Bond in Motion ( bicycle not included )

BOND IN MOTION, opening January 2012 at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, is the world’s largest official collection of original James Bond vehicles.

After months of suspense, The National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and EON Productions are pleased to announce that BOND IN MOTION will be unveiled on 17th January 2012. The exhibition will showcase 50 of the best loved and most iconic James Bond vehicles in celebration of the 50th year of James Bond. BOND IN MOTION will run from January to December 2012 at Beaulieu. It will feature a range of vehicles which have appeared in Bond films over the years including cars, boats, motorbikes, sleds, jets and many more. In addition, 2012 also marks the 40th anniversary of the world-famous National Motor Museum, a fitting year to be hosting a major new exhibition marking 50 years since the first James Bond film was screened. Look out for more information coming to you very soon on BOND IN MOTION.

Opération Fleming - Les films hors Canon 007

( Avant-propos : les grandes idées se rencontrent et , alors que j'effectuais des recherches de mon côté sur ce film mal-aîmé , je suis bien évidemment tombé sur l'irremplaçable chronique de M. Lombard consacrée à la gestation complexe du film en question sur son site - indiqué en bas de page .)

Ami cinéphile , jouons maintenant à un petit jeu : pourras-tu citer de mémoire le titre d'un film produit en 1966 , réalisé par Terence Young , se réclamant ouvertement des écrits de Ian Fleming ...Et n'ayant pourtant finalement quasi rien à voir avec l'oeuvre de ce dernier ?

Un tel film existe bel et bien, circonstance aggravante il est même signé du réalisateur de ' Dr No ' , ' Bons Baisers de Russie ' et ' Operation Tonnerre ' .

Nous sommes à la Noël 1966 au Palais des Grimaldi en Principauté de Monaco .

A l'issue d'une projection de Prestige organisée en l'honneur de la Princesse Grace , les applaudissements de la salle - pourtant comble - se font timides voire carrément embarrassés ; Hitchcock toussote ... Et pourtant on vient de voir une super production tournée par Terence Young , le Steven Spielberg de l'époque , sur un scénario inspirée d'idées de Ian Fleming ,le créateur de James Bond himself !!!  

Quand à la distribution, n'en parlons même pas : le gratin du Cinéma mondial s'y dispute le haut de l'affiche , de Yul Brynner à Angie Dickinson, et de Marcello Mastroianni à Trini Lopez , c'est un véritable Who's Who de l' Entertainment des années soixante !!!!!

Que s'est-il donc passé ?  

Flashback : le 12 mars 1964, Paul G. Hoffman, alors directeur général des Fonds Spéciaux des Nations Unies, annonce le lancement imminent de la production de six téléfilms de 90 minutes. Justificatif officiel de l'entreprise : « attirer l’attention du public sur les actions sociales et économiques des Nations Unies ».

Les réalisateurs pressentis sont alors Peter Glenville , Stanley Kubrick ( mais oui ! ) , Joseph Manckiewicz ( le père de Tom, futur scénariste de la saga 007 à l'écran ) et même Otto Preminger et d'autres noms tout autant prestigieux ... On ne se mouche pas du pied . C'est même carrément la folie des grandeurs !

Trois scénaristes - inconnus,eux ! - sont annoncés : Reginald Rose , Tad Mosel et Peter Stone  .

Et cinq compositeurs sont prévus, là encore pas des moindres  : Elmer Bernstein, Henry Mancini , Alex North , André Previn et Richard Rodgers .

La société Xerox Corporation (l’inventeur du photocopieur) se propose de sponsoriser et de produire le programme (à hauteur de quatre millions de dollars), qui sera diffusé chaque mois sur les réseaux ABC et NBC, à partir de janvier 1965.

Dans les mois qui suivent, la John Birch Society, une association d’extrême-droite, tente de faire pression pour empêcher la Xerox de financer le projet. «Nous détestons voir une entreprise de ce pays faire la promotion de l’ONU quand nous savons que l’ONU est au service de la conspiration communiste».

Les neuf mille lettres de protestation reçues au siège de la société n’y changent rien de rien , le projet continue sur sa lancée. Avec pourtant quelques modifications. En septembre 1964, le programme est ramené à cinq téléfilms et seuls Fred Zinneman et Joseph Mankiewicz   sont toujours impliqués. Les autres réalisateurs sont remplacés par ... Wait for it ! Alfred Hitchcock , George Sidney et ... Terence Young .

Joseph Mankiewicz ouvre donc le feu et réalise «Carol for Another Christmas » , vaguement inspiré d'un Classique de Charles Dickens avec Peter Sellers , Britt Ekland , Sterling Hayden et Ben Gazzara.

Cette curieuse variation , qui ne doit finalement plus grand-chose au créateur d'Oliver Twist , est diffusée le 28 décembre 1964 sur ABC.

Lorsqu’il est contacté pour le projet au printemps 1964, Terence Young  se voit même proposer une casquette de producteur éxécutif . Il choisit parmi les sujets proposés celui de la drogue, un fléau qui préoccupe particulièrement l’ONU.

