62 replies to this topic

[Jack Spang]

This just sounds like a gas. LOVE all the mystery.

What does "gas" mean in this context? Mysterious? Exciting? Fun?

Yes, thanks Admiral. All very intriguing to say the least. Bring on 2011!

Edited by Jack Spang, 22 July 2010 - 11:28 PM.

[TheREAL008]

Hey, do you think this is how Bond will be briefed by M in the book -- in the crypt below St Andrews? Maybe this is the start of several events where select fans can live the book?

That wpuld be so....uber cool!

[volante]

I used the Burj as a location in my Fan Fic 'TO KILL AND DIE FOR'



...and the Yas gets a mention in my latest offering 'A SECRET TO THE GRAVE'

These modern pieces of art are ripe for the picking in Bond's world.

Fleming always had me wanting to visit the locations he described in his books; now we must accept that UAE has so much to offer.

I've ony read three Deaver novels; but his attention to detail is so fantastic that I believe he could make ******* sound exotic (fill in your own local ugly city)

[zencat]

Jeffery Deaver posted a pic of himself in the crypt on his Facebook.


http://www.facebook....&id=65028952194

[Jeff007]

Oh very mysterious.

[volante]

Oh very mysterious.

yes sir; this is going to be MEGA; how many days is it till May 28 2011?

[zencat]

yes sir; this is going to be MEGA; how many days is it till May 28 2011?

308.

[Jack Spang]

I'm not sure if I would be keen on Dubai for a location. It's just a concrete jungle.

Edited by Jack Spang, 23 July 2010 - 11:26 PM.

[Doctor Shatterhand]

When I first had the opportunity to interview him in Virginia back in June, I brought my Signet copy of FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE as well as a copy of THE BURNING WIRE. Jeffrey Deaver was very kind to sign both and in FRWL he wrote the inscription "PROJECT X 2011" I find it amusing that the Ian Fleming Publications has also gone this route by offering the same for those in attendence of this mysterious tryst.

They are watching us!

[volante]

They are watching us!

I do hope so.
Like the football fan that wears his team shirt to every match (so he can take to the pitch at a moments notice, just in case the star player doesn't turn up)
I'll keep putting my Fan Fics on here; just in case Jeffery Deaver sustains a wrist injury (perhaps in some bizarre book signing incident) and needs a ghost writer, to complete 'Project X'

307 days to go. Can we have a countdown clock please??

[quantumofsolace]

307 days to go. Can we have a countdown clock please??

Good idea. There's one on the official project x site but there really should be one on the CBn main site. It's such an exciting release. I think it deserves one.

[Captain Tightpants]

...and the Yas gets a mention in my latest offering 'A SECRET TO THE GRAVE'

These modern pieces of art are ripe for the picking in Bond's world.

The Yas hotel is actually a part of the wider Yas Marina racing circuit. The entire point of the place is that it is a place for competitors and officials to stay when an event is held. I think it would be very difficult to include the building in any kind of media without tying it back to its intended purpose. The hotel itself might look good, but it's surrounded by grandstands and floodlights and so on.

Also, when night falls, the panels in the bubble wrap-like thing that covers it light up. They can alternate between red and blue ... but it looks quite tacky.

[Aris007]

Jeffery Deaver posted a pic of himself in the crypt on his Facebook.


http://www.facebook....&id=65028952194

I'm surprised there aren't any sculls in the background!

[zencat]

This just sounds like a gas. LOVE all the mystery.

What does "gas" mean in this context? Mysterious? Exciting? Fun?

Yeah...means fun, a good time. Very old fashioned expression (and uniquely American, I guess) from the 50s/60s, maybe before. Think it was originally "a gasser." Maybe having to do with laughing gas?

[stromberg]

...(and uniquely American, I guess)...

"I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash, it's a gas, gas, gas..." The man who wrote that is definitely not an American
But ever since I first heard those words ages ago, I was curious about the origin, but never really found out.

