Espionage Aficionados discussion

"He'd kill us if he got the chance..."

The Conversation.

Good job Dave. You're correct!

You can suggest a puzzler of your own or, I'll go again with a poser...or both! Any number can play

You do it Feliks, I'm not the creative sort.

"It will happen this way. You may be walking. Maybe the first sunny day of the spring. And a car will slow beside you, and a door will open, and someone you know, maybe even trust, will get out of the car. And he will smile, a becoming smile. But he will leave open the door of the car and offer to give you a lift. "

Three Days of the Condor

Technology gets better everyday. That's fine. But most of the time all you need is a stick of gum, a pocket knife and a smile.

Easy:

"The ground on which you once stood is cut away. You have become a citizen of No Man’s Land. I send you my greetings."

Harder:

"I don't mind London offering me cyanide capsules but I don't like people putting the bloody stuff in my toothpaste."

correct on Condor, Jim

these others, I don't know at all. Must be 'recent fare'

Mine are not 'recent fare'. The easy one is a 1979 classic and the harder one is from 1975.

Well then #2 is probably a Harry Palmer flick? Or from LeCarre? Not Bond. I can't see the whole quote.

And #1 is either 'Wild Geese' or 'Dogs of War'? Doesn't sound like Brando in 'Apocalypse Now'...

(I won't use the 'net for help on any of these. Matter of honor).

Technology gets better everyday. That's fine. But most of the time all you need is a stick of gum, a pocket knife and a smile

Is from Spygame with Robert Redford. He plays CIA veteran Nathan Muir and does a splendid job several of tbe Task Force scenes with evading the difficult questions while gleaning intel.

I recommend spending some time watching it... Of course its no Condor, but its still classic Redford

Its great to hear of Redford still going strong. He's an idealistic guy who besides his own career has always done so much to help the environment, the community, and the industry he works in. Wish there were more who followed his example.

Redford is good, a number of his movies are some of my favorites.

'Downhill Racer' is my #1 fave sports movie.

"hey, that's a ringer."

'The Natural' is mine.
Believe it or not and even myself can't believe it, I've yet to see Downhill Racer, the next time I'm back stateside, one of the first things on my priority list is to track that down.

Feliks wrote: "'Downhill Racer' is my #1 fave sports movie."

I still watch Franz Klammer's downhill run for 1976 gold medal every so often.
One of the announcers says during the run, "he's on the edge of disaster"..

In Downhill Racer, wasn't Redford character a take on Jean-Claude Killy?

Woah. Franz Klammer is not a name one hears mentioned very often anymore. He is not the one in the 'agony of defeat' clip is he? Is that why you mention him? Anyway no, I don't believe Chapel was modeled on Killy. But I haven't thought about this in a while. Maybe. The flick didn't come from a source novel but rather straight from a screenplay written by a sports-reporter. And a good one at that. It was lucky enough to get assigned a fine director, Michael Ritchie.

No, Klammer is not the the 'agony of defeat' guy, that fellow was a ski jumper. I mention Klammer for his, he's on the edge of diaster, downhill run in the 76 Olympics, it's one of the most thrilling downhill runs ever runs, I think even to this day..

Oh. Well of course growing up one's exposed to all sorts of TV sports, one can't avoid TV sports coverage and while I used to watch Classic ESPN when I had cable (and found it educational, like for watching old Ali/Norton fights) in general the sports hoopla I despise most these days is any kind of Olympics BS. It makes me want to vomit.

And I'll tell you why: the media blitz is friggin' nonstop. Oh my god, its like the media goes into a frenzy, a jittering spastic fit; (believing they're finally relevant?) You can tell the talking-heads love launching this kind of 24-hr-per-day extravaganza. To me, nothing is worthy of this level of intrusion. All over some boring, weirdo gym-nuts.

And then the phoniness of the viewers: cow-eyed 'devotees-since-5-minutes-ago' who coo that they love some sport like 'competition walking' or 'biathlon' when they never give a single thought --much less follow--such sports in the slightest, any other year.

Finally, just the horrible nationalism, and underlying racism of the whole thing. Disgusting. I think viewers miss the whole point of sports in the first pace: sports are effective at the local level. That's where they unite us. At the gigantic mega-scale of nations, it becomes pointless.

Sorry...just had to get this off my chest. During any Olympics (when you say you don't like it at all, scorn the entire concept) people stare at you in horror as if you just dissed, 'Star Trek'. As if they know anything about Greece or democracy anyway!

