Monday Morning Musings - SpyFi Edition

Welcome to another installment of my early Monday morning musings, where I catch up on whatever's been going on over the weekend.

• OPEN CHANNEL "D." Last Friday, several of the spy blogs I visit were reporting that Amazon had the complete Man From U.N.C.L.E. DVD collection on sale for more than half off the retail price, for one day only! It only took a little begging, but Brandi bought it for me, and it should be here Tuesday. I'm a huge U.N.CL.E. fan, and I've been rather desperate to get my hands on this set, and although money will be tight for a couple weeks because of it, I'm thrilled that it's on the way!

• Speaking of old TV shows, a couple weeks back, I traded in some old stuff and picked up the second seasons of Get Smart and the 80's private eye show, Simon & Simon. We're about halfway through the seasons (Brandi also likes S&S quite a bit), and having a lot of fun revisiting these shows. The second season of Smart is probably its best, and S&S is fun 80's escapism with a couple of charismatic leads.

At the same time, I picked up the latest Transporter movie on Blu-Ray (it was a buck cheaper than the 2-disc DVD). I loved it. It was ludicrous, and not quite as good as Transporter 2, but close, and a damned fun ride. Jason Statham rules.

• And, speaking of spies (U.N.C.L.E., Smart, etc.), I recently found all my Nick Carter, Killmaster paperbacks at my parents' house, and brought them home. I've got about thirty of them (nearly 300 were published), some from the 70's and quite a bunch from the 80's. Nick Carter was an American secret agent for AXE, whose paperback original adventures ran the gamut from straight Cold War intrigue to over-the-top pseudo-sci-fi adventures that would have embarrassed Roger Moore's Bond! Many different authors contributed anonymously to the series over the years. I loved the books as a teen, and I'm having a great time re-reading some of them now. I'm currently working my way through The Eyes of the Tiger, and it's silly, refreshingly un-PC fun.

• I also got an advance DVD screener of the Quantum of Solace DVD last Friday, and, well, I still don't like it. My least favorite Bond film in years. All my original complaints remain – except that I've warmed (slightly) toward the Jack White/Alicia Keyes theme. Otherwise, I still think it's a near-incoherent mess, and I think the film editors should be shot.

• Not spy related: I received the Buck Rogers statue from ReelArt Studios, last week, as well. It's friggin' gorgeous. Not only is it marvelously sculpted and flawlessly painted, but it's a minor marvel of engineering, with Buck and his flaming jetpack perched atop a billowing pillar of smoke. If you're a fan of the character and can afford it, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Have a great week, everyone!