Why ProgArchives is Good For You
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Category: Topics not related to music
Forum Name: General discussions
Forum Description: Discuss any topic at all that is not music-related
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=27217
Printed Date: November 24 2024 at 10:53
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Topic: Why ProgArchives is Good For You
Posted By: James Lee
Subject: Why ProgArchives is Good For You
Date Posted: August 12 2006 at 01:04
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I sent in a resume for a full-time writing/ editing job a week or so ago. The company responded with a request for short writing samples which highlighted my range. After sifting through my vast body of work  , I decided to include (among other things) one of the reviews I had written for PA. I won't say which one, but it wasn't any of the ones which referenced a certain recreational hobby of mine (hint: neither model trains nor stamp collecting).To my surprise, they called me for an interview. It went quite well...I think. Though they did indicate that if I got the job, I'd have to tone down my vocabulary a bit. Yes, I do speak in much the same way as I write. So not only is ProgArchives a valuable resource and a good way to waste precious time, it may in fact be a useful vocational tool! Then again, if I don't get the job, it's all PA's fault. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/sollipsist/?chartstyle=kaonashi"> 
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Replies:
Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: August 12 2006 at 01:07
I like Henry Miller's work. Do you think you're...much alike him?  Nice idea, a work of review you've done here wouldn't harm. Hope you get the job.  What's the review? ------------- 
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Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: August 12 2006 at 10:55
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Good luck with the job, James! i tried my hand as a writer/photojournalist some years ago, but my submissions always got pipped at the post, the editors would say "oh, we already have an article covering that subject", "great article, we'll let you know..". Cartoons, photographs (they wanted medium format transparencies only), everything, no luck! Perhaps i should have tried harder, but it was costing a fortune in magazines and postage. Tough game!!! -------------  Prog Archives Tour Van 
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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: August 12 2006 at 13:00
Good luck James! How's the book going? |
James Lee wrote:Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: August 12 2006 at 13:32
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I must say that the archives have allowed me to raise my writing skills from pityful to just plain bad.
With lots more practice (something like 2000 more reviews), it might just come to not-so-bad.
Hurray for the Archives ------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: maani
Date Posted: August 12 2006 at 15:03
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Sean:
Self-deprecation doesn't become you! LOL. You are among the best writers on the site.....................but don't let it go to your head!! LOL.
Peace.
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Posted By: maani
Date Posted: August 12 2006 at 15:06
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James:
Progarchives cannot only help you get a bona fide job (and best wishes with that!), but it can simply "open doors" as well. Setting aside the doors it opened for me re interviews (Wakeman, Wilson et al), I have been asked to write an article for a major music/podcast site. The article is ostensibly going to be called "The Absolutely Essential Progressive Rock Listening Guide." This is not like Rony's book (which is excellent, by the way...), but is rather a serious but tongue-in-cheek attempt to "pare down" prog rock into 10 or 12 essential albums. A futile exercise, at best, but one that I am having fun with.
I will let everyone know when it is "published," and provide a link.
Peace.
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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: August 12 2006 at 17:03
So I guess Rush wont get a mention but The Church will.
3,000,000,000,000,000 Rush fans cant all be wrong... 
Who you calling a liar?
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Posted By: PROGMAN
Date Posted: August 12 2006 at 20:41
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PA is good for you, cause it has unique facilities like the Velvet Room, nobody else has that, making PA special. OK,OK because it is one of the only Prog site that has full interactivity, like you can review albums and discuss PROG with other across the globe and you cabn also contribute to album additions etc. ------------- CYMRU AM BYTH 
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Posted By: maani
Date Posted: August 12 2006 at 20:43
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Tony:
If you were aiming that barb at me (LOL), actually neither Rush nor The Church made the "baker's dozen" list. Sorry...
Peace.
