The following as-yet undated interview with Ian Fleming speaks to how he selected the name “James Bond” for his character. As with many historical reconstructions based on personal memories, this one is not without controversy. Personally, I tend to believe the name comes from the ornithologist James Bond, through its association with his book, Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies.
Branding Bond, James Bond
- It’s become increasingly hard to ignore your audience (darn it!)Something surprised me in the reactions to my recent series of increasingly pointed critiques on handling of the James Bond brand for 2012. Overwhelmingly, folks agree with me. Long-term fans and fans just entered the fold via re-boot. Bloggers and traditional media. The general public. Even more curious to me, I found that it didn’t […]
- James Bond movie ROI, raw numbersRounding out this week of discussion where we’re nailing down a true common denominator basis for assessing the financial performance of James Bond movies, I’m providing below a summary of return on investment (ROI) in chronological order. Again, this is based on IMDb.com data. It follows the precept of Eon Productions icon Albert R Broccoli, […]
- How does James Bond movie ROI compare to the Star Trek movies?Earlier this week, we shot a hole in (and sunk) arguments that merely looking at gross box office receipts is worse than irrelevant in assessing the quality of James Bond movies. By that standard and the same budget as Quantum of Solace, anyone can insist that Skyfall is “the best James Bond movie ever!” with […]
- Yeah— and “Moonraker” was better than any Bond movie with Connery, tooAs every true fan or student of James Bond knows, there’s an increasingly urgent need to agree on which of the movies is, in fact — objectively — best. In the good old days, anyone who could hang his argument on “Ian Fleming” prevailed. That gave way to solace that nothing that didn’t star Sean Connery was […]
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. […]
- Why “compromise” so often failsThere’s an old joke about a married couple that decides to “compromise” on their differing desires for ideal vacation venue. Husband wants The Magic Kingdom in Florida. Wife wants Disneyland in California. So they agree to compromise — splitting the difference. They end up in the Oklahoma Panhandle for two weeks. Earlier this year, I wrote […]
James Bond Watches
- James Bond watch history, highlights of the last decade: Part 5On May 4, 2011, the personal Rolex Explorer wristwatch of James Bond author Ian Fleming got its own display on the main exhibit floor of the National Watch & Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania. This followed its year-long placement as signature piece in the “Bond Watches, James Bond Watches” special exhibit there. “Ian Fleming’s Own […]
- James Bond watch photos: Omega Seamaster 2531.80 and Bond girlOther than the image of Mrs James Bond Watches a couple’a years back at the National Watch & Clock Museum, I haven’t done that many James Bond watch photos that include people. I made this one working with a model on an unrelated project about 6 years ago. The desired effect was that wonderful allure […]
- Video: Time-lapse experiments with James Bond Omega Seamaster watchWe’ve all seen those videos where clouds are made to race across the sky on a windless day or an ice cube seems to melt to water in mere seconds. Time-lapse videos, they’re called. Or, to be more precise: A series of individual still-images, combined in sequence and processed to produce a time-lapse video. Not much […]
- James Bond watch photos: Omega Seamaster 2531.80For those who claim I’m not sufficiently “pro-Omega” in covering James Bond watches— We’re gonna be entering a bit of a James Bond Omega Seamaster period here on this blog. Starting off with this 2005 image of my personal 2531.80 reference. Same model as worn by Pierce Brosnan in his final 3 outings as James […]
Posts Tagged ‘ ian fleming ’
How often is it “only a number” with James Bond?
As James Bond beds Miranda Frost in Die Another Day (2002), the following bit of dialogue is exchanged. “Mm—” she coos. “This is crazy. You’re a Double-O.” “It’s only a number,” 007 responds. A recent Post to this Blog cites January 15, 1952, as the day on which Ian Fleming first started typing Casino Royale (1952) and thus committed to the creation of the James Bond character. This date is confirmed by Fleming biographers John Pearson and Andrew Lycett. Henry Chancellor disagrees. In his spectacular book, James Bond: The Man and His World (2007), Chancellor sets the date a...
James Bond’s 4½-litre Bentley, with Amherst Villiers supercharger
By Chapter 5 of Casino Royale (1953), Ian Fleming had listed two brands of cigarettes, a Jamaican newspaper, and the Berlitz School of Language — among other touchstones. But it’s the personal car of James Bond that first merits expansive description in this novel. Bond’s car was his only personal hobby. One of the last of the 4½-litre Bentleys with the supercharger by Amherst Villiers, he had bought it almost new in 1933 and had kept it in careful storage through the war. It was still serviced every year and, in London, a former Bentley mechanic, who worked in...
Blue Mountain Coffee and an Imperial typewriter
It’s hard just to write about Ian Fleming without a brand name or two finding its way into the mix. John Pearson dates the birth of James Bond to January 15, 1952, in The Life of Ian Fleming (1966). Yet in citing this more expansively in his description of that day, published almost three decades later in his own Fleming biography, Andrew Lycett seems compelled to provide ambiance à la product name. Prior to starting on his manuscript for Casino Royale (1953), Lycett reports in Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond (1995), Ian Fleming had just finished a breakfast...
Branding is inseparable from James Bond
The impetus for the James Bond branding content here is to address the too-widespread ignorance of the origins and fundamental value of brand references in James Bond stories. Criticism can be dated back to the third Ian Fleming novel, Moonraker, published in 1955. Rupert “Hart-Davis noted that a friend had told him that whenever Fleming mentioned any particular food, clothing or cigarettes in his books, he was rewarded with presents in kind,” biographer Andrew Lycett reports in Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond (1995). “‘Ian’s are the only modern thrillers with built-in commercials,’ a friend remarked.” But Lycett goes on...
