A QUICK WORD ON COPYRIGHTS

The James Bond character, associated characters, gun-barrel swirly logo and fluffy white cats are the trademark of EON PRODUCTIONS who can be contacted at the following address; EON PRODUCTIONS, OLD LONDON TOWN, GREAT (AND DON'T FORGET IT MATEY) BRITAIN.

Sorry. Look, its all the copyright of whoever - 007 is EON, I include it, and all other content here to amuse and, hopefully to spread the awareness of some of the very best in entertainment - this isn't a money-maker or a platform to spread hatred or abuse. Seriously, it's just my idea of FUN - but if it hurts to see your tings on my blog, o.k., drop me a line at coastwriter@hotmail.co.uk and threaten to shoot the dog - I'll remove it and retire in a sulk of Orwellian proportions.

THE BEST BOND-OFFICIAL!
Yes, its that hoary old gnarler again, just which of the 007's was the finest - well, here's the answer. The best Bond was (drum-roll), steady, wait for it, (fanfare); without any possibility of doubt... the one you saw in the role first. I guess. O.K., perhaps not official as such - but this is subjective at best... Lets review the usual suspects...

DAVID NIVEN
Actually not as unlikely as it seems, during WWII he was an officer with Phantom, the shadowy British reconnaissance outfit, cloak and dagger stuff for real.

GEORGE LAZENBY
Despite the man's recent personal problems, his turn at the throat of Blofeld was , in my opinion, a quirky freshener for the series - but not the Bond for me.

SIR.ROGER MOORE
Now we are Bonding!, one of the very best; a wry, dry 007 with a suave line in
quips and a sauvants taste for the very best. Taking over from Connery at the
age of forty-five, our man from Stockwell proved the most durable of agents,
his seventies escapades among the very top for some stylish nostalgia.
(Moonraker was the first Bond I saw at the flicks, so perhaps I'm biased.)

PIERCE BROSNAN
Reviving the franchise with one of the most jaw-dropping stunts seen since
Rick Sylvester ski-jumped from Mt.Asgard (The Spy Who Loved Me), Brosnan
brought the Secret Service into the Nineties with Goldeneye, a tale of
betrayal and retribution served with old-style panache and new thinking; a female 'M' being just part of the cobweb-sweeping.

SIR.SEAN CONNERY
Most people I have spoken to rate the first movie Bond as best (We won't be bothering with any earlier TV Bonds. Because I said so.). Sheer animal magnetism, physical presence and a Scots burr that sparks envy in men and blows fuses in women, add to the mix those oft-imitated one-liners and a healthy disrepect for both lungs and liver... well, its James Bond, the sixties spy who lives for the moment, taking his pleasure in the turn of a card or the fall of a lady...
Very possibly the best - but there's more to consider...

TIMOTHY DALTON
The Marmite Bond; you either like him or you've never heard of him...
The reign of Roger came to an end mid-eighties with the unworthy View to a Kill, the producers needed a replacement for the well-liked Moore, coming up with the Welshman son of a Captain in the SOE (The British equivalent of the OSS for you Trans-atlantic types). Originally approached to star in OHMSS, Dalton finally collected the tux and Aston Martin keys for The Living Daylights, the well-deserved 1987 smash that had myself and many others on the edge of our seats in the cinema. Even the take-it-or-leave-it Licence to Kill couldn't dampen my enthusiasm for this harder-edged Bond.

DANIEL CRAIG
Lets get one thing out of the way. Daniel Craig is a big wuss and he broke his nose signing the contract and actually, it wasn't his nose it was his teeth, they fell out at the tailor's he's so soft he can't be Bond 'cos blondies are all soft...
O.K. Fine, but if you can't take an actor seriously because his hair isn't black, please go log on to www.Ihaveproblemsthattherapyalonewillneversolve.com and don't bother coming back. Ta-ta.

