I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by the good folks over at The Next Level Guy. Here are the 10 questions I was asked:
1) Can you tell me about your journey from normal dude to Bond guru? What started your journey on living your life like 007? Was there a defining moment that caused it? How has becoming more like James Bond affected your life for the better/worse?
2) What is it about the James Bond character that you feel makes him such a great role model for men?
3) What three tips would you give to the ‘Average Joe’ to begin their transformation and become more Bond like?
4) Which of the Bond movies is your favourite and why? What did the film teach you or cause you to adopt in your live to become more Bond-like?
5) There is a massive James Bond fan-base spread out all over the world, different nationalities, religions etc but Bond ties us all together and helps us focus on bettering our lives by focusing on a role model. Can you give any great examples of how Bond has inspired or changed one of your readers lives for the better?
6) Which three of your videos are you most proud and why? Please send me the URL links and I will include them in the post.
7) If someone wanted to become more Secret-Agent in their life, what is the first area of their life that you would recommend they looked at (e.g. health, finance etc) and why is this the best area to pick?
8) One of the best things on your site, in my opinion, is the ‘Frugal Bond’. Can you explain your idea of dressing more like Bond but cheaper? How should my readers begin to dress better and more Bond like?
9) Confidence and self-belief are major components of Bond’s personality. They shine through in Bond in every film as he scores with a lot of hot women. If you were to give three tips to my readers on how to get Bond-Good with women, what would they be?
10) Finally, if you were to talk to all of men at once, what would you say – what motivation or telling off would you say? If you could give all men a final message what would it be?
A great interview
“Should have read the questions before hand.”… classic.
Great job with the interview. You are looking so relaxed in front of the camera. Well done
Thanks again for doing the interview David. I cringe when I read back some of the questions I asked! Thankfully I have improved considerably since I wrote them!
It’s an honour to have you on my site and just wanted to say thanks and to say to keep up the good work as I was and remain a massive fan of your site.
All the best,
Ian
hi david
i am steff and i am 12 years old i love james bond and dress like him but i just cant walk around with a suit or john lobb shoes wich clothing pieces would you recommend me the best
greetings steff
I got to know David back in the 90s when I owned a comic book store. He is very charismatic and passionate about what he does. Probably one of the most interesting people I have met. Glad to see you are still at it. Being you.
Ps. Stay out of movie theater parking lots, they are dangerous. Lol.
-Chuck
Great interview. I really enjoyed it. From Russia With Love will always be one of my favorite Connery Bond films, as well, however, I did notice an error in one of your interview answers: Out of all the filming locations and settings in FRWL, the Bahamas was not one of them. Most of Thunderball was set and filmed in the Bahamas, not From Russia With Love. I’m surprised no one else caught the mistake. Anyway, keep up the good work on The Bond Experience. I really enjoy the website.
Hi, by now the world knows Daniel Craig is wearing NPeal top in Spectre poster but what about the trousers? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
I noted your use of the term that Daniel Craig used in reference to Bond. These are my thoughts on Bond the misogynist.
mi·sog·y·ny:
Hate for, dislike of, contempt for women.
chau·vin·ism:
an attitude that the members of your own sex are always better than those of the opposite sex
It has been often said that James Bond is a misogynist or chauvinistic. Daniel Craig even said it. Just because he played Bond doesn’t make him right or in know. One would hope. We have grown up with these words and have our own ideas of their definitions. But based on the above standard accepted definitions, James Bond is neither a misogynist nor a chauvinist. So Daniel although I respect you and I am a fan, but sorry Pal but you need to read a dictionary. Do some research before opening your mouth.
James Bond hates women? Absolutely not. Ian Fleming didn’t hate women either. There could not be a Bond without women. In fact women, have saved him and he has quit spying more than once for the love of a woman. There is no evidence that Bond hates women. There is evidence that he loves women. Yes, it does appear that he enjoys sex with women. Using women as disposable pleasures is not hateful. Women also use men for physical and materialistic reasons. All straight men would be guilty of this at some point of their life particularly every Marine I have deployed with in the last 15 years. Having purely physical relationships is an occupational hazard of a government killer. At least in the world Bond lives in. Let’s not forget Bond is not the reality of a spy. He is a Hollywood/Novelist creation. The reality is I have had my “girl in every port” on deployment. When you live on the road it becomes a need. Sex is high up on Maslow’s Hierarchy of human needs. Bond is not entirely successful at keeping his relationships shallow as he falls in love with Vesper in the first film and suffers from her loss over the next three. Really not how someone acts when they hate women.
Bond thinks men are superior to women? I don’t think so. There is not any evidence to support that either. The honest truth is Bond is an elitist. He thinks he is better than everyone. His arrogance is unmatched, but he is that way to all the characters. It is a special forces (SAS) attitude. I have it. My team has it. You actually need an elitist attitude in the military if you want to win battles.
About all that can be said about Bond is that he is the quintessential aggressive alpha male elitist, an adrenaline junky and enjoys his masculinity. He has shallow disposable relationships and also deep and meaningful ones. That does not make him a chauvinist nor a misogynist. If a woman enjoys sex with many partners she may be called a slut but I doubt she would be called a feminist. By the same token If Bond has many sexual relationships with women it doesn’t make him a chauvinist. Maybe a male slut.
In the Sean Connery Bond days, his behavior reflected our society then. We can’t judge them. That was then. Just as the Spartans throwing inferior infants off the cliff may seem wrong to us but who are we to judge a different society in a different era that had different realities? That Moneypenny was not a working spy but merely a secretary represents how Hollywood depicted women then. We know of actual women spies throughout history that have been highly effective at many things but most insulting to men is Honeypotting their male targets. (AKA Honeydicking) It really happens to this day.
One thing true about real spies and Bond, they develop informants and exploit them. There are times when Bond or a spy would have to sleep with and seduce women to get the information. Then kill them for OPSEC reasons.
Bond may still not be an absolute role model in time of Political Correctness. Maybe there are better terms to define him but at least these two words commonly associated with Bond don’t seem to stand up under closer inspection. He uses women to gain intel. Just the way females spies would honeydick men. This doesn’t make Bond a woman hater. It makes him a spy.
“FOR THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. ALWAYS AND FOREVER XXX”
-Nighthawk