Campion Bond flooded out of 'League'

In an interview with Comics2Film The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen producer Don Murphy reveals that the role of Campion Bond, an ancestor of James Bond, had to be removed from the film because of torrential flooding in Prague. The flooding destroyed many of the including the Nautilus submarine set. The destroyed sets forced changes in the movie including a change to the epilogue which was to feature Campion Bond and set up for the film’s sequel.

Though it was never revealed who was to play the role of Campion Bond, rumours said that the producers wished to cast Roger Moore or Jason Isaacs. Of course, Bond fans can still enjoy Sean Connery in the role of adventurer Allan Quartermain.

Prince Harry And Halle

Prince Harry currently the object of media obsession in the UK, has been pictured by award-winning photographer; Kirsty Wigglesworth. In the latest official photo’s of the prince, the 18 year old heir to the British throne was photographed lounging about his dorm-room at Eton college. It was there that Kirsty photographed this picture which shows a poster depicting Halle Berry’s role of “Jinx” as she emerges from the surf in the Cuba sequence of Die Another Day.

Difficult to make out, the poster is located in the top-left of the image, next to another poster for Xfm, an indie radio-station. Other pinups included shots of super-model, Caprice. Also on display was an English flag hung from his wall, keeping in-touch with the Bond themed poster.

Die Another Day, was chosen to be last-years choice for a Royal Premiere with Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in attendance.

"James Bond Gang" members indicted

A news report from Newsday.com…

Three members of the reputed “James Bond Gang” of burglars were indicted Thursday for breaking into dozens of homes in upscale neighborhoods in New Jersey and New York.

The defendants are suspected of being part of the gang whose nickname derives from the unusual high-tech steps members took to evade arrest, including modifying a BMW with secret compartments to conceal loot and an oil-jet system to deter pursuers by spreading an oil slick on the road.

The full story and particulars of the indictments can be read on this page of Newsday.com.

Bond Beaten By Mr. Darcy

The dashing and noble hero Mr. Darcy is the dream date for female bookworms, a survey found today.

Jane Austen’s creation from "Pride And Prejudice" beats James Bond for readers’ hearts in a poll to find the literary characters with whom they would share a romantic encounter.

Top 10 literary dream dates:

• 1. Mr Darcy
• 2. James Bond
• 3. Superman
• 4. Hercule Poirot
• 5. Inspector Morse
• 6. Heathcliff
• 7. Sherlock Holmes
• 8. Rhett Butler
• 9. Prince Charming
• 10. Sharpe

Boy Saved By 'Die Another Day'

British local paper "Express & Star" has reported about a boy being saved thanks to his love for James Bond.

A teenager’s love of James Bond films saved his life after he caught fire following an accident with petrol.

Thirteen-year-old Mark Ellam, whose favourite Bond film is Die Another Day, dropped to the ground and rolled around like his hero to douse the flames.

His quick-thinking – after a petrol spill from his scramble bike ignited – put out the flames which had burned his back and arms.

Today, as he recovers in the burns unit at Birmingham’s Selly Oak Hospital, Mark said it was a good job he was such a James Bond fan.

"When I caught fire the first thing I thought was to roll over because I had seen it in the James Bond films," he said.

"I love the Bond films and my favourite is Die Another Day. It has not put me off scrambling, but I might need another bike."

Mark had been working on his scrambler bike with a friend in the back garden of his home in Norfolk Road, Stourbridge, when petrol spilled from the tank and caught light.

As he fell to the floor, a pal ran to get a garden hose and sprayed cold water on him.

Mark’s mum Julie Atkins said she was frantic with worry when she got a call to say her son had been in an accident.

She had been heading to Dudley Zoo with Mark’s stepdad Tim Baynam and their young children when a neighbour rang to tell them what had happened.

"I was so worried about him, but he was worried too, he said he did not want an ambulance because he would be in trouble with his mum," said the 35-year-old.

"His back is bad and his eyes are a little sore, but I am so glad he is okay."

Mark, a pupil at Ridgewood High School in Stourbridge, was initially taken to the Diana, Princess of Wales, Children’s Hospital in Birmingham after the accident at 12.30pm on Saturday. He was later transferred to Selly Oak and was expected to remain there for the next few days.

Leading firefighter Martin Simkin, of Stourbridge fire station, warned anyone working on bikes to take care.

SMERSH celebrates 60th anniversary

Yes, there really was a SMERSH.

The military counter-espionage service set up by Stalin in 1943 is celebrating it’s 60th anniversary with an exhibition in Moscow.

Not only are various tools of the trade on display, but many items that SMERSH “collected” while operating in Europe are also available for visitors to wonder at.

While the service only existed for three years, as a result of a merger with NKVD secret police (which in turn later became the KGB) it has been forever immortalised in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming who had first hand intimate knowledge of the soviet spy apparatus while working with British intelligence.

The unnamed curator of the exhibition stated that “If Smersh were still around today, this country would be a better place. It wouldn’t be run by bandits and crooks.”

This sentiment is reflected by many Russian citizens who have already visited the displays and feel that while the organisation was brutal they approved of its existence and its founder, Viktor Abakumov.

The full report can be found on the UK’s Telegraph newspaper website.