Phone Calls and James Bond 007 Marathon #9

This morning, while Ed and I were in the kitchen together (read on and you will see how this point is important), we got a call on the home phone. This is not unusual as our home phone number is also Ed’s business number. Before Ed answered it, he looked at the call display to see who was calling (yes, we screen our calls) and noticed that the call was coming from OUR OWN CELL PHONE. How is this possible you ask? Well, it's quite simple, while Ed and I were making coffee and breakfast, Max climbed up onto my chair, then onto the table, took the cell phone and ran into their bedroom (all undetected). He then managed to speed dial the home phone number. And all before Ed and I had been caffeinated. Straight out of a James Bond movie. We are in serious trouble.

Tonight, we watched the 7th James bond movie (it is the 9th in the series).


Note that we missed movie #8, "Live and Let Die" (1973). After watching movie #9, I am even sadder about missing #4 (Thunderball) and #8 as there were several scenes in which they referenced the previous movie. Seeing as I hadn’t seen them, I didn’t know exactly what was up but I did notice something. As Ed has seen almost all the movies so far (except the one with Lazenby), he brought me up to speed.

For the third time, the movie came in the original shrinkwrap packaging. It's our favourite movie so far. I rated it a "9" and Ed gave it a "7" (not sure how it can be his favourite when it got the same rating as others but he assures me that it can). It was just all around awesome. "Q" was in the movie but there weren't any gadgets (weird). Even still, the movie was great. Out of the 7 movies, it was the 5th one (in a row) that I haven't seen.

The next movie is "The Spy who Loved Me" (1977) and I know that I’ve seen it as it's from our own collection (not one of the ones that Ed bought from the garage sale, funny enough, it wasn't in their collection either). I hate watching movies twice when a) I've seen them in the past few months and b) when I can still remember the ending. However, I am willing to sacrifice myself for the sake of James... Bond that is.

  Besos, The Zoo

James Bond 007 Marathon #7 and Crayola Crayon Maker

Initially, I was going to give this movie a "9". Yes, I liked it that much. Then, Ed reminded me that Pierce and Craig are sure to bring the high ratings. Then, I remembered that I gave "From Russia with Love" a rating of "8" and it was really good. In fact, the plot was better but everything else about this movie was great. There was one tiny little inconsistency when during the car chase, James rolled the car onto two wheels and then in the next shot, it happened to be on the OTHER two wheels. Minor technicality and technically, they could have switched during the change in shot. Technically. Ed and I were laughing throughout the entire movie. I had not seen this movie before, Ed had (where have I been hiding?).

Once again, I'm a bit sad that we had to (temporarily) skip watching "Thunderball" as there are so many references to the previous movie. In this one, the super criminal was the same, kind of, just watch the movie.

In the end, I'm comfortable with my "8" rating. Ed gave it a "7".

We have decided that even though we don't have the next movie (#8, Live and Let Die (1973) we will press on and watch #9 "The Man with the Golden Gun" (1974). This will be Roger Moore's second film.

Note. Ed did some reading up on Lazenby. Apparently, the James Bond Franchise originally signed him up to do 7 movies, however, his agent convinced him not to do anymore so that he wouldn't be typecast. I guess his agent figured unknown obscurity was better than hunk status. Agent = Jealous = Not Good Agent

On an unrelated note, anyone have a "Crayola Crayon Maker" (or crayon molds)? I have 3,000 crayons bits and I've decided that I want to make crayons. Amazon is selling them for $20USD (used). Better ideas?

  Besos, The Zoo

James Bond 007 Marathon #6

Tonight we watched "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969) with James Bond #2, George Lazenby.


This was George Lazenby's one and only James Bond movie. Ed and I can't see why. I love his accent, cleft chin and "James Bond"ness. We thought that he had the potential to be (one of) the best, however, they didn’t really let him be James Bond (see the movie and you'll understand or don't see the movie and be disappointed). The script was absolutely horrible. The plot was lame and it took half of the movie to get to it. In turn, it made the movie long, too long. And the ending, well it just sucked. The storyline was the only thing that made the movie bearable and then they went and ended it like that. Tragic.

Ed rated it a "6" and I gave it a "5".

Tomorrow night we’ll be watching the 7th movie, "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) with Sean Connery (for the second time).

Hot Off The Presses. Uncle Andrew has the entire James Bond franchise on DVD and he's loaning it to us! Nanna will bring them to us on October 10. Knowing this, we may delay watching further movies out of sequence (note that we have Diamonds are Forever).

  Besos, The Zoo

Happy Birthday Bro & James Bond 007 Marathon #5

Today is Uncle Andrew's 36th birthday. Only a couple more years and then he'll be as OLD as me (tee, hee). Best.Uncle.Ever.

In tribute, we continued on with our James Bond Marathon. You see, the James bond series might well be my brothers favourite movies. So you ask, if that's the case, why didn’t you borrow the movies you're missing from him. And well we could have if he hadn’t gotten rid of his entire James Bond VHS collection several years ago. Note that he has since upgraded to DVD's.

When I asked Andrew to pick his favourite one he said; "that's too tough, I like them all". So there you have it people. They're ALL great!

Important Note. We regret to inform you that we skipped #4 "Thunderball" (1965) as we don't (yet) have it in our collection. Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Tonight we watched the fifth movie in the James Bond franchise called "You Only Live Twice" (1967).


