Well, they finally managed to succeed where Goldfinger, Largo, Dr. No, Blofeld and Daniel Craig attempted before. James Bond is officially dead. Well, as good as dead. He is now in the hands of the streamers. Or as I like to refer to them, the real Spectre. Not that I am surprised. The last few films have been limping along, showing their age as it were. Three to six years between films is just way too long to get the old boy up. 

I have been a Bond fan since the fourth grade when the Smith family invited me along for a screening of Thunderball. Over fifty years of assaulting me as well as millions of other impressionable males with every improper way to interact with a member of the female sex.

But, besides my first glimpse of a naked female, filtered in various underwater colors by none other than Maurice Binder, Bond has been an invitation to action, suspense, gadgets and tours of places that I will never be. I will miss him for I fear the next incarnation will never be the same.   

Putting something in the hands of someone who is not inherently creative is like, well, its like putting our current President in charge of the Kennedy Honors. There may be a presentation but it will resemble Hee Haw more than anything with any ounce of dignity.

Bond is just another IP in a long line of IPs snatched up by conglomerates in order to strengthen their position with the streaming public. Star Wars, Marvel, D.C., Lord of the Rings, and Dancing With the Stars have all been snatched up only to deliver a diminishing return. I I shudder to think what they will do if they ever get their hands on The Golden Bachelor or The Masked Singer. 

Okay, I am just too depressed to go on. I need a double vodka martini, shaken not stirred.

RIP James Bond 

Each day we seem to be inching slowly to the inevitable. Hollywood is dead. Long Live Hollywood. I have to admit it played out much more dramatically than the death of the Music Industry. If you need to a breakdown, I see it like this:
 
Covid + strikes (x greed) x fire = the end of the Entertainment Industry as we know it. Time will tell if the biz can be resurrected but it certainly is not going to be in three days. Luckily we have Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sly Stallone to perform the ultimate of miracles. I, for one, believe in them. 
 
The question remains, what are you going to do about it. Some say, diversification is the answer, others believe sell your creativity for whatever you can get and become a  Speaker/screenplay guru and stand-up story consultant. God only knows, there are not enough of those around. Stand on the corner of Ocean Park and 25th in Santa Monica and throw a rock. Odds are, you’ll hit someone selling their expertise for $500 an hour.
 
As an ex stand-up comedian, I take offense at the humorous script consultants. I’d love to see them try out their new craft in front of a drunk open mic audience in Butte Montana. 
 
But enough of these sour grapes. There are some small flickers of hope on the far horizon. The reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is filming in Los Angeles. Yay! Joss Whedon will not be involved. Yay! And…
 
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is absolutely the best thing streaming on television. If you need a lift, check it out on Netflix.
 
That is all.

​As human beings, and especially creatives, we are all prone to life’s little…
 
Distractions. I apologize for the interruption. My coffee is ready. As I was saying, as creatives, we are all susceptible to life’s annoying distractions that seem to bombard us without limit. Why, just the other day I was settling down to work on a new screenplay when…
 
Hold on. Getting a notification on my phone. Well, how about that? Starbucks is offering free coffee the day after the Super Bowl. I wonder what size coffee that will be? Most likely the very small one.  What do they call that one again? Maybe I should google it. It’s called a “short.” Imagine that!
 
Now I seem to have lost my train of thought. I guess what I am trying to say here, is that ultimately, it is up to us to cut off the outside noise when trying to work. Did you know you can turn off notifications on most computers and smartphones? Well, you can, and it really does seem to work. To do it on your iPhone, you simply…
 
Tap settings and go to…
 
Notifications and…
 
Awesome! I am currently at the top of the leaderboard for the weekly Bejeweled Blitz tournament. Outstanding!  
 
Anyway, you are getting the gist of where this is going. When you are creating, whatever you are creating, try your best to insulate yourself from any and all disruptions as it will clearly disrupt your process and interrupt your flow and…
 
I think you get the picture.