Casino Royale

Casino Royale (James Bond 1) by Ian Fleming

This is the first James Bond book. There is high stakes gambling, a narrow avoidance of death and romance. The novel is fairly short. There doesn't seem to be as much action as I would expect from the movie. Bond also has his upper-crust snobbery. there are the proper cuban cigars as well as the details of the card games. He does show uncharacteristic weakness - he is ready to leave the service and mary his love interest. However, that ends up becoming a moot point. The novel is not great, but I can see why it was popular. The most intense "action" sequence is probably when he makes moves to avoid getting shot at the card table (right as he is at the point of bankrupting his opposition spy opponent.)

Love and Let Die: James Bond, The Beatles, and the British Psyche

Love and Let Die: James Bond, The Beatles, and the British Psyche by John Higgs

On Friday, October 5, 1962, the first Beatles song, Love Me Do and the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, were released. Both represented an important long lasting part of British culture that spread across the world. The Beatles represented the power of working class blokes to come and dominate the music industry with their own deamer and artistic skills. Bond was the opposite and represented the traditional upper-class culture. The Beatles were "life" wile Bond was "death".

The book interleaves the stories of the Beatles with that of Bond. Both have expanded beyond their initial creators. Ian Fleming had written the Bond stories. However, many of the movies have taken nothing more than a name from Fleming's stories. The character of Bond has evolved significantly from what Ian had initially written. (Fleming died just as the movies were started in the 1960s).

The Beatles helped launch youth culture, the 1960s and the key role of music in society. They were only together for a decade. Rather than adhere to a formula, they changed and experimented. They were able to explore different philosophies, musical styles and way of living. About the only thing they could not do was go back to being private citizens. Each of the Beatles went on to explore their own interests and a solo musical career. They helped influence culture and society, even when they were not trying to. Even the 2012 Olympics ceremonies were heavily influenced by the Beatles.

How long will these pop culture icons last? We will see.

Good and Bad

Another long airplane flight, so another chance to watch a whole bunch of movies while I can't get in more than a few minutes of sleep.

Good: Katy Perry: Part of Me movie. It was fun and colorful. It made her seem like a normal person who liked to entertain. The energetic music and outlandish costumes added to the experience. The testimonials of people who felt Katy helped them accept themselves as "different" didn't quite fit, but they were only brief.
Bad: Katy Perry music. After watching the music, I went back and Spotified some of her music. Uggh. A few good bits, but mostly sounds like a teenager trying to be "different like everybody else". And she's nearly 30.

Good: Return of the Pink Panther - Peter Sellars is the master of slapstick. His bumbling detective manages to solve the case in spite of himself.
Bad: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - Jim Carrey's slapstick is straight from the toilet and downright tedious. You also wish he would at least try to impersonate a real person.

Good: Skyfall James Bond movie where Bond goes through elaborate stunts to help protect his boss from a crazy.
Bad: Bodyguard Kevin Costner tries to protect Whitney Houston from a crazy. Boring.

In between: Love for Beginners - A Japanese film about a "lady's man" who takes up a dare to seduce a nerdish girl. She initially rejects his overtures, but eventually they fall in love, and she finds her true self. Stylistically it is great, but the store would have been more powerful if it would have ended with her desired marriage instead of a caving to his physical overtures.

In between: Alice in Wonderland - It is Tim Burton. It can't be too bad. I watched it in a middle of a long flight, and had trouble staying awake for the first part. (Was it boring, or was it the flight? I think it was a bit of both.) The characters and the physical humor were great. (but, I did get annoyed with the white queen.