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Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: August 13 2006 at 06:01
The exact reason why I use self-deprecation humour ------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: oliverstoned
Date Posted: August 13 2006 at 06:05
Yes. And the day we'll have as much/or more (real prog) bands in our database than sites such as Gepr, we'll be the best!! |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: August 13 2006 at 06:15
Your writing is neither pitiful nor bad, Hugues, and you know it very well... As for myself, I don't know whether I'll ever land a job thanks to PA... However, I must say that it has done wonders for giving me extra practice in writing in English. Up to some five-six years ago, I had no problems whatsoever in writing even very long papers in English - then, because of a series of negative circumstances, I felt I was losing all the skills accumulated in years of work. Nowadays, I've gone back to writing papers and essays in English (some to be published in books and reviews of academic standards) with ease, and much of it is due to the practice I get both posting on the forums and writing my now-legendary reviews (well, I've got my own fan club, even if you might not know that... ). So, a big hand for PA - of course it's good for all of us, in more ways than one! |
Posted By: Easy Livin
Date Posted: August 13 2006 at 11:32
Not much hope for Supertramp either then!
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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: August 13 2006 at 12:45
Then in Rush's case you would be performing an injustice. |
Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: August 13 2006 at 16:27
Just don't forget how to write in Italian! You're command of the English is much better than a lot of English speakers, so you should be proud of that fact. Infact, I think your writing skills in English are better than my own!  -------------   
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Posted By: maani
Date Posted: August 13 2006 at 17:07
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EL:
Nope! Not even Klaatu made the list!
Tony:
If I were doing an article on the dozen or so most "important" or "influential" albums vis-a-vis the origin, development and "progression" of prog, I would probably try to fit Rush in their, given that they were (among other things) the "jumping off point" for prog metal, and that is certainly important.
However, I simply don't consider any of Rush's albums "essential" for a DID collection. As always, it is a subjective call, no matter how objective I may try to be. Indeed, as an exercise in futility for you, I dare you to come up with a "baker's dozen" of the "absolutely essential must-have" prog albums and include Rush without excluding, at very least, Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, ELP, Pink Floyd and Gentle Giant - just for starters. That's already seven: that only leaves you 6 picks. For my money, The Moody Blues have to be in there, as does Zappa. That now leaves 4. If we include VDGG, that leaves 3. And we haven't even begun to get into neo-prog and other subgenres yet - Marillion, IQ, Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, etc.
True, you will agree with some of my choices and disagree with others. Perhaps this would be a good time to "ressurect" the DID thread, since it has not been seen for quite some time. It would be interesting to see how members decide who to omit from such a list. And I'm already giving 3 more choices than the usual 10.
Peace.
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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: August 14 2006 at 15:01
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Moodies and Frank Zappa arent Prog Rock.
If Zappa is Prog Rock then my name's Stonebeard Cygnus XXIV Gentle Giant are a footnote and Jethro Tull are too "hey nonnie nonnie" and all major Neo-Prog bands are too twee. Prog Metal would help on a desert island by scaring away any large,man-eating animals but unfortunately would also scare off any would-be rescuers...VDGG? Where were all the lighthouse keepers when the ship sank? Dancing manically to VDGG probably! They get vetoed for being the reason you're on a Desert Island in the first place and ELP should get their own Desert Island and live on Love Beach. So that leaves Genesis,Yes,Floyd and Marillion for balance.Room for 9 Rush albums...
Oh,I get it-everyone stopped reading after the Zappa slur didnt they... 
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Posted By: Cygnus X-2
Date Posted: August 14 2006 at 15:05
What are we going to do with you?  ------------- 
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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: August 14 2006 at 15:13
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All joking apart,I would have loved to have seen Zappa's face if someone told him he played Prog Rock!!!!
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Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: August 15 2006 at 02:32
Thanks a lot for the very nice compliment! I've tried to send you a PM, but your inbox is full... |
Posted By: Cygnus X-2
Date Posted: August 15 2006 at 02:33
Hmmm.... that would have been something to see, he probably wouldn't have really cared though in the end. -------------
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Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: August 15 2006 at 02:39
Of course, that should have read: You're command of the English language is much beter than a lot of English Speakers. Oops! Anyhow, not a problem. I speak the truth in this regard. -------------
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