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Five-link Friday: Candy-corn soda; ‘Shining’ comedy
Time for another roundup of random links.• Seattle-based Jones Soda became infamous when they released Thanksgiving-themed sodas, including a turkey and gravy beverage. Their is still goofy, but a little more drinkable, and includes candy-corn and caramel-apple soda flavors.
• You know, I just don't sit around wondering what the trailer for horror classic "The Shining" would look like if the movie were presented as a family comedy, but I'm really glad someone did. Watch for a great laugh if you know the movie. Thanks to Paige for the link! (Warning: audio, have headphones on.)
• Remember Burger King's Subservient Chicken, the online chicken who would respond to typed-in commands? "Family Guy" fans should know there's now a similar thing with baby Stewie, . Try asking him to "type," "read," or "dance."
• Warning: This next link may offend your religious sensibilities. Remember the grilled-cheese sandwich with the face of the Virgin Mary that sold on eBay for an insane amount of money? ($28,000, to be exact.) Blacktable.com , on how to create your own similarly blasphemous, yet potentially valuable, religious foodstuff. Thanks to Jon for the link!
• Reader-submitted link: Hayley says "I've long been a fan of the Llama song, and I recently found this parody. I love 'Lost,' as you seem to as well, and I thought ."[Editor's Note: I actually laughed out loud watching this. It starts right away when you go to the page, so have headphones on if you're at work. Maybe watch again to fully appreciate the genius of this one. And keep sending in the great link suggestions!]
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James Bond by the book
Writing about started me thinking about the spy genre, and about James Bond in particular, he who was spoofed so precisely by Maxwell Smart, et al.
I’m fascinated by the continuing popularity of the James Bond movies, and by how different they are from Ian Fleming’s novels. Thanks to eBay, I’ve filled out my entire collection of Bond books (only the Fleming-penned ones though—when they lost his voice, they lost me). It was pretty cheap to collect the editions I like, the battered Signet paperbacks, which sold for about 50 cents new.
Whenever a new Bond movie comes out, I enjoy it, but afterwards I never fail to bore my friends with my monologue about how different the literary Bond is from his movie counterpart. Sean Connery came the closest to Bond as he appeared on the printed page, but every successive Bond since then has moved further and further away.
If you read the books, you meet a deeper, bitter, more fascinating Bond than the action-crazed superhero of the movies. Bond, like Fleming, is a World War II veteran. He’s seen Europe in post-war rubble, and it has made him a little bit cynical, a little bit world-weary. He’s not model-handsome – in the first book, “Casino Royale,” Fleming describes him with unsentimental terms, and is sure to mention a prominent scar on his cheek that makes him “fairly piratical.”
He does love both food and drink, ordering elaborate meals and of course, his famous martini. (The recipe, exactly as given in “Casino Royale,” is this: “Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel.”) In one scene, Bond explains why he shakes pepper on his vodka – he learned the habit in Moscow, where it was useful to make any impurities in the alcohol sink to the bottom of the glass. He’s deeply proud of his battleship-gray convertible Bentley (“bought it almost new in 1933”). He loves gambling, and of course, women.
Bond’s friendship with the CIA’s Felix Leiter is one of my favorite elements of the Bond series. In a fabulous early scene, Bond goes bust at the gambling tables until an envelope from Leiter is slipped his way. The note attached reads “Marshall Aid. Thirty-two million franc. With the compliments of the U.S.A.” I’m willing to admit that that line happens to make me smile with just a little bit of American pride, fictional and silly though it is.
Sure, it’s easy to mock the Bond books now, more than 50 years after the first one was published. Fleming likes to dwell rather creepily on torture scenes, and you could write an encyclopedia about his depiction of women.
But his rich detail, often of brand names and stores that are decades gone, and his haunted, hunted characterization of a spy who may love you, but will always be watching his back, make the books eternal favorites of mine.
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Remembering Don Adams
An interesting connector in many of your e-mails about : More than one person said: "He was my dad's favorite." Those same writers often said that their dad didn't watch much TV, but that he did tune in to "Get Smart." The show had mass appeal, but it also had dad appeal.
Here are some of your thoughts.
