Puppet on a string ..

The Sun's entertainment pages have 3 photos of Bond star Daniel Craig perched on top of a bus in Tuscany, Italy for filming of Quantum Of Solace. The first two make Dan very daring but the third/bottom one with his posture makes him look like a Thunderbird puppet - F.A.B ! The item suggests it's "one way of beating the rush-hour crush" and describes him as "Craggy lady-killer Daniel Craig" & "The hard-nut actor" ( see my QoS blog ). Despite needing the aid of a safety wire, it still takes guts to "bus-surf", well done Dan !
The photo of singer Amy Winehouse is added as she and producer Mark Ronson "has begun [work] on the theme song too. Here she is heading off from her London home on Monday as they fled the city to start writing and recording the track." Has the Bond Producers announced this yet for this problematic & award-winning singer who doesn't exactly enhance the Bond franchise with her tabloid exploits ( 09/04 ).

Look what Rog has started ..

Three years ago I had a Sun photo item about a lady bus driver in South London who recreated LALD's double decker bus split, move on and we now have two more who have tried to better Sir Rog's 007 driving skills ...

1. Despite a warning sign of ARCH BRIDGE - High vehicles use middle of road "seven people were hurt when the top deck of this bus was ripped off by a low bridge .. diverted by road closures after Saturday's Camden market fire in North London." Notice the top dotted middle lines, luckily all suffered just minor injuries and were released "after the 9am smash" ( 12/02 ).


2. This time "a learner bus driver turned this double decker into an open-top model after hitting a bridge .. on a training route near Wolverhampton. His 14ft-high bus smashed into 12ft railway bridge." Thankfully no one was hurt ( 18/04 ).

James Bond News: Miscellaneous

1. Noticed the following Bond related items in The Sun ...
1. A serious photo of Bond star Daniel Craig appears over heading of 007 Dan is shaken by movie protester, the six papragraph item claims he "was shaken and stirred when a town mayor drove on the set of his new Bond film to protest. Two cops lept out of the way as crazed Carlos Lopez ploughed his car through a police cordon." It seems the seized mayor was "furious that his Chilean town is being portrayed as rival country Bolivia." He is quoted "I put my vehicle between the camera and the actor, who was nothing in common with the secret agent 007 as he fled in terror. When he saw me, James Bond ran off!" Producers Eon claim he stayed in the car as he was dealt by security but hey every Mayor has his day ( 03/04 ).
2. Apart from the Olga center spread item, a small page 2 item appears titled 007 fails to get girl which reveals "James Bond does not get the girl in the latest spy film - the first time EVER 007 fails to seduce the leading lady. Bond .. is too busy fighting sexy Olga Kurylenko, 28, as he avenges his lover." An explaining quote from Quantum Of Solace producer Michael G Wilson: "We felt Bond couldn't immediately fall into a new relationship." At the end it mentions "one steamy scene with an MI6 girl, played by Gemma Arterton, 22." That'll bring a smile to Dan's face ( 05/04 ).

3. On the movies page that serious press day photo again of Craig as the SneakLEAK reveals "Bond producer Michael G Wilson says his team will take time out after completing .. Quantum Of Solace". He is quoted "We have been at it for five years and I'm going to take a break from Bond for a bit." I bet you thought he had his feet up since CR ( 11/04 ).


4. Hats off to the caption writers with this page 2 photo item titled Ah, Mr Bond, we've been expecting you as "Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Libyan ruler Colonel Gaddafi look like classic James Bond villains as they pose for pictures yesterday." It suggests "Mr Putin, left, and Gaddafi, sinister in his shades, would have left 007 shaken and stirred as they met for talks in the Libyan capital of Tripoli." Other puns are mentioned but Mr Putin reminds me of the guy Broz bumped off in TWINE, not sure which henchmen Gaddafi resembles but give me time ( 18/04 ).


5. A double photo page of celebrities attending The Big Fight between Calzaghe and Hopkins in Las Vegas on Saturday night. One photo captioned "Jones meets Jaws .." shows Bond singer Tom TB Jones next to Bond villain Richael TSWLM Kiel ( 21/04 ).
6. Blink and you miss a bottom page SUN SPOT which claims "Daniel Craig is the first James Bond to replace Sean Connery as the most popular 007, a poll by an international fan club dedicated to the spy yesterday." I wonder which club ? Mmm ... ( 30/04 ).
2. BIRTHDAYS: Apr 05: Bond producer Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli ( would have been 99 ), Apr 14: TWINE baddie Robert Carlyle ( 47 ) & Apr 26: Bond girl Claudine Auger ( 66 ).


3. Bond Cast/Related TV Spots:

1. An updated computerised 3-D version of Spitting Image called Headcases ( ITV1, Sun 22:00 ) has started where they poke fun at celebs and politicians. Among the victims are Dame Judi Dench and Daniel Craig. Dame Judi is part of a trio with Dame Helen Mirren having fun at Kate Winslet's expense attending premieres & awards - the joke is the Dames' refined vowels are just an act for the cameras and speak like chavs with street slang & raunchy attitudes. As you see from the photo Judi is recognisable but a little unflattering about her body shape.
   Meanwhile a silent black[?] haired Craig appears with Princes Harry & William who are trying to be 'normal blokes' - as they order pizza with different toppings, alas the poor chef has to agree to the strange selections as he has a silencer gun poking at his head with Dan as 007 holding the weapon. He helps deliver the pizza and serves the princes - there seems to be 2 of him - a sort of On Her Majesty's Secret SERVICE at the DOUBLE ? The following week's sketch has Craig as Bond making the pub quizmaster change the topics to favour the Royals ( 06/04 ).


2. A documentary called James Bond: The True Story ( five, Wed 21:00 - repeated Sun ) was shown about how James Bond author Ian Fleming developed his ideas and inspirations for the character of 007. Similar to the earlier Beeb documentary they used actors for scenes eg. unfortunately the smoking guy at the typewriter being Fleming at his Jamaican resort of Goldeneye resembled more Bond director Terence Young. Nice to see interviewed Little Nellie autogyro pilot Ken Wallis still flying .. at 93 ! Old film of real-life characters were seen to show comparisons to our famous spy along with clips from the movies including CR & GF - with directors stated in the captions. Missed Fleming's TB legal battle but passable hour of Bond interest ( 23/04 ).