DANIEL CRAIG (AHEM)
Yep, THIS is the best Bond. Why?. Well, because he's the current Bond. Let me explain; James Bond is, to many, an icon of sixties cool, like the Jaguar E-type and Carnaby Street, but only after fifty or so years. Bond was written as current, today;the man of the moment. The films have always reflected
this; think how many gadgets got their first airing on Roger Moore's wrist, how many real-world concerns found their way into the plots, from nuclear devastation to the energy crisis to international terrorism. Bond being Bond he lives for the here and the now, never looking forward and rarely back.

So, my official(ish) Best Bond is Mr.Craig, but if that alone is not enough, consider the audacity of the producers in virtually erasing the back-catalogue of films, to start afresh with Casino Royale - a towering Coup de Main of a movie, with Craig as a muscular, vital, brooding brute, (as animal as the young Connery, easily) a Bond who (gasp!) makes mistakes, even to the extent of failing to spot all the bad guys. A flawed Bond - whoah!. Craig throws out the most physical energy of any Bond. The fact that his performance is so strong that the usual gadgetry is reduced to little more than a (just when he needs it) de-fibrilator and an Atropine combi-pen doesn't escape notice either.
Oh, the girl is smoking hot too - Eva Green providing the damaged goods love-interest that launches us on a revenge trip in the follow-on Quantum of Solace (Surely the most vilified of the series, even with the laughable Die another Day to choose from).

O.K. So this is just so much puff - the opinings of some geezer on the Interweb. O.k. then - who do YOU rate as the top 007?...

Shhh...THEY might be listening...

Yes, true to form (For a James Bond Blog) we're off with a Conspiracy movie post, no, not the Bourne series or those Opus Dei weirdos chasing Tom Hanks - no, I'm a fan of the genre's Seventies offerings. Here goes;

3 Days of the Condor
Robert Redford reads books - for the CIA. His character, Joe Turner unwittingly uncovers a plot to steal the middle east oil supply (Bells ringing anyone?), causing the death of his section office. He fights to survive and get the story to the press. One of my all-time favourites.

Capricorn One
Elliott Gould is a reporter (Robert Caulfield), who stumbles across a plot to fake the first manned mission to Mars. To keep them quiet, sinister government types try to kill the unwitting crew. Astronauts James Brolin, Sam Waterston and O.J. Simpson go on the run in the lethal heat of the desert.
Gould receives help from an unlikely source, namely Telly Savalas, whose character Albain hires him his ageing biplane to help in the search for survivors. This predates the 'We didn't go to the Moon' conspiracy so popular today, but I'm wondering if O.J.'s astronaut-glove fitted...

Marathon Man
Is it safe?, well, no, not very... Dustin Hoffman is Thomas Babington Levy, a history student haunted by his father's suicide, after he was tainted by the McCarthy hearings. Known as 'Babe', Levy Jnr is unaware that the elder brother he dotes on, 'Doc' (Roy Scheider) is a Government Agent, working with William Devane's character, a shady operator called Janeway.
Dr.Christian Szell, a magnificent, evil ex-nazi dentist portrayed by Laurence Olivier has done a deal to retrieve millions of dollars of diamonds - loot from the Third Reich. Following 'Doc's' involvement in this deal, 'Babe' gets sucked in. After a dental torture scene that has to be endured to be appreciated, 'Babe' escapes and tracks the sinister Szell down to a confrontation...
This is an absolute MUST - Olivier and Hoffman each deliver cinematic genius, John Schlesinger's Direction ensures they are displayed to the full.

These are just three - more to follow at a later date, folks... 

Lava lamps, a rug and the green lady...

Well, here we are - and no small wonder given today's cost of living. The answer?; a hollowed-out volcano, one previous owner, smoke damaged, but with plenty of brushed stainless steel and there's even a monorail...

             O.K. it's a James Bond blog, but as time permits we'll have a look at some cool stuff that amuses... who knows?, might be fun...


DISCLAIMER: It's my first Blog, so I'm Blagging it. Should have called this the BlogBlagger.