Sorry for the lack of a post over the last 13 days! I’ve been extremely busy and working some crazy hours, but with this nice 4-day weekend, it’s time to catch up.

I started with my new school on Monday – University of Phoenix. It’s fun! The online format is pretty cool and I’m having a good time. There’s quite a bit of work on a weekly basis, but that’s ok.

On Tuesday, the squadron had a Thanksgiving get together for a couple of hours. The food was good and I ate way too much like usual. Yesterday, on Thanksgiving, one of the new guys in our office and I went and had dinner at our boss’ house, and the food was amazing.

Tonight I’m listening to some music as usual. I’ve been watching some of the James Bond marathon on the SyFy channel over the last couple of days as well. I love James Bond! Go Roger Moore! Haha!

I might try to get a shower in later tonight but who knows…I might wait until tomorrow. And, no – I didn’t bother to go Black Friday shopping. I’m waiting for the online deals.

I dag er det faktisk den siste “skoledagen” før eksamensperioden begynner! Dvs siste dag med undervisning/forelesning. Og ikke nok med at det er en fin tanke i seg selv, er det <3matte<3 som er faget i dag! Så hittil ligger alt an til å bli en bra fredag.

Men fram til matta bynner har jeg tenkt å skrive notater i rle. Har tenkt! Får se hva det blir til. Har jo IKT- eksamen til mandag allerede, så kanskje kjekt å øve litt til den. Det er litt trist at IKT er ferdig nå til jul, synes det har vært utrolig gøy og lærerikt! Men jeg har planer om ta en eksamen til IKT til sommeren, dvs eksamen i “Pedagogisk bruk av IKT”. Håper det bare blir satt opp en eksamen i det, så MELD dere på folkens!!! (Men ikke for mange da, da blir det ikke noe av…) Så, NOEN av dere (ikke det at det vil “sprenge” lista med de få sjeler som leser bloggen min… haha) MELD dere på eksamen i “Pedagogisk bruk av IKT”!!!

Øvde litt på eksamen i går og vett, så her kan du se hva jeg lagde:

PS. 007 er liksomkandidatnummeret mitt

The SyFy Channel will be airing a total of sixteen James Bond films this Thanksgiving weekend. Below is the full schedule:

Thursday – November 26th 2009

8:00 AM -  Dr. No
10:30 AM – Licence To Kill
1:30 PM -  Live And Let Die
4:00 PM – The Spy Who Loved Me
6:30 PM – Tomorrow Never Dies
9:00 PM – Casino Royale

Friday – November 27th 2009:

12:00 AM – For Your Eyes Only
2:30 AM – The Man With The Golden Gun
08:00 AM – Thunderball
10:30 AM – From Russia With Love
1:00 PM – You Only Live Twice
3:30 PM – Diamonds Are Forever
6:00 PM – Casino Royale
9:00 PM – GoldenEye

Saturday November 28th 2009:

12:00 AM – Goldfinger
2:30 AM – Never Say Never Again

All times are EST.

Listen to High Speed Stuff on iTunes

Ben and I have been fairly busy over the past several days; however, we both found a little time to get away from our other assignments at HowStuffWorks.com to record a couple of podcasts. So, what did we talk about?

Well, we started out the week just having a little fun discussing the cars in the James Bond series of movies. Over the decades, the Bond cars never fail to impress us, do they? I’ll readily admit that I’m not a huge James Bond fan (I’ve only seen a handful of Bond flicks over the years), but I’ve always been intrigued by his cars. They do all of the really cool tricks that spy cars are supposed to do — and then some! I’m convinced that we need a gadget man like Q at HowStuffWorks.com to outfit our cars with the latest and greatest, high-tech, spy car gadgetry. Anyway, find out our favorites in this episode and send us a quick note to tell us yours.

On Turkey Day, Ben and I quietly celebrated a milestone — our 100th High Speed Stuff episode! So what riveting topic did we select for this special occasion? How exactly did we celebrate? Well, since we didn’t really know it was a special show until after we had finished recording, Thursday’s episode was simply business as usual. We talked about five reasons to buy a hybrid. So, I guess if you’re downloading our centennial episode expecting to hear flashbacks to previous shows, celebrities calling in to give us encouragement for another 100 installments and fanfare and congratulations all around, well, I guess you’ll be a little let down. On the other hand, if you’re looking for five good reasons to buy a hybrid, then this is the episode for you!

So, that’s what’s happening on the High Speed Stuff podcast this week. Head on over to iTunes and give it a shot — it’s completely free. Just don’t forget while you’re there to take the opportunity to browse through some of our older episodes and give us a little feedback. You can also let us know what you think in the comment section below, or if you’d rather send us an e-mail, you can do that, too. Ben always reads the address at the end of each podcast.

Podcast-related stuff:
How James Bond Works
James Bond Image Gallery
How Thanksgiving Works
5 Reasons to Buy a Hybrid

http://everpaint.wordpress.com/

What’s With The Link? Well, that link happens to belong to 007Meet009, AKA 7M9. (No Star-Trek reference intended) turns out he has his own blog about his new ROBLOX project, EverPaint! He calls it the “Ever-Changing Paintball Arena”… can you say “Chicago-Made Level”?!

Only  month ago I had never thought I would be hanging out at Pinewood Studios with 007, Harry Potter and the like.  As you may or may not be aware it’s in the world class league of production studios as many world famous films are made, produced and edited there.  I must say it was a great experience, not because I  mingled with famous people and I’ve been invited back to star as an extra, as that would be far from the truth, but because it felt like I was observing something that was ‘great’  something that had made a huge success of itself in the world arena.  There’s something big and bold about Hollywood sending movies over to little Old Blighty to be finished off with the magical final British touch.  Not to  mention the filming of 007 and Harry Potter right here north of London

However, we did meet with SWAT.TV, a new TV and online TV channel completely for Personal Development, to pick their brains about how to make movies and max out on You Tube and the like.

You Tube is the new google of online video (now owned by Google).  Video is the cutting edge of marketing yourself and your business and video will make you and your business different from the rest because it provides a richer experience than just words.  We found out how easy it is to make video using a Flip cam and easy to upload onto You Tube.  1-3 minute videos mean you can make them to complement, or instead of, your blog and gives your audience a richer experience.  We also talked about social media and ways to update all your social media via one web tool instead of the time intensive updating one by one, thanks to tubemogel.com and ping.fm

So to grow your market presence:

1. Decide on what subject to video yourself on and do it – upload onto You Tube etc

2. Get blogging daily, include video and update other social media with the same information

3. Build the business presence using as many social media sites as you can and keep them updated frequently using cutting edge tools available.

