World Enough and Time

Pim and I had a James Bond double bill this evening: we watched Goldfinger, followed by Dr. No.



I wasn't very impressed by Goldfinger which, except for the the bit with girl covered in gold, struck me as sort of hokey and pointless. But Dr. No - what an unexpected treat! It was old-fashioned fun like I remember from The Man From U.N.C.L.E., with an interesting and bizarre villain and Bond being, well, Bond-like. And I really liked Jack Lord as Felix Leiter - I haven't liked any of the other actors I've seen in the role. I even surprised myself by liking Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder.

Good Jamaica setting, too.

Quite a day! I was up at 6:30 to go to the gym early. Then on my way home I went to Britten's, the magazine store on Bank Street, to see if they had the British GQ with the pictures of Daniel Craig in it. They did. I really can't afford magazines right now, but I knew I had a Britten's gift card from last Christmas that I could use. So I went home to get it, and came back to Britten's about 11 a.m.

And the magazine wasn't there.

So I went to the gentleman at the cash and said how I'd seen it only a few hours earlier - had someone bought it? Turns out that the next month's issue of GQ had come in so they'd pulled the old one. But it was still on the premises. They went rumaging through big boxes of magazines under their table, and eventually came up with it - on the very bottom.

So then I went to buy a humidifier, which I also couldn't afford - it was on sale for $79 - but I told myself it was like getting medicine, because I keep being told that people with Sjogren's need to have humidity. (Not forgetting that if I have too much humidity, I'll be struggling with candidiasis again! You can't win!) Anyway, Glebe Pharmacy had a humidifier/lamp that I found most attractive, and after looking at what the other stores had to offer - some more expensive, some less, none as attractive - I decided to go for it. And discovered that if I bought it with the points from my Optimum Card, which I didn't even realize was valid at that store, I could buy it for $13.

When I got home, I took all the fannish pictures down from the walls of my bathroom, mostly pictures from Doctor Who and sketches of characters in Game of Thrones, and picture of Peter Wingfield. I washed the frames and mounted pages from GQ... I knew it featured Daniel Craig as Bond, but I didn't know, or expect, that it had pictures of Ben Whishaw, too. Turned out it had more pictures of Wishaw than Craig. So I now have the following on my bathroom walls:




(That's my hairdryer and 2012 calendar below.)
- - -
( Read more... )
The magazine cover, with Daniel Craig on it, is taped to the front of my bathroom door - with Christmas cards around it. The outside of my bathroom door is a little more casual, a little more seasonal and unplanned, than the walls inside.

Then Marion and Vicky came over, and maaseru. We ate Christmas food watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon, of course), and We're No Angels. There was turkey with dressing, gravy, and cranberry sauce; stir-fried kale and leeks; baked potatoes; Caesar salad; carrot cake; mince tarts; and eggnog. I made Pears Roasted in Maple Syrup for dessert.

Yeah, nice day.

I was looking at a few articles about Skyfall and Daniel Craig. Seems Richard Cohen of The Washington Post doesn't like his physique or its appeal to women, and he's answered by Mark O'Donnell of Out and Alyssa Rosenberg of Thinkprogress. Cohen professes to be talking about looks and lifestyle messages, but I think what he's really talking about is sexiness.

Don't tell me what to find sexy.

It's like reading the male sociologists who concluded that females who like slash and yaoi are sexually maladjusted - so very irritating. Does Cohen really think that Cary Grant is somehow morally superior to Daniel Craig in what he represents to society? I can't see it. There's room in our world for all sorts of people to appear attractive at any age. And really, there's a lot to be said for the sheer animal appeal of physicality. I think Craig as Bond does a magnificent job of presenting the 'tough and tender' extremes of masculinity. That's very sexy.

And I hope the writers take note: action heroes are all the better for having a heart.

Craig as Bond has a great body, yes. But what's sexy about it is the way he uses it, and the way we see he works very hard to improve his power and skills, not out of vanity but out of necessity. He can't do his job if he lets himself go - if he succumbs to the lure of alcohol and leisurely days in his Turkish hideaway. So he works to become what he feels the need to be: an effective agent for his government. He does this while keeping his individuality and his sense of values.

That kind of dedication is sexy. Take note, Richard Cohen, it isn't just the incline pec fly we're looking at.

Title: Lust
Author: fajrdrako
Fandom: James Bond
Type: 00Q slash
Characters: James Bond, Q
Rating: G
Form: Drabble (100 words)
Disclaimer: Not mine, no claims.
Notes: Cross-posted to my Dreamwidth account, my Livejournal account, the 00Q community, my fanfic journal and Archive of Our Own.

( Lust )

Title: Black Stone
Author: fajrdrako
Fandom: James Bond, "Skyfall"
Characters: James Bond, Q, M
Rating: G
Length: 638 words
Disclaimer: Not mine, no claims.
Notes: Post-Skyfall. Cross-posted to my Dreamwidth account, my Livejournal account, my fanfic journal, and Archive of Our Own.

( Black Stone )

I was doing laundry this morning. People in the apartment building leave books in our laundry room for others to pick up and read. Today, there was a book I was delighted to see: billed as a new James Bond novel, Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver - in French, translated by Perrine Chambon and Arnaud Baignot. I was delighted. A chance to indulge in more Bondishness, while practicing my French in virtuous fashion.

Warched more bits of Skyfall while sorting laundry.

Bond's hair was too short in the beginning of the movie. I'm glad he let it grow.

Title: Night Dreams
Author: fajrdrako
Fandom: James Bond
Type: 00Q slash - James Bond/Q
Characters: James Bond, Q
Rating: G
Form: Drabble (100 words)
Disclaimer: Not mine, no claims.
Notes: Cross-posted to my Dreamwidth account, my Livejournal account, The 00Q Community, and my fanfic journal.

( Night Dreams )

Title: Lust
Author: fajrdrako
Fandom: James Bond
Type: 00Q slash
Characters: James Bond, Q
Rating: G
Form: Drabble (100 words)
Disclaimer: Not mine, no claims.
Notes: Cross-posted to my Dreamwidth account, my Livejournal account, the 00Q community, and my fanfic journal and Archive of Our Own..

( Lust )

This evening, in anticipation of Skyfall, we watched Casino Royale again.

I remembered that I'd loved it, but I hadn't remembered what a good movie it was. The parkour scene itself delights me; but the story is good, Eva Green is marvellous, the villains are good, the romance is lovely... yeah. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it again.

Especially Daniel Craig. Lovely man.

Really excited about Skyfall now.