The latest member of Jonas Damon's collection
that arrives at the new by revisiting the familiar. All the different pieces of the collection are only a step or two away from their origins as commercially available items, yet present themselves as something entirely different.

The Untitled (Numbers) LED Clock (previously known as the Open Edition LED Clock) is a set of 4 individual cubes each with a LED digit displayed. The 4 cubes together give you the time.

The Trafalgar by definition the most central hotel in London. a unique, contemporary concept. eliminating barriers and boundaries, adding depth to design and experience. a space vibrating with diversity and culture. minimalistic with a soothing perk."

This little spot was discovered completely by surprise. Just off Trafalgar Square and part of the Trafalgar Hilton. It was recommended to me by a friend after we missed our dinner sitting, at a restaurant nearby. It may have made the list as I had not heard of it, had no expectations and was taken by surprise when I stepped out of the lift into the "roof garden". More like a penthouse bar it has 180° views over Trafalgar Square - Millennium Eye - further South East.

Hip & happening restaurant downstairs called "
Rockwell". The "roof garden" Has its bar, menu & waiting staff. On chilly nights its heated.

"Discreet and unique, the Trafalgar is London's first unbranded Hilton property. located on the south side of Trafalgar square, the hotel is situated to the left of Canada house. as an unbranded Hilton you will not find the blue Hilton sign; instead look for the striking building with black flags and a clock."

I have been getting some emails about whether I have seen Casino Royale yet, and if so what I thought.
Photos showing the bond pack:
-tickets to a premiere (back & front)
- Casino Royale water shaken not stirred
- chocolate chips & cards. These are finished :-)
- & Casino Royale poker pack. With authentic Casino Royale chips and cards as seen in the film.
After some deliberation I'll be holding onto these babies as a keep sake. Foregoing the £500 offer.

Yes, I saw Casino Royale last week. It's good. Go see it. Support Daniel Craig and they'll make more good Bond films.

Ok so to truly understand Bond we have to accept that all males (I can only speak for males in this instance) have an inner voice that guides them through their everyday. No I'm not speaking about the voices that tell you to do bad things, those voices not covered in this entry.

Most males decision making is guided by an inner voice. A sort of what would "X" do when faced with this. Some people hear the voice of a:

- religious figure e.g. "turn the other cheek"
- iconic seminal male figures show up constantly such as Elvis (as visualised in True Romance - if you could not understand why Val Kilmer kept popping up in the film dressed in gold and giving Clarence advice or motivation on his next move. Be confused no more. In fact True Romance stole this directly from "Preacher" whose guide was John Wayne.)
or David Beckham, Tyler Durden, Donald Trump, some guy in a film etc.
The voice could be that of complete reason such as a father, teacher, lecturer etc. Or even a comic character such as Wolverine, Batman or Superman.

My inner voice happens to be James Bond on occasion. So next time you ask me a stupid question and I look like I'm about to pistol whip you, down a Vesper (Vodka martini) and drive through the streets recklessly at high speed. You know why.

Ok so I'm introduced to Sean Connery around 1974/5. He is as an elderly, bitter, arrogant, misogynistic, women beating, aggressive, funny dressing (this was South Africa and I was about 5 years old) villain. What! oh he's the hero of the piece. Well actually I thought he was worse than Auric Goldfinger he matches the criminal on all counts, deviousness, cunning and viciousness. Except he works for the Goverment.

What is this new kind of filmmaking its definitely not Disney. Oh it's British. Aahhh. Those Europeans so brutal. So real

By 1977 I was taken with the casual swagger of Roger Moore's secret agent. He was dashing had cool gadgets and cars and was by far the most American Bond I had seen. My favourite Bond film at the time was The Spy who Loved me. Then Moonraker was released. Wait a minute -its the same film, the same formula, even some of the same characters - just in a different setting.

Well this goes on for a couple of years by the 80's I was starting to appreciate that the franchise had become a parody of itself and it forced me to revaluate some of the early Bond cinema. Dr. No, Thunderball. Whoa new favourites, these were the business. A couple of the Bond books found themselves on my reading list.

Fast forward the Bond series:

Sean Connery - the original
George Lazenby - The Australian surfer never really got a chance. The producers tried to many new things and didnt allow Lazenby to find his feet. Although OHMSS was more about Bond than any of the previous films
Roger Moore - suave, sophisticated, spoof
Sean Connery (again), we like you but let it go. Please Medicine Man
Timothy Dalton - Trying to recapture the old Sean Connery Bond but failing at the box office
Pierce Brosnan - Brings back the spoofs and the explosions
Daniel Craig - Spot on, closer to Ian Fleming's blunt thug with a little Connery shaken in.

