Leon Stevens's Blog, page 40
July 31, 2024
Weird Wednesday July 31: Tri, tri again.
Okay. She should automatically get a medal for the gutsiest move by an athlete.
The Triathlon finally got underway after E-Coli levels in the Seine river dropped to “acceptable” levels. That’s kind of like someone leaving the bathroom and telling you, “Do NOT go in there.” but you really have to go, so you wait just long enough that you can tolerate the odor.
From Associated Press:
Yee, the men’s winner, said athletes just have to trust organizers when they say the conditions are safe.
“I’m sure we’ll find out in due time if that’s correct,” he said.
And in case you haven
And in case you haven’t seen it yet, this might be the picture of the Olympics:
-Leon
ARC sign up here!My newsletter goes out every Wednesday: Lines by Leon Super Newsletter Extravaganza
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
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July 30, 2024
Tuesday Top Ten: Discontinued Olympic Sports
I could have made these up, but I did not.
Olympic Games Facts and Factoids10. Tug-of-war. Why is this not still in the Olympics?
9. Standing jumps. High, long, and triple. No running start. A bit more impressive feat, I think.
8. 12-hour race. Yeah, not a big spectator draw.
7. Rope climb. My Phys Ed teacher would have enjoyed that.
6. Plunge for distance. Competitors start with a standing dive and stay motionless while they drift underwater. Exciting…*
5. Dueling pistols. No they didn’t shoot at each other, but at a dressed-up dummy.
4. Art. Medals were awarded in architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture
3. Singlesticks. Fencing with a…yup, a stick.
2. Obstacle swimming. Over a log, and over and under boats.
1. Running deer shooting. No, not a real deer. But you thought it might be, right? (There was live pigeon shooting at the 1900 games**, but that event was cancelled after the obvious protests.)
Source: https://www.topendsports.com/events/discontinued/list.htm
-Leon
*19.0m is the record in case you are wondering.
* 21 pigeons is the record in case you are wondering.
Launch day is tomorrow! If you haven’t read chapter one of Euphrates Vanished yet, check out the options on my homepage.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 29, 2024
Music Monday: 2006 – The Beginning
There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.
Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it.
Maybe you will find a new favorite.
CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music
“Bubblegum country has finally arrived…”
“Music’s next one-hit wonder…”
“Whoever signed this artist made a huge mistake…”
“What has become of country music?”
“All the appeal of a three-day old road-killed possum.”
2006. When an album called Taylor Swift was released by a singer called Taylor Swift, who could have predicted what would happen?
Not some of the early critics…
-Leon
3 days!
Want to read more music blogs? Here are some of the ones I follow: Mostly Music Covers, Take it Easy, Beetley Pete, A Sound Day, PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture, SuperdekesVinylReviews, Peat Long’s Blog, Fox Reviews Rock
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 27, 2024
Weekend Wrap-up: An In-Seine review
Yes, I watched the opening ceremonies yesterday, but I did it the right way. I recorded the broadcast and started watching 2 hours later so I could skip the boring parts.
It was a great idea to hold the opening ceremonies on the Seine river for everyone to see, but it was kind of a terrible idea as well. I assume that there were screens set up so that spectators could see all the 12 different performances otherwise you might have been stuck watching one of the weird ones.
The smoke flag was a great way to kick off the flotilla of athletes, except for the fact that nothing happened for about five minutes after that.The rain put the kibosh on some of the bike and skateboard displays, but didn’t seem to dampen spirits. Kudos to the guy playing the wet piano.The heavy metal band on the old prison rocked.River heads. Okay…So, France has their own Beyonce/Shakira and a Pitbull. They also have a naked blue guy on a platter. My broadcast coverage cut to a commercial when the platter lid was lifted. I don’t know if that was a blessing or not.It wouldn’t be Paris without a fashion show.The horse galloping on the water was quite amazing, not so amazing after ten minutes.The commentators kept asking the question, “Where is the torch going?” I don’t think it was much of a secret that it was the giant balloon cauldron, which I think is the best Olympic flame ever, Although I was hoping the flame would be at the top of the Eiffel Tower… The worst kept secret? Celine Dion, who despite her health issues, did what she does best, put on a powerful performance.Overall, it wasn’t the best or the worst.
-Leon
In case you missed it:Weekend Wrap-up: An In-Seine reviewFree Book Friday July 26: The End.Weird Wednesday July 24: The Modern Olympic GamesTuesday Top Ten: Olympic FactsMusic Monday: 2005Hope you enjoyed the recap! Feel free to share it with others.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 26, 2024
Free Book Friday July 26: The End.
After 48 days of continuous blogging, I decided to break the streak and not post yesterday. I didn’t think even getting to 50 was going to break any world records so it was a good time to take the pressure off. Back to square one.
Some book thoughts:
With my newest book coming out next week, I checked to see how many current and new subscribers had downloaded chapter one.
[drumroll]
64.
That’s pretty good. Now. how many presales do I have?
[drumroll]
5.
Not so good. I hope readers will purchase the book when it comes out on Aug. 1st. I’ll extend the sale price to the 4th to give some more time for readers to decide.
-Leon
The story behind Free Book Friday: I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?
Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.
Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.
Reads From StoryOriginStoryOrigin allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!
Free Books/KU
July 16th-Aug 21st
Ends July 31
Ends July 31stSales and Purchase
Review Copies (These are free!)Review copies: Like reviewing books? Try my two poetry collections: Lines by Leon and A Wonder of Words
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Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 24, 2024
Weird Wednesday July 24: The Modern Olympic Games
The Olympic Games are mere days away. So let’s delve into the modern era.
