Skyfall...with a deafining thud.

After spending Saturday afternoon getting the house cleaning done and doing our monthly grocery shopping (yes. we choose to endure that only once a month!)  we were allowed a relatively relaxing Sunday to just chill (continual laundry aside) the children waking us WAY to early not withstanding! No major plans, just relaxing by the pool (LOL) and firing up the first of the summer barbecues!  After eating WAY to much steak and pork line I proceeded to plop down on the couch and much to my surprise Angela allowed me to take a slight nap, which was shortly interrupted by Rozlynd sticking a toothpick in my lip for some unknown reason.  Then played video games with the kids, getting SEVERELY spanked by our resident video game wizard, Logan.  Seriously.  This kid is amazing.  Give him 90 seconds with any game and he'll master it.  Put his old fart dads slow reflexes to the test. The only sour spot in the day was when Rozy hurt her foot playing outside, I went to comfort her and apparently the "Big Girl" gene has kicked into effect because she pushed me away and said "I don't NEED to be babied.  I'm a big girl!"
Ouch!
The sound of a Daddies fallen heart resonated for miles.
But, such is the nature of things and I have to grasp the reality that she is growing into her own.
(insert pitiful whimpering sounds and Daddy with lost look sucking thumb in the fetal position in mommas lap while she strokes my hair and says "It'll be all right")
Once bedtime was achieved (minus Izzy who is still on nocturnal time and must occupy mom and dad's bed while watching "Rollie-Pollie-ollie") Mom had gone online and was updating our Net Flix Queue and located a series I'd been following religiously for it's first run but for some reason abandon around season two.  Don't know why, seeing as it was part of the Trek franchise!  So now along with West Wing and Fringe I'll be adding that to the evenings entertainment.
Well, instead of diving into this new gift Angie gave me, we sat down to watch the new James Bond flick, Skyfall!
We should have just watched TV.
CAUTION: SPOILER ALERT!
First off let me clarify two things.  One, I am not a Bond aficionado.  Even though i have seen many of the films, I never much went in for the whole tuxedo wearing gadget wielding super spy thing, but I enjoy action flicks so I gave them a look.  Personally I enjoyed Roger Moore MORE when he lampooned the character in Cannonball Run!  BUT I became a fan when I watched Daniel Craig's interpretation in Casino Royale!  Yes I even enjoyed the much panned "Quantum of solace" Much like the re-envisioned Batman with Christian Bale, for me it redeemed the franchise!  So it is with no small portion of regret that I have to pan this latest one.
I'm still not sure just what left a bad taste in my mouth.  I can deal with the somewhat deflated Bond  in this latest flick, understanding he is merely human and if you get shot and fall several hundred feet off a train trestle into the water, you might not return totally up to snuff.  And I wasn't put off by the blatantly homosexual undertones to the interrogation he undergoes by the films main nemesis.  Actually it was rather funny given his sideways comment when the villain basically asks if his training had prepared him for such tactics and he in effect states that his mistake is to assume it's his first time!  Very funny in light of all the speculation over Daniel Craig's sexuality.  Wouldn't it put it past them for lampooning all the Hollywood gossip mongers! 
It's just that the rhythm of the whole movie feels....off.
Rumors were twirling around that this would be Daniels last Bond flick, and it has that air about it.  You know, the finality of a trilogy, but leaving it open to the possibility of continuation (as if Bond will EVER die).  It was a rather tepid swan song.  There was the references to Bonds family history that had been skated around before by other films, but the more astute fan would know that Flemming had given more glimpses into his past in the books, and the film stayed very faithful to those facts.  It just seemed like the producers had Craig contracted to one more film so they came up with an entire movie to just usher him out.  A moot point now, as Craig has at the last minute been negotiated into at least two more films!  So in effect, this one seems to be just a throw away, giving a few bread crumbs that hope fully they will pick up and bake into something a little more cohesive next time! I mean, personally I'm kinda tired of the whole "computer genius who can control the world with the touch of a button." thing.   Bond's new prepubescent "Q" who supplies him with his gadgets meets him in an art museum and hands him his latest hardware.  A gun and a mini radio transmitter.  OK, I like the whole "Back to basics" approach these films have taken, but Q states that "he can do more damage from his kitchen table in his jammies in the morning before he's had his first cup of Earl Gray than Bond can do in the field in a month"  Obviously setting the stage for Bond to prove that in the end it takes the will and skill of a man to make the difference. 
Yea.  I got that message back in '77 when Luke turned off his targeting computer and blew up the "that's not a small moon..." using the voices in his head! 
At this point the whole "man over machine" things getting a tad bit tiring.  And seriously, if all this computer fuddling is that easy, why doesn't it happen more every day!  And if it is, why are we still relying on them for every part of our society!? 
OK, OK...I'm getting a little "off message" here. 
Sorry.
I have come to expect more from my sequels.  Each one be increasingly more impressive then the last.  I don't think I have been this disappointed since the final Harry potter!
OK, maybe not THAT disappointed!
I do hope however that Daniel continues with the franchise and they send a good script his way next time and prove wrong the few side ways comments made by characters in this latest installment that the double zero game is a young mans game.
ANYWAY!
Today is a bit of a fuddle, as I have to bring Kaleb in for his follow up, and shifting the players around on the game with E watching the homestead and Momma coming here to help out (wish she could be hear EVERY day!) so I'll have to step away from the bay for a while, which is inconvenient as we have already gotten in six more repairs!  We thank you for your faith and trust folks and will hit 'em when we return!
See ya soon!