Being James Bond 007…Bond…James Bond…All the ladies love him and the men want to be him!

Originally a fictitious character created by author Ian Fleming, who incidentally was a keen Ornithologist and named James Bond after a Caribbean Bird Expert in his first Bond novel - “Casino Royale”! Ian Fleming had no idea of the hype and unrivaled phenomenon that was to come with his character and Bond materialised into one of the best known and best loved spies the world has ever known.

Who plays Bond? Well only the most debonair, sexy, handsome, suave and sophisticated, charming actors need apply with chiseled features and a voice that would melt an iceburg, ageless and timeless and totally unstoppable. Each of the actors who have played Bond have all given the Agent their own brand of spice and originality shaping and changing the character slightly. Actors to have played bond are David Niven, George Lazenby, Sir Roger Moore, Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. Of course, until recently, Bond had a certain well groomed, never a hair out of place look until, in addition to the prerequisites above, the rugged Daniel Craig broke the mould and added a bit of roughness and edginess to the character.

Of course without the music the Bond films would be silent and not as intensely action packed. The title sequence, the music, the talents of the composers such as John Barry, Monty Norman and David Arnold, to name just a handful, have all made unforgettable music and help invoke the passions and danger that is Bond. Those theme tunes are often named after the title of the film - but not always - on the odd occasion the Film Theme will differ from the Theme song and these are highlighted below:

James Bond Theme (Dr No, Monty Norman Orchestra 1962), From Russia With Love (Matt Munro 1964), Goldfinger (Shirley Bassey 1964), Thunderball (Tom Jones 1965), You Only Live Twice (Nancy Sinatra 1967), Look of Love (Casino Royale - Serigo Mendez and Brasil 66 1967), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (John Barry Orchestra 1969), We Have All the Time in the World (Louis Armstrong 1969), Diamonds are Forever (Shirley Bassey 1971), Live & Let Die (Paul McCartney & Wings 1973), The Man With the Golden Gun (Lulu 1974), Nobody Does It Better (The Spy Who Loved Me - Carly Simon 1977), Moonraker (Shirley Bassey 1979), For Your Eyes Only (Sheena Easton 1981), All Time High (Octopussy - Rita Coolidge 1983), Never Say Never Again (Lani Hall 1983), A View to a Kill (Duran Duran 1985), The Living Daylights (A-ha 1987), License to Kill (Gladys Knight 1989), Goldeneye (Tina Turner 1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (Sheryl Crow 1997), The World is Not Enough (Garbage 1999), Die Another Die (Madonna 2002), You Know my Name (Casino Royale - Chris Cornell 2006), Another Way to Die (Quantum of Solace - Alicia Keys and Jack Black).

Of course last but not least, his favourite tipple has always been the iconic Martini…Shaken not Stirred…

Affordable James Bond Tribute Band Shaken Not Stirred

Surely my collecting friends have had a chance to check out the new James Bond flick that was recently released. This newest and latest in the series of Bond focused adventures, Quantum of Solace, is the spy movie adventure of the season. Of course, every 007 fan always needs a little piece of the action to keep at home as a reminder of the Bond mania.

While you may not be able to find your own 007 license to take care of the bad guys, you might be able to find something almost as thrilling. There is an entire array of James Bond related merchandise that is available for fans and collectors. There are no collectors quite as avid about their purchases as movie buffs and the James Bond 007 toy collectors.

Let’s take a look at the top 5 James Bond collectibles that have a serious connection to our favorite secret agent.

- For the vintage toy collector of 007 toys, the Mego rendition of the Moonraker character, Jaws, is a must have classic. This metal mouthed behemoth was more than a handful of action all combined in one giant body. This one item is extremely rare and is difficult to find in any condition. Finding one that is mint in the package still creates a great deal of excitement for toy collectors today.

- In 1965 there was a great car set introduced to the public that was all about the Bond character and films. This is a toy manufactured by Scalextric and it came with a really cool, white Aston-Martin and a black, enemy driven Mercedes. The set included the cars, track, and controllers. For kids at the time, and even adults, this was the ultimate secret agent toy.

- During the 60’s there was also a great action doll produced by the Gilbert Toy Company. This was a figure that was meant to resemble Sean Connery who was playing the dashing 007. This action hero was produced with an arm mechanism that actually worked to help this debonair agent escape tight situations. There were even some shockingly bright, orange fins to help him out during underwater exploits.

