Film Friday: My Favorite James Bond Films

Film:  #1 over-all / #1 of the Sean Connery era.

Bond Girl:  Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) - #7
Ally:  Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendariz) - #1
 

Film:    #2 over-all / #1 of the Daniel Craig era.
Bond Girl:  Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) - #1

Film:  #3 over-all / #2 of the Connery era.
Bond Girl:  Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) - #2

Film:  #4 over-all / #1 of the Roger Moore era.
Bond Girl:  Major Amasova (Barbara Bach) - #5

Film:  #5 over-all / #2 of the Moore era.
Bond Girl: Solitaire (Jane Seymour) - #4
Henchman:  Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder) - #1

Notes:
Evil women (Xenia Onatopp, Fiona Volpe, etc.) and women in minor roles (Plenty O'Toole, Jill Masterson, etc.) are not Bond Girls.

GoldenEye, the best of the Pierce Brosnan era,  checks in at #10 over-all.

Timothy Dalton starred in two and George Lazenby one, none of which are in my top ten.

The #1 villain is Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), the title character in The Man with the Golden Gun.


The #1 Bond is Sean Connery.

An Elliptical Contest: Round Twelve

2017 in Review

Life
1.  In August, much ado was made of an eclipse. Why?
2.  In August, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history occurred.  What is it called?  
3.  In September, 755 U.S. diplomats were expelled from which country?
4.  Who was the most popular Halloween costume in 2017?
5.  Which country repeatedly annoyed the U.S. with nuclear tests and thinly veiled threats?

Death
6.  January - She made it after all.  To the Great Newsroom in the Sky.
7.  March - One of the best guitarists in rock history.  Also sang and duck walked. 
8.  May - James Bond in seven films, including Live and Let Die.
9.  September - Founded Playboy.
10.  October - He don't come around here anymore.  He stopped livin' like a refugee.     

Three points for the winner.

Tie goes to earliest entrant involved in the tie.

Deadline:  11:59 PM - December 31 (Pacific time)

Tuesday Ten: Bond Movie Characters

Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), Casino Royale:  My favorite Bond Girl. She's smart, sexy, sassy. 

Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress), Dr. No:  The George Washington of Bond Girls.  Not necessarily the best, but the first, and therefore the most important.  

Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet), For Your Eyes Only:   She was a fiercely independent woman of action.  When her parents were killed, she didn't sit around crying about it. She didn't wait for her white knight to show up.  She took it upon herself to avenge their deaths. With a crossbow.

 

Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendariz), From Russia with Love:  Head of Station T, in Istanbul.

Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), The Man with the Golden Gun: If Bond had gone the other way, he might have been like this.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence, others), You Only Live Twice, others:  The recurring Bond villain.  The inspiration for Dr. Evil.

Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton), Goldfinger: A minor role with a memorable exit. I preferred her to Honor Blackman, who seemed like a mediocre Bond Girl.

Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder), Live and Let Die:  My favorite of all the henchmen in the Bond series.  A voodoo devotee with a deep voice, big laugh, and imposing stature (Holder was 6'6").

Plenty O'Toole (Lana Wood), Diamonds Are Forever:  I never bought Jill St. John as a Bond Girl.  LW would have been much better.

Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen), GoldenEye):  Feisty. Sexy. Nutty.  My type, except for the murdering.
 

   

        
   

Music Monday: Bond Movie Theme Songs

Semi-Poem

black hair
black lip stick
black finger nails

black dress
black boots

black fishnets
black lace

and you: too naive to know
she's dressed for your funeral

Random Post

My country is self-destructing and I can't do anything about it.

Elliptical Contest Round 11 Results and Standings

Birgit's entry included John Wayne, chocolate cake, and devil's piss.

Ericka's entry included Jennifer Garner, apple pie, and faux potatoes.

It was a closely-fought battle, but the school teacher's loose relationship with the rules cost her.
Round 11 Winner: Birgit, a.k.a the feisty Canadian



Current Standings
Ericka - 14
Birgit - 8
Tex - 8
Trish Regan - 0

In other news, Amber was in a car crash and miscarried.  On the brink of death herself, she was rushed to the ER where a dashing, young doctor saved her.  A shocking coincidence - that doctor was Ethan!  Colt was about to close the McWilliams account when he received the tragic news.  He made haste to the hospital, as his love for Amber burns brighter than a thousand stars!     