Happy Days,

Jan

The ability to convert ideas to things is the secret to outward success.
Henry Ward Beecher

Um pouco atrasada (a lista é até 15.11.2009, sem a estreia, portanto, de “Lua Nova”), mas hoje, por mais uma semana, continuamos renovando o post publicado a respeito do total de público este ano: quantos espectadores teve seu filme favorito entre os que foram exibidos em 2009 ? São somente as ordens de grandeza aproximadas, de acordo com os posts sobre Público e Arrecadação aqui publicados (os colchetes indicam que o filme ainda está em exibição no grande circuito com possibilidades de crescimento e subida na lista).

Acima de 9 milhões e 200 mil espectadores

- A Era do Gelo 3

Acima de 6 milhões

- Se Eu Fosse Você 2

Acima de 5 milhões e 100 mil espectadores

- Madagascar 2 – A Grande Escapada

Acima de 4 milhões e 500 mil

- Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe

Acima de 4 milhões de espectadores

- Batman – O Cavaleiro das Trevas (total 2008 + reexibição 2009)

Acima de 3 milhões e 100 mil

- X-Men Origens: Wolverine

Acima de 3 milhões

- Anjos e Demônios

Acima de 2 milhões e 500 mil

- Uma Noite no Museu 2

Acima de 2 milhões e 300 mil

- A Mulher Invisível

Acima de 2 milhões e 200 mil

- Velozes e Furiosos 4

Acima de 2 milhões e 100 mil

- Os Normais 2
- Transformers: A Vingança dos Derrotados

Acima de 2 milhões

- O Curioso Caso de Benjamin Button
- Up – Altas Aventuras [*]

Acima de 1 milhão e 800 mil

- 007 Quantum of Solace
- Crepúsculo
- Divã

Acima de 1 milhão e 700 mil

- High School Musical 3 – Ano de Formatura
- Se Beber, Não Case [*]

Acima de 1 milhão e 600 mil

- Marley & Eu

Acima de 1 milhão e 400 mil

- A Proposta
- O Dia em que a Terra Parou
- A Verdade Nua e Crua [*]
- Monstros vs. Alienígenas

Acima de 1 milhão e 300 mil

- Sim, Senhor
- Quem Quer Ser um Milionário?
- O Exterminador do Futuro: A Salvação
- Tá Chovendo Hamburguer [*]

Acima de 1 milhão e 200 mil

- Sete Vidas

Acima de 1 milhão e 100 mil

- Bolt Supercão
- Operação Valquíria

Acima de 900 mil

- Um Faz de Conta que Acontece
- Presságio
- 2012 [*]

Acima de 800 mil

- Força G
- O Sequestro do Metrô 123
- Ele Não Está Tão a Fim de Você

Acima de 700 mil

- Bastardos Inglórios [*]
- G. I. Joe: A Origem do Cobra

Acima de 600 mil

- This Is It [*]
- Hannah Montana: O Filme
- O Menino da Porteira

Acima de 500 mil

- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- A Pantera Cor-de-Rosa 2
- Inimigos Públicos
- Distrito 9 [*]

Acima de 450 mil

- Um Hotel Bom Pra Cachorro
- Queime Depois de Ler
- Watchmen – O Filme
- Dragonball Evolution

Acima de 400 mil

- Noivas em Guerra
- Rede de Mentiras

Acima de 350 mil

- O Leitor
- Minhas Adoráveis Ex-namoradas
- Star Trek
- Anjos da Noite: A Rebelião
- Evocando Espíritos
- Arraste-me Para o Inferno
- Besouro [*]

Acima de 300 mil

- Gran Torino
- Coração de Tinta
- 17 Outra Vez
- Substitutos [*]

Acima de 250 mil

- Austrália
- Salve Geral!
- Coraline e o Mundo Secreto
- Jogos Mortais 6 [*]
- Te Amarei Para Sempre
- Jean Charles
- A Montanha Enfeitiçada
- A Troca
- Sexta-Feira 13

Acima de 200 mil

- Uma Prova de Amor
- Os Fantasmas de Scrooge [*]
- Surpresas do Amor
- Código de Conduta [*]
- Bruno
- O Corajoso Ratinho Despereaux
- Marido Por Acaso
- Alma Perdida
- Foi Apenas um Sonho

Acima de 150 mil

- Pagando Bem, Que Mal Tem?
- Novidades no Amor
- Dia dos Namorados Macabro
- Eu Odeio o Dia dos Namorados
- Milk – A Voz da Igualdade
- Carga Explosiva 3
- O Grilo Feliz e os Insetos Gigantes
- A Orfã
- A Festa do Garfield
- Falando Grego
- Intrigas de Estado
- Halloween – O Início
- Os Delírios de Consumo de Becky Bloom

Acima de 120 mil

- Tinha que Ser Você
- Duplicidade
- Che
- Dúvida
- Entre os Muros da Escola
- Pequenos Invasores
- Efeito Borboleta: Revelação
- Gamer
- Perdido pra Cachorro

Acima de 100 mil

- O Contador de Histórias
- Amantes
- 9 – A Salvação
- Matadores de Vampiras Lésbicas
- Força Policial
- Passageiros
- Trama Internacional
- Jonas Brothers 3D – O Show
- Eu Te Amo, Cara
- Recém-Chegada

Starring: Sean Connery, Charles Gray, Jill St. John
Director: Guy Hamilton
Writer(s): Ian Fleming, (novel) Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz (screenplay)
Studio: EON
Runtime: 115 min
Rated: PG
Official HZ Cinema Score: *** stars

“Curious… how everyone who touches those diamonds seems to die”

[Warning—this review contains a couple spoilers within it, of both this movie, and also concerning ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’… If you wish not to be spoiled, cease reading now.]

Hello everyone and welcome to the seventh installment in my series of reviews covering the famed ‘James Bond’ movie franchise. This time around the movie we’ve got on tap is 1971’s ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ starring Sean Connery once more in the role of secret agent Double O’ Seven for what would be the final time for over a decade, and the final time for good as far as the official EON cannon of films is concerned. For some brief back-story concerning this, Sean Connery was reportedly finished with Bond for good when he left the role after 1967’s ‘You Only Live Twice’ but after the abysmal box office performance of 1969’s ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ and its star George Lazenby declining to return to the role again, it was decided by the producers and the studio that the only option was simply to offer Connery more money than he could reasonably resist, which at the time was a cold one million two hundred thousand pounds, or two million dollars (or twenty million you could say, after being adjusted for inflation in today’s currency…) and so that, as they say, was that. A few other new actors were considered for the role, but once Connery’s name was down in black ink, all of that dilly dallying ceased, and work began in earnest.

