One down, two to go!

We arrived in Paphos last Saturday evening at the tail end of an horrendous thunderstorm and torrential rain and since then we have had sunshine and showers during the day and thunderstorms and heavy rain at night. 

It's blue skies and very hot today and fortunately the forecast for the next two weeks is a lot more settled.

Fortunately the rain held off on Tuesday night for Diggers 60th birthday which was held in an outdoor restaurant in Paphos.

Many thanks from everybody to Terry. It was a brilliant night; great venue, excellent food, good company and of course loads of booze and although we fell well short of the £1000 target, set by the the absent Young Allotmenteer, everybody gave it their best shot. 

Highlight of the night was not Diggers's speech but when he was presented with his bus pass followed by the bill:

That wiped the smile off his face!

We now prepare to move along the coast to Vrachia Beach just outside Coral Bay and hopefully will be enjoying the sensational Cyprus sunsets followed by a bit of howlin' at the moon!

 Hey Ho!

Global James Bond Day

As dates go, October 5, 1962, isn’t famous. They don’t mention it in school history lessons, nobody very important was born or died then and no world-changing events made the headlines.

But on  this day in 1962 James Bond burst on to the screen in the premiere of Dr No.

All together there have been 23 Bond movies and one spoof production (Casino Royale), and the films have grossed over £5 billion pounds at the box office.

Music has always played a big part in the James bond movies and the original theme that opens Dr No has featured in all the films. Written by Monty Norman, it was re-arranged and performed by John Barry and his orchestra and reached number 13 in the UK charts. Barry went on to work on the soundtracks of a further twelve Bond films.

The list of performers associated with Bond themes is impressive:

Matt Munro, Shirley Bassey (3), Tom Jones, Nancy Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Paul McCartney, Lulu, Carly Simon, Sheena Easton, Rita Coolidge, Duran Duran, a-ha, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow, Garbage, Madonna, Chris Cornell and Jack White & Alicia Keys.

Here they all are:

Author Ian Fleming based his creation on a number of individuals he came across during his time in the Naval Intelligence Division during World War II, admitting that Bond "was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war".

Fleming, a keen ornithologist, appropriated Bond's name from American ornithologist James Bond. His first choice of actor to play 007 in Dr No, was Cary Grant – but he wanted way too much money.

David Niven, James Mason, Patrick McGoohan, Rex Harrison, Richard Burton and Stewart Granger were also on his list. Niven turned down the role because he felt he was too old, McGoohan rejected the offer and the others were also too expensive.

Ian Fleming was horrified at the selection of Sean Connery as Bond, regarding his working-class, building site background as hopeless casting for his smooth, well-educated spy.

Fleming is credited as saying, "He's not what I envisioned of James Bond looks" and "I'm looking for Commander Bond and not an overgrown stunt-man," adding that Connery (muscular, 6' 2", and a Scot) was unrefined. However, Fleming's girlfriend told him Connery had the requisite sexual charisma. Fleming changed his mind after the successful Dr. No premiere and was so impressed, he created a half-Scottish, half-Swiss heritage for the literary James Bond in the later novels.

Sean Connery went on to star in seven films, George Lazenby in one, Roger Moore in seven, Timothy Dalton in two, Pierce Brosnan in four and Daniel Craig in three with a fourth, Skyfall, due for release on October 26th.

Here's a celebration of them all:

We all have a favourite Bond, and mine, by a whisker from Roger Moore who was probably more in line with Fleming's image of Commander Bond, is Sean Connery showed here at his best:

To round of the Bond theme, officially released at 0:07 BST today is the theme from Skyfall co-written and performed by the hugely talented Adele:

But it's not just Global James Bond day, Also, 50 years ago today, and unnoticed by all but a couple of hundred teenagers in Liverpool and a couple of 16 year olds in Trent Road, Ipswich, the Beatles’ first single, "Love Me Do", was released.

Principally written by Paul McCartney while playing truant from school at the age of sixteen, the single reached number 17 in the UK charts, and for the following six years they took the world by storm.

Memories!!!!