I was never a big Bond fan. I may have watched a few here and there, but never bought into the franchise.
A few years ago I wandered across the street to catch SPECTRE, the 26th — count em – in the 007 series. As a result, I decided to see what I had missed and streamed Dr. No and Goldfinger. I must not have been impressed at the time because I never got any further than those two early flicks.
Well, Turner Movie Classics is highlighting screen adaptations of Ian Fleming’s novels sequentially this month. So I decided to give them another look. The other day I watched Dr. No and From Russia with Love. Last night I watched Goldfinger. Three down, 23 to go … maybe.
While I watched both Dr. No and Goldfinger less than four years ago, I have to confess, it was like watching them for the first time. I didn’t remember anything about the plots, only the lady leads — in order, Honey Ryder, Tatiana Romanova, and Pussy Galore — which tells you what my interests were in the mid 60s.
As I’ve been watching the films, I’ve been making some mental notes. Bond … James Bond has to be the dumbest spy ever. He gets hoodwinked at every turn by his nemeses and/or their henchmen. A simple karate chop usually incapacitates him. Of course, his repertoire of gadgets always come in handy at an appropriate time … after all, he is the star — in these three cases, Sean Connery. He also has an eye for the ladies, but, then again, they are easy on the eyes, especially as they drape themselves in satin, lace and towels. Even by 60s standards, it was an obvious sex sells ploy. I saw hints of more recent spy flicks on the screen. Seeds were certainly planted. The 60s special effects are crude by today’s standards and the story lines tend to push the envelope of believability.
But, hey, the 007 franchise was never meant to be believable. It is entertainment, a two hour respite from reality that brings us to exotic locales. Our first three offerings has the British Intelligence M16 agent visiting Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (Dr. No), Turkey, aboard the Orient Express and Venice (From Russia with Love), and Switzerland and Kentucky (Goldfinger) … usually with one of his femme fatales in tow. Oh, by the way, SPECTRE is the back story.That’s an acronym for SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion.
Onward and upward I go. Thunderball is next.
THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Do what is right, not what you think the high headquarters wants or what you think will make you look good. — Norman Schwarzkopf, General-Ret
Express Line Vindication
I’ve done it both ways with my books. Xulon created the cover for Heaven Shining Through although I provided the original artwork. They cleaned it up and chose the typeface to come up with the cover.
I independently published Wisdom From a Father … one dad’s thoughts on life. I was proud of the cover, which features a photo I took of Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde, ME. The long planks hopefully invite readers to the lighthouse and, in turn, to open the book and choose their own path and pace. The type — Edwardian Script — was chosen to be personal and intimate. The combination blends the illumination, resilience, and comfort of the lighthouse with words that hopefully guide, build inner strength, and give hope. Wisdom From a Father is a reflective look at life, segmented into chapters. The words are updates of posts made right here on my blog. I’ve chosen 52 so readers can use the book as a weekly devotional if they so choose.
Initially, I independently published My Name Is Sam … and Heaven Is Still Shining Through. I also designed that cover, incorporating the basic points of the book. It included a similar sun’s rays peeking through the clouds but with bolder brighter colors — pinks and blues. A woman is seated at a bench overlooking the sunrise over the ocean. It featured a specialized script text and clearly defined the content as a fictional memoir.
I decided to switch to a small publishing house, Higher Ground Books & Media, which came up with a revised cover that still captured the essence of the story. It is softer than my original, which plays into the softer side of the novel. It also fit the KDP criteria.
A business man driving home from work one day saw a little league baseball game in progress. He decided to stop and watch. He sat down in the bleachers and asked a kid what the score was. 
You won’t find that reference in Scripture or any theological discourse. It’s from the sayings of Abraham Lincoln and it opened the reverend’s eyes.
I’ve always had an open line to God. I’m not a “formal” prayer. In the middle of a traffic jam or when in the solitude of my distress I might internally scream at God. “What the heck is going on?” I might cry, perhaps not that sedately. I can talk with God one-on-one like a friend … and I know God speaks to me as a friend. We all know how caustic and sometimes blunt a true friend can be, cutting through all the garbage in our lives and touching our very souls.
Mark is stable after surgery earlier this week for triple bypass with three arteries blocked, including an occluded aorta.. He has been transferred from CVICU to a regular room and is off all IVs and doing more PT. Praise God. The miracle continues.
We come to You, Lord, because prayer is the least yet the greatest thing we can do for each other. When two or more are gathered in 
Testimony. Its not a word I use too much. I find it pretentious … or at least self-serving.
Ironically, I — a male — chose to write my novella Heaven Shining Through and subsequent novel My Name Is Sam … and Heaven Is Still Shining Through through the eyes and mind of a woman. While for the most part, I think I captured the emotions through the story lines, I was reminded a few times I might have missed the mark. One reviewer, who liked Heaven Shining Through, commented she knew right away it was written by a male. As she explained, the sentence structure was a giveaway. “[E]verything was Point A to Point B to Point C and etc., with minimal breaks. Most (but not all, I will be the first to admit) women don’t have this structure, especially with the more emotional side of things. Even with it being a faster-paced story, there would be some side stops with emotion.” She added, a lot of the sentences were about the same length.”Women tend to have varying lengths of thoughts in their head, which usually translates into different sentence lengths.”
Think About It
I expected going in for this to be a discussion about climate change. And it is, just not in the way I expected. I was mentally prepared to “argue” his claims.
I wouldn’t call this a must read. In fact, I wouldn’t even recommend it for a strict environmentalist looking for affirmation. While presented differently — it took an awful lot of pages to get to the point, about 90 — this book primarily addresses two points: animal agriculture causes climate change and animal agriculture is a/the leading cause of climate change.
The Light 