Terence Young s’adresse à Ian Fleming , qu’il connaît depuis 1961 ( les deux hommes ont ensuite fraternisé lors du tournage à la Jamaïque de  " James Bond Contre Dr No " ).

Le romancier et journaliste britannique aime à l’occasion délaisser 007 pour écrire d’autres choses ( voir ses nombreux articles pour le Sunday Mail , mais aussi son roman pour enfants «Chitty Chitty Bang Bang», le recueil de reportages «Thrilling Cities» , sa correspondance fournie avec l'armurier Boothroyd ou ses idées étonnantes en matière de bibliophilie  …) .

Coup de chance pour Terence Young : Fleming venait précisément de proposer à son éditeur anglais une idée d'ouvrage référentiel sur les...Narcotiques ! 
Idée saugrenue rejetée d'emblée par Jonathan Cape , habitué aux humeurs farfelues de son best-seller d'écrivain ...

Celui-ci proposait avec une certaine naïveté de rédiger un guide consacré à cette culture locale typiquement Jamaïcaine et s'enthousiasme pour un ' projet aussi brillant ' . La réponse de Jonathan Cape se borne bien entendu à un refus poli ...

Ian Fleming accepte alors de rédiger pour Terence Young un synopsis, où il est question d’un chargement d’opium rendu radioactif pour le suivre à la trace ( réminiscence d'un de ses plans fomentés lors de son séjour à l'Amirauté durant la seconde guerre mondiale . Fleming y était d'ailleurs connu pour son imagination délirante et sa propension à forger des scénarii dignes de bonnes vieilles séries B made in Hollywood .

Une autre de ses idées originales d'opérations de déstabilisation des forces de l'Axe donnera d'ailleurs finalement lieu à l'intrigue du roman ' Casino Royale ' ...) .

Le 12 août 1964,Fleming meurt à l'âge de 56 ans à l’hôpital de Canterbury à 9hrs du matin des suites d’une crise cardiaque survenue la veille . Il laisse derrière lui un carnet bourré d'idées pour de futurs romans, des projets de films , de séries télé ... Ainsi donc que sa participation - dorénavant devenue problématique - à ce projet de film éducatif ...

Terence Young décide de continuer seul l’aventure et engage le scénariste Jo Eisinger (avec lequel il vient de travailler sur le film à sketches signés de plusieurs réalisateurs «Guerre Secrète» - et avec déja une distribution internationale , comptant dans ses rangs Bourvil , Henry Fonda ou Vittorio Gassman  - ) pour transformer la trame initiale en un solide scénario linéaire .

Mais il doit avant tout composer avec les héritiers de Fleming , et notamment sa veuve Ann, qui tentent de contrôler et de freiner les utilisations abusives du nom du romancier, alors que le très attendu " Goldfinger "  de Guy Hamilton s’apprête à sortir sur les écrans du monde entier.

Le réalisateur obtient le feu vert de Glidrose (la société protectrice des droits de Fleming), à condition que soit bien précisé au générique un carton neutre proclamant  : «d’après une idée de Ian Fleming ». 

( Des décennies plus tard , on découvrira avec stupeur que Fleming a en fait engrangé de son vivant un nombre incalculable d'idées , de synopsis voire de simples notes griffonnées ici ou là susceptibles d'être ensuite accaparées par des producteurs avides de notoriété ... ) 

S'investissant à fond dans ce nouveau projet , Terence Young abandonne même prématurément la post-production ( pourtant problématique ) de OPERATION TONNERRE – et confie au monteur Peter Hunt le soin d'arriver à tirer un film plus ou moins logique de la montagne de rushes tournés aux quatre coins de la planète . Ce qui au passage explique les grossières erreurs de continuité ( maillot de bain changeant de couleur d'un plan à l'autre , voitures changeant de plaques d'immatriculation, etc,etc ... ) .

Comme pour la production Homérique du Casino Royale de la Columbia de 1967 , moult séquences délirantes sont très sérieusement envisagées . Tandis que d'autres se matérialisent simplement en fonction des nouveaux lieux de tournage !
Dans ses mémoires parues aux éditions Denoël , le cascadeur ( devenu ensuite réalisateur à part entière ) Yvan Chiffre se remémore par exemple la rocambolesque préparation d'une scène de catch féminin ( un péché mignon de Ian Fleming , qu'il évoque dans Thrilling Cities ) , puis de la bagarre finale sur la voie ferrée ( qui faillit mal tourner - à ses dires ) .

Dans sa version Cinéma , le film peine à trouver son public , décontenancé par sa structure éclatée .La Critique n'est pas tendre pour cette pseudo copie conforme de 007 :

Time magazine enfonce le clou en parlant d’un «film de James Bond sans James Bond . Mais que l'on aurait plutôt préféré ne pas voir filmé du tout ... ».