Anyway thats why I used to watch ESPN Classic. If I was in the mood for sports, I could turn it on and then just turn it off without any hi-pressure advertising in my face. What is it these days with Americans and their media addiction?

So, #1 was from John le Carre's Smiley's People, the closing lines of Smiley's letter to Karla persuading him to defect.

#2 was from Adam Hall's The Mandarin Cypher, sixth in the less well known Quiller series. I thought someone might get it because Quiller usually says something about the cyanide capsules in each of the novels.

I had not heard about the Quiller series until Feliks brought it to my attention. Thanks, Feliks! It is great and I thought it could use a little more attention. Highly recommended, particularly if you like lots of good plot twists.

To cool breeze... Had heard number one before but just couldn't place it. Nice one!

To Felix, in my home (4 boys and a long distance runner-wife) we compare athletic competitions to monkey's throwing pooh...As for mass media. One should only gather their Intel from professional resources not failed actors.

Now to the important business at hand...

A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world.

cool breeze wrote: "So, #1 was from John le Carre's Smiley's People, the closing lines of Smiley's letter to Karla persuading him to defect.

#2 was from Adam Hall's The Mandarin Cypher, sixth in the less well known Q..."

cool breeze! If #1 had the word 'lighter' at the end? I couldnt see that or yes it would've been easy.

#2 did sound a little like Quiller, you're right. In those books he is always complaining about London and also about their capsule rules. I just couldn't believe anyone else here reads Quiller. I'm not up to #6 yet; I just finished #5 I believe. Drat! ha

Oh well. He rocks, doesn't he? Quiller is near insanity in what he does, sometimes. The stuff he pulls comes out of nowhere. Glad to turn you on to him! What made you choose to start with #6?

Jim, LeCarre's TTSS? I don't remember the line from the book, but I interviewed a lawyer who had the quote on his desk.

I've decided not to guess at these. If I don't recognize it I won't answer!

Dave! Kudos! I recently read it in The Honourable Schoolboy. I would imagine it has made more than one appearance... Now thats a lawyer I would hire.

Checking all you guys' recent reading lists is what I should do, that's how to come out king of this thread...ha

This is from nonfiction lit: "Here was a spymaster who believed that a total victory for Nazi Germany would spell disaster for the world and that a balancing act of supreme dexterity would somehow enable him to help his opponents while at the same time saving his country from the jaws of utter ruin." I'll be satisfied if you identify the subject spymaster.

Would that be Reinhard Gehlen, former Nazi general and first head of West German intelligence?

Again: no Google...

Gehlen? Very good guess, but no cigar. It wouldn't technically be Googling to look at my recent reading lists if you're so inclined. I haven't updated my "currently reading" list for quite a while, but I suspect the name would jump out at you.

I read Gehlen's autobiography many years ago (pre-kindle; but well after Gutenberg, despite what my offspring might say). Seeing his name again reminds me that his survival and ultimate success was a function of his falling into Western hands with detailed knowledge of, and a major agent network in, the USSR. The guy I'm thinking of didn't survive the war, but if he did and was in Western custody, I wonder if he would have been shot "while attempting to escape".

I suggested I might sneak a peek at your reading list yeah, but I was more kidding than serious. I'm content to stew on it some more.

It wouldn't be Canaris, by any chance?

Bingo! Hitler's Spy Chief: The William Canaris Mystery.

That just made the To Read List!!!

"Broadsword calling Danny Boy!"

A Redford movie scene classic. What flick?

Dick Gordon: National Security Agency.
Martin Bishop: Ah. You're the guys I hear breathing on the other end of my phone.
Dick Gordon: No, that's the FBI. We're not chartered for domestic surveillance.
Martin Bishop: Oh, I see. You just overthrow governments. Set up friendly dictators.
Dick Gordon: No, that's the CIA. We protect our government's communications, we try to break the other fella's codes. We're the good guys, Marty.
Martin Bishop: Gee, I can't tell you what a relief that is... Dick.

David, the Canaris book just hit my TBR as well. Would you recommend the Gehlen autobiography? (Wonder if it made Kindle…)

"I'd like a 'poke'..."

Feliks wrote: "Woah. Franz Klammer is not a name one hears mentioned very often anymore. He is not the one in the 'agony of defeat' clip is he? Is that why you mention him? Anyway no, I don't believe Chapel was m..."

The today's Guardian has a good article about Franz Klammer and his "on the limit of control run".


http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog...