53 years of James Bond - - a look back (Part 1)

In honor of the 25th James Bond film, Spectre - which opened last month in the United Kingdom and this weekend across North America/Hawaii - here is a look back of the other 24 films over the past 53 years.  Part 1 will cover Dr. No through The Man with the Golden Gun


Dr. No (1962)
The Good: First film starring Sean Connery, Lois Maxwell (as Ms. Moneypenny) and Bernard Lee (as Bond's boss, M), that catchy Monty Norman 007 theme song, exotic Jamaica locales, Ursula Andress in that killer suit

The Bad: Film is dated compared to more recent 007 entries, no Q gadgets and car although Bond is introduced by his Walter PPK gun issued by Major Boothroyd (who is actually Q - - played by Peter Burton in his only 007 film appearance), Dr. No does not appear until about the last 40 minutes of the 1:50 long film.

Gerber's take: A solid opening film which Connery is in control of his debut role. Jack Lord, Joseph Wiseman, John Kitzmiller (as Quarrel) and Ms. Andress provide great supporting cast. Best scene: Connery telling Professor Dent that he has had his "six" (shots) before finishing him off.   Grade B+

Fun fact: Most of the Jamaica scenes were filmed when Jamaica was under British control - - prior to seceding as an independent county on August 4th, 1962


From Russia With Love (1963)

The Good: Strong plot line, first film to introduce Q branch (Desmond L and those gadgets which would become a hallmark for most of the Bond films, great train fight sequence. Excellent supporting cast of Robert Shaw.and Pedro Armendariz. First film of Desmond Llewelyn who plays Major Boothroyd, aka Q (he would go on to appear in a total of 17 Bond films over 36 years)

The bad: Amendariz died while filming, Bond does not have his own car yet, the plot introduction is a bit long before Bond first appears

Gerber's take: Great film with Connery wearing a hat more often in this film than his other entries. Robert Shaw is menacing as Red Grant.and the fight sequence aboard the Orient Express is unmatched to this day.  Grade A

Fun fact: As Bond, Kerim Bay (Armendariz) and Tatinia Romanova are boarding the Orient Express train after recovering the Lektor device, take a really close look at who first spots them. It's Krilencu who is seated at a table - - but he was killed earlier in the film by Bond and Bay's sniper rilfe (in retaliation for Krilencu's attack on Bay's gypsy settlement) while trying to escape through the "mouth" of a Bob Hope movie ad. You would really have to use pause and slo-mo to see this continuity goof.


Goldfinger (1964)

The Good: By many people, this is the quienssiential 007 entry, a really great plot with two of the best villians, Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) and Oddjob (Harold Sakata) , Bond's clever escape from being sliced in half by Goldfinger's laser beam, Bond's first car, the Aston Martin DBV, Shirley Bassey's title song, the many one-liners and catchphrases throughout the film. First film to use an army of people to infiltrate a location where the enemy is hiding or attacking at the end of the film, - - (this would be a common sight for most of the future Bond films). And Pussy Galore,(Honor Blackman) of course.

The Bad: The film is too short to really enjoy it. Gert Frobe's voice was dubbed

Gerber's take: As much as I find Goldfinger to be a rich and invigorating viewing experience, it is actually number 2 on my list. Still, the many scenes where Bond matches wits with Goldfinger in face to face conversations highlight the powerful aspects of this film. Grade A+
Fun facts: #1) Look for a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant when Felix Leiter tracks Bond at Goldfinger's estate in Kentucky - - its when Goldfinger orders Oddjob to kill Mr/ Solo (one of the gangsters who does not want any part of Goldfinger's scheme to raid Fort Knox). #2 The name Auric Goldfinger is derived from Au in the first name - - Au is the symbol for gold in the Periodic Table of Elements and is number 79.