La critique reproche au film une apparence bâclée et des dialogues ' dignes de figurer dans la série TV Batman ' . En fait , la production est victime de sa folie des grandeurs , que n'arrive pas à dissimuler un budget trop maigrelet pour ses nobles ambitions .

De par l'excentricité de sa production , le film rappelle les grandes heures du Hollywood de ' Cléopatre ' ou des ' Portes du Paradis ' pour offrir une analogie plus récente .

Il garde néanmoins un côté ' sérial ' tout à fait réjouissant , et finalement très fidèle à l'esprit aventureux de Ian Fleming , dont l'aspect ' Tintin reporter ' très moralisateur est plutôt fidèlement retranscrit dans la mise en scène de Terence Young .

Ce sera la dernière incursion du réalisateur dans l'univers de Ian Fleming . 

Lorsque je l'ai longuement interviewé sur sa carriére dans le cadre d'une émission rétrospective consacrée aux 3O ans de James Bond pour Ciné-Cinéma à l'automne 1992 , Terence Young m'a confié moult anecdotes sur le tournage épique de cet ' Opération Opium ' - et  le fait que la production avait eu les yeux plus gros que le ventre et s'était très vite révélée incapable de pouvoir correctement assumer le suivi colossal requis pour un tournage de cette envergure . Ré-écriture quasi permanente du script et adaptation aux nouveaux impétrants ( acteurs signés la veille , extérieurs annulés à la dernière minute , etc. , etc . ) ont rendu toute l'entreprise rocambolesque de bout en bout ...

Remerciements et sources :
M. Terence Young

M. Charles Hefelstein 
Me Pauline Hérouan - attachée de Presse du Musée Océanographique de Monaco
M.Philippe Lombard pour sa superbe analyse en Français de la production cahotique du film .

M. Delmo Waters 
M. Peter Janson-Smith
A.I.E ( filiale Unesco - Paris ) 
 

Les sites et médias suivants :

• Spies Magazine #4, July 1994 “Ian Fleming’s Anti-Drug Film”
• Cinema Retro #1, January 2005
• Showtime October 1965
• Movie Mirror March 1966
• Movie Land and TV Time May 1966
• New York Times April 23, 1966
• Time December 2, 1966
• Ian Fleming by Andrew Lycett
• The Good, the Bad and Me: In My Anecdotage by Eli Wallach
• When the Snow Melts: The Autobiography of Cubby Broccoli by Cubby Broccoli and Donald Zec
• James Bond: The Legacy by John Cork and Bruce Scivally 
• Histoires de Tournage by Philippe Lombard
• UPI interviews with Jo Eisinger and Yul Brynner, December 1965.
• The Poppy is Also a Flower press kit
• http://commanderbond.net/11528/the-poppy-is-also-a-flower.htm 
• http://unifrance.org 
• http://Devildead.com 
• http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/index.php
• http://www.nytimes.com 

So you're fifty eh ? Soon reaching retirement age then ...

As some of you may already know , was in London last week to check up various things ;

First thing I noticed while in the Tube were large adds for a new book dedicated to Ian Fleming's Elite Commando .
Checked later about that one at Harrington's , whose owner clearly advised me against buying said tome . Oh well , maybe for completists only then ?

Next on the agenda was of course a visit to Eon's offices - with two purposes .

First , trying to obtain the date of the Pinewood Studios Bond23 Production launch International Press conference ( rumoured to be happening next month ) .
Sorry to report that despite turning my old French charm full towards the lovely Blonde receptionist , I couldn't get a clear answer ( " If there were such a conference already planned , don't you think I'll be the first to know ? " kindly answered me the innocent creature ) .

Second : getting a lil' bit more informations about next year Beaulieu ' Bond in Motion ' unique exhibition .
Been a little bit more successful on that one , getting a teaser poster and various infos .
Exhibition will be opening January 2012 at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu .
Teaser I'm reproducing below . Very classy . Very Bond . Very Vintage . Love it .
As a bonus , also got printed on that one the official 50th Anniversary logo , which I'm ashamed to say looks like the work of a 12 years old kid using PaintShop Pro for the very first time . Come on guys : don't you have better designers at Eon's who could just devise something , eerr , a bit more imaginative than this oh-so Classic Gunbarrel motive ?
It's the 50th Anniversary damnit , not just a tea Party ...
Note to future thiefs : I have colorized said logo - which was originally only in Black & White .

That was about all the news I learnt while being on British soil those last days .
Oh , and I saw a beautiful vintage DBS Aston Martin parked in Portobello Road too .
Unfortunately she was painted metallic blue ( mind you : a Bronze one would have do too ... ) .

Welcome to the home of James Bond Ancestors ?

A Scottish castle is to play a starring role in the new James Bond film with main star Daniel Craig visiting Argyll to play the famous 007 special agent.

Scenes of the still unnamed “B23” ( although recent rumours have it already christened ' Skyfall ' ) , the 23rd Bond film to be made, will be filmed at Duntrune Castle on Poltalloch Estate near Lochgilphead in mid-Argyll.