Thursday Thoughts

Dog mementos on the sidewalk.

Accusations now equal guilt.

Everything's a money grab.

Feminism is no longer about equality.

Double standards based on political ideology, or race, or gender.

Career politicians.

The NRA.

Greedy a-hole landlords.

Illegal immigrants and their supporters.

Books that don't start on page 1.

Photos of people with their names not placed properly in the captions.

Selfishness is rewarded.  Decency isn't.

Political correctness.

Faux Christianity.

The increasing population.

An Elliptical Contest: Round Eleven

Ah yes. The special Thanksgiving round to which the world has been looking forward.

For this round, plan a Thanksgiving gathering.

Name five famous guests (real or fictional, but famous) you would invite and explain why.
  
Name five foods / beverages you would serve - real or fictional.

Name five blogs you would catch up on while waiting for the Cowboys to lose.

Where would it be?  The beach?  The Mos Eisley Cantina?  Please post a pic or a link to a pic.  (If it would be at your house, a pic of your city or area is fine.  You don't need to post a pic of your house.)

Deadline:  November 22 (end of)

Three points for the winner.
 

Film Friday

Films featuring actors who irritate me politically.

The American: George Clooney. The book is good and so is the film.  Different endings too.

Barbarella:  Jane Fonda.  Because I still have to see Klute and I've only seen part of Barefoot in the Park. Campy sci-fi.

Bug: Ashley Judd.  I've recommended this before, so Ruby in Paradise would be the back-up choice.

Casino:  Robert De Niro.  Godfather 2, Taxi Driver, and Heat are good as well.  

The Falcon and the Snowman:  Sean Penn.  Based on actual events.

Jacob's Ladder: Tim Robbins.  Freaky stuff.

A League of Their Own:  Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell.  Funny stuff.  Based on a real league.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show:  Susan Sarandon.  Not a great film, but a cult classic for a reason.

Sweeney Todd:  Johnny Depp.  Helena Bonham Carter though. :)

Whip It:  Ellen Page.  Roller derby.

Elliptical Contest Standings

Ericka:  14
Tex:  8
Birgit:  5
Erin Burnett:  0

Two rounds remaining.

Will the young upstart hold off the defending champion for the title?

Will the defending champion hold off the feisty Canadian for runner-up?

Will a celebrity participate?

Will Amber tell Colt she's carrying Ethan's baby?  

Elliptical Contest: Round Ten Answers

1.  "I Feel Lucky" - Psycho - Mary Chapin Carpenter

2.  "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" - Nightmare on Elm Street - Kathy Mattea

3.  "Whoever's in New England" - It - Reba McEntire

4.  "Screw You, We're from Texas" - Friday the 13th - Ray Wylie Hubbard

5.  "Friends in Low Places" - The Shining - Garth Brooks

6.  "Any Man of Mine" - Jaws - Shania Twain

7.  "Amarillo by Morning" - From Dusk 'til Dawn - George Strait

8.  "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" - Scream - Vicki Lawrence

9.  "Who's That Man?" - 1408 - Toby Keith

10.  "Highwayman" - The Cube - The Highwaymen

Film Friday

October is Halloween.  So yeah.

An Elliptiical Contest: Round Ten

October is Halloween. It is also Country Music Month.

For each snippet of butchered country song lyrics, name the song, the horror movie, and the singer who made the song famous.  First and last names are required where applicable.

Three points for the winner.

Deadline: October 30

1.  I feel crazy
I feel crazy, yeah
No blonde bimbo's gonna stand in my way
Mom, I feel crazy today

I did some taxidermy then rented her a room
Watched her through the peephole before she met her doom
The moral of the story is simple but it's true
Sinning women lie, but mommies never do 

2.  Eighteen dreams and a dozen murders
Six more kids that he needs to kill
The same old hat on his ugly head
And he'll spend the rest of his life
In crappy sequels

3.  When whoever's in the sewer is through with you
And the clown finds better things to do
You know it's not too late 'cause you'll always have a reboot
When whoever's in the sewer is through with you