Ok so here we are 2006 - 007 is back in Casino Royale. Ian Fleming's first James Bond book.



The film is relatively well adapted. A lot more than other Bond films. Daniel Craig is good - young, more dynamic than imagined and unafraid. Everything a Bond should be. In the absence of Sean Connery indelible impression. I would say the best. All the books characters are here. The girls, villains, sidekicks and allies. The film has been admirably updated to a contemporary setting.

It really is James Bond: Year One - Casino Royale. This is a technique made popular by comics. They reinvigorated a lot of the story arcs by reengineering the origins of the characters, updating them and adding additional bits of motivation and hero mythology. The gadgets have been toned down. Not gone, just toned down. Loads of Sony product placement.

XXXX SPOILERS XXXX
The locations are different - South of France is now Montenegro.
Texas Hold'em replaces Baccarat.
Bonds relationship with M is fleshed out and definitely not what you would expect of a professional relationship.

One of the plot devices for the film is that we are not introduced to SMERSH* or SPECTRE*. This will know doubt be rolled out throughout the new Bond series. Hopefully Sony will not play their hand to soon and reveal the criminal network, or its head Bloefeld to soon. Rather Bond works his way through the organisation to reveal Bloefeld over a couple of films. With occasional elusive partial appearances being made every now and then. There are clear parallels between Al-Qaeda and the mystery organisation behind events in Casino Royale.

*In the James Bond film series, Bond's archenemy became SPECTRE, first used in Ian Fleming's novel Thunderball (film-wise, SPECTRE is mentioned in the first Bond movie, Dr. No). Film versions of novels in which SMERSH was featured either substituted them with SPECTRE or made the villains independent operatives. In truth, SMERSH never really makes an appearance in the James Bond film franchise at all, although it is referred to twice. In the film From Russia with Love, Bond initially thinks he is fighting SMERSH, only to find that the villains are actually working for SPECTRE; this includes the villain Rosa Klebb, who was formerly a SMERSH operative, but who has secretly defected to SPECTRE.

The second reference to SMERSH in films was in the The Living Daylights (1987), which featured a faked re-activation of SMERSH. It was noted by General Pushkin, the then-current head of the KGB, as having been defunct for twenty years prior to the film. SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) is a fictional terrorist organisation featured in the British James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, and the flms based on those novels. Led by Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the organization first appeared in the novel Thunderball, and subsequently in a number of James Bond films including the very first, Dr. No. The organisation is the fictional spy's most persistent opponent and most famous antagonist. - Wiki

The novel, Casino Royale, breaks SMERSH down into five departments:

Department I:
In charge of counterintelligence among Soviet organizations at home and abroad.
Department II:
Operations, including executions.
Department III:
Administration and finance. - Lechiffre
Department IV:
Investigations and legal work. Personnel.
Department V:
Prosecutions — the section which passes final judgment on all victims.
This will be more important as the series continues as all the villains are in one of the above departments.

XXXX SPOILERS END XXXX

Its not commonly known but there are actually 8 Bonds:

Barry Nelson 1954
Sean Connery 1962 - 1966, 1971, 1982
David Niven 1967
George Lazenby 1969
Roger Moore 1973 - 1985
Timothy Dalton 1987 - 1989
Pierce Brosnan 1995 - 2002
Daniel Craig 2006 - ...

Although Casino Royale is Bond 21 there have been 24 Bond films. I have not included the original Casino Royale or should I say the original Austin powers.

* Casino Royale (TV program, 1954 starring Barry Nelson)
1. Dr. No
2. From Russia With Love
3. Goldfinger
4. Thunderball
5. You Only Live Twice
* Casino Royale (1967, starring David Niven and Peter Sellers)
6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
7. Diamonds Are Forever
8. Live and Let Die
9. The Man with the Golden Gun
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
11. Moonraker
12. For Your Eyes Only
13. Octopussy
* Never Say Never Again (1983, starring Sean Connery)
14. A View to a Kill
15. The Living Daylights
16. Licence to Kill
17. GoldenEye
18. Tomorrow Never Dies
19. The World is Not Enough
20. Die Another Day
21. Casino Royale
22. "Bond 22" (2008)

As well as Goldeneye (1989) & Spymaker (1990), Bond'ified films about the life of Ian Fleming

XXXXXXXXXXXX SPOILERS XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Bond 22 is in pre production and promises to continue the action from Casino Royale. With Bond chasing the trail he beats out of Mr White. IF they are to follow the Fleming lead Live & Let Die would be next but rumour has it that

"The Ian Fleming short story from the "For Your Eyes Only" collection entitled "Risico" which was used for story elements for that movie is also being used as a story source for this one." - imdb