The local business community has welcomed what will be a major boost to the economy.
According to local sources , shooting will depict an assault against the venerable mansion , and is supposed to take place by the ending of the film .
Scenery will have to be covered by fake snow - a decision which has been already notified to the concerned inhabitants .

James Bond fans will remember Scotland was already used as a 007 location in several movies - starting with the infamous McGregor Castle of Casino Royale ( the 1967 version ) , then appearing as a local MI6 undercover HQ in Twine ( 1999 ).Incidentally Terence Young also shot most of the Helicopter chase in FRWL ( 1963 ) in Scotland too ( passing it for Yugoslavia ) .
007 Afficionados will also remember the ending of the 1990 TV movie ' Ian Fleming Spymaker ' - which depicted an assault on a fortified castle , sequence was filmed in... Scotland .

Turkey and China are among the other locations, and Oscar-winning actress Dame Judi Dench, who took part in a fundraiser at Inveraray Castle in Argyll on Saturday night, will return in her role as “M”.

Director Sam Mendes has already visited Duntrune, famous for being the oldest constantly inhabited castle in Scotland, and filming is due to take place in February 2012.

So now you know where to spend your next year Winter holidays ...

A View To a Thrill

Book project 1 updating : to all the people who helped me with the writing on my book on Fleming & the 007 saga , some details regarding publication .
Manuscript won't pass the quorum of Readers before Autumn now .
Should have been earlier but troubles with a so-called internal contact in the Publishing House delayed the whole operation .
Which actually may not be such a bad thing after all , since there's not quite much as a James Bond actuality these days ... Till the beginning of shooting of Bond23 this Autumn that is !

To entertain you , here are some variations on proposed covers dear friend of mine Stephane Tron created for the project . May he be eternaly thanked for those great designs of his .
Those are merely sort of concept art so far . Ideas just thrown in ( I've always found Nature Morte type of covers more striking than a casual illustration , how good they may be ) .

As a side point ,must confess I've been recently approached by a French publisher to write another book on the Bond saga - this time the Cinematographic one - to tie in with next year's 50th Anniversary hoopla ... But after initial positive contacts last month , a defeaning silence followed when I dared mentionning costs of Photographic material if book wasn't okayed by Eon / Danjaq - laughs ...

To see more of Stéphane's incredible Fan arts visit his own site at http://007art.free.fr/

New French Carte Blanche Competition

Trying to entice potential Summer readers to discover the new Jeffery Deaver's James Bond adventure , Flammarion launches today a brand new competition - so simple to win even Austin Powers could enter !

You just have to answer three basic questions - so easy to find out when you take the time to surf onto the French promo website ...

And if you're lucky enough you could even win a brand new complete DvD box of Eon all 22 James Bond movies .

So what are you still doing there ?

A bit late but still ...France got its own Carte Blanche

Each new Ian Fleming Publication James Bond novel is nowaday marketed like a Hollywood blockbuster .
With Press preview , Press launches and multi medias promotion campaign .

Such was of course the case of Carte Blanche , the latest Continuation novel ( although I guess this term isn't really favoured anymore by the IFP people...) penned by American Thrillers auteur Jeffery Deaver .

Promotion started last Summer - with an invitation to discover the new writer in London .
The operation was very hush hush - so secret indeed that no France medias ever reported the event...Despite frantic attempts by yours truly to try to raise the interest around that litterary reboot of Ian Fleming's most famous creation .

Cut to late May a year later , with the Press presentation of the new book set in London Saint Pancras very chic Champagne Bar , reputedly longest bar of Europe ( people will do everything these days to get into the Guiness Book of Records I guess... ) .

Having been kindly invited by the P.R people of Hodder & Stoughton and the Colman Gety agency , I was nonetheless forced to pass the invitation to a friend of mine based in the UK - for practical reason . Impossible to get an affordable EuroStar ticket for London less than a week before proposed departure date . Sigh .
Thanks to the superb Journalistic skills of the aforementionned friend ( none other than Simon Gardner, John Gardner's son ), we were able to present French James Bond fans with some exclusive photo reports of the whole day ( mucho gratias indeed , Mr Gardner Jr ! ) .

The book was due to be in store the very next day in England - May the 26th to be precise . As in most of the World - the English-speaking one , that is .
But the French publisher - Flammarion - has already selected another publication date of its own : a week later , June the 1rst .

At first I thought they had delayed publication because of internal problems ( getting the French translation right - which they almost managed . There are still some minor errors regarding military ranks and stuff ) but the reason was much more simple : Flammarion's own publication calendar was organised in a different time setting way - and they simply couldn't have proposed the French version of Carte Blanche by May the 26 as with the rest of the World .

So once again, people might say the French have done everything to be pointed at again but I can assure you that was merely due to a different publication calendar setting .