Thunderball (1965)
The good: Spectacular underwater sequences, strong plot, Connery still in top form, great action sequences, the jet-pack Bond uses in the pre-credits sequence

The bad: Longest film to date at 2:12, underwater sequences can be tiresome to watch for some people, overlong plot development, Emily Largo (Adolfo Celi) does not have the sinister acting like Red Grant or Goldfinger, the Aston Martin makes a brief appearance in the pre-credits sequence and is garaged for the rest of the film

Gerber's tale: I'm sorry, I feel this is the best Bond film because when you look at the detail of the underwater sequences it is amazing to watch humans instead of CGI play out their roles in several sequences. Connery is still fun to watch with his one-liners and relaxed attitude. Grade A+

Fun fact: Thunderball remains the highest grossing (adjusted for inflation) Bond film of all time at over $600 million.


You Only Live Twice (1967)

The Good: Plot involving outer space, Donald Pleasance as Blofeld, great Far East locales and action sequences, including Little Nellie, the personal autogyro with a lot of firepower.

The Bad: Connery looks old and tired (and gets beaten more often in this film), long sequences, Q's Little Nellie is the only gadget in the film.

Gerber's take: The film relies or a worn out Bond with Connery's one-liner's are now few and far between. The oriental sequences are a nice departure from the plot but some of the fight sequences are pointless against Blofeld's plot to capture space capsules to trigger a war between Russia and the United States. The overall film is still good compared to the Dalton and Bronsan films with a massive set involving an underground launch station below a "volcano".  Grade B+.
Fun fact: Charles Gray is the first non-regular actor to appear in two different Bond films, while playing two different characters (You Only Live Twice as Mr. Henderson and Diamonds are Forever as Blofeld). He is also the first actor to be "killed" off in one film then appear in another (Maude Adams is the first actress to do the same). But Mr. Gray is most famous as The Criminologist/narrator in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.


On Her Majestys Secret Service (1969)
The Good: Strong Blofeld (Telly Savalas), a new Bond played by George Lazenby (his only Bond film) great Switzerland locations, tragic ending

The bad: Longest film at 2:20, long drawn out plot, Lazenby lacks the charisma and class of Connery.

Gerber's take: If you really want one redeeming feature of OHMSS, Lazenby can act and he is the only Bond actor who cries. I really think if the film were not as long as it was, it would have been a great film. Lazenby, Savalas, and Diana Rigg are terrific in this film and frankly, it could have been one of the best if 20 minutes of this film were chopped off. Grade A-

Fun fact: The ABC TV broadcast of OHMSS in 1976 was butchered to show that Bond is narrating the story and the first scene in the TV showing was Bond escaping from Piz Gloria (about 80 minutes into the film) while the flashback sequence is actually the pre-credits sequence. If ABC had a hand to kill Lanzeby's reputation as James Bond off, it was this broadcast.


Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

The Good: Connery comes back for his purported "final" appearance as Bond, Amsterdam and Las Vegas locations, some interesting action sequences including Bond chased in a moon buggy, Bond's revenge against Blofeld for the murder of his newlywed in OHMSS, Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd

The bad: The film does not answer how Blofeld escaped from oil platform, com

Gerber's take: Connery looks older and does not have the wit of his earlier films while the film takes a less serious tone. Jill St. John as a 40-something Bond girl does not help. Action sequences balance out the comic relief of this film - - I mean Willard Whyte was played by Jimmy Dean, are you serious?   Grade B-
Fun fact #1: Bruce Cabot played Bert Saxby, Blofeld's casino manager - - nearly 40 years ago he played the man who would bring King Kong to New York in the 1933 classic. Fun fact #2: Since this was Connery's "last" film, the final sequence shot was Bond knocked out by Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd then placed in a coffin for cremation. The date of this final scene was on a Friday the 13th (source, IMDB).


Live and Let Die (1973)

The good: Roger Moore's first film, Paul McCartney's title song, great boat chase sequence, ,

The bad: No Q, poor plot (Bond goes after a drug dealer), film follows the height of the 70's blaexploitation film era.

