with a cash prize of $50,000, an insane amount of money in those times.  Preston is sponsoring Josephine as a way to boost the sales of his newspaper through coverage of the race.  The only problem is that Josephine, “America’s Sweetheart of the Air,” is currently being hunted by her soon-to-be ex-husband, Harry Frost.  Hence the reason for the Van Dorn Detective Agency, the best of the best when it comes to protection services.

Van Dorn Detective Agency owner Joseph Van Dorn accepts the protection mission, and he places chief investigator Isaac Bell in charge of the assignment.  Bell, in turn, assigns detective Archie Abbott in charge of Josephine’s personal safety as one of the requirements is to only have married detectives personally guarding Josephine.

In the book’s opening segment, Josephine was flying in upstate New York when she witnessed Harry Frost shoot and try to kill her friend, Marco Celere.  Harry then tried to shoot Josephine out of the air, but he failed.  He then fled and nobody found the body of Marco Celere. Read more…