Last but not least : Flammarion issued a brand new French promo website to tie-in with the release - to which content I participated in some capacity.
http://www.007carteblanche.fr/

P.S : now that I have read the full novel I can safely state it is indeed a vast improvement upon the last one penned by Sebastian Faulks . Strangely enough I kept having the image of Daniel Craig while reading it . Oh , and don't be afraid by the publicity ' Re-boot ' stint . Re-boot it may be as was then labelled the ' Licence Renewed ' John Gardner first novel in 81 .
In short : Fans won't jump to the roof while reading the litterary 21rst Century adventures of Mr Bond .
Pfewww . Thank God for that !
On another hand , must sadly report the botched job done by Flammarion's translaters - who obviously didn't know scratch from the world of Fleming when they decided to tackle the job of translating Jeffery Deaver's work into French . Military inaccuracies , basic mispelling , and sometimes...complete misunderstanding of classic lines ( come on , who in the 21rst century cannot translate correctly ' shaken and stirred ' I ask you ? ) .
Which is rather sad for it anihilates most of the interest sustained by this great story .
Coincidently , Flammarion decided to try to ' re launch ' the title by mid July - following disappointingly low sales in the past month .
Heck, like I told'em ' you do not launch a Bond book with a zero promotion budget . ' ( which they did , unfortunately ) .

If you want to win a French edition of Carte Blanche - or a complete set of Eon 007 movies on DvD ! - , try the competition in the ' Concours ' part of the website

Carte Blanche : the French Promo site that never was

It is rather well-known I'm considered as some kind of French specialist as far as 007 business is concerned .

Bearing in mind that two years ago , the French PR bureau in charge of Sebastian Faulk's DEVIL MAY CARE promo had shamelessly « borrowed » huge chuncks of the www.jamesbond-fr.com bio section , without first asking us ( things were promptly repared after a tonic mail from yours truly ) , we decided this time to directly propose the French Publishing House in charge of issuing Jeffery Deaver's Carte Blanche in French language some ideas of our own for the creation ( and administration ) of a brand new French site .

To achieve this effect , the main Web designer of jamesbond-fr.com worked round the clock to propose an original aproach – due to match my precise instructions .
Which were ' no girl with flaming gun in hand , no roaring car , no explosion and no nudity ' .

In short : a clean approach – to favor both 007 fans and new potential readers as well .

Our Web designer perfectly understood the point and rose to the challenge .

We had consequently by mid March some pages to show to the French Publisher .

And then Fate torpedoed us in the guise of someone I met on FaceBook – arguing he was himself working in that very same Publishing House .
We had several common friends I trusted , so I accept him amongst my FB relatives , and then naturally asked him to forward the CB promo website proposition to the right person .

It then seems a much more trustee and faster way to get in touch with the right persons , don't you think ?

WRONG !

Cut to one month later ( April ) and roughly thirty mails later : we still hadn't heard back from the French Publishing House PR bureau .
I had a nagging feeling in my stomach and began to reconsider the validity of using that FaceBook ' Friend ' as a go-between .

Comes May – a rather busy month for me with its annual Cannes International Film Festival .
By then, I had finally heard again from the mysterious FB guy , who even had the nerves to ask me where I was staying during the Festival ( assuring he was going to appear there by the second week ) . Never saw him there .

Back in Paris by mid May , I was now officially seriously worried .

It was obvious our proposed French Promo site project couldn't be used anymore – we simply didn't have enough time left before the French launch ( June the 1rst ) to do a proper job as we thought earlier back in March .

I decided then to fluke the unofficial approach and simply try to directly contact the PR bureau .

I had been fortunately in touch earlier with one of the two translators hired to do the French version of Carte Blanche , and that person kindly pointed me – minutes after receiving my email – to the Attachée de Presse put in charge of the French promotion .

Turned out she NEVER received our own project , was sincerely sorry to learn we had put time and labour to try to submit that , and was , of course , interested at once by a proposed collaboration .

Heck, after all, www.jamesbond-fr.com is the biggest 007 French site in term of connections per day , quite simply ...

So here we are .
Do enjoy two of the proposed French Carte Blanche website pages we worked on three months ago ...
And which , mysteriously , never managed to reach the P.B Bureau in time to be officially considered .

Lesson to be learn : beware your FaceBook friends .
You may think it's Daniel Craig answering you but it could also be some nerd frantically typing from his bedroom ...

Carte Blanche... A la Carte !

We are glad to report we'll be working in advisory capacity with the P.R agency in charge of the French Carte Blanche promo campaign .
French release date of the book will be June the first ( due to a peculiar Flammarion publishing calendar , title couldn't be announced on May the 26th as with the international editions ) .

The French cover will be – in all modesty – one of the best looking of the whole bunch with a silver Ian Fleming Publication 007 logo impressed on the Carte Blanche motive ( several variations were proposed till that one was finally agreed by all parties and decided upon ) .

No gadget tie-ins this year ( such as the mini Devil May Care booklet which was inserted as a freebie in various French newspapers ) but a massive huge poster campaign in Train Stations and Metro .