Gerber's take: It's Moore's first film and he takes his "Saint" humor to an enjoyable romp. Yes the plot is thin compared to other Bond films and the ending is lackluster.  But enjoy this romp because you don;t need CGI to make a great boat chase like this film.  Grade B-

Fun fact: The subway entrance shown in this film is on the SW corner of Lenox Ave and 125th Street in New York City and is the downtown side of 125th Street station on the 2/3 lines.. Lenox Ave is now Malcolm X Blvd.

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

The good: Christopher Lee as a badass villian, a good car flip sequence, Bond targeted for death by a professional assasian. ,

The bad: Dull plot, Britt Elkland one the worst Bond girls, Clifton James returns as that now annoyingly Sgt. Pepper,

Gerber's take: Moore's worst outing (A View to a Kill is not far behind) and the film suffers from a lack of good action sequences - - the training camp was lifted from You Only Live Twice.  Sgt. Pepper's return appearance and Elkland's banal acting sink this movie which is too bad because Christopher Lee and Herve Villechaize were great villians in a so-so story which was directed by Guy Hamilton, his fourth and last Bond film.  Grade D

Part 2 will follow next week,.

Allan Rosen and the 34th Street Herald Square elevator

Blogger's note:  After this post was made, it was brought up at Subchat.com through this post that Sheepshead Bites terminated their relationship with freelancer Allan Rosen - - and subsequently Mr. Rosen placed a Facebook comment on his last known article from September 1st.  While this happened more than a month prior to this blog post and I was at that time unaware Mr. Rosens's termination, I still apologize for the oversight.

In blogging, it takes research and facts to make sure what you post is accurate.  Blogging is no different from news reporting.  Sometimes the facts in a blog are either distorted or incomplete - - let's take a look at one example.

Allen Rosen is a former NYCT employee who worked in Operations Planning in the 1970s and was the architect of the massive southern Brooklyn bus route changes in 1978.  Today, Mr. Rosen writes a op-ed column for Sheepshead Bites, a Brooklyn neighborhood newspaper (and the word bites come from Sharks, the name of Sheepshead Bay HS sports teams and my alma matter.)  Mr. Rosen, like me is highly critical of NYC Transit, especially Select Bus Service, and he has made some links to a few of my blog posts about NYCT's inaccuracies.  

One of Mr. Rosen's posts details about the street to mezzanine elevator to the 34th Street-Herald Square NYCT portion of this complex.  The elevator is located on the west side of Ave of The Americas (6th Ave) between 34th and 33rd Streets - - it is currently out of service  until January, 2016 for a complete replacement.  Mr. Rosen claims that the PATH elevator one block south, in front of Manhattan Mall, can be used to access the passageway from the PATH station to the 34th Street full time fare control area.   He blasts NYCT because PATH operates this elevator then NYCT does not want to provide this information to their customers even though they could have requested permission from PATH to include this elevator in their service notice.  Mr. Rosen claims that by taking the PATH elevator, they can still access the B/D/F/M/N/Q/R lines at 34th Street.   Let's take a look to see if Mr. Rosen's assertions are true.

The elevator to the PATH level may be available 24/7 but the passageway to the IND/BMT side is not.  That passageway is closed overnight.  Here is the street entrance outside 6th Ave

This is a poorly zoomed shot as I had to be standing on the NYCT stairwell by JC Penney - - Port Authority of NY and NJ  regulations (that's the folks who operate the PATH system)  prohibit ANY photography (even tourist photographs) while standing on their property, unless you have a permit or are tied to a leash and escorted by a PANY&NJ employee  - BOOO!!! The grainy photograph shows that this passageway is closed - - what this picture does not say that this passageway is closed overnight - - which does not make it ADA accessible because one of the requirements of ADA accessibility is 24/7 open access when the station is open 24/7 (and you now wondered why now that weekend J train service is now running to Broad Street, so it can serve an ADA accessible station, Fulton Street  - 24/7.)

Then lets say that the passageway from PATH side at 32nd Street to the NYCT full time booth at 34th Street side is open 24/7 - - the ramp has a very steep grade which would prohibit ADA access.  The NYCT elevator which is under complete replacement, is behind the temporary blue construction wall in the first picture.