Now that we live in the age of the interweb:

Scientist Humphrey Davy introduced nitrous oxide to the public (primarily the British upper class) as a recreational drug at “laughing gas parties” in 1799, 36 years before it was used medically. Davy's noted that some people, in a state of induced euphoria by the gas, got the giggles, erupted in laughter, felt stuporous, dreamy and sedated. At Davy's parties, the audience was amused by watching the user's “nitrous oxide capers,” which included stumbling around, slurred speech and falling down - thus earning its nickname: “laughing gas.” (Medindia.net)
Gasoline made its debut in the late 19th century when scientists coined it (from 'gas' plus the Latin 'oleum: 'oil' and ine) to describe the colourless liquid obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum. 'Gas' itself was coined nearly three centruies earlier by Dutch physician and chemist Jean Baptist van Helmont. Van Helmont thought that he had discovered an occult principle contained in all bodies and named his discovery 'gas' from the German 'chaos'. He had little understanding of the nature of gases, and no one knows exactly what sense of the word 'chaos' he had in mind when he coined 'gas' from it. But despite all this chaos, he was cooking with gas for his invention has become part of almost every language. (Word And Phrase Origins, Robert Hendrickson)

Alternative: A 'gas' was a joke in Anglo-Irish slang. James Joyce uses it in 'Dubliners', published in 1914. By the 1950s in the USA, it had taken on the meaning of anything pleasing or exciting.

Alternative: During the U.S. 'Roaring Twenties', Nitrous (laughing gas) became popular, and “That's a gas” was born as a phrase describing a wild, fun, enjoyable, hilarious event.

Alternative: It's a derivation from the British slang expression (first attested in Dickens), “All is gas and gaiters.”

Alternative: Nitrous oxide - commonly given by dentists in the era, which would fit in with similar slang such as “a knockout”, “it knocks me out”, “it sends me”, “it's a solid sender” - putting one in an ecstatic state.

Alternative: It's jazz musicians' slang - something excellent was “a gasser”, used pretty much the same way "a gas" was used in the 1960s/1970s.

Alternative: A gasser is a remarkable person, top notch.

[zencat]

Article in The Guardian:

http://www.guardian....-jeffery-deaver

Also JD has posted a new pic on Facebook:

http://www.facebook....&id=65028952194

[The Admiral]

Interesting. So the general press were invited. On the same day? They probably had a different script read to them, and JD probably used a different cue with them.

With the photo - from left to right - JD's bodyguard while talking to me, guy in hallway who just stood there, the guy who opened the door to the crypt and read the statement to me.

I wonder if these are actually Hodder people or were just hired?

[Simon]

Judging purely from the picture, the ominous feeling derived from the crypt is entirely negated by the three oiks standing behind Deaver.

While I am sure they are all loveable people, and their mothers think highly of them, if we are to get excited about the theatrics of this event, the clownish looking yooves have not added to the presentation.

Which is not to denigrate clowns, or yooves. Or yoofish clowns. Just that a presentation has to be thought through, from beginning to end, and from left to right.

[The Admiral]

Trust me, it was a completely different atmosphere when there wasn't much light!

[Simon]

Ok. Trust apportioned.

[Peaceful]

True! I did finally get my "Bond in the Middle East" with Devil May Care. But this is a whole new Middle East, ain't it?

Don't forget he was in Israel for SeaFire and Role Of Honour ;-)

[zencat]

True! But that certainly isn't Israel in ROH? I think it could be Libya or Syria. Gardner never identifies the location.

[Bryce (003)]

In ROH, I still stick by my Libya take given the times. Possibly Syria, but given the easy access from the Med, I'll go with the big L. Besides, a certain someone got paid rent for all that desert from the estimated 100+ "camps" during that era.

