If Elon wanted to be master of an everything app like WeChat, surely it would have been cheaper to license the source code from said app minus the government API instead of buying TwiX and then destroying it? Or he could have licensed the API as well and done a Find and Replace of CCP with NSA. But I guess he’s happy never to see that $44 billion again.
Even if you were to n the right (wrong) side of the channel to be able to access Threads, could you really use it every day without thinking of an apocalyptic Sheffield after a nuclear holocaust? Why even bother with Threads when you can go full-on fediverse and sign up to mastodon. I ditched tw@tter last year and signed up to an instance and haven’t looked back. There may even be an instance especially designed for grumpy middle aged tech tarts with a penchant for double entendres 🤷♂️
Just wondering when we’ll hear our first AI generated Bond theme or even movie script. What would AI make of the themes running through all the decades, not knowing whether to be the 60s alpha male or the 2020s diversity champion? And what the heck would an AI Q come up with?
They would have to make a decision on which songs to train it with. To be honest, the mould was set with John Barry's theme to From Russia With Love. Few of the most memorable Bond themes have strayed from that one. Even the theme from Skyfall follows the pattern.
Funnily enough the first horrible thought that inserted itself in my brain when reading Leonard Cohen singing Goldfinger was that it's probably possible to do that with AI ...
There's a Radio France music festival on at the moment here in Montpellier. I caught a few seconds of it on Instagram earlier. Christ on a bike, French audiences will put up with such shit. And clap along. They love clapping along. Always with the 'on' beat too.
The absolute worst has to be French house parties going on late into the night with the absolute worst dregs of "variete francaise" being badly "mixed".
I will admit to calling the Gendarmes out at 4AM one time...
With popular music did they sense a path that would eventually lead to overly produced attempts at throwing earworms into our brains at the expense of true sonic variation and complexity?
Or do we all just not "get" anything new that was not shoved repeatedly into our eardrums before the age of 25?
"The best song that was played within a Bond film but wasn’t its main theme song (and jolly well ought to have been) is Dusty Springfield singing Bert Bacharach and Hal David’s The Look of Love in the 1967 Casino Royale."
Sorry, Alistair, I have to disagree. TBSTWPWABFBWIMTS(AJWOTHB) has to be "All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong in the underrated "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", though "The Look of Love" comes a close second.
All The Time in the World also begins the closing credits of No Time to Die. But that's cheating as the song was already a jazz standard. Otherwise I'd have to consider including Three Blind Mice from Dr No.
I wasn't overthinking things that much! I was just saying "All the Time in the World" is (for me) the best song in a Bond film 😂😂 (I haven't seen "No Time to Die" - I'm bored rigid by the franchise now...)
No Time to Die does bring some uniqueness to the franchise.
IMHO it feels like an "In Her Majesty's Secret Service" type addition that tried to move away from the traditional Bond template to introduce something new. Time will tell!
I watched it again the other night (it's free on Prime Video) and thought it was pretty good. When I saw it in the cinema (with French subtitles) the French audience laughed when Daniel Craig said "Bonne nuit". But at the end of the film, some of them were in tears. One was a bloke.
I went to see the VO of 'No Time to Die' at the cinema and experienced that sinking, "Shit, we're in VF showing!!!" at the opening scene with French dialogue.
Don't forget the gang vocals version of "Nobody Does it Better" when the credits roll on the Spy Who Loved Me.
Likely doesn't count as it's a cover of the actual title song. But turn it around and make it the opener and your 10% of the way to Bond's penetration of Broadway!
I have to say that I absolutely love Moby's 70s cop show/Blaxploitation tribute version of the James Bond theme song. Been a fixture in my running/cycling playlists for years.
Jul 29, 2023·edited Jul 29, 2023Liked by Alistair Dabbs
I had to go back and re-read this one. I'm such a sucker for Bond that as soon as the double-o festivities started my short-term memory immediately flushed the twisty path that finally landed us on reddit where the music started flowing and the party got started!
The section on LinkedIn, while brief, summarizes that naval gazing neck of the woods quite nicely. The only real "excitement" in that morass is the thrill of hitting the logout button.
Of course, there must be an IT angle. But pull in 007 and the music and double entendre(um?) just fall right into your lap!
Jul 30, 2023·edited Jul 30, 2023Liked by Alistair Dabbs
When I was a kid we never went to the movies, so I had to read the book instead. Let me tell you: I had a buddy who lent me his James Bond books when we were in grade 5, talk about “eye opening.”
Similarly, I was never much of a fan of any of the social media. They all seem to be no more than various havens for the socially inept.
Comparing the books to the movies is fun. I especially like how the game of golf in Goldfinger comprises an entire third of the book, after which the filmmakers rightly tore up the corny remaining 2/3 and its embarrassing dialogue for something more thrilling. And in From Russia With Love, the training of the Irishman by the KGB occupies most of the book, with Bond only making his first appearance about halfway through.
If Elon wanted to be master of an everything app like WeChat, surely it would have been cheaper to license the source code from said app minus the government API instead of buying TwiX and then destroying it? Or he could have licensed the API as well and done a Find and Replace of CCP with NSA. But I guess he’s happy never to see that $44 billion again.
Oof, using source and APIs not under your control is a PITA. It's bad enough keeping the cats herded when you control them yourself!
$44 billion in paper money would buy a lot of cats though!
