Monday, May 11, 2020

The Music of James Bond

James Bond gun barrel design is also iconic!
Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale" was published in 1953 and with it, James Bond became one of the most iconic literary characters in history. The first movie, "Dr. No", was released in 1962, and with it, the James Bond became one of the most iconic film series in history.

Monty Norman was commissioned to compose the theme and John Barry was tasked with re-arranging the theme for "Dr. No", and with that, James Bond music became just as iconic.

In addition to the famous "James Bond Theme" (and the situational Bond themes heard in the series), there has been a tradition of one-off title themes beginning with the second movie, "From Russia with Love". Among the most successful of these songs are "Goldfinger" (1964) by John Barry & sung by Shirley Bassey, "Live and Let Die" (1973) by Paul McCartney and performed by his band Wings, "Nobody Does it Better" (1977) by Marvin Hamlish and sung by Carly Simon, "A View to a Kill" (1985) by John Barry with Duran Duran, "Die Another Day" (2002) written & performed by Madonna, and "No Time to Die" (2020) by Billie Eilish.
Gotta dress sharp to teach Bond.

Let's learn them all, shall we?

Monday, May 4, 2020

May Lifestyle Challenge

WITH EVERYONE STRUGGLING due to the stresses of the COVID-19 quasi-quarantine, I thought I'd skip our periodic lifestyle challenge.

However, in speaking to folks & seeing social media posts about the difficulties of lockdown & re-opening; the disruption and challenges to social, economic, physical, & psychological health; the humorous but telling "drinking at 10am, 3 naps a day, gaining weight" memes coupled with the very real increase in depression & hotline rates; and, bluntly, the people who have explicitly asked me to provide info or assistance with not only music (that's not unusual, obviously) but also diet, exercise, and "how you stay so positive"....well, I thought my initial thoughts might have been mistaken.

Sooooo.....

For those new to the challenges, it isn't to compete against others. It's to push yourself to greater heights, have some company & inspiration along the way, and a few ideas the help get us focused. For example, you can use this waving of the analytical knife to help organize your goals:

1) Exercise/Diet - Set a specific plan or goal(s). Keep us posted weekly (or more) on your progress!

2) Creativity - Music, art, writing, acting...set a goal to complete by month's end. Keep us posted!

3) Personal life - Re-affirm your personal relationships, get to that project/chore you've been avoiding, or just read a book you've always wanted to read!

4) Professional life - Set a work goal or change jobs or....just tell us what it is and keep us posted!

My personal goals include: 

1) Exercise/diet - Keep adjusting my workouts to continually keep my body guessing (without benefit of gym, this has been extremely challenging) and mix my eating up in similar fashion (including periodic short-duration fasts)...and I've been alcohol-free for a little over 2 weeks as I write this.

2) Creativity - Honestly, the majority of my creative output is currently focused on creative ways to generate income. 100% virtual lessons is working nicely, but many students have had to fall back onour scholarship program due to financial hardships...plus all my performance income is obviously gone. So, promoting music lessons, organizing upcoming workshops, doing song requests for tips, and the like has consumed much of my creative energy. And clearly I need to get even more creatove - haha! But challenges are always good, so on I trek!

3) Personal life - Spending extra time with grandkids to make sure they are handling the abrupt adjustments with minimal stress. 

4) Professional life - See item #2 above - haha!

Soooo.....share publicly or priately, and please don't hesitate to reach out for anything you may need!