4.  Now I love the outdoors, and the other camps - ah they're ok
Crystal Lake is the place I want to be and I don't care if I ever go to North Star anyway
Cuz we got a serial killer and Monopoly and a guy in a wheelchair
We got an archery range and Mrs. Voorhees and girls in their underwear   

So screw you, we're from Crystal Lake

5.   Blame it on this hotel, I'm not feeling well
Something is wrong with my brain
The first one to crack, the first to attack
I was the first one to go quite insane

Cuz I see dead people in the halls
My son writes redrum on the walls
I love my wife, but I'll end her life
Hey, I don't like how this story goes
Think I'll take a walk out in the snow
Cuz I see dead people don't you know

6.  Any shark of mine better swim the line
Better show me a bitin', bleedin', feel-good summertime
I need a shark who knows how the movie goes
He's gotta be a real-lookin', scary-seemin'
Boat-wreckin' dangerous kind
Any shark of mine

7.  Mexico by sunrise
Down from Abilene
Every crime that we did
Were just crimes that criminals do

When the moon is high in that desert sky
We'll be drinking at a vampire bar
Mexico by sunrise
Mexico isn't far

8.  That's the scene in the garage with the killer
That's the scene where he murders Rose's character
Don't trust your role to a Hollywood writing team
The director of the film's a Neve fan, so it seems

9.  Checked into the old hotel
They say this room belongs in Hell
It hasn't changed since O'Malley's suicide
55 others have died

They broke the doorknob to keep me here
Made the other rooms disappear
It was getting weird
Even worse than I feared

That's a ghost and that's my wife
Why's this dream haunting my life?

10.  I am a doctor
At a clinic I'm employed
But I'm paranoid
I fall into the gap and there I die
Quentin could've saved me if he tried     

I'm an escape artist
My nickname is The Wren
I can't be locked up like other men
I enter a room I think is safe
But the acid seals my fate

I am an architect
I designed the outer shell
For what purpose my employer didn't tell
I see the light which means I can go free
But I have no more faith in humanity

I am a student
Mathematics is my skill
But one mistake might get us killed
At the end, I almost walk away
But I linger so forever I will stay 

Note:  One of the songs is more of a country - blues hybrid than pure country.

Ryman Auditorium - Nashville

 



 

Music Monday

Country Music Month

Film Friday

October is Country Music Month.  So yeah.

RIP

Eleven Questions and Maybe Eleven Answers

Jenn

https://jkimexploring.wordpress.com/2017/09/14/liebster-award-x2/

and

A.J.

http://ajsterkel.blogspot.com/2017/09/liebster-award-tag.html

asked 11 questions each and I have decided to pilfer half of them.  Let us arrive at it.

Q1.  Do you have any weird blogging habits?
A1.  I write a lot of rough drafts and partial posts without finishing / posting them.

Q2.  What do you do when you're not blogging / reading?
A2.  I watch news shows, hike in the park, wander the internets.  I listen to podcasts, hang out at the cafe where my lesbian crush works.  Nothing interesting. 

Q3.  What is your favorite romance that isn't cannon?
A3.  Lady Brett Ashley and Jake Barnes, from The Sun Also Rises.  If that's too obvious, Princess Leia Organa and Lando Calrissian.

Q4.  Most binge-able TV show?
A4.  Seinfeld

Q5.  What's the story behind your blog's title?    
A5.  I live on the third floor.

Q6.  What are some of your favorite book covers?
A6.




 
 


Q7.  Your to-be-read shelf is overflowing with unread books. How do you choose what to read next?
A7.  I tend to read shorter books before longer ones.  If I just read a serious book, I might go with a lighter read next.  

Q8.  What are the best and worst books you were forced to read in school?
A8.  Best:  1984 and the two Alice books.  Worst:  To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies.

Q9.  How do you stay motivated to keep blogging?
A9.  Apparently I don't. Ha.  I committed to a contest though, so I'm posting for that. Also, I don't have a life.  So I need to do something with my time.

Q10.  If you could move anywhere, where would it be?
A10.  A better apartment building with management that isn't morally bankrupt.

Q11.  What book has been sitting on your to-be-read shelf the longest? Why haven’t you read it yet?
A11.  Rod: The Autobiography.  It's about 360 pages, hardback, and not a book that I chose.  I won it at a spin-the-wheel thingy at an arts fair.  I'm mildly interested though.