|
Operation Gladio run wild?
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2021 00:46
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 04:58 |
|
|
Chapter 21: This Can't Be Heavenquote:The tunnel was very long, its sides white. Bond wondered if he was back in the Arctic Circle. Then he was swimming. Warm and cold by turns. Voices. Soft music, and the face of a girl leaning over him, and calling his name, ‘Mr Bond . . . ? Mr Bond . . . ?’ The incredible confusion of the last few chapters. quote:Bond swallowed. His mouth was very dry. ‘Not bad, sir,’ he croaked, then remembered Paula, prostrate on the bed. ‘Paula?’ Fantastic. MI6 wasn't sure what to do so they just sent their dumbest agent into the field completely blind and hoped he could violence his way out. quote:‘There you appear to have been successful.’ Yep. Tirpitz was a good guy pretending to be a bad guy pretending to be a bad good guy. quote:‘I know. I watched it,’ said Bond, feeling, in spite of his condition, an irritation with the American. ‘But what about the whole Buchtman business?’ No, it's even worse! He was pretending to be a Nazi who killed himself and stole his own identity! And it's all being dropped in the last few pages! quote:The nurse returned with a large jug of barley water and warned them they only had another few minutes. Bond asked if he could have a martini instead. The nurse gave him an official smile. Passing out in annoyance at this writing. quote:‘We’re still rounding up the remnants, 007,’ M was saying. ‘The N-S-Double-A, We’ve scuttled them for good, I think.’ M sounded pleased. ‘I can’t see anyone else reactivating what’s left of it now – thanks to you, 007. In spite of the lack of information.’ Shut up, Bond. quote:‘You are on a restricted diet, but if you fancy something I’ll bring you our menu . . .’ No! Reject him! quote:‘Which will not be for a very long time.’ The voice came from the door. ‘And if anyone’s going to show Mr Bond what heaven Helsinki can be, it will be me,’ said Paula Vacker. Is she calling M cute? quote:‘Cute?’ Bond said, incredulous. Then he put his head back, drifting off once more as Paula bent over to kiss him. And that's it, and gently caress this book. I've never been more baffled and disappointed. After two books going absolutely bonkers early on, I was hoping this would break the mold. Gardner shot for the moon and landed among the stars of drunken confusion. Was he on a deadline? Did he take ketamine? Bleh. After this weekend, we'll back with a new book that poses the question: what happens if Bond joins the bad guys? I'm sure it'll be sensible.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2021 03:08
|
|
|
chitoryu12 posted:Chapter 21: This Can't Be Heaven This already happened in The Man With the Golden Gun and was horrible
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2021 07:06
|
|
|
I really appreciate you doing these Let's Reads, because I doubt I have the patience to read the Gardener books on my own, whereas your inspired me to slowly work through the Fleming ones. I still think that bio of Bond was the worst one of the non-Fleming so far, but this one was the most disappointing. I want to like Gardner, especially since he seems to do his research and updates the character and setting interestingly (although why he bothered with the whole 'the double 0 agents are disbanded' thing is a mystery, it seems to have had no effect on anything,) but he seems to start strong and then just run out of gas by the end. The Gardener books do seem to have some influence from the films, which makes sense as more people are familiar with the film version of Bond and doesn't bother me much, a little silliness is ok and honestly Fleming wasn't immune to that either. Icebreaker was a bummer tho, I wouldn't have minded all the craziness and triple crosses if they were spread out through the book more and didn't all bunch up at the end. There is also the problem that if Bond didn't go on this mission everything would have turned out exactly the same, except maybe Arnë Whatever would have been captured not killed. He doesn't actually do anything except send messages of extremely quotidian info to M, which I'm pretty sure the first guy could do. Bond doesn't figure anything out or do anything of note except shoot a guy. He's stupidly credulous and distrusting for all the wrong reasons. Bond may be an idiot but he's not stupid, the dumb things he usually does are more exciting, like he figures out a double cross but deals with it dumbly but excitingly. I mean, say what you want about him, but he does stuff, the plot being M sends him in for him meander around and send back intel makes Bond act like and the setting recognize him for a plodder, which is not very interesting to read about. As I said, I want to like Gardner but he's making it difficult. If he can become less 'oh poo poo word count got to wrap it up' I think these could be fun reads. Right now it's more like character assassination by a thousand cuts.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2021 07:43
|
|
|
There's no glamour to anything. It's all grit and plot twists, and there's a hundred better books to read if that's all you're after.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2021 10:54
|
|
|
“Oh I guess this person is also pulling a double cross” “Ok it was a triple cross”  It feels very much like the movies, where everyone is doing stuff for no reason (just so that something new can happen to/around Bond). It was bad, but bad with decent potential to have been good.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2021 13:32
|
|
|
poisonpill posted:“Oh I guess this person is also pulling a double cross” Yeah, like upon reflection, why didn't Brad just tell Bond he was a double agent? The problem wasn't that he didn't have a chance or thought Bond might be compromised, it's just that it created a needless plot twist.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2021 19:28
|
|
|
Dr. Sneer Gory posted:Yeah, like upon reflection, why didn't Brad just tell Bond he was a double agent? The problem wasn't that he didn't have a chance or thought Bond might be compromised, it's just that it created a needless plot twist. Because Bond is so poo poo thick and incompetent he'd've inevitably told the wrong person and every single organisation that's ever worked with the UK knows that.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2021 22:18
|
|
|
Remember that all things considered, Bond lost this one. He was captured, tortured, and effortlessly hoodwinked into spilling the beans into a microphone. The only reason there wasn’t a downer ending is that someone else burst in and saved the day at the last minute.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2021 23:16
|
|
|
 Chapter 1: Robbery With Violets quote:The robbery of security vans can take place at any time of the day, though, as a rule, the Metropolitan Police do not encounter hijackers attempting a quick getaway during the rush hour. Neither do they expect trouble with a cargo that is sewn up tight. Only a privileged few knew exactly when the Kruxator Collection would arrive in the country. That it was due to come to Britain was common knowledge, and you had only to read a newspaper to discover that March 15th was the day on which the fabled group of paintings and jewellery were to go on display – for two weeks – at the Victoria and Albert Museum. You can tell "Kruxator" is a name Gardner made up because the only other place it appears is in a death metal band. quote:The two-week London showing of the Kruxator Collection would be the last in its tour of European capitals before the whole consignment was returned to New York. Niko had been shrewd enough to leave an endowment for a gallery in which these priceless objects could be displayed. He wanted to be remembered, and had taken steps to make certain that his name would be linked with those of Van Gogh, Breughel, El Greco, Matisse, Picasso and others. Not that he was knowledgeable about art, but he could sense a fair bargain which would appreciate in value, and had acquired the collection as an investment.  That would be Hunting-Clan Air Transport, a private airline that began in 1946 under the Hunting Group and combined with the Clan Group investors in 1953. Their contract air services ended in 1960 when they were merged with Airwork Services to form British United Airways; the giant letters for their hangars remained into the 80s, incompletely removed. quote:The armoured vans were waiting. They had arrived by the sea route after depositing the collection the previous evening at the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris. Two unmarked police cars, each containing four armed plainclothes officers, were now in attendance. Oh no, we're in a Tarantino movie! quote:At first nothing alarming was reported over the radios, though the police vehicles and the armoured vans were being separated even further by the manoeuvres of the two girls who had tucked the violet Lancia and the black Ferrari neatly into the convoy. The trailing police car made two efforts to overtake and get back into position but was thwarted by the Ferrari. Each time it either swung out to prevent the police car from getting in, or pulled over to allow other vehicles to overtake. The Lancia was carving up the front part of the convoy in a similar way. By the time they reached the Cromwell Road not only had the gap widened between the police cars and the armoured vans, but the two vans had also been parted. And that's about it for the robbery. By the time the smoke cleared, the two vans had vanished with the guards unconscious on the road, neatly lined up. The investigation hit a dead end, as the sports cars had completely fake number plates. quote:The Kruxator robbery was daring, exact, brilliant and very costly. The lack of progress made by the police investigating it remained in the headlines for the best part of a month. Even the sly comments suggesting a breach of security, and the sudden resignation of a senior member of the Secret Intelligence Service – by name, Commander James Bond – were relegated to a corner of page two and soon lost altogether to the public eye.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2021 17:53
|
|
|
An eye-catching black girl, driving a violet-coloured sports car, managed to come between the leading car and the first van just as the convoy climbed the ramp on to the Flyover; while an equally striking white girl, in a violet dress, driving a black sports car, cut in between the second van and the police car in the rear. Oh no, we're in a Tarantino movie! Did anybody get a good look at their feet?
