007

Being that it's almost time for the debut of Daniel Craig as the new James Bond I thought, as a fan, I'd offer my opinions on those who were not chosen as the next 007. Two things to keep in mind as you read. 1) There is only one James Bond, and that is Sean Connery, and 2) I'm perfectly fine with the choice of Daniel Craig, I think he bring a long-lost toughness back to the role. So, setting Craig, Daniel Craig, aside, here is my ranking of the other candidates whose names were bandied about along with three of my own suggestions (in red).

Oh, and just so you can see where I'm coming from, here is my ranking of those who have played Bond in the past.

1. Sean "Big Tam" Connery
2. Pierce Brosnan
3. George Lazenby
4. Roger Moore
5. Timothy Dalton

1. Ewan McGregor: This is the choice that should have been made. A fine actor, he has a dark side, and he's Scottish.*

2. Kevin McKidd: If the producers were comfortable going "James Blonde," McKidd would have been my first choice. He's great on HBO's "Rome"- tough yet vulnerable- and, yes, Scottish.

3. Clive Owen: Perhaps the best of the non-Scottish actors to be suggested for the role. In my mind he'd been in the running since he starred in "Croupier."

4. Hugh Jackman: He comes off as a bit too rough and ready, but with a little help from Miss Manners and a good tuxedo, I could see this working.

5. Ioan Gruffud: He'd need to bulk up a bit, but I could probably go for this choice. He's a quality actor and there just something really likable about him.

6. Alastair Mackenzie: He'd have to loose the dodgy haircut he had on "Monarch of the Glen," but otherwise, I think he could do it...and Scottish.

7. Orlando Bloom: Maybe next time, right now, too young.

8. Matthew McFadyen: He's already appeared in a spy-related series on the Beeb ("Spooks") in which he/his character demonstrated the ability to be the cold professional. Might work.

9. Gerard Bulter: Might have been okay in the role, maybe the "poor man's" Ewan McGregor... and Scottish.

10. Jude Law: Er, I like him, but I just don't see it. A bit too "precious" for my tastes and whether he is in life or not, on screen he looks physically small.

11. Jason Statham: I like him, I've enjoyed his movies, but he's just a bit too thuggish- barely less of a neanderthal than Vinnie Jones.

12. Eric Bana: Nope. I liked him as the Hulk, but I was not too impressed with his acting "chops," even in "Munich."

13. Heath Ledger: Um, no.

14. Colin Firth: A great actor, but he would have made his Bond debut when he was five years older than Connery was when he bowed out. And I don't see him as a "man of action."

15. Hugh Grant: I thought this was a joke, but numerous online searches returned his name as one possibility. Concisely put, one Roger Moore was one Roger Moore too many.

*Important as Bond, in Ian Fleming's books, was half-Scottish and half-Swiss.

See, my dad was an English teacher...

...so during football season when I'm watching SportsCenter and one of the announcers, hosts, pundits, etc. refers to the NFL team from Jacksonville, FL as the "JAG-wires" I start to develop multiple facial tics. What they are talking about is:

a large spotted feline, Panthera onca, of tropical America, having a tawny coat with black rosettes: now greatly reduced in number and endangered in some areas.

This word has- count them!- three acceptable pronunciations.

1. JAG-wahr
2. JAG-yoo-ahr
3. JAG-you-er (esp. by snooty English-types talking about cars)

NONE of these are a combination of "jag," meaning "a sharp projection on an edge or surface," OR, "wire," meaning "a slender, stringlike piece or filament of relatively rigid or flexible metal."

Thank you for your time.

Best Songs

Here's a few that I came up with as a result of one scroll through my iTunes library. Feel free to offer alternative choices for any of them, or new categories for me to investigate!

Creepiest: “Country Death Song” by Violent Femmes

Most Uplifting: “Brand New Start” by Paul Weller

Anti-Vanilla Ice: “Pop Goes The Weasel” by 3rd Bass

‘It’s Over': “The Thrill Is Gone” by B.B. King

Self-Pitying: “Nobody Loves Me But My Mother- and She May Be Jivin’ too”

Ska: “Ranking Full Stop” by The English Beat

Sinatra: “One for My Baby” by Frank Sinatra

Remake of Sinatra: “My Way” by Sid Vicious

Post Break-Up: “Don’t Want to know if you are lonely” Husker Du

Most Vivid Imagery: “That’s Entertainment” The Jam

Really Long: “Minstrel Boy” by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros

Most Remorseful: “Hurt” by Johnny Cash

Duet: “Redemption Song” by Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer

Sexiest: “Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer” by Morphine

Christmas “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues & Kristy MacColl

About Scotland “Scotland’s Story” by the Proclaimers

Punk featuring Bagpipe “Will you nae come back again?” The Real McKenzies

Defiant: “Angel’s Wings” by Social Distortion

Acoustic Bass Solo: “Never Tell” by Violent Femmes

Sorry Folks!

I know there hasn't been much to see here recently, my apologies for that. Put it down to a couple of busy work weeks and the usual mental health suspects.

On the bright side, my PlayStation skills are growing very sharp!

Saturday Night

I think I'm going to turn on my PlayStation and wait for what's left of my mind to be lost.

Two down!

Scotland beat Lithuania today to move to 2-0 in Euro 2008 qualifying and retain a share of first place in its group. I'm not going to get too excited yet, but if we keep beating the teams we should beat and can manage to draw with the better teams, we may have a shot at actually making the tournament!

Sweet Victory I

The Euro 2008 qualifying matches got underway today and Scotland are off to a flying start with a 6-0 victory over the Faroe Islands. Sub-par opponents to be sure, but three points are three points and six goals with go a long way toward helping Scotland's goal differential. Lithuania (who drew with France today) are next up on Wednesday. A win there would make the situation look a lot brighter when the time comes to face France, Italy, and Ukraine.

Sweet Victory II

The movie I wanted to see today started at 11:55am and I needed to be at work at 2:00pm. Thus, it was too early to eat lunch beforehand, and there would not be enough to do so after the movie. Therefore, my only option was to, once again, show the movie theater industry that I hold them, as Jonathan Edwards once preached, "...over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire," and that I look upon them "as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the bottomless gulf."

Or, put another way...

I snuck a foot long chicken parmesan sub into the theater.

Thank you.