For Your Eyes Only: The first James Bond film that I ever saw

The James Bond franchise is one of the world's long-running film franchises as well as one of the most successful. The original James Bond film was Dr. No (from 1962), and the most recent one was last year's Skyfall. This particular film, For Your Eyes Only, dates from 1981, making it the first James Bond film of the 80s. It also happens to be the first James Bond film that I personally ever saw, and the one that made me develop a love for the whole Bond franchise. Several different actors have played the role of James Bond over the years, and in the case of this particular film, he is played by the legendary Roger Moore, who cleverly portrayed the character in every James Bond film from the mid 70s to the mid 80s. I've seen all of the Bond films, and of all the actors who played the role of Bond, Moore was my favorite.

In this installment of the Bond film series, Bond's mission takes him to Greece, Spain, and the Italian Alps. His purpose is to recover a device belonging to the British government known as an "ATAC" which uses a coded transmitter to order Britain's submarines to launch ballistic missiles.

The ATAC had been aboard a British spy ship in the Ionian sea, which was sunk by a mine. As Bond seeks to uncover the whereabouts of the ATAC, he inadvertently meets a beautiful Greek woman named Melina (played by French actress and former Chanel model Carole Bouquet) who seeks to assassinate the man who murdered her parents. It just so happened that Melina's father was a marine archaeologist who had been working with the British government to locate the wreck of the ship that contained the ATAC. Within a matter of time, Bond agrees to have Melina assist him in finding the ATAC, while in the process he tries to determine who was the entity that ordered to have a mine sink the British spy ship.

The film's scenery is quite interesting, as it showcases the Greek mountainous terrain and the snowy landscape of the Italian Alps. But, more importantly, the film features a lot of underwater footage, as several of the scenes take place out at sea.

And of course, one of the most amazing and unforgettable things about this movie is its namesake theme song, "For Your Eyes Only," sung by Sheena Easton.

A brief tribute to Ronald Reagan: The greatest president of my lifetime

1981 -1989

With the American presidential election on the horizon, I want to briefly highlight the man I consider the greatest president of my lifetime. Ronald Reagan served two consecutive terms as President of the United States, from 1981 to 1989, and he easily won both elections as landslide victories. As a matter of fact, he won 44 states in the presidential election of 1980, and then 49 states in the presidential election of 1984. I personally have a fond memory of watching his first presidential inauguration on tv in my first grade class, in January 1981.

As president, Reagan was much loved, and there were lots of amazing things about the Reagan years overall (though I can’t possibly mention them all in this one entry). Reagan’s huge triumph in his first presidential election was primarily in response to the disastrous Carter administration of the late 70s. The turnaround that the country experienced during Reagan’s two terms was quite impressive. The decade of the 80s is sometimes referred to as the “Age of Excess” for a reason. It was a time of prosperity. And for me personally, the fact that the 80s was a time was a time of prosperity is probably the most memorable aspect of the Reagan years. The country had a thriving, booming economy. My own parents were able to establish a successful business during that time.

And, one thing that makes Reagan’s accomplishments as president all the more interesting is that it all took place in a time when the USSR was America’s biggest threat, and the Cold War was still in full swing. In the back of many people’s minds, there was the fear of possible nuclear war. Through it all, Reagan managed to keep the threat of the Soviet Union at bay. He proved to be a resolute leader and a statesman, which was exactly what the country needed from the president at the time. In addition, as fate would have it, he even survived an assassination attempt in March 1981.

Grace Jones - “I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)”

In contemporary times, fashion and music have seemed to go hand in hand rather often. Fashion has been influenced by musical styles, and musicians have drawn inspiration from fashion trends. At times, there have even been individuals who found success in both the fashion industry and the music industry, thereby fusing together the worlds of fashion and music. That’s the case with the iconic Grace Jones.

Grace was originally a model. She modeled throughout the 1970s, as well as part of the 80s, working mainly in Paris with top designers such as Azzedine Alaia (to whom she was a muse). She was also a muse to Andy Warhol.

In the late 70s, she landed a record deal with Island Records, and she proceeded to record three albums between 1977 and 1979. In the early 80s, however, Grace entered into a collaboration with stylist Jean-Paul Goude which led to a transformation in her look to a more androgynous style. Coinciding with the burgeoning New Wave style of music, Grace’s own music morphed as well. She released two albums in the early 80s, one of them being 1981’s Nightclubbing.

The album contains reworked versions of previously-recorded songs, the most notable of which is “I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango).” The song went on to become one of Grace’s biggest hits. Also, the song was featured prominently in the 1988 film Frantic directed by Roman Polanski.

Incidentally, the video to the song was directed Jean-Paul Goude, with whom Grace was romantically involved for a time.

There is also an alternate video to the song.