The History of the Modern GamesAfter many years of on again, off again iterations of the Olympic games, some held in exotic, far-off places like Des Moines and Leeds, while others were held under the cover of night. After two games of not knowing who was winning, it was decided that daytime games were the best choice and only the Transylvanian vampires protested.
The first international games were held in Greece, in 1896. To make the competitions fair, all countries were allowed to bring one sport to be added to the games.
The Australians thought that their indigenous people had a pretty cool thing going with the boomerang and took it (without asking) to the games. After several athletes were injured, the ends were removed and eventually it was rounded off to become a discus.
Austria wanted a yodeling competition but settled for the inclusion mountain climbing. This sport was dropped after the games were held the next year in Amsterdam.
Bulgaria, tired of always being conquered in the 6th century, made it a mandate to always be the big kid on the block and made all citizens bulk up, and weightlifting became the national sport.
Chile, known for its rodeo sports, contributed what would become the equestrian events, which in the early years the horses were given the medals.
Denmark, proud of its cheeses and bicycles elected to build the first velodrome in the shape of a wheel of cheese, which was later elongated because the cyclists kept getting dizzy.
France showed up with a basket of fresh baguettes which caused a fight as hungry athletes scrambled to get their hands on one of the delicious sticks and the sport of fencing was born.
The German contingent with their kegs of beer parties too hard the night before and came up with Steeplechase, just to see if anyone would try it.
Great Britan brought the caber, but since only the Scots were able to toss it, the caber was whittled down to what resembled the modern javelin.
Greece was content with the marathon but made it 0.2 of a mile longer so that everyone would stop, and the Greek runners would go on to win.
Italians, with their history of gladiator sports, strapped some rags around competitors hands and boxing was born.
Kubb, a version of lawn bowling originating in Sweden, would eventually become the shotput.
Switzerland, declined to contribute and said any sport was okay with them.
Finally, the United States, made sure they contributed the most because that’s kinda how they are. The only sport that never made it to subsequent games was, thankfully, Cornhole.
-Leon
ARC sign up here!My newsletter goes out every Wednesday: Lines by Leon Super Newsletter Extravaganza
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 23, 2024
Tuesday Top Ten: Olympic Facts
With the 2024 games fast approaching, I thought we all might to want to hone up on some trivia which may or may not help you in the future, depending on whether you can separate the fact from the fiction.
Olympic Games Facts and Factoids10. The winner of the 1904 St. Louis Olympic marathon was later disqualified upon discovery of a photograph of him riding in a car during the race, but since it was a Model-T, he only won by a narrow margin.
9. The 1906 Intercalated Games (called because they were the second Olympics to take place within the third Olympiad) was held in Athens, and was the first and last by that name.
8. Figure Skating and Ice Hockey were once held during the summer games.
7. The Paralympic games were originally titled The Parallel games because they ran at the same time as the Olympics.
6. The first games in 1896 cost $11 000. The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing cost 3.9 billion. Let’s just round that up to 4.
5. 1932 saw the first television coverage of the games. They were sponsored by Benson & Hedges.
4. The Olympic flag features 5 colored rings representing the 5 continents. Five? North and South America are considered one, and oddly enough Europe and Asia which has a much, much wider connection, is two. The colors were chosen because each country has at least one of them in their flags.
3. The opening ceremonies have always been an integral part of the games.
2. Australia, France, Greece, Switzerland and the United Kingdom are the only countries to be represented at every Olympic Games since their inception in 1896.
1. At the 1896 Olympics, only the winner and runner-up of each event received medals—silver for first and bronze for second, with no gold medals awarded. The current three-medal format was introduced at the 1904 Olympics. From 1948 onward, athletes placing fourth, fifth, and sixth have received certificates, which came to be known officially as Olympic diplomas. At the 1984 games, all athletes were guaranteed a blue participation ribbon.
-Leon
Launch day is getting closer! If you haven’t read chapter one of Euphrates Vanished yet, check out the options on my homepage.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 22, 2024
Music Monday: 2005
There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.
Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it.
Maybe you will find a new favorite.
CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music
I’ve been trying to showcase songs that I remember listening to and usually enjoyed, but as I have been going through the 2000s, I seem to have less and less choice.
2005 looks to be one of those years. The Black Eyed Peas had a lot of hits. Hollaback Girl was the earworm of the year, and the charts were dominated by hip hop and rap artists.
I didn’t know this singer was Canadian until today:
Simple Plan. Canada’s answer to every other Emo band out there.
Jack Johnson pioneered the “Blurry video”:
And The Killers pioneered “Bad Audio Rock”.
I wonder what’s in store for next year?
-Leon
Want to read more music blogs? Here are some of the ones I follow: Mostly Music Covers, Take it Easy, Beetley Pete, A Sound Day, PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture, SuperdekesVinylReviews, Peat Long’s Blog, Fox Reviews Rock
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 21, 2024
Songs for a Sunday: If it ain’t Baroque don’t fix it.
Probably the oldest music joke in history, although there was a manuscript uncovered in a 14th century monastery which read:
Two Gregorian monks walk into a bar and one says to the other:
“Any chants you can lend me a quarter for a glass of wine?”
It hasn’t been dated yet, but historical records show this was the first use of the eyeroll.
Orchestral music. It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but if it is, you might prefer one era over the other. One of my favorites is baroque music. Bach is an obvious well known composer, but Telemann apparently wrote 3000 pieces of music. You will note some similarities in the two concertos.
-Leon
Want to read more music blogs? Here are some of the ones I follow: Mostly Music Covers, Take it Easy, Beetley Pete, A Sound Day, PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture, SuperdekesVinylReviews, Fox Reviews Rock
Looking for reviewers who want to receive an advance copy of my latest book!
Sign up hereLeon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
