Joshua P. Simon's Blog, page 16

Music Monday - Dion and the Belmonts

So, my music tastes are pretty wide, and today’s Music Monday is a good example of that. These first two songs are some of my favorites from this era of Rock. They may not be as ‘heavy’ as some of the other stuff I post here, but they’ve got a lot of attitude, and Dion has the perfect voice for them.

The Wanderer


Runaround Sue


And here are two more songs others are probably just as familiar with.

I Wonder Why


Teenager in Love

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

I’ve been busy writing and also haven’t been getting a whole lot of sleep lately. Needless to say, when it came time to do my blog post for today I couldn’t think straight. So, enjoy some great scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Music Monday - Nightrage - Sweet Vengeance

Nightrage is easily one of my favorite bands and the first album is about as perfect as an album can be. Below are some of my favs.

Circle of Pain


Macabre Apparition


Ethereal
Great clean vocals from Tom Englund at the 1:50 mark.


Glow of the Setting Sun
Probably in my top 10 favorite songs of all time. Could listen to this over and over which is a rare thing for me.

A Better Alternative to the 10,000 Hour Rule

One of the most popular pieces of advice I hear thrown around about anything and everything (especially writing) is the 10,000 hour rule. The rule comes from the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. The rule essentially states that in order to be successful at something, you have to first work 10,000 hours at it.

The basic idea of the rule is sound, which essentially states that is nothing in life is free and we must all work for what we want. However, it seems that according to Gladwell, you can’t be successful without those 10,000 hours of work. Most people who quote or tout this philosophy feel the same.

Personally, I think that is a bunch of garbage. The amount of work it takes for someone to achieve success varies with each individual. Some people may reach a level of success after a few hundred hours or a couple thousand hours. Others may take 20,000 hours until things click, if ever.

Therefore, I say putting a number on how long someone must work at something is not only presumptuous (that everyone needs the same amount of work), but also limiting. Besides, working hard is only a part of the equation of success. Let’s not even get into what defines success.

Personally, I much prefer a motto that has stuck with me since I was a kid. It is one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard even though it comes from an unlikely source.

"Work smarter, not harder." – Scrooge McDuck.

Scrooge believes, like most, that it is possible for everyone to do almost anything, if there is just enough persistence involved. However, the amount of work you put into something becomes insignificant if you’re doing the wrong things. You must not only work hard at something, but you must also focus on doing things efficiently, while ignoring insignificant tasks.

Music Monday - The Guess Who

I’m feeling a little nostalgic for some good classic rock today. BTW, I think both of these songs are better than American Woman.

No Time


No Sugar Tonight

Thank you to the UK!!

I’ve been blogging for around two years now, and I don’t really recall ever talking about my book sales. There are two reasons for this. One, my sales have never been what one would call great, rather they slowly and steadily creep upward with the occasional dip here and there. And two, I don’t want it to sound like I’m bragging or whining about my sales (or lack thereof).

However, I’m making an exception today because a strange thing happened a little over a month and a half ago on Amazon UK. I started selling really well.

Previously, I managed a few sales a week, and then I started slowly getting a few sales a day. The consistent sales allowed me to enter Amazon UK’s top 100 popularity lists. The higher I climbed, the better I sold due to this increased visibility which of course, helped me climb higher.

Anyway, for about a month and a half Rise and Fall has been in the Top 20 of the Historical Fantasy list, often in the Top 10. A few times, Steel and Sorrow and Trial and Glory have also managed to climb into the Top 20.

This past Monday, I hit a couple of pretty cool milestones. All three books in the Blood and Tears Trilogy were temporarily in the Top 20, and Rise and Fall claimed the number 1 spot for a few hours.

And yes, my wife took a screen shot below for proof. :)



So, really the point of this post is to say thanks to all those in the UK who’ve decided to try my books out and have been responsible for this nice spike in sales. I know it can end at any time so I’m simply enjoying it while it lasts.

I would like to quickly add that for those in the UK (or anywhere else for that matter) who have enjoyed any of books, please consider taking a minute or two and leave a short review at your place of purchase.

Also, if you found the Blood and Tears series enjoyable and satisfying, then please consider signing up for my mailing list. I plan to have several new releases in 2014 and the mailing list will be a good way to be made aware of them.

Thanks again!

Music Monday - Ashes of Ares

Matt Barlow is back with his new band Ashes of Ares which features Freddie Vidales who played in Iced Earth with Barlow and Van Williams of Nevermore.

This album is even better than I expected and sure to be a top three album of mine before the year is done. Barlow’s voice is still top notch, proving he’s still one of the best metal singers of all time. Freddie is killer on guitars, and holy cow Van is a beast on drums.

This is My Hell


Move the Chains


The Answer (all acoustic)

Reivew of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Pilot

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I don’t watch much television anymore. We have the TV on in the house a lot, but it is usually background noise. And if I do watch something, it is generally a sports game or some random show on DIY or Food Network. There are exceptions to this rule, but overall I just don’t watch TV series like I used to. I just don’t have time to get invested in shows. Plus, I think I’m still bitter about that second season of Heroes.

That being said, I’ve been a comic book fan for a long time, and even though I’ve always enjoyed DC over Marvel, I wanted to give Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. a shot because after all, it does involve superheroes.

Below are my quick pros and cons.

Pros:
- Agent Coulson – Had the best lines and overall the best character on the show. They’ve added a bit of intrigue behind how he survived The Avengers which I expect will be a plot point in future episodes.
- Special effects – Well done by Television’s standards.
- A few funny lines that made me chuckle.
- Melinda May – Very mysterious character, but had immediate presence. Could be a great figure if brought along correctly.
- Nice tie-ins to the greater Marvel universe rather than pretending the show exists on an island outside of the movies.
- Tons of little eggs that could potentially pay off in spades down the road.

Cons:
- Outside of Agent Coulson, almost every character is a cliché or a stereotype. I didn’t care about anyone else except for maybe Melinda as mentioned above. Characterization is how the show will win me over so it had better do something to improve upon this glaring weakness.
- Like most Whedon projects, there are some whitty bits of dialogue, but there are also some really cheesy lines or even scenes. Those were definitely evident here.
- Not a very tight plot….tried to do too much in the pilot (as well as introduce too many people at once). Would have preferred a slower introduction into this part of the world.
- Several moments of what I felt was lazy storytelling.
- Too much cheesy/campiness at times.
- Everyone seemed to like the ending use of Coulson’s car but I honestly thought it was pretty dumb (especially when he threw on the sunglasses). I was expecting him to say “Roads? Where we’re going, we need no roads.” a la Back to the Future.

Overall, it was an ok pilot but nothing that blew my mind. Without Coulson, it would have probably lost my interest. I’ll give it another week or two before bailing, but I really need to see something better than what we were given in the first episode.

On a side note, It’s been announced that in 2014 we’ll see a Gotham Central television show which will follow a younger Detective Jim Gordon as he tries to clean up Gotham in a pre-Batman world. If it’s anything like the comics the show will be based on, I’m definitely there.

Music Monday - Anthrax - Spreading the Disease

Time for some old school Anthrax.

Madhouse
Man, I love the intro and main riff to this song.


Medusa
Such an underrated track. One of my favs.


A.I.R. (Live)

Music Monday - Derek and the Dominos

One of my favorite albums of all time and one that too many people forget about. For those that remember the band, they think of Layla and stop. Don’t get me wrong, Layla is great but it isn’t even the best song on the album.

Bell Bottom Blues


Why does love got to be so sad? (my fav of the album)
Duane Allman is such an underrated guitarist. He owns this song. Just listen to the solo beginning at 1:17.


Key to the Highway