So now, as the question always goes at the end of the day in each of these reviews, was this particular Bond movie worthy of the lofty price tag its star actor commanded? All in all I would have to give this movie a “thumbs in the middle” perhaps leaning slightly up. Connery of course, is his usual impeccable Bond best, so unlike last time there are no complaints in that department. Guy Hamilton, the man who directed the five star classic ‘Goldfinger’ returned to the franchise here for his second of four films in the series… And as far as gadgets, girls, style, and action goes, this movie has all of that and then some, as well as arguably the greatest villain Bond ever faced in Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

With all that said, why, you ask, would I give this movie such a middle of the road rating? Well, personally, for me, the reason for the rating boils down solely to one thing, that being, redundancy. While Goldfinger had a fully engaged plot that kept you guessing and waiting to see just how Bond was going to get out of each situation he encountered, here instead there was only the old familiar Bond formula, with every cliché (entertaining as they might be) in the book, being recycled with the precision of an advanced computer program. Yes there were the usual instances of Bond being chased, or trapped, or whathaveyou, but never at any point did I feel even the slightest bit concerned for him, I mean after all, he’s James freakin’ Bond ya know? To make matters worse, the biggest physical threat to Bond in this movie isn’t Blofeld, or any of his highly trained henchmen, but rather, Bambie and Thumper, two beautiful leggy gals who appear to be plucked straight out of some kind of cheap blacksploitation movie from later on in the decade from which this movie was made. If I were to make an uber-sexist comparison here from Bond movies to women (two themes that normally go together, on screen anyway), ‘From Russia With Love’ and ‘Goldfinger’, would be the equivalent of two world class supermodels, with perfectly proportioned, all natural bodies, the faces of divine angels, as well as interesting and engaging personalities to boot, standing at a high class cocktail bar in expensive evening dress, drinking some vintage chilled champagne and casually glancing at you from afar with alluring looks, while ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ would be their equally hot but mentally vacuous and all in all uninteresting (from a conversational point of view) younger cousin with mammoth silicone implants and a high pitched squeaky voice, standing outside your local pub, wearing a see through top and barely there mini skirt, cheap yager shot in hand, crudely crossing and uncrossing her legs, and yelling for you to come over and… Well, you get the picture I presume.

With those thoughts out of the way, now we can dig into the actual meat and bones of this movie. First of all the story, if that’s what it wishes to be called, begins with what Bond himself refers to as a routine diamond smuggling operation, hardly worthy of his time. In the grand scheme of things, this smuggling operation is somehow contrived into being the source of power for a giant space laser (operated strangely enough, by a cassette tape), owned and operated by you guessed it, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, to be used to hold hostage the entire world for a massive sum of extortion money. That Blofeld, what a glutton for punishment this guy is, time after time, he spends countless billions on these cockamamie schemes for world domination or at the very least, to turn some kind of profit, but that ‘waskily wabbit’ James Bond, is always right there, mucking up the works and denying him his much worked for prize. Repeated enough times, you can actually watch these movies and begin to view Blofeld as the victim, and Bond as the bully, who just can’t let poor little Blooey (my nickname for the mad villain) have even a brief moment in the sun. Before this all begins, we first see Bond on the hunt for the aforementioned Blofeld, who in the last movie, if we are to assume there is to be any kind of continuity between the Lazenby film in 1969 and this one directly following it in 1971, murdered Bond’s newlywed wife, Tracy. Bond eventually catches up with the person he assumes to be Blofeld, undergoing some kind of plastic surgery to alter his appearance, while submerged in some bubbly mud like substance, which Bond promptly uses to drown him in.

This sets the scene for Bond to return to routine work as usual back at headquarters. In one of the early briefing scenes between Bond and M, when Bond complains of this smuggling assignment being beneath his stature as an agent, M reprimands him like a father might take to ask a not too ambitious adult son still living at home and spending all day on the couch playing video games. After the debriefing, which gets into the specifics of the smuggling operation to a degree which neither Bond himself, or any of us could possibly be interested in, he is finally released into this tangled mess of a smuggling conspiracy to put all the pieces together and bring to justice the mastermind behind the whole affair.

Before we move on to the rest of the fun stuff found in this movie though, there is one short exchange during the beginning of this movie that while I had watched it several times before, never really gave me pause until just recently watching it. The scene I’m referring to is the one where Bond is just about to set off for Amsterdam, (the location where he begins his mission in this movie) and just before departure he engages Miss Moneypenny in some fairly typical and polite flirting comments which she returns in jest back at him… However, I noticed at the end, how, when Bond asks Moneypenny if there’s anything he can get her while he’s away in Amsterdam, she matter-of-factly says something to the effect of “how about a diamond… in a ring perhaps?…” to which Bond makes a witty retort, smiles, and then departs on his merry way. Now, viewed from the point of view that this is a stand alone movie, that’s nothing more than the usual flirtatious cuteness that Miss Moneypenny provides in every picture she’s in and of no real consequence. However, if you are to take the series as a whole, or in the form of a continuing saga, chronicling the complete evolution of the Bond character from the point of view of the trauma that was just inflicted upon him in the last movie, then James should’ve promptly slapped Moneypenny in the mouth and said “You cold hearted bitch… you know my wife was just murdered recently. You were at the wedding for pete’s sake!” I don’t know why, but that whole deal there made me shake my head somewhat, although if nothing else, it is probably proof that at the time anyway, the producers of the Bond series, wanted so little to do with the previous Lazenby film, that they were now treating it like it never even existed at all, so in that sense perhaps this movie could be considered the first of many coming ‘Bond reboots’…

One high point for this movie, to me anyway, was the steady supply of Bond girls. I already mentioned ‘Bambie and Thumper’ up above, so leaving them aside, Tiffany Case was the primary leading lady in this picture, and she fulfilled all the duties required for her role. Her character was that of a smuggler, working under Blofeld who Bond was to get close enough to, to glean valuable information from her. The next one, and the girl whose name everyone remembers, even though her character is hardly on screen for more than five minutes, is Plenty O’ Toole, who showed plenty of style and personality, not to mention cleavage, so much so that I was really hoping she would stick around and replace Ms. Case… Such was not to be the case though. Aside from the girls, Bond also had his usual back-ups, first of all in the ever reliable old Q, who provided him with those ever useful creative contraptions to get him out of all the various jams he finds himself in. There’s also Felix Leiter, an American CIA agent, and longtime Bond ally dating back to Bond’s first picture, Dr. No. Among the people who Bond has to deal with as enemies in this movie include two rather bizarre characters called Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint, two openly homosexual hitmen who tail Bond and kill various people related to the smuggling operation in order to cover Blofeld’s tracks. They have the annoying habits of making horrifically bad jokes and finishing each others sentences. I wanted them both killed the second they appeared on screen, but unfortunately had to put up with them through virtually the entire movie. Blofeld himself here was played quite capably by Charles Gray, who formerly was best known in the Bond world for playing a man named Henderson who was one of Bond’s contacts in ‘You Only Live Twice’.