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2021 22:07
|
|
|
Gumby posted:An eye-catching black girl, driving a violet-coloured sports car, managed to come between the leading car and the first van just as the convoy climbed the ramp on to the Flyover; while an equally striking white girl, in a violet dress, driving a black sports car, cut in between the second van and the police car in the rear. I guess the lady in the purple car had a white dress but Gardner forgot to mention it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2021 22:22
|
|
|
Liking the setup so far, so I can't wait to see how he drops the ball this time. Also taking bets on whether Bond will be inhumanly competent or a complete fuckup this time.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2021 22:59
|
|
|
These kinds of high-value robberies have mostly gone out of fashion in the UK since the 90s, there's just too much money to be made far more easily and discreetly in the drugs trade. At the time, it would definitely have been a major press sensation; this book would have been published about 10 months after the Brink's Mat bullion robbery. The police response would also have been heavily scrutinised; not only is this coming close on the heels of Brink's Mat, it's only been seven years since the head of the Flying Squad and twelve of his officers were imprisoned for truly epic levels of corruption and collusion with the people they were supposed to be catching.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2021 01:13
|
|
|
Chapter 2: Outer Darknessquote:In the beginning, Standing Orders were quite clear. Paragraph 12(c) instructed that, Ah, when he took out Irma Bunt and her genetically engineered carnivorous gerbils! quote:In the ordinary commercial world, Bond would have received numerous warm expressions of congratulation on his unexpected windfall. Not so in the Service. Those who work for Records are tight-lipped by tradition as well as training. Neither M nor Bill Tanner would think of bringing the matter up, for both were of the old school which rightly considered details of private money to be of a personal nature. The fact that they both knew would never stop them pretending they did not. It was, then, almost a shock when M himself mentioned it. Excellent. quote:Bond did not have to think twice about how he might best comply with such an eccentric proviso. Bentley motor cars had always been a passion, and he had sorely resented getting rid of the early models which he had owned, driven and loved. During the last year he had lusted after the brand new Bentley Mulsanne Turbo. When the will was finally through probate, he took himself straight down to Jack Barclay’s showrooms in Berkeley Square and ordered the hand-built car – in his old favourite colour, British Racing Green, with a magnolia interior.  Finally (if briefly) Bond returns to his old Bentleys. The Mulsanne was a limited production luxury car based on the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, with the Turbo only produced from 1982 to 1985. It fits the car's standard Rolls-Royce V8 with a turbocharger, giving it a 50% performance increase that makes the seemingly sedate vehicle perform like a sports car. A test by Motorsport Magazine found it to have a 0-60 MPH time of 7.5 seconds and could get to 130 MPH faster than a Jaguar XJ12. Combined with very light power steering, grippy tires, and powerful brakes, this is a proper 1980s successor to Fleming's preferred cars. quote:One month later, he visited the Rolls-Royce Car Division at Crewe and spent a pleasant day with the Chief Executive. He explained that he wanted no special technology built into the car apart from a small concealed weapon compartment and a long-range telephone which would be provided by the security experts at CCS. The Mulsanne Turbo was delivered in the late spring, and Bond, having put down the full price with the order, was happy to get rid of the remaining £30,000 plus by spending it on friends, mainly female, and himself in a spree of high living such as he had not enjoyed for years. The lack of gadgets was reportedly a Bentley request to Gardner. quote:But 007 was not so easily brought out of the doldrums. He longed for some kind of action – a craving that he tried to curb with too many late nights, the excitement of the gaming tables, and a lukewarm affair with a girl he had known for years; a small romance that sputtered out like a candle flame after a few months. His period of lotus-eating failed miserably to remove the unsettled edgy sense that his life had lost both purpose and direction.  The ASP is one of the guns of mythology, known more for its reputation than its usage. Most people today know it from its use as one of the basic handguns in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Because of its use by Bond, however, a number of hardcore Bond fans have bought these rare pistols and provided much more information about them than is normally known. The ASP is a heavily modified Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol, generally a Model 39, based on a design by Paris Theodore originally for the Walther PPK or Browning Hi-Power. Theodore had tried to introduce the design to Smith & Wesson, but they rejected the sale potential of a subcompact 9mm and Theodore instead produced the guns on commission by people who provided them. The slide, barrel, and frame are all shortened and have every corner smoothed to prevent snagging on clothes, the barrel is fully ramped and throated for more reliable feeding, the Smith & Wesson collet bushing is replaced by a fixed one, the trigger guard is hooked to allow the index finger of the supporting hand to help pull the gun back into the hand and control recoil, the metal is all coated in Teflon-S for durability, and the pistol is fitted with clear Lexan grip panels (to allow the user to see the remaining ammunition) and a unique Guttersnipe sighting system: a tapering U-channel with fluorescent yellow panels that will form 3 triangles pointing at the target when aligned properly. A customer-supplied pistol was modified by Armament Systems & Procedures for $475 and supplied with a patented magnetic dual magazine pouch for two 7-round magazines. About 450 pistols are known to have been made. Pictured above is the "Quest for Excellence" special edition ASP, which was provided in a special leather book presentation case with a throwing knife and gold lapel pin. A handful of Model 59 double-stack pistols were submitted for conversion, but the widening of the frame resulted in the subsequent cut-down ASP frames to be weakened and suffer distortion when firing. The Lexan grip panels are also prone to cracking if the screws are overtightened. None of the guns are rated for +P ammunition and 9mm pistols of the exact same size are now commonly available on the market (with Smith & Wesson releasing the suspiciously similar Model 469 in 1983), leaving the ASP as a collector's curiosity. quote:In the middle of August, when London was crowded with tourists, and a torpor appeared to hang over the Regent’s Park Headquarters, there was a summons from M’s secretary, the faithful Miss Moneypenny, and Bond found himself in his chief’s office, with Bill Tanner in attendance. It was here, on the ninth floor, overlooking the hot, dusty park, that M surprised Bond by bringing up the matter of the Australian legacy. It appears that despite the Double-O section no longer existing, Bond's job has changed not one iota. quote:M ignored the offer. Instead he looked at the ceiling. ‘Come into money, 007? "If they set a trap, you'd probably run right into it on purpose anyway." quote:‘By all means,’ said M in acknowledgment that Bond might smoke, and he lit one of his H. Simmons specials, bought in bulk from the old shop in the Burlington Arcade where they were still to be had. Goddammit Bond. quote:‘So?’ Bond was not going to make it any easier for them. "I've never done a risky thing in my life!" quote:M rapped on the desk. ‘Enough of that, 007. They have every right to ask. You have been acting the playboy recently, and that kind of thing always makes them suspicious.’ Note that this is specifically a mistake Fleming's Bond did not make. In From Russia With Love, he's so suspicious about a TV man showing up unannounced that he starts contemplating if he needs to ask the service for a new flat. quote:‘To the dangle.’ Tanner gave a half-smile. ‘To a small charade, with you as the central character, James.’ "Also you've helped me before on an extrajudicial execution in Canada, so I have you over a barrel here." quote:There were no options, and Bond, feeling the whole business was sheer madness, could only sit and listen to the dialogue as M and Tanner outlined the bare bones of the scheme, like a pair of theatrical directors explaining motivation to a rather dull actor. Yeah, the suspense from the first chapter's final line lasts less than one more chapter. quote:And so it had happened – though not because of the ambulance chasers, as they had told him. Rumours ran along the corridors of power; there was gossip in the clubs, tattle in the powder rooms of government departments, hints to the Press, hints by the Press, even questions in the House of Commons, and finally the resignation of Commander James Bond.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2021 19:03
