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so·lar plexus

Function:
noun
Etymology:
from the radiating nerve fibers
Date:
1771

1 : a nerve plexus in the abdomen that is situated behind the stomach and in front of the aorta and the crura of the diaphragm and contains several ganglia distributing nerve fibers to the viscera 2 : the pit of the stomach

I remember when I first discovered James Bond and the writing of Ian Fleming back in the early sixties.   Coincidentally it was during the time that I was becoming a teenager and learning about certain subjects that I discovered in more fascinating detail between the covers of From Russian With Love and Goldfinger.

James Bond was so cool back when we didn’t even know what the word meant.   He personified a confident attitude and in this sense helped me to see how very far I had to go in that department.

If I had only had the good looks of a young Sean Connery, the fighting skills of a Green Beret, the backing of a Secret Service and the scripts that guaranteed he would win every fight I could have been so confident as well.

But I was in Junior HS and being called to the principal’s office had me shaking in my boots.  I did manage to try out a few of his lines on a couple of girls but when they would start shaking with laughter I realized I was missing the mark.

James Bond knew how to hit the solar plexus.  I remember reading that term often in Fleming’s books.   He used  it a lot.   Because James Bond hit the bad guys in the solar plexus and the reader experienced his confidence and his strength in a visceral way as well.  Even President Kennedy got a kick out of him.  And after he expressed how much he had enjoyed From Russia With Love sales in this country boomed.

The music from the James Bond movies often has this same quality and it has flourished over the years in part because it reminds us of James Bond and his two dimensional world of danger and confident, physical responses to it.   Bond protected the world from evil and he had a sexy smile.

What a great combination.

So the great songs from the Bond movies are available on Amazon MP3 .   I downloaded and have been enjoying them this morning.  Today is going to be a day filled with music.  Later we have American Idol.

And here is an idea for the folks at AI for next season.  Why not have a James Bond night?  Let the young stars experience the tunes that have charmed generations and made quite a few young men think to themselves “Hmmm.  I think I will ask her out on a date.  What’s the worst that can happen?”

And don’t forget to invite me to the show AI if you decide to do it!

Carly Simon
Play Nobody Does It Better

10-nobody-does-it-better

Paul McCartney

Play Live and Let Die

08-live-and-let-die

Craig Ferguson / I Wish I Was James Bond