Friday night: poked around Borders on Wall St.
While there, I skimmed a bit of the book “The Man Who Saved Britain” – a non-fiction work by Simon Winder, about how James Bond fit in the context of British history, but that the movies more or less dumbed down Bond’s value. A sociological view of Bond, if you will. The NY Times Book review of the book, by Isaac Chotiner makes the point:
When Winder turns his attention to the books and films themselves, his analysis is less deft. He is flat-out wrong to say Bond doesn’t change as the novels progress. Fleming’s hero becomes increasingly more depressed and exhausted by his job, and there is a melancholy air to some of the later adventures. Winder’s harsh judgment of the cinematic 007 is sometimes accurate (he rightfully flags a noticeable decline in quality in the early ’70s) but often misguided (the smooth appeal of “The Spy Who Loved Me” somehow eludes him). Bond fans can (and do) debate these particulars endlessly, but it would have been useful to get more insight into what now seems the most relevant question regarding Bond: why do millions of people, many of whose homelands were once British colonies, still love to watch a British spy save the world?
Saturday: Xmas shopping in NJ ain’t what it used to be – at least, not when I prefer the Day-After Xmas sales or just buying store gift cards these days.
On the ride home from NJ was seeing the weird lights along Route 1, in view of the Pulaski skyway: “It Is Green Thinks Nature Even” – in big red lights. Now, my siblings and I were like “Huh?” Weird. I was convinced that the sign was actually the other way around “Even Nature Thinks Green is it.” Which would kind of makes sense. The magic of Google provides an explanation: it’s the work of a conceptual artist. Sponsored by some environmental group, the full text is “It is Green Thinks Nature Even in the Dark.” “in the Dark” was apparently on the side of a building located on the perpendicular, which you can’t see unless you’ve an aerial view or on the Pulaski Skyway. The group’s website has photos and an explanation for the text, the brainchild of artist Mary Ellen Carroll. Curiously interesting. Although just saying “Even Nature Thinks Green is it” still seems fine to me.