A lot of folks consider Goldfinger to be the best of the James Bond novels. I disagree — it is undeniably iconic, but to my mind, that status is achieved largely as a result of conflating the book with the film (which is hands-down the best of the Bond films), but I find it lacking when compared to gems like Casino Royale. “Iconic” doesn’t always translate into “excellent,” and while I find Goldfinger to be a great entry in the best run of books in the series, there are flaws which keep it from true excellence.
Continue reading “Tour de Bond: Goldfinger (1959)”
Friday Music
The attempt at daily bloggery continues, with this week’s Mixtape of Teh Interwebz:
First off — a leaked track which sure as hell sounds like Lady Gaga. No confirmation of course, but that voice is hard to deny. Nobody knows if this is a leftover from The Fame Monster or an early demo from her next album, Born This Way. Either way, a tasty electro-pop confection, no matter the source: Lady Gaga – “Nothin’ On (But the Radio).”
This is a short one — I’m desperately waiting for a full soundtrack release, which will hopefully include an expanded version of the this title song. Until then, I’ll have to settle for this recorded-from-DVR version of the theme: Peter Nashel, Duotone Audio Group – “Theme from Rubicon.”
Speaking of AMC series, the following has been a total earworm for me since its use in some of the extended commercials for “The Walking Dead”, which kicks off on Halloween. The Walker Brothers – “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.”
Another earworm — this one from the new iPod Touch commercials from Apple: Chappo – “Come Home.”
Gotta post this, because I threatened to — and Laura told me that it would result in her totally getting Thug at her desk at work. So, y’know, there’s an absolute moral imperative here. ODB – “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.”
New song from a new artist from Toronto, Margo. The track is a brilliant bit of throwback 80s-synth-RnB — kinda like Prince-meets-Jody Whatley. Margo – “Cold As Ice.”
Lastly, a Rocky Horror cover track from Naked, a 2006 album by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, released only in Japan. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – “Science Fiction (Punk Version)”
There you go, kids. Enjoy!
Us vs Them
As I attended NYCC last weekend, I was struck by the massive difference between the comics audience and the tabletop gaming audience. There’s a lot of cross-over in various geek-niche interest groups, but the contrast between the comics fans and professionals that I spoke with, and the gamers and professionals at GenCon in August was profound.
Both industries are having a hard time of it in this economy, and have been on a decline for a long time. Both hobbies are losing fans to other pursuits at a fairly regular rate, and not really experiencing an influx of new blood from any source. Both have fans prone to orthodoxy and “nerdrage”, driven to expressions of negativity on the internet with unfortunate regularity. Yet the comics crowd seemed far more energized, positive and hopeful than the gamers — even at the relatively positive GenCon.
Continue reading “Us vs Them”