While he does a commendable job here and can in no way be criticized for his performance, I consider it a lost opportunity that the casting people were not able to sign on Donald Pleasence to reprise the role that he mastered, even given the scandalously little screen time he had in the last Connery movie. All in all Blofeld’s scenes with Bond in this movie are, aside from the great car chase scenes, the high point of the entire film for me, and without them here, this movie would receive a far lower rating than the one it currently enjoys. Another major character who plays a role in Blofeld’s scheme here is ‘Willard Whyte’ a reclusive billionaire played by Jimmy Dean meant to bring to mind the late Howard Hughes, who supposedly lives in the top floor of his Las Vegas hotel dubbed ‘The Whyte House’ and hasn’t been seen outside of it in over five years. Finally, anyone who has watched a lot of old westerns or John Wayne movies will be pleased to recognize old Bruce Cabot in this movie, who plays an employee of Mr. Whyte, as well as an underling and trusted ally of Blofeld.

I mentioned the car chases above there, and for my money, the ones here are some of the best in the entire series. Although he doesn’t have his trademark Aston Martin with him, James Bond more than makes up for that with a shiny new red Mustang which he drives in ways that I’m pretty sure are actually physically impossible. The police chase him throughout the streets of Las Vegas, but are alas, unable to even come remotely close to cornering him as you would expect. Aside from that he also at one point commandeers a ‘Moon Buggy’ for a fun little romp through the desert that sees plenty of overturned automobiles and hapless underlings crashing into one another. The only complaint I had with these scenes is that the classic James Bond theme music was not played at any point throughout either chase. To make up for that misjudgment I simply hummed the tune in my head while Bond swerved around the city streets and desert trails in his various souped up rides. On top of the chases, there is also a lot of witty one liners from Bond and others throughout this movie, which made for some fun moments, and which were a pre-curser to the light hearted days to come with the next actor who would take the role from Connery.

So what’s my final verdict on this movie you ask? Personally, in light of some of the criticisms above, I say see it. I wouldn’t rush out to the video store and snatch it up mind you, but it’s of a high enough quality in my mind to warrant either catching it on television or watching it on a rainy day when there’s little else to do. The fact that it’s not in my mind at least, one of the essential Bond movies, in no way negates from the fact that it is still, for all its flaws, a very fun piece of afternoon matinee material. So to sum up my thoughts here, I again say ’see it’ if you’ve got nothing better going on, but by no means make it a priority, as there are far better Bond movies out there worth seeking out before you get to this one. That concludes our review for the time being. I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to stop by and check it out, and of course, James Bond will return next time in my review of ‘Live and Let Die’ and with that we will formally begin to run down the legendary era of Bond movies staring none other than Sir Roger Moore in the role of Agent Double O’ Seven. So with that, I bid you a fond Bond farewell and say “see you all, next time…”

Cheerio.

Jules

Ieri sera la puntata di Matrix, condotta da Alessio Vinci, ha affrontato lo scabroso tema relativo alla misteriosa morte di Brenda. Devo ammettere che sono rimasto molto scosso per la naturalezza con cui si parlava di interessi sessuali e di  ” vizietti “  personali dei politici nell’uso allegro della cocaina, emersi soprattutto con il caso Marrazzo. Ma la cosa che più mi ha turbato sono state le allusioni velate sull’altra morte ” misteriosa “, quella dello spacciatore ed autore di un video ” compromettente “, avvenuta in settembre ed ufficialmente, in un primo momento,catalogata per overdose.

Insomma, come in un film di 007, si parla di assassini e complotti come si trattasse di situazioni normali nei giochi complicati di un potere politico che non ha più rispetto di se stesso e dei cittadini che dovrebbe rappresentare… Uso il termine ” dovrebbe ” perché sono certo che ben pochi di noi si sentano rappresentati da questa gente. La politica sta toccando il punto più basso di degradazione. L’infinita querelle tra Berlusconi e una parte della magistratura, furiosamente cavalcata dall’opposizione, ormai ci ha stressati. Verrebbe voglia di cambiare Paese e d emigrare in un’isola sperduta. Ma questo è un sogno che la maggior parte si porta in un angolo del cuore ben conscia della sua irrealizzabilità. E allora, cosa fare per difendersi?… Io penso che sia il caso di cominciare a snobbare il tutto, non farsi più il sangue amaro ed attendere serenamente l’evolversi dei fatti…tanto a noi  non  è concesso intervenire, se non al momento delle elezioni.

Mi rendo conto di ragionare come uno che ormai ha perso la fiducia nelle istituzioni, ma se non è ancora così, poco ci manca. C’è bisogno di un restyling generale, ma questo comincia dall’approfondire la cultura della consapevolezza delle nostre responsabilità al momento di ogni scelta. Il più delle volte si va a votare già rassegnati come se a ben poco servirà… del resto avviene così spesso che ormai le nostre mani spingono la matita più per abitudine che per convinzione. Peccato, però!

Umberto Napolitano

  click on per visitare il blog

I  Know its been a while since ive posted on here (mainly because i started a tumbr account, and it seems smoother and faster to use and i have just sort of fell into it). http://mrneedle.tumblr.com/

Anyways ive been beavering away on various things including more club posters for various places, some editorial design and a new project (This Is) Bond.

A project which combines my passion for Bond Films and my love and need to design and create things.

