Tuesday, May 25, 2010

No Mr. Bond, No Happy Elves



















Sad to say, no 007 came in time to stop the oil spill, no happy elves to plug the leaks. On the other hand, reality is sort of like a James Bond film, with BP directed by an Ernst Stavro Blofeld or an Auric Goldfinger. You may recall Blofeld's headquarters on a fortified oil rig, or Goldfinger's plan to contaminate Fort Knox and corner the market on gold? Whether intentionally or not, BP is now presenting a similarly clear and present danger to North America, only with more "success." 

British Petroleum or BP is, from its Banish Pinking to Beyond Petroleum sloganeering, the corporation formerly known as the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company . . .  but all that's for another post: oil and the world wars, Operation Ajax/the 28 Mordad coup d'état (1953) in Iran, the Iranian Revolution as backlash and here we are in the oily present -- all sordid, all real.  Nothing much to do with the heroic (or antiheroic) Bond nor his helpful American sidekick, Felix Leiter.  No Mr. Bond, no happy elves.*  If there's a top kill now, it has more to do with messily doing in real nature than neatly thwarting the evil schemes of cartoon villains.  Still, will the real James Bond please come forward and do something?

Today's Rune: Wholeness.  *Cf. Iggy Pop, "Winners and Losers," Blah-Blah-Blah (1986).  

11 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I never thought of it that way, but I will now. Insightful.

Anonymous said...

Aren't you thinking of Kevin Kostner and the Untouchables?--Oscar Winner

Anonymous said...

Yes, The Untouchables were tough!--Sean Connery

Anonymous said...

We need a Giant!--James Dean

Anonymous said...

The Chicago way!--Kevin Costner

Anonymous said...

How much would it cost?--Rush L.

Anonymous said...

The Purple Gang!--Native Detroiter

Anonymous said...

MGD with a side of peppermint schnapps. Several of these!--Native Detroiter

Anonymous said...

Happy Elves!--ND

Erik Donald France said...

Gangtas!

Johnny Rojo said...

On of my recent favorite quotes was Teabagger Rand Paul screeching that Obama's attacks on BP were unpatriotic. Apparently he's unaware of what the "B" in BP stands for.