There’s a line at the end of the movie Die Hard where a lead character reacts to the villain’s revealed motive for his elaborate heist. It’s just about the money. That’s all. End of story. I’m starting to wonder if that’s not a real advantage for the other side. Grand schemes, dire outcomes. Maybe these are unintended consequences. But surely they can’t be driven by anything small. Surely not just that. We get so hung up in looking for the big picture that must be there, that we are trapped in that pursuit. Because it’s not there. The fact that...
James Bond Watches
- How about having some class in James Bond watch choices?Earlier this week, I came across a book by Russell Smith titled Men’s Style: The Thinking Man’s Guide to Dress. It’s gonna get us started on a last remaining topic key to James Bond watch identification. One of the things that’s lost in so many of the boysterous discussions of why James Bond “must” wear […]
- The undermined Omega 50th James Bond watch announcementI wish I could say that the first new James Bond watch announcement for 2012 was merely a comedy of errors. But it’s nowhere near that good. Yesterday morning (that is to say, Eastern Time in the United States, where this James Bond Watches Blog is written), Omega sorta officially announced an upcoming James Bond […]
- James Bond watch photos: Rolex à la Ian FlemingThe original literary James Bond watch. Original Dr No letterhead, courtesy of Eon Productions. And, ironically— evidence that a Rolex Explorer reference 1016 wristwatch was formally associated with the movie Dr No before any other watch, of any other sort. So to speak. My latest release of computer wallpaper images featuring James Bond watches is […]
- Need to know James Bond’s Skyfall Omega watch ID — now?Last Friday the thirteenth must have been a happy one for James Bond fans, considering the number of Tweets and eMails I’ve gotten with requests to identify the Skyfall wristwatch — based on this movie set image released through Empire magazine, one week ago today. “There it is!” read one subject line. Sorry. I still don’t see it. […]
- James Bond watch photos: Heuer à la The Living DaylightsThis photo was actually released about two years ago — first accompanying the article I wrote on the discovery that David Chalmers, Paul Gavin, and I had made in identifying the James Bond watches worn in The Living Daylights. But now this layout is available for download as computer wallpapers, in a variety of screen-aspect […]
Branding Bond, James Bond
- Annual James Bond movie ranking, 2011Prompted by my good friends at Her Majesty’s Secret Servant, I decided it was time to finally sit down and rank all the James Bond movies here. My plan is to make this an annual event — even to the point of including years when there are no new entries. Part of the reason for […]
- Carte Blanche: United Kingdom launch event videoAs we particularly remember Ian Fleming today on what would be another celebration of his May 28, 1908, birthday, it is most fitting that James Bond has returned. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpRL08V393s Carte Blanche, the Ian Fleming continuation novel by best-selling author Jeffery Deaver, made a grand appearance via special event put on by publisher Hodder […]
Divorce Balance
- How complicated is divorce, really?Among too many uncritically examined “givens” you’ll hear bandied about the courthouse as truth, I’ll note the following. Every family situation is unique. No judge could decide better than the married spouses themselves what’s best in organizing their separation in divorce than they are, themselves. Or— Believe me: You’re really not gonna like it if […]
- “How To ‘Not’ Use Social Media” when divorcing“Dating After Divorce: How To Not Use Social Media,” is the title of a piece by “comedian” Juliet Jeske on the Huffington Post. After two introductory paragraphs, Ms Jeske gets down to it with 10 points she recommends be followed. Then closes with this bit of wisdom. You are bound to be slightly insane after a divorce, […]
- Divorce, municipalities, and customer serviceIn case I haven’t made it clear in the past, I’m not in favor of a “get it over and move on” mentality for divorce. That’s not the same as advocating a paternalistic, we know better imposition of value-based process on married couples looking to separate, of course. Nor condoning disrespect or institutionalized inefficiences rationalized […]
Divorce Pastoring
- Effects of readily accessible pornography on physical sexual functionIn connection with my photography work, I’ve happened across an increasing number of discussions about the need for metrics to impose more of a “truth in advertising” for images of people that have been re-touched. My wife often refers to a true story from a women in one of my divorce support groups. The woman’s […]
- Marriages fail due to lacking foundations, not obsessions over statisticsStumbled across this title earlier today, and I have to admit to being intrigued. “Marriage is not the root of all divorce,” it reads. Indeed. Author Brande Victorian begins her article with some pop-culture cites from Hollywood icons. More people are declining to marry due because more people are deciding to divorce, goes the thinking. […]
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“I would rather have an honest blow-out,” Survivor season 18
Now into season 18 (my son and I trail network broadcasts, preferring to do our own scheduling à la DVD or iTunes), Survivor remains in my opinion one of the best studies of human nature, group dynamics, and trust you’re likely ever gonna find. Watch and learn. Admittedly now still an episode or two away from the end in watching, I still think it’s safe to characterize season 18 as more of a social, as...
“He had to get back to Reliant in time to blow you to bits.”
QuoteMe Wednesday— Revenge. Obsession. And the ability to find humor when observing it in others. Particularly when it’s directed at us, personally. Kahn Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montelban) was revisited as a character first introduced in the original 1960s Star Trek television series. Tried to take over the USS Enterprise; Captain Kirk thwarted that effort, put Kahn on a planet — rather than smoking him for what he’d done — giving Kahn the option of...
“Grand Deceptions,” Columbo (1989)
QuoteMe Wednesday— Insincerity is a particular tough one for me. I’m okay with people who strongly disagree with me, even fevorently dislike me (if they feel it must come...
The 17% “drone factor” in polling
The Mark Levin Show, July 29, 2011— Constitutional scholar, attorney, and radio talk show host Mark Levin made an interesting comment about survey polling reliability during his program yesterday....
Jeffery Deaver on writing novels (brilliant): Video
This is one of the most insightful, clear discussions of the novel writer’s craft that I have ever seen. Jeffery Deaver is of course headline news these days for...
David Ogilvy on effective advertising: Truly timeless advice
When I started my first job in marketing in the 1980s, I was blessed to work with a truly brilliant head of a local advertising agency whose creative bias...
“At least we all want the same thing”
It’s one of those cliché sayings uttered by people who know little about negotiations — typically at some desperate point where they are looking for something, anything, on which...
“Be the Candy”
And happy Valentine’s Day. Yesterday on I-94 headed north to Port Huron, I saw a billboard sponsored by one of the leading brands in, um, intimate apparel. As readers...
How is it again that online backups keep my secrets safe?
There’s no one who’s gonna be in front of me when it comes to valuing backups. Wouldn’t take me long to put my hands on the stack of CDs...
“The Last Log of the Titanic” (eBook review)
Saturday Reading The Last Log of the Titanic, © 2001 by David G Brown, published by McGraw-Hill: Available through Amazon.com in eBook format for reading on the Kindle and...
It’s never been easier to lose your differential advantage
If you think keeping a physical stock of up-to-date videos is a challenge today, let me offer by way of perspective that the stores I first frequented as a...