|
|
|
Chapter 3: Riotous Livingquote:In the month before the Kruxator robbery Bond himself had been following a hedonistic routine. He stayed in bed until noon and ventured forth only in the evenings, to restaurants, clubs and gaming houses, usually with a pretty girl in tow. Since the Paymaster General’s lamentable performance in the House, attempting to make light of certain scandals associated with one of the Foreign Office’s field operators and to dismiss Opposition charges of a security coverup, the Press had, perhaps surprisingly, hardly approached Bond again. He had no contact at all with his former employers. In fact, they went out of their way to avoid him. One evening he found himself at the Inn on the Park seated only two tables from Anne Reilly, the attractive and talented assistant to the Armourer in Q Branch. Bond caught her eye and smiled but she merely looked through him as though he did not exist. Gardner gives up on the whole "Q'ute" thing pretty quickly after trying to set her up as a recurring love interest. quote:Then, towards the end of April, around noon one mild, bright Thursday, the telephone rang in Bond’s flat. Bond, who had been shaving, grabbed at the handset, as though he would have liked to strangle the trilling. At the time, 59 Dean Street was home to Good Earth Studios, a recording studio and record shop owned by Tony Visconti and managed by Paul Cartledge. Artists like T. Rex, David Bowie, Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy all recorded there and Visconti was Bowie's principle producer until his death. The studio still exists under the name Dean Street Studios and is home to many other small recording businesses thanks to a set of long-term rental agreements. A former shop manager posted a decade ago about some of his time running the record store portion for a few years before the events of this book, mentioning that Brian Blessed was a regular customer and celebrities as famous as Martin Scorsese were often seen. quote:Later in the afternoon, he telephoned his date, a favourite blonde stewardess with British Airways, to cancel their evening out. Instead of dinner for two at the Connaught, Bond went alone to Veeraswamy’s, that most excellent Indian restaurant in Swallow Street, where he ate a chicken vindaloo with all the trimmings, lingered over his coffee, then paid the bill and left on the dot of nine-fifteen. The magnificent uniformed and bearded doorman gave him a quivering salute, then loudly hailed a cab. Bond tipped the doorman and gave the driver his home address, but at the top of St James’s he paid off the taxi and set out on foot, to follow an apparently aimless route, turning into side streets, crossing roads suddenly, doubling back on himself a number of times, loitering at corners, making certain he was not being followed.  Veeraswamy, at 99-101 Regent Street, is still in operation and has the prestige of being the oldest Indian restaurant in the United Kingdom. It was opened in 1926 by Edward Palmer, the son of a British general and a reputed Indian princess who became an officer in the British Indian Army himself. The restaurant led to a separate food business under the Veeraswamy brand, which sold the first canned curry in the UK.  Despite its prominence in British culture, and his willingness to try far more exotic cuisine on his travels, this is the first time Bond has eaten Indian food! The English East India Company had maintained dominion over a significant part of the Indian subcontinent from 1757 to 1858, when the British government stepped in and took over until 1947. In addition to areas administered directly by British government officials, there were 565 "princely states" by 1947 ruled by locals under British guidance. The imperial control over this region led to a trickle of foreign culture into the islands. Clothing styles like khaki uniforms (now mostly in pants form today) and cummerbunds came from returning soldiers and politicians who had adapted to the local climate and customs, but most prominent was food. Curry had become so popular that Hannah Glasse's 1747 edition of The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy includes a recipe for it, though obviously these were much more mild than their authentic Indian counterparts (I've seen Glasse's recipe compared to a modern butter chicken) and generally used commercial curry powder to speed things along. Other dishes like kedgeree, Mulligatawny soup, and chutney became so embedded in British cuisine that many don't even acknowledge their Indian roots. Whole new Anglo-Indian dishes that are mistaken for authentic have also come into existence, like Chicken Tikka Masala (which was possibly made by a Bangladeshi chef in the 60s or 70s). The funny part about this is that vindaloo is a Portuguese colonial dish. A traditional Portuguese dish is carne de vinha d'alhos, a heavily spiced dish of meat marinated in garlic and vinegar or wine. The Portuguese colonized the Goa region of India in the 16th century and introduced their native cuisine to the locals, who adapted it into a notoriously hot dish with Indian seasoning and lots of imported American chili pepper. This became so popular once it hit the UK that it's now considered a standard Indian restaurant dish, but it's often just a standard restaurant curry with more chili and the addition of vinegar and potatoes now (as is the chicken vindaloo I ordered today to eat while typing this). The original recipe from Goa also uses pork, but chicken, goat, and lamb are the most common now. quote:Eventually, clinging to this devious routine, he ended up in a doorway near St Martin’s Lane. For two minutes Bond stood looking up at a lighted window across the road. At precisely ten o’clock the oblong of light turned black, then lit again, went black, lit and stayed on.  The painting is officially called Chinese Girl, and was painted in 1952 by Vladimir Tretchikoff. Born in 1913, Tretchikoff's family fled the Russian Revolution for Harbin, a northeast Chinese city that became such a major enclave for fleeing Whites after the Bolshevik victory that it was practically a Russian city plopped in the middle of Heilongjiang. He became a scenic painter for the opera house and moved to Shanghai, then to Singapore with a fellow Russian émigré wife. He worked as a propaganda artist for the British Ministry of Information, being captured after his evacuation ship was bombed and spending months in solitary confinement in a Japanese prison camp, and by 1946 made it to South Africa to reunite with his wife and daughter. This is why we have a painting of a Chinese girl by a Russian man sitting in a British government office. Chinese Girl was one of the best-selling prints of the 20th century, to the point of appearing in a Monty Python episode. The infamous band Chumbawamba used it as their cover art for their 1990 album Slap! quote:‘Come in, 007. Glad to see you can do simple mathematics.’ The figure in one of the chairs turned, and Bond found himself looking into the familiar cold grey eyes of his Head of Service. "For your entire career, 007." quote:‘Your instructions, sir. I could remind you that I said at the outset nothing would come of it. Nobody in our business would even begin to believe I’d left the Service, just like that. The silence has been deafening.’ We will assume that Ms. Persephone Proud is now stereotypically hot. quote:‘You’re sending me on another course?’ Bond mused rather absently without looking up. chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 04:08 on Mar 27, 2021 |
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2021 02:23
|
|
|