- In 1997 the Corgi company packaged a Lotus Esprit with a metal mouthed Jaws figure which was released to commemorate the 20th anniversary for one of the most famous of all Bond films, “The Spy Who Loved Me.” This nicely detailed car is equipped with realistic features that are very well made and even includes a necessary arsenal of super weaponry to keep our favorite agent safe.

- For serious collectors, having the special edition of the 007 Monopoly game is another treat to have in their collection of toys that honor this iconic legend. The game is played in the same manner as the original Monopoly version, but the playing pieces, board and cards all have to do with the James Bond character and films.

Scott is an avid collector of James Bond Toys and, despite being in his 50’s, never wants to “grow-up”.

From a school production of Oliver! to the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig has covered plenty of acting turf. Craig has seemingly replaced Jude Law as the world’s favourite British heart throb actor. Recently having been voted one of the sexiest men alive, and the best dressed man in Britain, he is taking the movie world by storm.

In recent years Craig has not only starred in the 007 movies Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace, but has been seen in Layercake, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Road To Perdition, The Golden Compass, and The Invasion, to mention just several.

Daniel Craig has shared the cinema screen with Hollywood lovelies such as Sienna Miller, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Nicole Kidman (twice).

Those who were disappointed with the number of bedroom scenes in Quantum of Solace will be thrilled to know that Craig has promised steamier and more frequent bedroom scenes in the next James Bond film. Avid Bond fans would probably have also noticed the absence of long term characters Q and Moneypenny, along with the exciting James Bond gadgets.

Two of Bond’s signature statements were also missing from Quantum of Solace, being “Bond, James Bond” and “shaken, not stirred”. According to Craig, these phrases were filmed but just didn’t appear to work within the framework of the movie, so were left on the cutting room floor.

Daniel Craig has signed on for at least the next 3 James Bond movies, taking him up to and including James Bond 25.

When asked who Craig himself thought would make a great James Bond this was his answer:“I think Prince Harry would make a fantastic James Bond. He’s suave and just a little bit dangerous” 16th November 2008. Well, Daniel Craig may not be a prince but he certainly ticks all the right boxes for handsome, talented, wealthy, and well dressed. What more could we ask for? We have already been promised more steamy romance in the next James Bond movie.

Author Raymond DeChampfleur writes often on the subjects of music and movies. He has provided a more in-depth review here on Daniel Craig.

James Bond Quantum Of Solace is the sequel to Casino Royale. Does it measure up?

In Casino Royale, Bond was betrayed by the love of his life, Vesper, just before he was killed. Here, while tracking down the guy who blackmailed her, he uncovers Quantum, a massive organization with people everywhere, literally.

Unlike the romantic hero of Casino Royale, James Bond is a bitter man. A cold blooded killer who dispatches bodies of the bad guys, not leaving a lead for his people to follow, to M’s chagrin.

There’s plenty of action, beautifully choreographed. Like an art film. I love the opening, how 2 scenes were played concurrently, for maximum impact. The action scenes, though violent, were brilliant.

Yeah, the two mandatory hot babes were there. One gets killed. The other lives on. Though the women were dressed more conservatively than your usual Bond girl. Much of the old Bond franchise was missing from this movie. The tongue in cheek puns. The cliches. The gadgets. The sexy babe on the beach scenes weren’t in this movie.

What you do get is a gritty Bond movie. More Jason Bourne than James Bond.

Still, Daniel Craig delivered an excellent performance. This blonde Bond may well dethrone Sean Connery as the best Bond of all time if he keeps this up.

Judy Dench was spot on as M. The steely woman in charge of British Intelligence, who display undertones of maternal instinct towards her reckless agent, Bond.

While these two key performances were outstanding, the Bond girls were forgettable. The storyline was confusing at times. Or was there a storyline?

I get the feeling the movie was all out to impress visually that the plot development was compromised to some extent. Still, I found the movie enjoyable as a whole.

Here’s the James Bond of the past.

More movie reviews and movie merchandise at http://www.action-figures-store.com

A James Bond party theme is always going to be a favourite with the guys. Beware though because a Bond party comes shaken not stirred! Throw a successful Bond party and your guests will soon be saying “Play it again Sam!” Here are some ideas that i know work very well:

Budget dependant, you could hire an Aston Martin to park in your drive. Your guests will be in the mood when they see that and then they hit the Russian accented security guard who checks everybody on the door for concealed weapons.