Over the course of the next year i will be creating a poster for each film (in between projects)

Here is the poster i created for Goldeneye

.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is close to $4 billion dollars in debt and they will soon be looking for a buyer. The studio owns – among other things – the rights to the James Bond franchise, but this situation doesn’t seem to be affecting the momentum of the next film in the series. Apparently, the 23rd Bond film is already in pre-production and will start filming in the latter half of 2010. We can expect it to come out sometime in 2011 if everything goes according to plan. If you can’t wait until 2011, here is a short review for Casino Royale and my thoughts about Quantum of Solace from the end of last year. Also, if you’re really impatient and you happen to have several billion dollars lying around I’m sure you could buy MGM and get things moving a little faster.

Remember that awesome car chase in 007 Tomorrow Never Dies?? Bond has jumped into the backseat of his BMW and he uses his cell phone to DRIVE HIS CAR. And do many other cool things. Watch here!

Well, an iPhone and Blackberry app have come out that will turn you into James Bond! I’m just kidding, the app can unlock your car, locate where you parked it, and contact roadside assistance. Initially free, but after 6 months there is an annual fee of $280.

I don’t know…my own car remote can lock/unlock my car for free (also pop open my trunk), my brain remembers where I parked my car (or I can use other free apps for that), and I can use my own phone to call for roadside assistance, thanks.

So, until this app allows me to drive my car with my phone, I will be holding onto my $280. But still, pretty cool!

[CrunchGear]

Starring: George Lazenby, Telly Savalas, Diana Rigg
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Writer(s): Ian Fleming, (novel) Richard Maibaum, Michael Reed (screenplay)
Studio: EON
Runtime: 140 min
Rated: PG
Official HZ Cinema Score: *** 3/4 stars

James Bond 007 is back!

Hello everyone and welcome to the sixth installment in my series of reviews chronicling the entire James Bond film franchise. In this edition for the first time since I started writing these reviews we have not only a different sort of Bond movie to explore, but also a brand new Bond to examine as well. The film is 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service directed by Peter R. Hunt and starring none other than the infamous model turned actor, George Lazenby, in the role of British Secret Service Agent 007. That’s right, we’re reviewing that movie. This movie is one that sharply divides both die hard and casual fans of this series alike in their opinion of it. Commercially it was among the biggest Bond flops of all time at the box office (although it did turn a substantial profit), and even today it is rarely if ever seen on television due to its rather long running time. And even during the Christmas season when you can normally find James Bond films a plenty on many networks in multiple movie marathons spanning the course of several days sometimes, this movie is still neglected to the point that you could almost say it has been black balled by popular cinematic history to such an extent that whenever someone takes over a role from another well established actor that it has become a fashionable passing joke to say so and so is the ‘George Lazenby’ of their particular franchise..

That is kind of a shame I think, because, personally, I feel this movie deserves a solid spot in at the very least, the top five movies in the entire franchise. So what, besides the running time you ask, keeps this classic movie from getting the recognition it truly deserves in my opinion? You could almost sum the entire diagnosis up in one name, “Connery, Sean Connery”, that is. Up until this point the role and the persona of James Bond had been Connery’s alone, and to the movie going public, to put an actor, any other actor, at that time anyway, other than Connery in that role was tantamount to Bond blasphemy. In later years after Connery finally relinquished the role many other actors would settle comfortably into Bond’s shoes with little resistance, but in 1969, for George Lazenby, the first successor of Sir Connery, he had a bloody uphill battle that was near impossible for him, or anyone for that matter, to come out on top of. It probably didn’t help that before this movie he had zero acting experience whatsoever, and his only experience of any kind in front of a camera, was in the form of being a male model. Other than Lazenby, the role of James Bond in this movie was also offered to Timothy Dalton, another future Bond actor who can sort of feel a kinship with Lazenby in that he is one of those Bonds that divides fans and critics alike in their opinions of both him and the movies made while he was under contract for the role. Dalton of course, turned down the part at this point, feeling that at the time, being in his mid twenties that he was too young to be James Bond. And so with that George Lazenby received the call up and the position was his.

So the question goes, how do I think he did with this role? This is a hard question to answer on many fronts. In comparison to Connery of course he was an absolute farce, and even when compared to later actors like Roger Moore, Tim Dalton, or Pierce Brosnan, he falls far short of each of them for the simple reason that at the time he made this movie he was not an actor, because the people who made this movie felt, I think wrongly, that a true actor was not required for the role of James Bond, but rather just a stuntman. In the case of this movie which I would say is probably one of the most emotionally demanding of any Bond film in history, that an actor the caliber of Connery was absolutely essential. But with all that being said, I personally cannot come down too hard on old Lazenby, as when you consider the difficult place he was put into, he did a more than adequate job of at least not embarrassing himself, or the franchise, when it came to portraying James Bond. In his own special way George Lazenby brought that classic Bond wit, charm, and style, not in droves like Sean Connery did mind you, but enough of it and in the important parts and places anyway, and also when it came down to the heavy emotional scenes, including probably the heaviest scene in the film franchise’s history, I thought and still think, even after multiple viewings that Mr. Lazenby was, if nothing else, a ‘sufficient’ actor to portray James Bond in this movie, which is the nicest thing I can think to say about him in retrospect.

It would have been interesting to see what he could have developed into had he had more time to grow into the role in subsequent pictures, but alas, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was to be his one and only entry into the series, making him the only actor so far in the official EON cannon, not to be brought back for at least one more picture. I cannot and will not heap him with praise and admiration for being one of the best James Bonds to dawn a tuxedo, but, I can say with no shame that I do admire him for stepping up to a very challenging role, and giving us one of the most memorable James Bond movies in the history of the series.

There has been a lot of speculation over the years how Connery would have done with the role of James Bond in this movie. Some suppose that the bored Connery who made ‘You Only Live Twice’ would have been a disaster in this movie. I personally do not think so. Had he not been so adamant about wanting to do something different, which I can respect, and taken this role, I think he would, out of respect for the great script, have upped his game and as a result, this movie, not Goldfinger, not even From Russia With Love, would have been remembered for all time afterward as the one true defining James Bond film to the set the standard for all that would follow it. As it stands now, it is still one of the best in the series, but one that gets heaps and heaps of disrespect and neglect piled upon it.