Autem ("however" in Latin) was slang for a church in British "thieves' cant." An "autem bawler" was a priest, for instance; some dictionaries I've seen say the term was specifically used to mean a con artist who posed as clergy to bilk people out of donations. So Jay Autem Holy is trying rather too hard to be a quirky, unusual Jamesbondish name -- especially since Jay inevitably reminds me of Jay Gatsby, which I doubt is the association Gardner was going for.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2021 02:32
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW6O7r012RA Accordion seems completely absurd but it works here.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2021 02:46
|
|
|
Chapter 4: Proud Percyquote:Bond particularly enjoyed the drive through France, down to the South, for it was the first time he had been able to let the huge Mulsanne Turbo off the leash. The car seemed to revel in the business of doing its job with perfection. Bentley had certainly produced another true thoroughbred from their stable. The Mulsanne pushed its long, elegant snout forward, and then, like some runner in peak condition, gathered itself together, effortlessly reaching well in excess of the 100 miles per hour mark and eating up road without fuss or noise, as if it were floating over the tarmac on a silent cushion of air. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irFU7uZ-Lw8 quote:Bond had left London early on the Monday morning, and he had been told Ms Proud would be in the Casino each evening, from the Tuesday, between ten and eleven. Unfortunately, I think Bond is referring to the mimosa flower. We're not that close to brunch yet. quote:Monte Carlo, like the neighbouring cities and towns along the Côte d’Azur, had a smell that was all its own. Bond reckoned a fortune could be made if someone could only bottle it, to provide nostalgic memories for those who had known the principality in its heyday. For the one-time gambling legend of Europe was no longer the great romantic fairytale place remembered by those who had won, and lost, fortunes and hearts there. The package holiday, the weekend break and the charter flight had put an end to that. Monaco managed to keep up its veneer of sophistication only through the presence of its royal family and the high prices speculators, hoteliers, restaurateurs and shopkeepers charged. Even those had not created a safe buffer against some of the more garish encroachments of the 1980s. On his last visit, Bond had been horrified to find one-armed bandits installed in the exclusive Salles Privées of the Casino. Now he would not be surprised if there were space invader games there as well. We do get a reference to arcade games, though!  Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, a sovereign city state on the southern coast of France. Monaco can attribute its modern day fame and success to one thing: gambling. Princess Caroline, wife of Prince Florestan I (and de facto ruler of Monaco, as Florestan was an actor who had no idea how to run a principality), proposed opening a casino in the 1850s to save the House of Grimaldi from bankruptcy after other regions went independent and stopped paying taxes. The casino and the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo fully opened in 1863, named after their son Prince Charles III. The resort was further expanded and improved in the 1870s with the aid of Charles Garnier, architect of the Palais Garnier, and Monte Carlo was now a resort destination. Until recently, Monte Carlo was the only source of income for Monaco. The Climax! TV adaptation of Casino Royale with Barry Nelson changed the setting to this casino, and it appeared in Never Say Never Again and GoldenEye. The ward surrounding the casino has a permanent population of about 3500, almost all of whom exist to keep the resort going. Ian Fleming had visited the city for his Thrilling Cities book, but found it somewhat seedy by the 1950s. Since the city basically exists to take tourists' money to support an entire sovereignty, it's no surprise that slot machines would start popping up everywhere. quote:His room faced the sea and, before taking a shower and preparing for the evening, he stood on the balcony, looking out at the twinkling lights and sipping a martini. For a moment he wondered if it were possible to recapture the sounds and laughter of former, brighter days. A modest dinner, but not a modest visit to the casino. That's about $18,000 today. quote:There was play at only one of the tables. As Bond crossed the floor, he saw Persephone Proud for the first time. M had understated the case when he said even her husband would not recognise her. Bond, who had hardly credited the ‘after’ photograph, as M had called it, found it difficult to believe that this woman, undeniably the one from that photograph, could ever have been either plump or mousy. Some very great thoughts on female beauty from Gardner here. quote:He did not pause on his way to the table, where he took a seat, acknowledging the croupier, and studying the game for three turns before dropping 25,000 francs on Impair. Roulette is actually the very first game Bond ever plays in the series: his introduction on the first page of Casino Royale has him stepping away from the table, and the narration uses a second session to discuss the gambler's fallacy. quote:The rake swung efficiently over the green baize, taking in the house winnings, and pushing out plaques to the winners, including Bond, whose Impair bet had netted him even money. At the call, he again placed 25,000 on Impair. Once more he won, eleven coming up. Impair for a third time, and the ball rolled into fifteen. In three turns of the wheel, Bond had made 75,000 francs. He was playing the easy way, high stakes for even returns. The other players were betting complex patterns – A Cheval, Carré, and Colonne – which made for higher odds. Bond pushed the whole of his 75,000 francs on to Pair and fourteen – red came up. Stake plus 75,000 francs. Time to call it a night. He flipped a 5,000 franc chip across the table, muttering ‘Pour les employés,’ and pushed back the chair. There was a little squeal as it touched the girl’s legs, and Bond felt liquid run down his left cheek where her drink spilled. It was a natural enough incident, for the Englishman had not sensed her standing behind him. The move had been carefully pre-arranged far away in London, in the safe flat near St Martin’s Lane. What? That's not your intro at all!" quote:‘And mine call me Percy. Persephone Proud’s too much of a mouthful.’ And we're suddenly in a completely different location! quote:‘Very little.’ She’ll give you the fine print, M had said. Play up to her; trust her; let her teach you. She knows more about all this than anyone. Ah, the Scientist Look. quote:‘Doctor Jay Autem Holy,’ she corrected. "I remember when you were ugly!" quote:‘Flattery could get you everywhere, James Bond. But I don’t really think Mrs Jay Autem Holy ever needed widow’s weeds. You see, he never died.’  quote:Bond nodded. ‘And I gather Dr Holy had a nickname – like Rolling Joe was Zwingli’s nickname.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrerCrlJyOQ Don't do this, by the way. quote:‘And Dr Holy?’ he prompted. She literally just told you he didn't die! quote:‘Oh no,’ she said softly. ‘Jay Autem Holy did not die in that airplane wreck. A few people have known that for some years. Now there’s proof.’  This nursery rhyme dates to the 18th century. Banbury even has a statue of the lady on her horse. quote:‘Evidence?’ As in Battle of? Yes, George Lucas took the name "Endor" (accidentally or otherwise) from the Witch of Endor, a character in the Hebrew Bible who was consulted to contact the spirit of Samuel for advice in battle against the Philistines. Medieval and Early Modern theologists found this passage rather troubling for its implications regarding magic and necromancy. It's an appropriate choice for a dead man doing combat simulations. quote:‘Right.’ Yep! quote:Percy stretched out her legs and laid back almost full length on the couch, brushing the floor languidly with her hand. They're tailoring their plots to Bond's intelligence now! quote:‘Good God!’ Bond’s face tightened in anger. ‘Of all the hare-brained . . . Why would he want to employ me, anyway?’ Hahahaha he broke up with a girl because she was a communist! quote:‘You too will have to study, James. That’s why you’re going to be here, with me. To get an entrée into Endor you must know something about the job they do at Gunfire Simulations. How much do you really know about computers?’