CHUMLEY!“Yes, he was great on ‘Get Smart,’ but I will always love and remember him as the voice of Tennessee Tuxedo on the old Underdog show. I can still hear his exasperated “Chumley!” or, of course, “Tennessee Tuxedo will not fail!” Thanks, Mr. Adams.” --Vaughan
AFTER THE WAR“My dad who was on B-52s in Vietnam and who became very disenfranchised over the whole war escapade, used to love ‘Get Smart’. Understand it was difficult to find anything my dad liked, and especially hard to find something we could do together. But we always watched 'Get Smart,' and although I really don’t remember the show that well, except for the long entrance, I will always remember the good feelings it brought into my house while I was the son of a Vietnam war veteran. A more current spoof on the intelligence services of the United States might be a good idea for a new show(so much material). Cartoons are for kids.” --Cdugga
THE LONG OPENING
“’Get Smart’ was a show that I greatly looked forward to each week, I recall. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned, in my reading of recent articles, is the terrific shots they had that preceded the show each week showing Maxwell going through various secret doors into the inner sanctum which ended with him in a phone booth (reminiscent of Superman) disappearing to the secret place. And the music that accompanied the prelude was great too. It seemed very innovative at the time. Don Adams was a genius and brought great joy to many of us that tuned in.” --Suzanne
BETTER THAN BOND“I’m 24 years old and one of the first memories I have is of the excellent comedy of Don Adams and his shoe phone. I used to play as a kid that I was him. For me and many more, not even James Bond could have been a better spy or secret agent than Maxwell Smart and in my humble opinion there are not enough Sean Connerys or Pierce Brosnans that could fill Smart’s shoes, specially the phone one, as Don Adams did.” --Francisco
ICON OF OUR YOUTH“My grandfather used to talk about it — about the steady silent passing of time and how you never really notice until you get an abrupt reminder. Reality is a harsh mistress. Childhood innocence takes its ulitmate leave when the icons of our youth leave us. Bob Denver and Don Adams are two such icons for me, a reminder of my own journey. And we cry a bit, because as we grew up they were a part of our emotional furniture — they made us laugh and they still make me laugh today. Imagine them reading your obituary and the room is filled with laughter. In the end he still got his nose banged by that closing door! What a ripper legacy!” --Jipsee
TV MEMORY“Coming as it did in the heyday of the spy genre amidst the 007 film series, ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’, ‘I Spy,’ ‘The Saint’ and ‘The Avengers,’ ‘Get Smart’ had its work cut out for it to be well-received by an audience. For my money it the best of the genre for two primary reasons — great writing by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and the inimitable cluelessness of Maxwell Smart. Remembering how Don Adams contorted his face just so upon realizing something he just said sounded inane, and then began, “Would you believe..?” in a way that convinced you that HE thought the alternative was plausible — that is a TV memory that’ll last forever!” --Stuart
MUST-SEE TV“In its day, ‘Get Smart’ really was must-see TV. I was a kid, but I loved all the catchphrases and subtle humor, along with the pure slapstick. The collaboration of Mel Brooks and Buck Henry truly spawned a classic. Don Adams was a class act who will be truly missed. All of our icons of TV are dropping one by one. Very sad.” --Larry
WOULD YOU BELIEVE...“Would you believe that he’s only sleeping? God bless, thank you” --Tom
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World is a little less Smart
I hate to come back from vacation and jump right into obituary land, but it seems like we're losing so many memorable entertainment figures these days. , a.k.a. Maxwell Smart, was the latest, dying of a lung infection at age 82.
I didn't catch that many episodes of "Get Smart" myself, but I can still hear Adams' snappy voice in my head, and see him with his famed shoe phone. I loved the inside tidbit that Barbara Feldon, who played Agent 99, shared with the Associated Press, that Adams would have someone read his scripts to him once or twice and instantly memorize them. Reported the AP: "He invariably got it right but that didn’t stop people from placing bets on it."
If you're missing Maxwell Smart just a little, take some time to surf through . This amazing Web site offers basics, including a thorough and .
But perhaps more fun are the little things, such as a used on the show, and a great page of , complete with photos. The site also offers great taken at a reunion in 2003.
You're welcome to send in your thoughts and memories about Adams and "Get Smart." If I get a decent amount, I'll share them.