Now down to the basics of the movie itself, which I will try not to spoil too much, as this is a movie that deserves to be experienced for itself, although I will probably, unavoidably end up giving away a few things, so read on at your own peril. Throughout the movie there are a lot of well done and subtle little nods to the former Connery Bond movies, which, in hindsight probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, since even without them it is hard enough to watch this film without getting a pining feeling for Connery not all that dissimilar to what I imagine it would like to be on a date with a woman who was in many ways like an old ex-girlfriend you carried a heavy torch for, but at the same time, you are forced with the disconcerting reality that no matter how hard you wish her to be someone she is not, or wish Lazenby to morph from a British underwear model into a Scottish badass, it just isn’t meant to be, even when he at one point puts on a Scottish Kilt, which must’ve been done solely to needle Connery. But with that caveat behind us, I did get a chuckle from the intro in which Bond, who had just rescued the main ‘Bond Girl’ of this movie from an attack by two would be killers, and after that she repays him not by falling droopily into his arms for a session of divine romance, but rather, scurries up the hill into her sports car, and speeds away… to which Lazenby quips, straight into the camera ‘This never happened to the other fellow’… Indeed it did not.

The girl in question there was none other than Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo, or Tracy for short, who would be the main Bond Girl for this movie, although to stick her with a title like that is almost unfair in a way, as she would go down in history as the one girl for who would be to Bond something more than just a one night stand or a quick aid in a sticky situation. She would even be referenced in later Bond movies by the likes of Roger Moore and with subtle allusions made in the Dalton movies as well. She was the one girl capable even of bringing James Bond to tears, and it was through her that what before had basically been a very fun action caricature, actually became a living breathing character with flesh and blood, and true emotions. Now I know what you’re thinking, “C’mon man, this is James Bond here, we don’t need none of that crying crap!” which is fair enough, but I think when viewed on its merits as a stand alone feature, the infamous ‘crying’ scene in this movie is for my money the most powerful moment in any James Bond movie right up until the end of 2006’s Casino Royale. It, like the aforementioned movie, gave added insight into how the slick, sleek and sophisticated servant of the Queen became the curt, jaded, alcoholic, womanizing, ruffian that we all know and love from both previous and future movies.

Other than the Countess, Bond’s other allies in this film come in the form of the ever reliable Q, M, and of course the ever lovely Miss Moneypenney, and Tracy’s father, and head of his own criminal enterprise Marc-Ange Draco. The primary villain in this film as in the last one and the film following this one is head of S.P.E.C.T.R.E, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, played here in what for me may be tied only with Donald Pleasence’s portrayal from the previous film, by Telly Savalas. In between the last film and now Bond has been unsuccessful in finding and apprehending this criminal mastermind, a failure that troubles him so much that at one point he vows that if he cannot find Blofeld, he will retire from Her Majesty’s Secret Service and devote his own personal time to bringing this madman to justice by himself. As you can guess, eventually he does catch up with Blofeld in his mountain resort in the Swiss Alps, which provides a stunningly beautiful location for this film, which in many ways deserves top billing with the actors themselves. Blofeld’s current scheme involves a group of brainwashed girls he calls his ‘Angels of Death’ who live with Blofeld in his mountain hide-away, and whom he is feeding subconscious messages to and equipping with various feminine beauty products that all contain chemical weapons of mass destruction of some kind or another. It’s basically your typical zany evil plot perpetrated here by Blofeld.

After a certain number of movies, you’d begin to think after a while, that he probably in the end, didn’t really expect or even intend to get away with his devious schemes for world domination or destruction, but rather, being an evil genius, he probably just didn’t have anything better to do with his time. The majority of the movie’s running time is spent inside this state of the art facility with Bond seducing one ‘Angel’ after another while slowly but surely getting closer to the truth of what Blofeld is attempting to do to the free world. One thing that is puzzling about this movie though is that Bond’s gadgets, which are normally state of the art, are somehow less advanced than they had been in previous films, as in this movie he uses a bulky unwieldy device to crack into a safe containing important information, whereas in the previous film Connery had used a similar device that he was able to slip into his pocket. So, if just for this one movie, technology it seems, had for once gone in the opposite direction of what it normally does.

Also scarcely seen here are the classic Bond cars with their ejector seats and rocket propelled tailpipes. I can’t say I really missed them that much though as the action itself when it finally kicked in was stimulating enough to take your mind off of all that, with the great fight scenes from beginning to end, and especially the fantastic ski-chase scene during the movie’s climax in which Blofeld and his assistant Irma Bunt along with a horde of S.P.E.C.T.R.E agents chase Bond down a snowy mountain hillside during a starry night… It is probably my favorite chase in any Bond movie, if for nothing else than the great scenery provided. That chase manages to spill into a sleepy little village in the middle of a Christmas celebration, and through all sorts of various twists and turns too numerous to detail.

In the end, my favorite scene in the movie was probably the one in which James and Tracy both find themselves bunkered down in an abandoned barn in the middle of a raging blizzard for a cozy little love scene. It’s in scenes like this that you really get the sense that this was no ordinary Bond girl. I won’t spoil what happens after this, although I’m sure many of you already know. Suffice to say that it’s with this scene in mind that makes this movie’s “dark ending” as effective as it is for me, although I did not care for how they casually jumped from that right into the up-tempo Bond theme music after which was kind of disrespectful… But anyway, to wrap this review up, if you haven’t yet seen this fine Bond movie thus yet, don’t beat yourself up, “you’ve got all the time in the world” but still, I wouldn’t recommend tarrying too long, as this is truly a classic, flawed as it is, that I think you will not regret giving at least one chance to. Thanks for reading, and James Bond, and more importantly, Sean Connery will return next time in my review of ‘Diamonds Are Forever’. See you then.

Jules

Análise: Atual single em primeiro lugar nas paradas dos EUA, “Empire State of Mind”, de Jay-Z e Alicia Keys, lançado no álbum “Blue Print 3″ do Jay-Z.

Blue Print ou Toillet Paper?

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Bem, é isso que tá em primeiro lugar nas paradas… Sinceramente, se tratando da Keys, dá muita saudade da parceria dela com o Jack White naquela música pro novo filme do 007…

Ela tem que fazer igual a Nelly Furtado fez com o James Morrison ou como a Colby Caillat fez com o Jason Mraz: baladas românticas. Não Jay-Z! Deixa que a Beyonce cuida disso…

Sobre o Jay-Z… Por que não voltar para a tranquila aposentadoria? Tipo, Blue Print (aqueles papéis azuis usados para fazer plantas de projetos) está mais para Toillet Paper, se é que me entendem…

Está mais do que na hora de um Blue Print: The Final Curtain

Sem mais!

Bruno

I’m happy to announce that Licence To Blog (formerly known as Brown on Bond) has reached its one year anniversary!

Many more to come, I hope.

Keep reading. Keep enjoying. Thanks for the views!