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2021 17:22
|
|
|
I guess Gardner dropped the Qute character so he could have 007 get schooled by and subsequently bone a different smart girl in every book.
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2021 18:35
|
|
|
At the very least it's better than Christopher Wood having Bond constantly mock the idea of a woman ever managing to earn a doctorate in a time when they were a significant portion of all existing doctors.
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2021 19:54
|
|
|
Chapter 5: War Gamequote:With a lucidity born of his years in the Service, Bond outlined to Percy the way a microcomputer works, as they both sauntered about the room in almost a ritual dance, carefully avoiding one another. A complex electronic tool designed to perform particular tasks when a series of commands are read into its two memories, he recited tonelessly, like a schoolboy reeling off Latin declensions to an indulgent master. A machine which could keep records and work out financial problems one minute, process data the next, receive and transmit information over thousands of miles in a matter of seconds; which would design your new house, or allow you to play complicated games, make music, or display moving graphics. A miracle with an ever-growing memory, but only as good as the program it is given. We've seen lots change in the Bond experience over the decades of reading we've done, but nothing has changed more than the center of this book: computers.  A good example of the kind of computer in use in 1952, when Ian Fleming first created James Bond, was the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) at the University of Cambridge. It was the second electronic digital stored-program computer (meaning you could give it programs that you wrote instead of needing to rewire the whole drat thing to change its functions) to go into regular service, after the Manchester Baby in 1948. This room-sized monstrosity had a memory of 1024 17-bit words by 1952 (about 1 kilobyte) in the form of temperature-stabilized mercury delay lines that could only have the memory accessed sequentially. Five-hole punched tape was used for input, and a teleprinter for output.  The EDSAC was almost exclusively used for crunching numbers to help university researchers in calculations, but it's also possibly the computer that held the world's first video game. In 1952, Alexander Shafto "Sandy" Douglas programmed a simple tic-tac-toe game as part of a thesis on human-computer interaction, which you can play today on a simple emulator. The player used a rotary telephone controller to select one of nine squares, causing their X or O to appear on the cathode ray tube screen. The computer would then logically respond with a proper move. Because it was only intended as a research project, the game was quickly removed from the hardware and EDSAC was disassembled in 1958.  Meanwhile, IBM on the other side of the pond pioneered high-speed magnetic tape as a memory storage device. The IBM 701 could use the IBM 726 magnetic tape storage system, replacing the 72 or 144 vacuum tubes and their memory capacity of about 9 kilobytes with 4 reels of tape, increasing the memory to an unprecedented 1 megabyte. The computer could be rented for $850 a month, over $8000 today.  The intervening time would also see the most important invention in modern electronics: the transistor. It was discovered in 1947 that a semiconductor material like pure silicon, with an electric current applied to it, could amplify a signal so the output was higher than the input. John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley at Bell Labs would perfect the technology and earn the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for it. The further development of the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) by Mohamed M. Atalla and Dawon Kahng (made by coating a silicon wafer with an insulating layer of silicon oxide to allow electricity to reach it more reliably) allowed for extreme miniaturization of transistors. Formerly bulky electronic devices could now be shrunk down and made much less expensive, including radios and computers. And when I say extreme, I mean extreme.   In 1958, Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments further developed an idea he had proposed to the US Army: the use of miniaturized components all wired into a compact grid shape, creating an integrated circuit. Shortly afterward, Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor revolutionized the idea by finding a way to make the tiniest integrated circuit possible. Rather than external wires connecting components on a germanium chip, Royce used a silicon chip with highly conductive copper trails connecting the components. By simply layering these extremely small components onto a flat silicon wafer and thermally "growing" silicon oxide onto it, it was now possible to mass produce extremely small integrated circuits. Once the integrated circuit idea hit the market, it set off a revolution.  By Fleming's death in 1964, things were already very different with computers. A joint project between IBM and American Airlines created the Semi-Automated Business Research Environment (SABRE) computer booking system, which by 1964 was handling all bookings for the company. A pair of IBM 7090 mainframes in Briarcliff Manor, NY (at a whopping cost of over $360 million today) powered the system, allowing the terminal staff to have nothing but a relatively compact work station. Rather than needing to handle a hundred thousand phone calls a day, the computers would keep track of bookings and seat availability on all flights and communicate through a teleprinter, which could then print a ticket to hand to the passenger once booked.  Things got even cooler on May 1, 1964. The Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC) programming language was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College. At the time, every computer had its own custom language for coding, requiring anyone who wanted to program a computer to become an expert with that exact computer. BASIC was designed as a simple, universal code that someone who wasn't a scientist or mathematician could learn quickly and easily. They also developed a time-sharing system that allowed the computer to multitask and run multiple programs at once, initially intended to allow multiple users at their terminals to run and edit BASIC programs simultaneously from a single computer instead of having to wait for the computer to finish processing other peoples' requests. In the span of James Bond's original life on a typewriter by the window at GoldenEye, computers had gone from gigantic custom research tools at universities that could maybe one day be shrunk down for home use to common commercial products. At shows like the 1964 World's Fair, IBM was making promises that would be rapidly exceeded in what computers could do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIE-5hg7FoA  In 1984, when Role of Honour was released, Apple released the Macintosh personal computer in a Super Bowl commercial directed by Ridley Scott. This distinctive beige computer went on sale for $2495, equivalent to a bit over $6000 today. Its built-in 128 kilobytes of RAM is an order of magnitude more than the EDSAC that was top of the line during Casino Royale and is capable of random access (any point of data can be accessed without having to go through the whole thing sequentially like the old delay line memory), and it's fitted with a floppy disk drive for a 400kb disk to load a stored program or files. It had a graphic user interface (GUI), allowing a keyboard and single-button mouse to access and control everything necessary for operation. It could be hooked up to an Apple ImageWriter printer for your documents and headphones for audio. The motherboard was now dozens of integrated circuits, all working in conjunction to accomplish tasks of such complexity that they would be the thing of science fiction 20 years ago.  Meanwhile, IBM released the Personal Computer/AT in August. It cost over twice as much as the Macintosh (equivalent to about $15,000 today), but it contained 256kb of RAM and a standard (if unreliable) 20MB hard drive, plus a 1.25MB floppy disk drive. While the computer was expensive and suffered from reliability problems, its incredible power and storage capacity led to six figure sales of just that model. Most importantly, it was running a rebranded version of MS-DOS, licensed from Microsoft. This would serve as the starting point for a new graphical user interface: Windows. Computers were now a part of everyone's lives. Even if you didn't own an expensive personal computer, you probably saw them in businesses. Bond and Gardner were both too old at the time to be reliable computer experts, hence the necessity for Bond to learn all about them now, but the world had firmly changed and the new generation was turning computers into household items. It would only be a few decades before Bond would have one in his pocket. quote:‘I know the theory – just,’ Bond said with a smile, ‘but I haven’t a clue how it’s all done by the programmer.’ As if he cares. This dude will gently caress the villain's wife if he feels like it. quote:‘Would that be difficult?’ Bond asked with a show of feigned innocence. ‘Learning to program, I mean.’ "Microcomputer" was the common terminology of the time for what we now call personal computers, after IBM's PC line. The term would reach its peak at the time this book was published and then immediately fall out of use. It had only been a few years before that they had started to really permeate households in America and Europe, often using the BASIC language. quote:‘When he went missing his own micro disappeared with him – or, should I say, at the same time. I guess he had it stashed away somewhere safe. In those days we were just beginning to see the full development of the microcompressor – you know, the chip that put a whole roomful of computer circuits on to a 5mmsquare piece of silicon. When he built his own machine we were still mainly using tapes. Since then there’ve been so many developments, and things have become much smaller, but I’ve tried to keep pace with the technology. I rebuilt his Terror Six – that’s what he called his machine – changing his original design, doing my best to keep one jump ahead, as he would have done.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9juPRLA6lGg The CD-ROM wasn't released by Philips until after the book was already written, so Percy is likely using this 5.25-inch floppy with a 360kb capacity. They're called "floppy disks" despite being hard squares because inside the plastic shell is a thin, flexible magnetic storage disk. They first became commercially available from IBM in 1971 quote:Unaccountably Bond suddenly felt hot and flushed. He started to reach a hand out to Percy’s shoulder, but changed to loosen his tie as she drew a heavy black joystick from one of her cases and plugged it into the keyboard, pressing the S key. Immediately a bright rectangle appeared on the map, which Bond saw was as clear as a piece of printed cartography. Chill, Bond. quote:It was as if a zoom lens had been applied to the screen, for now he could see detail – roads, trees, houses, rocks and fields. Among this detail Bond could pick out at least six tanks and four troop carriers, while a pair of helicopters sat hidden behind buildings, and three Harrier aircraft could be defined on pads shielded by trees. They're basically just playing CMANO. quote:The action, controlled throughout by Percy, lasted for almost twenty minutes, during which time she was able to gain a small superiority over the enemy forces with the loss of three tanks, one helicopter, a Harrier and just under one hundred men. Hehe, toot. quote:‘And Dr Holy was programming this kind of thing for the Pentagon?’ For the first time Bond noticed a little mole on Percy’s neck. Bond quote:‘This, and more. When he disappeared, Jay Autem was into some exceptionally advanced stuff. Not only training but specialist programs, where the computer is given all the possible options and works out the one most likely to be taken by an opposing power under a particular set of circumstances.’ I love it. Bond didn't even question who this woman is or why she knew so much. She could have been anybody. quote:‘At that time, with his contacts – he had many friends among the scientific community in Russia and the Eastern Bloc – they couldn’t afford to trust him. And they were right.’ This dude needs a cold bath. quote:‘As they say, James, that’s for him to know and you to find out. And it’s my job to teach you how. Tomorrow morning we start in earnest. Eight-thirty suit you?’ Don't encourage him! quote:‘You guarantee results, Proud Percy?’ chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Apr 1, 2021 |
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2021 19:51
|
|
|
So I guess Percy will teach 007 how to SEND SPIKE?
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2021 20:33
|
|
|
An insanely old Roger Moore wearing a leather trench coat: “I’m in.”
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2021 21:39
|
|
|
Sean Connery yells from a police car window, "Hack the planet!"
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2021 23:00
|
|
|
And the next year, 1985, the movie Bond would also encounter video games in A View to a Kill, although in slightly less realistic form.
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2021 00:06
|
|
|
Selachian posted:And the next year, 1985, the movie Bond would also encounter video games in A View to a Kill, although in slightly less realistic form. Oh, we have a completely different context for Bond and video games that will come up with this book...
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2021 23:15
|
|
|
chitoryu12 posted:Oh, we have a completely different context for Bond and video games that will come up with this book... Does Does Bond get into a "Tron" situation?
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2021 23:54
|
|
|
Oh now I’m STRAPPED IN
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2021 00:54
|
|
|
chitoryu12 posted:Oh, we have a completely different context for Bond and video games that will come up with this book... I suspected his making GBS threads on Space Invaders would come back to bite him as soon as the computer angle was revealed.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2021 06:08
|
|
|
Chapter 6: Holy Codequote:The training took a little less than a month and was a tribute to Persephone Proud’s teaching skill. Her pupil’s capabilities were taxed to the limit. The task had been equivalent to learning a new language and several complicated dialects as well. Indeed, Bond could not remember a time when he had been forced to call so heavily on his mental reserves, to focus his mind, like a burning glass, on the subject at hand.  Le Bar Américain (one of many European bars named and styled after the cocktail culture that originated in the United States) is still around, decorated in a 1920s style. Cocktails cost about $30 a pop with completely standard ingredients like Maker's Mark bourbon or Gordon's gin, a price that makes it very clear what kind of money Monte Carlo expects their average guests to be willing to waste. quote:If they intended to stay in Monaco for the evening they would dine at the hotel, but they could be seen at L’Oasis in La Napoule when the Cannes Casino took their fancy, sampling the latest tempting dish invented by the master chef, Louis Outhier. Sometimes they would eat a more austere meal at the Negresco in Nice, or even in La Réserve at Beaulieu, or – on occasion – at the modest Le Galion in the Menton port of Caravan. The meal was always a prelude to a night at the tables. Don’t go invisible, M had instructed. You are bait, and it would be a mistake to forget it. If they are trawling there, let them catch you. Yes, all of these restaurants and hotels still exist and seem to be pretty much interchangeable. quote:So the Bentley Mulsanne Turbo slid its silent way along the coast roads each evening, and the tanned, assured Englishman with his willowy elegant American companion, became familiar figures in the gambling landscape of the Côte d’Azur.  Basically, Bond is playing very simply at lower stakes. He's usually betting on the ball either landing just in an odd or even slot, or landing between 1-18 or between 19-36. Carré is placing your marker to form a square of four numbers, which is a lower chance but pays out higher. Because unrigged roulette is a pure game of chance with no strategy actually possible, Bond is just betting on whatever has the greatest odds and sacrificing big payouts for consistent wins. quote:Most nights, Percy and Bond were back at the hotel between three and three-thirty in the morning. Sometimes it was earlier – even one o’clock – giving them a chance to do another hour’s work before getting a good sleep before starting all over again. Spoilers, Gardner! quote:Percy began by teaching Bond how to flowchart a program – to draw out, in a kind of graph, exactly what he wanted the program to do. This he mastered in a matter of forty-eight hours, after which the serious business of learning the computer language, Basic, began. There were extra lessons on the use of graphics and sound. Towards the end of the second week, Bond started to learn various dialects of Basic, gradually grasping the essentials of further, more complex languages like Machine Code, the high-level Pascal, and Forth. BASIC is a high-level programming language, which means that it abstracts as much of the computer's detailed functioning as possible to make it generic and easy for laymen to learn. This is where you get the famous "Hello world" exercise that just uses PRINT and END or GOTO commands. Machine code is the lowest level language without any of that abstraction, with each command being an extremely specific individual CPU operation. It's pretty much pointless to learn unless you plan on basically living inside a computer, as having to write or read a program one bit of data at a time is incredibly tedious and difficult for little real benefit. quote:Even in their spare time, they spoke of little else but the job in hand, though usually with special reference to Jay Autem Holy, and it did not take long for Bond to glean that Holy used his own hybrid program language, which Percy referred to as Holy Code. My God, he invented DRM! The bastard! quote:Bond insisted on talking about Dr Holy whenever he was given the opportunity, to seek out as much as he could about the man’s strengths and weaknesses before meeting him. There could certainly be no better instructor than Percy in this area. Someone wasn't keeping up with their slang when they were writing this. quote:She looked pensive, and for a moment it was as though she did not see Bond, or the magnificent dining hall dating back to the Third Empire and undoubtedly the best restaurant in the principality. We won't get to see it, though, because it's back to the room! quote:It was after this particular dinner, towards the end of the second week, that something happened to change the even tenor of Bond’s emotions for some time to come.  