[Peaceful]

I just had a look. At the end of Chapt 19 Ploughshare of ROH, Bond "asked about Erewhon and was told that the Israelis had pinpointed the site." etc
Doesn't mean it was Israel though, so I sit corrected lol
I actually thought it was in Lebanon as Rahani was Lebanese American :-)

[zencat]

I just had a look. At the end of Chapt 19 Ploughshare of ROH, Bond "asked about Erewhon and was told that the Israelis had pinpointed the site." etc
Doesn't mean it was Israel though, so I sit corrected lol
I actually thought it was in Lebanon as Rahani was Lebanese American :-)

Believe it or not, I actually started a whole thread on this when I recently re-read ROH.

http://debrief.comma...ere-is-erewhon/

[Professor Dent]

A limited press event held in a crypt. How cool is that! From what I've been reading about Deaver, he seems like a good guy. The closest I've come to his work so far is The Bone Collector movie but I just bought Garden of Beasts & I'm looking forward to reading it.

[zencat]

So I had a fantastic related adventure yesterday. I came home from a full day out in Hollywood with Dunph (who's in town for the week) to find I had a big mysterious package waiting for me from Switzerland(?). After discussing what this could possibly be -- allowing for the possibility that it could be a bomb or a human head -- we opened it to find a box within a box and inside that was a nice file box marked "Project X." Oh baby!

Inside were signed copies of Garden of Beasts, From Russia With Love, and The Burning Wire (all individually wrapped in paper marked "Top Secret", "Eyes Only", etc.); a letter with a special personalized key card to exclusive Project X material to come; and a mysterious DVD that just said "Play Me." We popped the DVD in the computer and up comes a message from Jeffery Deaver in the crypt. And it wasn't some a generic message -- it started "Hi John. I'm sorry you couldn't make it. But it was good meeting you in LA..." etc.

How freakin' cool is that!? I felt like I got the full London crypt experience right here at home. So happy Paul was here to experience/witness it with me.

Thank you Hodder, IFP, and Jeffery Deaver.

[Righty007]

[volante]

So I had a fantastic related adventure yesterday. I came home from a full day out in Hollywood with Dunph (who's in town for the week) to find I had a big mysterious package waiting for me from Switzerland(?). After discussing what this could possibly be -- allowing for the possibility that it could be a bomb or a human head -- we opened it to find a box within a box and inside that was a nice file box marked "Project X." Oh baby!

Inside were signed copies of Garden of Beasts, From Russia With Love, and The Burning Wire (all individually wrapped in paper marked "Top Secret", "Eyes Only", etc.); a letter with a special personalized key card to exclusive Project X material to come; and a mysterious DVD that just said "Play Me." We popped the DVD in the computer and up comes a message from Jeffery Deaver in the crypt. And it wasn't some a generic message -- it started "Hi John. I'm sorry you couldn't make it. But it was good meeting you in LA..." etc.

How freakin' cool is that!? I felt like I got the full London crypt experience right here at home. So happy Paul was here to experience/witness it with me.

Thank you Hodder, IFP, and Jeffery Deaver.

OKay; you got me; that IS cool!!!

[OmarB]

So I had a fantastic related adventure yesterday. I came home from a full day out in Hollywood with Dunph (who's in town for the week) to find I had a big mysterious package waiting for me from Switzerland(?). After discussing what this could possibly be -- allowing for the possibility that it could be a bomb or a human head -- we opened it to find a box within a box and inside that was a nice file box marked "Project X." Oh baby!

Inside were signed copies of Garden of Beasts, From Russia With Love, and The Burning Wire (all individually wrapped in paper marked "Top Secret", "Eyes Only", etc.); a letter with a special personalized key card to exclusive Project X material to come; and a mysterious DVD that just said "Play Me." We popped the DVD in the computer and up comes a message from Jeffery Deaver in the crypt. And it wasn't some a generic message -- it started "Hi John. I'm sorry you couldn't make it. But it was good meeting you in LA..." etc.

How freakin' cool is that!? I felt like I got the full London crypt experience right here at home. So happy Paul was here to experience/witness it with me.

Thank you Hodder, IFP, and Jeffery Deaver.

That is damn cool. How come Deaver never mailed me anything?