Even if you were to n the right (wrong) side of the channel to be able to access Threads, could you really use it every day without thinking of an apocalyptic Sheffield after a nuclear holocaust? Why even bother with Threads when you can go full-on fediverse and sign up to mastodon. I ditched tw@tter last year and signed up to an instance and haven’t looked back. There may even be an instance especially designed for grumpy middle aged tech tarts with a penchant for double entendres 🤷♂️
Hah! It's not just me that makes that Threads connection! It still amazes me that a film I've seen only twice carries such resonance through to today.
Just wondering when we’ll hear our first AI generated Bond theme or even movie script. What would AI make of the themes running through all the decades, not knowing whether to be the 60s alpha male or the 2020s diversity champion? And what the heck would an AI Q come up with?
They would have to make a decision on which songs to train it with. To be honest, the mould was set with John Barry's theme to From Russia With Love. Few of the most memorable Bond themes have strayed from that one. Even the theme from Skyfall follows the pattern.
Funnily enough the first horrible thought that inserted itself in my brain when reading Leonard Cohen singing Goldfinger was that it's probably possible to do that with AI ...
This will be the AI that decides humanity has to die :-)
"a tautologous festival of bad French pop music"
That made me laugh out loud.
It just made me think of Joe le Taxi, which is no laughing matter.
There's a Radio France music festival on at the moment here in Montpellier. I caught a few seconds of it on Instagram earlier. Christ on a bike, French audiences will put up with such shit. And clap along. They love clapping along. Always with the 'on' beat too.
The absolute worst has to be French house parties going on late into the night with the absolute worst dregs of "variete francaise" being badly "mixed".
I will admit to calling the Gendarmes out at 4AM one time...
Makes me think, where my parent's parents right?
With popular music did they sense a path that would eventually lead to overly produced attempts at throwing earworms into our brains at the expense of true sonic variation and complexity?
Or do we all just not "get" anything new that was not shoved repeatedly into our eardrums before the age of 25?
Youngsters are supposed to rebel so it is right that their music is different. The thing is, I don't think they like their own music that much either.
The exception that proves the rule is Michel Polnareff's 'Lettre à France'. Pure genius.
"The best song that was played within a Bond film but wasn’t its main theme song (and jolly well ought to have been) is Dusty Springfield singing Bert Bacharach and Hal David’s The Look of Love in the 1967 Casino Royale."
Sorry, Alistair, I have to disagree. TBSTWPWABFBWIMTS(AJWOTHB) has to be "All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong in the underrated "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", though "The Look of Love" comes a close second.
All The Time in the World also begins the closing credits of No Time to Die. But that's cheating as the song was already a jazz standard. Otherwise I'd have to consider including Three Blind Mice from Dr No.
I wasn't overthinking things that much! I was just saying "All the Time in the World" is (for me) the best song in a Bond film 😂😂 (I haven't seen "No Time to Die" - I'm bored rigid by the franchise now...)
No Time to Die does bring some uniqueness to the franchise.
IMHO it feels like an "In Her Majesty's Secret Service" type addition that tried to move away from the traditional Bond template to introduce something new. Time will tell!
That's interesting, thank you. I might give it a go based on that recommendation.
I watched it again the other night (it's free on Prime Video) and thought it was pretty good. When I saw it in the cinema (with French subtitles) the French audience laughed when Daniel Craig said "Bonne nuit". But at the end of the film, some of them were in tears. One was a bloke.
I went to see the VO of 'No Time to Die' at the cinema and experienced that sinking, "Shit, we're in VF showing!!!" at the opening scene with French dialogue.
Not great casting with neo-baby Léa Seydoux again but I thought Lashana Lynch was great despite her dull lines in the script.
Don't forget the gang vocals version of "Nobody Does it Better" when the credits roll on the Spy Who Loved Me.
Likely doesn't count as it's a cover of the actual title song. But turn it around and make it the opener and your 10% of the way to Bond's penetration of Broadway!
I have to say that I absolutely love Moby's 70s cop show/Blaxploitation tribute version of the James Bond theme song. Been a fixture in my running/cycling playlists for years.
I had to go back and re-read this one. I'm such a sucker for Bond that as soon as the double-o festivities started my short-term memory immediately flushed the twisty path that finally landed us on reddit where the music started flowing and the party got started!
The section on LinkedIn, while brief, summarizes that naval gazing neck of the woods quite nicely. The only real "excitement" in that morass is the thrill of hitting the logout button.
Of course, there must be an IT angle. But pull in 007 and the music and double entendre(um?) just fall right into your lap!
When I was a kid we never went to the movies, so I had to read the book instead. Let me tell you: I had a buddy who lent me his James Bond books when we were in grade 5, talk about “eye opening.”
Similarly, I was never much of a fan of any of the social media. They all seem to be no more than various havens for the socially inept.
(Personal opinion only.)
Comparing the books to the movies is fun. I especially like how the game of golf in Goldfinger comprises an entire third of the book, after which the filmmakers rightly tore up the corny remaining 2/3 and its embarrassing dialogue for something more thrilling. And in From Russia With Love, the training of the Irishman by the KGB occupies most of the book, with Bond only making his first appearance about halfway through.
Incidentally....
https://archive.org/details/james-bond-ian-fleming_202303/07%20Goldfinger%20-%20Ian%20Fleming/
These books are still in copyright.
The book Bond was reading in Miami in "Goldfinger."
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.218331/page/n5/mode/2up
Oh, boy. It would appear that I am in the wrong Substack
I am very wary of apps that claim to do everything. It could be my age letting me remember MS Works!
Anyone remember "The Last One" ?