What a mind-bogglingly thorough collection of essays on the literary version of James Bond by Jacques Stewart. Take the Dr. No entry, for instance:

Albeit with mild erosion of the Casino Royale paragon – his impetuousness in Diamonds are Forever, his accidental brute force and luck succeeding in From Russia with or without Comma – the Bond of the first five novels is prima facie a competent man whom we are invited / required to admire, lest the fallacy of the wish-fulfilment enterprise collapse. Not without flaws, certainly, but tending towards the classically “heroic”. The man introduced in 1953 is a tank-tough archetype with habits and pleasures intended to engender post-War envy; despite a jaundiced view of his trade, a success. The character flourishes of the third, fourth and fifth books are not presented as egotistical faults nor manifestations of defective reason. To an extent, the end of FRWL shows the fluke finally expiring and an invitation to the reader to reflect on how precarious – and unlikely – his previous successes were; how long can luck (believed in or not) continue, before shaming Skyfall downfall? How close to failure has he always been? I’d argue that such contemplation only arises after reading this book: the reason From Russia with Love’s ending is a “shock” is because up to then, we’re not expecting Bond to fail. Now, we can’t be quite so confident of his success. The series pivoted and crashed down, too. Put the same ending on (say) Thunderball and it’d be no surprise at all.

One of the things I enjoy most about Daniel Craig’s Bond is that we’ve actually seen him try and fail. He’s not invincible anymore, and he often gets the job done only at great personal cost. In a way that takes a little bit away from the myth — the suave, cold-blooded spy with nerves of steel and a bulletproof liver — but after decades of overused clichés and impossible last-second escapes, maybe this was the only way to revitalize the franchise. The current interpretation is closer to the literary Bond than ever before and I just hope Spectre continues the trend, because I’m loving every minute of it.

Josh Ginter:

There are a couple things which make the Techo stand out from the rest of the crowd. Its compact size, its page-per-day format, and its Tomoe River paper make it a true jack-of-all-trades in the planner world. So much so, in fact, that I don’t necessarily think it’s fair to call the Techo a “planner” per se. The Techo could be used as a planner, but it could instead be used as a journal, a daily log, or a simple notebook. Its utility is endless.

I dare you to look at Josh’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous photos and not rush to buy this planner the second you’re done.

Messy Nessy:

I would probably walk the plank if it meant getting myself aboard Alila Purnama. Fortunately, aboard this handcrafted ship, entertainment is less about sword fights and more about mojitos served with a view of the Indian Ocean. Puff Daddy can have his shiny show-off yacht, I want to travel the seas like Francis Drake (or at least like Francis Drake in retirement).

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

This movie montage is the precise definition of awesome. Perhaps one too many superhero movies for my taste, but still. So cool:

Via Rands.

Excellent and very informative article by Jason Snell:

While I think it’s true that many people underestimate how much work goes into making a podcast, I also get the sense that other people overestimate the time I spend. And depending on what kind of a podcast you’re creating, the amount of time required to put it together can vary widely. The average episode of The Incomparable probably takes three or four hours to edit; the average TV Talk Machine I can turn around in 10 minutes.

I really enjoyed this piece by Shawn Blanc:

But what is important is remembering foundational principles for how to live life and to live it well. Our values, ideals, thoughts, emotions, and habits are bombarded every day by the media. Movies, commercials, TV shows, and so much more tell us how we ought to live and what we should believe. Which is why our Core Curriculum notebook should be comprised of things that speak truth to who we are, who we want to be, and what we want to do.

One of my favorite things about the Internet is its seemingly infinite ability to surprise me with awesome things. Take this drop-dead gorgeous photo essay by Canadian photographer Tyler Stalman, for example. I ran into it while researching the properties of the Kodak Ektar 100 color negative film for shooting landscapes and people. Well, what better way to find out than seeing it in action in one of the most vibrant and exotic places on the planet?

Even if the Ektar film ultimate proved disappointing for shooting people, this amazing story more than made up for it — and whatever you do, don’t miss part two, which contains plenty of images shot in the trendy Gangnam. So cool.

Whenever you hear someone say “film is the medium of the masters”, this is what they’re talking about.

On a side note, Tyler’s story is definitive proof that high-quality photo gear doesn’t need to be expensive: all pictures in this story were shot using a Canon Elan 7e film camera and two prime lenses, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens — also known as the “nifty-fifty” — and the EF 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens. You could pick up all three for under $500, which is less than the cost of just one good Micro Four Thirds prime lens.

Paul Stamatiou creates some fantastic photo stories of the trips he makes. I first discovered him last year, when I saw the one he made after returning from Japan. These photo stories are gorgeous, beautifully designed, and the pictures are stunning. In this article — the first of two parts — he does a wonderful job of explaining how he approaches the issue of planning for a trip. If you appreciate travel photography, this is a must-read:

A result of moving apartments just about every year since 2004, I’ve been pretty good at keeping my posessions to a minimum (camera gear aside, obviously :D). I try to own fewer, higher quality items and often they’re only items that augment my travel experiences — portable stuff like good clothes, camera gear or simply last minute airline tickets and car rentals. I’d rather spend money on experiences than things that will tie me down to one place.

What a beautiful piece by Mark Bylok, author of The Whisky Cabinet:

Learning of my dad’s secret helped me prioritize my writing. He died with an unpublished poetry collection. I had an opportunity to change my own future. Unlike before, I was able to focus on getting published. I’ve replaced some movie watching and lazy weekends with writing. The first year after his death my writing seemed to be going nowhere, but with practice, things started to change.

I’m so happy for Mark. I can’t wait to get my hands on my copy of The Whisky Cabinet.

And speaking of great glass, Tyson Robichaud reviews one of the greatest pieces of glass available for the Micro Four Thirds system:

The lens housing is built of high quality plastics and metal and while hefty, is not overwhelmingly dense. It feels really good in the hand, and the resistance on both the zoom and focus rings are smooth and responsive, but not too tight. It is certainly large by the micro 4/3 system standards, but I’ve gotten over the “it should be small” point of view long ago and have moved into the, “it can be smaller, while providing comparable quality” camp. I no longer look to the micro 4/3 system as merely a travel system that should be as absolutely small as possible at every turn, no, I like that it CAN be that system when I need it to be, also offering fully professional level tools while being smaller and lighter than the stuff I’ve used in the past.

This is an excellent point. One of the biggest strengths of the MFT system is the reduced size and weight of its bodies and lenses. At first glance, a lens like this looks like it doesn’t belong in the MFT camp, but the system has matured so much over the years that it’s now beginning to offer truly professional-grade glass like the Olympus Pro lenses. These zoom lenses offer everything a professional could ever want: a metal splashproof construction, prime-like sharpness and speed, a retractable hood, you name it.

Mirrorless systems are all about versatility and right now, there’s nothing out there that can beat MFT in that regard.