Wednesday, November 04, 2020

Shaken, Not Stirred

Got a quick start to the morning with breakfast and the most recent episode of Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures. Goofy and elephant kid Elroy are "Magic Tricked" when they try to perfect their act to show popular rabbit magician Trikini. Their act is a disaster in front of the others, but they have so much fun putting everything away, they decide it might be worth auditioning after all. Minnie, Daisy, and Cuckoo Loca fill in for a pregnant art teacher who is about to have her baby and teach her students how to make "Art from the Heart."

Dashed off to work shortly after the episode ended. The Acme was quiet when I came in, but it picked up at noon and continued to be busy for the rest of the day. It's not normally that bad in the middle of the week, but it's also the beginning of the month. A lot of people want to use their money while they have it. Other than a few annoying customers (including one man later in the afternoon who insisted the register counted everything up wrong when it didn't), there were no major problems. My relief was on time, but is new and couldn't actually come in for me. Thankfully, I was able to finish just in time.

All most people talked about all day was how gorgeous the weather got. They were right. I took the long way home down Nicholson to enjoy the warm-but-not-hot temperatures, bright blue sky, and soft breezes. Rush hour started as I left. I dodged quite a bit of traffic on Nicholson. It ended once I went into Oaklyn, where I saw a few bike riders and not much else.

Went straight into writing when I got home. Gene, Richard, and Charles are saved from Captain Peter Marshall (of rival celebrity game show Hollywood Squares) and his men by Brett, Joyce, and several ladies. Brett announces that the ship is secured, and they're ready to take their booty to the harbor to be given to the townspeople and divided among the crew.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had tortilla-crusted tilapia, steamed broccoli, and mashed sweet potatoes while watching Match Game '74. While Loretta Swit and Brett Somers picked on each other, the others answered a question about what Loretta's MASH character Hot Lips lost on the operating table. Charlene Tilton of Dallas turned heads on Match Game PM; Bob Barker of The Price Is Right settled for helping a contestant win $5,000...and help him get a kiss.

Made Banana Muffins during Sale of the Century. The show returned to its original format with adult contestants this evening. The lady and the champ were pretty close the whole night, but the champ jumped way ahead in the Speed Round. He picked up a nice men's watch and won the Bonus Round with seconds to spare.

Finished the night with Dr. No in honor of Sean Connery, who passed away on Saturday. Dr. No was the first official film in the James Bond series and introduced the character - and Connery - to most people. Bond is called to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of the English Secret Service chief there. He eventually hooks up with American agent Felix Leiter (Jack Lord) and Jamaican fisherman Quarrel (John Kitzmiller), who are also looking into the man's disappearance. 

Turns out the chief was checking rock samples off the coast of Crab Key, which has seen a lot of mysterious activity lately. James finds out what when he and Quarrel finally make their way over, despite Quarrel's claim of there being a dragon on the island. Beautiful beachcomber Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) also claims she's seen the dragon. The beast isn't what it seems...and neither is what's on the island. Bond eventually finds himself and Honey in the clutches of mysterious Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) and his SPECTRE organization. The two have to escape and find a way to shut down his base, before he leads the US and Russia into all-out war.

The first Bond film may come as a surprise to many casual viewers. There's no pre-credits sequence, no big ballad in the opening, just the theme song and some nifty early 60's graphics. James has a regular girlfriend, Sylvia Trench, whom he visits before he heads off to Jamaica, Q is played by a younger man, and the Bond girl doesn't show up until nearly the end of the movie and, despite Honey's iconic emergence from the surf, is barely used. Dr. No is pretty stoic for a James Bond villain, and though he does invite him to dinner and have a pretty nifty lair, is otherwise not quite as over-the-top as some bad guys from these movies would be in the 70's and 80's. 

Even with all that, this is highly recommended for fans of the series who want to know where it all started, or those who remember when Bond and spy spoofs were the hottest things going in the mid-60's. 

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