While this might be my favourite movie so far, I only rated it a "7" (so did Ed). I really liked the plot (although they could have removed some of the fluff, maybe 30 minutes worth) and James' allies (two women and one man) were absolutely amazing. They really made the movie. To top it off, there was even another (evil) woman that he got friendly with. The whole movie was "shot" in Japan, however, they even managed to involve "Q" (and his gadgets), M and Moneypenny. Interesting fact: The theme song was sung by Nancy Sinatra. Note that like the previous movie, I had not seen this before (I had seen the first two).

The problems were that there were too many continuity errors (in one shot she'd have a shirt on, in the next she'd only be in her bikini, another, he had a bare chest--Japanese custom and in another he'd have full chest hair) and many parts were unbelieveable (even for James Bond).

Tomorrow night we'll be reviewing the sixth movie, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969) with James Bond #2, George Lazenby.

  Besos, The Zoo

James Bond 007 Marathon #2 and #3

Last night we watched "From Russia with Love". I really like the movie and rated it an "8". It had amazing belly dancing, a deep plot (perhaps a bit too deep for my sleep deprived brain), gadgets from "Q" (although all of them were used in one scene) and there was some continuity from the previous movie ("Dr No"). Unfortunately, Ed didn't like it as much and rated it a "5".

The marathon continues with "Goldfinger" (1964).


To be honest, by the end of Goldfinger, I couldn't remember enough of "From Russia with Love" to decide which one I liked better (I am my fathers' daughter). Thankfully, several hours later, I can remember enough to give it a "7" rating. The gadgets were way better and the Aston Martin made its appearance, however, I didn't think much of "Pussy Galore" (although you’ve got to love her name). I wish that she'd been more on James' side. Besides, the picture of Sean Connery on the jacket front doesn't even look like him. Ed also gave it a rating of "7".

Ed gave the "restaurant" a "10" (he cooked his specialty peanut chicken).

And now we have a problem. We don’t have "Thunderball" (1965). We’d like to watch the movies in order, because so far, each one has mentioned the previous movie, however, we can't wait forever to find the movie in VHS format (no, we don't have a DVD player, well, we do on our computer but it wouldn’t be the same). I think that it's important that we continue on or else I may forget all of the movies.

Tomorrow night, #5, "You Only Live Twice" (1967).

  Besos, The Zoo

James Bond 007 Marathon

Ed came home today with an epic garage sale find. A box of VCR tapes. But not just any coveted VCR tapes but (almost) the complete James Bond library!

And so begins our 007 Marathon (there are 23 in total if you count "Bond 23" with Daniel Craig due out in 2012). Right where it all began. Hail Sean Connery and "Dr No" (1962). Let us know if you want to borrow them (we can even loan you our VCR).



Note that this tape (as with at least one other) was still in the original shrink wrap. Ed and I thought about ending our marathon (before it began) for the fact that the tape might be worth $3.52 in another 25 years. But, we decided that the game must go on.

Our review: In the beginning, the waiter offered him his favourite drink; Vodka martini MIXED not stirred. What? Later on, they said "shaken". Ursula was fabulous in her bikini. Sadly, there weren't ANY gadgets. We noticed one inconsistency; closer to the end of the movie while he's trying to escape through the water pipes (oops, I hope that I didn't ruin it for you), he uses his shoe to breakdown a barrier. Then, in the next shot, he has both shoes on. Ed gave it a rating of six out of ten and I'd have to agree.

Next up "From Russia with Love" (starring Sean Connery from 1963).

And last but not least, here are some pictures of the kids and their creations (taken today).

  Besos, The Zoo

Nanna's visit

After eight sleeps, it was time for Nanna to go home. We can't thank you enough Nanna for coming to stay with us while Ed was away. We are looking forward to Poppa's visit. Here is a snapshot of the week.

Bubbles (inside of course)


TV (lots of it)


Blueberries (their favourite, YUM!)


Getting (almost) Naked

The Week of September 18, 2011

Nanna's here (arrived on Thursday), Ed's in Orlando on business (until Thursday), Artemis has a head cold (no fever thankfully), and Max is still obsessed with cars. Yes, Max's hair is getting long. No, I'm not going to cut it (yet). Here are some pictures.

We're Back Along with a Not-So-Bad Obsession.

After three weeks, five days vacationing at The Family Farm Compound plus five days camping in Algonquin Park, we're back in the 'Ston safe and sound. Our visit with family and friends was fabulous! I'll post all the boring details and pictures when I get my journal entr(ies) written.

In the meantime, I'll enlighten you with the obession that we brought back.

Cars, Cars and More Cars!

For the past few days, all Max can think and talk about are cars. It's the first thing he says in the morning and the last thing he says at night. During the day, it's a fight to get him off of one of his many cars to even eat a meal.

Tonight he took his obsession a bit far (or maybe not if you ask him).

A few minutes ago, he woke up from (what I thought was) a nightmare so I went in to console him. As I picked up my groggie and scared baby his eyes opened wide awake and he said "Car?". It's 11pm and the kid wants to ride in his cars. Needless to say, I put him back to bed and he was none to happy about it.

I guess it could be worse, he could be obsessed with cat poo...

Besos, The Zoo