The name's Armstrong... Vic Armstrong ...

Received today copy of Robert Sellers's Vic Armstrong biography " The True Adventures of the World's Greatest StuntMan " .

The CV of that guy would make any decent Film fan blemish with awe ( Some fan - namely Steven Spielberg himself - signed the introduction of the book ... ) .

Am about to devour it by the night .

More details tomorrow...

" No well dressed man should be without one..."

One of the most memorable stunt of the 4th James Bond movie ( Thunderball ) appears in its precredits sequence . 007 escapes the Villain's lair by casually flying off the turrets of the Chateau d'Anet , using a revolutionary type of vehicle , the Jet Pack .

The Jetpack is actually a Bell Rocket Belt, a fully functional rocket pack device. It was designed for use in the army, but was rejected because of its short flying time of 21-22 seconds. Powered by hydrogen peroxide, it could fly about 250m and reach a maximum altitude of 18m, going 55km/h.

Despite its impracticality in the real world, the Jetpack made a spectacular debut in Thunderball. Although Sean Connery is seen in the takeoff and landings, the main flight was piloted by Gordon Yeager and Bill Suitor.

You have been dreaming about flying a personal jetpack for way too long.

Your wait is finally over! Jetlev Technologies, Inc. is proud to introduce the Jetlev R200, the recreational jetpack that almost anyone can enjoy over water.

It is designed for safety, stability, ease-of-use, and precise and effortless flight controls. Learn basic flight with video-assisted training on land and as little as six minutes of on-water instructions.

No other flying device even comes close to the Jetlev R200’s stability, agility and ease of use. Feel as one with the jetpack when you fly, and experience levitation flight so stable that you feel as if you are suspended on cables.

The three-dimensional degree of freedom will thrill and enthrall you like nothing else you have ever experienced.

You can fly over deep open water with the assurance that it is one of the safest power sports ever invented.

The Jetlev R200 will forever change our pre-conceived notions about personal flight!

You Only Read Twice ( if it's a good book )

Okay , think you know your litterary James Bond , eh ?

Here's a selection of rarely seen ( some would say ' almost mythical ' ) titles linked to the agent with a Licence to Kill ...

First , the 1967 pastiche ' Holmes Meets 007 ' - written by journalist Donald Stanley in 1964 . In which the 221b Baker Street duo encounters James Bond and M in very unusual circumstances ... Two limited series of the book were produced , running from number 1 to 221 (b , of course ) plus 25 additional copies for friends & family ( numbered I to XXV ) .

Then we have the strange case of the supposedly real Glidrose approved novel ' The Killing Zone ' - which finally turns out to be everything but official !

The Killing Zone relates the story of 007 going after a drug lord in Mexico after his friend and colleague, Bill Tanner, is murdered by said Villain ( plot looking suspiciously like the 16th James Bond film , Licence To Kill , released four years later ) . Book is known about the Fan communauty mainly for its shocking ending , with the funeral at sea of Commander Bond ( in grand You Only Live Twice - filmwise , tradition . ) .

Initially published ( or so it seems ) in 1985 , the precise year no new John Gardner official 007 novel appears on the market , it finally turned out to be nothing but a fraud from a so-called Thriller writer ( actually an ex convict ) apparently badly in need of some publicity ...

More recently - in 1997 - surfaces in official merchant sites ( such as Amazon ) the strange ' Your Deals , Mr Bond ' ( Not to be mixed with John Gardner's ' No Deals , Mr Bond ' novel ) - which even appears to be included into Wikipedia datas research pool .

A collection of bridge-related short stories published by B.T Batsford .

The title piece is a short story featuring James Bond, who is assigned by M to defeat a villain named Saladin who is threatening to explode nuclear bombs in several major cities ( with a plot like this , you could be forgiven for thinking said book is written by a tenth grade pupil...).

Carte Blanche : Your Mission , should you decide to accept it ...

Wonderful stuff received this very day in my mail box ( the real one - not the Matrix-like ones ) : an A4 plain white enveloppe encrusted with the literary 007 logo . Send by Hodder & Stoughton ...

Enveloppe seemed to contain unusual stuff when I picked it up : surprise , a brand new MP4 reader , complete with set of headphones , Usb link and a Press announcement about Mr Jeffery Deaver's next James Bond novel ( you know , the one with a French title . Hoorray ) .

Truly Mission: Impossible stuff ... Was almost expecting after fiddling with the controls that the thing casually blew in my face .

( Have to confess that , although being myself a true geek regarding new technology gadgets , I'm definitly not the Engineer type . You know , the one who can instantly understand how works the latest Tokyo manufactured gadget ...)

Hence a few minutes ( nah, let's be honest : a good half an hour ! ) fighting with the thingie , just to try to have it ,well, ...Passing on its ' on ' mode .

Don't laugh , I'm embarassed enough .

