Today we celebrate International Women's Day!

International Women's Day is a holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement. IWD gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. (Wikipedia)  

My favorite women are all the Bond girls from the Sean Connery era and I celebrate all of them!

SEAN CONNERY'S BIRTHDAY

SEAN CONNERY was born on August 25th, 1930 in Edinburgh, Scotland. 

According to WIKIPEDIA: 

In 2004, a poll in the UK Sunday Herald recognised Connery as "The Greatest Living Scot" and a 2011 EuroMillions survey named him "Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure".  He was voted by People magazine as the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1989 and the "Sexiest Man of the Century" in 1999. Connery shares the record for the most portrayals as James Bond with Roger Moore (with seven apiece). In June 1965, Time magazine observed "James Bond has developed into the biggest mass-cult hero of the decade".

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT : MY NFT TRADING CARD IS HERE!

                                                          MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!

          My official NFT Limited Edition Trading Card is here! If you were looking for the perfect Christmas gift this is it! Unlike other Trading Card collections, there is only one single card design available so you know exactly what you're getting when you buy it! And the price is unbeatable! Only .99 cents each! At this price, even my late father, who was a real cheapskate, would have jumped into the deal!  Furthermore, you can even buy as many as you like and there's not even a remote chance these will be sold out because I can make as many as I want! Don't miss this excellent opportunity to own a great NFT which will never increase its resale value and will probably never be offered on eBay or any other collectors' page.  

                               Only .99 cents, folks! (Incidentally, NFT means Not For Trading) 

Double Image

Random House Dictionary defines self-image as “the idea, conception, or mental image one has of oneself.”   What you see when you look in the mirror and how you picture yourself in your head is your self-image. Similarly, self-image has a lot to do with self-esteem. After all, how we see ourselves is a big contributing factor to how we feel about ourselves. However, self-esteem goes deeper than self-image. Self-esteem is the overall sense of respect for ourselves and involves how favorably (or unfavorably) we feel about ourselves. On the other hand, there's the way other people perceive you and, not surprisingly,  most of the time it can be quite different!

Vic Flick and Plas Johnson

 VIC FLICK -                                                                                                                                              You may not know the name Vic Flick, but you know his signature motif–that reverby lick from the James Bond theme, recorded in 1962 for Dr. No, the first in the long-running film franchise. Flick played on every Bond smash through Diamonds are Forever, and even recorded with Eric Clapton on the latter-day 007 soundtrack, License to Kill. You can further hear the guitarist in the film scores such as Midnight Cowboy and The Return of the Pink Panther, as well as cult shows like “The Avengers” and “The Prisoner.”

The John Barry Seven, featuring John Barry on trumpet and Vic Flick on the guitar.

Vic Flick 

The Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe Guitar used by Vic Flick 

on the original James Bond Theme recording of 1962.

John Barry recorded a revised version in 1967.

You can listen to it here:

THE JAMES BOND THEME

The original James Bond Theme used in DR. NO :

The Original James Bond Theme

PLAS JOHNSON -

Plas Johnson's seductive tenor sound has been utilized on many studio sessions, including - most notably - the Pink Panther film (1963). A more versatile player than one might think, Johnson sounds equally at home in blues, R&B-ish, and hard bop settings. He recorded a single in New Orleans (1950), moved to Los Angeles, and was quickly established as a popular studio musician. Johnson worked with Johnny Otis and Charles Brown, recorded dates as a leader for Tampa (1956-1957), Score, Capitol (1958-1960), Ava (1964), and Concord (1975-1976), worked with the Capp-Pierce Juggernaut, and toured with the Gene Harris Superband in 1990. But to date, his most famous piece is the theme from THE PINK PANTHER, composed by Henry Mancini and recorded in 1963. 

"The Pink Panther Theme" is an instrumental composition by Henry Mancini written as the theme for the 1963 film The Pink Panther and subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 37th Academy Awards but lost to the Sherman Brothers for Mary Poppins. The eponymous cartoon character created for the film's opening credits by David DePatie and Friz Freleng was animated in time to the tune. The tenor saxophone solo was played by Plas Johnson.

PLAS JOHNSON

The Pink Panther original recording:

THE PINK PANTHER THEME

The First and the Best James Bond 007!

Remembering Sean Connery on his birthday. The first and the best James Bond 007!

The Last Time We Saw Every 007...

Best Bond farewell? Sean Connery, without a doubt!

THE JAMES BOND FILMS: My Personal Ranking.

 

I went to see my first Jame Bond movie on the big screen around 1964. It was GOLDFINGER, and later I had the chance to see the first other two on a double feature at a local second run theater. I saw THUNDERBALL early in 1966 at the height of the spy craze. The movies and TV shows at the time, were full of secret agents and cloak-and-dagger themes. I loved the Bond films and all its imitations, including OUR MAN FLINT, MATT HELM, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., I SPY, GET SMART, MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE, and all the rest of the lesser known spin-offs. 

The spy craze faded as the 70s began but 007 held its ground and became one of the movies' longest running and most successful franchises.  James Bond himself went into several transformations, as different actors succeeded Sean Connery in the role.  When Roger Moore bid farewell to the role, back in 1985, James Bond entered into a very different path, as actors like Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan struggled to make Bond up to date and more palatable to modern audiences.  Daniel Craig entered the scene when the world was changing radically as the 21st century began to see a major turn in morals, attitudes and popular culture. 

The Bond of old suddenly seemed out of place in the era of #MeToo and PC bylaws. Craig and the producers of the James Bond franchise made the necessary adjustments to place 007 in a contemporary setting without disturbing the prevailing status quo. Bond became an angry man, often going rogue and ditching his job with Her Majesty's Secret Service.  His personal life and background began to take precedence in the stories and he stopped being the dashing, womanizing, elegant debonair spy with a license to kill.  He was now made more human, more sentimental, more caring, more down to earth and less elegant. He became a mixture of Jason Bourne, Ethan Hunt and Peter Parker. 

Frankly, that's not the Bond I knew nor the Bond I want to see on the screen. My Bond is an entirely larger than life, fictitious character,  mysterious, enigmatic, easy-going, hard-hitting but classy and elegant with knowledge of the better things in life and somehow, kind of a superhuman. His past is sketchy and not too clear. That is the James Bond we all wanted to be back in the 60s. However, we now live in  a different era. The Bond of old has vanished and the franchise producers are taking a different path to accommodate this day and age's tastes.  So now, sadly, it's farewell to the old James Bond we knew back in 1962, when it all started...

This is my personal ranking of the James Bond films. I love them all but I do play favorites. Not an official list but as far as I know none of them are, as this is purely a matter of taste and done just for fun, which means that no other criteria applies. You may certainly disagree with the ranking positions but again, this is just a very personal choice.

My James Bond rankings on IMDb:

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls011236085/