Just got back from seeing the new Bond flick "Quantum of Solace", and liked it quite a bit more than I anticipated after hearing a few average reviews. The title, more or less means "A measure of comfort" of which that has anything to do with the movie is beyond me since it takes off like a bat out of hell and never lets up from the opening scene. 

The only thing that annoyed me about the movie (and only seemed to work and fit well with the Bourne movies) was the habit of ultra fast brain numbing headache inducing editing during some of the action sequences. Why they don't let you visually absorb more than a mili-second of a fight scene is beyond me. Otherwise, I thought it was a really good (but not great) Bond  flick that was well worth my 12 bucks. Here's 3 reason's why, and maybe I'm biased since one of them took me for a trip down memory lane of a night I will think of fondly and crack a grin about when it comes to reminiscing of "Life's greatest hits" on my deathbed. Unfortunately in some ways, it is not reason #2..........

Reason 1.... My 2nd all time favorite car... And one that is actually obtainable. The Aston Martin DBS. It should be called the Aston Martin SOW for "Sex on Wheels". Just a ridiculously awesome automobile in every way imaginable. I can't say I'd sell my soul to Satan for this car, but I'd seriously consider robbing a bank or sleeping with Rosie O'Donnel to obtain it. The one you see in the movie is actually the 2nd DBS used as the first one was totaled, or actually in that case Drowned by a stuntman. What a numbnut. He should be publicly flogged for desecrating such a fine piece of...... engineering.

For the record, my all time favorite car which is so over the top and completely unobtainable(for the time being) is the Koenigsegg CCXR. Now for this car I would indeed sell my soul at the Crossroads to Lucifer himself and open every show with..."Welcome to the Sunday morning session of Rock n' Roll, once again brought to you by our good friend Satan'. Just kidding. I think.......

Reason 2...... The new Bond Girls. Especially the Redhead "Strawberry Fields" (Gemma Arterton). And (cue the hatemail!!) Redheads have generally never tripped my trigger visually. Being a longtime Bond fan, I was horrified when a braindead LA type bimbo (cue more hatemail !!)  like Denise Richards was thrust upon us in  Bonds 1999 "The world is not enough". The fact that she actually played a nuclear physicist was even more unintentionally hysterical. The new Bond Chicks rock. Our girl Gemma is the kind of  naturally drop dead hot genetic miracle that would be welcome to take my credit card to Manolo Blahnik, run up a tab that would vaporize the stores computers, and completely wreck my flawless 810 credit rating. I'd only be pissed if she didn't stop at La Perla to do more of the same destruction on the way home. To top it off, she's British. Tell me she's an Arsenal fan and I'm moving........

Reason 3..... The scene shot in Siena, Italy. One of my favorite places on earth and the scene of one of my HFS incredible little adventures that I still daydream about. If you've seen Quantum, you'll know what I'm talking about, and if not but plan to, don't worry, the below is not a plot spoiler. The horse race that's shown is called the  "Polia de Siena" and is one of those great wonders in life, such as the running of the bulls, that really must be experienced in person to be believed and fully comprehended in it's completely blow your mind awe inspiring magnitude. When last in Siena in 2006, I missed the Polia by a few days, but little did I know that I was about to witness something even more insane... If that was at all possible......

It all started with a Birthday boys trip for my best buddy Michael. Michael's last name is O'Brien, but his Mama and their side is Italian right off the boat. I guess you could call him "Gaelic and Garlic" or "Pasta and Potatoes". Anyway, Michael had a hankering to get in touch with his Italian heritage and asked if we could take a trip there for his birthday. Italy totally kicks ass in every way imaginable so it took a nano-second for the guys in our immediate crew to quickly agree and to plan highjinks abroad plus welcome the unexpected or pure luck type of fun that generally follows us.

            This picture taken moments before singing "99 bottles of wine on the wall!"

After a night in the Tuscan wall surrounded town of Lucca, where we caught Eric Clapton in concert under the stars in the small Piazza de Napeleone (picture seeing Clapton with only 4,000-5,000 people in Union Square Park in NYC), off we ventured to Siena. Which in many ways is more or less a larger version of Lucca. Upon arrival, and well into the night, we noticed these small parades of people singing, waving flags, and making as much of a racket as possible. As it turns out, this was the followers and residents of the winning Horse "Contrade" (town district) of the recent Polia race. 

Not only does the winner's hood' get bragging rights and a reason to get completely hammered celebrating, but they also for days after wander and parade through everyone elses Contrade and rub their victory in their face as obnoxiously as possible. Supposedly entire neighborhoods go on vacation because they simply can't stand the constant days long ball-busting from the parading and drunk winners. Hysterical. Needless to say we had to join in on the fun. 

Night #2 in Siena was what I had hoped for, and was praying we'd cash in a good karma chip to have things end in a Victory and not a Loss for the Italians. This had nothing to do with Polia, but since that is based around and in honour of the Virgin Mary, what we were about to experience was even closer to the second coming of the Good Lord himself for the Italian citizenry. In Italy, Soccer is a religon. This sort of passion for Futbol is not even close to what we'd consider a "He's a Huge Giants Fan!! here, but the type of insane loyalty and be all end all love for their teams and especially the National team that defies imagination. And wouldn't ya know it, our dumb asses were in Siena when Italy played in the 2006 World Cup Final. 

We knew that it was going to go one of 2 ways. If they lost, the suicide rate would go up 1300% the folllowing day (I'm actually not joking here), or they Win, and we knew it had all the ingredients for a party and celebration for the ages. Italy wins..............

      4:15am Siena...... Some guy named Satano Luciferi Devilanti drops by the party......

And Siena F_king explodes. Hearing earlier that the Piazza del Campo (where the Polia takes place) would be party central if Italy won, we sent out 2 of the guys to secure a proper table in the middle of the action. With it getting louder and louder walking towards what sounded like the battle scene of Falkirk during the movie Braveheart, when I finally turned the corner to walk into the piazza , I had to stop to make sure I could believe what I was seeing....

                 5am....Siena.......Photographer might have been drinking....haha......

Think of a combined 1,000 Superbowl celebrations, mix in a Mardi Gras atmosphere, and visualize everyone screaming, singing, and laughing like they are on exctasy, acid, magic mushrooms, and all the booze they could possibly drink, might begin to describe what I was looking at, and happily took part in for the next 7 hours. It was 50,000 people in the town square completely losing their mind non stop. And I mean not a 30 second lull or rest of any sort. Just full on having a great time madness like I've never been a part of (even being outside of a Buenos Aires soccer stadium when rivals play doesn't come close). Knowing  that my favorite winery Castello Banfi was on tap for the following day, and wanting to be semi-concious for our visit there, at 5am I pulled the plug. It was hilarious strolling alone up a Tuscan cobblestone street towards the hotel with the party still in full swing, hearing a friendly chorus of "Wimp!", "Pussy!" and "PartyPooper!" from both my American and newfound Italian buddies who decided to stay behind , echo off the buildings which held so much history. It was a magical night.

So that's why the latest Bond flick brought back so many memories. It was even stranger when there is a clip during the movie of the exact bar that we sat in front of during the celebration. I'll always owe the Italian people and especially the people of both Lucca and Siena a gigantic thank you for one of those trips( and I didn't even get to the Belguim golf or Holland karaoke Cab stories over the same 10 day period) where you reminisce and say with a smile "My God, did that really happen?".... Indeed it did ...... And considering it's so top of mind and the late hour that I'm now finishing writing this,  maybe I'll relive it in some sort of dream tonight. With some luck, an Aston Martin DBS and Gemma the Redhead will be included.... That would be sweet dreams indeed.......