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[Sam the Centipede]

Ian Fleming’s Lost ‘Moonraker’ Script Found, Revealing Dramatically Different Vision for James Bond Movies

Not directly related, but some might be interested, so …

… A lot has been written about the James Bond phenomenon, both the books and the films (disclaimer: I'm not a fan of the films and I haven't looked at the books for decades). Umberto Eco (the semiotics guy) wrote a nice piece called Narrative Structure in Ian Fleming which wormy people might find interesting. It's a longish piece so here's the analysis of the common structure of the books (except the short stories):

The invariable scheme is the following:
A. M moves and gives a task to Bond.
B. The Villain moves and appears to Bond (perhaps in alternating forms).
C. Bond moves and gives a first check to the Villain or the Villain gives first check to Bond.
D. Woman moves and shows herself to Bond.
E. Bond consumes Woman: possesses her or begins her seduction.
F. The Villain captures Bond (with or without Woman, or at different moments).
G. The Villain tortures Bond (with or without Woman).
H. Bond conquers the Villain (kills him, or kills his representative or helps at their killing).
I. Bond convalescing enjoys Woman, whom he then loses.

Hmm… authors and filmmakers like their flawed heros to lose at the end, as in Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and its remake as a Western, The Magnificent Seven. That's another topic in itself!

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Thanks, Sam! I'm "wormy" and enjoyed that!

[Phoenix520]

The Mr was listening to a piece about Christopher Lee the other night. He was Ian Fleming’s cousin (I had no idea). Lee was apparently a dashing military hero in addition to everything else and the model for James Bond.

He was almost an opera singer, too, and at age 88 was in a metal band also, too.

[Estiveo]

[raison de arizona]

He had me convinced it was a portal to hell. Anyway, here’s The Grappler.

[northland10]

OMG. I love it.

[Volkonski]

[neonzx]

To both the grapple and the water illusion. Fun times!

[Estiveo]

That grappler is awesome sauce.

[northland10]

It is impressive that a Democratic candidate could take the northern GR burbs but it is not 100% surprising. West Michigan is conservative but generally has not been in the far right/Trump conservative bent. They are Dutch West Michigan conservatives. They hold certain values that are entirely opposite of the MAGA world.

The district is currently represented in Congress by Peter Meijer and before him, Justin Amash. Both of them voted for impeaching Trump.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[RTH10260]

I know I am late to the party but I just enjoyed the full half hour of Trevor Noah at the WHCA dinner

[raison de arizona]

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.motortrend.com/features/196 ... -auctions/

World's Rarest 1969 Dodge Daytona Is Poised to Break Auction Record
The incredible back story of how this Dodge Daytona Hemi four-speed made it to the auction block with a $1+ million expectation.

The Mecum Auctions roadshow rolls into Indianapolis on May 13-21 and Mopar fans will want to have their eyes glued to MotorTrend for this one, as one of the most significant Dodge muscle cars to ever assault the pavement is crossing the auction block, and when it does, this is the exclusive inside story they'll be talking about. We'll dive into that in a moment, but first some quick history. The 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona was a one-year-only model designed specifically to dominate the high-banked super speedways of stock car racing. Its aerodynamic nosecone and raked rear wing made it a terror on the track but ungainly on ordinary roads. The Daytona's extremely limited production of just 503 examples makes it one of the rarest and most sought-after cars in the world of muscle car collecting.

Developed with help from the aerodynamicists at Chrysler's aerospace division during the heady years of the Apollo program, the Daytona was designed to slip cleanly through the air, only permitting drag for the sole purpose of downforce to keep it glued to the track at 200 mph. Power was the other half of that formula, and the 1969 Dodge Daytona was available with just two engines: the 440ci Magnum, and the vaunted 426ci Hemi making a rated 425 hp. The production run was designed to satisfy NASCAR's homologation requirement that at least 500 units be available to the public, and of the 503 produced only 70 cars received the 426ci Hemi V-8. Among them, even fewer—just 22—came with the four-speed A833 manual transmission. They are rare and fast cars indeed.