Citroën is not exactly known for sports cars to compete with the likes of a Bentley Mulsanne Turbo, so my best guess is this is meant to be the Citroën CX. It was made in several models from 1975 to 1991 and one of the weirdest space cars of the time, with a unique shape giving it a very low drag coefficient and an advanced hydro-pneumatic suspension giving it an extremely smooth ride. It's not incredibly powerful, but it's at least capable of breaking 100 MPH. quote:They came off the two-lane stretch like a rocket, with Bond stabbing at the big footbrake in order to drop speed quickly. From there the road into Monaco was not only narrow but closed in on both sides by rockface or houses, leaving little room for manoeuvre. He took the next bend at about sixty miles per hour. Percy made a little audible intake of breath. As he heard her, Bond saw the obstruction. Another car pulled over to the right, but was still in the Bentley’s road space, its hazard lights winking like a dragon’s eyes. To the left and hardly moving, blocking most of the remaining space, was an old and decrepit lorry, wheezing as though about to suffer a complete collapse. Bond yelled for Percy to hang on, jabbed hard at the brake, and slewed the Bentley first left, then right, in an attempt to slalom his way between the vehicles. Halfway through the right-hand skid, it was plain they would not make it. The Bentley’s engine howled as he pushed the lever from automatic drive to low-range, taking the engine down to first. A loving Citroën axe gang? quote:Bond realised as he reached for the hidden pistol compartment catch that his action was only a reflex. If he operated the electric window to use the weapon, they would have a route in. In fact, they could get in anyway, for even a car built like his would eventually collapse under efficiently wielded axes. You know what would have a route out? Your bullets. quote:The Bentley Mulsanne Turbo is a little over six and a half feet wide. Bond’s was not quite at right angles across the road. The Citroën behind, he judged, was within a foot of his rear bumper, but the Bentley’s weight would compensate for that. Ahead, the car with its hazard lights blinking was a couple of inches from his door, the lorry some three inches from the bonnet. Directly in front, eight feet or so away, the roadside reached up a sloping rock face. The Bentley’s engine had not stalled and still gave out its low grumble. That was a very brief and weird attack. quote:‘Hoods?’ He could feel Percy quivering beside him though her voice betrayed no sign of fear. The deadly sophisticated professionalism of using axes on cars. quote:‘So shall I.’ I think I finally found out how to get a new girlfriend... quote:By the start of the third week, as he was really beginning to master the intricacies of micro programs, Percy suddenly called a halt. Remember this was written in 1983. Most people didn't know what booting a program was. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3N09O8dvWc It's not entirely clear from the terminology Gardner uses what kind of media he's referring to, but it could be LaserDisc. The first commercially sold optical disc storage medium, LaserDisc appeared in 1978 and is the direct predecessor to CDs, DVDs, and similar technology. These gigantic 12-inch discs are made of aluminum coated with plastic. Uncompressed analog video signals would be etched into the surface, which could be read by a laser measuring the relative heights, length, and spacing. This created extremely high quality compared to VHS, but the discs and their players were very expensive and there was no ability for consumers to record onto the discs like they could with tapes in a VCR. Later incarnations of the technology, like the CD-ROM and DVD, would use digital signals (binary dots rather than pulse-wave modulation etched in) to heavily compress the data and make them much smaller. By 2001 the format had been almost completely replaced by DVD, hanging on in Japan for a few more years before manufacture of new players stopped entirely in 2009. quote:If Bond had found the computer TEWT fascinating, it was as child’s play to the program he was about to witness. What appeared on the screen now was not the standard computer graphics he had become used to, even in their highest form, but genuine pictures, real and in natural colour and texture, like a controllable movie. Yes, the massive innovation that this whole plot is centered around is....a PS2 game being made in the early 80s. quote:‘When I’ve taught you how to process and copy Jay Autem’s work, you’ll have the Terror Twelve and three types of drive to take with you, James. Don’t say I haven’t provided you with all the essential creature comforts.’ Shortly after 9/11 occurred, it was widely reported that the terrorists had used Microsoft Flight Simulator for training. While this got sensationally reported and Microsoft removed the World Trade Center from upcoming editions of their game, it turned out to not be true at all. Seamus Blackley, the developer of the Xbox who had worked on games like System Shock and Jurassic Park: Trespasser, had been called up by a Los Angeles Times reporter that he knew personally not long after the event to ask if he believed that the terrorists could have used simulators like MFS to hone their skills. Off the cuff, Blackley (who is an experienced pilot with work on flight simulators) explained that it's not particularly hard to take classes on the basics of flying as long as you had a few grand to drop, and it's not like you need to learn how to take off or land if you plan on seizing a cockpit mid-air and crashing the plane. He proposed that they could have used a realistic flight simulator just to learn the basics of steering the plane into the NYC skyline and avoided professional training altogether. Blackley was horrified to find himself quoted as an anonymous aviation expert; his friendly chat with a guy he knew was now turned into him blaming his company's products for terrorism. Virgin Megastore pulled any video games featuring the Twin Towers from their shelves. Fortunately, the immediate panic faded and Microsoft moved on to the Xbox launch, but it's created the unproven myth that the terrorists used commercial flight simulators to learn how to kill. quote:Bond knew that she was almost certainly right. Every two days he received a report from England, via Bill Tanner: a digest of the information coming from the surveillance team that had been set up with exceptional discretion, officers being changed every forty-eight hours, in the village of Nun’s Cross. He asked Percy what she thought had actually happened on the night Dr Holy went missing. Gardner is smart enough, unlike Dan Brown, to avoid going so deep into a field he doesn't know about that he starts to make laughable mistakes. quote:‘You’re an enchantress,’ Bond told Percy. ‘I know of nobody else who could have taught me so much in such a short time.’  No casino looks more like a stereotypical spy casino than the Monte Carlo. quote:During the three hours they played that night he was down, at one point, to 40,000 francs. But the wheel started to run in his favour, and eventually, by midnight, the stake had increased to 300,000 francs. He waited for two turns to pass, deciding to make the next bet the last of the night, when he heard a sharp intake of breath from Percy. Glancing towards her, he saw the colour had left her face, her eyes staring at the entrance. It was not so much a look of fear as of sudden surprise.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2021 20:44
|
|
|
chitoryu12 posted:Citroën is not exactly known for sports cars to compete with the likes of a Bentley Mulsanne Turbo, so my best guess is this is meant to be the Citroën CX. It was made in several models from 1975 to 1991 and one of the weirdest space cars of the time, with a unique shape giving it a very low drag coefficient and an advanced hydro-pneumatic suspension giving it an extremely smooth ride. It's not incredibly powerful, but it's at least capable of breaking 100 MPH. IIRC that's the car a friend of mine had. An interesting feature of the suspension was that when it wasn't running the car would sink a few inches. This became a problem when he parked it in a very narrow street with high kerbs, came back after a couple of hours and couldn't get the doors open. They'd sunk below kerb level. He had to break a window to get in and start the engine....
