James Bond News: 🍸October 2017

Published: Tue, 10/03/17

As usual you'll find the latest Bond news and articles at the bottom of the page, but before that I just wanted to mention something else. I know there are plenty of fans of 'Goldeneye', Pierce Brosnan's first outing as 007.

Well, back in March 2005 I was lucky enough to visit one of the filming locations. It was the giant dish used to control the satellite, supposedly in Cuba. Here it is (and me):

In reality the dish was the radio telescope at Arecibo in Puerto Rico. I was on holiday in Puerto Rico for five weeks while my other half was there for work. During the week I went diving and at weekends we explored the island together.

We had a great time and made some very good friends from Puerto Rico. So when Hurricane Irma struck just recently I was using Whatsapp to a friend in San Juan to let her know what was happening. I could track the hurricane online and let her know what to expect next while she had no internet.

You must have seen the news; the hurricane caused a lot of damage to some parts of the island, and most people lost power but other Caribbean islands took the full brunt of Irma before it arrived in Florida. I know many readers live in Florida, so I hope you're ok too.

I was a bit surprised - pretty alarmed actually - exactly two weeks later to be in the same situation with Hurricane Maria.

My friend lives in a supposedly hurricane proof apartment with a generator but the hurricane took the windows off the apartment; it blew out a number of internal walls, wrecking the apartment; and when Puerto Rico finally lost all power the generator kicked in.

Don't ask me how, but we were able to communicate on and off throughout and at least her and her family are all safe.

Nine days later power was finally restored to a small percentage of the population. That was last Friday. My friend tells me just 4% of the population have power, and remember she was one of the lucky ones to have a backup generator in her apartment building. Most don't.

She was also lucky because some people have no access to clean water.

Well, all that is to say Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands need help. Here is a link if you want to help, but also don't forget that Puerto Rico is not the only Caribbean island to have been devastated by hurricanes; and Mexico was hit by a massive earthquake too.

You might want to consider donating elsewhere but please think about it.

OK, something else I wanted to mention for anyone in Washington DC for New Year. It's the International Spy Gala at the Washington Plaza Hotel. It looks like a great night for Bond fans and you can check out details here.

Although I didn't attend, maybe you've seen photos and read reports of the screenings of 'Casino Royale' with a live orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. Everything I've read has been overwhelmingly positive, it must have been a fanatic experience, particularly with no Bond premiere for another two years!

Finally, some of you know I lived in Barcelona for nine years and have lived in Catalonia now since 2001.

No matter whether the referendum on Catalan independence was legal or not, I utterly condemn the police violence sanctioned by the Spanish government. It was completely disproportionate and the kind of action only usually experienced in totalitarian regimes. It should not have happened in a modern democracy such as Spain.

Hopefully next month's newsletter will be slightly less traumatic and more business as usual! See you then...

David Leigh

The James Bond Dossier

PS Don't miss the special offer pricing on MI6 Confidential magazine. You can sign up for the complete 2017 season of five issues and pay for just four plus delivery.

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Article originally posted on The James Bond Dossier:
Denis Villeneuve confirms Bond 25 talks

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