An ADA accessible ramp shall not have a slope steeper than 6 inches from a ratio of greater than 1:10 to 1:12.  While this is technical stuff, even for myself - - it clearly shows that the high degree of slope on this ramp must be the main reason why NYCT never suggested using the PATH elevator because mobility impaired customers would have difficulty in navigating this steep ramp.  At Times Square, the 41st Street underground passageway from the 7 line upper mezzanine to the 8th Ave A/C/E mezzanine area has a steep ramp as well - - thus NYCT claims that ramp is not ADA accessible.

Conclusion:  NYCT is correct in not suggesting the PATH elevator as an ADA alternative entry/exit point to the 34th Street Herald Square complex.  While Mr. Rosen's contented that customers should use that elevator, the overnight closure as well as the steep ramp are two things he should look at first while doing his research before blogging about this..

Worst President Obama disses Chris Mintz, the Oregon hero and former U.S. veteran

Google the following links:

Oregon Shooter - - 12.5 Million news sources

Chris Harper Mercer - -  over 5 million news sources.

Chris Mintz - - only 1.7 M sources


Obviously the liberal dominated news media is glorifying the Oregon shooter while giving a little information about an unsung hero, Chris Mintz,   Mintz was a decorated Army infantryman who served time at Fort Bragg in Fayetville, NC from 2004 to 2007 and was celebrating his sons birthday at Oregon's Umpqua Community College when the coward asked students in one of the school's classrooms for their religion and started shooting at them, killing 10 people and wounding others.  Mintz, pulled the alarms in the library building then ran back to the classroom so he and try stopping the coward.  Mintz took a few bullets and broke both of his legs in the process.   Mintz not only risked his life to save others, especially his son, but his skills in the army were put to the test in trying to stop the cowardly gunman  (the coward shot himself to death minutes after police officers arrived.)

And President Obama has said NOTHING about Mintz, the great hero and child of God.   For Obama to the so-called Commander-in-Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces and speak about gun control, terrorism, and other things but not once did he even mention Chris Mintz in Thursday's speech.   

What a disgrace - - President Obama not recognizing one of your own soldiers who served our country while you started running for U.S. President in 2007-08 and who saved many lives.   Disgusting - - Jimmy Carter may have been the worst U.S. President ever but as of today, Obama eclipsed Carter by a wide margin.   Obama can extend an White House invitation to Ahmed Mohamed, the 14 year old who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to his school, but he won't even pick up the phone to congratulate Mintz.  Mintz will need months of rehabilitation before he can walk again - at least there is a White House petition circulating  to get Obama in awarding Mintz the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Mintz gets an automatic Medal of Freedom - - why should the petition be needed in the first place?  Mohamed didn't need a White House petition to meet Obama.

And Obama is supposed to be leader of a superpower country?  Obama is a coward, just like the Oregon gunman.

More reasons why the MTA does not keep it's "Pledge to Customers"

I still don't understand how MTA continues to have it's "Pledge to Customers" when they have so much inaccurate information or they just don't care about updating the information.   Let's get right to each instance.

On August 10th, the MTA Bridges and Tunnels implemented a 24/7 lane closure of the southbound Henry Hudson Bridge (the lower level into Manhattan), yet (as of this post) there is no service alert about this round-the-clock lane closure.

While the MTA Arts for Transit has recently added information for the 34th Street Hudson Yards station on the 7 line, go back one stop to Times Square and you can see the description for the Roy Lichenstin artwork over by the N/Q/R/S and W trains.   The W line was discontinued in 2010.   Of course the MTA continues to ignore this.