Starring: Sean Connery, Donald Pleasence, Akiko Wakabayashi
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Writer(s): Ian Fleming, (novel) Roald Dahl (screenplay)
Studio: EON
Runtime: 117 min
Rated: PG
Official HZ Cinema Score: *** Stars

“ Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond…”

Hello everyone and welcome to the fifth installment in my series of reviews covering the James Bond film franchise. Tonight the movie we will be examining is 1967’s ‘You Only Live Twice’. First off, as always we will start by covering the principle information regarding the overall quality of the film and a few other incidentals. This was the fifth consecutive film in the series to feature the one and only Sean Connery in the role of secret agent James Bond. Up until now he was the only James Bond that most people had ever known and the role fit him like a well tailored suit. It may have begun to fit him a little too well in fact, as in this film you can clearly see at some points what appears to be a rather uninspired and somewhat bored performance coming from everyone’s favorite Scotsman. That’s not to say that it was a bad or boring performance by any means, as to even conjecture that that could be possible would be bordering on James Bond blasphemy to many; myself included. You could say that his boredom here was mostly forgivable as far as it related to the rather formulaic and lackluster material at hand, but my main point here is that if you were to compare the Sean Connery of this movie to the Sean Connery of From Russia With Love or the Sean Connery of Goldfinger you would see highlighted before you the absolute night and day difference between an actor that is clearly having fun and relishing his work and an actor who is simply putting in one more day at the office and cashing in a paycheck so to speak.

And while the plot was very formulaic and mechanical to be sure, as most every other Bond movie would be after this one and as the last few before this one had been, it was still a pretty solid set up all things considered, and provided the perfect base for Bond to play off of throughout, so in the end the issue of Connery’s ‘phoning it in’ here if I can use that phrase may boil down to nothing more than just him simply getting tired of having to be James Bond, as hard as that may be to imagine or accept for many people. All that being said though, this movie still packs quite the proverbial wallop in a few select places, and makes for more than adequate Saturday afternoon entertainment for any fan of classic 1960s popcorn action movies and spy flicks in general. It’s got all the usual wit, style, gadgets, and action, plus one of the best casts in the history of the franchise. I say that because I want to make sure I present a balanced perspective here, as even though I personally would probably consider this movie to be Sean Connery’s overall weakest effort in his original series of James Bond films, it is certainly not without its high points, and I would say for the most part anyway, it is a thoroughly watchable movie all the way through. Lastly, before moving onto the plot, this movie was the first from the noted Bond director Lewis Gilbert who in later years would give us two classic Roger Moore era Bond movies in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ and ‘Moonraker’..

Now as to that plot I was talking about in the above paragraphs. It involves this time around yet another scheme to start World War III by, surprise, surprise… good old S.P.E.C.T.R.E. This time their proposal involves launching their own space ship interceptor from their remote spot in the Sea of Japan to capture the recently launched ships of both the United States and the Soviet Union, knowing each nation will in the end blame each other, and that the ensuing political and public outrage will force one nation or the other to call for all out war. As this is all getting underway, British secret service decides they need a new way to protect their top agent. The method they choose is somewhat on the extreme side though. They have him killed. Sort of anyway, as in the beginning of this movie Bond fakes his death and is then reported murdered in a series of international newspaper headlines that float across the screen. This move serves the dual purpose of both getting those tiresome S.P.E.C.T.R.E assassins off his back and giving him the breathing room he will need to complete his most recent assignment, that being the location and interruption of the aforementioned plot to start a third world war between two international superpowers. So with that established, after a touching funeral procedure on board a large Navy vessel and a proper burial at see, Commander Bond is then brought on board a Royal Submarine and properly debriefed about his latest mission from Ms. Moneypenney and M before being whisked straight away to Japan.

Helping Bond along in this movie is a series of people involved in one way or another with Japanese special intelligence, the first being a man named Henderson who gives Bond some useful information when he first arrives, and the second and primary one being a man named Tiger Tanaka, who aside from heading up the Japanese secret service and having his own private underground subway train, also has his own ninja school. How cool is that? This is a guy with as much wit, refinement, and tactical support as Bond himself, and who will show up more than once just in the nick of time when it appears our hero is just about to be disposed of by the bad guys. James Bond and Tiger Tanaka enjoy a very gracious rapport with one another in this movie, exchanging various clever remarks and compliments at different times. Bond apparently respects Tanaka enough that when he gets the particulars of how to make his favorite alcoholic beverage mixed up (he commits what may be the one unpardonable sin in early Bond films in stirring rather than shaking Bond’s martini), Bond does not correct him. In the end Bond becomes so close with Tanaka and his gang that he undergoes a puzzling process to make himself look like one of them (for reasons of concealment you see), which involves stick on eye brows, a whacky wig, and *gasp* a full on chest wax. The site of Sean Connery in full on Asian costume for me was one of the low points of this movie, as he didn’t for one second appear to be anything other than Sean Connery, except that he was saddled with a ridiculous get up instead of his usual smooth tuxedo. If anything this move only made him stand out more rather than conceal his identity.

One of the huge strengths of ‘You Only Live Twice’ and my personal favorite element of it is the villains, provided here by the seedy Japanese industrialist and S.P.E.C.T.R.E affiliate Mr. Osato, and the man behind the majority of the plots of most of the previous Bond movies, who up until this movie was a nameless, faceless, leader of the aforementioned criminal enterprise known only as ‘Number One’, that being one Ernst Stavro Blofeld played here in all his bald headed glory by the late great Donald Pleasence. Mr. Osato makes for a completely acceptable secondary villain to Blofeld’s unquestioned supremacy. Blofeld though, deserves extra special mention here, as he was and is the very living epitome of what a good Bond villain should be. He’s super intelligent, crafty, but also hopelessly inept in certain areas as it relates to dealing with one agent Double O’ Seven. Donald Pleasence did such a memorable job here as the conniving scar faced super villain that his particular portrayal of the character in large part would eventually inspire the later Austin Powers franchise character of ‘Dr. Evil’ played with mocking affection by Mike Myers. Another plus here for our villain Blofeld in this film is that he is given a very elaborate secret location in an inactive underground volcano complete with working television sets, groovy retro furniture, and of course, a pool filled with several ravenous and insatiable man eating Piranhas. This secret lair is the location where our hero finally gets to meet his unseen tormentor of all the previous years gone by and also where the final battle between Blofeld’s forces and Tanaka’s highly trained ninja army will take place.

