“Your martini, Mr Bond. Shaken not stirred.”
In my teenage years in the 1960s, James Bond was as much a part of my cultural landscape as The Beatles. I read all 14 Bond books by Ian Fleming. As each film came out, I saw it at the cinema, starting with “Dr No” in 1962 and my favourite “From Russia With Love” a year later [my review here]. Over the years, I have seen all 22 Bond movies, the last being “Quantum Of Solace” [my review here].
So I did not take much persuading this week to attend an exhibition at London’s Barbican entitled “Designing 007: Fifty Years Of Bond Style” accompanied by my colleague CIA Agent Felix Leiter (aka my American friend Eric Lee). The exhibition marks the 50th anniversary of Bond films and it is an extensive collection of costumes and models and various artefacts.
Bond and I debate who will take first turn
at driving the Aston Martin DB5
Associated with the exhibition, the Barbican has provided a Martini Bar so that one can really get into the Bond persona. Eric pressed me into trying one. The trouble is that I never drink cocktails and the vodka went straight to my head.
How I viewed the world after my first martini
– both shaken and stirred