In much the same way as Bond begins was the working title for Casino Royale. Risico is the working title for Bond 22.
South African movie maker Roger Michell walked away from the chance to take charge of his first James Bond film after talks with producers fell through. "Creative differences" prompted the South African to give up on the project.
XXXXXXXXXXXX SPOILERS END XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The James Bond books:

Ian Fleming:
Casino Royale| Live and Let Die | Moonraker | Diamonds Are Forever | From Russia with Love | Dr. No | Goldfinger | For Your Eyes Only | Thunderball | The Spy Who Loved Me | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | You Only Live Twice | The Man with the Golden Gun | Octopussy and The Living Daylights

Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham)
Colonel Sun

Christopher Wood (novelisations)
James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me | James Bond and Moonraker

John Gardner
Licence Renewed | For Special Services | Icebreaker | Role of Honour | Nobody Lives For Ever | No Deals, Mr. Bond | Scorpius | Win, Lose or Die | Licence to Kill | Brokenclaw | The Man from Barbarossa | Death is Forever | Never Send Flowers | SeaFire | GoldenEye | COLD (a.k.a. Cold Fall)

Raymond Benson
"Blast From the Past" | Zero Minus Ten | Tomorrow Never Dies | The Facts of Death | "Midsummer Night's Doom" | High Time to Kill | The World is Not Enough | "Live at Five" | Doubleshot | Never Dream of Dying | The Man with the Red Tattoo | Die Another Day

In case you had any doubts Bond is back.

Don't get me wrong; I love the Tube. What an amazing transport infrastructure. What genius to come up with such a technological marvel. Born from an age of metal & brawn carving our future out of the earth.

The Tube was created between 1843 -1863. It was first underground railway in the world. "Today, London Underground is a major business with three million passenger journeys made a day, serving 275 stations over 408 km (253 miles) of railway.

In 2004-2005, London Underground trains ran a total of 69.4 million kilometres in passenger service."
Its disused areas are of continuous fascination to me. What hidden secrets does ithide? secret laboratories, hidden war time bunkers or control rooms, forgotten tube stations, communities of troglodytes?

In 1913 the roundel first appeared. The roundel is the famous circle and horizontal bar symbol that now represents the tube.

Often when I hear people. whining about the tube. I'll take step back. Its brilliant as unreliable as it is supposed to be I am still in awe of it.

However this morning I remembered why I'dont bother going into the office early. Again almost as with everytime I need to get into the office the Victoria line was down. At Waterloo I couldn't take the fast exit to the tube as it was so packed. Literally a throbbing mass of ppl making there way down the stairs. Sure this happens all the time and no one is injured. However my irrational fear of confined spaces and large crowds or as I like to call it my survival instinct would not allow me to walk into a small, dark, underground space with 10 rushing, irrational people to my left and right and a unstoppable river infront and behind me.



After a short detour I'm on the Northern Line. Packed - not "bumper to bumper" either more like an overcrowded Texas cattle car. Too many people in too small a space. People squeezing into what ever space they can find to get to places they need to be. I understand that a lot of people need to get to a lot of places in as quick time as possible. Surely this kind of travel crowding contravenes some human rights laws or at least health & safety.

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Doing my bit for World Usability Day. Need I say any more?

OK!! So my pal Mart & I were chatting about Val Kilmer (I had just watched Tombstone) and Doc "I'm here Huckleberry" Haliday deserved a mention. Kilmer seemed to have the world at his feet sky rocketing career, buckets of talent and the golden touch. What went wrong you may ask yourself?

He brought some great characters to life:

Nick “my father thought of it while shaving” Rivers - Top Secret (I was 14)
The Iceman - Top Gun (I was 16)
Madmartigan - Willow (OK I wasn’t a big fan of this one, but worth a mention)
Jim Morrison - The Doors (as a period piece, pretty good)
Doc Holliday - Tombstone (awesome)
Chris Shiherlis - Heat (acting for a change)
Entourage - The Sherpa (Episode 05, Season 01)

Yea I think that's it. Pretty much everything else he did was crap &
got exponentially worse. 3 unsubstantiated stories I can repeat - to add to the "Kilmer is difficult and brings it on himself" are:

I should mention that these stories are hearsay & never been proven in a court of law.

1. Circa 1980 - Apparently Kilmer & Kevin Spacey were amigos before either made it big. Val is set to go to Juilliard and become an ACKTor. He convinces the penniless Spacey to do the same. So spacey borrows the tuition fees from Kilmer's father. Spacey never repays the loan. This causes a rift between the 2 friends that continues to this day.

Side note: Up until 2002 Kilmer was the youngest student ever accepted into Juilliard's Drama department.