You cannot uphold the MTA's Pledge to Customers if you refuse to correct the automated announcements on the newest subway cars.  Presently, transfer lines are announced based on the six specific time blocks of the day:  AM Rush Hour, Midday, PM Rush Hour, Evening, Late night and Weekend.  So a "Transfer to the Bx41 Select Bus Service (SBS+)" announcement from a 2 train arriving at Gun Hill Road or 3rd Ave 149th Street at 11:30 PM would be inaccurate because the Bx41 SBS+ stops running before 10 PM.  But because the Bx41 operates in the early evenings, that is part of the evening (7 PM to midnight) time period for these automated announcements inside subway cars.  And as I have said time after time the MTA NYC Transit should look into the ability to add or remove lines at transfer stops so theses announcements can be more accurate,  This would be exceptionally useful such as the A/C Cranberry Tube weekend reroutes.

Even new service changes have errors.  According to NYCT, the first Bx10 local bus leaves Riverdale at 1:40 am - - but the Bx10 operates 24/7 anyway so how could there be an first and last bus?


Bus Time, a popular bus tracking service which I use, now has the countdown minutes instead of the number of stops.  With that in mind, they also corrected only 50 percent of the errors of the bus stops at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, NY.  While I noted in March 2014, that Sterns, Woolworths and Caldor are on the list of bus stops in their data, they took a long time to correct two of the three stops.  Since then, the Sunrise Multiplex Cinemas closed in January to make way for a significant expansion of Green Acres Mall.  So they still have two errors (The Caldor and Sunrise theater) in this Q5 and Q85 bus stop data.

When the driver of an tractor-trailer struck a major electrical cable on the elevated 4 line south of Woodlawn terminal, causing a major fire which shut down 4 service between Burnside Ave and the Woodlawn terminal, NYCT offered alternative bus suggestions while leaving out the obvious choice - - Grand Concourse and the B/D trains as well as the Bx1/2 buses.  The Bx10/28 are useful only between Mosholu Parkway and Bedford Park Blvd and Kingsbridge Road on the D, respectively.  The Bx32 does not have the frequency to take some burden off from 4 train riders who are displaced at Burnside and that bus route runs short of Bedford Park Blvd.

The MTA's Pledge to Customers continues to be a smokescreen.  They need improvement in proofreading as well as executing the proper notifications in an accurate and timely manner.  And the MTA needs to stop waiting for more than 10 years to fix long standing errors.  To be fair, their service notifications on the MTA website have been mostly good, when they take the time to post a good service alert.

34th Street-Hudson Yards, a late but great station

I visited the newest subway station, 34th Street-Hudson Yards, early Monday AM and I must say, it was a job well done by MTA Capital Construction - - despite the cost overruns and delays.  You can read the entire description of the new 34th Street station right here. 


I started my journey to the 469th station at Grand Central, guess what front window (or railfan window as railfans call them) I had?

The new rollsigns on the older R62A subway cars have the appropriate south terminal.  By early next year, the rest of these cars will be transferred to the 6 line anyway.



Pictures of the station platform:

.


And the lower mezzanine:

These are the two incline elevators which are really cool to look at - - they are the first of it's kind in the NYC sbway system (and one of the first in the Northeast)

Here is the video I took from the adjoining escalator which shows one of these elevators in action, going to the upper mezzanine,

Long way up or down on the other 3 escalators

And outside on Hudson Blvd East - - a dead end street off 34th Street.  Because the elevators and escalators travel east, you would wind up closer to 10th Ave.

I like this station.  It's large but it's not excessive like the bloated Fulton Transit Center building or the PATH WTC terminal arch superstructure.  The station can handle anything, Javits crowds, High Line walkers, travelers from the Bolt  and Mega bus lines, and even the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks, if they decide to hold the next show on the Hudson side of Manhattan.  Very nice job, considering the City of New York ponied up most of the funds for this project.  

Big NYCT embarrassment - Q56 bus route on ten signs at Flushing - Main St

A sign error may sit unnoticed for months or years - - it's just an error which does need attention.   But what if the error was on TEN signs at a major transportation hub in Queens and sits unnoticed for years while hundreds of employees walk through this station?  Yes.  Only the MTA and NYC Transt can accomplish this feat and they have done it at the Main Street-Flushing, Queens terminal on the 7 line.  This terminal is the home to nearly 2 dozen feeder bus routes, a nearby LIRR station and a very diverse community.  19 million people went through the turnstiles in 2014, making it the 12th busiest station.  While I do not have exact figures, about a good 200 to 300 NYCT employees work at this station at any given 24 hour period. 

