Who is the Best Bond...Hoagy Carmichael?!

I saw the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, this past weekend with friends. It provided reliable and, at times, exciting entertainment.

But if you want real entertainment, after the film is over, ask the inevitable question -- who is the best Bond?

• Sean Connery (7 films),
  
• George Lazenby (1 film),
  
• Roger Moore (7 films),
  
• Timothy Dalton (2 films),
  
• Pierce Brosnan (4 films), or
  
• Daniel Craig (2 films)

To help you decide, you may want to take a look at the James Bond article in Wikipedia. There you will find some interesting information about who the author Ian Fleming used as inspiration.

I had known that Bond was loosely modeled after Fleming himself, or after the spy Sidney Reilly...but Hoagy Carmichael? That was a surprise to me!

As for the question 'Who is the best Bond?', maybe the more esoteric question is 'Who is the best Bond author?'

There are a surprising number:

• Ian Fleming
  
• Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham)
• John Gardner
• Charlie Higson
• Raymond Benson
• Sebastian Faulks

So, who is the best Bond? Who is the best Bond author?

Bad Money -- What's Happening to Our Economy

If you are like me and need some insight into what is happening to the nation's economy, a good book to read is Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism by Kevin Phillips.

The book has gotten great reviews by people who know more about the economy than I do. And, while I must confess that I don't understand all of it, what I do understand is providing me with some much needed background and insight into what we are facing as a nation — and, it's not pretty.