2. Circa 1986 - Val is up for a career making role as Kyle Reese the hero in an edgy sci-fi film called the Terminator. For some reason Arnult nixes the idea and squashes Val's chances. Ironically Arnult was the first choice for Kyle Reese, but when Cameron meets him, he decides he is more Terminator material.

The role eventually goes to Michael Biehn who does a great job anyway. Ironically Kilmer's Doc Holliday faced off against Biehn’s Johnny Ringo in Tombstone

This comes back to haunt Arnult years later when he is put forward
for the role of Mr. Freeze in "Batman 93 - Mo bat crap". Naturally being an ego less artist Val kicks up a fuss. The ensuing conversation
must have gone something like this:

Val: "I don't think so. Listen Mr Producer only one of us is going to
be in this film. So it's either Arnult or me. Need I remind I am the
greatest actor of my generation and you'll remember me from such films
as Afterschool Special: One Too Many, Spartan, Red Planet, Batman Forever and Alexander."

Producer:"PA get me Clooney on the phone & Val Don't slam the door too hard on your way out.

3. Circa 1995 - Kilmer career is bottoming out but gets the chance to act in a contemporary version of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" with Marlon Brando. By now Kilmer is a few roles away from Van Damme/Lundgren/Rourke status. However the producers clearly happy to have Kilmer on board and buckle to his ongoing demands including swapping from the lead hero to the Doctors sidekick.

Richard Stanley the skilled but relatively unknown director is continually at odds with Kilmer. After making a couple of low budget sci-fi/horror films including; "Hardware aka M.A.R.K. 13 & "Dust Devil". The underrated South African gets:
- a break that could make him
- gets a decent budget to play with
- gets to direct a classic story
- gets to work with Marlon Brando
- gets to work with Val Kilmer

However ongoing clashes between Kilmer & Stanley continue. Eventually Kilmer gets Stanley replaced by Frankenheimer. Putting Stanley’s career on hold again. Ironically by the end of filming Frankenheimer vows never to work with Kilmer again.

In a bizarre move Stanley hides out on the island set, gets disguised as one of the "mutated" extras and continues to be part of the film. Seriously who can blame the guy for not letting go of his dream?

Yea!! I'm rooting for the guy he's talented and will eventually break Hollywood. Just watch "Hardware aka M.A.R.K. 13" his first big effort. The screenplay was written by Kevin O'Neill (comic legend).

Although a low budget, the film exudes imagination, skill & talent. C'mon Iggy Pop as the DJ voice of Angry Bob. The destined for eventual greatness Dylan McDermott is the protagonist in this tale of a dystopian future.

Richard Stanley is coming back to Montreal. Last year he presented Dust Devil, this year he brings us his director's cut of the 1990 film Hardware, one of the few good cyberpunk films. A hallucinatory, drug-fuelled blend of Terminator, Mad Max and Blade Runner (with a cameo by Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmeister!), Hardware suffered at the hands of those shadowy studio types who always manage to fuck things up for creative and ground-breaking filmmakers. - montrealmirror

OK so on balance Kilmer's ego seems to be writing cheques his talent can't cash.

After a couple of false starts and long term bookings I finally got to go to go to what is deemed by many as the finest curry house in all of Britain. Veeraswamy est. 1926

Hi all,
You are invited to dinner at (Booming Indian accented voice)
VEERASWAMY the legendary Indian restaurant. It's an eat and meet affair.
Sat 11 Nov 8pm - 11pm (3 hrs) (London)Mezzanine Floor, Victory House 99 Regent Street, London W1B 4RS (entrance on Swallow Street)

Veeraswamy is the oldest surviving Indian restaurant in the U.K. It was established in 1926 at the same site by the great grandson of an English General, and an Indian princess. The restaurant has been the rendezvous of rich, famous, and fashionable lovers of Indian food. Customers included Edward - Prince of Wales, King Gustav of Sweden, Pandit Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Charlie Chaplin, King Hussein of Jordan and Marlon Brando.

As with all of these get togethers its about great company, good food & a comfortable atmosphere. This occasion did not disappoint. We had a great table under a giant chandelier decorated with rose petals. It was good to see old friends as well as meet new friends. One has to respect an establishment that has a no photos inside policy.

The crab kebab starter was subtly delicious. The Biryani Classic (Hyderabad lamb biryani) which has been on the menu since 1926. Was fragrant and delicate. It really made me regret all the overpowering quick fix-no time-dazzle me taste explosions I have been forcing onto my senses. It was from a more genteel time - when taste was not synonymous with "entertain me".

The Rose Lychee Martinis are great, although a little sweet as was the Espresso Martini.