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2021 21:52
|
|
|
You know how some authors have the Gift of Names and some don't? Between Bad Brad Tirpitz and Rolling Joe Zwingli, I'm gonna say Gardner does not have the Gift of Nicknames.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2021 01:22
|
|
|
Learning Forth, you say?
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2021 01:43
|
|
|
Easy enough for James Bond to learn how to go Forth and multiply, he's been doing it all his life
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2021 02:31
|
|
|
chitoryu12 posted:
This makes no sense. Even ignoring the 0 and 00 as options to reduce the odds below 50%, Bond can't have "consistent wins" with a 50-50 chance each time...
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2021 00:43
|
|
|
He took a 10 in Luck, op. And 3 intelligence
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2021 00:47
|
|
|
Chapter 7: Rolling Homequote:General Zwingli had been no chicken at the time of his disappearance. He must now be in his mid-seventies. Yet, from where Bond sat, he looked like a man of sixty in good physical shape. The four other men were younger, heavier and not the kind of people you would be likely to meet at Sunday school parties. Haven't been to many fun Sunday School parties? quote:For a moment, Bond sat calmly awaiting the worst, convinced that Zwingli and his men were looking for him, or possibly Percy. There had to be a connection. You didn’t need a crystal ball to work that out. Zwingli had been a necessary part of the disappearance plot. If there had been collusion at the time of the aeroplane wreck, there would still be collusion now, for Dr Holy and General Zwingli were tied together for life by a much stronger bond than marriage vows. Conspirators can rarely divorce without one partner seriously damaging the other. And there's no chance of one of Bond's assignments ever being compromised from the start! quote:Percy giggled. ‘This is my real image, James. Mrs Jay Autem Holy was the disguise. I put on weight, wore thick clear-glass spectacles and looked the ultimate frowsy computer scientist . . .’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xmAC9Qu908 quote:‘The face was familiar. I’ve seen him before or a picture of him. Maybe he’s on file. You?’ The-- The loving mysterious missing ally of your villain walks right into the casino you're in after a sudden axe gang assault and you think it's a loving coincidence? quote:For a while she fussed about Bond, like the proverbial mother hen, questioning him on all she had taught him.  Oh yeah, real sporty. Definitely not a rectangle. The ES Turbo variant of this pretty standard car has a 2.2L turbocharged engine and sport suspension, but only a bit over 10,000 were sold for a few years before they were discontinued. And no performance upgrade justifies looking like that. quote:‘You think we’ll ever meet again?’ Bond felt uncharacteristically inadequate. She put her hands on his shoulders, looking into the startling blue eyes. ‘We have to, don’t we, James?’ Won't miss you! quote:Half an hour later, Bond took the Mulsanne Turbo out of the same garage. Within minutes he was out of the principality, heading back along the Moyenne Corniche on the road that would take him on to the main A8 Paris Autoroute. Remember when Fleming gave us the necessary exposition for the mission at the beginning of the book? quote:Rahani had first approached the Service some five years before, handed on to them by the American Service. They had turned him down flat because of his many contacts with unfriendly agencies and uncertain governments. He was wealthy, smooth, sharp, intelligent, and slippery as an eel. The flag on the file, Bond remembered, was ciphered Possible clandestine. Probably subversive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shuQJ6nubo8 quote:His voice trailed off. He could not bring himself to sing the last line, about sending money home to his wife. For the ghost of his own dead wife, Tracy, still haunted him, even though he now missed Percy Proud’s clear mind and agile, beautiful body. Weakness, he chided himself. He was trained as a loner, one who acted without others; one who relied on himself. Yet he did miss her. Undeniably, there were moments when he thought he could still smell her scent and feel the touch of her skin. Pull yourself together, he told himself. Not like he ever behaves that way with Gardner. quote:Among the bills and circulars awaiting Bond at his flat was a letter from a firm of business consultants demanding special attention. Embedded in this seemingly innocuous letter was a series of telephone numbers – one for each day of the week – that he could ring in order to set up a meeting with M at the safe flat near St Martin’s Lane. Like February in Florida! quote:‘Well, 007, the woman’s taught you all the tricks of the trade, eh?’ "This whole thing got overcomplicated like a quarter of the way through." quote:M looked at him in silence for a long time. ‘Incredible,’ he said at last, as though someone had hit him in the face. ‘Incredible that Zwingli’s still alive, let alone mixed up with Rahani. Wonder where he fits into all this. You’ll just have to be alert to Rahani’s possible involvement, 007. He’s always been a bit of an unknown quantity, so we’ll inform those who need to know. You see, we’re ready to put you in. Now, here’s what I want you to do. First, your old acquaintance Freddie Fortune has . . .’ Thanks for the clarification. quote:Carefully, he laid a trail among people most likely to talk, or those whose connections were right for some salting. Then, on the Thursday evening, in the bar of one of Mayfair’s plush clubs, as if by accident, he bumped into Lady Freddie Fortune, the extravagant, pamphlet-wagging socialite he always called his ‘champagne communist’. She was a vivacious, petite redhead, ‘Red Freddie’, some called her – completely untrustworthy, and always in the gossip columns, either campaigning for some outrageous cause or involved in sexual scandal. Freddie was discreet only when it suited her. That night, Bond dropped a hint that he was looking for work in the computer field. He also poured out all his troubles – an affair in Monte Carlo that had ended disastrously, leaving him bitter and wretched. She just sounds like one of my normal dates. quote:Lady Freddie was thrilled to see this man, once a model of good form, become so emotional and she whipped Bond off to her bed, allowing him to cry on her shoulder – metaphorically, of course. During the night, trying to keep up the pretence of having drunk too much yet still able to enjoy himself, Bond longed for Percy and the special smell and feel of her.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2021 18:48
|
|
|
chitoryu12 posted:
Because a job history of being a Secret Service assassin is what everyone looks for in a computer programmer?
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2021 19:20
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 04:58 |
|
|
Gats Akimbo posted:Because a job history of being a Secret Service assassin is what everyone looks for in a computer programmer? Counterpoint: he had a very good war, he went to a very good school, and he's a good respectable club man. That's what's really important. Never mind any of this Bolshevik nonsense about merit or competence.
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2021 17:49
|
|