Now for the lighters issues, this movie is among the few I can think of where James Bond is not to be found behind the wheel of his trademark customized Aston Martin. However, it does somewhat make up for that by a very fun little sequence featuring another one of Q’s endless unique inventions, that being a miniature helicopter outfitted with more rockets, bombs, and other assorted weaponry than you would probably find on most fully sized modern day Apache Helicopters. Another fun piece of gadgetry here is a deadly cigarette that will give you a whole new perception on the issue of second hand smoke. For the Bond girls featured in this film, there are a plethora to choose from, most of them being of the Asian variety such as Ling who we find Bond with at the beginning of the film in Hong Kong shortly before he is ‘killed’, Aki, who assists Bond while he is in Japan, and finally Kissy who is with Bond in the latter stages of the film and is the girl he is given to in a sham marriage that seemed to me at least, a very odd and unnecessary element of the movie. Besides them there are also many other Oriental beauties who indulge Mr. Bond in a sponge bath at one point. Bond’s main ally at this point, Tiger Tanaka explains to Bond that in Japan “men come first, women second” to which Bond states “I may just retire to here” a line that would have caused the movie to be demonstrated against undoubtedly had it not been released in the era it was. That being said, the women in this film all sort of blend in with one another to the point of becoming almost indistinguishable. This is mainly due to a combination of having very little in the way of original dialogue given to them and secondly because of their similar appearances as well. The only girl who really stands out is red headed S.P.E.C.T.R.E assassin Helga Brandt, who is quite alluring and mischievous in the all too few scenes she is given in the film.

To finish off my review here and sum up what I said in the opening paragraphs, I’d say ‘You Only Live Twice’ is a very middle of the road James Bond movie. It has a couple aspects that make it stand out against the crowd for the committed Bond fanatic, but overall, it’s nowhere near either my top or bottom handful of movies in this series in terms of overall quality, although I have seen it placed among both of those categories by many different people during my research for this review. So with that said I think a three and one half star rating here is mostly appropriate. As for recommending this movie, I’ll put this one under the heading of ‘see it if it happens to be on television’ or if you should run across it on the cheap at a DVD or Blu-Ray store, especially if it comes loaded with lots of bonus features that is. That being said, if you are just a casual viewer, you certainly could find better or worse ways to kill two hours. If you are a major Bond fan however, this movie probably is essential viewing based on the unveiling of Blofeld alone, which is a major event for the franchise in that he will be the only Bond villain to be the main malevolent force behind and the focal point and face in front of three consecutive Bond movies. Thanks everyone for reading. Next time out we have a very different sort of Bond movie to review, and for the first time in this series, we will even have a different actor portraying him to boot. So make sure and be on the lookout for that, as I can assure you that James Bond will most definitely return next time in our review of ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’.

Jules

From the beginning of James Bond in 1953 when Ian Fleming created this fictional character, the women and cars of the James Bond movies have become a well known icon.  One thing that has never changed is the tradition of the stunning Aston Martin as James Bonds weapon of choice!

His mission as he has always accepted has been to lure the ladies with his smooth moves and amazing car the New Aston Martins.

With the starting price beginning at over $260,000 we ask the question How much would you pay for Halle Berry in your ride?

Nov. 11 is the birthday of the literary James Bond, as set by author John Pearson in his “biography” of 007, with a birthdate of Nov. 11, 1920.

So much that could be said, but we’ll suffice with happy birthday, Mr. Bond.

Por Paula Bassi

Quando pensamos na CIA, a Agência Central de Inteligência dos Estados Unidos, a recordação que geralmente temos é de técnicas de espionagem e operações secretas. Raramente pensamos no papel da agência no que diz respeito à tecnologia. Porém, uma série de documentos reunidos e divulgados pelo instituto de pesquisa National Security Archive, localizado na Universidade George Washington, mostram que a CIA começou a se envolver em pesquisas tecnológicas um ano após a fundação da própria agência, ou seja, em 1948 , quando foi criada a Divisão Científica no Escritório de Relatórios e Estimativas. Em dezembro do mesmo ano, a divisão uniu-se ao Grupo de Energia Nuclear do Escritório de Operações Especiais para formar o Escritório de Inteligência Científica (em inglês, Office of Scientific Intelligence – OSI).

As pesquisas dessa divisão influenciaram trabalhos fundamentais da agência como o desenvolvimento dos principais satélites e aviões americanos para espionagem, além de ter ajudado na análise técnica de mísseis e armas estrangeiras. Vários avanços na ciência também podem ser creditados a esses estudos tecnológicos, incluindo princípios utilizados na tecnologia do marca-passo. Mas, além disso, alguns dos documentos mais interessantes no relatório do National Security Archive revelam experimentos dignos de filmes do 007. Essas pesquisas envolveram desde canetas venenosas e conchas explosivas desenvolvidas para assassinar Fidel Castro até procedimentos cirúrgicos em pássaros e gatos para transformá-los em instrumentos de espionagem.

A história do felino utilizado para tais estudos é especialmente mórbida. O projeto foi nomeado “Acoustic Kitty” e consistia em treinar e alterar cirurgicamente o animal, o que envolvia implantar baterias dentro dele e transformar seu rabo em uma antena. O intuito era escutar conversas secretas por meio do gato. O experimento, que custou à CIA US$ 20 milhões, teve um fim trágico quando, em sua primeira missão, o felino foi atropelado por um táxi. Depois disso, o projeto foi abandonado por ser considerado não muito prático.

A OSI também esteve envolvida em programas para testes de métodos “especiais” de interrogação – ou, em outras palavras, tortura. Esses estudos exploravam o uso de drogas e elementos químicos, hipnose e isolamento. Uma dessas experiências também acabou de forma trágica quando um cientista especializado em armas biológicas, Frank Olson, morreu em circunstâncias misteriosas. A causa declarada oficialmente foi suicídio. Porém, descobriu-se que membros da CIA haviam lhe administrado uma dose de LSD sem o seu conhecimento. Um memorando interno divulgado pelo National Security Archive relata que, um dia depois do “experimento”, Olson começou a se comportar de maneira “instável” e foi encaminhado para tratamento psiquiátrico. Alguns dias depois, o pesquisador jogou-se de uma janela em um hotel em Nova York.

O estudo dos efeitos do LSD sobre a mente humana e a administração da dose em Olson fazia parte de um programa chamado MKULTRA. Abaixo, um curto documentário sobre o uso do LSD pela CIA, com menção ao caso de Frank Olson.

OBS: texto referente ao exercício 2 da aula de 7/11