The guys will all be dressed up as suave Sean Connery lookalikes, but you will get a few who will go as a baddie such as Blofeld, Jaws or if you have any short Asian friends…The evil Odd job! The ladies will thank you for a rare opportunity to dress up as a Bond girl such as Miss Goodnight or Halle Berry as Jinx!

You should get a casino sub-theme in your main room with a roulette wheel and poker table and you should leave poker chips and playing cards lying around for decoration. You should get your hands on the complete Bond theme track CD which has all the music on from all the films. Nothing will put you in the theme better than the music! The food should be finger buffets, preferably handed out by a waiter. The drinks…Martinis shaken not stirred obviously. Also champagne will add a nice touch for your James Bond party theme.

I have many more ideas for your James Bond Party Theme in fact it is only inhibited by your own imagination. One final bit of advice…You need to make sure that for your Themed Party Ideas to work, everything from your invitations, costumes, props, music, food and drink need to be consistent with the theme. Good luck!

From the examples that follow -culled from Ian Fleming’s novel Doctor No–you will realize that in all cases, Fleming uses an abundance of intransitive verbs, and many of them as sentence openers.

In a novel where the hero is an action hero, this is understandable. By definition, ‘intransitive verbs’ express a doable action. And the action hero is always doing something–never inactive.

Bond stiffened.
M snorted.
Bond persisted.
Bond grinned.
The drinks came.
The food came.
The girl smiled.
Quarrel nodded.
The centipede stirred
Quarrel whistled.
He stiffened.
She blushed.
Bond smiled.
Silence fell.
Bond laughed.
She giggled.
Bond shrugged.
Bond paused.
Bond shivered.
The Governor grunted.

Fleming chooses his intransitive verbs so that they end the sentence. Nothing follows these intransitive verbs (as shown above). In other words, the sentences lack objects.

Why would this author continuously use this pattern of sentences? The answer is simple: he uses the sentence that follow as the object of the brief intransitive sentences.

Bond could feel it questing amongst the first hairs. It tickled. The skin on Bond’s belly fluttered (65).

The pithy, intransitive sentence, “It tickled,” has no object. But we can infer that its object will be found in the sentence that follows. We observe this pattern throughout the novel. Here are a few more examples:

Those are the odds against it, one in a million. I lived. By sheer will power I survived the operation and the months in the hospital (164).

I wrote offering a huge sum to buy it. They refused. So I studied these birds (168).

Bond lurched and his bruised shoulder hit the metal. He screamed. He went on screaming, regularly, with each contact of hand or knee or toes (192).

They could certainly kill animals, but how mortal to men were these giant spiders with the long soft fur or a borzoi? Bond shuddered. He remembered the centipede (195).

The machine gave a sideways lurch. The kiss ended. They had hit the first mangrove roots at the entrance to the river (222).

‘Superintendent, you will know what to do.’ The Governor rose. He inclined his head regally in the direction of Bond.

By using intransitive verbs, Ian Fleming makes his narration agile, quirky, athletic, befitting his action hero, James Bond-007. Less experienced and less artistic authors, unlike Ian Fleming, resort to the use of fragments, a trick that detracts from an even-paced and elegant narration.

Visit Mary Duffy’s Sentence Openers’ website: http://sentenceopeners.com

Although James Bond sunglasses date back to Sean Connery’s time in the role, it is only recently that they have become a regular fixture. While it may go with the locations he’s travelling to, Bond has often visited tropical destinations without eye protection. While it is perhaps now seen as more fashionable to wear sunglasses, you just need to look at the recent Bond films and the number of products featured in them to realise that there is some other reason.

That reason is money and those products are appearing thanks to payment by the manufacturer. This is perhaps understandable because of the cost of a major movie these days, and the substantial payments that are often made help recoup a percentage of the total costs for the studios before the film has even premiered.

Sometimes it is a real shame, like James Bond wearing an Omega watch since Pierce Brosnan took over the role, instead of Rolex like the literary character and Sean Connery. Other products that fit better include the traditional Bond Aston Martin, although 007 drove a BMW for a while due to sponsorship too, but more recently another accessory has started to appear thanks to payment - sunglasses.

Calvin Klein started this with Pierce Brosnan in the role of James Bond in The World In Not Enough, when they promoted a model of sunglasses that tied in with the film and featured in a ski sequence - a pity for them then that the sunglasses that collectors wanted was a prop created for the film that provided x-ray vision to Bond.

