The Writer's Life 12/10 - Shaken, Stirred & Miraculous

From Fox News.com, edited by yours truly: Researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand apparently have too much time on their hands. In a paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia, they argue that James Bond has a severe drinking problem and should seek help. A drink has touched 007's lips 109 times during the popular series, an average of 4.5 times per movie. He satisfies at least six of the eleven criteria for an alcohol use disorder. The authors cite MI6 as an irresponsible employer. The article won first prize in the Christmas competition, where researchers submit quirky studies. They do know that Bond is a fantasy figure, right?

If you haven't seen the highlights of the New England-Miami game, check 'em out - especially if you're a Patriots-hater. They made such uncharacteristic gaffes yesterday: missing an extra point and chip shot field goal; brain lock in clock management at the end of the first half that allowed time to expire while in chip shot field goal range. Still, they had the game won and let it slip away on a rare fluke play with seven seconds left - and the Dolphins 69 yards from paydirt. QB Ryan Tannehill completed a 14-yard pass to WR Kenny Stills, who lateraled to WR DeVante Parker, who lateraled to RB Kenyan Drake, who made his way to the endzone. Bill Belichick had future Hall of Fame TE Rob Gronkowski on the field at safety. The big guy stumbled trying to get into position to make a tackle. It was hilarious. Belichick has made unorthodox moves in the past that always seemed to work out, so its really silly to criticize him in this case. The loss jeopardizes the Pats' chances of earning a first round playoff bye, which means they may have to play three times on the road. Lesser teams have won the Super Bowl facing such a steep climb... It was a bizarre week for the league, manifested by the Giants and Jets winning on the same day... No team seems unbeatable at present... What the heck's happened to the Steelers, who looked awesome just three weeks ago?... Youtube has highlights of each game. They run an average of twelve minutes and are commercial-free. It's a great alternative for those of us who can no longer sit through three-plus hours of ads, inane commentary, boorish behavior and huddle-time.

From Yahoo Sports: Cody Blick, 25, is trying to break into pro golf. He entered Sunday in 49th place at the final stage of Q-school and needed to move into the top 40 in order to secure eight guaranteed starts on the Web.com Tour next year. He faced an unusual handicap - his clubs stolen from the garage of his Airbnb rental. He managed to cobble together a mixed bag - and went out and shot 63, vaulting him into 25th place. Kudos.

The Russian sector was kind to the floating book shop today. My thanks to the gentleman who bought three books in his native tongue and who left me a bag full, several of which he'd purchased from me; and to the man who reminds me of Nikita Khrushchev, who selected two of those; and to the dance instructor who donated a bag of English language DVD's.

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