James Bond! When I was a teen, I loved him. OK, I loved him throughout the past 40 years, but mostly, I enjoyed Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, and now Pierce Brosnan. I never could get into Roger Moore's interpretation. He went from being a dangerous Simon Templar to a comical Bond, and I really never appreciated the transition. This installment of 007 goes back to basics, with Bond being more sinister and less comical than recent versions. And having Halle Berry portray his "equal" is really a nice touch. Sure, there have been recent attempts to make the Bond girl more brainy and less dependent, but only with this version do they really create an intellectual and physical equal.

This past week, I discovered a long-lost friend. My sister had spotted an article in the University Alumni Magazine that made mention of someone she thought I knew. She was right, and a quick internet search yielded an active email address. For the past week, we've been exchanging emails, catching up on nearly 30 years of our lives. We've both experienced significant ups and downs during that period, but the seeds of our friendship seem to still be intact, and it's been pleasant corresponding. She's living in Wisconsin now, and is a University professor. I've told my wife about my contact, lest she find out elsewhere and put the wrong interpretation on matters. I'm actually hoping that at some point she will meet my friend (should my friend come back to Canada to visit relatives). There are probably some funny stories they could share behind my back.

In other news, we're returning the McAfee Virus Scanning software to McAfee and going with Norton (which, I hope, will work out better). I've finalized plans for New Year's Eve. My wife and I will be going to Medieval Times for just the second time ever. We so enjoyed ourselves the first time around, I'm looking forward to this return visit.

And in Grey Cup news (the Canadian Superbowl), Montreal won the cup for the first time in 25 years. This was the 90th year the cup has been contested.