BONDLIST: November 2023
Matt Sherman
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Here's what went down: Early arrivals spent days in New Orleans, Louisiana for sightseeing, meals and nightclubs together. The city was electric and many toasts were raised to veteran and new event guests, who came from as far as the UK and Pakistan to America for our event! Our New Orleans tour day featured LIVE AND LET DIE locations along with local culture, haunted and celebrity houses, two observation decks above the city for food and drink, plus a late night balcony outpost above world-famous Bourbon Street. Frank R. Wilson of WHAT'S THE SCORE and Frank Scurlock, whose father worked on LIVE AND LET DIE, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, MOONRAKER and other Bond films, also joined our group on tour.
Our 8-night cruise departed the next day as we bewared Greeks bearing gifts but not Bond fans. BONDLIST'er Dan McCruden generously opened a golden box of Taittinger Blanc de Blancs, a marque without equal and Bond's first champagne from Ian Fleming's CASINO ROYALE. Toasts were poured and savored as we sailed the sights along the Mississippi River.
Sea days on our BondFanEvents cruise featured Bond presentations, trivia contests and games with prizes for all participants--everything from Bond actor autographs to rare books and even a NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN standee for Denise Alcarez, a deserving winner who donated a luscious 007 prize package, auctioned for charity. We did a tuxedo/formal night then took to the casino for gaming and chit-chat, and ports ashore included Key West, Florida where our experts led walking tours of LICENCE TO KILL locations plus a great bus tour that brought us off the key to tour the entire pre-titles sequence with Leiter's helicopter dangling Sanchez's plane high above the Florida Keys, plus a unique filming location from TOMORROW NEVER DIES.
We also celebrated a unique occasion as BONDLIST'ers Nick Dunnebacke and Ashley Meints got engaged for marriage--the BondFanEvent group in attendance to the proposal! Barry Price aka Bazil007 serenaded the couple with WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD, the group joined in, and there was applause (and tears from some of we Bond softies). Nick was very kind and said, "I can't think of a better group of friends to do this special night with than our Bond event group."
Our greater Nassau tour in The Bahamas brought us in person to iconic locations from Ian Fleming's life and canon and the films. Highlights included a guided tour of Largo's Palmyra from THUNDERBALL, Lotus locations from THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, the pre-titles abandoned mansion from NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN and the Ocean Club from CASINO ROYALE, where Matt Sherman--who serves as the Club's Bond expert and helper--guided the group through over a dozen film scenes before we visited the Vesper Bar to lounge where Solange watched Alex Dimitrios and James Bond duel over a classic Aston Martin.
Back aboard our cruise, we recounted the 80--yes, you've read that correctly--80 locations visited from the Bond books and films in Louisiana, Florida and The Bahamas in beautiful weather. We all then changed for cosplay, with James Bond, villains and allies in abundance. Then we wondered briefly what to do next, until we hit on some obvious ideas like more cigars and cocktails, afternoon tea and fabulous dining, and dancing, live shows and another 20 or so hours of Bond discussion, presentations, and insider stories from BondFanEvents's many conventions with Bond and spy actors, authors and filmmakers, before we reluctantly departed for home and our next event--BONDLANTA that took place less than a month later in November!
Thanks and cheers to everyone on the cruise for their willingness to try new games and trivia, their hospitality--it was a lot more like a loving family reunion than a mere fan gathering, with six fans visiting the group even without going on the cruise (!)--and for the fans' generosity, help, ideas and participation. We appreciate you!
Our 30th BondFanEvent, BONDLANTA, was a big success, with many thanks to Trina Parks, Thumper in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, and Dr. Oliver Buckton, author and editor of THE MANY FACETS OF DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER: JAMES BOND ON PAGE AND SCREEN and THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH: A BIOGRAPHY OF IAN FLEMING.
Our three panels on Bond and Fleming at SAMLA 96 in Atlanta, Georgia--an annual English and Linguistics conference held now for nearly a century--were filled with innovative looks at the Bond books and films. The presentations, were in a word, awesome. Presenters visited from as far as Hawaii to share our mutual love for all things 007. And our group loved visiting downtown Atlanta, Olympic Park and dining and lounging together at restaurants and our host hotel in Buckhead, opposite the extensive and chic Lenox Square. Our group also enjoyed visiting and working with Frieda Toth, author of the soon-in-print JAMES BOND ROUTE 9 AND ME, for a look at her author's proof on this new exciting work, and discussion on its many stories and locations within.
Matt Sherman dressed out as Ian Fleming, and Frieda got into her Bambi gear, to meet the legendary lady, Trina Parks, an active and athletic dancer, actor and fabulous singer, even 50 years after starring in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. Trina spoke about her forthcoming biography and the Bond group loved meeting Trina and her family, and our hors d'oeuvres and hours of open bar service--which bar ran out of martini glasses in minutes (!) before our multicourse meal together began for hours more. Trina shared countless stories from filming DIAMONDS and befriending Connery, cast and crew to her work alongside her friends Geoffrey Holder of LIVE AND LET DIE and Sammy Davis, Jr. (who also starred in a deleted DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER scene), and studying acting with her friend, Bruce Glover (Mr. Wint in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) and much more. The group laughed, applauded and even sang DIAMONDS together.
Trina then ended our event in the best way possible, posing for many photographs with new friends, and signing personalized autographs for her legion of fans--some of whom were able to receive special signed stills though unable to attend in Atlanta in person. THANKS, Trina!
The BONDLANTA event came less than a month after our SECRET AGENT CRUISE and both events were possible through the generosity and hospitality of helpers--too many fans and friends to list here, but you know we appreciate you more than we can say with mere words!
THANK YOU, Bond fans! And SEE you in Mexico, the USA, England and Italy for our 2024-25 fan events! Happy Holidays!
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