Persol was next to sponsor 007 in Die Another Day and were still on board when Daniel Craig took over the role of James Bond in Casino Royale. In that film he wore two models of sunglasses, the Persol 2244 early in the film and Persol 2720 when he and Vesper arrive in Venice.

With Quantum of Solace it was inevitable that this trend continued - but what surprised 007 collectors was that the sunglasses were Tom Ford 108 rather than Oliver Peoples, which his glasses had been identified as during filming.

For further information on James Bond sunglasses, including links to online suppliers see http://www.jamesbondsunglasses.com and more detail information.

Learning how to be like James Bond could fill volumes of books full of personality traits and such. But I have narrowed it down to the few key things that make Bond Bond.

#1 Mindset

Bonds mind is completely focused on the task at hand. This is why he appears to be so confident outwardly because he has got his game together on the inside. He has control of his emotions and actually acts out on the thing that we all say we do which is “Do not care what anyone else thinks”.

#2 Physique

Bond is physically prepared for anything that life throws at him. Anyone could get into a fight with you when you go out tonight. He spends time toning his physique also to get respect from others. By respecting your body, others will have more respect for you. Not just because you look physically dangerous but also because you respect yourself. A good body is great, but the clothes are what show. Being the best dressed man in the room is essential. Dress perfectly in clean cut suits and clothes. He is a master of occasions and dresses perfectly to fit the occasion. If you are going to play tennis you wear short, etc.

#3 Confidence

James Bond is so darn confident that he believes that he can do anything. This is a great mindset to have, confidence bordering on arrogance. But do not confuse this with thinking others are less worthy than you. And Finally…

#4 Can Charm The Pants Off Any Woman

Bond is as suave as they come. His perfectly sharpened humour, manners and ruggedness make women drool at the sheer sight of him. Learn how to develop his personality traits and you will too have the same results and learn how to be like James Bond.

I’ve personally all these used them all and know that they can really change the way a girl looks at you. But I have found a program to truly take it to a totally new level. Through trial and error, buying every piece of rubbish on the internet, I came across this program and could not believe how the results mounted up so quick, to a normal guy like me too!

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The novel was followed shortly by a television adaptation in 1954, which was warmly welcomed in the CBS Series Climax, by both baby boomer children as well as their parents. The movie was first released in 1967, and re-made in 2006 with Daniel Craig starring as James Bond. While the film was an instant success among moviegoers, the print version seemed to have been lost in oblivion.

Fleming’s first Bond novel was introduced in the UK on April 13, 1953. The paperback form was introduced to UK readers two years later. It was the first time readers were given a glimpse of James Bond, an image that was based on a photograph of the American actor Richard Conte. Conte later gained fame in Ocean’s Eleven (1960) and The Godfather (1972).

Ian Fleming admitted that Casino Royale was based on real events that transpired during his career at the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty.

During his post at the division, Fleming visited Estoril Casino where spies of warring states were present. The failed assassination in Fleming’s novel was also claimed to be inspired by true events. Fleming wrote the book in 1952 two months before he married his pregnant fianc

If you’re looking for a non stop, action packed thriller, then the new James Bond, ‘Quantum of Solace’, is definitely for you.

Leading on from old traits, seen in the most recent movies with Daniel Craig and ‘Casino Royale’, the new ‘Quantum of Solace’ adventures, will continue to dazzle, with even more high impact, intense action, and even greater quality sound and video based effects.

‘Quantum of Solace’ follows on from where the previous sequel started, with James Bond being betrayed by Vesper, making the intensity of his next mission, both passionate, and almost unbearable. Bond and M continue on their quest to capture and interrogate Mr.White, a task which they eventually succeed in doing. By completing the interrogation, Mr.White reveals that an organization tricked and bribed Vesper into stealing Bond’s winnings, and warns Bond that he is possibly in too deep.

Foolish mistakes, Forensic investigations, as well as findings manage to link both an MI6 agent, who turned out to be a traitor, to a bank account based in Haiti. This eventually leads Bond to a welcoming introduction from Camille, who has her own scenario, and leads Bond straight to the ruthless businessman that is, Dominic Greene, also a major player in the strength of the criminals ‘Quantum’.

In usual Bond style, countries such as Austria, Italy and South America are visited, where Bond eventually cracks the code, to find that Greene is taking control of natural resources worldwide, thanks to his contacts that include informants in the CIA and the British government. Bond tries to keep slightly ahead of times to uncover the truth, and eventually save what is the South American water supply.

Guy Draper

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