Anyway , the Technika MP4 Player containts the Carte Blanche video animation ( which can be seen on the official site ) , music tracks ( 2 ) , Radio tuning , Recording function, etc.,etc...

Hats down to the Communication bureau who thought of that great idea .

Haven't had such fun since receiving the blue Promo diskettes for the Independance Day movie launch way back in 1996 .

Can't help wishing to have next a vintage Aston Martin DB5 parked right in front of my house in Paris , with a buxom Blonde as Chauffeur ...Come on, Hodder & Stoughton, please ...

EXCLUSIVE REPORT 3 : “ A Jeffery Deaver novel but set in the world that Ian Fleming created. “

We were lucky enough to have our own very special correspondent at Dubaï being able to attend Mr Jeffery Deaver's first official Public Conference as the new James Bond thriller writer.

In the last part of her report , we'll learn more tantalising titbits about the plot of Carte Blanche...
Once again, a big " thank you " to our special correspondent for bringing us that exclusive report .
Text & Photo copyrighted Miss N.Cloet 2011 - Editing & Publishing copyright Media Bis 2011 . Report written by Nathalie Cloet

( M. Jeffery Deaver ) continues to explain that if a scene is approached in a certain way (using example of the Goldfinger book intro – bond sits reflecting at airport after killing an assassin), we start to think about the consequences of taking a human life, and our way of thinking is elevated.

When asked why he gave up working as a lawyer, Mr Deaver explained: “So many lawyers become writers because we hate practicing law.” He knew when he was very young that he wanted to write fiction, and was writing novels while doing several jobs. He shredded his first book, because he was embarrassed to read it. He was 40 years old when he was making enough money to quit working as a lawyer, and now enjoys very much going to the office in pyjamas.

He takes about one year to write a book, of which 9 months is spent on research and an extensive outline (170 pages).

Two months is spent writing the actual book (about 40 pages per day) and one month is spent editing. Carte Blanche is 99 % finished, only some editing is left to do.

When asked how much freedom he was given to write the Bond novel, he explained that they - Jeffery Deaver and Ian Fleming Publishing company - first settled on common ground, and immediately agreed to set the novel in contemporary time.

At the same time, Carte Blanche will be a Jeffery Deaver novel, written in his own style, featuring James Bond. All in all, he called it “a very enjoyable mutual project”.

On the question of who he had in mind as Bond when writing the book, he answered that he had seen most of the movies, but has the imprint in mind from the books, where Ian Fleming described Bond as resembling Hoagy Carmichael ( who was also the base of the Daily Express Comic strips adaptations of Ian Fleming's novels .NdA ) . He also stated that he was delighted to be associated with Bond, but that he had not thought beyond Carte Blanche, as he is currently busy with other books.

Finally, the last question that was permitted from the audience was to ask if the minor characters from the Bond series: M, Q, Moneypenny would be present in the book.

He explained that this would be a Jeffery Deaver novel but set in the world that Ian Fleming created. All characters will be updated to fit the time period. “I wanted to move seamlessly” he stated, and also hinted that we might see accessories that we seem familiar with, and characters will be familiar but suitably updated. The women, similar to the women Ian Fleming created, will be very strong and resourceful.

The event ( which lasted about two hours ) concluded with a rendering of “Nobody does it Better” once more sung by Celeste, and addressed to Mr. Deaver himself, after which he kindly was available for autographs on both his existing books or book inserts for Carte Blanche.

Nathalie Cloet – Special agent “ Live “ from the Dubai Emirate airlines Festival of Literature 2011 .
© Media Bis

Acknowledgments : Lucy Charasse ( Colman Gety ) ; http://www.emirateslitfest.com/ ; Mr Jeffery Deaver; Miss Nathalie ( Tintin ) Cloet .

EXCLUSIVE REPORT 2 - " With Villains , anything goes ! "

We were lucky enough to have our own very special correspondent at Dubaï being able to attend Mr Jeffery Deaver's first official Public Conference as the new James Bond thriller writer.

In the second part of her report , we'll learn tantalising titbits about the plot of Carte Blanche .

Text & Photo copyrighted Miss N.Cloet 2011 - Editing & Publishing copyright Media Bis 2011 .
Report written by Nathalie Cloet

He ( James Bond ) is carried forward into the current age, Deaver’s Bond is 30-something, born in the late 70’s, and very much follows his own conscience.
On why Bond is so influential throughout the years: “Bond is not a cardboard character hero. He has a great deal of depth, Fleming made him question a lot of things. He is a real, a flawed individual. At times he hurts, and has difficulty doing what he does.”

On how Bond has influenced his own life: Mr. Deaver admitted to being a “nerd” growing up, socially inept, and drawn to reading Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Sherlock Holmes.
He picked up his first Fleming book at age 8 or 9, and feels that Fleming set the standard for Crime fiction for him, and that he was disappointed by other writers when reading them afterwards.

He calls himself a very plot-driven author, and thinks of himself as sick & twisted.
He works up to 10 hours a day.