And no NYCT employee saw the mistake on the ten station signs, all of them on both platforms - - one of the bus routes listed on these signs is mistakenly the Q56.   The Q56 bus route runs between Downtown Jamaica, and East New York along Jamaica Ave - - that's about 6 miles from Downtown Flushing.   The route which NYCT intended was the Q58 which starts on 41st Road, about two blocks south of Main and Roosevelt and runs to Ridgewood at the Brooklyn/Queens line.    Here is the YouTube video I took last week where nobody saw something and said something about this goof.





Usually NYCT places a sticker over an existing sign to update subway and/or bus routes - - this is done to save cost of making signs from scratch.  Regardless of the method NYCT used, none of the hundreds of employees who worked at this station - - conductors, train operators, station agents, station supervisors, train service supervisors, etc. noticed this mistake as they walked down either platform.  Those who are familiar with the Queens bus network, couldn't tell between the Q56 in Jamaica and the Q58 in Flushing.  I don't expect every person to be knowledgeable  about the bus routes at the Flushing terminal but when some employees who live in the area or take a bus to report at this terminal, and nobody sees this for years (these sticker based signs apparently were installed around 2010 with the Q15A) then there is a total inability for NYCT to correct something.  It's unacceptable for station supervisors and mangers to walk around this complex and not report this condition because one of the responsibilities of a station supervisor is to report deficient conditions such as sign errors like the Q56 - - and with ten wrong signs on two station platforms in the same terminal, how could they MISS this???  What if the E/F/M/R transfers were on these ten signs (there are no transfers to other subway lines at this station), would they be overlooked and ignored for years?  With NYCT, suspend your disbelief, because it's most likely a yes.

NYCT accomplished the impossible when it comes to ignorance to their own errors.

Disgrace in Brooklyn during the West Indian Day parade

All lives don't matter

That should be the slogan in Brooklyn among some minorities, after what happened during the J'Ouvert pre-dawn parade when Carey Gabay, a Harvard educated aide to NY State Governor Andrew Cuomo, was shot in the head as he tried to run for cover.  The shooting was gang related and one of several incidents which continue to tarnish the West Indian Parade and related festivities.  The J'ouvert early morning parade and the main event later in the day are supposed to celebrate millions of West Indians through their cultures and food.  Let us pray for Mr. Gabay's recovery.  I used to attend these parades to see the floats and the costumed women (when I was single, of course) but in the pas 10 years, violence at this parade continues to tarnish the black image.  But I guess if black people really care about their image, then they should empower themselves to change the ghetto mentality while invoking change to develop a stronger dialogue and respect between minorities and law enforcement.  Start with a ban on those saggy pants boys (not men) wear down at their kneecaps.  It's disgusting to walk with your children, especially girls, to see boys showing their asses through their drawers.  Next, clean up your language and 'hood.  See a bottle on the sidewalk?  Pick it up and find a recycling or trash canister to put it there.  The first image an outsider sees is neighborhood appearance - - when they see wine bottles, cigarette butts on the sidewalk while illegal billboards, graffiti and paper signs plaster everything that is nailed down to the ground, it's a sign of lawlessness and disorder.   Then make it your business to attend your local community board or police council meetings.  Show your concerns about the quality of life and let them know we need more houses of worship, restaurants and jobs than liquor stores and motels. 

Finally, it's all up to you to raise your children the right way before they fall into the cracks and join gangs.  Take them to parks,libraries and to the house of worship of your choice.  Stop using profane words in front of a child.  The dining table is the most important place to have a good conversation with your child. Show them the world and how important they are within - - there are many free resources available for parents and their children.   And then, remember to say Please and Thank You to anyone when needed - - say hello or good morning to a stranger on the street and see what happens.  If blacks can change the 'hood for the better then these gang related incidents would not happen.