As a result, a Dodge Daytona of any description is always going to draw a crowd when it goes to auction. Though not at the absolute top of the pile when it comes to rare Mopar muscle cars (the 1970 and 1971 Chrysler E-Body Challenger and 'Cuda convertible Hemi four-speed cars own that top spot), the 1969 Hemi Daytona is perilously close. To date, the highest price ever paid for a Hemi four-speed Dodge Daytona went for the T5 copper metallic Daytona from the Wellborn Collection, which sold to actor David Spade of Joe Dirt movie fame for $900,000 at the 2015 Mecum Kissimmee auction. The F8-Green Hemi Daytona offered for auction in Indy is more highly optioned and theoretically more valuable than Spade's Daytona, which could set up a record-breaking auction result in Indy. Adding to this is the current state of the economy and stock market, which has seen huge outflows of capital recently. There's a lot of money floating out there just looking for a safe investment harbor, and we completely expect some of it to be deposited into the bank of Mopar. Mecum anticipates a sale of between $1.1 and $1.3 million for the F8-Green Hemi Daytona, and we think it could go even higher.


We came to know all of this about Mecum's auction lot F111, the F8-Green 1969 Dodge Daytona Hemi four-speed (VIN XX29J9B383276) scheduled to go up for bid on Friday, May 20 (live coverage will be on the MotorTrend channel and MotorTrend+ from noon until 6 p.m.—sign up for a free trial today!), thanks to the Chrysler fanbase at DodgeCharger.com forum. Fans like these have a rabid fascination with every known example of Chrysler's winged warriors, including the 503 examples of the 1969 Dodge Daytona, and they keep tabs on all of 'em. (We're talking about hardcore gearheads who show the VINs of previous Mopars they've owned in their post signatures.) As we searched the web for any scraps of info on Pat Harper's F8-Green Hemi Daytona four-speed car, we came to realize just how special it was, and that a surprising number of people at DodgeCharger.com remember the same car as far back as the 1970s—a car that would've instantly appealed to wide-eyed school children anywhere. A car this rare with a trail this long simply can't be faked, and in the case of Mecum's Indy lot #F111, we see a rare Daytona with a well-documented history, though some of it is still shrouded in mystery. Today, we pull that shroud off.

[RTH10260]

I know I am late to the party but I just enjoyed the full half hour of Trevor Noah at the WHCA dinner

► Show Spoiler

[Shizzle Popped]

https://www.motortrend.com/features/196 ... -auctions/

World's Rarest 1969 Dodge Daytona Is Poised to Break Auction Record
The incredible back story of how this Dodge Daytona Hemi four-speed made it to the auction block with a $1+ million expectation.

Holy crap, that's a whole lot of green. Maybe I should drop by and bid on it.

[MsDaisy]

It does not matter how much money you spend on a power washer the damn thing WILL crap out and it won't take long. You can bet the farm on that!

[tek]

space-x launch this morning, taken from the backyard

IMGP5779sm.jpg (225.35 KiB) Viewed 479 times

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

COOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!

[AndyinPA]

Wow!

[raison de arizona]

Keen observation.

[Volkonski]

[tek]

we were getting pretty far afield in the Florida Man topic, so I figured I'd continue here..

I have also noticed in Florida and for some reason Kansas City, a lot of people go down the ramp to get on the expressway,...

and stop and the end of the ramp.

There are times I really miss the "guns" toggle on the cyclic...

Or. occasionally, AFTER THEY LEAVE THE RAMP.

Sunday morning about 9AM, just outside of Harrisburg, making my way home from a weekend at a car show at Carlisle.
I81, 2 lanes in each direction, beautiful clear morning.
I'm chugging along in my Grand Cherokee about 65MPH in the right lane, a bit back from another car. See a car nearing the top of an onramp, so I pull into the left lane to give them some room. Car ahead of me does not. Fine.
Car on the onramp merges into the right lane, and apparently decides that's not where they want to be because they SLAM ON THE BRAKES.
Car that was in front of me swings into my lane and SLAMS ON THE BRAKES.

All of a sudden tek is offroading in the median at 60MPH.
wheee! Not.

[Estiveo]

Or occasionally because they missed the exit. I was on the 280 SB from San Francisco once and some lady ahead of me realized she had missed the giant, 3 lane exit for Hwy 1 over the hill to Pacifica, slammed on her brakes, then BACKED UP, not even on the shoulder, but in the right hand lane, all the way past the gore point, to the split.

Amazingly, despite a large number of cars swerving all over the place, there were no collisions.

[roadscholar]

Makes me wonder how well self-driving cars would have handled the situation.