He stated that it is very rare for a writer to be in his situation, where he makes a living as an author.

He uses only 10% of his ideas in actual books, and as is well-known, all of his books have 2-3 big surprise endings, including Carte Blanche.

He stated that he will never kill his protagonists, just as he will never hurt children or animals.
So, it will be quite likely that James Bond will survive this adventure. (Thank God in name of all Bondfans! ) .

Unfortunately Bond did not find time during this adventure to go for a sauna and a swim, or take a tour of the Burj Khalifa.

Mr. Deaver wants people to stay up late reading, and after having finished the book saying “That was fun”, not “I learned something”, but “I enjoyed that”.

On the subject of villains, Mr. Deaver commented: “With villains, anything goes. One can create the most sick and twisted characters. My villains echo Ian Fleming’s villains: quirky, unique, larger than life and passionate. Every character has a sense of depth.”

He explained wanting to step away from stereotypical villains (a banker for a US bank) or stereotypical henchmen ( “a guy with my hairstyle and a ponytail, a leather jacket and a goatee” ).

“We need a villain who is as smart and rugged as our hero, but more ruthless than him, so that when our hero defeats the villain, there is a resonance with the reader.”

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR NEXT MONDAY FINAL PART OF THE REPORT !

EXCLUSIVE REPORT - " State of Excitement : Jeffery Deaver onstage appearance at the Dubai Emirate Airlines Festival of Literature "

PART 1

We were lucky enough to have our own very special correspondent at Dubaï being able to attend Mr Jeffery Deaver's first official Public Conference as the new James Bond thriller writer.

Text & Photo copyrighted Miss N.Cloet 2011 - Editing & Publishing copyright Media Bis 2011 .

Report written by Nathalie Cloet

Tuesday, 18 January 2011.

The location where the event was being held, the Dubai Cultural and Scientific Association is quite a while away from the city centre.

A small book stand was set up by Magrudy’s, containing mainly Ian Fleming and Jeffery Deaver novels, although some young bond books and the odd copy of Devil May Care could be found as well.

Here one could also purchase the “special book plates” mentioned in the press that Mr. Deaver would be signing after the event. A bit disappointing, as these turn out to be just stickers one can stick in the book afterwards.

In the audience we find mainly what seems to be academics and general literature fans, I felt rather alone as an actual Bondfan in the room !

With a small delay, at about 8.10 pm, the event started with a short film, showing excerpts of the Bond films, of course starting with a few of the gunbarrels ;

Followed by an elegant performance by local singer “Celeste” in a sparkling black dress, singing Diamonds Are Forever, Goldfinger and Goldeneye.

Finally, the hostess of the evening, Shahnaz Pakravan , introduced Jeffery Deaver to the audience, in his 1st public appearance as a James Bond author, as Jeffery 00-Deaver, to which he jokingly replied that he prefers “Deaver. Jeffery Deaver”.

Upon being asked how he came to write the Bond novel, Mr. Deaver explained being approached by Ian Fleming publications in the month of November 2009 and after debating for about 7 seconds said yes to this opportunity.

He then immediately decided to set the story in Dubai, as he had travelled to Dubai previously, and had then decided to set a book in the city.

He did specify that he had seen more than the “tourist” side of Dubai, and would feature that in the book. He called this the “Wikipedia trap”, merely stating facts and pictures that can be found anywhere online. “A book needs emotional resonance, not facts”.

On how much Dubai will feature in the book: “Secret agents are standing backstage and will whisk me off if I say too much” joked Mr. Deaver, though explaining that it is a typical Bond book, in the mold that Ian Fleming created.

James Bond gets an assignment, and different leads take him to different locations.

In Dubai ,there is some very fast paced action, races through the streets.

He finds the locals very helpful, and has some wonderful food & drinks along the way.

“Bond has made an indelible impression on Dubai, just as Dubai has made an indelible impression on Bond.

”
“James Bond is a hero in the traditional sense of being a hero, willing to lay his life on the line for his country in the line of duty, although always wondering if what he is doing is the right thing to do”

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR PART 2 OF THE EXCLUSIVE REPORT !

Remerciements : Lucy Chavasse - Colman Getty ; http://emirateslitfest.com/. ; Mr Jeffery Deaver ; Nathalie Cloet

James Bond à la Carte : a Photo report

Our local correspondent , Miss Nathalie Cloet , was present at Jeffery Deaver 's Dubaï Emirate Airlines Festival of Literature tuesday Public conference .

The writer discussed the art of Thriller writing in front of a captivated audience .

Complete and detailled review of the event will be available soon .

Young Bond author Charlie Higson will make himself an appearance for a conference titled 'The making of Young Bond'
( Event set on Friday 11 March, 15:00-16:00Al Baraha 2, InterContinental Hotel ) .

We have people everywhere...

Watch this space for more exclusive info .

Acknowledgment : Miss N.Cloet
Photos copyrighted Media Bis / N.Cloet - Do not reproduce without authorization .